Текст книги "Словарь американских идиом: 8000 единиц"

Автор книги: Adam Makkai

Соавторы: Maya Glinberg
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[come along]{v.} To make progress; improve; succeed. •/He was coming along well after the operation./ •/Rose is coming right along on the piano./

[come a long way]{v. phr.} To show much improvement; make great progress. •/The school has come a long way since its beginnings./ •/Little Jane has come a long way since she broke her leg./

[come apart at the seams]{v. phr.}, {slang}, {informal} To become upset to the point where one loses self-control and composure as if having suffered a sudden nervous breakdown. •/After his divorce Joe seemed to be coming apart at the seams./

[come around] See: COME ROUND.

[come at]{v.} 1. To approach; come to or against; advance toward. •/The young boxer came at the champion cautiously./ 2. To understand (a word or idea) or master (a skill); succeed with. •/The sense of an unfamiliar word is hard to come at./

[come back]{v.}, {informal} 1. To reply; answer. •/The lawyer came back sharply in defense of his client./ •/No matter how the audience heckled him, the comedian always had an answer to come back with./ 2. To get a former place or position back, reach again a place which you have lost. •/After a year off to have her baby, the singer came back to even greater fame./ •/It is hard for a retired prize fighter to come hack and beat a younger man./

[comeback]{n.}, {v. phr.}, {slang}, {citizen’s band radio jargon} A return call. •/Thanks for your comeback./

[come back to earth] or [come down to earth]{v. phr.} To return to the real world; stop imagining or dreaming; think and behave as usual. •/After Jane met the movie star it was hard for her to come back to earth./ •/Bill was sitting and daydreaming so his mother told him to come down to earth and to do his homework./ Compare: COME TO ONE’S SENSES, DOWN-TO-EARTH. Contrast: IN THE CLOUDS.

[come between]{v.} To part; divide; separate. •/John’s mother-in-law came to live in his home, and as time passed she came between him and his wife./ •/Bill’s hot rod came between him and his studies, and his grades went down./

[come by]{v.} To get; obtain; acquire. •/A good job like that is hard to come by./ •/Money easily come by is often easily spent./ •/How did she come by that money?/

[come by honestly]{v. phr.}, {informal} To inherit (a characteristic) from your parents. •/Joe comes by his hot temper honestly; his father is the same way./

[come clean]{v. phr.}, {slang} To tell all; tell the whole story; confess. •/The boy suspected of stealing the watch came clean after long questioning./

[comedown]{n.} Disappointment; embarrassment; failure. •/It was quite a comedown for Al when the girl he took for granted refused his marriage proposal./

[come down]{v.} 1. To reduce itself; amount to no more than. – Followed by «to». •/The quarrel finally came down to a question of which boy would do the dishes./ Syn.: BOIL DOWN(3). 2. To be handed down or passed along, descend from parent to child; pass from older generation to younger ones. •/Mary’s necklace had come down to her from her grandmother./

[come down hard on]{v.}, {informal} 1. To scold or punish strongly. •/The principal came down hard on the boys for breaking the window./ 2. To oppose strongly. •/The minister in his sermon came down hard on drinking./

[come down in the world]{v. phr.} To lose a place of respect or honor, become lower (as in rank or fortune). •/The stranger plainly had come down a long way in the world./ Compare: DOWN ON ONE’S LUCK.

[come down off one’s high horse]{v. phr.} To become less arrogant; to assume a more modest disposition. •/The boastful candidate for Congress quickly came down off his high horse when he was soundly beaten by his opponent./

[come down on like a ton of bricks]{v. phr.}, {slang} To direct one’s full anger at somebody. •/When the janitor was late for work, the manager came down on him like a ton of bricks./

[come down to earth] See: COME BACK TO EARTH.

