Cambridge Dictionary:
π Ember, noun.
π /ΛΙmbΙ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (usually embers): A small piece of burning or glowing coal or wood in a dying fire.
❗️ Examples:
1. The dying embers in the grate.
2. The flickering embers of nationalism.
3. Hunter returned to his place by Missy's side in front of the glowing embers of the dying fire laid in the black iron stove.
4. A piece of wood dropped on the dying embers in the fire soon burst into flame.
5. The dying embers of the fire flickered and he squinted to get a feel of his surroundings.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Paramount, adjective.
π /ΛparΙmaΚnt/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: More important than anything else; supreme.
❗️ Examples:
1. The interests of the child are of paramount importance.
2. Free trade is a principle which recognizes the paramount importance of individual action.
3. Victory is paramount and anything that gets in the way is deemed the enemy that must be destroyed at all costs.
4. I didn't do anything about it; her happiness was still of paramount importance in my mind.
5. Public hearings on important matters are paramount to monitoring government.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Barmecide, adjective.
π /ΛbΙΛmΙͺsΚΙͺd/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (rare): Illusory or imaginary and therefore disappointing.
❗️ Examples:
1. Hence the expression ‘Barmecide feast’, a useful metaphor for, well, loads of things… use your imagination.
2. For if all these experiences relieved the boredom of a well-brought-up young lady's life in Mayfair, they nonetheless proved a Barmecide feast.
3. All virtuality is a Barmecide feast and Internet is virtuality par excellence.
4. Your lighter boxes of family papers went upstairs into a Barmecide room.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Hang loose, phrase.
❓ Definition (North American • informal • often as imperative): Be relaxed; refrain from taking anything too seriously.
❗️ Examples:
1. Hang loose, baby!
2. Still, if you go in not expecting very much, and relax and just hang loose, you will find a lot to smile about.
3. He likes to joke around and is tremendous about creating a positive atmosphere so the guys can stay loose.
4. The key I believe is to stay loose and just write whatever pops into your head.
5. ‘Just chill out and hang loose,’ she said knowingly.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Burn out, phrasal verb.
❓ Definition: Cease to function as a result of excessive heat or friction.
❗️ Examples:
1. The clutch had burned out.
2. The first successful light bulbs marketed by Edison in the 1880s produced so much heat that they burnt out very rapidly.
3. Measures like this ensure the chip will not burn out as it heats up from use.
4. Three days later he got a second SMS saying that she had got as far as Parys but her clutch had burnt out and could he let her have R800 more for the repairs.
5. That was early in the race and normally when a clutch slips it will burn out, but that wasn't the case because he was able to finish and restart OK.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Daring, adjective.
π /ΛdΙΛrΙͺΕ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: (of a person or action) adventurous or audaciously bold.
❗️ Examples:
1. A daring crime.
2. With the lantern, she looked just like a character from one of those old black and white films, like the daring heroine bold enough to uncover ghastly secrets hidden deep within the woods.
3. Cheng is a bold and daring man, working at whatever it takes to give his boy a chance to succeed in life.
4. So who was this daring woman, who ranks alongside the likes of glamorous adventurers such as Isak Dinesen and Beryl Markham?
5. He had fallen for her rebellious daring personality the moment they met.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Cowardy custard, phrase.
❓ Definition (British • informal, derogatory): A cowardly person (often used as a taunt by children)
❗️ Examples:
1. The cowardy custards didn't publish it.
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π @cambridge_dic
π As if there was no tomorrow, phrase.
❓ Definition: With no regard for the future consequences.
❗️ Examples:
1. I ate as if there was no tomorrow.
2. He gnawed and bit and scratched as if there was no tomorrow!
3. The banks are still lending as if there was no tomorrow.
4. She and Dan would swim and swim as if there was no tomorrow.
5. Before I could say anything, he was kissing me as if there was no tomorrow.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Immerse, verb.
π /ΙͺΛmΙΛs/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Dip or submerge in a liquid.
❗️ Examples:
1. immerse the paper in water for twenty minutes.
2. The food to be poached must be fully immersed in the liquid and not allowed to boil otherwise it can toughen the most delicate protein.
3. The first one involved usage of liquid paraffin for immersing nerves while dissecting and recording from them.
4. In our experiments, however, both tip and sample are completely immersed in liquids.
5. Add artichoke hearts and weigh down so that they are fully immersed in cooking liquid.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Take up, phrasal verb.
❓ Definition: Accept an offer or challenge.
❗️ Examples:
1. Most residents took up the offer of refurbished equipment.
2. So many couples took the city up on its surprise offer that, by late afternoon, overwhelmed officials told new applicants to return yesterday.
3. Nine or 10 of the lads, myself included, took the manager up on his kind offer.
4. I took the train up in the morning, spent three hours or so doing the usual rounds of presentation and schmoozing, and then I thought I would take my host up on her offer to see the sights.
5. I believe it is harder, in this culture at this time, to write well about characters who do good, and so I believe that is a challenge thrown down before a writer, and I try to take that challenge up in my own way.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Irrits, plural noun.
π /ΛΙͺrΙͺts/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (the irrits • Australian • informal): Feelings of extreme annoyance or irritation.
❗️ Examples:
1. His constant criticizing gives me the irrits.
2. Things slipping and sliding every which way may give you a case of the irrits this week.
3. They don't like him in the class; he gives them the irrits.
4. Do you know the kind of people who really give me the irrits?
5. This attitude that roads cause crashes, or that a road is dangerous, really gives me the "irrits".
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π @cambridge_dic
π All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, phrase.
❓ Definition (proverb): Constant work without rest or relaxation is harmful to one's personal life and well-being.
❗️ Examples:
1. In addition to firm information, we have a little game because all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
2. All work and no play is stressful.
3. Being in shape doesn't have to be all work and no play.
4. It won't be all work and no play at the show.
5. Though you agree that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, the industrious and methodical part of you will do justice to your work.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Mugger, noun.
π /ΛmΚΙ‘Ι/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: A person who attacks and robs another in a public place.
❗️ Examples:
1. The mugger snatched my purse and ran away.
2. They are burglars, dealers, vandals, thugs, muggers, arsonists, a menace to society.
3. A gang of muggers attacked a man 6ft 8in tall and stole his mobile phone as he walked home after a night out in Trowbridge.
