Tài liệu CAMBRIGDE INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY OF IDIOMS_ CHƯƠNG 2.8 pdf

qed
I
qed
QEDformal
something that you say in order to
emphasize that a fact proves what you
have just said is true
fb
QEDis a short
form of the latin phrase 'quod erat
demonstrandum' which means 'which
was to have been proven'.•
People are
getting taller all the time - apparently it's
progress and has to do with quality of life
(cavemen wereshort QED).
qt
on the
q.t,
old-fashioned
secretly,without anyoneknowing
fb
q.t.
is a short wayof writing 'quiet' .•
All this
time she'd been making plans on the q.t. to
change herjob.
quaking
be quaking in your boots
tobeveryfrightened or anxious>
Myfirst

teacher had one of those deep, booming
voicesthat had you quaking in your boots.
make sbquake in their boots.
Just the
sound of her voicemade me quake in my
boots.
quantum
a quantum leap
British
&
American
a quantum jump
American
a very important improvement or
development in something. (often
+
forward)
The election of a female
president is a quantum leapforward for
sexual equality.•
(often
+
from)
Thefood
at Rockresorts is a quantum jump from
the meals served at most Caribbean
resorts.
quart
get/put a quart into a pint pot
British

totry to put toomuch of somethinginto a
small space
fb
A quart is a unit for
314
measuring liquids. It is equal to two
pints.•
I'm trying to get this huge pile of
clothes crammed into these two drawers.
Talk about trying toget a quart into apint
pot!
queer
a queer fish
British, old-fashioned
a strange person.
I knew his father and
he was a queerfish too.
be in Queer Street
British, old-fashioned,
humorous
to owe a lot of money to other people
• Now don't you go doing anything that'll
landyou in QueerStreet!
question
?
a question mark over sth
><:
1 if there is a question mark over
something, no one knows whether it will
continue to exist in the future or what

will happen to it •
Neither company has
performed well over the last year and
there's a question mark over their long-
term survival .• A question mark hangs
over thefuture of the wholeproject.
2 a feeling of doubt about the ability or
quality of something>
The recentspate of
government scandals has left a question
mark over their ability togovern.
be out of the question
X
if something is out of the question, it is
not possibleor not allowed.
A trip toNew
Zealand is out of the question this year.
beg the question
X
1 if a statement or situation begs the
question, it causes youto ask aparticular
question.
It's all very well talking about
extra staff but it rather begs the question
of how we'regoing topay for them.
2
formal
if something that someone says
begs the question, it suggests that
something is true which might in fact be

false •
We're assuming, are we, that
Anthony will still be in charge this time
next year? That rather begs the question,
doesn't it?
call sth into question
formal
to cause a feeling of doubt about
something •
The report's findings call
into question thesafety and effectivenessof
all such drugs.
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pop the question informal
to
ask
someone to
marry you
0
So we were
having dinner in this Italian restaurant
and that's when he popped the question.
o
Do you think he's going to pop the
question then, Kath?
the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question
informal
the million-dollar question informal
an important or difficult question which
people do not know the answer to

0
So
will she marry him or not? - that's the
sixty-four-thousand-dollar question.
queue
queue-jump British
&
Australian
o
Sorry, I didn't mean toqueue-jump.
a queue-jumper British
&
Australian
o People who had waited all night toget a
ticket werevery upset by queue-jumpers.
quick
a
qulck
fix informal
a quick solution to a problem, especially
one which is only temporary
0
The truth
about dieting is that there is no quick fZX.
Weight must be lost gradually, over a
period of time.
quick-fix
0
(always before noun)
It's a

system of medicine that doesn't promote
the quick-fix approach to the treatment of
illness.
a qUick one informal )('
a quick, usually alcoholic drink
0
Have
you got timefor a quick one beforeyou go?
a quick study American, informal
someone who is able to learn things
quickly
0
He's a quick study and easily
grasps all the details of a discussion.
as quick as a flash/wink
as quick as lightning
if you do something as quick as a flash,
you do it very quickly
0
Quick as a
flash,
315
quote
he snatched the book and ran out of the
room.
cut sbto the quick old-fashioned
to upset someone by criticizing them
o
(usually passive)
I was cut to the quick

by her harsh remarks.
quid pro quo
a quid pro quoformal
something that you do for someone or
give to someone when they have agreed
to do something for you
Ib
This is a
Latin phrase which means 'something
for something'.
0
(often
+
for)
The
government's commitment to release
political prisoners is a quid pro quofor the
suspension of armed struggle by the rebels.
quids
be quids in British, informal
to be making a profit
0
If this deal goes
ahead we'll bequids in.
not
for quids Australian, informal
if you say that you would not do
something for quids, you mean that you
would hate to do that thing
0