[come down with]{v.}, {informal} To become sick with; catch. •/We all came down with the mumps./ •/After being out in the rain, George came down with a cold./

[come from far and wide]{v. phr.} To originate or hail from many different places. •/The students at this university come from far and wide and speak many languages./

[come full circle]{v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To become totally opposed to one’s own earlier conviction on a given subject. •/Today’s conservative businessperson has come full circle from former radical student days./ 2. To change and develop, only to end up where one started. •/From modern permissiveness, ideas about child raising have come full circle to the views of our grandparents./

[come hell or high water]{adv. phr.}, {informal} No matter what happens; whatever may come. •/Grandfather said he would go to the fair, come hell or high water./ Compare: COME WHAT MAY, THROUGH THE MILL.

[come home to roost] See: CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST.

[come in]{v.} 1. To finish in a sports contest or other competition. •/He came in second in the hundred-yard dash./ 2. To become the fashion; begin to be used. •/Swimming trunks for men came in after World War I; before that men used full swim suits./

[come in for]{v.} To receive. •/He came in for a small fortune when his uncle died./ •/His conduct came in for much criticism./

[come in handy]{v. phr.}, {informal} To prove useful. •/Robinson Crusoe found tools in the ship which came in handy when he built a house./ •/The French he learned in high school came in handy when he was in the army in France./

[come into]{v.} To receive, especially after another’s death; get possession of. •/He came into a lot of money when his father died./ •/He came into possession of the farm after his uncle died./

[come into one’s own]{v. phr.} To receive the wealth or respect that you should have. •/John’s grandfather died and left him a million dollars; when John is 21, he will come into his own./ •/With the success of the Model T Ford, the automobile industry came into its own./

[came natural] See: COME EASY.

[come of]{v.} 1. To result from. •/After all the energy we spent on that advertising campaign, absolutely nothing came of it./ 2. To become of; happen to. •/«Whatever became of your son, Peter?»/

[come of age] See: OF AGE.

[come off]{v.} 1. To take place; happen. •/The picnic came off at last, after being twice postponed./ 2. {informal} To do well; succeed. •/The attempt to bring the quarreling couple together again came off, to people’s astonishment./

[come off it] also [get off it]{v. phr.}, {slang} Stop pretending; bragging, or kidding; stop being silly. – Used as a command. •/«So I said to the duchess…» Jimmy began. «Oh, come off it,» the other boys sneered./ •/Fritz said he had a car of his own. «Oh, come off it,» said John. «You can’t even drive.»/

[come off] or [through with flying colors]{v. phr.} To succeed; triumph. •/John came off with flying colors in his final exams at college./

[come off second best]{v. phr.} To not win first but only second, third, etc. place. •/Our home team came off second best against the visitors./ •/Sue complains that she always comes off second best when she has a disagreement with her husband./

[come on]{v.} 1. To begin; appear. •/Rain came on toward morning./ •/He felt a cold coming on./ 2. To grow or do well; thrive. •/The wheat was coming on./ •/His business came on splendidly./ 3. or [come upon]. To meet accidentally; encounter; find. •/He came on an old friend that day when he visited his club./ •/He came upon an interesting idea in reading about the French Revolution./ Syn.: COME ACROSS, HAPPEN ON. 4. {informal} Let’s get started; let’s get going; don’t delay; don’t wait. – Used as a command. •/«Come on, or we’ll he late,» said Joe, but Lou still waited./ 5. {informal} Please do it! – Used in begging someone to do something. •/Sing us just one song, Jane, come on!/ •/Come on, Laura, you can tell me. I won’t tell anybody./

[come-on]{n.}, {slang} An attractive offer made to a naive person under false pretenses in order to gain monetary or other advantage. •/Joe uses a highly successful come-on when he sells vacant lots on Grand Bahama Island./

[come one’s way]{v. phr.} To be experienced by someone; happen to you. •/Tom said that if the chance to become a sailor ever came his way, he would take it./ •/I hope bad luck isn’t coming our way./ •/Luck came Bill’s way today and he hit a home run./ Compare: GO ONE’S WAY, IN ONE’S FAVOR.

