Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)

[peel off] <v.> To dive away from a group of airplanes in a flight formation; bring one plane down from a group. * /As the group neared the home base, pilot after pilot peeled off for a landing./

[peeping Tom] <n.> A man or boy who likes sly peeping. * /He was picked up by the police as a peeping Tom./

[peg] See: SQUARE PEG IN A ROUND HOLE, TAKE DOWN A PEG.

[peg away] <v.> To work methodically, industriously, or steadily * /Thomson pegged away for years at a shoe repair business./ * /Jones kept pegging away, and finally recognition came./

[pen] See: POISON-PEN, SLIP OF THE PEN.

[penalty box] <n.> A place where penalized hockey players are required to go to wait until the penalty is over. * /Two players got into a fight and were sent to the penalty box for two minutes./

[penny for one's thoughts] Please tell me what you are thinking about; what's your daydream. * /"A penny for your thoughts!" he exclaimed./

[penny pincher], [penny pinching] See: PINCH PENNIES.

[penny wise and pound foolish] Wise or careful in small things but not careful enough in important things.
– A proverb. * /Mr. Smith's fence is rotting and falling down because he wouldn't spend money to paint it. He is penny wise and pound foolish./

[pen pal] <n.> A friend who is known to someone through an exchange of letters. * /John's pen pal writes him letters about school in Alaska./

[people who live in glass houses should not throw stones] Do not complain about other people if you are as bad as they are.
– A proverb. * /Mary says that Betty is jealous, but Mary is more jealous herself. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones./

[pep talk] <n.>, <informal> A speech that makes people feel good so they will try harder and not give up. * /The football coach gave the team a pep talk./ * /Mary was worried about her exams, but felt better after the teacher's pep talk./

[period of grace] See: GRACE PERIOD.

[perish the thought] <v. phr.> Let us not even think of it; may it never come true.
– Used as an exclamation. * /If John fails the college entrance exam - perish the thought - he will go back to high school for one more year./ * /Perish the thought that Mary should have cancer./ Compare: GOD FORBID.

[perk up] <v.> To get or give back pep, vigor, health, or spirit; become or make more lively; liven up. * /He perked up quickly after his illness./ * /The rain perked up the flowers wonderfully./

[person] See: IN PERSON.

[pet name] <n. phr.> A special or abbreviated name indicating affection. * /He never calls his wife her real name, "Elizabeth," but only such pet names as "honey," "honey bunch," "sweetheart," and "sugar."/

[petard] See: HOIST WITH ONE'S OWN PETARD.

[Peter] See: ROB PETER TO PAY PAUL.

[peter out] <v.>, <informal> To fail or die down gradually; grow less; become exhausted. * /After the factory closed, the town pretty well petered out./ * /The mine once had a rich vein of silver, but it petered out./ * /But as he thought of her, his anger slowly petered out./ Compare: GIVE OUT.

[photo finish] <n. phr.> A close finish in a race of people or animals, where the camera must decide the actual result, sometimes by millimeters. * /The black horse was declared the winner in a photo finish./

[pick] See: BONE TO PICK or CROW TO PICK.

[pick a bone] See: BONE TO PICK.

[pick a fight] See: PICK A QUARREL.

[pick a hole in] or [pick holes in] <v. phr.>, <informal> To find a mistake in or things wrong with; criticize; blame. * /The witness said he had been walking in the moonlight last Sunday, but the lawyer picked a hole in what he said by proving that there was no moon and that it rained Sunday night./ * /Mary is always picking holes in what the other girls do./ Compare: FIND FAULT.

[pick and choose] <v.> To select with much care; choose in a fussy way; take a long time before choosing. * /He was never one to pick and choose./ * /Some people pick and choose to get something perfect, and some just because they can't make up their minds./

[pick apart] or [pick to pieces] <v. phr.> To criticize harshly; find things wrong with; find fault with. * /After the dance, the girls picked Susan apart./ * /They picked the play to pieces./

[pick a pocket] <v. phr.> To steal by removing from the pocket of another. * /While in the train, somebody picked his pocket and took the last dollar he had./

[pick a/the lock] <v. phr.> To burglarize; open illegally; open a lock without the regular key. * /The robber got into the house by picking the lock./

[pick a quarrel] <v. phr.> To seek the opportunity for a fight or a quarrel. * /When Charlie has too much to drink, he has a tendency to pick a quarrel with whomever happens to be around./ See: PICK A FIGHT.

[pick at] <v.> 1. To reach or grasp for repeatedly. * /The baby kept picking at the coverlet./ 2. To eat without appetite; choose a small piece every little while to eat. * /He picked at his food./ 3. To annoy or bother continually; find fault with. * /They showed their displeasure by continually picking at her./ Syn.: PICK ON.

[pick holes in] <v. phr.> To criticize or find fault with something, such as a speech, a statement, a theory, etc. * /It is easier to pick holes in someone else's argument than to make a good one yourself./

[pick-me-up] <n. phr.> Something you take when you feel tired or weak. * /John stopped at a drugstore for a pick-me-up after working three hours overtime./ * /Mary always carried a bar of chocolate in her pocketbook for a pick-me-up./

[pickpocket] <n.> A thief; a petty criminal who steals things and money out of people's pockets on a bus, train, etc. * /In some big cities many poor children become pickpockets out of poverty./

[pick off] <v.> 1. To pull off; remove with the fingers. * /He picked off the burs that had stuck to his overcoat./ 2. To shoot, one at a time; knock down one by one. * /The sniper picked off the slower soldiers as they came out into the road./ 3. To catch a base runner off base by throwing the ball quickly to a fielder who tags him out. * /The pitcher turned around suddenly and threw to the second baseman to pick the runner off second base./ Compare: OFF BASE. 4. To catch and, especially in football, to intercept. * /Alert defenders picked off three of Jack's passes./

[pick on] <v.> 1. <informal> To make a habit of annoying or bothering (someone); do or say bad things to (someone). * /Other boys picked on him until he decided to fight them./ Syn.: PICK AT(3). 2. To single out; choose; select. * /He visited a lot of colleges, and finally picked on Stanford./

[pick one's teeth] <v. phr.> To clean one's teeth with a toothpick. * /It is considered poor manners to pick one's teeth in public./

[pick one's way] <v. phr.> To go ahead carefully in difficult or unfamiliar places; advance with care. * /After nightfall we drove slowly along, picking our way until we found the right turn./ * /He picked his way across the rough and rocky hillside./