I wouldn't do
your jobfor quids.
quiet
be as quiet as a mouse
to be very quiet
0
She was as quiet as a
mouse. I didn't even know she'd comein.
on the quiet informal
secretly
0
His marriage broke up when his
wife found out he'd been seeing someone
elseon the quiet.
quits
call it quits
X
1
informal
to stop doing something
0
The
relationship had been going from bad to
worse and wejust decided it was time to
call it quits.
2
informal
to agree with someone that a
debt has been paid and that no one owes
money to anyone

0
You paid for the
theatre tickets
so
if Ipayfor dinner wecan
call it quits.
quote
quote. unquote British, American &
Australian
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quote
quote. end quote
American
something that you say when you want to
show that you are using someone else's
phrase, especially when you do not think
316
that phrase is true· And to think he chose
to practise law because it's a quote,
unquote 'respected'profession!
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rabbit
pull a rabbit out of the hat X
to surprise everyone by suddenly doing
something that shows a lot of skill, often
in order to solve a problem
Ib
Pulling a
rabbit out of a hat is something that is
often done by a person who performs

magic tricks.•
He's one of those players
who,just when you think the game's over,
canpull a rabbit out of the hat.
rabbits
breed like rabbits informal
if peoplebreed like rabbits, they produce
too many babies very quickly.
It's like I
was saying to Derek, they all intermarry
and they breed like rabbits.
race
a race against timelthe clock
an attempt to do something very quickly
because there is only a short time in
which it can be done.
It's a race against
time toget the building finished beforethe
rainy season sets in.
race against timelthe clock • Rescuers
were racing against time last night to
reachthefour diuers, trapped200feetdown
on the seabed.
rack
on the
rack
anxious, often because you are waiting
for something or because people are
asking you difficult questions.
You're

left on the rackfor three days waiting for
the resultsfrom the hospital.• Here was a
respectedpolitician beingput on the
rack
(=
asked a lot of difficult questions)
by
aggressivejunior politicians.
rag
lose
your
rag British & Australian,
informal
317
rails
to suddenly becomevery angry and start
shouting •
He said one too many stupid
things and I just lost my rag. • It was the
only time I've ever lost my rag with
someonein an officesituation.
rage
be all the rage old-fashioned, informal
to be very fashionable •
Fake leopard
print,
so
fashionable in the seventies, is all
the rage again now.
ragged

be on the ragged edge American
to be so tired or upset that you feel you
cannot deal with a situation •
Top
professional coaches are on the ragged
edgeof exhaustion andfrustration.
run sbragged
to make someone very tired, usually by
making them work too hard.
What with
party preparations and having to look
after the kids all this week, I've been run
ragged.
rags
go from rags to riches
'>C
to start your life very poor and then later
in life become very rich.
People who go
from rags to riches are often afraid the
good life will besnatched awayfrom them.
rags-to-riches •
(always before noun)
Raised in poverty by an uncle in
Oklahoma, his was a real rags-to-riches
story.
rails
be back on the rails British
to be making progress once more •
The

minister emerged from three hours of
discussions, confident that the talks are
now back on the rails.
put sth back on the rails British. With
this new album, he hopes toput his career
back on the rails.
go off the rails informal
to start behaving strangely or in a way
that is not acceptable to society.
He went
off the rails in his twenties and started
lioing on the streets. • By the law of
probabilities if you have five kids, one of
them's going togo off the rails.
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rain
rain
(come) rain or shine
1 whatever the weather is • He runs every
morning, rain or shine.
2 if you say you will do something come
rain or shine, you mean you will do it
whatever happens • Come rain or shine,
I'll be there,Ipromise.
I'll take a rain check
American, British
&
Australian, informal
I'll get a rain check
American, informal

something that you say when you cannot
accept someone's invitation to do
something but you would like to do it
another time. (often +
on)
I'll take a rain
check on that drink tonight,
if
that's all
right.• I won't play tennis this afternoon
but can I get a rain check?
ask
(sb)
for a rain check
American,
informal. I was supposed toseeMarge on
Saturday - I'll have to ask her for a rain
check.
rainbows
chaserainbows
to waste your time trying to get or
achieve something impossible. (usually
in continuous tenses) I don't think my
parents ever believed I'd make it as an
actor. I think they thought I was just
chasing rainbows.
raining
It's raining cats and dogs!
old-fashioned
something that you say when it is raining

very heavily. It's raining cats and dogs
out there!It's a wonder any of the men can
seewhat they're doing!
rains
It never rains but it pours.
something that you say which means that
when one bad thing happens, a lot of
other bad things also happen, making the
situation even worse. First of all it was
the car breaking down, then thefire in the
kitchen and now Mike's accident. It never
rains but itpours!
rainy
save
(sth)
for a rainy day
to keep an amount of money for a time in
the future when it might be needed
s
She
318
has a couple of thousand pounds kept
aside which she's saving for a rainy day.
a rainy day fund
an amount of money
that you have saved • I'm hoping that I
can pay for my holiday without dipping
into my rainy dayfund.
raison d'etre
sb's/sth's

