Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)
Шрифт:
[fair-weather friend] <n.> A person who is a friend only when you are successful. * /Everyone knows that John's only a fair-weather friend./
[fairy godmother] <n.> 1. A fairy believed to help and take care of a baby as it grows up. 2. A person who helps and does much for another. * /The rich man played fairy godmother to the boys and had a baseball field made for them./ * /Jane was a fairy godmother to her poorer friends./
[fairy tale] or [story] <n.> An inaccurate, even false account of something; a result of wishful thinking. * /Jeff said he was going to be promoted soon, but we all suspect that it is only one of his customary fairy tales./
[faith] See: GOOD FAITH, ON FAITH.
[fall] See: BOTTOM DROP OUT or BOTTOM FALL OUT, RIDING FOR A FALL.
[fall all over] <v. phr.>, <informal> To show too much love or thanks toward (someone). * /She must love him. Every time you see them, she's falling all over him./ * /When Bob found the lady's ring and returned it, she fell all over him./
[fall asleep at the switch] <v. phr.> To fail to perform an expected task; be remiss in one's duty. * /The two airplanes wouldn't have collided, if the control tower operator hadn't fallen asleep at the switch./ * /The dean promised our department $250,000 but the foundation never sent the money because someone in the dean's office fell asleep at the switch./
[fall away] <v. phr.> To decline; diminish. * /I was shocked to see how haggard Alan looked; he seems to be falling away to a shadow./
[fall back] <v.> To move back; go back.
– Usually used with a group as subject. * /The army fell back before their stubborn enemies./ * /The crowd around the hurt boy fell back when someone shouted "Give him air!"/ Compare: DROP BACK, GIVE WAY.
[fall back on] or [fall back upon] v. 1. To retreat to. * /The enemy made a strong attack, and the soldiers fell back on the fort./ 2. To go for help to; turn to in time of need. * /When the big bills for Mother's hospital care came, Joe was glad he had money in the bank to fall back on./ * /If Mr. Jones can't find a job as a teacher, he can fall back on his skill as a printer./
[fall behind] <v.> To go slower than others and be far behind them. * /When the campers took a hike in the woods, two boys fell behind and got lost./ * /Frank's lessons were too hard for him, and he soon fell behind the rest of the class./ * /Mary was not promoted because she dreamed too much and fell behind in her lessons./
[fall by the wayside] also [drop by the wayside] <v. phr.> To give up or fail before the finish. * /The boys tried to make a 50-mile hike, but most of them fell by the wayside./ * /George, Harry, and John entered college to become teachers, but Harry and John fell by the wayside, and only George graduated./
[fall down on the job] <v. phr.>, <informal> To fail to work well. * /The boss was disappointed when his workers fell down on the job./
[fall due] or [come] or [become due] <v. phr.> To reach the time when a bill or invoice is to be paid. * /Our car payment falls due on the first of every month./
[fall flat] <v.>, <informal> To be a failure; fail. * /The party fell flat because of the rain./ * /His joke fell flat because no one understood it./
[fall for] <v.>, <slang> 1. To begin to like very much. * /Dick fell for baseball when he was a little boy./ 2. To begin to love (a boy or a girl.) * /Helen was a very pretty girl and people were not surprised that Bill fell for her./ 3. To believe (something told to fool you.) * /Nell did not fall for Joe's story about being a jet pilot./
[fall from grace] <v. phr.> To go back to a bad way of behaving; do something bad again. * /The boys behaved well during dinner until they fell from grace by eating their dessert with their fingers instead of their forks./ * /The boy fell from grace when he lied./
[fall guy] <n.>, <slang> The "patsy" in an illegal transaction; a sucker; a dupe; the person who takes the punishment others deserve. * /When the Savings and Loan Bank failed, due to embezzlement, the vice president had to be the fall guy, saving the necks of the owners./
[fall in] <v.> 1. To go and stand properly in a row like soldiers. * /The captain told his men to fall in./ Contrast: FALL OUT(3). 2. to collapse. * /The explosion caused the walls of the house to fall in./
[fall in for] <v.> To receive; get. * /The boy fell in for some sympathy when he broke his leg./ * /The team manager fell in for most of the blame when his team lost the playoffs./
[falling-out] <n.> Argument; disagreement; quarrel. * /Mary and Jane had a falling-out about who owned the book./ * /The boys had a falling-out when each said that the other had broken the rules./
[fall in line] or [fall into line] See: IN LINE, INTO LINE.
[fall in love] See: IN LOVE.
[fall in] or [into place] <v. phr.> To suddenly make sense; find the natural or proper place for the missing pieces of a puzzle. * /When the detectives realized that a second man was seen at the place of the murder, the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place./
[fall in with] <v.>, <informal> 1. To meet by accident. * /Mary fell in with some of her friends downtown./ 2. To agree to help with; support. * /I fell in with Jack's plan to play a trick on his father./ 3. To become associated with a group detrimental to the newcomer. * /John fell in with a wild bunch; small wonder he flunked all of his courses./ Compare: PLAY ALONG.
[fall into the habit of] <v. phr.> To develop the custom of doing something. * /Jack has fallen into the bad habit of playing poker for large sums of money every night./
[fall off] See: DROP OFF(4).
[fall off the wagon] <v. phr.>, <slang>, <alcoholism and drug culture> To return to the consumption of an addictive, such as alcohol or drugs, after a period of abstinence. * /Poor Joe has fallen off the wagon again - he is completely incoherent today./