Cambridge Dictionary:
π A tough nut to crack, phrase.
❓ Definition (informal): A difficult problem or an opponent that is hard to beat.
❗️ Examples:
1. He should prove a tough nut to crack over tomorrow's extended three miles.
2. Japan has proved a tough nut for Microsoft's console division to crack.
3. Nine-year-olds are tough nuts to crack, as Peter Loraine, head of marketing at S Club Juniors' label Polydor, points out.
4. Now they, like the rest of Europe, are tough nuts to crack.
5. Upgrading a module that combines PHP with SQL is a tougher nut to crack, and it seems as though the XOOPS people have done an admirable job.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Pull out, phrasal verb.
❓ Definition: (of a bus or train) leave with its passengers.
❗️ Examples:
1. The train pulled out of the station at 2.05.
2. Corinne and I managed to choose a carriage with a bunch of Geordie blokes who started drinking as soon as the train pulled out of the station, at about half ten in the morning.
3. When every man was in possession of two bottles of Tiger beer, the train pulled out of Nagpur Station to continue the five-day journey.
4. The doors closed and the train pulled out of the station.
5. As the train pulled out of Winchester, he staggered to his feet and zig-zagged down the carriage to the toilet.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Nyctophobia, noun.
π /ΛnΙͺktΙ(Κ)ΛfΙΚbΙͺΙ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (mass noun): Extreme or irrational fear of the night or of darkness.
❗️ Examples:
1. Other standard phobias are nyctophobia, a fear of the dark, and ochlophobia a fear of crowds, from the Greek words for night and crowd respectively.
2. For nyctophobia, try facing the darkness with another person that brings a feeling of safety, such as a parent or good friend.
3. Nyctophobia is mostly present in young children, and starts out with night terrors and a healthy fear of the boogeyman.
4. The American Medical Association believes adult Ncytophobia is very rare and usually treatable with hypnosis and believe it or not, yes prescription drugs.
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π @cambridge_dic
π The mother of all ——, phrase.
❓ Definition (informal): An extreme example or very large specimen of a specified thing.
❗️ Examples:
1. I got stuck in the mother of all traffic jams.
2. Perhaps, the cricket coaches and psychologists should speak to them about how to motivate the team to win the mother of all cricketing contests.
3. I look around to see, watching me, two glass bead eyes stitched onto the mother of all big handbags.
4. Next, the restaurant lays out the mother of all meals, a Royal Thai degustation feast.
5. They are the mother of all prawns and fetch handsome prices for those who net them from the wild.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Specimen, noun.
π /ΛspΙsΙͺmΙͺn/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (as modifier): An individual animal, plant, piece of a mineral, etc. used as an example of its species or type for scientific study or display.
❗️ Examples:
1. Specimens of copper ore.
2. Another corner of the display showed zoological specimens, minerals and ores, and surgical instruments.
3. Its displays cover millions of specimens, including fossils, meteorites, mammals, plants, minerals, and insects.
4. Ray then spent thirteen years travelling around Britain and Europe collecting specimens and studying animals.
5. Borack shows the specific cases holding mammals, birds, paleontological specimens, fish and reptiles.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Tentacle, noun.
π /ΛtΙntΙk(Ι)l/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (usually tentacles): A slender, flexible limb or appendage in an animal, especially around the mouth of an invertebrate, used for grasping or moving about, or bearing sense organs.
❗️ Examples:
1. The feature shared by this group is the lophophore, an unusual feeding appendage bearing hollow tentacles.
2. These feet are long, thin, flexible tentacles ending in tiny suction cups.
3. The tentacles around the mouth are disposed in concentric circles, usually forming a series of radial lines rather than being alternately arranged.
4. The tip of the snout is expanded into a naked pink disc which supports 22 finger-like tentacles or feelers which give this creature its name.
5. At one end of the animal is a mouth surrounded by tentacles.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Nyctophobia, noun.
π /ΛnΙͺktΙ(Κ)ΛfΙΚbΙͺΙ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (mass noun): Extreme or irrational fear of the night or of darkness.
❗️ Examples:
1. Other standard phobias are nyctophobia, a fear of the dark, and ochlophobia a fear of crowds, from the Greek words for night and crowd respectively.
2. For nyctophobia, try facing the darkness with another person that brings a feeling of safety, such as a parent or good friend.
3. Nyctophobia is mostly present in young children, and starts out with night terrors and a healthy fear of the boogeyman.
4. The American Medical Association believes adult Ncytophobia is very rare and usually treatable with hypnosis and believe it or not, yes prescription drugs.
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π @cambridge_dic
π The end justifies the means, phrase.
❓ Definition: Wrong or unfair methods may be used if the overall goal is good.
❗️ Examples:
1. We excuse our greed by claiming that the end justifies the means.
2. I understand that for them the end justifies the means, but I can't help worrying about where society will eventually draw the line.
3. A career cop who followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, he believes the end justifies the means.
4. But I still cannot believe in the idea that the end justifies the means.
5. When it comes to winning arguments, they seem to think that the end justifies the means and that truth is an irrelevance.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Flexible, adjective.
π /ΛflΙksΙͺb(Ι)l/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Capable of bending easily without breaking.
❗️ Examples:
1. Flexible rubber seals.
2. Do this when the branches are about 6in long and flexible enough to bend at right angles.
3. This means that flexible pipe can be bent to a much smaller radius of curvature than rigid pipe without exceeding its elastic limit.
4. The body of a sea-lion is so flexible that it can bend over backwards and just about touch its nose to the tips of its back flippers.
5. The flexible rubber sole is unrestricting, enabling great movement of the entire foot.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Flesh, noun.
π /flΙΚ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (mass noun • the flesh): The soft substance consisting of muscle and fat that is found between the skin and bones of a human or an animal.
❗️ Examples:
1. She grabbed Anna's arm, her fingers sinking into the flesh.
2. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids - I might even be said to possess a mind.
3. He reached out and grabbed his wife's shoulder here, pushing his fingers into the soft crevice of flesh over bone.
4. Jim felt the pulsing of the sun as its heat, magnified by the window it was pouring through, met with soft flesh and willing muscle.
5. The two went down in a clash of flesh and muscle and bone, the two ripping at each other for every opening possible.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Snavel, verb.
π /Λsnav(Ι)l/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (Australian • informal • with object): Steal; grab.