[come on strong]{v. phr.}, {slang} To overwhelm a weaker person with excessively strong language, personality, or mannerisms; to insist extremely strongly and claim something with unusual vigor. •/Joe came on very strong last night about the War in Indochina; most of us felt embarrassed./

[come out]{v.} 1. {Of a girl:} To be formally introduced to polite society at about age eighteen, usually at a party; begin to go to big parties, •/In society, girls come out when they reach the age of about eighteen, and usually it is at a big party in their honor; after that they are looked on as adults./ 2. To be published. •/The book came out two weeks ago./ 3. To become publicly known. •/The truth finally came out at his trial./ 4, To end; result; finish. •/How did the story come out?/ •/The game came out as we had hoped./ •/The snapshots came out well./ 5. To announce support or opposition; declare yourself (for or against a person or thing). •/The party leaders came out for an acceptable candidate./ •/Many Congressmen came out against the bill./ 6. See: GO OUT FOR.

[coming-out]{adj.} Introducing a girl to polite society. •/Mary’s parents gave her a coming-out party when she was 17./

[come out for]{v. phr.} To support; declare oneself in favor of another, especially during a political election. •/Candidates for the presidency of the United States are anxious for the major newspapers to come out for them./

[come out in the open]{v. phr.} 1. To reveal one’s true identity or intentions. •/Fred finally came out in the open and admitted that he was gay./ 2. To declare one’s position openly. •/The conservative Democratic candidate came out in the open and declared that he would join the Republican party./

[come out with]{v. phr.} 1. To make a public announcement of; make known. •/He came out with a clear declaration of his principles./ 2. To say. •/He comes out with the funniest remarks you can imagine./

[come over]{v.} To take control of; cause sudden strong feeling in; happen to. •/A sudden fit of anger came over him./ •/A great tenderness came over her./ •/What has come over him?/

[come round] or [come around]{v.} 1. To happen or appear again and again in regular order. •/And so Saturday night came around again./ •/I will tell him when he comes round again./ 2. {informal} To get back health or knowledge of things; get well from sickness or a faint./ •/Someone brought out smelling salts and Mary soon came round./ •/Jim has come around after having had stomach ulcers./ 3. To change direction, •/The wind has come round to the south./ 4. {informal} To change your opinion or purpose to agree with another’s. •/Tom came round when Dick told him the whole story./

[come through]{v.}, {informal} To be equal to a demand; meet trouble or a sudden need with success; satisfy a need. •/When the baseball team needed a hit, Willie came through with a double./ •/John needed money for college and his father came through./

[come to]{v.} (stress on «to») 1. To wake up after losing consciousness; get the use of your senses back again after fainting or being knocked out. •/She fainted in the store and found herself in the first aid room when she came to./ •/The boxer who was knocked out did not come to for five minutes./ •/The doctor gave her a pill and after she took it she didn’t come to for two days./ Compare: BRING TO. 2. (stress on «come») To get enough familiarity or understanding to; learn to; grow to. – Used with an infinitive. •/John was selfish at first, but he came to realize that other people counted, too./ •/During her years at the school, Mary came to know that road well./ 3. To result in or change to; reach the point of; arrive at. •/Mr. Smith lived to see his invention come to success./ •/Grandfather doesn’t like the way young people act today; he says, «I don’t know what the world is coming to.»/ 4. To have something to do with; be in the field of; be about. – Usually used in the phrase «when it comes to». •/Joe is not good in sports, but when it comes to arithmetic he’s the best in the class./ •/The school has very good teachers, but when it comes to buildings, the school is poor./

[come to a dead end]{v. phr.} To reach a point from which one cannot proceed further, either because of a physical obstacle or because of some forbidding circumstance. •/Our car came to a dead end; the only way to get out was to drive back in reverse./ •/The factory expansion project came to a dead end because of a lack of funds./

[come to blows]{v. phr.} To begin to fight. •/The two quarreling boys came to blows after school./ •/The two countries came to blows because one wanted to be independent from the other./

[come to grief]{v. phr.} To have a bad accident or disappointment; meet trouble or ruin; end badly; wreck; fail. •/Bill came to grief learning to drive a car./ •/Nick’s hopes for a new house came to grief when the house he was building burned down./ •/The fishing boat came to grief off Cape Cod./

[come to grips with]{v. phr.} 1. To get hold of (another wrestler) in close fighting. •/After circling around for a minute, the two wrestlers came to grips with each other./ 2. To struggle seriously with (an idea or problem). •/Mr. Blake’s leaching helps students come to grips with the important ideas in the history lesson./ •/Harry cannot be a leader, because he never quite comes to grips with a problem./ Compare: COME TO TERMS(2).

