Cambridge Dictionary:
π Ambassador, noun.
π /amΛbasΙdΙ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: An accredited diplomat sent by a state as its permanent representative in a foreign country.
❗️ Examples:
1. The French ambassador to Portugal.
2. He also indicated that various foreign ambassadors and high commissioners had expressed similar sentiments.
3. Benjamin Franklin was the US ambassador to absolutist France after the American Revolution.
4. It was conducted by a diplomat who had served as an ambassador to three African countries.
5. Neither letter refers to the resignation of the Eritrean ambassador to Sweden.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Haecceity, noun.
π /hΙkΛsiΛΙͺti/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (mass noun • Philosophy): That property or quality of a thing by virtue of which it is unique or describable as ‘this (one)’.
❗️ Examples:
1. For historical reasons, such a property is called a haecceity -- literally, a ‘thisness.’
2. Understanding concepts in his philosophy (eg., faciality, virtuality, haecceity, types of becoming, and rhizome) is important as they provide to entry points into some of the issues under examination.
3. Although it might seem to be a highly fanciful notion, it is hardly more fanciful than some haecceity theories which employ the same distinction, nor perhaps than some possible worlds theories either.
4. But it has extra-mental existence only in the particular things in which it exists, and in them it is always ‘contracted’ by the haecceity.
5. Smooth space is filled by events or haecceities, far more than by formed and perceived things.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π The shape of things to come, phrase.
❓ Definition: The way the future is likely to develop.
❗️ Examples:
1. Unlike Agee, then, who was drawn to elegy, MartΓnez is drawn to prophecy: he sees the provinces as the future, the towns of CherΓ‘n and Warren as the shape of things to come.
2. Albeit clever, imaginative, notably fertile, this squeaky-voiced, scurrying little ladies' man, the prophet of the shape of things to come, fell short, in every sense, of his predecessor's measure.
3. Every day, a creation takes place as new uses, new mistakes, new copy is generated, each creating a new meaning for the shape of things to come.
4. For those of you living off-campus already, enjoy a stroll down memory lane; for the residents, beware of the shape of things to come.
5. He predicted no end to the poetic image, for the central aim of poetry is to insinuate the shape of things to come, and that is a perpetual process.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Frankly, adverb.
π /ΛfraΕkli/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: In an open, honest, and direct manner.
❗️ Examples:
1. She talks very frankly about herself.
2. It is time that the parish council told council tax payers what is going on - openly and frankly.
3. I can tell you quite frankly that the stuff from our childhoods is not to be blamed on us.
4. As an Independent councillor he will be able to express frankly what Walcot people say they need.
5. Last night, in an interview to accompany the new portrait, the prince spoke frankly about both issues.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Haecceity, noun.
π /hΙkΛsiΛΙͺti/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (mass noun • Philosophy): That property or quality of a thing by virtue of which it is unique or describable as ‘this (one)’.
❗️ Examples:
1. For historical reasons, such a property is called a haecceity -- literally, a ‘thisness.’
2. Understanding concepts in his philosophy (eg., faciality, virtuality, haecceity, types of becoming, and rhizome) is important as they provide to entry points into some of the issues under examination.
3. Although it might seem to be a highly fanciful notion, it is hardly more fanciful than some haecceity theories which employ the same distinction, nor perhaps than some possible worlds theories either.
4. But it has extra-mental existence only in the particular things in which it exists, and in them it is always ‘contracted’ by the haecceity.
5. Smooth space is filled by events or haecceities, far more than by formed and perceived things.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Once and for all, phrase.
❓ Definition: Now and for the last time; finally.
❗️ Examples:
1. It is better to strengthen your determination and stop smoking once for all rather than slowing it down.
2. I'd appreciate any information which serves to conclude this dispute once and for all.
3. Several months earlier he had still been despairing over the work and no doubt wondering whether another seizure would leave him speechless once for all.