❗️ Examples:
1. They'll snavel all the land.
2. I may have to go out there and snavel myself a sexy guy with a V8, flannel shirt and dubious odour.
3. I've been told to just be wary when asking advice on horses for sale over the net in case someone else likes the horse and just snavels it up.
4. She just stands back and lets them snavvle whatever it is she's got at the time.
5. I simply snavvled the only bedroom in the house that is completely untouched by direct sunlight, at any hour of the day.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Run out of steam, phrase.
❓ Definition (informal): Lose impetus or enthusiasm.
❗️ Examples:
1. A rebellion that had run out of steam.
2. Sandy Neilson's production, enthusiastically performed by the resident company, strikes an appropriate, rollicking tone but gradually runs out of steam.
3. The two very sexy stars provide enough chemistry in this stylized thriller but the movie runs out of steam halfway through.
4. I'd like watch as each argument just runs out of steam, leaving just the prejudice and chauvinism for all to see.
5. It is laid back, ambling on its jolly way, and just when it should be gathering momentum it runs out of steam.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Mutton, noun.
π /ΛmΚt(Ι)n/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (mass noun): The flesh of fully grown sheep used as food.
❗️ Examples:
1. A leg of mutton.
2. Beef, mutton, pork and venison were common meats, and communities close to the coast could expect to widen their diets with fish and shellfish.
3. The dinner would consist of roast beef, roast mutton, roast pork, and vegetables, plum puddings, Christmas cake, and tea, and would be served to about 1,200 poor people.
4. The document reveals that the bishop's menu would have included a range of meats, from mutton and beef to veal, geese, rabbit, duck and lamb.
5. Meat pies, joints of mutton, and other hearty foods are most likely to be served.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Lamb, noun.
π /lam/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (mass noun): A young sheep.
❗️ Examples:
1. More than 90% of the sheep were marked as lambs, and all rams were individually identifiable.
2. We are told that dogs are presently loose in the fields at night, and are a danger to the sheep and their young lambs.
3. A farmer has lost all his sheep, 300 lambs among them, shot by young men from Her Majesty's Armed Forces, whose sergeant had been reduced to hidden tears.
4. They are often seen soaring in search of carrion, but their diet also includes young goats and lambs.
5. Rumen's only source of income is from selling lambs and sheep.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Wreathe, verb.
π /riΛΓ°/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object • literary • with object and adverbial of direction): Cover, surround, or encircle (something)
❗️ Examples:
1. He sits wreathed in smoke.
2. Madeira's is a mountainous interior, mysteriously wreathed by a cover of clouds.
3. Holmes was sitting wreathed in tobacco smoke and looked up.
4. Instead, Jones was wreathed in smiles which gave way to a brief cry as she stopped in front of her mother, also Marion, and other members of the family who had travelled to Sydney.
5. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Show of hands, phrase.
❓ Definition: A vote carried out among a group by the raising of hands, with numbers typically being estimated rather than counted.
❗️ Examples:
1. A show of hands suggested he has little support.
2. A union motion calling for the policy to be scrapped was clearly carried on a show of hands.
3. After a while, they switched to voting by a show of hands.
4. Each meeting ended with a vote by a show of hands.
5. To cheers in the hall it was carried on a show of hands.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Flexible, adjective.
π /ΛflΙksΙͺb(Ι)l/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Able to be easily modified to respond to altered circumstances.
❗️ Examples:
1. Small businesses which are dependent on flexible working hours.
2. The report argued that management practices should be more flexible to allow laboratories to be more responsive to market forces.
3. I think the notions of international comity are sufficiently flexible to allow a development in that direction.
4. The waitresses said another reason they are happy at Hooters is that their work schedules are very flexible.
5. The hospice's very flexible approach to providing care and support to the entire family is working well.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Justify, verb.
π /ΛdΚΚstΙͺfΚΙͺ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Show or prove to be right or reasonable.
❗️ Examples:
1. The person appointed has fully justified our confidence.
2. Your anxiety may prove to be fully justified, and if after the first year I'm persuaded that you are right I will have an opportunity to remedy the situation.
3. His sentiments were echoed by Richard Crumlish and it seems their confidence has been fully justified after the opening shows.
4. Wall was immense throughout and fully justified the complete confidence management had in him.
5. The defendant cannot justify one libel by proving the truth of another distinct libel.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Abso-bloody-lutely, adverb.
π /ΛabsΙblΚdΙͺΛluΛtli/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Emphatic or humorous form of «absolutely».
❗️ Examples:
1. I feel abso-bloody-lutely dreadful.
2. ‘We should celebrate,’ Otter said. ‘Abso-bloody-lutely,’ Matt agreed.
3. That was abso-bloody-lutely stupid.
4. The songs were abso-BLOODY-lutely terrible.
5. Shelias are washing their jocks and boulder holders every day. Abso-bloody-lutely a bloody waste.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Bounce an idea off, phrase.
❓ Definition (informal): Share an idea with (someone) in order to refine it.
❗️ Examples:
1. He thrives on bouncing ideas off other people.
2. If someone needs to bounce an idea off of someone, another person is able offer honest insight and feedback.
3. This guy also gave me his card and told me to call him if I wanted to bounce an idea off him.
4. It's for people who need that extra ear, are going it alone, or simply need to bounce an idea off a smart group of people.
5. If you have questions or just want to bounce an idea off us, please give us a call.
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π @cambridge_dic
π AMBER Alert, noun.
❓ Definition (trademark in UK): An emergency response system that disseminates information about a missing person (usually a child), by media broadcasting or electronic roadway signs.
❗️ Examples:
1. Our state's AMBER Alert became operational last September.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Ubuntu, noun.
π /ΚΛbΚntΚ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (South African • mass noun): A quality that includes the essential human virtues; compassion and humanity.
❗️ Examples:
1. There is a need for understanding not vengeance, ubuntu not victimization.
2. Speaking during the Senior Citizens' Day at the weekend, hosted by Rhema Mthatha Christian Church, MaMbeki singled out ubuntu as one solution to the problems facing society.
3. I hope the summit will bring together a spirit of humanity - ubuntu - for sustainable development.
4. He referred to Africa's concept of ubuntu, equating compassion with it, and bringing smiles to many audience members' faces.
5. ‘This is a demonstration of ubuntu, a show of humanity to other people,’ says Mdlulwa.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Illywhacker, noun.
π /ΛΙͺlΙͺΛwakΙ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (Australian • informal, dated): A small-time confidence trickster.