[come to hand]{v. phr.} To be received or obtained. •/Father’s letter was mailed from Florida last week and came to hand today./ •/The new books came to hand today./ •/New information about the boy’s disappearance came to hand yesterday./

[come to heel] See: TO HEEL.

[come to life] See: COME ALIVE.

[come to light]{v. phr.} To be discovered; become known; appear. •/John’s thefts from the bank where he worked came to light when the bank examiners made an inspection./ •/When the old woman died it came to light that she was actually rich./ •/New facts about ancient Egypt have recently come to light./ Compare: BRING TO LIGHT.

[come to mind]{v. phr.} To occur to someone. •/A new idea for the advertising campaign came to mind as I was reading your book./

[come to nothing] also {formal}[come to naught]{v. phr.} To end in failure; fail; be in vain. •/The dog’s attempts to climb the tree after the cat came to nothing./

[come to one’s senses]{v. phr.} 1. Become conscious again; wake up. •/The boxer was knocked out and did not come to his senses for several minutes./ •/The doctors gave Tom an anesthetic before his operation; then the doctor took out Tom’s appendix before he came to his senses./ Compare: COME TO(1). 2. To think clearly; behave as usual or as you should; act sensibly. •/A boy threw a snowball at me and before I could come to my senses he ran away./ •/Don’t act so foolishly. Come to your senses!/ Contrast: OUT OF ONE’S HEAD.

[come to pass]{v. phr.}, {literary} To happen; occur. •/Strange things come to pass in troubled times./ •/It came to pass that the jailer visited him by night./ •/His hopes of success did not come to pass./ Compare: BRING TO PASS, COME ABOUT.

[come to terms]{v. phr.} To reach an agreement. •/Management and the labor union came to terms about a new arrangement and a strike was prevented./

[come to the point] or [get to the point]{v. phr.} To talk about the important thing; reach the important facts of the matter; reach the central question or fact. •/Henry was giving a lot of history and explanation, but his father asked him to come to the point./ •/A good newspaper story must come right to the point and save the details for later./ Contrast: BEAT ABOUT THE BUSH.

[come to think of it]{v. phr.}, {informal} As I think again; indeed; really. •/Come to think of it, he has already been given what he needs./ •/Come to think of it, I should write my daughter today./

[come true]{v.} To really happen; change from a dream or a plan into a fact. •/It took years of planning and saving, but their seagoing vacation came true at last./ •/It was a dream come true when he met the President./ •/His hope of living to 100 did not come true./

[come up]{v.} 1. To become a subject for discussion or decision to talk about or decide about. •/«He was a good salesman, and price never came up until the very last,» Mary said./ •/The question of wage increases came up at the board meeting./ •/Mayor Jones comes up for reelection this fall./ 2. To be equal; match in value. – Used with «to». •/The new model car comes up to last year’s./ 3. To approach; come close. •/We saw a big black bear coming up on us from the woods./ •/Christmas is coming up soon./ •/The team was out practicing for the big game coming up./ 4. To provide; supply; furnish. – Used with «with». •/For years Jones kept coming up with new and good ideas./ •/The teacher asked a difficult question, but finally Ted came up with a good answer./

[come up in the world] or [rise in the world]{v. phr.} To gain success, wealth, or importance in life; rise to a position of greater wealth or importance. •/He had come up in the world since he peddled his wife’s baked goods from a pushcart./ Compare: GET AHEAD. Contrast: COME DOWN IN THE WORLD.