4. This is one issue that residents and pedestrians would like to see completed once and for all.
5. If there had ever been any doubters, they were silenced once and for all.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Hung-over, adjective.
❓ Definition: Suffering from a hangover after drinking alcohol.
❗️ Examples:
1. ‘You look distinctly hung-over.’
2. I was so tired that I slept through everything, and woke up late in the afternoon, refreshed, if not a little hung-over.
3. You are constantly jet-lagged, knackered or hung-over.
4. Nine years ago, whilst hung-over, I fell in the shower.
5. Are you sitting by yourself, eating corn chips, hung-over, depressed about your imminent breakdown, or the news?
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Haecceity, noun.
π /hΙkΛsiΛΙͺti/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (mass noun • Philosophy): That property or quality of a thing by virtue of which it is unique or describable as ‘this (one)’.
❗️ Examples:
1. For historical reasons, such a property is called a haecceity -- literally, a ‘thisness.’
2. Understanding concepts in his philosophy (eg., faciality, virtuality, haecceity, types of becoming, and rhizome) is important as they provide to entry points into some of the issues under examination.
3. Although it might seem to be a highly fanciful notion, it is hardly more fanciful than some haecceity theories which employ the same distinction, nor perhaps than some possible worlds theories either.
4. But it has extra-mental existence only in the particular things in which it exists, and in them it is always ‘contracted’ by the haecceity.
5. Smooth space is filled by events or haecceities, far more than by formed and perceived things.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Sit on the fence, phrase.
❓ Definition: Avoid making a decision or choice.
❗️ Examples:
1. But he's going to make change and he's going to bring a lot of confidence to a lot of people who are sitting on the fence with the same decision.
2. You should make a decision; you cannot sit on the fence.
3. If that brings to mind a lot of dithering and sitting on the fence, you couldn't be more wrong.
4. As someone who has deferred the choice thus far (rather than actively making a decision), I know I could be accused of sitting on the fence.
5. They want someone to make all their choices for them, so they just sit on the fence and wait to be told what to do.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Straightforward, adjective.
π /streΙͺtΛfΙΛwΙd/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: (of a person) honest and frank.
❗️ Examples:
1. A straightforward young man.
2. There is a nice sense of menace developing in it, and I like how none of the characters are straightforward.
3. Men are intensely straightforward and logical beings, and they find this confusing.
4. They are pretty straightforward with me, they know I can handle whatever it takes.
5. Kenneth was trying to hint, but Jessica was more straightforward than the rest of them.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Terricolous, adjective.
π /tΙΛrΙͺkΙlΙs/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (Zoology): (of an animal such as an earthworm) living on the ground or in the soil.
❗️ Examples:
1. The great majority of formicine genera, however, are both terricolous and cocoon-makers.
2. Similarly, some terricolous mosses are confined to calcareous soils in polluted areas, but are more widespread in non-polluted areas.
3. The book starts off with an colourful introduction to the pros and cons of the terms terricolous and epigaeous, and an overview of the terricolous lichen vegetation typology in Italy.
4. The proposition that tolerance of SO2 by these terricolous mosses depends on metabolic detoxification of dissolved bisulfite was investigated.
5. The first phase of my research addressed the question ‘do distinct terricolous lichen assemblages occur within these badlands as opposed to a random distribution of species?’
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Junk food, noun.
❓ Definition (mass noun): Pre-prepared or packaged food that has low nutritional value.
❗️ Examples:
1. I was eating too much junk food.
2. When I was a child I wasn't allowed to eat so much junk food from fast food outlets that I became overweight and ill.
3. That means an annual exposure to thousands of commercials for junk food and fast food.
4. Not only are our kids overfed on junk food and fast food, they are fast becoming victims of the techno age.
5. She may be eating a lot of junk food because the junk food comforts her without judging her.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Melodeon, noun.
π /mΙͺΛlΙΚdΙͺΙn/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: A small accordion of German origin, played especially by folk musicians.