❗️ Examples:
1. The ‘illywhacker’, Herbert Badgery, contests meliorist notions of national history.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Come off it, phrase.
❓ Definition (British • informal • in imperative): Said when vigorously expressing disbelief.
❗️ Examples:
1. ‘Come off it, he'll know that's a lie.’
2. Indeed, she claims that there is an unspoken English rule that she calls ‘the importance of not being earnest’, along with a peculiarly English injunction to say, ‘Oh, come off it!’
3. Come off it, that's not something ‘worth remembering’.
4. My honest (and admittedly, somewhat cruel) reaction is ‘Oh, come off it, you're not that special.’
5. ‘Oh come off it, mate,’ he said, because he is not only a hawk, but has a keen and impatient mind.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Star trail, noun.
❓ Definition: A streak on a long-exposure or composite photographic image formed by a star moving across the field of view as a result of the earth's rotation.
❗️ Examples:
No examples.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Get along, phrasal verb.
❓ Definition: Have a harmonious or friendly relationship.
❗️ Examples:
1. They seem to get along pretty well.
2. He does not get along with his son.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Gurk, verb.
π /Ι‘ΙΛk/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (informal • no object): Emit a belch.
❗️ Examples:
1. They grunted and gurked with an unconcern that amazed me.
2. We trooped back to the stable, where Brinny was still gurking fiercely.
3. The Instructress fell back in disorder when I came bellying up to her, whining and waving my hands and gurking out great poisonous gusts of garlic.
4. He ate for an hour without stopping, then finally gurked several times from the very bottom of his satisfied stomach.
5. She spat the meat into her fingers and on to the table without using a fork. She gurked, and farted.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Be just what the doctor ordered, phrase.
❓ Definition (informal): Be very beneficial or desirable under the circumstances.
❗️ Examples:
1. A 2–0 victory is just what the doctor ordered.
2. A media-savvy leader with a vision, with seriousness of purpose, with honesty and decisiveness as his strongest points, a diplomat par excellence, he is exactly what the doctor ordered.
3. The style is apparently a cross between ancient tragedy and TV news, which sounds like exactly what the doctor ordered for a sultry summer weeknight.
4. Meantime, let's just say that London is exactly what the doctor ordered - in other words, I am very happy to be here.
5. I know killer heels aren't exactly what the doctor ordered, but I'll take the psychological boost any day.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Submerge, verb.
π /sΙbΛmΙΛdΚ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Completely cover or obscure.
❗️ Examples:
1. The tensions submerged earlier in the campaign now came to the fore.
2. In the multipolar world that has ensued from the end of the Cold War, submerged tensions between the US and Europe have come out into the open.
3. A dear friend's wedding can stir up all kinds of submerged emotions — and, crucially, a sense that life is, indeed, moving forward, whether you're ready for it or not.
4. After not getting the pleasure he requires from his only love he turns to Banquo who up till now has kept his feelings submerged.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Inborn, adjective.
π /ΛΙͺnbΙΛn/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Existing from birth.
❗️ Examples:
1. An inborn defect in the formation of collagen.
2. There is a high frequency of inborn defects of respiratory organs and bronchiectasis.
3. There are three main categories of congenital problems to be considered in pediatric patients: congenital malformations, inborn errors of metabolism, and other inherited disorders.
4. Apart from these inborn defects, deprivation of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) at any time of life interferes with a step in collagen synthesis; the resulting bleeding, bruising, and poor healing are part of the picture of scurvy.
5. Some of the cell lines were from individuals with rare inborn errors of metabolism, although none suffered from a condition known to be associated with their APOE genotype.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Aa, noun.
π /ΛΙΛΙΛ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Often contrasted with «pahoehoe».
❗️ Examples:
1. Roads of black ash traverse it, winding through the otherwise untraversable aa.
2. A serpentine flow meanders through formations of smooth pahoehoe lava and rough aa lava, the same forms common in basalt lavas.
3. Very different from jagged aa, pahoehoe is the other general texture of newly solidified lava.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Make common cause, phrase.
❓ Definition: Unite in order to achieve a shared aim.
❗️ Examples:
1. Nationalist movements made common cause with the reformers.
2. Let the humanists make common cause with them to achieve freedom.
3. Today, I'd like to offer a few thoughts on what these developments have meant for your colleagues in public broadcasting, and share some ideas about how our institutions might make common cause in the future.
4. As a hunter-gatherer nation, Australia could play a further role in world affairs by making common cause without a hunter-gatherer peoples, all of whom are taking a terrible hammering.
5. On certain foreign policy issues, Switzerland and Bulgaria have a track record of making common cause.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Take up, phrasal verb.
❓ Definition (take something up, take up something): Occupy time, space, or attention.
❗️ Examples:
1. I don't want to take up any more of your time.
2. The rest of that building will be taken up with some retail space, a small number of offices, possibly a hotel, and conference facilities.
3. Phil Burgess, group main board director of Emerson, Orbit's parent company, told the committee that only four per cent of the floor space would be taken up with the goods restricted by the covenant.
4. But many who currently sit in the Main Stand are angry that similar seats will not be available at the new stadium, because the space is taken up with expensive executive seats.
5. It is clear from the wording of s. 84 that the list of matters that may be relevant is not intended to be exhaustive, and it is in the discussion of the nature of the public interest that much of the investigative time is taken up.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Undertake, verb.
π /ΚndΙΛteΙͺk/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object • usually with infinitive): Commit oneself to and begin (an enterprise or responsibility); take on.
❗️ Examples:
1. A firm of builders undertook the construction work.
2. When I became president two-and-a-half years ago I undertook a duty and responsibility.
3. This is a mammoth project undertaken by a very committed and brave team of artists and technicians.
4. To undertake the duties and responsibilities of a platoon sergeant, you are expected to be at the top of your game.
5. All of their Lordships spoke in terms of one party having assumed or undertaken a responsibility towards the other.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Meself, pronoun.
π /mΙͺΛsΙlf/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Non-standard spelling of «myself», used in representing speech.
❗️ Examples:
1. By the time I got there, I was beginning to enjoy meself.
2. I'm jealous, she's me best mate here and I want her to meself.
3. I thought this show was pretty funny and informative meself.
4. The Minister for Finance commented: He does me better than I do meself.
5. ‘I'm not a smoker meself, mind,’ he said, ‘but I was missing the heady spoor of tobacco fumes in the pub.’
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π @cambridge_dic
π Ignorance is bliss, phrase.
