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
Trang 1I
qed
QEDformal
something that you say in order to
emphasize that a fact proves what you
have just said is true fbQED is 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 anyone knowingfbq.t
is a short way of writing 'quiet' • All this
time she'd been making plans on the q.t to
change herjob.
quaking
be quaking inyourboots
to be very frightened or anxious> Myfirst
teacher had one of those deep, booming
voicesthat had you quaking in your boots.
make sb quake intheirboots. Just the
sound of her voice made me quake in my
boots.
quantum
a quantum leapBritish&American
a quantum jumpAmerican
a very important improvement or
development in something (often+
forward) The election of a female
president is a quantum leap forward 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 potBritish
to try to put too much of something into a
small space fbA quart is a unit for
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 to get a quart into a pint pot!
queer
a queer fishBritish, old-fashioned
a strange person I knew his father and
he was a queerfish too.
be in Queer StreetBritish, old-fashioned, humorous
to owe a lot of money to other people
• Now don't you go doing anything that'll landyou in Queer Street!
a question mark oversth ><:
1 if there is a question mark oversomething, no one knows whether it willcontinue 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 recent spate of government scandals has left a question mark over their ability to govern.
be out of the question X
if something is out of the question, it is
not possible or not allowed A trip to New Zealand is out of the question this year.
beg the question X
1 if a statement or situation begs thequestion, it causes youto ask a particular
question It's all very well talking about extra staff but it rather begs the question
of how we're going topay for them.
2 formal if something that someone says
begs the question, it suggests thatsomething 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?
callsthintoquestion formal
to cause a feeling of doubt about
something • The report's findings call into question the safety and effectiveness of all such drugs.
Trang 2pop the question informal
toasksomeone tomarry you 0So 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
oSorry, I didn't mean to queue-jump.
a queue-jumper British &Australian
oPeople who had waited all night to get a
ticket were very upset by queue-jumpers.
quick
a qulck fixinformal
a quick solution to a problem, especially
one which is only temporary 0The 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 oneinformal )('
a quick, usually alcoholic drink 0Have
you got timefor a quick one beforeyou go?
a quick studyAmerican, informal
someone who is able to learn things
quickly 0He'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 0Quick as a flash,
quote
he snatched the book and ran out of the room.
cut sb to the quickold-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 proquoformal
something that you do for someone or give to someone when they have agreed
to do something for you IbThis 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 inBritish, informal
to be making a profit 0If this deal goes ahead we'll be quids in.
not for quidsAustralian, informal
if you say that you would not do something for quids, you mean that you would hate to do that thing 0I wouldn't do your job for quids.
quiet
be as quiet as a mouse
to be very quiet 0She was as quiet as a mouse I didn't even know she'd come in.
on the quiet informal
secretly 0His marriage broke up when his wife found out he'd been seeing someone else on the quiet.
quits call it quits X
1informal to stop doing something 0The relationship had been going from bad to worse and we just decided it was time to call it quits.
2informal to agree with someone that a debt has been paid and that no one owes money to anyone 0 You paid for the theatre ticketssoif I pay for dinner we can call it quits.
quote quote unquote British, American &
Australian
Trang 3quote 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
that phrase is true· And to think he chose
to practise law because it's a quote, unquote 'respected'profession!
Trang 4pull 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 problemIbPulling 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,
can pull a rabbit out of the hat.
rabbits
breed like rabbits informal
if people breed 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 to get the building finished before the
rainy season sets in.
race against timelthe clock •Rescuers
were racing against time last night to
reach thefour diuers, trapped200feetdown
on the seabed.
rack
on therack
anxious, often because you are waiting
for something or because people are
asking you difficult questions You're
left on the rack for three days waiting for
the results from the hospital • Here was a
respectedpolitician being put on the rack
(=asked a lot of difficult questions)by
to suddenly become very 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 someone in an officesituation.
rage
be all the rageold-fashioned, informal
to be very fashionable • Fake leopard print,sofashionable in the seventies, is all the rage again now.
ragged
be on the ragged edgeAmerican
to be so tired or upset that you feel youcannot deal with a situation • Top
professional coaches are on the ragged edge of exhaustion and frustration.
run sb ragged
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 be snatched away from 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 railsBritish
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 railsBritish With this new album, he hopes to put his career back on the rails.
go off the railsinformal
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.
Trang 5rain
(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, I promise.