4. A passing couple saw the attack and chased the mugger, but he managed to get away.
5. He was one of the muggers that was attacking that woman.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Prejudice, noun.
π /ΛprΙdΚΚdΙͺs/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (mass noun): Preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.
❗️ Examples:
1. English prejudice against foreigners.
2. Deep-rooted class prejudices.
3. Some prejudices (preconceived opinions of an individual based on opinions about the many) have names such as racism, sexism, or ageism.
4. Preconceived notions are prejudices about what is supposed to happen during the ritual, or the way in which the ritual must be done.
5. As a straight woman with my own prejudices and preconceptions, I fall somewhere in between.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Wabbit, adjective.
π /ΛwabΙͺt/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (Scottish • predicative): Exhausted or slightly unwell.
❗️ Examples:
1. I'm feeling a bit wabbit.
2. The bairn's a wee bit tired. Wabbit.
3. Been feeling a bit wabbit but may be because I'm coming off my medication at the moment.
4. I think, firstly - give Rhoda a hug - she looks a bit wabbit!
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π @cambridge_dic
π Like hell, phrase.
❓ Definition (informal): Very much (used for emphasis)
❗️ Examples:
1. My head hurts like hell.
2. All I know is that my mouth hurts like hell and I've about as much chance of getting in to see my dentist this week as I have getting into a size 10 dress.
3. I didn't really think about it much as I grew up, unless I bashed my hand against something then the tiny scar hurt like hell.
4. Either way, it hurts like hell on my right side when I breathe in.
5. It really is a magnificent bruise and I have no doubt it hurts like hell.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Junkie, noun.
π /ΛdΚΚΕki/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (informal): A drug addict.
❗️ Examples:
1. I thought my destiny was to be a heroin addict, a junkie for the rest of my life; I couldn't stop myself and I didn't know a way out.
2. For the past eight years, Moira's been on methadone, a drug most imagine only junkies use to get off heroin.
3. Only two respondents in this sample were currently relapsing addicts / junkies.
4. Whether you are a junky or a functional addict, heroin runs your life.
5. Teenage drug users in Alice Springs take offence to being called addicts, junkies, criminals and so on.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Bodyguard, noun.
π /ΛbΙdΙͺΙ‘ΙΛd/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: A person or group of people employed to escort and protect an important or famous person.
❗️ Examples:
1. Already, she is in need of bodyguards to protect her from the all-too-real threat of stalkers.
2. Assigned to the code talkers are bodyguards, sent to protect them during the fighting.
3. The ambassador travels with a close protection team of armed bodyguards.
4. Imran Khaliq, 24, used to work as a bodyguard, security guard and nightclub doorman.
5. Campaigning then was a bit tougher than it is now, so tough in fact that George Albert employed a bodyguard.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Abaya, noun.
π /ΙΛbeΙͺjΙ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: A full-length outer garment worn by some Muslim women.
❗️ Examples:
1. There were 79 women, 11 with heads uncovered, the rest split between headscarves and black flowing abayas.
2. In public, most Omani women wear a black ankle-length robe called an abaya, and many veil their faces.
3. They looked like ghosts with the wind whipping around their abayas.
4. With a simple twist of her abaya, the black robe that sometimes covers her body or head, she rapidly shifts among her range of characters under the distracting sound of booming music.
5. Saudi women don a billowy black cloak called an abaya, along with a black scarf and veil over the face.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Play hard to get, phrase.
❓ Definition (informal): Deliberately adopt an aloof or uninterested attitude, typically in order to make oneself more attractive or interesting.
❗️ Examples:
1. They are playing hard to get with the media, and are keeping us all interested.
2. Sometimes when dates played hard to get, it made the chase more interesting and the inevitable surrender more satisfying.
3. ‘He tried to talk to me for a while after we met, but I was playing hard to get,’ she said with a slight smile.
4. In this love affair, like many others, playing hard to get can only make for a better relationship.
5. After months of being cautious and playing hard to get, I'm going to bravely risk rejection this time.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Easy-peasy, adjective.
π /iΛzΙͺΛpiΛzi/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (British • informal): Very straightforward and easy (used by or as if by children)
❗️ Examples:
1. Easy-peasy questions.
2. They insist the new tax forms are easy-peasy.
3. For me, to pose nude was easy-peasy because I've been filmed naked before onscreen, so to pose behind a cider press was fine.
4. One of the 35 children learning to cook the easy-peasy way, Adam is mastering the art of making and - best of all - tasting shortbread.
5. And then there's me, being pleasantly surprised that I can still swim quite easily, even though I'm only mid-way up the easy-peasy pool.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Burn out, phrasal verb.
❓ Definition: Ruin one's health or become completely exhausted through overwork.
❗️ Examples:
1. Doing one task for too long can cause you to burn out.
2. A burned-out undercover cop.
3. She had died at the age of 45 from exhaustion, burnt out by the hardships of life.
4. But for a burned out cop like Mitch, it was just what the proverbial doctor had ordered.
5. Rather than improving technique, burned out dancers may report debilitating fatigue, loss of enthusiasm, and injuries.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Tuneage, noun.
π /ΛtΚuΛnΙdΚ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (informal • mass noun): (especially in music journalism) music.
❗️ Examples:
1. More quality tuneage from Nottingham's finest.
2. Music styles include hyper pop-punk, holy hip-hop, and something called hybrid death tuneage.
3. Packed wall to wall with hammer head chords and unrelenting adrenalin filled feel good tuneage.
4. And it's certainly true in this size of player, where you'll regularly have to change albums to refresh your tuneage.
5. Serious tuneage, the melody just hunts you down until your pinched into a corner with no escape route in sight.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Give or take —, phrase.
❓ Definition (informal): To within a specified amount.
❗️ Examples:
1. Three hundred and fifty years ago, give or take a few.
2. They found that the mass extinction occurred 46,400 years ago, give or take 3,000 years.
3. He departed this vale two decades or so ago, give or take a few years.
4. Although no one knows for certain, most authorities agree that the pug originated in China around 2,500 years ago, give or take a few centuries.
5. Eight hours ago - give or take a couple minutes - his aunt had flown to California to visit an old roommate from her college years.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Freckle, noun.
π /ΛfrΙk(Ι)l/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: A small patch of light brown colour on the skin, often becoming more pronounced through exposure to the sun.