❓ Definition (proverb): If one is unaware of an unpleasant fact or situation one cannot be troubled by it.
❗️ Examples:
1. I don't want to hear about them: ignorance is bliss in this case.
2. Where pop music is concerned, ignorance is bliss.
3. Ignorance is bliss and Reece slept well and happy that night.
4. Ignorance is bliss to the general public when it comes to such sensitive and important institutions as the economy.
5. Unless you believe ignorance is bliss, the discovery of the truth of any situation is a good thing.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Obscure, adjective.
π /ΙbΛskjΚΙ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Not clearly expressed or easily understood.
❗️ Examples:
1. Obscure references to Proust.
2. In fact you appear to have to be very advanced in magical theory in order to understand most of the obscure written references about it.
3. Still, this is a Frank Black album, with its obscure references and abstruse lyrics.
4. Pondering the wisdom of basing a key joke on an obscure music reference that most people won't understand, I wander back downstairs to the lounge.
5. Oblique culinary references and obscure terms go against the grain of the present climate in the culinary world.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Dodge, verb.
π /dΙdΚ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object • no object, with adverbial of direction): Avoid (someone or something) by a sudden quick movement.
❗️ Examples:
1. Marchers had to dodge missiles thrown by loyalists.
2. When the news was wafted to his father's factory, all his colleagues dodged him as if they were avoiding a deadly plague.
3. This time, he wasn't quick enough in dodging any attacks.
4. I pushed myself up and dodged a sudden flurry to my right, just in time to avoid someone else's arms.
5. He attacked right then left, both parried and did a quick back roll to dodged a vertical attack.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Fnarr fnarr, exclamation.
π /fnΙΛ ΛfnΙΛ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (British • informal): Used to represent sniggering, typically at a sexual innuendo.
❗️ Examples:
1. That's some package! (Said the bishop to the actress, fnarr fnarr)
2. But I have seen a lot of birds in my time (the feathery type I mean, not the other type, fnarr fnarr).
3. Of course, associating it with a toilet tends to lend a sort of fnarr fnarr quality to the whole thing as well.
4. Since I haven't done it (fnarr fnarr) for a couple of years, there was plenty to choose from.
5. Dobson is notorious in Westminster for his dirty jokes - but the civic value of smut is unclear, and the prospect of spin doctors promoting the fnarr fnarr factor is depressing.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Fight or flight, phrase.
❓ Definition: The instinctive physiological response to a threatening situation, which readies one either to resist forcibly or to run away.
❗️ Examples:
1. I'm sure you've heard of fight or flight in a stressful situation.
2. Humans, like all animals, have an inborn stress alarm system that initiates a fight or flight response to stressful situations.
3. It's true, when you feel that your life might be in danger your natural instinct is fight or flight.
4. In that situation, an animal has two choices - fight or flight.
5. This is when those who haven't punched a ticket feel fight or flight in their bellies.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Disrupt, verb.
π /dΙͺsΛrΚpt/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Drastically alter or destroy the structure of.
❗️ Examples:
1. If an explosion of volcanic steam had formed the crater, the blast from below would have disrupted the underlying rock.
2. Applying an irritant chemical to the membrane disrupts the ordered structure: the dye is released and the globular proteins undergo conformational changes.
3. In the shaken solution - which disrupts spatial structure - the ancestral morph persisted solitarily.
4. A hydronium ion, however, disrupts this structure because it can accommodate a maximum of three hydrogen bonds.
5. It is an antistructuralist reading, one that disrupts both the structures within the text and those that frame it.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Get along, phrasal verb.
❓ Definition (British • informal • in imperative): Used to express scepticism or disbelief or to tell someone to go away.
❗️ Examples:
1. Oh, get along with you!
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π @cambridge_dic
π Zetetic, adjective.
π /zΙͺΛtΙtΙͺk/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (rare): Proceeding by inquiry.
❗️ Examples:
No examples.
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π @cambridge_dic
π The villain of the piece, phrase.
❓ Definition (British): The person or thing responsible for all of the trouble or harm in a particular situation.
❗️ Examples:
1. TV tends to be cast as the villain of the piece.
2. Holdsworth was the villain of the piece when he missed an open goal.
3. He thinks she's trying to make him out to be the villain of the piece.
4. The locked-up wife is transformed into the villain of the piece.
5. Jones, the villain of the piece to Americans, was an Australian.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Heart-warming, adjective.
❓ Definition: Emotionally rewarding or uplifting.
❗️ Examples:
1. Heart-warming stories about life as a country vet.
2. For a film that's honestly committed to being heart-warming and uplifting, it just about gets there.
3. It's a heart-warming story of love, loss, love, biscuits, tea, friendship, tea, token Americans, tea and love.
4. This film tells the heart-warming story of a Belgian woman trying to make it in an economically depressed former mining town.
5. The stories range from the heart-warming to the bone chilling, without ever giving in to sentimentality or farce.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Brave, verb.
π /breΙͺv/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Endure or face (unpleasant conditions or behaviour) without showing fear.
❗️ Examples:
1. These six men braved the rough seas.
2. The last few weeks have been relatively quiet in the West, with few anglers braving the cold conditions.
3. Since she was a child, Elliott has loved the outdoors, so she's used to braving unsavoury weather conditions.
4. But like his hardened ancestors from Achill island he braved the weather and endured.
5. Men and women braved the arctic weather conditions and set off on the long trail.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Degust, verb.
π /dΙͺΛΙ‘Κst/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (rare • with object): Taste (something) carefully to appreciate it fully.
❗️ Examples:
1. Dennis didn't drink it, he degusted it.
2. You can visit here local brewery and degust its beer or historical buildings of church and city hall.
3. We sat at an outdoor garden, degusted the beefsteak, gazed at the stars and the lights of Taipei below.
4. It is a cosy corner to invite several friends to degust tea and have a private meeting.
5. We will degust the food made of swallow nest.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Tomorrow is another day, phrase.
❓ Definition: Said after a bad experience to express one's belief that the future will be better.
❗️ Examples:
1. There's always hope because tomorrow is another day.
2. Who knows, tomorrow is another day and you never know what is going to come in the door.
3. Take each day as it comes and at the end of the day, if things still aren't done, remember that tomorrow is another day.
4. This is just a phase, it will pass, now get some rest, tomorrow is another day!
5. Duncan is obviously disappointed, but tomorrow is another day for getting it right.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Vice versa, adverb.
