Словарь американских идиом: 8000 единиц

[walk on eggs]{v. phr.} To act with utmost caution due to being in a precarious position. •/Tom has been walking on eggs ever since he started working for a new boss in Cincinnati./

[walk out]{v.} 1. To go on strike. •/When the company would not give them higher pay, the workers walked out./ 2. To leave suddenly; especially to desert. •/He didn’t say he wasn’t coming back; he just walked out./ — Often used informally with "on". •/The man walked out on his wife and children./ Compare: LEAVE FLAT, LEAVE IN THE LURCH.

[walk over] or [walk all over] or [step all over]{v. phr.}{informal} To make (someone) do whatever you wish; make selfish use of; treat like a slave; impose upon. •/Jill is so friendly and helpful that people walk all over her./ •/We wanted the man’s business, so we let him step all over us./ Compare: TAKE ADVANTAGE OF.

[walk the chalk] or [walk the chalk line] or [walk the chalk mark] To act exactly as you are supposed to; behave properly; obey. •/That new teacher really makes the students walk the chalk./ •/In some classes the students play and talk, but Mr. Parker makes them walk the chalk./ •/That theater owner wants his place to be orderly, and if boys and girls don’t walk the chalk, he puts them out./ (From the fact that sailors used to be asked to walk a chalk line along the deck of the ship to prove they were not drunk.) Compare: TOE THE MARK.

[walk the floor]{v. phr.} To walk one direction and then the other across the floor, again and again; pace. •/Mr. Black walked the floor, trying to reach a decision./ •/The sick baby had his mother walking the floor all night./ •/Mrs. Black’s toothache hurt so much that she got up and walked the floor./

[walk the plank]{v. phr.} 1. To walk off a board extended over the side of a ship and be drowned. •/The pirates captured the ship and forced the crew to walk the plank./ 2. {informal} To resign from a job because someone makes you do it. •/When a new owner bought the store, the manager had to walk the plank./

[wall] See: BACK TO THE WALL, BEAT ONE’S HEAD AGAINST A WALL, CLIMB THE WALL, FORWARD WALL, HANDWRITING ON THE WALL, HOLE-IN-THE-WALL, STONE WALL or BRICK WALL, TO THE WALL.

[wallflower]{n.} A girl who has to sit out dances because nobody is asking her to dance. •/"I used to be a wallflower during my high school days," Valerie complained, "but my luck changed for better once I got into college."/

[wallop] See: PACK A PUNCH or PACK A WALLOP.

[walls have ears] Sometimes one’s most confidential conversations are overheard. •/"Be careful what you say," he whispered. "Remember that walls have ears."/

[want ad]{n.} A small advertisement on a special page in a newspaper that offers employment opportunities and merchandise. •/"You want a temporary job?" he asked the recent arrival in town. "Go and look at the want ads!"/

[war] See: COLD WAR, TUG OF WAR.

[war baby]{n.}, {informal} A person born during a war. •/War babies began to increase college enrollments early in the 1960s./ •/The war babies forced many towns to build new schools./

[ward off]{v. phr.} To deflect; avert. •/Vitamin C is known to ward off the common cold./

[warmer] See: BENCH WARMER.