Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)
Шрифт:
[small-time] <adj.>, <informal> Unimportant; minor; with little power or importance. * /He has a job as a drummer with a small-time band./ * /It is a small-time business, but it may grow./ Contrast: BIG-TIME.
[small wonder] See: NO WONDER.
[smash hit] <n.>, <informal> A very successful play, movie or opera. * /The school play was a smash hit./
[smell a rat] <v. phr.>, <informal> To be suspicious; feel that something is wrong. * /Every time Tom visits me, one of my ashtrays disappears. I'm beginning to smell a rat./ * /When the policeman saw a light go on in the store at midnight, he smelled a rat./
[smell out] See: FERRET OUT.
[smell up] <v.>, <informal> To make a bad smell. * /A skunk smelled up our yard last night./ * /Mr. Brodsky's cigar smelled up the living room./
[smile] See: CRACK A SMILE.
[smoke] See: CHAIN-SMOKE, GO UP IN FLAMES or GO UP IN SMOKE, PUT THAT IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT, WATCH ONE'S DUST or WATCH ONE'S SMOKE.
[smoke like a chimney] <v. phr.>, <informal> To smoke very heavily and continuously. * /"If you continue smoking like a chimney" the doctor told my uncle, "you'll wind up in the hospital with lung cancer."/
[smoke out] <v. phr.> 1. To force out with smoke. * /The boys smoked a squirrel out of a hollow tree./ * /The farmer tried to smoke some gophers out of their burrows./ 2. <informal> To find out the facts about. * /It took the reporter three weeks to smoke out the whole story./
[smoke-out] <n.> A successful conclusion of an act of investigative journalism revealing some long-kept secrets. * /Journalist Bob Woodward was the hero of the Watergate smoke-out./
[smoke screen] <n. phr.> A camouflage; a veil; something used to cover or hide something. * /June hides her commercial interests behind a smoke screen of religious piety./
[Smokey Bear] or [Smokey-the-Bear] or [the Smokies] <n.>, <slang>, <citizen's band radio jargon> A policeman; a patrol car; frequently abbreviated as Smokey. * /Slow down, Smokey's ahead!/ * /A Smokey is on the move, heading east./
[smooth away] <v.> To remove; (unpleasant feelings) take away. * /Mr. Jones' new job smoothed away his worry about money./
[smooth down] <v.> To make calm; calm down. * /Mrs. Smith's feelings were hurt and we couldn't smooth her down./
[smooth over] <v.> To make something seem better or more pleasant; try to excuse. * /Bill tried to smooth over his argument with Mary by making her laugh./ Syn.: GLOSS OVER. Compare: PATCH UP.
[smooth sailing] See: PLAIN SAILING.
[snail's pace] <n.> A very slow movement forward. * /Time moved at a snail's pace before the holidays./ * /The donkey on which he was riding moved at a snail's pace./
[snake in the grass] <n. phr.>, <informal> A person who cannot be trusted; an unfaithful traitor; rascal. * /Did Harry tell you that? He's a snake in the grass!/ * /Some snake in the grass told the teacher our plans./
[snap] See: COLD SNAP.
[snap it off] See: MAKE IT SNAPPY.
[snap one's fingers at] <v. phr.> To show contempt for; show no respect for; pay no attention to; scorn; disregard. * /John snapped his fingers at the sign that said "Do not enter," and he went in the door./ * /The highway sign said "Speed limit, 35 miles per hour," but when a driver snapped his fingers at it by going 55 miles an hour, a motorcycle policeman arrested him./
[snap out of] <v.>, <informal> To change quickly from a bad habit, mood, or feeling to a better one.
– Often used with "it". * /Mary was unhappy when her fiance abandoned her, but she snapped out of it when she met a new young man./ * /The coach told the lazy player to snap out of it./
[snappy] See: MAKE IT SNAPPY.
[snapshot] <n.> A small photograph, unlike a professional portrait. * /We took several snapshots of the scenery while driving around the island./
[snap up] <v.>, <informal> To take or accept eagerly. * /Eggs were on sale cheap, and the shoppers snapped up the bargain./ * /Mr. Hayes told Bob that he would take him skiing, and Bob snapped up the offer./
[sneak] See: QUARTERBACK SNEAK.
[sneak away] See: SLIP AWAY.
[sneak up on] See: CREEP UP ON.
[sneeze at] <v.>, <informal> To think of as not important; not take seriously.
– Used with negative or limiting words and in questions. * /Mr. Jones was chosen by his party to run for President. He was not elected, but to be chosen to run is not to be sneezed at./ * /If you think Mrs. Green's tests are things to be sneezed at, you have a surprise coming./ * / Is a thousand dollars anything to sneeze at?/ * /John finished third in a race with twenty other runners. That is nothing to sneeze at./
[sniff out] See: FERRET OUT.
[snow in] <v.> To block up or trap by much snow; keep inside, * /After the storm the farmer and his family were snowed in for three days./ * /The train went off the track and the passengers were snowed in for several days./
[snow job] <n.>, <slang>, <informal> 1. Insincere or exaggerated talk designed to gain the favors of someone. * /Joe gave Sue a snow job and she believed every word of it./ 2. The skillful display of technical vocabulary and prestige terminology in order to pass oneself off as an expert in a specialized field without really being a knowledgeable worker in that area. * /That talk by Nielsen on pharmaceuticals sounded very impressive, but I will not hire him because it was essentially a snow job./
[snow under] <v.> 1. To cover over with snow. * /The doghouse was snowed under during the blizzard./ 2. <informal> To give so much of something that it cannot be taken care of; to weigh down by so much of something that' you cannot do anything about it.
– Usually used in the passive. * /The factory received so many orders that it was snowed under with work./ * /The disabled girl was snowed under with Christmas letters./
[snuff] See: UP TO PAR or UP TO SNUFF.
[snug as a bug in a rug] <adj. phr.> Comfortable; cozy. * /"Are you warm enough?" the boy's mother asked. "Yeah," he replied, "I'm snug as a bug in a rug."/