❗️ Examples:
1. Next Thursday, the Sultans of Squeeze come to town with their collection of melodions, accordions and concertinas to perform music of all genres, from folk, to waltzes, to blues to rock ‘n’ roll.
2. The instruments available are fiddles, flutes, banjos, concertinas, accordions, a melodeon and a practice set of uillean pipes.
3. Sharon is of course a multi instrumentalist in her own right, playing melodeon, piano accordion and fiddle.
4. He had a great love of traditional Irish music, being very accomplished on the melodeon and concertina, but the tin whistle was his favourite.
5. A rare opportunity to see the four guys perform together since they first joined forces five years ago, the 8pm performance promises familiar songs sublimely arranged for melodeon, concertina, oboe, fiddle, mandolin and guitar.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π When one's ship comes in, phrase.
❓ Definition: When one's fortune is made.
❗️ Examples:
1. The right honourable gentleman opposite is a very naughty man, and he will laugh on the other side of his face when my ship comes in.
2. She's the kind of real life gal who'll buy you a beer, let you cry on her shoulder and be the first one to give you a high-five when your ship comes in.
3. Uptown girl, you know I can't afford to buy her pearls, but maybe someday when my ship comes in, she'll understand what kind of guy I am.
4. But my worst fear - echoing my elder daughter's prediction that ‘Dad, when your ship comes in you'll be at the airport!’
5. I remember hearing my parents talk about how much better life would be when their ship came in, but I never knew whether or not they really expected it to happen.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Harness, noun.
π /ΛhΙΛnΙs/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: A set of straps and fittings by which a horse or other draught animal is fastened to a cart, plough, etc. and is controlled by its driver.
❗️ Examples:
1. He was diminutive, and how he managed to lift the heavy harness on the draught horses for ploughing was more than I could understand.
2. Iron components of the chariot were found in a good state of preservation, including the two wheel rims and hub - hoops, the yoke fittings, harness and horse bits.
3. I went about my usual morning routine, feeding Angel Wing and the pull horses, and putting on the harnesses for the carts.
4. Nash was pleased to see that Fric had padded and rigged the horse's harnesses for silence, as well as shoeing their hoofs with leather covers to muffle their trot.
5. However, small items such as brooches and horse harnesses made out of recycled bronze in native styles have occasionally been found at forts.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Chat-up, noun.
❓ Definition (British • informal • often as modifier): An act of talking flirtatiously to someone.
❗️ Examples:
1. A chat-up line.
2. You can basically pick and choose despite your awful chat-up lines.
3. I don't know if that's a chat-up line or not, but it's just about the worst thing I've ever heard.
4. Don't tell me he's never used it as a chat-up line.
5. No more seedy bars, inept passes or atrocious chat-up lines.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π A shoulder to cry on, phrase.
❓ Definition: Someone who listens sympathetically to someone's problems.
❗️ Examples:
1. He was a fatherly shoulder to cry on when the going was tough.
2. I mean, where's the harm in a guy wanting a drinking buddy, a shoulder to cry on and a sympathetic ear?
3. Both of them said if I ever needed anything - a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen - to call them.
4. They offer us a shoulder to cry on and place a comforting arm around our shoulders to lighten the burden of sorrow and misfortune.
5. Mrs O'Toole is a shoulder to cry on for her customers and has experience in talking about the most sensitive subjects.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Envy, verb.
π /ΛΙnvi/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Desire to have a quality, possession, or other desirable thing belonging to (someone else)
❗️ Examples:
1. He envied people who did not have to work at the weekends.
2. I envy Jane her happiness.
3. She imagined her home even lovelier than it was now, and she imagined everyone admiring her, envying her, wishing they, too, had such a gift.
4. You must mark out your territory as an artist, so that others learn to envy you and aspire to what you are doing.
5. Borges' characters can similarly be said to envy women their desire that they cannot understand and do not dare explore.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Bobtail, noun.
π /ΛbΙbteΙͺl/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: A docked tail of a horse or dog.
