Словарь американских идиом: 8000 единиц

[pick up]{v.} 1. To take up; lift. •/During the morning Mrs. Carter picked up sticks in the yard./ 2. {informal} To pay for someone else. •/After lunch, in the restaurant, Uncle Bob picked up the check./ 3. To take on or away; receive; get. •/At the next corner the bus stopped and picked up three people./ 4. To get from different places at different times; a little at a time; collect. •/He had picked up rare coins in seaports all over the world./ 5. To get without trying; get accidentally. •/He picked up knowledge of radio just by staying around the radio station./ •/Billy picked up a cold at school./ 6a. To gather together; collect. •/When the carpenter finished making the cabinet, he began picking up his tools./ 6b. To make neat and tidy; tidy up; put in order. •/Pick up your room before Mother sees it./ 6c. To gather things together; tidy a place up. •/It’s almost dinner time, children. Time to pick up and get ready./ 7. To catch the sound of. •/He picked up Chicago on the radio./ 8. To get acquainted with (someone) without an introduction; make friends with (a person of the other sex). •/Mother told Mary not to walk home by herself from the party because some stranger might try to pick her up./ 9. {informal} To take to the police station or jail; arrest. •/Police picked the man up for burglary./ 10. To recognize the trail of a hunted person or animal; find. •/State police picked up the bandit’s trail./ •/The dogs picked up the fox’s smell./ 11. To make (someone) feel better; refresh. •/A little food will pick you up./ 12a. To increase (the speed); make (the speed) faster. •/The teacher told her singing class to pick up the tempo./ •/The car picked up speed./ 12b. To become faster; become livelier. •/The speed of the train began to pick up./ •/After the band practiced for a while, the music began to pick up./ 13. To start again after interruption; go on with. •/The class picked up the story where they had left it before the holiday./ •/They met after five years, and picked up their friendship as if there had been no interruption./ 14. {informal} To become better; recover; gain. •/She picked up in her schoolwork./ •/He picked up gradually after a long illness./ •/His spirits picked up as he came near home./

[pick up the tab]{v. phr.} To pay the bill in a restaurant; be the one who underwrites financially what others are doing. •/"I am always the one who picks up the tab," Charlie complained bitterly. "Others get away with being freeloaders."/ Compare: FOOT THE BILL.

[Pidgin English]{n. phr.} A jargon that consists of some mispronounced English words and some foreign words used by Orientals in talking with Westerners. •/You can conduct a lot of business in Pidgin English in the Far East./

[pie] See: EAT HUMBLE PIE, FINGER IN THE PIE, PIE IN THE SKY, SWEETIE PIE.

[piece] See: BY THE PIECE, CONVERSATION PIECE, GIVE A PIECE OF ONE’S MIND, GO TO PIECES, OF A PIECE, PIECE OF CAKE, SAY ONE’S PIECE or SPEAK ONE’S PIECE, TO PIECES.

[piece of cake]{adj.}, {slang} Easy. •/The final exam was a piece of cake./