Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)
Шрифт:
[rattle one's saber] <v. phr.> To threaten another government or country without subsequent acts of war. * /It is considered an act of demagoguery on the part of politicians to rattle their sabers./ Compare: YELLOW JOURNALISM.
[rave about] <v. phr.> To talk very enthusiastically about someone or something. * /Hank praised the new TV show very highly but we didn't think it was anything to rave about./
[raw] See: IN THE RAW.
[raw deal] <n. phr.> Unfair treatment; inequity. * /Barry got a raw deal when he was sent to teach the class on advanced nuclear physics; he's an inexperienced graduate student./
[razzle-dazzle] <n.>, <slang> Fancy display; showing off. * /He is such a good player that he doesn't have to add razzle-dazzle to his game./ * /Do we need all this razzle-dazzle to advertise our fair?/
[reach] See: BOARDING HOUSE REACH.
[reach first base] See: GET TO FIRST BASE.
[reach for the sky] <v. phr.>, <slang> 1. To put your hands high above your head or be shot.
– Usually used as a command. * /A holdup man walked into a gas station last night and told the attendant "Reach for the sky!"/ Syn.: HANDS UP. 2. To set one's aims high. * /"Why medical technician?" asked her father. "Reach for the sky! Become a physician!"/
[read between the lines] <v. phr.> To understand all of a writer's meaning by guessing at what he has left unsaid. * /Some kinds of poetry make you read between the lines./ * /A clever foreign correspondent can often avoid censorship by careful wording, leaving his audience to read between the lines./
[read into] <v. phr.> To attribute extra meaning to; deduce from; consider to be implicit in. * /Just because Fred's letters sounded so friendly Mary was wrong to read anything serious into them./
[read off] <v. phr.> To read in a speaking voice from a list. * /The secretary read off the names of those present in alphabetical order./
[read one like a book] <v. phr.>, <informal> To understand someone completely; know what he will think or do at any time. * /John's girlfriend could read him like a book./ Compare: READ ONE'S MIND.
[read one one's rights] <v. phr.> To give to an arrested person the legally required statement regarding the rights of such a person. * /"Read him his rights," Sergeant," the captain said, "and book him for breaking and entering."/
[read one's mind] <v. phr.> To know what someone else is thinking. * /I have known John so long that I can read his mind./ - [mind reader] <n.> * /That's exactly what I was going to say. You must be a mind reader!/ Compare: READ LIKE A BOOK.
[read the riot act] <v. phr.> To give someone a strong warning or scolding. * /Three boys were late to class and the teacher read the riot act to them./
[read over] <v. phr.> To read hurriedly in a rather superficial manner. * /The professor said he had no time to read my essay thoroughly but that he had read it over and would comment later in detail./
[read up on] <v. phr.> To study carefully in preparation for an examination or other special purpose. * /Since Mr. and Mrs. Lee are going to take their American citizenship exams soon, they must read up on the Constitution and the three branches of government./
[ready] See: AT THE READY, ROUGH-AND-READY.
[ready-made] <adj.> Mass-produced; machine made. * /I buy all my dresses ready-made because I can't afford to have them made to order./
[ready money] <n. phr.> Cash on hand. * /Frank refuses to buy things on credit, but, if he had the ready money, he would buy that lovely old house./
[real] See: FOR REAL, IT'S BEEN REAL.
[rear] See: BRING UP THE REAR.
[rear end] <n.> 1. The back part (usually of a vehicle) * /The rear end of our car was smashed when we stopped suddenly and the car behind us hit us./ - Often used like an adjective, with a hyphen. * /A head-on crash is more likely to kill the passengers than a rear-end crash./ Contrast: HEAD-ON. 2. Rump; backside. * /Bobby's mother was so annoyed with his teasing that she swatted his rear end./
[rear its head] <v. phr.> To appear; emerge. * /After decades of certainty that tuberculosis had been eradicated globally, it suddenly reared its ugly head right here in the United States./
[reason] See: IN REASON, LISTEN TO REASON, RHYME OR REASON, STAND TO REASON, WITHIN REASON.
[receive with open arms] See: WITH OPEN ARMS.
[reckon with] <v.> To consider as one of the things which may change a situation; consider (something) that will make a difference in the results. * /The coach said the opposing pitcher had a fast ball to be reckoned with./ Syn.: TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.
[reckon without] <v.> To fail to consider as one of the things which might change a situation; not think about. * /The committee for the class picnic party made careful plans for a beach party but they reckoned without a sudden change in the weather./
[record] See: MATTER OF RECORD, OFF THE RECORD, ON RECORD.
[red] See: IN THE RED, PAINT THE TOWN RED, SEE RED.
[redcap] <n.> A porter at an airport or at a railroad station. * /Mr. Smith works as a redcap at Chicago's O'Hare Airport./
[red carpet] See: ROLL OUT THE RED CARPET.
[red cent] <n. phr.> The one-cent coin; a copper coin; very little money. * /Poor Oscar is so broke he doesn't have a red cent to his name./
[red eye] <adj. phr.> Bloodshot eyes that are strained from too much reading. * /Poor Tim has a red eye; he must have been studying too late again./
[red eye] <n. phr.>, <informal> A night flight. * /The company refused to pay for him to take a more expensive daytime flight, so he had to come in on the red eye./
[red-handed] <adj.> In the very act; while committing a crime or evil action. * /The criminal was caught red-handed while holding up the neighborhood bank at gunpoint./
[red herring] <n. phr.> A false scent laid down in order to deceive; a phony or misleading story designed to cause confusion. * /That story about the president having an affair was a red herring created by the opposition in order to discredit him./