Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)

[mean business] <v. phr.>, <informal> To decide strongly to do what you plan to do; really mean it; be serious. * /The boss said he would fire us if we didn't work harder and he means business./ * /When she went to college to study, she meant business./ * /He just liked the company of the other girls he dated, but this time he seems to mean business./

[means] See: BY ALL MEANS, BY MEANS OF, BY NO MEANS, WAYS AND MEANS.

[means to an end] <n. phr.> An action leading to some end or purpose. * /Money for him was just a means to an end; actually he wanted power./

[mean well] <v. phr.> To have good intentions. * /Fred generally means well, but he has a tendency to be tactless./

[measure] See: BEYOND MEASURE, FOR GOOD MEASURE, MADE-TO-MEASURE, TAKE ONE'S MEASURE or TAKE THE MEASURE OF.

[measure off] <v. phr.> To mark by measuring. * /She measured off three yards with which to make the new dress./

[measure up] <v.> To be equal; be of fully high quality; come up. * /John didn't measure up to the best catchers but he was a good one./ * /Lois' school work didn't measure up to her ability./ Compare up: TO PAR. Contrast: FALL SHORT.

[meatball] <n.>, <slang> A dull, boring, slow-witted, or uninteresting person. * /You'll never get an interesting story out of that meatball - stop inviting him./

[medicine] See: TAKE ONE'S MEDICINE.

[medium] See: STRIKE A HAPPY MEDIUM.

[meet] See: MAKE ENDS MEET.

[meet halfway] See: GO HALFWAY.

[meeting] See: BEST BIB AND TUCKER or SUNDAY-GO-TO-MEETING CLOTHES.

[meet one's death] <v. phr.> To die. * /Algernon met his death in a car accident./

[meet one's eye] <v. phr.> To be in plain view or come into plain view; appear clearly or obviously. * /When John rounded the bend, a clear blue lake met his eye./ * /On a first reading the plan looked good, but there was more to it than met the eye./

[meet one's match] <v. phr.> To encounter someone as good as oneself. * /The champion finally met his match and lost the game./

[meet one's Waterloo] <v. phr.> To be defeated; lose an important contest. * /After seven straight victories the team met its Waterloo./ * /John fought instead of running, and the bully met his Waterloo./ (After Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo.)

[meet up with] <v. phr.> To meet by accident; come upon without planning or expecting to. * /When he ran around the tree, Bob suddenly meet up with a large bear./ * /The family would have arrived on time, but they met up with a flat tire./

[meet with] <v.> 1. To meet (someone), usually by accident. * /In the woods he met with two strangers./ Syn.: COME UPON. 2. To meet together, usually by plan; join; have a meeting with. * /The two scouts met with the officers to talk about plans for the march./ 3. To experience (as unhappiness); suffer (as bad luck); have (as an accident or mishap). * /The farmer met with misfortune; his crops were destroyed by a storm./ * /The traveler met with an accident on the road./

[melt] See: BUTTER WOULDN'T MELT IN ONE'S MOUTH, MELT IN ONE'S MOUTH.

[melting pot] <n. phr.> A country where different nationalities mingle and mix with the result that, in the second generation, most people speak the main language of the country and behave like the majority. * /It is no longer considered entirely true that the United States is a melting pot; many immigrants speak a second language./

[melt in one's mouth] <v. phr.> 1. To be so tender as to seem to need no chewing. * /The chicken was so tender that it melted in your mouth./ 2. To taste very good; be delicious. * /Mother's apple pie really melts in your mouth./

[memory] See: IN MEMORY OF.

[mend] See: ON THE MEND.

[mend one's fences] <v. phr.>, <informal> To do something to make people like or follow you again; strengthen your friendships or influence. * /The senator went home from Washington to mend his fences./ * /John saw that his friends did not like him, so he decided to mend his fences./

[mend one's ways] <v. phr.> To reform; change one's behavior from negative to positive. * /He had better mend his ways or he'll wind up in jail./

[mental telepathy] <n. phr.> The passing of one person's thoughts to another without any discoverable talking or carrying of signals between them. * /Mrs. Smith knew the moment her husband's ship sank on the other side of the world. It seems like a case of mental telepathy./ * /Most or all men who practice mental telepathy on stage have really trained themselves to detect tiny clues from the audience./

[mention] See: NOT TO MENTION.

[meow] See: CAT'S MEOW.

[mercy] See: AT THE MERCY OF.

[mercy killing] <n. phr.> The act of killing a terminally ill patient or animal in order to avoid further suffering. * /Mercy killing of humans is illegal in most countries, yet many doctors practice it secretly./

[merrier] See: MORE THE MERRIER.

[merry] See: LEAD A MERRY CHASE, MAKE MERRY.

[message] See: GET THE MESSAGE.

[mess around] <v. phr.> 1. To engage in idle or purposeless activity. * /Come on, you guys, - start doing some work, don't just mess around all day!/ 2. <vulgar> To be promiscuous; to indulge in sex with little discrimination as to who the partner is. * /Allen needs straightening out; he's been messing around with the whole female population of his class./ Compare: FOOL AROUND.

[mess up] <v. phr.>, <slang>, <informal> 1. To cause trouble; to spoil something. * /What did you have to mess up my accounts for?/ 2. To cause someone emotional trauma. * /Sue will never get married; she got messed up when she was a teenager./ 3. To beat up someone physically. * /When Joe came in after the fight with the boys, he was all messed up./

[method in (to) one's madness] <n. phr.> A plan or organization of ideas hard to perceive at first, but that becomes noticeable after longer and closer examination. * /We thought he was crazy to threaten to resign from the university but, when he was offered a tenured full professorship, we realized that there had been method in his madness./

[mickey mouse(1)] <adj.>, <slang> Inferior; second rate; chicken; easy; gimmicky. * /Watch out for Perkins; he's full of mickey mouse ideas./

[mickey mouse(2)] <n.> (<derogatory>) A stupid person; a policeman; a white man (as used by blacks).

[midair] See: UP IN THE AIR(2) also IN MIDAIR.

[middle] See: CHANGE HORSES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREAM, IN THE MIDDLE.

[middle ground] <n.> A place halfway between the two sides of an argument; a compromise. * /John wanted to go running. Bill said it was too hot. Tom took the middle ground and suggested a hike./ * /The committee found a middle ground between the two proposals./