❗️ Examples:
1. She had a light sprinkling of freckles on her nose.
2. She was tall and blonde, light skin, freckles sprinkled across her nose and northern cheeks.
3. She had green eyes, and a light sprinkling of freckles across the bridge of her nose.
4. Her skin was creamy white with a scattering of light freckles on her high cheekbones.
5. Somewhere between his words, he has managed to move so close to me that I can make out light freckles sprinkled on his nose.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Thorough, adjective.
π /ΛΞΈΚrΙ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Complete with regard to every detail; not superficial or partial.
❗️ Examples:
1. Planners need a thorough understanding of the subject.
2. Success in this environment requires a thorough understanding of systems theory.
3. Prevention only works when you have a thorough understanding about how and why things fail.
4. Whenever he was doing something in mathematics, he always strove to achieve a thorough understanding of the subject.
5. The experiences may lead to closer contact and more thorough understanding.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Edacious, adjective.
π /ΙͺΛdeΙͺΚΙs/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (rare): Relating to or given to eating.
❗️ Examples:
No examples.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Take it or leave it, phrase.
❓ Definition (usually in imperative): Said to express that the offer one has made is not negotiable and that one is indifferent to another's reaction to it.
❗️ Examples:
1. That's the deal — take it or leave it.
2. This looks like an opening gambit rather than a take it or leave it offer.
3. We have already been told that the moving of the market and interchange are not negotiable and that, in effect, we can either take it or leave it.
4. Would they tell them to take it or leave it, this is what we offer?
5. He offered the cash and said take it or leave it and the bank eventually came back and said it would accept the cash.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Absorb, verb.
π /ΙbΛzΙΛb/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object • often be absorbed in): Take up the attention of (someone); interest greatly.
❗️ Examples:
1. She sat in an armchair, absorbed in a book.
2. The work absorbed him and continued to make him happy.
3. I love being so absorbed in a book that I don't hear the things going on around me.
4. He hadn't heard her come up the stairs or enter the apartment he was so absorbed in his book.
5. She managed to make it look as if she were absorbed in the book when John threw her door open.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Disrupt, verb.
π /dΙͺsΛrΚpt/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Interrupt (an event, activity, or process) by causing a disturbance or problem.
❗️ Examples:
1. Flooding disrupted rail services.
2. It only defers its end by disrupting the social event with which it begins.
3. The contest became a target in 1970 when women protesters disrupted the event.
4. Arrangements also have to be made for visitors to view it, without disrupting the daily activities of the embassy.
5. The roof structure itself can be added on to, again, without disrupting the ongoing activities of the airport.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Rammies, plural noun.
π /ΛramΙͺz/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (Australian, South African • informal, dated): Trousers.
❗️ Examples:
No examples.
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π @cambridge_dic
π In the flesh, phrase.
❓ Definition: In person or (of a thing) in its actual state.
❗️ Examples:
1. They decided that they should meet Alexander in the flesh.
2. Reminds me though, I once had a lunch with a blind colleague whom I'd spoken to on the phone a lot but not met in the flesh before.
3. Not only does he not want journalists to meet people in the flesh, he will actively discourage them from doing any such thing.
4. At any rate, it turns out that I have recently met another blogger, in the flesh.
5. The Fan Faire was a rare opportunity for them to meet in the flesh.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Come down, phrasal verb.
❓ Definition: Be handed down by tradition or inheritance.
❗️ Examples:
1. The name has come down from the last century.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Absolve, verb.
π /ΙbΛzΙlv/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Declare (someone) free from guilt, obligation, or punishment.
❗️ Examples:
1. The pardon absolved them of any crimes.
2. Recovering, he is absolved of his guilt by the understanding daughter.
3. At the same time, the right to free speech does not absolve us from our duty to behave responsibly.
4. ZoΓ«, as loving in her death as she was in her life, tried to absolve her family from guilt.
5. There, he says, the cost of calling you or attaching a note to the bottle was low, hence the supplier's failure to secure your consent absolves you of all obligation to pay.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Canorous, adjective.
π /kΙΛnΙΛrΙs/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (rare): (of song or speech) melodious or resonant.
❗️ Examples:
No examples.
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π @cambridge_dic
π In person, phrase.
❓ Definition: With the personal presence or action of the individual specified.
❗️ Examples:
1. He had to pick up his welfare cheque in person.
2. Otherwise people can go there in person and pay a visit to the kids since the center is not that far.
3. His thesis is undoubtedly better presented in person rather than in the context of a dry academic paper.
4. The cyclists who objected to the scheme presented their views in person to the inquiry.
5. There's also an added bonus for people, like myself, who're extremely shy in person.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Hide-and-seek, noun.
π /hΚΙͺdnΛsiΛk/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (mass noun): A children's game in which one or more players hide and the other or others have to look for them.
❗️ Examples:
1. On a beautiful summer evening the family took a sunset walk to the beach before the children went off to play a last game of hide-and-seek in a cornfield nearby.
2. In the summer there were barbecues and endless games of hide-and-seek and stickball.
3. Find fun activities the entire family can enjoy, like football in the snow, ice skating, skiing, hide-and-seek or a pillow fight.
4. Children enjoy playing games such as hopscotch and hide-and-seek.
5. I remember it as a house for Christmases, but it was also fantastic for playing hide-and-seek, because you could climb up metal rungs into the chimney and nobody would ever find you.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Counteract, verb.
π /kaΚntΙrΛakt/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Act against (something) in order to reduce its force or neutralize it.
❗️ Examples:
1. Should we deliberately intervene in the climate system to counteract global warming?
2. Unequally spaced white stripes painted across the road leading up to an off-ramp have been used to create an illusion that counteracts motion adaptation and reduces driving speed.
3. Dark energy is a mysterious pressure that counteracts gravity, forcing the universe to expand faster than it otherwise would.
4. Dynamic Drive is another option, fitted to the car we drove; it counteracts body lean to force the BMW level in corners.
5. Inverters can reduce overall crosstalk by counteracting the effects of switching, as long as the victim trace runs alongside both the native signal and its inverted form.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Canorous, adjective.
π /kΙΛnΙΛrΙs/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (rare): (of song or speech) melodious or resonant.
❗️ Examples:
No examples.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Every dog has its day, phrase.