π /ΛvΚΙͺs ΛvΙΛsΙ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: With the main items in the preceding statement the other way round.
❗️ Examples:
1. Cruise from Cairo to Aswan or vice versa.
2. Please view the italics as simply the opposite of the regular format, and vice versa.
3. You can only compose if you understand how to conduct and vice versa.
4. I wanted HIM to come running to ME, not vice versa.
5. Everett knew everything about her, and vice versa.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Custody, noun.
π /ΛkΚstΙdi/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (mass noun • Law): Responsibility for the care, maintenance, and upbringing of a child or children.
❗️ Examples:
1. He was trying to get custody of their child.
2. In a divorce, fathers control custody of sons over the age of two and daughters over the age of seven.
3. Both the applicant and the respondent were seeking sole custody of the children.
4. In Burns, the mother had full custody of two children and the parents shared custody of a third child.
5. The court then has a difficult task in determining which parent should have custody of Michael.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Littley, noun.
π /ΛlΙͺt(Ι)li/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (Australian, New Zealand • informal): A young child.
❗️ Examples:
1. Donald and his wife have two littlies under three and another due in February.
2. My biggest concern is a littley who can't see over the bonnet of a parked car, and goes to cross the road.
3. If the littley found something in the fridge she shouldn't have, own up to it!
4. In case the size of the portions give you pause, they also feature a "Joey Menu" with the message, "This special tucker is just for littlies under 10".
5. For the littlies, there's lantern making workshops and the Lantern Parade, spaghetti circus performances, face painting, and a puppet theatre.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Around the corner, phrase.
❓ Definition: Very near.
❗️ Examples:
1. There's a chemist around the corner.
2. The commander was claiming that peace was just around the corner.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Upfront, adverb.
π /ΚpΛfrΚnt/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (usually up front • informal): (of a payment) in advance.
❗️ Examples:
1. The salesmen are paid commission up front.
2. Payment is up front and there is a choice between a damage waiver or a security deposit.
3. He'd waited five years on the list, and he'd needed to pay up front a year in advance.
4. She had been paid up front, and she had carried out the task for which she had been paid.
5. The budget is paid in a lump sum up front, so the practice knows where its money is coming from.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Distress, noun.
π /dΙͺΛstrΙs/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (mass noun • Medicine): Extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain.
❗️ Examples:
1. To his distress he saw that she was trembling.
2. Her fingers flew to her throat in distress.
3. Considerable social stigma is associated with infection, which may cause psychological distress in the sufferer.
4. Caring for people experiencing mental distress is often complex and challenging.
5. They say that the school didn't protect her and that she's suffering emotional distress.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Mamaguy, verb.
π /ΛmamΙΙ‘ΚΙͺ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (West Indian • with object): Try to deceive (someone), especially with flattery or untruths.
❗️ Examples:
1. Don't try to mamaguy me at all!
2. If you are talking about my activities as a politician, social worker or as a lawyer, I don't believe in mamaguying people.
3. ‘We wouldn't mamaguy farmers,’ he said.
4. He is just trying to mamaguy the population and, at least the timing is good because the public inquiry into his conduct is coming up in the next two weeks.
5. The lower-classes were truly mamaguyed into thinking they were artists.
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π @cambridge_dic
π A means to an end, phrase.
❓ Definition: A thing that is not valued or important in itself but is useful in achieving an aim.
❗️ Examples:
1. Higher education was seen primarily as a means to an end.
2. We view our technology as a means to an end, and the end is always to deliver business value.
3. However, it must be used as a means to an end and not the end itself.
4. ‘I don't think much of gaming,’ says Morgan, ‘but it was a means to an end.’
5. So advertising is only a means to an end - if an alternative method existed to increase the reputation of the product, it would also serve the seller's purpose.
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π @cambridge_dic
π File, verb.
π /fΚΙͺl/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Submit (a legal document, application, or charge) to be placed on record by the appropriate authority.
❗️ Examples:
1. Criminal charges were filed against the firm.
2. The company had filed for bankruptcy.
3. No charges were ever filed against the accountant.
4. The applicant filed an application for judicial review, but it was dismissed by consent.
5. In December, charges were filed against the women who testified.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Gratitude, noun.
π /ΛΙ‘ratΙͺtjuΛd/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (mass noun): The quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.
❗️ Examples:
1. She expressed her gratitude to the committee for their support.
2. As a return of gratitude, he is willing to share a large percentage of the sum with you.
3. He realised his life since had been wasted on drugs and wanted to express gratitude to the police for having caught him.
4. Ken would like to extend sincere gratitude to all who voted for him during the competition.
5. Olivia expressed her gratitude for the grant, which will be used to pay just some of her fees.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Brummie, noun.
π /ΛbrΚmi/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (British • informal): A person from the English city of Birmingham.
❗️ Examples:
1. More than half of the playing fields were sold off for executive-detached style homes as the native Brummies moved south.
2. The BNP were expected to hold a meeting in Birmingham but after Brummies planned to stage a demonstration, the BNP backed off.
3. Thanks to Rob Manuel of B3ta fame who says: ‘Of course, what they need is a nice uplifting song that makes Brummies feel good about their city rather than just a new logo.’
4. Thousands of Brummies, desperate to escape the inner city, made their home in Tamworth during the 1960s.
5. Something in the morning paper has reminded him of his brush with the Brummies from 1986-1988, a throwaway mention of Graham Turner, then manager of Villa, who persuaded him to leave Aberdeen and try his luck in England.
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π @cambridge_dic
π All in all, phrase.
❓ Definition: On the whole.
❗️ Examples:
1. All in all it's been a good year.
2. They wreak havoc on our nervous systems and, all in all, make for generally unsavoury experiences.
3. But all in all, I would much rather have been running on the straight.
4. So all in all, they are asking you to close your eyes and believe.
5. It's an extremely odd little movie, all in all, and it's a little tough to understand the high expectations.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Grateful, adjective.
π /ΛΙ‘reΙͺtfΚl/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (archaic): Feeling or showing an appreciation for something done or received.
❗️ Examples:
1. I'm grateful to you for all your help.
2. She gave him a grateful smile.
3. I know some of you have made heroic efforts to get here, and we are very grateful and appreciative of that.
4. To be offered a treat such as freshly baked shortbread is sure to raise a grateful smile.
5. She is also very appreciative of what you do for her and is grateful for my interest.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Likeable, adjective.