❗️ Examples:
1. Also, unlike cheetahs and lions (which have long tails that help provide balance when the animals run) Smilodon had a bobtail.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
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.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π World view, noun.
❓ Definition: A particular philosophy of life or conception of the world.
❗️ Examples:
1. A Christian world view revolves around the battle of good and evil.
2. Apart from being completely unscientific and unsupported this whole line betrays a world view of utter despair.
3. This type is in quest for a comprehensive view, the world picture, the big answers to the big questions.
4. Labour have been severely punished for the social and economic policies that lie at the very core of their world view.
5. No, I'm watching the mind at work, moving fluidly between ideas before weaving them into a cohesive world view.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Verdant, adjective.
π /ΛvΙΛd(Ι)nt/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: (of countryside) green with grass or other rich vegetation.
❗️ Examples:
1. Verdant valleys.
2. St. Mary's is not clustered in a village as churches often are but stands alone in the verdant countryside.
3. She picks that not for it's literary history, as I was expecting, but rather for verdant countryside dotted with sheep.
4. It is produced in verdant countryside inland from the coast north of the city of Oporto which is known as the Costa Verde or Green Coast.
5. It is not just youngsters who are flocking to this charming, antique building in a verdant setting.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
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.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Irritant, noun.
π /ΛΙͺrΙͺt(Ι)nt/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: A thing that is continually annoying or distracting.
❗️ Examples:
1. In 1966 Vietnam was becoming an irritant to the government.
2. Still, these are mostly minor irritants that can easily be dismissed as necessary game requirements.
3. Another constant irritant for the judge was poor media reporting.
4. What should be a service to the community is seen as a major irritant.
5. - But Greenpeace had become a bigger irritant for the French than it had realised.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Goog, noun.
π /Ι‘ΚΙ‘/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (Australian, New Zealand • informal): An egg.
❗️ Examples:
No examples.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Green, adjective.
π Example: The new lieutenant was very green.
𧲠Synonyms:
1. inexperienced, unversed, callow, immature
2. new, raw, unseasoned, untried
3. inexpert, untrained, unqualified, ignorant
4. simple, unsophisticated, unpolished
5. naive, innocent, ingenuous, credulous, gullible, unworldly
6. (informal) wet behind the ears, born yesterday
π§Ώ Antonyms:
1. experienced
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @the_thesaurus
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.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Bewitch, verb.
π /bΙͺΛwΙͺtΚ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Cast a spell over (someone)
❗️ Examples:
1. A handsome prince who had been bewitched by a sorceress.
2. According to historians, Boyan was not a magician in the sense that he was able to cast spells, bewitch people and transform into animals, but he was a learned man and a poet.
3. I was bewitched when I cast my eyes on him at my father's place.
4. Trying to remain calm Leo asked, ‘And who is this lady sorceress that you say has bewitched men everywhere, and why should you warn me?’
5. The witch doctor poisons a chicken, and, from the way the chicken staggers before dropping dead, the witch doctor determines that the rash has been caused by the client's sister-in-law bewitching him.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Goog, noun.
π /Ι‘ΚΙ‘/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (Australian, New Zealand • informal): An egg.
❗️ Examples:
No examples.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
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.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Erase, verb.
π /ΙͺΛreΙͺz/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Remove all traces of; destroy or obliterate.
❗️ Examples:
1. Over twenty years the last vestiges of a rural economy were erased.
2. The magic of the landscape erased all else from her mind.
3. If women participated in this myth-making in order to understand themselves and their place in the world, the traces have been erased or repressed.
4. In some parts of Latin America, there's been an attempt to erase many of the traces of liberation theology in any of its forms.
5. That element of my nightmare had been erased, diminished, dissolved.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Goog, noun.
π /Ι‘ΚΙ‘/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (Australian, New Zealand • informal): An egg.
❗️ Examples:
No examples.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
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.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Vivid, adjective.
π /ΛvΙͺvΙͺd/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Producing powerful feelings or strong, clear images in the mind.