I'll take a rain checkAmerican, British &
Australian, informal
I'll get a rain checkAmerican, 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 checkAmerican,
informal I was supposed to see Marge on
Saturday - I'll have to ask her for a rain
check.
rainbows
chase rainbows
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
see what 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 it pours!
rainy
save(sth)for a rainy day
to keep an amount of money for a time in
the future when it might be neededsShe
has a couple of thousand pounds kept aside which she's saving for a rainy day.
a rainy day fundan 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 raisond'etreformal
the most important reason why somethingexists, or the most important thing in
someone's life She's nevergoing to 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 cabaret shows.
the ordinary members of anorganization 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 vote went to union leaders and rank-and-file party activists.
ranks
break ranks
to publicly show that you disagree with a
Trang 6group 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 IbIf
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 leave school.
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/over the 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 sheetAmerican, informal
information kept by the police about
someone's criminal activities • The
gunman's rap sheet had a long list of
weapons and narcotics offenses.
beat the rapAmerican, 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
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 to go.
raspberry blow a raspberryBritish &Australian, informal
give a raspberryAmerican, 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 finkAmerican, 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 love to get 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-assedAmerican, very informal
very drunk. They came home completely rat-arsed.
Trang 7rate
at a rate of knotsBritish&Australian
if someone does something at a rate of
knots, they do it very quickly fb The
speed a boat travels is measured in knots
• She did her homework at a rate of knots
sothat she could go out with herfriends.
raw
come the raw prawnAustralian,
informal
to pretend that you have no knowledgeof
what someone is 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
classes of over thirty get a raw deal.
in the rawinformal
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 real ray of sunshine.
rays
catch some raysinformal !V
catch a few raysinformal
to lie or sit outside in the sun' I thought
I'd take my lunch outside and catch a feui
rays.
razzle
be/go (out) on the razzleBritish,
informal, old-fashioned
to enjoy yourself by doing things like
going to parties or dances We're going
out on the razzle on New Year's Eve - do
you fancy coming?
a night (out) on the razzleinformal,
old-fashioned • We've had a night on the
razzle,soI've got a bit of a hangover.
razzle-dazzle
razzle-dazzle
activity that is intended to attract
people's attention by being noisy or
exciting • Amid all the razzle-dazzle of the party convention, it is easy to forget about the real political 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 verydifficult- If you want success,you have to reachfor the moon.
read take it as readBritish&Australian
to accept that something is true withoutmaking sure that it is (often+that) We
just took it as read that we were invited.
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 to be goingto start soon
• The new TV series from the Hill Street Blues creator;Steve Bochco,is ready to roll.
2 American to be goingto leavesoon' Give
me a call when you're ready to roll, and I'll meet you outside.
real the real McCoy
the real thing and not a copy or
something similar fb Kid McCoy, an
American boxer(=a man who fights as asport), was called 'the real McCoy' toshow that he was not another boxer who
had the same name • Cheap sparkling wines cannot be labelled 'champagne' It has to be the real McCoy.
Get real!informal
something that you say in order to tellsomeone that they should try tounderstand the true facts of a situationinstead of hoping for something
impossible • Oh, get real! You're not tall enough to be a model.
reap You reap what you sow.
Trang 8As you SOW, so shall youreap.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.
You reap what you sow in this life.
rear
bring up the rear
to be at the back of a group of people who
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-endsth 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 were fighting a rearguard action
against the government's attempt to strip
them of their powers.
rearranging
be like rearranging the deckchairs on
the TitanicBritish&Australian,
humorous
if an activity is like rearranging the
deckchairs on the Titanic, it it will have
no effectIbThe 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.
X-it stands to 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.
receiving
be at/on the receiving end X
if you are on the receiving end ofsomething 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 Xsomething that you say when you areabout to tell someone somethingimportant 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.
be on record. (often+as +doing sth)
Both doctors are on record as saying the drug triais were an unqualified success.
off-the-record • (always before noun)
It's not a good idea to make these record remarks too often.
company directors were prepared to comment on the recordyesterday.
Trang 9red
red eyeAmerican, informal
cheap whiskey(=strong alcoholic drink)
• The man was leaning against the wall,
swiggingfrom a bottle of red eye.
a red eyeAmerican, informal
a flight that leaves late at night and
arrives early the next morning Wetook
the red eyefrom Seattle to New York.
red-eye· (always before noun) There's a
red-eye flight to Los Angeles leaving at
lOpm.
nota red centAmerican, informal
no money at allf!::JA cent is the smallest
coin in value in American money and is
worth very little • I did all that work for
them and they didn't pay me a red cent! • It
turns out his paintings aren't worth a
red cent.