❓ Definition (proverb): Everyone will have good luck or success at some point in their lives.
❗️ Examples:
1. There comes a time to stop, every dog has its day, and I think I have had mine.
2. In parallel with his ascendancy to the top of the NFL tree went his present team, their unlikely transformation from zeroes to heroes last season illustrating that every dog has its day.
3. It's not nice to keep losing but every dog has its day.
4. I'm aware that, very, very occasionally a performance is given which astonishes us all, but every dog has his day, and England's problem is having too few of these.
5. However, no sooner had I written this than I get to find out every dog has his day, right?
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π @cambridge_dic
π Cautiously, adverb.
π /ΛkΙΛΚΙsli/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: In a way that deliberately avoids potential problems or dangers.
❗️ Examples:
1. We must proceed cautiously.
2. Such laws have been cautiously welcomed.
3. The artist appears to have forgotten, or cautiously avoided, his revolutionary ideals.
4. The film is cautiously optimistic in its portrayal of how intense love can transcend death.
5. The camera is now a portal through which we may spy cautiously on his hapless world of emotionally isolated human beings.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Deliberate, adjective.
π /dΙͺΛlΙͺb(Ι)rΙt/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Done consciously and intentionally.
❗️ Examples:
1. A deliberate attempt to provoke conflict.
2. We have reason to believe at this point in time with the evidence through the course of the investigation this was premeditated, deliberate, intentional.
3. He said there is no deliberate attempt to provoke feelings of isolation, but the looped video of a train constantly leaving the viewer stranded is a touch eerie.
4. And those injuries have been inflicted with deliberate and premeditated intent.
5. You also talk about the ruling class and how to gauge their intentions - to what extent their actions are deliberate and conscious.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Dariole, noun.
π /ΛdarΙͺΙΚl/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: (also dariole mould) (in French cooking) a small, flowerpot-shaped mould in which an individual sweet or savoury dish is cooked and served.
❗️ Examples:
1. Set the filled darioles in the saucepan.
2. Divide mixture into creased moulds and bake for 30 minutes by placing the moulds (use individual dariole moulds or ovenproof ramekins) in a deep baking tray with at least one and a half centimetres of water in the bottom of the tray.
3. Spoon into six lightly oiled dariole moulds or mini-pudding moulds, cover with cling film and chill overnight.
4. Cut a round from each of six slices of bread, dip into the reserved juice, then place in the bases of either ramekins or dariole moulds.
5. Pour the mixture into six very lightly oiled dariole moulds or 7.5cm ramekins, cover and chill for four hours or until set.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Get laid, phrase.
❓ Definition (informal): Have sex.
❗️ Examples:
1. He was keeping himself busy with his life's work - trying and failing to get laid.
2. He had a Playboy duvet cover and still got laid!
3. I don't go out to get laid - I go out to have fun.
4. What does one's opinion on politics have to do with getting laid?
5. It's like they all just went on the show to get laid more than usual.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Amiss, adjective.
π /ΙΛmΙͺs/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (predicative): Not quite right; inappropriate or out of place.
❗️ Examples:
1. There was something amiss about his calculations.
2. I felt like myself yet there was something wrong, something amiss, something lacking from the scene.
3. At this point the store manager, who was taking stock nearby, sensed that there was something amiss at the till and walked over.
4. If something amiss is detected, the camera alerts a central control.
5. Why would he have had to do so unless he detected something amiss?
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π @cambridge_dic
π Drawback, noun.
π /ΛdrΙΛbak/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: A feature that renders something less acceptable; a disadvantage or problem.
❗️ Examples:
1. The main drawback of fitting catalytic converters is the cost.
2. The main drawback of a global fitting strategy is the time needed to reach convergence.
3. The main difficulties and drawbacks to these methods are the quality of the obtained parts.
4. Both have good color rendering, but have drawbacks when they're used outdoors.
5. This is one of the main drawbacks of having a business carried on by a company.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Recce, noun.
π /ΛrΙki/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (British • informal): Another term for «reconnaissance».
❗️ Examples:
1. Our first visit in November was largely as a recce and investigation of possibilities.
2. During the recce, the helicopter would land on one of the islands used in aircraft bombing missions.
3. It's been a while since our last recce of the hardware sites.
4. After extensive recces across Britain, we were stunned by the richness of possibilities at home.
5. Our general attitude was to do what we could - the boss would go out on a recce and line up jobs for us, keeping us busy.
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π @cambridge_dic
π The coast is clear, phrase.
❓ Definition: There is no danger of being observed or caught.
❗️ Examples:
1. The streetcleaners kept stopping off for a smoke when the coast was clear.
2. She then looks up and down the street, as if she's making sure the coast is clear, and then she just takes off.
3. And then, if the coast is clear, we can safely follow.
4. Our characters were supposed to look around to make sure the coast is clear, then jump in the truck and race off.
5. They all start running off and, thinking the coast is clear, I get out of my car.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Forgery, noun.
π /ΛfΙΛdΚ(Ι)ri/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (mass noun • count noun): A forged document, signature, banknote, or work of art.
❗️ Examples:
1. The notes must be forgeries.
2. As part of the new searches, immigration officers will pore over documents, looking for forgeries of British and other national passports.
3. Which suggests that, to Pein's mind, it is actually impossible to prove that the documents are forgeries.
4. U.N. officials determined the documents were forgeries before the war.
5. Slightly off topic, kudos to all my fellow bloggers who helped expose the guard document forgeries.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Ultimately, adverb.
π /ΛΚltΙͺmΙtli/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: At the most basic level.
❗️ Examples:
1. Ultimately he has only himself to blame.
2. This level of training is ultimately about intellectually learning less but refining yourself more.
3. Sea level and climate are ultimately linked, and their effects cannot always be separated.
4. It works on many different levels and ultimately it is goofy fun and that's classic Disney.
5. It is change at the societal level that will ultimately determine what our culture will be.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Ganch, noun.
π /Ι‘ΙΛn(t)Κ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (Northern Irish • informal): A foolish, awkward, or clumsy person.
❗️ Examples:
1. I don't know what she sees in that big ganch.
2. I wasn't talking to you, ya big ganch.
3. "Be careful with that you big ganch", a woman shouts.