❗️ Examples:
1. Memories of that evening were still vivid.
2. A vivid description.
3. New moving images may become as vivid and powerful as traumatic memories in the mind of a child survivor.
4. Kit could feel the anger coursing through his mind and everything was vivid and clear.
5. She had another terrible nightmare and could not shake the vivid images from her mind.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Narked, adjective.
π /nΙΛkt/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (British • informal): Annoyed.
❗️ Examples:
1. I was narked at being pushed around.
2. The introduction of tabs was the point where I started to get a little narked.
3. Admitting to being narked appears to be another matter entirely.
4. I was a bit narked that the Italians didn't really do Pepsi, being monopolised by Coca Cola instead.
5. Blair was particularly narked by its stinging criticism that his Government had been playing to its masters in Washington.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
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.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Encompass, verb.
π /ΙͺnΛkΚmpΙs/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Surround and have or hold within.
❗️ Examples:
1. This area of London encompasses Piccadilly to the north and St James's Park to the south.
2. Surrounding me, encompassing my being as a whole, was a whirlwind of earth and wind, fire and water, increasing in intensity and speed.
3. A cacophony of pounding engines, honking of horns, screeching of brakes and Spanish profanity encompasses me, surround-sound style.
4. They had chosen to walk within the forest encompassing much of the land beyond the Estate.
5. Furthermore the constructed peptide is completely encompassed within the cutoff radius.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Popinjay, noun.
π /ΛpΙpΙͺndΚeΙͺ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (dated): A vain or conceited person, especially one who dresses or behaves extravagantly.
❗️ Examples:
1. I am pretty sure I'm a drink-soaked popinjay myself, and formerly many things of a disreputable nature.
2. These weedy fly-bitten popinjays, these pribbling clumsy clay-brained miscreants - how dare they think they can share the same job title as me?
3. It is an oft-told story, but can still stir anger and pity, with the family feuding of the aristocratic popinjays commanding the brigade even spilling over onto the battlefield.
4. Preening popinjays, in love with the sound of their voice and the rightness of their opinions, how I hate them all.
5. The Premiership has produced a marvellous cast of popinjays and prima-donnas.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Blood is thicker than water, phrase.
❓ Definition (proverb): Family relationships and loyalties are the strongest and most important ones.
❗️ Examples:
1. I know there are people out there who believe that blood is thicker than water and that family is the most important thing in the world, but I have to say - I just don't feel it.
2. He believes in honour and trust between friends, loyalty between lovers, and that blood is thicker than water between family members, but he discovers all these notions have fallen apart.
3. Families can be difficult and demanding, but blood is thicker than water.
4. The relationship between the trade union movement and the Labor Party is always one that is like a family and that is where blood is thicker than water.
5. It's not that you don't love them, and it's not that you are not grateful - but I do think that blood is thicker than water.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Ceasefire, noun.
π /ΛsiΛsfΚΙͺΙ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: A temporary suspension of fighting; a truce.
❗️ Examples:
1. The latest ceasefire seems to be holding.
2. A ceasefire agreement.
3. War with people who break their ceasefire agreements is the default position.
4. Amid great excitement, the government and rebels reached a ceasefire agreement at the beginning of last year.
5. The Good Friday 1998 power sharing agreement led to a ceasefire by most of the paramilitary organisations.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Actioner, noun.
π /ΛakΚΙnΙ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (informal): A film predominantly consisting of exciting action and adventure.
❗️ Examples:
1. The James Bond actioner ‘Goldeneye’
2. The result is a complete break from the yakuza films and actioners for which Kitano is known.
3. You're a very versatile filmmaker: you've done romantic comedies, populist farces, police actioners, gangster operas, special effects dramas, art films, serious dramas.
4. And none of these pieces of acting struggles against the film's plot demands or the narrow sensibilities of the actioner.
5. If average actioners are your thang, then go right ahead.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Bat for the other team, phrase.
❓ Definition (humorous): Be gay.
