Словарь американских идиом: 8000 единиц - Adam Makkai

[bottom line]{v.}, {informal} (stress on "bottom") To finish; to bring to a conclusion. •/Okay, you guys, let’s bottom line this project and break for coffee./

[bottom out]{v. phr.} To reach the lowest point (said chiefly of economic cycles). •/According to the leading economic indicators the recession will bottom out within the next two months./

[bounce] See: GET THE BOUNCE, GIVE THE BOUNCE.

[bound] See: BIND, BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS, OUT OF BOUNDS, WITHIN BOUNDS.

[bound for]{adj. phr.} On the way to; going to. •/I am bound for the country club./ •/The ship is bound for Liverpool./

[bound up with]{v. phr.} To be connected; be involved with. •/Tuition at our university is bound up with the state budget./

[bow] See: TAKE A BOW.

[bow and scrape]{v.} To be too polite or obedient from fear or hope of gain; act like a slave. •/The old servant bowed and scraped before them, too obedient and eager to please./

[bowl of cherries] See: BED OF ROSES.

[bowl over]{v.}, {informal} 1. To knock down as if with a bowled ball. •/The taxi hit him a glancing blow and bowled him over./ 2. To astonish with success or shock with misfortune; upset; stun. •/He was bowled over by his wife’s sudden death./ •/The young actress bowled over everybody in her first movie./

[bow out]{v.}, {informal} 1. To give up taking part; excuse yourself from doing any more; quit. •/Mr. Black often quarreled with his partners, so finally he bowed out of the company./ •/While the movie was being filmed, the star got sick and had to bow out./ 2. To stop working after a long service; retire. •/He bowed out as train engineer after forty years of railroading./

[box] See: IN A BIND or IN A BOX, PENALTY BOX, PRESS BOX, STUFF THE BALLOT BOX, VOICE BOX.

[box office]{n.}, {informal} 1. The place at movies and theaters where tickets may be purchased just before the performance instead of having ordered them through the telephone or having bought them at a ticket agency. •/No need to reserve the seats; we can pick them up at the box office./ 2. A best selling movie, musical, or drama (where the tickets are all always sold out and people line up in front of the box office). •/John Wayne’s last movie was a regular box office./ 3. Anything successful or well liked. •/Betsie is no longer box office with me./

[boy] See: ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY, FAIR-HAIRED BOY, MAMA’S BOY, OLD BOY, SEPARATE THE MEN FROM THE BOYS.

[boyfriend]{n.}, {informal} 1. A male friend or companion. •/"John and his boyfriends have gone to the ball game," said his mother./ 2. A girl’s steady date, a woman’s favorite man friend; a male lover or sweetheart. •/Jane’s new boyfriend is a senior in high school./ Contrast: GIRL FRIEND.

[boys will be boys] Boys are only children and must sometimes get into mischief or trouble or behave too roughly. •/Boys will be boys and make a lot of noise, so John’s mother told him and his friends to play in the park instead of the back yard./

[brain] See: BEAT ONE’S BRAINS OUT, BLOW ONE’S BRAINS OUT, ON THE BRAIN, RACK ONE’S BRAIN, GET ONE’S BRAINS FRIED.

[brain bucket]{n.}, {slang} A motorcycle helmet. •/If you want to share a ride with me, you’ve got to wear a brain bucket./

[brain drain]{n.}, {informal} 1. The loss of the leading intellectuals and researchers of a country due to excessive emigration to other countries where conditions are better. •/Britain suffered a considerable brain drain to the United States after World War II./ 2. An activity requiring great mental concentration resulting in fatigue and exhaustion •/That math exam I took was a regular brain drain./

[brain-storm]{v.} To have a discussion among fellow researchers or co-workers on a project in order to find the best solution to a given problem. •/Dr. Watson and his research assistants are brain-storming in the conference room./

[brainstorm]{n.} A sudden insight; a stroke of comprehension. •/Listen to me, I’ve just had a major brainstorm, and I think I found the solution to our problem./

[brain trust]{n.} A group of specially trained, highly intelligent experts in a given field. •/Albert Einstein gathered a brain trust around himself at the Princeton Institute of Advanced Studies./

[brake] See: RIDE THE BRAKE.

[branch off]{v.} To go from something big or important to something smaller or less important; turn aside. •/At the bridge a little road branches off from the highway and follows the river./ •/Martin was trying to study his lesson, but his mind kept branching off onto what girl he should ask to go with him to the dance./

[branch out]{v.} To add new interests or activities; begin doing other things also. •/First Jane collected stamps; then she branched out and collected coins, too./ •/John started a television repair shop; when he did well, he branched out and began selling television sets too./

[brand-new] also [bran-new] {adj.} As new or fresh as when just made and sold by the manufacturer; showing no use or wear. •/He had taken a brand-new car from the dealer’s floor and wrecked it./ •/In Uncle Tom’s trunk, we found a wedding ring, still in its little satin-lined box, still brand-new./

[brass] See: DOUBLE IN BRASS, GET DOWN TO BRASS TACKS.

[brass hat]{n.}, {slang} 1. A high officer in the army, navy, or air force. •/The brass hats In Washington often discuss important secrets./ 2. Any person who has a high position in business, politics, or other work. •/Mr. Woods, the rich oil man, is a political brass hat./

[brass tacks] See: GET DOWN TO BRASS TACKS.