π /ΛlΚΙͺkΙb(Ι)l/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: (especially of a person) pleasant, friendly, and easy to like.
❗️ Examples:
1. A very likeable young woman.
2. Often times I have noted that it is very popular and likeable people that die young.
3. A friendly and likeable fellow, Ritchie has all the people skills needed to keep the show on the road.
4. His theology is fairly sound, and he is a very pleasant and likeable person.
5. A friendly, likeable man with a rare sense of humour, he had a story for every hour of the day and every day of the week.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Remuda, noun.
π /rΙΛmuΛdΙ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (North American): A herd of horses that have been saddle-broken, from which ranch hands choose their mounts for the day.
❗️ Examples:
1. In 1996 the Stuart won the Best Remuda Award, given by the AQHA and the National Cattleman's Beef Association to outstanding ranch remudas of registered Quarter Horses.
2. He was there in seconds to return all the horses to the remuda.
3. They wouldn't let Grandpa Dan fight so instead he tended the remuda for Terrell's Texas Rangers.
4. He ran with the remuda, but every time the remuda was driven towards the pen, he would break away.
5. How come, he wondered, had a man with a whole personal remuda to pick from come to choose himself such an ornery horse to ride.
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π @cambridge_dic
π In the heat of the moment, phrase.
❓ Definition: While temporarily angry, excited, or engrossed, and without stopping for thought.
❗️ Examples:
1. Things said in the heat of the moment.
2. Sadly at this moment all that was found in the heat of the moment, was two angry faces, two rapidly beating hearts and one truth.
3. That had been all too short, and the ones the night before that had been frenzied, excited ones caught in the heat of the moment.
4. ‘I think there's nothing more dangerous than adopting legislation in the heat of the moment,’ he says.
5. One thing is certain, rugby will always be a very tough game, in which injuries can be expected, and in most cases there is very little a referee can do to prevent many of them in the heat of the moment.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Arrogant, adjective.
π /ΛarΙΙ‘(Ι)nt/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one's own importance or abilities.
❗️ Examples:
1. He's arrogant and opinionated.
2. A typically arrogant assumption.
3. They look a little deeper into the matter without being pompous, arrogant or patronising.
4. Tip in Iceland and you will be seen as arrogant and patronising - and you might get hot soup in your lap.
5. Friends of Hendrie say that some people consider him to be arrogant and superior.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Rattle around, phrasal verb.
❓ Definition (also rattle around something): Be in or occupy an unnecessarily large room or building.
❗️ Examples:
1. The house was too big — we just rattled around in it.
2. There were about ten guests rattling around the huge hotel.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Stoush, verb.
π /staΚΚ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Hit; fight with.
❗️ Examples:
1. Get out of that car while I stoush you.
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π @cambridge_dic
π In the groove, phrase.
❓ Definition (informal): Performing confidently or consistently well.
❗️ Examples:
1. The team are not really in the groove tonight.
2. It might take me a couple of races to get back into the groove.
3. A musician himself, he first discusses the experiences had by musicians who are in the groove, who are performing at their peak as it all comes together.
4. While he started out shaky, as he's done in his previous performances, he got into the groove quickly and stuck with it through the end of the song.
5. He has resorted to that long putter to get his performances back into the groove.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Rattle, verb.
π /Λrat(Ι)l/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (informal • with object): Make (someone) nervous, worried, or irritated.
❗️ Examples:
1. She turned quickly, rattled by his presence.
2. Jack's presence rattled Wilson, reminding him of Henry as a little boy showing Jack how to work the old cash register.
3. The sight of Anna, not the slightest bit ruffled, rattled him severely.
4. He looked at the capable assistant with sincere eyes knowing that this would rattle him into some flustered explanation of his whereabouts.
5. This is the language of seriously rattled people.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Spare, noun.
π /spΙΛ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: An item kept in case another item of the same type is lost, broken, or worn out.
❗️ Examples:
1. The wheel's broken and it would be suicide to go on without a spare.
2. After E, above you put the kit back together and have a large box of spares left over.
3. He played his bass like he had five spares waiting backstage.
4. Everybody in the world should buy all Miyazaki's films twice and then give their spares to each other.
5. I thought it was in case one broke down, then he'd probably use that other one as a spare.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Malison, noun.
π /ΛmalΙͺz(Ι)n/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (archaic): A curse.
❗️ Examples:
1. You could knock a magic resitence of 200% to zero, cast 3-4 malisons, and use your kill spell of choice.
2. The passage is as follows, ‘the malisons which he muttered…, were of truly cabalistic length and fearfulness.’
3. In any case, perhaps, hawks may be trying to avoid falling foul of those malisons.
4. A very easy way is to use a spell trigger with 3 lower resistance spells, a spell sequencer with 3 greater malisons, and a finger of death (though there are alternatives).
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π @cambridge_dic
π All of a sudden, phrase.
❓ Definition: Suddenly.
❗️ Examples:
1. I feel really tired all of a sudden.
2. All of a sudden, he's being asked to dinner by leading writers and noblemen.
3. All of a sudden, the normal drone of the training room was shattered by peals of laughter!
4. All of a sudden, you're face to face with a black, hairy spider the size of a beach ball.
5. All of a sudden, the sky cleared, became blue and a perfect rainbow arched over me with one end in the sand.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Spare, adjective.
π /spΙΛ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Not currently in use or occupied.
❗️ Examples:
1. A spare seat.
2. Keren occupied only one leaving his spare seats free.
3. Open crates and various strange pieces of equipment seemed to occupy every spare bit of space.
4. It's the only spare seat in the whole classroom.
5. She turned up the heater, turned all vents on the stranger and reached behind her seat for a spare jacket.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Likelihood, noun.
π /ΛlΚΙͺklΙͺhΚd/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (mass noun): The state or fact of something's being likely; probability.
❗️ Examples:
1. Young people who can see no likelihood of finding employment.
2. Situations where there is a likelihood of violence.
3. The likelihood is that the pelts of the rabid foxes have been sold to furriers.
4. There is thus far less likelihood of stalemates or draws forming in the game.
5. There is also no likelihood that anything said or done would have induced any other confession.
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π @cambridge_dic
π King-hit, noun.
❓ Definition (Australian, New Zealand • informal): A sudden knockout blow.
❗️ Examples:
1. The 30-year-old Williams was outed for 18 matches by the NRL judiciary following his king-hit on Wests Tigers veteran O'Neill at Leichhardt Oval last month.
