up and down

de haut en bas

En allant plusieurs fois vers le haut puis vers le bas.

En anglais simple : Moving repeatedly toward a higher position and then a lower one.

• The ball bounced up and down.
• She moved her head up and down to say yes.
• The boat was bobbing up and down on the waves.

Expressions courantes : jump up and down, bob up and down, move up and down

de long en large

En parcourant plusieurs fois le même trajet dans un sens puis dans l’autre.

En anglais simple : Moving repeatedly in one direction and then the opposite direction along the same route.

• He walked up and down the hall.
• She paced up and down while waiting for the call.
• Why are you walking up and down outside my window?

Comment l'utiliser : up and down something (He paced up and down the corridor.)

Synonymes : back and forth, to and fro

Expressions courantes : pace up and down, walk up and down

avec insistance, avec force

Avec beaucoup de certitude ou de fermeté, surtout pour affirmer que quelque chose est vrai.

En anglais simple : With great certainty or determination, especially when saying that something is true.

• He swore up and down that he was innocent.
• She insisted up and down that the story was true.
• They had sworn up and down that they would pay us.

Comment l'utiliser : swear up and down that… (She swore up and down that she had locked the door.)

Synonymes : emphatically, insistently

Expressions courantes : swear up and down, insist up and down

partout dans, dans tout

Dans de nombreux endroits d’une même région.

En anglais simple : In many different places within an area.

• Shops up and down the country closed early.
• They visited fishing villages up and down the coast.
• Schools up and down the region joined the project.

Comment l'utiliser : up and down something (Similar festivals take place up and down the country.)

Synonymes : throughout, all over

Expressions courantes : up and down Britain, up and down England

vertical

Le câble d’ancre est tendu presque à la verticale, l’ancre se trouvant juste sous le bateau.

En anglais simple : An anchor cable is tight and nearly vertical, with the anchor directly below the ship.

• The anchor cable is up and down.
• The crew reported that the chain was up and down.
• Keep the vessel steady while the cable is up and down.

Synonymes : vertical, perpendicular

Contraires : horizontal

Expressions courantes : cable up and down, chain up and down

absolu, véritable

Souligne qu’une personne possède entièrement et clairement la qualité indiquée.

En anglais simple : Completely and clearly having the quality described.

• He was an up and down honest man.
• She described him as up and down sincere.
• The village trusted that up and down honest fellow.

Synonymes : absolute, downright, thoroughgoing

Expressions courantes : up and down honest, up and down sincere

à deux étages

Se dit d’un bâtiment composé de deux niveaux superposés.

En anglais simple : A building with two floors, one above the other.

• They lived in an up and down house.
• The old up and down cottage had a narrow staircase.
• Was their first home an up and down building?

Synonymes : two-story, two-storey

Contraires : single-story

Expressions courantes : up and down house, up and down cottage