Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)
Шрифт:
[wear out one's welcome] <v. phr.>, <informal> To visit somewhere too long or come back too often so that you are not welcome any more. * /The Smith children have worn out their welcome at our house because they never want to go home./ * /This hot weather has worn out its welcome with us./
[wear the trousers] or [wear the pants] <v. phr.>, <informal> To have a man's authority; be the boss of a family or household. * /Mr. Wilson is henpecked by his wife; she wears the trousers in that family./ * /Mrs. Jones talks a lot but Mr. Jones wears the pants in their house./ Compare: RULE THE ROOST.
[wear thin] <v.> 1. To become thin from use, wearing, or the passing of time. * /My old pair of pants has worn thin at the knees./ * /This old dime has worn very thin./ 2. To grow less, or less interesting; decrease. * /The joke began to wear thin when you heard it too many times./ * /The teacher's patience began to wear thin when he saw that no one knew the lesson./
[wear well] <v.> 1. To continue to be satisfactory, useful, or liked for a long time. * /My old overcoat has worn very well./ * /Their marriage has worn well./ * /That author wears well./ Compare: STAND UP(2). 2. To carry, accept, or treat properly or well. * /Grandfather wears his years well./ * /Tommy has won many honors but he wears them well./
[weasel out] <v. phr.> To renege on a previous promise; not keep an obligation for some not always straight reason. * /I'm so tired I think I am going to weasel my way out of going to that meeting this afternoon./
[weasel word] <n.>, <informal> A word which has more than one meaning and may be used to deceive others. * /When the thief was being questioned by the police, he tried to fool them with weasel words./
[weather] See: FAIR-WEATHER FRIEND.
[weather eye] <n.> 1. Eyes that can tell what the weather will be. * /Grandfather's weather eye always tells him when it will rain./ 2. Eyes ready or quick to see; careful watch.
– Usually used in phrases like "keep a weather eye on", "open", or "out for". * /Mrs. Brown kept a weather eye on the children so they wouldn't hurt each other./ * /Keep a weather eye out for Uncle George at the store./ * /Keep a weather eye open for deer./ * /The police have a weather eye out for the robbers./ Compare: LOOK OUT.
[weather the storm] <v. phr.> To survive some disaster. * /When Peter and Sue started their business they had very little money, but in a year they weathered the storm./
[wedge] See: FLYING WEDGE.
[wedlock] See: BORN OUT OF WEDLOCK.
[wee hours] The crack of dawn, or just before it, usually between 1 A.M. and 4 A.M. or 2 A.M. and 5 A.M. * /He stayed up all night when they were expecting their first child; finally, a boy was born in the wee hours of the morning./ Compare: SMALL HOURS.
[weeper] See: FINDERS KEEPERS or FINDERS KEEPERS LOSERS WEEPERS.
[weed out] <v.> 1. To remove what is unwanted, harmful, or not good enough from. * /Mother weeded out the library because there were too many books./ * /Many colleges and universities weed out their freshman classes to make room for better students./ 2. To take (what is not wanted) from a collection or group; remove (a part) for the purpose of improving a collection or group; get rid of. * /The coach is weeding out the weak players this week./ * /The teacher told Elizabeth to read over her English composition and weed out every sentence that was not about the subject./
[wee folk] or [little folk] or [little people] <n. phr.> Fairy people; brownies; elves; fairies; or goblins. * /Mother read me a story about the wee folk who lived in the forest and came out at night./ * /There are many stories about little people dancing in the moonlight./
[week in, week out] See: DAY IN, AND DAY OUT.
[week of Sundays] <n. phr.> A long time; seven weeks. * /I haven't seen them in a week of Sundays./
[weigh anchor] <v. phr.> To set sail; get going. * /After a week in Hawaii, we weighed anchor and sailed south toward Tahiti./
[weigh down] also [weight down] 1. To make heavy; cause to go down or bend with weight; overload. * /The evergreens are weighed down by the deep snow./ - Often used with "with" or "by". * /There are so many children in the back seat that they are weighing down the back of the car./ 2a. To overload with care or worry; make sad or low in spirits.
– Usually used in the passive. * /The family is weighed down by sorrow./ * /The company is weighed down by debt./ 2b. To make heavy, hard, or slow; make dull or uninteresting.
– Often in the passive used with "by" or "with". * /The book is weighted down with footnotes./ * /The TV program is weighed down by commercials./
[weigh in] <v.> 1a. To take the weight of; weigh. * /The man at the airport counter weighed in our bags and took our plane tickets./ * /A doctor weighed in the wrestlers./ 1b. To have yourself or something that you own weighed.
– Often used with "at". * /I weighed in at 100 pounds on the scale today./ * /We took our bags to the airport counter to weigh in./ 1c. To have yourself weighed as a boxer or wrestler by a doctor before a match.
– Often used with "at". * /The champion didn't want to weigh in at more than 160 pounds./ 2. <slang> To join or interfere in a fight, argument, or discussion. * /We told Jack that if we wanted him to weigh in with his opinion we would ask him./ Compare: TAKE PART.
[weigh on] or [weigh upon] <v.> 1. To be a weight or pressure on; be heavy on. * /The pack weighed heavily on the soldier's back./ 2. To make sad or worried; trouble; disturb; upset. * /Sadness weighed on Mary's heart when her kitten died./ * /John's wrongdoing weighed upon his conscience./ * /The teacher's advice weighed upon Tom's mind./ 3. To be a burden to. * /His guilt weighed heavily upon him./
[weigh on one's mind] See: WEIGH ON(2).
[weigh one's words] <v. phr.> To choose your words carefully; be careful to use the right words. * /When a teacher explains about religion, he must weigh his words because his pupils may be of several different faiths./ * /When old Mr. Jones talked to the students about becoming teachers, he spoke slowly, weighing his words./ * /In a debate, a political candidate has little time to weigh his words, and may say something foolish./
[weight] See: PULL ONE'S WEIGHT, SWING ONE'S WEIGHT, THROW ONE'S WEIGHT AROUND.
[weight down] See: WEIGH DOWN.
[weight of the world on one's shoulders] or [world on one's shoulders] or [world on one's back] <n. phr.> A very heavy load of worry or responsibility; very tired or worried behavior, as if carrying the world; behavior as if you are very important. * /Don't look as if you had the weight of the world on your shoulders, Henry, just because you have to mow the lawn./ * /John acts as if he were carrying the world on his back because he has a paper route./