Словарь американских идиом: 8000 единиц

[piece out]{v.} 1. To put together from many different pieces; put together from odd parts; patch. •/They pieced out a meal from leftovers./ •/He pieced out the machine with scrap parts./ •/The detective pieced out the story from a stray fact here, a clue there, and a hint somewhere else./ 2. To make larger or longer by adding one or more pieces. •/The girl grew so fast that her mother had to piece out her dresses./

[piecework]{n.} Work paid for in accordance with the quantity produced. •/Al prefers working on a piecework basis to being on a regular salary because he feels he makes more that way./

[pie in the sky]{n. phr.}, {informal} An unrealistic wish or hope. •/Our trip to Hawaii is still only a pie in the sky./ Compare: PIPE DREAM.

[pigeonhole]{v.} 1. To set aside; defer consideration of. •/The plan was pigeonholed until the next committee meeting./ 2. To typecast; give a stereotypical characterization to someone. •/It was unfair of the committee to pigeonhole him as a left-wing troublemaker./

[pigeonhole]{n.} 1. Small compartment for internal mail in an office or a department. •/"You can just put your late exam into my pigeonhole," said Professor Brown to the concerned student./ 2. One of the small compartments in a desk or cabinet. •/He keeps his cufflinks in a pigeonhole in his desk./

[piggy-back]{adj.} or {adv.} Sitting or being carried on the shoulders. •/Little John loved to go for a piggy-back ride on his father’s shoulders./ •/When Mary sprained her ankle, John carried her piggy-back to the doctor./

[piggy bank]{n.} A small bank, sometimes in the shape of a pig, for saving coins. •/John’s father gave him a piggy bank./

[pigheaded]{adj.} Stubborn; unwilling to compromise. •/"Stop being so pigheaded!" she cried. "I, too, can be right sometimes!"/

[pig in a poke]{n. phr.} An unseen bargain; something accepted or bought without looking at it carefully. •/Buying land by mail is buying a pig in a poke: sometimes the land turns out to be under water./

[pig out]{v. phr.} 1. To eat a tremendous amount of food. •/"I always pig out on my birthday," she confessed./ 2. To peruse; have great fun with; indulge in for a longer period of time. •/"Go to bed and pig out on a good mystery story," the doctor recommended./

[pile up]{v. phr.} 1. To grow into a big heap. •/He didn’t go into his office for three days and his work kept piling up./ 2. To run aground. •/Boats often pile up on the rocks in the shallow water./ 3. To crash. •/One car made a sudden stop and the two cars behind it piled up./

[pile-up]{n.} 1. A heap; a deposit of one object on top of another. •/There is a huge pile-up of junked cars in this vacant lot./ 2. A large number of objects in the same place, said of traffic. •/I was late because of the traffic pile-up on the highway./

[pill] See: BITTER PILL.

[pillar of society]{n. phr.} A leading figure who contributes to the support and the well-being of his/her society; a person of irreproachable character. •/Mrs. Brown, the director of our classical symphony fund, is a true pillar of society./

[pillar to post] See: FROM PILLAR TO POST.

[pimple] See: GOOSE BUMPS or GOOSE PIMPLES.

[pin] See: ON PINS AND NEEDLES.