4. No matter how tall I grow I'll still have to look up to you, you big lanky ganch.
5. Out of good manners, I would hesitate to label him an ignorant ganch.
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π @cambridge_dic
π On a roll, phrase.
❓ Definition (informal): Experiencing a prolonged spell of success or good luck.
❗️ Examples:
1. The organization is on a roll.
2. With his last few albums, he has been on a roll, consistently producing jazz of the very highest standard.
3. New Zealand film is apparently on a roll according to our media.
4. All the smaller underground clubs are on a roll and the commercialised side of dance music is starting to wane.
5. Sinatra had been on a roll since his breakthrough part in From Here To Eternity.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Knifepoint, noun.
π /ΛnΚΙͺfpΙΙͺnt/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Used in reference to the use of a knife to threaten someone.
❗️ Examples:
1. He was mugged at knifepoint.
2. A total of 14,980 knifepoint robberies were recorded by police.
3. A landlord who was tied up and threatened at knifepoint while balaclava-clad raiders ransacked his Brentwood pub has told of his horrific ordeal.
4. A female motorist was threatened at knifepoint during a terrifying car-jacking in Bradford.
5. Moments later he was threatened at knifepoint by the man who spoke with a heavy Irish accent.
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π @cambridge_dic
π DUI, abbreviation.
π /diΛjuΛΛΚΙͺ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (US): Driving under the influence (of drugs or alcohol).
❗️ Examples:
No examples.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Bardolatry, noun.
π /bΙΛΛdΙlΙtri/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (humorous • mass noun): Excessive admiration of Shakespeare.
❗️ Examples:
1. Anyone doubting the status of bardolatry as a world religion need only visit the gift shops at Anne Hathaway's Cottage or the Folger Shakespeare Library for reassurance.
2. American history is filled with manifestos of cultural independence paradoxically coupled with exercises in bardolatry and Anglophilia.
3. The florid old actor-manager at the heart of Forkbeard Fantasy's Shooting Shakespeare is effusive in his bardolatry.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Get the picture, phrase.
❓ Definition (informal): Understand a situation.
❗️ Examples:
1. Any trouble your father might have we can hide — d'you get the picture?
2. To be honest, I believe it was more difficult to get the picture than to catch the carp.
3. I realize that sounds completely revolting, but I think you get the picture.
4. Scott didn't seem to get the picture, his brain still working on understanding what Jesse had just told him.
5. This includes, buses, trains, lifts, public buildings, pubs, restaurants; I think you have probably got the picture.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Discard, verb.
π /dΙͺΛskΙΛd/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Get rid of (someone or something) as no longer useful or desirable.
❗️ Examples:
1. Hilary bundled up the clothes she had discarded.
2. If this week's insights aren't useful, discard them.
3. The next time you go out shopping, you can discard the plastic carry bag and arm yourself with a jute bag instead.
4. Leave overnight to drip through, then remove the jelly bag, discard the contents and leave to soak in cold water while you finish the jelly.
5. Only a minority of people will discard bags full with rubbish in the Lane, but that minority is still numerically big enough to cause environmental havoc.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Convicted, adjective.
π /kΙnΛvΙͺktΙͺd/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Having been declared guilty of a criminal offence by the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge.
❗️ Examples:
1. A convicted murderer.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Bardolatry, noun.
π /bΙΛΛdΙlΙtri/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (humorous • mass noun): Excessive admiration of Shakespeare.
❗️ Examples:
1. Anyone doubting the status of bardolatry as a world religion need only visit the gift shops at Anne Hathaway's Cottage or the Folger Shakespeare Library for reassurance.
2. American history is filled with manifestos of cultural independence paradoxically coupled with exercises in bardolatry and Anglophilia.
3. The florid old actor-manager at the heart of Forkbeard Fantasy's Shooting Shakespeare is effusive in his bardolatry.
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π @cambridge_dic
π So long, phrase.
π /ΛsΙΚ ΛlΙΕ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (informal): Goodbye till we meet again.
❗️ Examples:
1. When she walked out on the Sugababes as they hit the big time, it looked like so long, Siobhan.
2. I just want it to be done with, but I don't want to deal with any of the moving or saying so long stuff.
3. ‘So long!’, Catharine waved goodbye to Audrey as the door closed.
4. So long, Mother. Be expecting a postcard or two in the mail, if you're lucky.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Forbid, verb.
π /fΙΛbΙͺd/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Order (someone) not to do something.
❗️ Examples:
1. I was forbidden from seeing him again.
2. My doctor has forbidden me to eat sugar.
3. He is forbidden from participating in future role plays and he was disciplined for being ‘inappropriate’.
4. We are still forbidden from coming anywhere near the house after 6.
5. But that doesn't mean I'm forbidden from ever telling any more stories with any of those characters in ever again, or I hope it doesn't.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Crave, verb.
π /kreΙͺv/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Feel a powerful desire for (something)
❗️ Examples:
1. If only she had shown her daughter the love she craved.
2. Will craved for family life.
3. Kendall loves it, craves it and can put up with almost anything if there's a chance she's going to experience it.
4. Sixty per cent of those polled said they regularly craved certain foods and drinks.
5. Of course, there are people out there who like spam, who love and crave it.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Bardolatry, noun.
π /bΙΛΛdΙlΙtri/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (humorous • mass noun): Excessive admiration of Shakespeare.
❗️ Examples:
1. Anyone doubting the status of bardolatry as a world religion need only visit the gift shops at Anne Hathaway's Cottage or the Folger Shakespeare Library for reassurance.
2. American history is filled with manifestos of cultural independence paradoxically coupled with exercises in bardolatry and Anglophilia.
3. The florid old actor-manager at the heart of Forkbeard Fantasy's Shooting Shakespeare is effusive in his bardolatry.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Get rid of, phrase.
❓ Definition: Take action so as to be free of (a troublesome or unwanted person or thing)
❗️ Examples:
1. We have been campaigning to get rid of the car tax for 20 years.
2. Perhaps you should dig it up, getting rid of all the roots, and try something else as a windbreak.
3. Having a shave and getting rid of unwanted body hair in the heat or sauna is also supposed to be relaxing for the nerves and skin.
4. Can you advise on the best way of getting rid of the smell?
5. I've been trying to get rid of the smoke smell too.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Introspection, noun.
