Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)

[unknown quantity] <n.> Someone or something whose value and importance are not known, especially in a certain situation, time or place; a new and untested person or thing. * /What we would find if we could fly to the moon is an unknown quantity./ * /The new player is still an unknown quantity. We'll find out how good he is in the game./

[unseen] See: SIGHT UNSEEN.

[until all hours] <adv. phr.> Until very late at night. * /He is so anxious to pass his exams with flying colors that he stays up studying until all hours./

[until hell freezes over] <adv. phr.>, <slang> Forever, for an eternity. * /He can argue until hell freezes over; nobody will believe him./ Contrast: WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER.

[until the last gun is fired] See: TILL THE LAST GUN IS FIRED.

[unturned] See: LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED.

[up against] <prep. phr.> Blocked or threatened by. * /When she applied to medical school, the black woman wondered whether she was up against barriers of sex and race prejudice./

[up against it] <adj. phr.>, <informal> Faced with a great difficulty or problem; badly in need. * /The Smith family is up against it because Mr. Smith cannot find a job./ * /You will be up against it if you don't pass the test. You will probably fail arithmetic./ Compare: HARD UP, END OF ONE'S ROPE, BACK TO THE WALL(2).

[up and about] or [around] <adv. phr.> Recovered and able to move about; once again in good health after an illness. * /My sister was ill for several weeks, but is now up and about again./

[up and at them] 1. <adv. phr.> Actively engaged in a task as if doing combat. * /"You want to know whether he will make a diligent worker?" Dick asked. "Well, I can tell you that most of the time he is up and at them like no one else I know."/ 2. <v. phr.> To become aggressively engaged in doing something; (useable as a command). * /Come on, up and at them, you guys. We still have a lot of work to get done./

[up-and-coming] <adj. phr.> Bound toward success; upwardly mobile; progressive; ambitious. * /The newly elected state senator is an up-and-coming young politician who is expected to be highly successful in national politics in the future./

[up a stump] <adj. phr.>, <slang> Stumped; blocked; mixed up or confused in what you are trying to do. * /Jimmy knows how to add and subtract but fractions have him up a stump./

[up a tree] <adv.> or <adj. phr.> 1. Hunted or chased into a tree; treed. * /The dog drove the coon up a tree so the hunter could shoot him./ 2. <informal> in trouble; having problems; in a difficulty that it is hard to escape or think of a way out of. * /John's father has him up a tree in the checker game./ Compare: UP THE CREEK.

[up for grabs] <adj. phr.>, <informal> Available for anyone to try to get; ready to be competed for; there for the taking. * /When the captain of the football team moved out of town, his place was up for grabs./

[up front(1)] <n.>, <slang>, <informal> The managerial section of a corporation or firm. * /Joe Catwallender finally made it (with the) up front./

[up front(2)] <adj.>, <slang>, <informal> Open, sincere, hiding nothing. * /Sue was completely up front about why she didn't want to see him anymore./

[up in arms] <adj. phr.> 1. Equipped with guns or weapons and ready to fight. * /All of the colonies were up in arms against the Redcoats./ Syn.: IN ARMS. 2. Very angry and wanting to fight. * /Robert is up in arms because John said he was stupid./ * /The students were up in arms over the new rule against food in the dormitory./

[up in the air] <adj.> or <adv. phr.> 1. <informal> In great anger or excitement. * /My father went straight up in the air when he heard I damaged the car./ * /The Jones family are all up in the air because they are taking a trip around the world./ Compare: HIT THE CEILING, BLOW A FUSE. 2. also [in midair] Not settled; uncertain; undecided. * /Plans for the next meeting have been left up in the air until Jane gets better./ * /The result of the game was left hanging in midair because it rained before the finish./ Compare: LEAVE HANGING.

[up one's alley] See: DOWN ONE'S ALLEY.

[up one's sleeve] or [in one's sleeve] <adv. phr.> 1. Hidden in the sleeve of one's shirt or coat and ready for secret or wrongful use. * /The crooked gambler hid aces up his sleeve during the card game so that he would win./ 2. <informal> Kept secretly ready for the right time or for a time when needed. * /Jimmy knew that his father had some trick up his sleeve because he was smiling to himself during the checker game./ Compare: CARD UP ONE'S SLEEVE. 3. See: LAUGH UP ONE'S SLEEVE.

[upon oneself] See: TAKE ON ONESELF also TAKE UPON ONESELF.

[upon one's head] See: ON ONE'S HEAD.

[upon the spot] See: ON THE SPOT(1).

[upper] See: KEEP A STIFF UPPER LIP, ON ONE'S UPPERS.

[upper crust] <n.>, <informal> The richest, most famous, or important people in a certain place; the highest class. * /It is a school that only the children of the upper crust can afford./

[upper hand] or [whip hand] <n.> Controlling power; advantage. * /In the third round the champion got the upper hand over his opponent and knocked him out./ * /The cowboy trained the wild horse so that he finally got the whip hand and tamed the horse./

[upper story] <n.> 1. A floor or level of a building above the first floor. * /The apartment house where Gene lives is five stories high and he lives in one of the upper stories./ 2. <slang> A person's head or brain. * /Lulu has nobody home in the upper story./ * /Bill's sister says he is weak in the upper story./

[Upsadaisy!] or [Upsee-daisy!] or [Upsy-daisy!] <adv. phr.> - A popular exclamation used when just about anything is lifted, particularly a small child raised to his or her highchair or bed. * /"Upsee-daisy!" the nurse said with a smile on her face, as she lifted the baby from its bed./

[ups and downs] <n. phr.> Vicissitudes; alternating periods between good and bad times; changes in fortune. * /He is now a wealthy stock trader, but at the beginning of his career he, too, had many ups and downs./

[upset the applecart] or [upset one's applecart] <v. phr.>, <informal> To ruin a plan or what is being done, often by surprise or accident; change how things are or are being done, often unexpectedly; ruin or mix up another person's success or plan for success. * /John upset the other team's applecart by hitting a home run in the last inning and we won the game./ * /We are planning a surprise party for Bill, so don't let Mary upset the applecart by telling him before the party./ * /Frank thinks he is going to be the boss, but I'll upset his applecart the first chance I get./ Compare: ROCK THE BOAT.