2. The Melbourne forward yesterday had his appeal against an 18-week suspension for a king-hit on O'Neill dismissed by the NRL judiciary chairman.
3. What Sunday is expected to claim was a king-hit from behind, Latham told John Laws was ‘a bit of crowd control’.
4. A king-hit, it seemed, was like the very coolest thing in the whole wide world, and for that reason Jeff, by performing that one simple act, had achieved a kind of instant celebrity status.
5. He didn't see it coming and can't remember what happened afterwards, but he says he will never forget the king-hit that knocked him out on Saturday.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Money talks, phrase.
❓ Definition (proverb): Wealth gives power and influence to those who possess it.
❗️ Examples:
1. I twisted Billy's statement to demonstrate that money talks, and therefore gives its bearer power that others lack.
2. I know money talks but at the end of the day it is always going to be the player's choice as to where he plays his rugby.
3. The state of the union is that money talks and public policy is sold to the highest bidder.
4. Meritocracy was not totally absent in this story - if anything, it shows that money talks, but it doesn't necessarily call the shots.
5. Petitions and letters are nice, but money talks.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Dispel, verb.
π /dΙͺΛspΙl/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Make (a doubt, feeling, or belief) disappear.
❗️ Examples:
1. The brightness of the day did nothing to dispel Elaine's dejection.
2. Actually listening to the record does little to dispel these feelings of disappointment.
3. Such words dispelled any doubts, despair or lingering suspicions.
4. Perhaps it is actually a canny psychological technique for dispelling any last minute doubts.
5. Many analysts thought Standard was paying too high a premium for control of the bank in January, but these doubts could be dispelled by a positive update on its integration.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Impact, noun.
π /ΛΙͺmpakt/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: A marked effect or influence.
❗️ Examples:
1. Our regional measures have had a significant impact on unemployment.
2. The adverse effect immediately made an impact on the company's financial performance.
3. All these influences have had an impact on me becoming who and what I am today.
4. Moreover, advances in medicine and medical technology have had a marked impact on the process of dying.
5. So the potential environmental impact is markedly reduced by that.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Bindaas, adjective.
π /ΛbΙͺndΙΛs/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (Indian • informal): Carefree, fashionable, and independent-minded.
❗️ Examples:
1. Bollywood's most bindaas babe.
2. I miss the bindaas attitude and the Bombaiya Hindi.
3. Women wearing gold ornaments sleep near the window, all bindaas.
4. I love that bindaas character and I would love to do similar roles.
5. Mid-day has a unique character which can be summed up in a single word: bindaas.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Quite a —, phrase.
❓ Definition: Used to indicate that the specified person or thing is perceived as particularly notable, remarkable, or impressive.
❗️ Examples:
1. Quite a party, isn't it?
2. Quite the little horsewoman, aren't you?
3. There was quite the little gong show to prep for the party.
4. He is quite the ladies' man, always chasing the girls.
5. Sure, it wasn't quite the indulgences of our 20's.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Marked, adjective.
π /mΙΛkt/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Clearly noticeable.
❗️ Examples:
1. A marked increase in UK sales.
2. She said the school has shown a marked improvement this year in their efforts to retain the green flag.
3. Demand in Waterford City Centre for good retail locations is extremely strong and there has been a marked scarcity of suitable properties.
4. Intensive immunization campaigns have resulted in a marked decrease in polio throughout the world.
5. While the use of accounting information intensified, there was no marked change in the system itself.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Solely, adverb.
π /ΛsΙΚlli/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Not involving anyone or anything else; only.
❗️ Examples:
1. He is solely responsible for any debts the company may incur.
2. People are appointed solely on the basis of merit.
3. Does he seriously think that anyone believes we rely solely on the wind to light our streets?
4. It is simply not true that smoking is solely responsible for the current cancer epidemic.
5. To have a true belief is simply and solely to believe that something is so, and to be in fact right.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Paludal, adjective.
π /pΙΛl(j)uΛd(Ι)l/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (Ecology): (of a plant, animal, or soil) living or occurring in a marshy habitat.
❗️ Examples:
1. Paludal tufas develop predominantly in waterlogged valley bottom situations, where line-sourced waters emerge from valley side and bottom aquifers.
2. A paludal atmosphere has the effect of shortening the duration of life.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Rest on one's laurels, phrase.
❓ Definition: Be so satisfied with what one has already done or achieved that one makes no further effort.
❗️ Examples:
1. With TV sports coverage becoming increasingly competitive, the BBC should beware of resting on its laurels.
2. He has experienced more adventure than most of us enjoy in a lifetime but he is not resting on his laurels and is already planning further adventures.
3. He is not resting on his laurels and has already begun working for further improvement.
4. We cannot rest on our laurels after the efforts of the weekend.
5. But I've rested on my laurels and never put effort into anything.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Rocket science, noun.
❓ Definition (humorous • mass noun, usually with negative): Something very difficult to understand.
❗️ Examples:
1. We want you to get out and vote — it's not exactly rocket science.
2. Organic weed control is not rocket science, but it does take understanding the anatomy and physiology of the crop plants, the weeds and the soil.
3. Setting up on your own isn't rocket science, but it does take nerve and an injection of capital to get you rolling.
4. The chord changes aren't rocket science, but the rhythms are fast and the fills are rare, quick and poisonous.
5. What Rex said has helped ground me in thinking that this really is not rocket science, it's basic business practices.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Take up, phrasal verb.
❓ Definition (take something up, take up something): Become interested or engaged in a pursuit.
❗️ Examples:
1. She took up tennis at the age of 11.
2. Watching opera on television and attending live opera performances got her interested in taking it up as a career.
3. Mostly good weather favoured the event for the three weeks when outdoor pursuits could be taken up.
4. Mr Frost contacted Counsel and Care after reading about its national campaign to encourage older people to continue their artistic pursuits, or take them up for the first time.
5. She told me last week she once did kick-boxing and was interested in taking it up again when she moves to Sheffield!
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π @cambridge_dic
π Niff, noun.
π /nΙͺf/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (British • informal): An unpleasant smell.
❗️ Examples:
1. The horrible fishy niff.
2. Top Tip: a few drops of tea tree oil in the bottom prevents nasty niffs.
3. Councillors are calling on the Government to get involved in ending a nasty niff pervading Castle Point.
4. Council environment chiefs have launched an investigation into the source of the nasty niff.
5. After several weeks I started to notice a nasty niff on my clothes and realised the cream was to blame.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Easy does it, phrase.