raison
d'etreformal
the most important reason why something
exists, or the most important thing in
someone's life. She's nevergoing toretire-
work is her raison d'etre. • Serious,
experimental drama was once the raison
d'etre of the festival but it has now been
replacedby comedyand cabaretshows.
rake-off
a rake-off
informal
a share of the profits of something, often
taken in a way that is not honest
• Corrupt customs officers were taking a
rake-off from import taxes.
ramrod
be as stiff/straight as a ramrod
old-
fashioned
if someone is as stiff as a ramrod, they
stand or sit with their back very straight
and stiff • At eighty-three, he's still as
straight as a ramrod.
rank
the rank and file
the ordinary members of an
organization and not its leaders •
The
party leadership seems to be losing the

support of the rank and
file.
rank-and-file •
(always before noun)
Nearly two-thirds of the votewent to union
leadersand rank-and-file party activists.
pull rank
to use the power that your position gives
you over someone in order to make them
dowhat you want. (often + on) Hedoesn't
have the authority topull rank on me any
more. • She was boss of forty or more
people but, to her credit, she never once
pulled rank.
ranks
break ranks
to publicly show that you disagree with a
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group of which you are a member· (often
+
with)
Junior officers were said to be
prepared to break ranks with the
leadership.
close ranks ~
if members of a group close ranks, they
publicly show that they support each
other, especially when people outside of
the group are criticizing them
Ib

If
soldiers close ranks, they move closer
together so that it is more difficult to go
past them .•
In the past, the party would
have closed ranks around its leader and
defended him loyally against his critics.
join the ranks of
sth
to become part of a large group
• Thousands of young people join the
ranks of the unemployed each summer
when they leaveschool.
ransom
hold sbto ransom
/'<.
to force someone to do something by
putting them in a situation where
something bad will happen to them if
they do not •
Some people regarded the
miners' strike as the union holding the
nation to ransom.
rap
a rap across/on/overthe knuckles
a punishment which is not very severe
but which warns you not to behave that
way again •
The company received a rap
over the knuckles from the Food and Drug

Administration .• Her remarks earned her
a sharp rap across the knuckles from the
Prime Minister:
rap
sb's
knuckles •
She rapped my
knuckles and sent me on my way.
a rap sheet
American, informal
information kept by the police about
someone's criminal activities •
The
gunman's rap sheet had a long list of
weapons and narcoticsoffenses.
beat the rap
American, informal
to escape being punished.
There's no
way he can beat the rap now. No lawyer
can save him.
take the rap /(
to be blamed or punished for something
319
rat-arsed
bad that has happened, especially when it
is not your fault • (often
+
for)
I'm not

going to take the rap for someone else's
mistakes.
raptures
go into raptures ~
to talk about something in a very pleased
and excited way. (often
+
about)
She went
into raptures about the chocolatecake.
raring
be raring to go
to be full of energy and ready to do
something •
At three in the morning he
was still wide awake and raring togo.
raspberry
blow a raspberry
British
&
Australian,
informal
give a raspberry
American, informal
to make a rude noise by putting your
tongue between your lips and blowing
• (often
+
at)
A boy of no more than six

appeared, blew a raspberry at me and
then ran away.
rat
a rat fink
American, informal
.x::'
an extremely unpleasant person, or
someone who has given secret
information about you to the police
«If I
find the rat fink who informed on me, he
won't live long enough to do it again.
aratrace
X
an unpleasant way in which people
compete against each other at work in
order to succeed.
I'd lovetoget out of the
rat race and buy a house in some remote
part of the countryside.
smell a rat
>(
to start to believe that something is
wrong about a situation, especially that
someone is being dishonest.
She smelled
a rat when she phoned him at the office
where he was supposed to be working late
and he wasn't there.
rat-arsed

rat-arsed
British, very informal
rat-assed
American, very informal
very drunk.
They came home completely
rat-arsed.
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rate
rate
at a rate of knots
British
&
Australian
if someone does something at a rate of
knots, they do it very quickly
fb
The
speeda boat travels is measured in knots.
• She did her homework at a rate of knots
so
that she could go out with herfriends.
raw
come the raw prawn
Australian,
informal
to pretend that youhaveno knowledgeof
what someoneis talking about. (usually
+
with)