❗️ Examples:
1. I'm sorry to break the news to you ladies but I think he may bat for the other team.
2. I swear all the good-looking guys are batting for the other team.
3. I am seriously considering switching to batting for the other side.
4. Got my gaydar going - he's batting for the other team.
5. I've known several "straight" married men who decided after much soul-searching to bat for the other side.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Bat, verb.
π /bat/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (no object): (of a sports team or player) take the role of hitting rather than throwing the ball.
❗️ Examples:
1. Australia reached 263 for 4 after choosing to bat.
2. We almost got out of the inning on our own, but mercifully, the other team had batted through the lineup, which meant it was our turn to bat.
3. Frankly, the team batted worse than it did in the first innings at Lahore.
4. The Indian team batted perfectly, bowled like champions and fielded like tigers.
5. In test cricket, where there are no limits on how long a player may bat, double centuries are considered a major achievement, but they are not all that uncommon.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π NBG, abbreviation.
❓ Definition (informal): No bloody good.
❗️ Examples:
No examples.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π One good turn deserves another, phrase.
❓ Definition (proverb): If someone does you a favour, you should take the chance to repay it.
❗️ Examples:
1. She stabbed him a season or two back and one good turn deserves another.
2. ‘As I see it,’ the woman said, ‘one good turn deserves another.’
3. His eyes hardened, ‘Well, I guess one good turn deserves another.’
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Birthplace, noun.
π /ΛbΙΛΞΈpleΙͺs/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: The place where something started or originated.
❗️ Examples:
1. Florence was the birthplace of the Renaissance.
2. However, the balance of power could well shift full circle to Asia, the original birthplace of the game.
3. Soon the gene banks in Mexico, birthplace of the original corn varieties, may also be contaminated.
4. It does nothing to burnish the city's proud heritage as the birthplace of American freedoms.
5. The Wright Brothers were born in Ohio, hence Ohio is the birthplace of aviation.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Twocked, adjective.
π /twΙkt/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (British • slang): Of a car: stolen, especially for the purpose of joy-riding.
❗️ Examples:
No examples.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Beggars can't be choosers, phrase.
❓ Definition (proverb): People with no other options must be content with what is offered.
❗️ Examples:
1. But my funds are getting down to the wire and so beggars can't be choosers…
2. I've had more glowing reviews, but beggars can't be choosers.
3. Sadly not a two-seater but beggars can't be choosers.
4. It was worth a lot more but beggars can't be choosers.
5. This is going to be a little messier than I like, but beggars can't be choosers.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Solitude, noun.
π /ΛsΙlΙͺtjuΛd/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (mass noun): The state or situation of being alone.
❗️ Examples:
1. She savoured her few hours of freedom and solitude.
2. It tells us that God is, in a sense, a community of persons, not a solitary living in solitude, alone and distant.
3. As increasing numbers of people choose to live or work alone, solitude is often celebrated in 2001.
4. As someone whose self reposes on a great slab of solitude, such a situation would drive me nuts.
5. A lyrical, a scholarly, a fastidious mind might have used seclusion and solitude to perfect its powers.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Parp, noun.
π /pΙΛp/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (informal): A honking sound produced by, or like that produced by, a car horn.
❗️ Examples:
1. The gentle parp of a military band.
2. Disco beats and falsetto vocals nestled up to squelchy parps and ghost noises, and all to an accompaniment of flashing light-sabres.
3. The quirky ‘Jump’ is a massive improvement on ‘Fly Or Die’, all harpsichord synth parps, funky bass, and teenage runaways phoning home.
4. A couple of parps and he'd had enough, leaving me to savour the spoils of victory.
5. A parp of a sax here, flute flaring as the choir harmonises - there is no rush.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π A watched pot never boils, phrase.
❓ Definition (proverb): Time seems to drag endlessly when you're waiting for something to happen.