[come up smelling like a rose]{v. phr.} To escape from a difficult situation or misdeed unscathed or without punishment. •/A is predicted that Congressman Brown, in spite of the current investigation into his financial affairs, will come up smelling like a rose at the end./

[come up to]{v. phr.} To equal. •/The meals cooked in most restaurants do not come up to those prepared at home./

[come up with]{v. phr.} 1. To offer. •/We can always depend on John Smith to come up with a good solution for any problem we might have./ 2. To produce on demand. •/I won’t be able to buy this car, because I cannot come up with the down payment you require./ 3. To find. •/How on earth did you come up with such a brilliant idea?/

[come upon] See: COME ON(3).

[come what may]{adv. phr.} Even if troubles come; no matter what happens; in spite of opposition or mischance. •/Charles has decided to get a college education, come what may./ •/The editor says we will publish the school paper this week, come what may./

[comfort] See: COLD COMFORT.

[comfortable as an old shoe]{adj. phr.}, {informal} Pleasant and relaxed; not stiff, strict or too polite; easy to talk and work with. •/The stranger was as comfortable as an old shoe, and we soon were talking like old friends./

[coming and going] or [going and coming]{adv. phr.} 1. Both ways; in both directions. •/The truck driver stops at the same cafe coming and going./ •/John was late. He got punished both going and coming; his teacher punished him and his parents punished him./ 2. Caught or helpless; in your power; left with no way out of a difficulty. – Used after «have». •/If Beth stayed in the house, Mother would make her help with the cleaning; if she went outside, Father would make her help wash the car – they had her coming and going./ •/Uncle Mike is a good checker player, and he soon had me beat coming and going./ Compare: BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA.

[coming out] See: COME OUT(1).

[coming out party]{n. phr.} A debutante party in which a young girl is formally introduced to society. •/Coming out parties used to be more popular in the early twentieth century than nowadays, primarily because they cost a lot of money./

[comings and goings]{n. pl.}, {informal} 1. Times of arriving and going away; movements. •/I can’t keep up with the children’s comings and goings./ 2. Activities; doings; business. •/Mary knows all the comings and goings in the neighborhood./

[command module]{n.}, {Space English} 1. One of the three main sections of the basic Apollo spacecraft. It weighs six tons and is cone shaped. It contains crew compartments and from it the astronauts can operate the lunar module (LM), the docking systems, etc. 2. {Informal transferred sense.} The cockpit, the chief place where a person does his most important work. •/My desk is my command module./

[commission] See: IN COMMISSION or INTO COMMISSION, OUT OF COMMISSION.

[common] See: IN COMMON.

[common as an old shoe]{adj. phr.}, {informal} Not showing off; not vain; modest; friendly to all. •/Although Mr. Jones ran a large business, he was common as an old shoe./ •/The most famous people are sometimes as common as an old shoe./

[common ground]{n.} Shared beliefs, interests, or ways of understanding; ways in which people are alike. •/Bob and Frank don’t like each other because they have no common ground./ •/The only common ground between us is that we went to the same school./ Compare: IN COMMON.

[common touch]{n.} The ability to be a friend of the people; friendly manner with everyone. •/Voters like a candidate who has the common touch./

[company] See: KEEP COMPANY, PART COMPANY.

[company man]{n.}, {informal} A worker who always agrees with management rather than labor. – Usually used to express dislike or disapproval. •/Joe was a company man and refused to take a part in the strike./ Compare: YES-MAN.

[compare notes]{v. phr.}, {informal} To exchange thoughts or ideas about something; discuss together. •/Mother and Mrs. Barker like to compare notes about cooking./

[compliment] See: RETURN THE COMPLIMENT.

[conclusion] See: JUMP TO A CONCLUSION.

[condition] See: IN SHAPE or IN CONDITION, IN THE PINK or IN THE PINK OF CONDITION, ON CONDITION THAT, OUT OF SHAPE or OUT OF CONDITION.

[conference] See: PRESS CONFERENCE.

