«.Захочу ли я хоть на волос стеснять твою жизнь, твои привычки?» (Тургенев 2). “.Would I want to interfere, even in the slightest way, with your life, with your habits?” (2d). ♦ .Штольц не мог уловить у ней на лице и в словах. даже искры чувства, которое хоть бы на волос выходило за границы тёплой, сердечной, но обыкновенной дружбы (Гончаров 1). .Stolz was unable to detect in her face or her words. a spark of feeling which by a hairbreadth exceeded the limits of warm, affectionate, but ordinary friendship (1b).
2. [adv (intensif) ; used with negated verbs] not at alclass="underline" not the slightest (tiniest) bit; not in the least (the slightest); not a bit (an inch); [lim] not by (so much as) a hairbreadth (a hair’s-breadth etc).
В-248 • НИ НА ВОЛОС; НИ НА ВОЛОСОК both coll [PrepP; these forms only; adv (intensif) ; used with negated verbs] not at alclass="underline" not the slightest (tiniest) bit; not in the least (the slightest); not a bit (an inch); [lim] not by (so much as) a hairbreadth (a hairsbreadth etc).
Стряпала [Маргарита Антоновна] строго по рецептам, как иногда делают это мужчины, не отступая ни на волос от предписанных норм. (Грекова 3). She [Margarita Antonovna] cooked strictly by the recipes, the way men sometimes do, not deviating an inch. (3a).
В-249 • НЕ ТРОНУТЬ ВОЛОСКА чьего, у кого obs, coll [VP; subj: human] not to cause s.o. any harm, not injure or hit s.o.: X не тронет Y-ова волоска = X won’t touch (harm, hurt) a hair of Y’s head.
«Нет, дитя моё, никто не тронет волоска твоего. Ты вырастешь на славу отчизны.» (Гоголь 5). “No, my child, no one shall touch a hair of your head. You shall grow up to the glory of your fatherland.”(5a).
В-250 • ВИСЕТЬ (ДЕРЖАТЬСЯ)/П0ВЙСНУТЬ НА ВОЛОСКЕ; (НА НИТОЧКЕ, НА НИТКЕ) [VP; subj: human or abstr, often жизнь; if subj: human, usu. one’s life or career is involved] to be in a perilous position or condition, be threatened by imminent danger, ruin, or death: X висит на волоске = X is hanging by a thread; person X is within a hairbreadth (a hair’s-breadth etc) of death; person X is on the brink of death; [lim] X is within a hairbreadth of disaster (ruin); X is on the brink of disaster (ruin); thing X is touch and go.
Долгое время жизнь князя висела на волоске (Окуджава 2). His [the prince’s] life hung by a thread for a long time (2a). ♦ . Мне претила ложь и скука старой семьи и я участвовала в её разрушении. Выход я нашла в свободном союзе. Случайно мой опыт удался, но всё всегда висело на волоске (Мандельштам 2). .Repelled by the hypocrisy and tedium of conventional family life, I helped to undermine it. by seeking my own solution in a free union based on love, not marriage. It so happens that in my particular case it succeeded—though it was very much always touch and go (2a).
< From the story of Damocles, courtier of the Syracusan tyrant Dionysius in classical mythology. At a banquet, Dio-nysius had Damocles seated under a sword suspended by a single hair to show him how precarious power and the ruler's happiness were.
В-251 • НА ВОЛОСОК (НА ВОЛОСКЕ, НА ВОЛОС
obs) от чего [PrepP; these forms only; subj-compl with copula (subj: usu. human or collect; prep obj: usu. от смерти, от гибели etc); usu. used with past verbs] one is very close (to death, ruin etc) (if used with a past-form verb, refers to danger or trouble that one has managed to avoid): X был на волосок от Y-а = X was within a hairbreadth (a hair’s-breadth etc, an inch, a whisker) of Y; X was a hairbreadth away (from Y); X escaped Y by a hairbreadth (by the skin of X’s teeth); X was on the verge (of Y).
Ужасной была поездка в Москву по вызову Ярославского. Вот когда я была на волосок от самоубийства! (Гинзбург 1). The journey back to Moscow at Yaroslavsky’s summons was terrible. I was within a hair’s breadth of suicide (1a).
В-252 • ВОЛОСЫ СТАНОВЯТСЯ/СТАЛИ (ВСТАЮТ/
встАли, поднимАются/поднялйсь) ДЫБОМ (у кого от чего or при виде чего) coll [VPsubj] s.o. experiences intense fear, horror (caused by sth.): у X-а волосы стали дыбом (от Y- а) = Y made X’s hair stand on end; X’s hair stood on end; [lim] it was enough to make X’s hair stand on end; Y filled X with horror.
[Городничий:] О, я знаю вас: вы если начнёте говорить о сотворении мира, просто волосы дыбом поднимаются (Гоголь 4). [Mayor:] Oh, I know you. When you start talking about the creation of the world, it makes my hair stand on end (4c).
В-253 • РВАТЬ (ДРАТЬ substand) НА СЕБЕ; ВОЛОСЫ
coll [VP; subj: human; often fut or infin with готов, должен] to experience utter despair or become very angry with о^. (often after having realized that undesirable consequences of sth. could have been avoided): X рвёт на себе волосы = X is tearing his hair (out); X is tearing out his hair; [lim] X could kick himself.
Когда два-три часа назад ей сказали, что Митрий лежит у зарода на Марьиных лугах — отощал, идти не может, — Марфа готова была волосы рвать на себе. Господи! За что ей ещё такое наказание? (Абрамов 1). A few hours earlier, when they had told her that Mitry was lying by the hayrick in Mariny Luga, emaciated and unable to walk, Marfa had been ready to tear out her hair. God! Not another cross to bear! (1a).
В-254 • ВЕРТЕТЬСЯ ВОЛЧКОМ [VP] 1. [subj: concr] to rotate without stopping: X вертелся волчком = X was spinning like a top.
Он два раза испытал это страшное мучительное чувство страха смерти. Первый раз он испытал это чувство тогда, когда граната волчком вертелась перед ним и он смотрел на жнивьё, на кусты, на небо и знал, что перед ним была смерть (Толстой 7). Twice he had experienced that agonizing feeling, the dread of death.. The first time he had felt it was when the shell had spun like a top in front of him, and he had looked at the stubble field, at the bushes, and the sky, and knew that he was face to face with death (7a).
2. [subj: human] to be in constant motion (while standing or sitting in one place): X вертится волчком = X can’t hold (stand, sit) still; [lim] X is fidgety; X has ants in his pants.
3. [subj: human] to bustle, busy o.s. without taking any time to sit down and rest: X вертится волчком = X is (always) buzzing about (around); X is (always) on the go (the run); X is (always) running around (like crazy); X is (always) busy as a bee.
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[Лебедев:] В наше время, бывало, день-деньской с лекциями бьёшься, а как только настал вечер, идёшь прямо куда-нибудь на огонь и до самой зари волчком вертишься. (Чехов 4). [L.:] Now, in our time you’d sweat away at your lectures all day long, then you’d make for the bright lights in the evening and buzz around till the crack of dawn (4b).