❗️ Examples:
1. Another way of putting it is: a watched pot never boils.
2. They say a watched pot never boils, so you might want to do something else at this point.
3. ‘Um, I hate to sound clichΓ©, but I thought a watched pot never boils,’ Rachel said with interest.
4. While you're waiting (because a watched pot never boils, you know!) go outside and cut the culprits down to their crowns.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Handed-down, adjective.
❓ Definition: Passed on to a later generation or age.
❗️ Examples:
1. Handed-down family recipes.
2. Without handed-down prejudices, children will behave in a spirit of complete even-handedness.
3. He was without personal vanity, surprising the Heythrop hunt by turning out in a yellow cardigan and his colleagues by wearing handed-down clothes and his son's shoes.
4. As for beauty, granny had to depend on handed-down tips and recipes made from easily obtainable ingredients.
5. The Hebrews must certainly have encountered them, and learned the handed-down traditions of early Mesopotamia, the myths and tales.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Hillite, noun.
π /ΛhΙͺlΚΙͺt/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (Australian • informal): A spectator who watches a sporting event from a seating area which consists of an uncovered slope.
❗️ Examples:
1. He walked to his fielding position in front of the Hillites.
2. No jeering from the usually super-caustic Hillites at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
3. Once when he was in the outfield with his back to the Hillites, an untoward and over-beered barracker made insulting remarks about his size.
4. An icy gale sent Hillites stampeding across the field.
5. A number of the Hillites began to wolf-whistle.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π No rest for the weary, phrase.
❓ Definition (humorous): Used as a wry observation on the heavy workload or absence of relaxation that seem to characterize a person's situation.
❗️ Examples:
No examples.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Pitch up, phrasal verb.
❓ Definition: (also pitch something up, pitch up something) bowl a ball so that it bounces near the batsman.
❗️ Examples:
1. However, from his first over in Kingston he has troubled the West Indian batsman by pitching the ball up and inviting them to drive.
2. The Yorkshire fast bowler gave a superb exhibition of swing bowling, pitching the ball up and enabling it to move late.
3. When the ball was pitched up, though, batting was a different and decidedly difficult proposition.
4. On the first day the bowlers pitched the ball up in search of movement that was not there and did not adjust their length quickly enough.
5. The next ball was pitched up and driven for four.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π A real live —, phrase.
❓ Definition (humorous): Used to emphasize the existence or presence of something surprising or unusual.
❗️ Examples:
1. A real live detective had been at the factory.
2. I think there is a real live monkey living in my computer and he messes with my head by dealing me hands that cannot be won.
3. After three years I am actually taking a real live vacation where I pack a suitcase, get on a plane, and sleep in a hotel.
4. Have I ever shared with you my actual fear of real live trains?
5. He had the advantage of hearing some actual real live witnesses, I gather?
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Enchanted, adjective.
π /ΙͺnΛtΚΙΛntΙͺd/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Placed under a spell; bewitched.
❗️ Examples:
1. An enchanted garden.
2. A righteous emperor defeated the evil demon with the help of an enchanted sword.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Piepowder, noun.
π /ΛpΚΙͺpaΚdΙ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (historical): A wayfarer, especially an itinerant merchant or trader. Chiefly in plural, in "Court of Piepowders" noun also in singular a summary court formerly held at fairs and markets to administer justice among itinerant dealers and others temporarily resident.
❗️ Examples:
No examples.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Tired and emotional, phrase.
❓ Definition (humorous): Used euphemistically to indicate that someone is drunk.
❗️ Examples:
1. Tired and emotional party people.
2. It has the added advantage that he tends to update it when leglessly tired and emotional, so value added humour is practically guaranteed.
3. A source told The Mirror, ‘They'd been at Studio 57 for an hour and a half and were both pretty tired and emotional when Charlotte wanted to move on.’
4. Finally, somewhat tired and emotional, we ended up having a nightcap around 3am - some 12 hours after we started drinking - before retiring to bed.
