днем с огнем

• ДНЕМ С ОГНЕМ не найти, не найдёшь, не сыскать, не сыщешь, поискать и т.п. кого-что or чего coll

[AdvP; Invar; adv; usu. used with infin or neg pfv fut, gener. 2nd pers sing не найдёшь etc; fixed WO]

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⇒ (of a person with remarkable qualities or qualifications, or a thing rarely come across or difficult to obtain) rare, almost impossible to find even when much effort is put into searching:

- X-a (такого or таких, как X,) днем с огнём не найдёшь{{}}≈ Xs (people like X, things like X) are hard to find <(as) scarce as heris teeth>;

- never in the world will you find another X (another ([NP]) like X);

- try as you may (might) you'll never find another X (another ([NP]) like X);

- [in limited contexts] person X is one in a million;

- you can't get thing X for love (n)or money.

     ♦ "Ну и бедна ж ты бедами, мать! Гляди, как Бог тебя милует. Днём с огнём таких поискать" (Пастернак 1). "Well, you are poor in sorrows, my dear. See how merciful God has been to you! Such as you are hard to find" (1a).

     ♦ "Баб-то, конечно, по военному времю [ungrammat = времени] много свободных, - размышлял счетовод, - да такую, как Зинаида, днём с огнем не найдешь" (Войнович 4). Of course, there's lots of women around during wartime, reflected the bookkeeper, but ones like Zinaida are scarce as hen's teeth (4a).

     ♦ Днем с огнем не сыщешь другого такого человека, который умел бы так держать себя в руках (Искандер 3). Never in the world will you find another man with the self-control that he has (3a).