"-.'
a red herring -'\.
something that takes people's attention
away from the main subject being talked
or written about- About halfway through
the book it looked as though the butler was
the murderer, but that turned out to be a
red herring. V
be in the red
/'-to owe money /'-to a bankf!::J Accountants
(= people who keep records of money)
often write amounts of money that are
owed in red ink • Many of the students
were in the red at the end of their first
year.
be like a red rag to a bull
if a statement or an action is like a red
rag to a bull, it makes someone very
angry f!::JSome people believe that bulls
become very angry when they see the
colour red.• For Claire, the suggestion of
a women-only committee was like a red rag to a bull.
roll out the red carpet
to give an important person a special
welcome • The red carpet was rolled out for the President's visit.
the red-carpet treatment • She was given the red-carpet treatment in Japan where her books are extremely popular.
see red -'5//::
to become very angry When he laughed
in my face, Ijust saw red.
red-blooded red-blooded
a red-bloodedman has a lot of energy andenjoys sex very much >He's a normal, red-blooded male - of course he wants to sleep with you!
red-handed catch sb red-handed ~
to discover someone doing somethingillegal or wrong • (often+doing sth)I
caught him red-handed trying to break into my car.
red-hot red-hotinformal very exciting or successful • British athletes are red-hot at the moment • Their divorce is the red-hot story in this morning's press.
red-letter
a red-letter day
a day that is very important or very
special The day our daughter was born was a real red-letter dayfor us.
the red-light district -><:
the part of a city where many people
offer sex for money • A prostitute was found murdered in the city's red-light district last night.
reduced
in reduced circumstancesslightly formal
if someone, especially someone from ahigh social class, is in reducedcircumstances, they have a lot less
money than they did before They found him living in reduced circumstances in a flat off Fulham Road.
Trang 10be as regular as clockwork
if something is as regular as clockwork,
it happens at exactly regular times Her
letters arrived every week, regular as
clockwork.
reign
a reign of terror
a period of time when a ruler controls
people in a violent and cruel way •My
father's generation, who lived through the
reign of terror,will neverforget it.
reins
Reins are strips of material used for
controlling horses Reins is used in the
following expressions connected with
controlling something or someone
hand over the reins
to allow someone else to control
something you controlled previously,
especially an organization or a country
• Company chiefs are often reluctant to
hand over the reins of power toyounger
people.• (often + to) I built up the
business, but I handed over the reins to my
daughter last year.
take over/up the reins
to take control of something, especially
an organization or a country »(often+
of) He took up the reins of government
immediately after the coup.
tighten the reins
to start to control something or someone
more carefully » (often + on) She has
tightened the reins on her younger sons in
an effort to curb their wild behaviour
before it's too late.
loosen/relax the reins· (often+on) The
Government has relaxed the reins on wage
control to boost consumer spending.
religion
get religion
1 humorous to become very religious He
suddenly got religion when he went to
college.
2 American, humorous to start doing
something in a serious and careful way
revolving
• I get religion each time I do my income tax - I always wonder why I didn't keep better records.
Renaissance
a Renaissancemanformal K
an intelligent and well-educated manwho knows a lot about many differentsubjects • He's a poet, astronomer, musician - an all-round Renaissance man.
rent
a rent boyBritish
a boy or a young man who has sex with
other men for money He spent a year in London working as a rent boy.
rest the rest is history /'(
something that you say when you do notneed to finish a story because everyoneknows what happened • The Beatles signed a recording contract in1962and the rest is history.
Give it a rest!informal
something that you say when you wantsomeone to stop talking about something
• 'When are you going to wash the car?' 'Oh, give it a rest! I'll do it in a minute.'
retreat beat a retreat
to leave a place because it is dangerous orunpleasant • When the cold grows overwhelming, visitors can beat a retreat
to Joe Mulligan 's warm saloon.• When we saw the police arriving we beat a hasty retreat.
revolving
a revolving doormainly American
the movement of people from oneorganization or activity to another,especially from government jobs toprivate companies >(often +between)
Congress has tightened regulations to slow down the revolving door between government and industry.