❓ Definition: Used to advise someone to approach a task carefully and slowly.
❗️ Examples:
1. With father's wine in the back I mustn't drive too fast, so easy does it.
2. Easy, easy does it, not too much, just a little bit more.
3. So easy does it with the imagery from now on, I promise.
4. Whether your sending out a quick ‘hello’ or ‘meet us here later’, it's easy does it all the way.
5. Carter shushed her, ‘Hey, easy does it there, Laura.’
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π @cambridge_dic
π Ship off, phrasal verb.
❓ Definition (ship someone off, ship off someone): Send someone away because they are unwanted or troublesome.
❗️ Examples:
1. Eliza is shipped off to boarding school in London.
2. When his father dies, he is shipped off to Copenhagen to seek his fortune.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Likewise, adverb.
π /ΛlΚΙͺkwΚΙͺz/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Used to introduce a point similar or related to one just made.
❗️ Examples:
1. The banks advise against sending cash. Likewise, sending British cheques may cause problems.
2. Club sides have to keep introducing young players from time to time and likewise, the national team also has to blood new talent.
3. Then the foxes, introduced in an attempt to eradicate the likewise imported rabbit menace, completed the devastation.
4. By lunchtime, she could introduce herself in Polish, and the children could do likewise in German.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Ratted, adjective.
π /ΛratΙͺd/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (British • informal): Very drunk.
❗️ Examples:
1. Mind you, in a country where people who get completely ratted before driving their cars into bus queues of pensioners can sue the barman who served them, I guess you can't be too careful.
2. In fact I would safely say that having cash spare at the end of the week, how many pints of larger it would take to get ratted and the chances of getting laid where much more serious concerns.
3. But although there was a scare with my first sample being clear, as we'd only just arrived, my second proved that I, along with the entire Sunday Herald table, was completely ratted and therefore allowed to keep the trophy.
4. We'd already lost interest and turned the film into a drinking game, meaning we were ratted by the time the titles came up.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me, phrase.
❓ Definition (proverb): Used to express indifference to an insult or abuse.
❗️ Examples:
1. If anyone ever tells you that little rhyme ‘sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me,’ well tell them they are full of it.
2. We say things like ‘actions speak louder than words’, or ‘sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me’.
3. But the child's nursery rhyme is true: sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.
4. As that old saying goes, sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.
5. Remember the old saying, sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me?
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π @cambridge_dic
π Disarm, verb.
π /dΙͺsΛΙΛm/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Remove the fuse from (a bomb), making it safe.
❗️ Examples:
1. Police yesterday disarmed a parcel bomb.
2. As an article in the New York Times reports, the crucial point is that the Israelis are able to disarm their human bombs because they have prior intelligence.
3. An American soldier was killed when he tried to disarm a roadside bomb that had been attached to a telephone pole.
4. On the letter bomb front, army bomb disposal experts were called on to disarm a letter bomb sent to an unnamed agricultural business and a farm.
5. He disarms bombs for a living, and at night goes home to his LP collection and his beautiful girlfriend.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Fuse, noun.
π /fjuΛz/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: A device in a bomb that controls the timing of the explosion.
❗️ Examples:
1. For instance, their Tellermine was fitted with screw sockets on the side and underneath to take various types of anti-lifting device, and anti-handling fuzes were issued.
2. The fuze is a self-powered, microprocessor controlled device and contains a radio frequency radar.
3. What he doesn't know, of course is that he is the bomb, complete with remotely controlled fuse hidden somewhere in the car.
4. A conventional bomb has a casing containing explosives, a detonation or ignition system, and an initiation device or fuse.
5. When the fuse is triggered, a conventional explosion causes the second subcritical mass to be propelled at a high velocity into the first subcritical mass.
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π @cambridge_dic
π O-o, noun.
π /ΛΙΚΙΚ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: A honeyeater (bird) found in Hawaii, now probably extinct, which had a thin curved bill and climbed about on tree trunks.
❗️ Examples:
No examples.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Sort out the men from the boys, phrase.
❓ Definition: Show or prove who is the best at a particular activity.
❗️ Examples:
1. The mountains apparently sort out the men from the boys.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Leftover, noun.
π /ΛlΙftΙΚvΙ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (usually leftovers): Something, especially food, remaining after the rest has been used.
❗️ Examples:
1. Everyone wanted seconds, so there were no leftovers.
2. He's just a leftover from another age.
3. This salad also makes great leftovers and will keep fresh in your fridge for up to seven days!
4. Tonight I made him a baked potato to go with the leftovers and he gobbled it all up.
5. There once was a time when a Monday lunch was Sunday's leftovers or a cheap sandwich.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Confide, verb.
π /kΙnΛfΚΙͺd/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (reporting verb • confide in • no object): Trust (someone) enough to tell them of a secret or private matter.
❗️ Examples:
1. He confided in friends that he and his wife planned to separate.
2. I kinda wish she'd just confide in me, since I ended up trusting her enough to confide in her.
3. Not only will people not trust you, confide in you or believe you - they might ditch you.
4. I would urge her to seek help and confide in somebody she trusts.
5. Explain to your so-called bud that you confide in her because you trust her.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Troopie, noun.
π /ΛtruΛpi/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (South African • informal): A soldier, especially one performing national service.
❗️ Examples:
1. The town serves as a camp for basic training for troopies.
2. Brit soldiers were taught to load only 12 per mag, and SAS troopies told me they were disciplined for having a thirteenth round in a magazine.
3. He and his planeload of South African troopies were arrested on a tip-off from South Africa when they stopped to take on a load of weapons, on order from a foreign agent.
4. ‘For the record, I was a ‘troopie’ at Paratus, a photojournalist with no rank at all until the last four months of my national service.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Fight one's corner, phrase.
❓ Definition: Defend one's position or interests.
❗️ Examples:
1. We need someone in the cabinet to fight our corner.
2. The company argues that the fact the shareholders are getting anything at all - something some creditors fiercely opposed at the time - was only because the company fought their corner.
3. The same ferocity with which a young, disadvantaged Motherwell side have fought their corner for much of the league campaign was the game's most compelling feature.
4. I fought my corner to the very last, though, and as we waited at the check-out I gave it a final shot.
5. But Mr Jones fought his corner and delivered a prepared, three-minute speech pressing his argument that public services needed to be reformed and firms had to deal with the increasing demands of competition.
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π @cambridge_dic