π /ΙͺntrΙ(Κ)ΛspΙkΚ(Ι)n/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (mass noun): The examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes.
❗️ Examples:
1. Quiet introspection can be extremely valuable.
2. Establish a comfort zone with the child before you ask for quiet observation or introspection.
3. From the internal viewpoint of introspection, mental reality is composed of sensations and images.
4. The problem is that men tend to heal in private, through introspection and quiet thinking.
5. There are passages of quiet contemplation and introspection that belie any sense of terror.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Razoo, noun.
π /rΙΛΛzuΛ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (Australian, New Zealand • informal • with negative): Used to denote an imaginary coin of little value or a very small sum of money.
❗️ Examples:
1. The lousy government never gave them a brass razoo.
2. Your right to use your property could be sterilised and you might get not a brass razoo for it.
3. This legislation is concerned with really vicious criminals and thugs, and we in New Zealand First say that they should not get a brass razoo.
4. If the Government can get away with it, it will put more and more of its social services on to local government without a brass razoo going along with it.
5. In this Budget there is nothing for infrastructure at all, not a brass razoo.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Soft touch, phrase.
❓ Definition (informal): A person who readily gives or does something if asked.
❗️ Examples:
1. We've shown people we're not a soft touch and that we won't be pushed over by the criticism.
2. The bit that still gets to me is the look on her face as she approached me, as though she thought I was a soft touch and I was going to bow down at her feet and beg forgiveness.
3. The trouble with caring too much is becoming a soft touch.
4. I think you know very well that you ought to stop being such a soft touch.
5. They are no soft touch, as they proved again last night.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Bad-mouth, verb.
❓ Definition (informal • with object): Criticize (someone) behind their back.
❗️ Examples:
1. No one wants to hire an individual who bad-mouths a prior employer.
2. As if I had enough to fill my plate, now I have to worry about my ex-best friend bad-mouthing me behind my back.
3. We don't have to be character assassins, we don't have to issue screeds, we don't have to be bad-mouthing other people, but we do have to use logic and reason and persuasion and show why our positions really make more sense for America.
4. We were willing to let it go, but they are bad-mouthing him.
5. But after class, he sometimes came up to me in the hallway and started bad-mouthing those students who had challenged him.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Gearhead, noun.
❓ Definition (informal): A person who is very enthusiastic about new gadgets.
❗️ Examples:
1. He is also a certified hi-fi nut, gearhead, and gadget freak.
2. Dedicated gearheads just need a few gadgets to make the great outdoors a little less outdoorsy.
3. A gearhead said we'd need big fat telemark skis, big fat plastic boots, and big fat cable bindings to negotiate the steep terrain, all of which would demolish our ridiculously optimistic predictions for daily mileage.
4. He was good to have around in several ways: He's an accomplished watercraft pilot, a powerful surfer given to long carves, and a gearhead who knows how to unclog an impeller.
5. Think of it as an excursion into the alien territory that is the mind of the gearhead.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Things that go bump in the night, phrase.
❓ Definition (informal, humorous): Unexplained and frightening noises at night, regarded as being caused by ghosts.
❗️ Examples:
1. The fear of long-legged beasties and things that go bump in the night.
2. As a youngster I had a dreadful fear of ghost stories and things that go bump in the night.
3. Meanwhile, professional ghost-finders are set to launch a three-day festival in York dedicated to the things that go bump in the night.
4. You are thinking about things that go bump in the night and monsters under your bed and vampires peering at you through your window.
5. I have a fear of things that go bump in the night.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Red-handed, adjective.
❓ Definition: Used to indicate that a person has been discovered in or just after the act of doing something wrong or illegal.
❗️ Examples:
1. I caught him red-handed, stealing a wallet.
2. He spends all of his waking hours hatching schemes to catch the thief red-handed.
3. Armed robbers were caught red-handed yesterday as they were about to carry out a raid on a security van.
4. Of course, the police caught the burglars red-handed.
5. It seems a rare occasion to catch a thief red-handed.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Bashment, noun.
π /ΛbaΚmΙnt/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (West Indian): A large party or dance.
❗️ Examples:
1. Lord, reggae music is blasted at all hours of night at their ‘bashments’, disturbing all the other residents.
2. Tomorrow is my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary (yup, fiftieth, isn't that great?) so they are having a big bashment to celebrate it.
3. This will be the food on offer at the little bashment (get-together, I won't call it a party) that my classmates informed me will be taking place at my home.
4. I was at Lime Cay during the morning and early evening, so I can't speak to the G. G.'s bashment, but the Prime Minister's was in the night.
5. We're having a big bashment for the afterparty.
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π @cambridge_dic
π As plain as the nose on someone's face, phrase.
❓ Definition (informal): Very obvious.
❗️ Examples:
1. I knew what he was up to — it was as plain as the nose on his face.
2. He explained why he chose him: ‘That was a decision I felt had to be made as plain as the nose on my face - and that's fairly apparent.’
3. What's the point of saying something that is as plain as the nose on your face?
4. After eliminating the impossibilities, the master of deduction explained, he had been left with one simple irrevocable conclusion, as plain as the nose on one's face.
5. After the verdict was handed down, the press were talking to the jurors, interviewing the jury, and the one juror said Michael's innocence was as plain as the nose on his face.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Facilitate, verb.
π /fΙΛsΙͺlΙͺteΙͺt/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Make (an action or process) easy or easier.
❗️ Examples:
1. Schools were located in the same campus to facilitate the sharing of resources.
2. So, this move has to be seen as a first step towards facilitating the process of computerisation.
3. Moreover, online pharmacies can bolster patient compliance rates by facilitating the refill process.
4. The data bank allows states to find out if a licence to practise has been revoked by another state and thus facilitates the licensing process.
5. The consent process is facilitated by face to face interviews with a trained nurse.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Cooee, exclamation.
π /ΛkuΛiΛ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (informal): Used to attract attention, especially at a distance.
❗️ Examples:
1. ‘Cooee!’ The call brought all three heads round.
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π @cambridge_dic
π My way or the highway, phrase.
❓ Definition (North American • informal): Said to assert the view that there is no alternative (apart from leaving) but to accept the speaker's opinions or policies.
