Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)

[fall in] or [into place] <v. phr.> To suddenly make sense; find the natural or proper place for the missing pieces of a puzzle. * /When the detectives realized that a second man was seen at the place of the murder, the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place./

[fall in with] <v.>, <informal> 1. To meet by accident. * /Mary fell in with some of her friends downtown./ 2. To agree to help with; support. * /I fell in with Jack's plan to play a trick on his father./ 3. To become associated with a group detrimental to the newcomer. * /John fell in with a wild bunch; small wonder he flunked all of his courses./ Compare: PLAY ALONG.

[fall into the habit of] <v. phr.> To develop the custom of doing something. * /Jack has fallen into the bad habit of playing poker for large sums of money every night./

[fall off] See: DROP OFF(4).

[fall off the wagon] <v. phr.>, <slang>, <alcoholism and drug culture> To return to the consumption of an addictive, such as alcohol or drugs, after a period of abstinence. * /Poor Joe has fallen off the wagon again - he is completely incoherent today./

[fall on] or [fall upon] <v.> 1. To go and fight with; attack. * /The robbers fell on him from behind trees./ 2. <formal> To meet (troubles). * /The famous poet fell upon unhappy days./

[fallout] <n.> 1. Result of nuclear explosion; harmful radioactive particles. * /Some experts consider fallout as dangerous as the bomb itself./ 2. Undesirable aftereffects in general. * /As a fallout of Watergate, many people lost their faith in the government./

[fall out] <v.> 1. To happen. * /As it fell out, the Harpers were able to sell their old car./ Compare: TURN OUT(6). 2. To quarrel; fight; fuss; disagree. * /The thieves fell out over the division of the loot./ 3. To leave a military formation. * /You men are dismissed. Fall out!/ Contrast: FALL IN. 4. To leave a building to go and line up. * /The soldiers fell out of the barracks for inspection./

[fall over backwards] or [fall over oneself] <v. phr.> To do everything you can to please someone; try very hard to satisfy someone. * /The hotel manager fell over backwards to give the movie star everything she wanted./ * /The boys fell over themselves trying to get the new girl's attention./

[fall over yourself] See: FALL OVER BACKWARDS.

[fall short] <v.> To fail to reach (some aim); not succeed. * /His jump fell three inches short of the world record./ * /The movie fell short of expectations./ Contrast: MEASURE UP.

[fall through] <v.>, <informal> To fail; be ruined; not happen or be done. * /Jim's plans to go to college fell through at the last moment./ * /Mr. Jones' deal to sell his house fell through./ Contrast: COME OFF.

[fall to] <v.> 1. To begin to work. * /The boys fell to and quickly cut the grass./ Syn.: TURN TO. 2. To begin to fight. * /They took out their swords and fell to./ 3. To begin to eat. * /The hungry boys fell to before everyone sat down./ 4. Begin; start. * /The old friends met and fell to talking about their school days./

[fall to pieces] <v. phr.> To disintegrate; collapse. * /After the death of Alexander the Great, his empire started to fall to pieces./

[fall wide of the mark] See: WIDE OF THE MARK.

[false] See: PLAY ONE FALSE, SAIL UNDER FALSE COLORS.

[family] See: RUN IN THE BLOOD or RUN IN THE FAMILY, IN A FAMILY WAY.

[family tree] <n.> Ancestry. * /My family tree can be traced back to the sixteenth century./

[famine] See: FEAST OR A FAMINE.

[fancy doing something] - An expression of surprise. * /Fancy meeting you here in such an unexpected place!/

[fancy pants] <n.>, <slang> A man or boy who wears clothes that are too nice or acts like a woman or girl; sissy. * /The first time they saw him in his new band uniform, they yelled "Hey, fancy pants, what are you doing in your sister's slacks?"/

[fan] See: HIT THE FAN.

[fan out] <v. phr.> To spread in several directions. * /The main road fans out at the edge of the forest in four different directions./

[fan the breeze] <v. phr.> 1. See: SHOOT THE BREEZE. 2. To swing and miss the ball in baseball. * /The batter tried to hit a home run but he fanned the breeze./

[far] See: AS FAR AS or SO FAR AS, SO FAR also THUS PAR, BY FAR, FEW AND FAR BETWEEN, SO PAR, SO GOOD.

[far afield] <adj. phr.> Remote; far from the original starting point. * /When we started to discuss theology. Jack was obviously getting far afield from the subject at hand./

[far and away] <adv. phr.> Very much. * /The fish was far and away the biggest ever caught on the lake./ Compare: BY FAR, HEAD AND SHOULDERS(2).

[far and near] <n. phr.> Far places and near places; everywhere. * /People came from far and near to hear him speak./

[far and wide] <adv. phr.> Everywhere, in all directions. * /The wind blew the papers far and wide./ * /My old school friends are scattered far and wide now./ * /The movie company looked far and wide for a boy to act the hero in the new movie./ Compare: ALL OVER.

[farfetched] <adj.> Exaggerated; fantastic. * /Sally told us some farfetched story about having been kidnapped by little green men in a flying saucer./

[far cry] <n.> Something very different. * /His last statement was a far cry from his first story./ * /The first automobile could run, but it was a far cry from a modern car./

[far from it] <adv. phr.> Not even approximately; not really at all. * /"Do you think she spent $100 on that dress?" Jane asked. "Far from it," Sue replied. "It must have cost at least $300."/

[far gone] <adj. phr.> In a critical or extreme state. * /He was so far gone by the time the doctor arrived, that nothing could be done to save his life./

[farm] See: COLLECTIVE FARM.

[farm out] <v.> 1. To have another person do (something) for you; send away to be done. * /Our teacher had too many test papers to read, so she farmed out half of them to a friend./ 2. To send away to be taken care of. * /While Mother was sick, the children were farmed out to relatives./ 3. To send a player to a league where the quality of play is lower. * /The player was farmed out to Rochester to gain experience./

[far-out] <adj.> 1. Very far away; distant. * /Scientists are planning rocket trips to the moon and far-out planets./ 2. <informal> Very different from others; queer; odd, unusual. * /He enjoyed being with beatniks and other far-out people./ * /Susan did not like some of the paintings at the art show because they were too far-out for her./

[fashion] See: AFTER A FASHION, HIGH FASHION or HIGH STYLE.

[fast] See: HARD-AND-FAST, PLAY FAST AND LOOSE.

[fast and furious] <adj.> or <adv. phr.> Very fast; with much speed and energy. * /He was mowing the grass at a fast and furious rate./ * /When I last saw her she was driving fast and furious down the street./ Compare: GREAT GUNS.