Словарь американских идиом: 8000 единиц - Makkai Adam - Страница 55

[disappear] or [evaporate] or [vanish into thin air] {v. phr.} To disappear quickly, without leaving a trace. •/Money seems to disappear into thin air these days./ •/Jack just vanished into thin air before the meeting had started./

[discretion] See: THROW CAUTION TO THE WINDS also THROW DISCRETION TO THE WINDS.

[discretion is the better part of valor]{literary} When you are in danger or trouble, good sense helps more than foolish risks; it is better to be careful than to be foolishly brave.?—?A proverb. •/When you are facing a man with a knife, discretion is the better part of valor./

[dish] See: COVERED-DISH SUPPER.

[dish of tea] See: CUP OF TEA.

[dish out]{v.} 1. To serve (food) from a large bowl or plate. •/Ann’s mother asked her to dish out the beans./ 2. {informal} To give in large quantities. •/That teacher dished out so much homework that her pupils complained to their parents./ 3. {slang} To scold; treat or criticize roughly. •/Jim likes to dish it out, but he hates to take it./ Compare: HAND OUT.

[dish the dirt]{v. phr.}, {slang} To gossip, to spread rumors about others. •/Stop dishing the dirt. Sally, it’s really quite unbecoming!/

[disk jockey]{n.} An employee at a radio station or in a dance club who puts on the records that will be broadcast. •/Jack is working as a disk jockey at the local FM station./

[dispose of]{v.} 1. To throw away; give away, or sell; get rid of. •/John’s father wants to dispose of their old house and buy a new one./ •/The burglars had difficulty in disposing of the stolen jewelry./ 2. To finish. with; settle; complete. •/The boys were hungry, and quickly disposed of their dinner./ •/The committee soon disposed of all its business./ 3. To destroy or defeat. •/The champion disposed of the other fighter by knocking him out in the second round./ •/Our planes disposed of two enemy planes./

[dispute] See: IN DISPUTE.

[distance] See: KEEP AT A DISTANCE, KEEP ONE’S DISTANCE.

[ditch] See: LAST DITCH,

[dive] See: GO INTO A TAIL SPIN or GO INTO A NOSE DIVE.

[do] See: HAVE DONE, HAVE DONE WITH, HAVE TO DO WITH, LET GEORGE DO IT, LET ONE’S RIGHT HAND KNOW WHAT ONE’S LEFT HAND IS DOING, LET’S DON’T, MAKE DO, WELL-TO-DO, WHAT’S UP or WHAT’S DOING.

[do a double take]{v. phr.}, {informal} To look again in surprise; suddenly understand what is seen or said. •/John did a double take when he saw Bill in girls' clothes./ •/When Evvie said she was quitting school, I did a double take./

[do a job on]{v. phr.}, {slang} To damage badly; do harm to; make ugly or useless. •/The baby did a job on Mary’s book./ •/Jane cut her hair and really did a job on herself./

[Doakes] See: JOE DOAKES.

[do a stretch]{v. phr.} To spend time in jail serving one’s sentence. •/Jake has disappeared from view for a while; he is doing a stretch for dope smuggling./

[do away with]{v.} 1. To put an end to; stop. •/The teachers want to do away with cheating in their school./ •/The city has decided to do away with overhead wires./ Compare: RID OF. 2. To kill; murder. •/The robbers did away with their victims./

[do by someone or something]{v.} To deal with; treat.?—?Used with a qualifying adverb between "do" and "by". •/Andy’s employer always does very well by him./

[do credit] or [do credit to] also ({informal}) [do proud] To add to or improve the reputation, good name, honor, or esteem of; show (you) deserve praise. •/Your neat appearance does you credit./ •/Mary’s painting would do credit to a real artist./

[doctor] See: JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED.

[doctor up]{v. phr.} To meddle with; adulterate. •/You don’t have to doctor up this basic salad with a lot of extras as I am trying to lose weight./

[do duty for]{v. phr.} To substitute for; act in place of. •/The bench often does duty for a table./

[Doe] See: JOHN DOE.

[doesn’t add up to a can of beans]{v. phr.} To be of little or no value. (Said of plans, ideas, etc.) •/"That’s a fairly interesting concept you got there, Mike, but the competition is bound to say that it doesn’t add up to a can of beans."/

[do for]{v.}, {informal} To cause the death or ruin of; cause to fail.?—?Used usually in the passive form "done for". •/The poor fellow is done for and will die before morning./ •/Andy’s employer always does very well by him./ •/If Jim fails that test, he is done for./

[dog] See: EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY, GO TO THE DOGS, HOT DOG, LEAD A DOG’S LIFE, LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE, RAIN CATS AND DOGS.

[dog days]{n. phr.} The hottest days of the year in the Northern Hemisphere (July and August). (The ancient Romans associated this time with the "Dog Star"?—?Sirius?—?which becomes visible in the heavens at this time of year.) •/"The dog days are upon us," John said. "It’s time to go swimming in the lake."/

[dog-eat-dog(1)]{n.} A way of living in which every person tries to get what he wants for himself no matter how badly or cruelly he must treat others to get it; readiness to do anything to get what you want. •/In some early frontier towns it was dog-eat-dog./

[dog-eat-dog(2)]{adj.} Ready or willing to fight and hurt others to get what you want. •/During the California gold rush, men had a dog-eat-dog life./

[doghouse] See: IN THE DOGHOUSE.

[dog in the manger]{n. phr.} A person who is unwilling to let another use what he himself has no use for. •/Although Valerie lives alone in that big house, she is like a dog in the manger when it comes to letting someone sharing it with her./

[dog one’s steps]{v. phr.} To follow someone closely. •/All the time he was in Havana, Castro’s police were dogging his steps./

[dog’s age] or [coon’s age] {n.}, {informal} A very long time. Usually used after "for" or "in" with a negative. •/Charlie Brown! I haven’t seen you for a coon’s age./ •/Father hasn’t had a night out with the boys in a dog’s age./ •/I waited for him for a dog’s age, but he didn’t come./ Syn.: MONTH OF SUNDAYS.

[dog’s life]{n. phr.} A life of misery, poverty, and unhappiness. •/Diogenes, the Greek philosopher, lived a dog’s life inside an empty barrel./

[do in]{v.}, {slang} 1. To ruin; destroy. •/Mr. Smith’s business was done in by a fire that burned down his store./ 2a. To kill; murder. •/The poor man was done in by two gangsters who ran away after the crime./ 2b. To make tired; exhaust. •/The boys were done in after their long hike./ Syn.: WEAR OUT(2). 3. To cheat; swindle. •/Mr. Jones was done in by two men who claimed to be collecting money for orphans and widows./

[doing] See: NOTHING DOING.

[do justice to]{v. phr.} 1. To do (something) as well as you should; do properly. •/Barbara had so many things to do that she could not do justice to her lessons./ •/The newspaper man did not do justice to the story./ 2. To eat or drink with enthusiasm or enjoyment. •/The boy did justice to the meal./

[dole out]{v. phr.} To measure out sparingly. •/Since the water ration was running low in the desert, the camp commandant doled out small cups of water to each soldier./