❗️ Examples:
1. They know no way but the way of the autocrat — it's my way or the highway.
2. It's always the ultimatum, my way or the highway.
3. ‘Listen bud,’ she said as she leaned towards him, one arm on the table as she did so, ‘It's my way or the highway.’
4. One former international summed up his approach to getting his plans through: ‘With Jim, it's always been my way or the highway.’
5. When he first moved into coaching, I did fear for him because, in some ways, he could be old school and rather intolerant - my way or the highway.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Banana, adjective.
π /bΙΛnΙΛnΙ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (bananas • informal): Insane or extremely silly.
❗️ Examples:
1. I've spent two months in a studio — I must be bananas.
2. Roy's customers think the council has gone bananas.
3. She went bananas when I said I was going to leave the job.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Gasper, noun.
π /ΛΙ‘ΙΛspΙ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (British • informal, dated): A cigarette.
❗️ Examples:
1. She sneaked a gasper outside the loo.
2. While adverts for cigarettes have been banned for years, the gaspers still get a good press.
3. He had obviously not considered the possibility of hardened smokers persistently lighting up in pubs, then refusing to pay the maximum fine of £1,000 simply to get banged up so that they could enjoy a gasper in peace and quiet.
4. As one who draws great pleasure from an occasional gasper, especially when enjoyed in convivial surroundings, I am appalled at this assault upon the liberties of smokers.
5. Her overgrown son is chuffing on a final gasper at a back door fire escape.
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π @cambridge_dic
π From time to time, phrase.
❓ Definition: Occasionally.
❗️ Examples:
1. Although he is now fluent in Bulgarian, Matt still confuses the odd word from time to time.
2. Chances are you won't get one, but I understand that you feel the need - we all do from time to time.
3. Place on a high heat and bring to the boil, stirring from time to time.
4. Friday night was one of those pleasant surprises the Internet throws my way from time to time.
5. Pack little surprises from time to time like stickers, a novelty pen or a joke.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Take up, phrasal verb.
❓ Definition (take something up, take up something): Pursue a matter later or further.
❗️ Examples:
1. He'll have to take it up with the bishop.
2. If the matter is not resolved locally, the associations could take it up with Garda Headquarters.
3. You will be starting a bit earlier today, if that is a problem, take it up with Master Shay.
4. This is a matter for us to consider and we will take it up with the principals concerned.
5. If you wish to change legislation, why don't you take it up with the relevant authority?
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π @cambridge_dic
π Realo, noun.
π /ΛriΛΙlΙΚ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (informal): (especially in Germany) a member of the pragmatic, as opposed to the radical, wing of the Green movement.
❗️ Examples:
1. In Germany the Greens are described as fundies or realos.
2. By the 1980s, all these new movements had become divided internally between what the German Greens called the fundis and the realos.
3. The realo could make a fairly strong case that green traditions of antistatism and anticonsumerism need to be fundamentally reconsidered.
4. Inside the party, issue for issue, the realos and the fundis competed for the soul and stewardship of the Greens.
5. An inner party war between the two factions raged throughout the '80s until the realos finally prevailed.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Turn traitor, phrase.
❓ Definition: Betray a group or person.
❗️ Examples:
1. She'd had the gall to deny she had turned traitor.
2. But there were other, subtler ways of turning traitor, and he felt her coming absence, looming two afternoons a week, as proof of that.
3. One of the key prosecution witnesses at his trial was a trusted comrade who had turned traitor.
4. Others have turned traitor, switching allegiances from synthesisers to guitars.
5. Friends turn traitor and fellow countrymen become the enemy in a war-torn world where the old rules are worthless.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Transfusion, noun.
π /ΛtransΛfjuΛΚ(Ι)n/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: An act of transferring donated blood, blood products, or other fluid into the circulatory system of a person or animal.
❗️ Examples:
1. Major bleeding necessitating transfusions.
2. Transfusion is necessary in some circumstances.
3. Before death, the organ donor received several transfusions of blood products.
4. She was treated with intravenous folinic acid and antibiotics and was given transfusions of blood products.
5. Whenever possible, transfusions of all blood products should be limited.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Deasil, adverb.
π /ΛdΙs(Ι)l/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (Scottish • dated): In the direction of the sun's apparent course, considered as lucky; clockwise.
❗️ Examples:
1. We moved deasil around the circle for what seemed like forever.
2. Let the Magician trace in the air around himself a Magick Circle with his Sword, moving in a deasil manner.
3. When the first clocks were built, the marketing department informed engineering that the clocks had better go deasil, or all hell would break out.
4. The stone ceases to turn widdershins and rasps out a different rhythm as it begins to move deasil.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Slippery slope, phrase.
❓ Definition: A course of action likely to lead to something bad or disastrous.
❗️ Examples:
1. He is on the slippery slope towards a life of crime.
2. This leads them down a slippery slope until, at the end of the play, they ‘tear each other's throats out’.
3. Not me, evidently: and so my first step was taken on that slippery slope leading down to a kind of gentle madness.
4. Critics say the law would be a slippery slope leading to anti-abortion laws in Canada.
5. In the very least, it is part of the slippery slope that has led to dislocation, desperation and even despair.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Apprentice, noun.
π /ΙΛprΙntΙͺs/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: A person who is learning a trade from a skilled employer, having agreed to work for a fixed period at low wages.
❗️ Examples:
1. An apprentice electrician.
2. It doesn't matter how much money we give employers to take on apprentices in tradition trades - in gas fitting, in tiling, in welding and carpentry.
3. It is often asserted that by keeping wages low for apprentices, employers will automatically take more on.
4. This language has an old-fashioned ring, and was designed for a minor becoming an apprentice in a skilled trade.
5. They also sought to limit the number of apprentices entering their trades, because of the inevitable consequence of depressing wage rates; this has remained a feature of some craft unions to this day.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Dogbox, noun.
π /ΛdΙΙ‘bΙks/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (Australian • informal): A compartment in a railway carriage without a corridor.
❗️ Examples:
No examples.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Above and beyond, phrase.
❓ Definition: In excess of the expectations or demands of.
❗️ Examples:
1. She was always there to help us out in difficult times, above and beyond the call of duty.
2. And just ahead are our weekly tribute to a member of our Armed services who served above and beyond the call of duty.
3. She has been my campaign manager for three elections, and has served above and beyond the call of duty.
4. She said she appreciated their passion and their concern even above and beyond the official job.
5. No words can do justice to their efficiency, thoroughness, and all-around human compassion above and beyond the call of duty.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Pen pal, noun.