Oh, don't come the raw prawn
with me, Scott,I saw you writing down her
telephone number
as
I walked into the
room!
get a raw deal
to not be treated as well as other people
• The fact is that kids who are taught in
classesof over thirty get a raw deal.
in the raw
informal
naked»
She often swims in the raw.
ray
a ray of sunshine
someone or something that makes you
feel happy, especially in a difficult
situation •
Amid all the gloom, their
grandchild has beena realray of sunshine.
rays
catchsome rays
informal
!V
catcha few rays
informal
to lie or sit outside in the sun'
I thought
I'd take my lunch outside and catch afeui

rays.
razzle
be/go (out) on the razzle
British,
informal, old-fashioned
to enjoy yourself by doing things like
going to parties or dances.
We'regoing
out on the razzle on New Year's Eve - do
youfancy coming?
a night (out) on the razzle
informal,
old-fashioned • We've had a night on the
razzle, so I've got a bit of a hangover.
razzle-dazzle
razzle-dazzle
activity that is intended to attract
320
people's attention by being noisy or
exciting •
Amid all the razzle-dazzle of
the party convention, it is easy to forget
about the realpolitical issues.
razzle-dazzle •
(always before noun)
It
was their razzle-dazzle style that caught
people's eye.
reach
"

reach for the moon/stars
,A,
to try to achieve something that is very
difficult-
If you want success,you have to
reachfor the moon.
read
take it asread
British
&
Australian
to accept that something is true without
making sure that it is. (often
+
that)
We
just took it as read that we wereinvited.
ready
ready cash/money
money that is immediately available to
spend •
They need investors with ready
money if they're going to get the project
started. "
be ready to roll
¥\
1
mainly American
tobe goingto start soon
• The new TV seriesfrom the Hill Street

Blues creator;SteveBochco,is ready to roll.
2 American
to be goingto leavesoon'
Give
mea call whenyou're ready toroll, and I'll
meetyou outside.
real
the real McCoy
the real thing and not a copy or
something similar
fb
Kid McCoy,an
American boxer
(=
a man whofights as a
sport), was called 'the real McCoy' to
showthat he was not another boxer who
had the same name. •
Cheap sparkling
wines cannot be labelled 'champagne'. It
has to bethe real McCoy.
Get real!
informal
something that you say in order to tell
someone that they should try to
understand the true facts of a situation
instead of hoping for something
impossible •
Oh, get real! You're not tall
enough to bea model.

reap
You reap what you sow.
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Asyou
SOW,
so shall you
reap.jormal
something that you say which means
everything that happens to you is a result
of your own actions •
If you treat your
friends like that, of course they drop you.
Youreap what you sow in this life.
rear
bring up the rear
to be at the back of a group of peoplewho
are walking or runnlng
>
Ceri was in the
lead. Bringing up the rear, a mile or so
down the road, was Simon.
rear-end
rear-end
sth
American
to cause an accident by hitting the back
of the car in front of you •
His car was
rear-ended while he was stopped at the
light.

rearguard
fight a rearguard action
to try very hard to prevent something
from happening when it is probably too
late to prevent it • (often
+
against)
The
unions werefighting a rearguard action
against the government's attempt to strip
them of theirpowers.
rearranging
be like rearranging the deckchairson
the Titanic
British
&
Australian,
humorous
if an activity is like rearranging the
deckchairs on the Titanic, it it will have
no effect
Ib
The Titanic was a large ship
that sank suddenly in 1912with most of
its passengers. •
With unemployment at
record leveis,plans for better advertising
of job vacancies are a bit like rearranging
the deckchairs on the Titanic.
reason

X-
it standsto reason
if it stands to reason that something
happens or is true, it is what you would
expect. (often
+
that) It stands to reason
that a child that is constantly criticized
will grow up to have no
selt-conttdence.
321
record
rebound
on the rebound
unhappy and confused because a close,
romantic relationship of yours has
recently finished •
She was on the
rebound when she met Jack.• Six months
after Julia left him, he married someone
eiseon the rebound.
receiving
be at/on the receiving end
X
if you are on the receiving end of
something unpleasant that someonedoes,
you suffer because of it • (usually
+
of)
Sales assistants are often at the receiving

end of verbal abusefrom customers.
recipe
be a recipe for [disaster/successetc.]
if something is a recipe for disaster,
success etc., it is very likely to cause this
• Living with your husband's family is a
recipefor disaster.
record
for the record
X
something that you say when you are
about to tell someone something
important that you want them to
remember.
Just for the record,I've never
been to his house and I've only met him a
few times, whatever the media is saying.
goon record
to publicly and officiallytell people your
opinion about something. (often
+
as
+
doing sth)
Are you prepared to go on
record as supporting the council on this
issue?
be on record.
(often
+

as
+
doing sth)
Both doctors are on record as saying the
drug triais werean unqualified success.
off-the-record •
(always before noun)
It's not a good idea to make these off-the-
recordremarks toooften.
OPPOSITE
on the record •
None of the
company directors were prepared to
comment on the recordyesterday.
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