под хмелем

• ПОД ХМЕЛЬКОМ coll; ПОД ХМЕЛЕМ obsoles

[PrepP; these forms only; subj-compl with copula (subj: human) or adv]

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⇒ in a slightly intoxicated state:

- tipsy;

- a little tight;

- slightly <a little> drunk.

     ♦ Начальник тюрьмы полковник Петренко приходил ко мне по вечерам под хмельком, как старый приятель (Буковский 1). The prison governor, Colonel Petrenko, would come and visit me in the evening, when he was tipsy, like an old friend (1a).

     ♦ Брюнетка, склонясь над тазом, готовилась к встрече с Николаем Васильевичем, который, как бывало, бежал под хмельком по морозцу (Терц 8). The brunette, bent over a basin, was preparing for her meeting with Nikolay Vasilyevich, who, as had happened before, was running, slightly drunk, through the cold (8a).