[congregate housing]{n.}, {informal} A form of housing for elderly persons in which dining facilities and services are shared in multiple dwelling units. •/Jerry put Grandma in a place where they have congregate housing./

[conk out]{v. phr.}, {slang}, {informal} To fall asleep suddenly with great fatigue or after having drunk too much. •/We conked out right after the guests had left./

[consent] See: SILENCE GIVES CONSENT.

[consequence] See: IN CONSEQUENCE, IN CONSEQUENCE OF.

[consideration] See: IN CONSIDERATION OF.

[consumer goods] or [consumer items]{n.} Food and manufactured things that people buy for their own use. •/In time of war, the supply of consumer goods is greatly reduced./

[content] See: TO ONE’S HEART’S CONTENT.

[contention] See: BONE OF CONTENTION.

[contrary] See: ON THE CONTRARY, TO THE CONTRARY.

[control room]{n.} A room containing the panels and switches used to control something (like a TV broadcast). •/While a television program is on the air, engineers are at their places in the control room./

[control tower]{n.} A tower with large windows and a good view of an airport so that the traffic of airplanes can be seen and controlled, usually by radio. •/We could see the lights at the control tower as our plane landed during the night./

[conversation] See: MAKE CONVERSATION.

[conversation piece]{n.} Something that interests people and makes them talk about it; something that looks unusual, comical, or strange. •/Uncle Fred has a glass monkey on top of his piano that he keeps for a conversation piece./

[conviction] See: HAVE THE COURAGE OF ONE’S CONVICTIONS.

[cook] See: SHORT-ORDER COOK, WHAT’S UP or WHAT’S COOKING.

[cook one’s goose]{v. phr.}, {slang} To ruin someone hopelessly; destroy one’s future expectations or good name. •/The bank treasurer cooked his own goose when he stole the bank’s funds./ •/She cooked John’s goose by reporting what she knew to the police./ •/The dishonest official knew his goose was cooked when the newspapers printed the story about him./

[cook up]{v.}, {informal} To plan and put together; make up; invent. •/The boys cooked up an excuse to explain their absence from school./

[cool] See: PLOW ONE’S COOL.

[cool as a cucumber]{adj. phr.}, {informal} Very calm and brave; not nervous, worried, or anxious; not excited; composed. •/Bill is a good football quarterback, always cool as a cucumber./

[cool customer]{n.} Someone who is calm and in total control of himself; someone showing little emotion. •/Jim never gets too excited about anything; he is a cool customer./

[cool down] or [cool off]{v.} To lose or cause to lose the heat of any deep feeling (as love, enthusiasm, or anger); make or become calm, cooled or indifferent; lose interest. •/A heated argument can be settled better if both sides cool down first./ •/John was deeply in love with Sally before he left for college, but he cooled off before he got back./ •/Their friendship cooled off when Jack gave up football./ •/The neighbor’s complaint about the noise cooled the argument down./

[cool one’s heels]{v. phr.}, {slang} To be kept waiting by another’s pride or rudeness; be forced to wait by someone in power or authority; wait. •/He cooled his heels for an hour in another room before the great man would see him./ •/I was left to cool my heels outside while the others went into the office./

[coon’s age] See: DOG’S AGE.

[coop] See: FLY THE COOP.

[coop up]{v. phr.} To hedge in; confine; enclose in a small place. •/How can poor Jane work in that small office, cooped up all day long?/

[cop a feel]{v. phr.}, {vulgar}, {avoidable} To attempt to arouse sexually by manual contact, usually by surprise. •/John talks big for a 16 year old, but all he’s ever done is cop a feel in a dark movie theater./ Compare: FEEL UP. Contrast: COP A PLEA.