❓ Definition: A penfriend.
❗️ Examples:
1. Every inmate wanted a female pen pal, so they provided vital stats.
2. For example try starting a new club or finding a secret pen pal.
3. I started writing a pen pal from Canada three years ago, and she's one of my great friends.
4. She was also my pen pal when I was in fifth and sixth grade and had an assignment to write to someone famous.
5. It is also a good time to send a note and other items of need with the book, you could come away with a pen pal.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Sprauncy, adjective.
π /ΛsprΙΛnsi/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (British • informal): Smart or showy in appearance.
❗️ Examples:
1. A sprauncy little street.
2. At the bottom was an unmanned reception desk in front of a curtain, through which a sprauncy dining room could be glimpsed.
3. The result is a sprauncy new shower, which I totally love and which didn't cost me weeks of brain ache.
4. She had money in her pocket, but security guards at this sprauncy venue plainly did not like the look of her.
5. As the number of files grew I drafted in the support of the genius behind my web site, and he started delivering the sprauncy graphics that make up the operating system.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Make ends meet, phrase.
❓ Definition: Earn just enough money to live on.
❗️ Examples:
1. They were finding it hard to make ends meet.
2. Some want to make enough money to make ends meet; others want money for extras or just a way to stay busy.
3. Liz and Nick were always out to work but they barely had enough money to make ends meet.
4. This will lead to loss of trade to the shopkeepers who are all having a hard enough time to make ends meet as it is.
5. By doing some casual work, like designing computer software, he has managed to make both ends meet and has enough left over to invest in his bicycle journeys.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Chase, verb.
π /tΚeΙͺs/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Pursue in order to catch or catch up with.
❗️ Examples:
1. Police chased the stolen car through the city.
2. The dog chased after the stick.
3. Police arrived and the group fled across fields but were caught when police chased them using a helicopter.
4. I chased after her and caught her left arm with my free hand, forcing her to stop.
5. She chased after her, catching her by the back of her skirt and pulling her to a halt on the second stair.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Badmash, noun.
π /bΚdΛmΙΛΚ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (Indian): A dishonest or unprincipled man.
❗️ Examples:
1. Displaying spontaneity, he assured the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister - who he said thinks he was a ‘big badmash’ - that he would not take off his shirt.
2. The Regiment had to stay alert during this period as there were rumors of badmashes along the way.
3. And the visitor would sheepishly admit both, his rascality and his obedience, by saying: ‘We are sarkari badmashes.’
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π @cambridge_dic
π Take a back seat, phrase.
❓ Definition: Take or be given a less important position or role.
❗️ Examples:
1. In future he would take a back seat in politics.
2. Yet the majority of the book emphasizes dinosaur osteology, systematics, and the fossil record; paleobiology takes a back seat to this important foundation.
3. But she piled on the pounds after the birth of her son, George, nine months ago and singing took a back seat as her confidence dwindled.
4. The role of the citizen is taking a back seat to decisions being made about our communities and the environment.
5. Was love more important than wealth or did romance take a back seat to social climbing?
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π @cambridge_dic
π Thorough, adjective.
π /ΛΞΈΚrΙ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Taking pains to do something carefully and completely.
❗️ Examples:
1. The British authorities are very thorough.
2. I'm trying very hard to be careful and thorough, and to present new information and new claims as they become available.
3. As a mathematician, Dodgson was rather conservative but certainly thorough and careful.
4. Eventually we will know these things, but we must be diligent, thorough, persistent and patient.
5. This does not mean that we will catch less - just be thorough and accurate with your groundbaiting and with your casting and the results will come.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Cantillate, verb.
π /ΛkantΙͺleΙͺt/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (rare • with object): Chant or intone (a passage of religious text)
❗️ Examples:
1. He cantillated the verses of the ancient Avesta.
2. Father Anshel was good at cantillating the Book of Esther but hopeless at making money.
3. Augusta Levine tutors each child in learning how to cantillate the Torah and Haftarah with special emphasis upon the child's own Torah portion.
4. They do at least agree that the tradition of cantillating the scriptures is a very old one, and was probably firmly established in tradition before the Massoretes began their work.
5. As Kahn observes, the saxophone itself does the chanting - articulating and cantillating the word patterns of Coltrane's poem of praise and thanksgiving to his Creator.
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π @cambridge_dic
π The best thing since sliced bread, phrase.
❓ Definition (informal): Used to emphasize one's enthusiasm about a new idea, person, or thing.
❗️ Examples:
1. They think that she is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
2. She finally locates the Assistant Wine Whatever-His-Title-Is, and he of the broad-smile-on-a-wide-face recommends the wine as if it were the next best thing since sliced bread.
3. Some people are a little confused by this latest trend, wondering what all the fuss is about and why it's becoming the next best thing since sliced bread.
4. While some analysts think it's the next best thing since sliced bread, it has the feeling of WAP redux.
5. That's not to say there isn't a market there, rather that we haven't been convinced it's quite the next best thing since sliced bread.
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π @cambridge_dic
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Just leave a comment below and we will discuss that:
π Stunning, adjective.
π /ΛstΚnΙͺΕ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Extremely impressive or attractive.
❗️ Examples:
1. She looked stunning.
2. My new temporary home in Encinitas was quite superb, walking distance away from stunning California beaches.
3. Eddie's stunning Donegal girlfriend Michelle Doherty was also present.
4. Finally tonight, the Mars rover Opportunity today sent stunning new images of Mars back to earth.
5. Andrea Elvey hit the post before stunning interplay between Jo Martin and Kirsty Ormrod led to Brooks firing in Kendal's second.
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π @cambridge_dic
π Lor, exclamation.
π /lΙΛ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (British • informal): Used to indicate surprise or dismay.
❗️ Examples:
1. Lor, look at that! Isn't it horrible?
2. He thinks he is damn good but he doesn't know anything lor!
3. She gave me a sneer, and sniggered, ‘Ha, then you go back and queue lor.’
4. Some people will be thinking now, ‘Wah lau, please lor, you want a guy who is cute, smart, and funny.’
5. So yeah lor, go and get your tickets and take part lah!
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π @cambridge_dic