[brave it out]{v. phr.} To endure something difficult or dangerous through to the end; keep on through trouble or danger. •/It was a dangerous ocean crossing in wartime, but captain and crew braved it out./

[brazen it out]{v. phr.} To pretend you did nothing wrong; be suspected, accused, or scolded without admitting you did wrong; act as if not guilty. •/The teacher found a stolen pen that the girl had in her desk, but the girl brazened it out; she said someone else must have put it there./

[bread] See: HALF A LOAF is BETTER THAN NONE, KNOW WHICH SIDE ONE’S BREAD IS BUTTERED ON, TAKE THE BREAD OUT OF ONE’S MOUTH.

[bread and butter(1)]{n. phr.} The usual needs of life; food, shelter, and clothing. •/Ed earned his bread and butter as a bookkeeper, but added a little jam by working with a dance band on weekends./

[bread and butter(2)]{adj.} Thanking someone for entertainment or a nice visit; thank-you. •/After spending the weekend as a guest in the Jones' home, Alice wrote the Joneses the usual bread-and-butter letter./ See: BREAD AND BUTTER LETTER.

[bread and butter(3)]{interj.}, {informal} Spoken to prevent bad luck that you think might result from some action. •/We’d say "Bread and butter!" when we had passed on opposite sides of a tree./

[bread-and-butter letter]{n.} A written acknowledgment of hospitality received. •/Jane wrote the Browns a bread-and-butter letter when she returned home from her visit to them./

[breadbasket]{n.}, {slang} The stomach. •/John is stuffing his breadbasket again./

[break] See: COFFEE BREAK.

[break away] or [break loose] {v. phr.} To liberate oneself from someone or something. •/Jane tried to break loose from her attacker, but he was too strong./

[break camp]{v. phr.} To take down and pack tents and camping things; take your things from a camping place. •/The scouts broke camp at dawn./

[break down]{v.} (stress on "down") 1. To smash or hit (something) so that it falls; cause to fall by force. •/The firemen broke down the door./ 2. To reduce or destroy the strength or effect of; weaken; win over. •/By helpful kindness the teacher broke down the new boy’s shyness./ •/Advertising breaks down a lot of stubbornness against change./ 3. To separate into elements or parts; decay. •/Water is readily broken down into hydrogen and oxygen./ •/After many years, rocks break down into dirt./ 4. To become unusable because of breakage or other failure; lose power to work or go. •/The car broke down after half an hour’s driving./ •/His health broke down./ •/When the coach was sick in bed, the training rules of the team broke down./ Compare: GO BACK ON(2).

[breakdown] See: NERVOUS BREAKDOWN.

[breaker] See: JAW-BREAKER.

[break even]{v. phr.}, {informal} (stress on "even") To end a series of gains and losses having the same amount you started with; have expenses equal to profits; have equal gain and loss. •/The storekeeper made many sales, but his expenses were so high that he just broke even./ •/If you gamble you are lucky when you break even./

[break-even]{n.} The point of equilibrium in a business venture when one has made as much money as one had invested, but not more — that would be "profit." •/"We’ve reached the break-even point at long last!" — Max exclaimed with joy./

[break ground]{v. phr.} To begin a construction project by digging for the foundation; especially, to turn the formal first spadeful of dirt. •/City officials and industrial leaders were there as the company broke ground for its new building./ See: BREAK NEW GROUND.

[break in]{v.} (stress on "in") 1a. To break from outside. •/The firemen broke in the door of the burning house./ 1b. To enter by force or unlawfully. •/Thieves broke in while the family was away./ 2. To enter suddenly or interrupt. •/A stranger broke in on the meeting without knocking./ •/The secretary broke in to say that a telegram had arrived./ Compare: CUT IN(2). 3. To make a start in a line of work or with a company or association; begin a new job. •/He broke in as a baseball player with a minor league./ 4. To teach the skills of a new job or activity to. •/An assistant foreman broke in the new man as a machine operator./ 5. To lessen the stiffness or newness of by use. •/He broke in a new pair of shoes./ •/Breaking in a new car requires careful driving at moderate speeds./

[break-in]{n.} (stress on "break") A robbery; a burglary. •/We lost our jewelry during a break-in./

[break into]{v.} 1. To force an entrance into; make a rough or unlawful entrance into. •/Thieves broke into the store at night./ 2. {informal} To succeed in beginning (a career, business, or a social life) •/He broke into television as an actor./ 3. To interrupt. •/He broke into the discussion with a shout of warning./ 4. To begin suddenly. •/He broke into a sweat./ •/She broke into tears./ •/The dog heard his master’s whistle and broke into a run./

[break new ground]{v. phr.} 1. To start a new activity previously neglected by others; do pioneering work. •/Albert Einstein broke new ground with his theory of relativity./ 2. To begin something never done before. •/The school broke new ground with reading lessons that taught students to guess the meaning of new words./

[break off]{v.} 1. To stop suddenly. •/The speaker was interrupted so often that he broke off and sat down./ •/When Bob came in, Jean broke off her talk with Linda and talked to Bob./ 2. {informal} To end a friendship or love. •/I hear that Tom and Alice have broken off./ •/She broke off with her best friend./

[break one’s balls]{v. phr.}, {slang}, {vulgar}, {avoidable} To do something with maximum effort; to do something very difficult or taxing •/I’ve been breaking my balls to buy you this new color TV set and you aren’t the least bit appreciative!/ Compare: BREAK ONE’S NECK.

[break one’s heart]{v. phr.} To discourage greatly; make very sad or hopeless. •/His son’s disgrace broke his heart./ •/When Mr. White lost everything he had worked so hard for, it broke his heart./