[cop a plea]{v. phr.}, {slang}, {colloquial} To plead guilty during a trial in the hope of getting a lighter sentence as a result. •/The murderer of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., copped a plea of guilty, and got away with a life sentence instead of the death penalty./

[cop out]{v. phr.}, {slang}, {informal} To avoid committing oneself in a situation where doing so would result in difficulties. •/Nixon copped out on the American people with Watergate./

[cop-out]{n. phr.}, {slang}, {informal} An irresponsible excuse made to avoid something one has to do, a flimsy pretext. •/Cowe on, Jim, that’s a cheap cop-out, and I don’t believe a word of it!/

[copy cat] n. Someone who copies another person’s work or manner. – Usually used by children or when speaking to children. •/He called me a copy cat just because my new shoes look like his./

[corn ball]{n.}, {slang}, {informal} 1. A superficially sentimental movie or musical in which the word «love» is mentioned too often; a theatrical performance that is trivially sentimental. •/That movie last night was a corn hall./ 2. A person who behaves in a superficially sentimental manner or likes performances portraying such behavior. •/Suzie can’t stand Joe; she thinks he’s a corn ball./

[corn belt]{n.} 1. The Midwest; the agricultural section of the United States where much corn is grown. •/Kansas is one of the slates that lies within the corn belt./

[corner] See: AROUND THE CORNER, CUT CORNERS, FOUR CORNERS, OUT OF THE CORNER OF ONE’S EYE.

[cost a bomb] or [an arm and a leg]{v. phr.} To be extremely expensive. •/My new house has cost us an arm and a leg and we’re almost broke./

[cotton] See: ON TOP OF THE WORLD also SITTING ON HIGH COTTON.

[cotton picking], [cotton-pickin']{adj.}, {slang}, {colloquial} Worthless, crude, common, messy. •/Keep your cotton picking hands off my flowers!/ •/You’ve got to clean up your room, son, this is a cotton-pickin' mess!/

[couch case]{n.}, {slang}, {informal} A person judged emotionally so disturbed that people think he ought to see a psychiatrist (who, habitually, make their patients lie down on a couch). •/Joe’s divorce messed him up so badly that he became a couch case./

[couch doctor]{n.}, {slang}, {colloquial} A psychoanalyst who puts his patients on a couch following the practice established by Sigmund Freud. •/I didn’t know your husband was a couch doctor, I thought he was a gynecologist!/

[couch potato]{n.} A person who is addicted to watching television all day. •/Poor Ted has become such a couch potato that we can’t persuade him to do anything./

[cough up]{v.}, {slang} 1. To give (money) unwillingly; pay with an effort. •/Her husband coughed up the money for the party with a good deal of grumbling./ 2. To tell what was secret; make known. •/He coughed up the whole story for the police./

[couldn’t care less]{v. phr.}, {informal} To be indifferent; not care at all. •/The students couldn’t care less about the band; they talk all through the concert./ Also heard increasingly as «could care less» (nonstandard in this form.)

[counsel] See: KEEP ONE’S OWN COUNSEL.

[count] See: STAND UP AND BE COUNTED.

[countdown]{n.}. {Space English}, {informal} 1. A step-by-step process which leads to the launching of a rocket. •/Countdown starts at 23:00 hours tomorrow night and continues for 24 hours./ 2. Process of counting inversely during the acts leading to a launch; liftoff occurs at zero. 3. The time immediately preceding an important undertaking, borrowed from Space English. •/We’re leaving for Hawaii tomorrow afternoon; this is countdown time for us./

[counter] See: UNDER THE COUNTER.

[count heads] or [count noses]{v. phr.}, {informal} To count the number of people in a group. •/On the class picnic, we counted heads before we left and when we arrived to be sure that no one got lost./ •/The usher was told to look out into the audience and count noses./

[count off]{v.} 1. To count aloud from one end of a line of men to the other, each man counting in turn. •/The soldiers counted off from right to left./ 2. To place into a separate group or groups by counting. •/The coach counted off three boys to carry in the equipment./ •/Tom counted off enough newspapers for his route./

[count on]{v.} 1. To depend on; rely on; trust. •/The team was counting on Joe to win the race./ •/I’ll do it; you know you can count on me./ •/The company was counting on Brown’s making the right decision./ Syn.: BANK ON. 2. See: FIGURE ON(2).