Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)

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[craw] See: STICK IN ONE'S CRAW.

[crawl up] See: RIDE UP.

[crazy] or [mad] or [nuts about] <adj. phr.>, <informal> Excessively fond of; infatuated with. * /Jack is totally nuts about Liz, but she is not too crazy about him./

[cream] See: VANISHING CREAM.

[cream of the crop] <n. phr.> The best of a group; the top choice. * /May Queen candidates were lovely, but Betsy and Nancy were the cream of the crop./ * /The students had drawn many good pictures and the teacher chose the cream of the crop to hang up when the parents came to visit./

[creature of habit] <n. phr.> A person who does things out of habit rather than by thought. * /Our boss is a creature of habit, so let us not confuse him with too many new ideas./

[credibility gap] <n.>, <hackneyed phrase>, <politics> An apparent discrepancy between what the government says and what one can observe for oneself. * /There was a tremendous credibility gap in the USA during the Watergate years./

[credit] See: DO CREDIT.

[creek] See: UP THE CREEK or UP THE CREEK WITHOUT A PADDLE.

[creep] See: THE CREEPS.

[creep up on] <v.> 1. To crawl towards; move along near the ground; steal cautiously towards so as not to be seen or noticed. * /The mouse did not see the snake creeping up on it over the rocks./ * /Indians were creeping up on the house through the bushes./ 2. or [sneak up on] To come little by little; arrive slowly and unnoticed. * /The woman's hair was turning gray as age crept up on her./ * /Winter is creeping up on us little by little./ * /The boys didn't notice the darkness creeping up on them while they were playing./ Compare: COME OVER.

[crew] See: SECTION GANG or SECTION CREW.

[crew cut] or [crew haircut] <n.> A boy's or man's hair style, cut so that the hair stands up in short, stiff bristle. * /Many boys like to get crew cuts during the summer to keep cooler./

[crisp] See: BURN TO A CRISP.

[crocodile tears] <n.> Pretended grief; a show of sorrow that is not really felt. * /When his rich uncle died, leaving him his money, John shed crocodile tears./ (From the old legend that crocodiles make weeping sounds to attract victims and then shed tears while eating them.)

[crook] See: BY HOOK OR BY CROOK.

[crop] See: CASH CROP, CREAM OF THE CROP, STICK IN ONE'S CRAW or STICK IN ONE'S CROP.

[crop out] <v.> To appear at the surface; come through or show through from hiding or concealment. * /Rocks often crop out in New England pasture land./ * /A hidden hate cropped out in his words./

[cropper] See: COME A CROPPER.

[crop up] <v.> To come without warning; appear or happen unexpectedly. * /Problems cropped up almost every day when Mr. Reed was building his TV station./ * /Serious trouble cropped up just when Martin thought the problem of his college education was solved./ Compare: TURN UP.

[cross] See: AT CROSS PURPOSES, CARRY ONE'S CROSS, DOUBLE CROSS, KEEP ONE'S FINGERS CROSSED at CROSS ONE'S FINGERS(1b).

[cross a bridge before one comes to it] <v. phr.> To worry about future events or trouble before they happen.
– Usually used in negative sentences, often as a proverb. * /"Can I be a soldier when I grow up, Mother?" asked Johnny. "Don't cross that bridge until you come to it," said his mother./ Compare: BORROW TROUBLE.

[cross-check(1)] <v.> To test the truth of by examining in different ways or by seeing different reports about. * /If you see something in a book that may not be true, be sure to crosscheck it in other books./

[cross-check(2)] <n.> The testing of the truth of by checking one report against another or others. * /A cross-check with other books will show us if this story is true./

[cross fire] <n.> 1. Firing in a fight or battle from two or more places at once so that the lines of fire cross. * /The soldiers on the bridge were caught in the crossfire coming from both sides of the bridge./ 2. Fast or angry talking back and forth between two or more people; also, a dispute; a quarrel. * /There was a cross fire of excited questions and answers between the parents and the children who had been lost in the woods./ * /The principal and the graduates quarreled about the football team, and the coach was caught in the cross fire and lost his job./

[cross one's fingers] <v. phr.> 1a. To cross two fingers of one hand for good luck. * /Mary crossed her fingers during the race so that Tom would win./ 11b. or [keep one's fingers crossed] <informal> To wish for good luck. * /Keep your fingers crossed while I take the test./ 2. To cross two fingers of one hand to excuse an untruth that you are telling. * /Johnny crossed his fingers when he told his mother the lie./

[cross one's heart] or [cross one's heart and hope to die] <v. phr.>, <informal> To say that what you have said is surely true; promise seriously that it is true.
– Often used by children in the longer form. Children often make a sign of a cross over the heart as they say it, for emphasis. * /"Cross my heart, I didn't hide your bicycle," Harry told Tom./ * /"I didn't tell the teacher what you said. Cross my heart and hope to die," Mary said to Lucy./

[cross one's mind] or [pass through one's mind] <v. phr.> To be a sudden or passing thought; be thought of by someone; come to your mind; occur to you. * /At first Bob was puzzled by Virginia's waving, but then it crossed his mind that she was trying to tell him something./ * /When Jane did not come home by midnight, many terrible fears passed through Mother's mind./

[cross one's path] <v. phr.> To meet or encounter someone; to come upon someone more by accident than by plan. * /Surprisingly, I crossed John's path in Central Park one afternoon./

[cross street] <n.> A street that crosses a main street and runs on both sides of it. * /Elm Street is a cross street on Main Street and there is a traffic light there./ Compare: THROUGH STREET.

[cross swords] <v. phr.>, <literary> To have an argument with; fight.
– Often used with "with". * /Don't argue with the teacher; you're not old enough to cross swords with her./

[cross the wire] <v. phr.> To finish a race. * /The Russian crossed the wire just behind the American./