5. Increasingly tired and emotional, Cochrane gave Wilson a demonstration of the art of the ‘Glasgow kiss’ - much to the amusement of all concerned.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Notorious, adjective.
π /nΙ(Κ)ΛtΙΛrΙͺΙs/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Famous or well known, typically for some bad quality or deed.
❗️ Examples:
1. Los Angeles is notorious for its smog.
2. He was a notorious drinker and womanizer.
3. The list is endless, but here are a few of the more notorious celebrations of recent times.
4. In the process he became the most celebrated, or at least most notorious, journalist of his era.
5. For Dylan is not only the most renowned protest singer of his era but also its most notorious renegade.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Forfend, verb.
π /fΙΛΛfΙnd/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object • archaic): Avert or prevent (something evil or unpleasant)
❗️ Examples:
1. ‘The fiend forfend’ said the grim Earl.
2. This forfends what one may call the natural development of the natural man so overlaid with social man.
3. Brenda forfended this possibility by isolating groups of sculptures inside a designated pathway: they stood aloof from touch save by imagination.
4. Thus a tradition died, and thus the Masters and Wardens of today rejoice in a happy immunity, all unknowing of the danger their predecessors forfended.
5. The reinforcement with the additional U-shaped flexible elongated metal folder improves the structure of conventional end hook in enhancing considerably the strength to withstand the stress of impact, forfending the usual disadvantage of fracture or rupture of the tape and rivet failure.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
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.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Restrain, verb.
π /rΙͺΛstreΙͺn/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Prevent (someone or something) from doing something; keep under control or within limits.
❗️ Examples:
1. The need to restrain public expenditure.
2. He had to be restrained from walking out.
3. Younger children may strike their older siblings, while older siblings are restrained from hitting back.
4. They say the state banks were restrained from inflating to excess by the regular requirement that they pay their balances to the federal branch offices in hard money.
5. Headcount freezes mean they are restrained from filling existing vacancies or creating new ones.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Talk, verb.
π Example: We mustn't keep meeting like this — people will talk.
𧲠Synonyms:
1. gossip, spread rumours, pass comment, make remarks, criticize
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @the_thesaurus
π Griff, noun.
π /Ι‘rΙͺf/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (informal, dated • mass noun): News or reliable information.
❗️ Examples:
1. The informant was saying: ‘It's griff, guv. The real thing.’
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
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.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Foretell, verb.
π /fΙΛΛtΙl/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (with object): Predict (the future or a future event)
❗️ Examples:
1. A seer had foretold that the earl would assume the throne.
2. In the Greek theatre Chorus speaks for the citizens, comments on events and foretells the future.
3. A science which teaches to judge of the effects and influences of the stars, and to foretell future events, by their situation and different aspects.
4. In pagan times poets were thought to be gifted with second sight, able in a trance or frenzy to foretell future events.
5. The true prophet does not foretell an inevitable future, but warns of likely consequences should a present course of action continue.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
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.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Dumpling, noun.
π /ΛdΚmplΙͺΕ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: A small savoury ball of dough (usually made with suet) which may be boiled, fried, or baked in a casserole.
❗️ Examples:
1. Both Chiao and Sharipov have requested a special take-out of dim sum dumplings and fried rice for their Christmas meal.
2. Appetizers include Spring Rolls, dumplings, Deep fried Wontons, a selection of salad rolls and even a Pan-Fried Turnip Cake.
3. Jacket potatoes are now becoming the preferred option to chips, pasta salads have replaced stew and dumplings, and beef burgers have made way for chicken tikka.
4. Vicky was particularly keen on the dim sum, which consisted of the Chinese dumplings, spinach wonton, Peking ravioli and mini-spring roll, served with a spicy soy dip and sweet chilli sauce.
5. I ordered a potful of chrysanthemum tea and a batch of the fried pork dumplings.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Flattie, noun.
π /Λflati/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (informal): A flat-heeled shoe.
❗️ Examples:
1. After so many seasons of crippling stilettos, the flattie fights back.
2. The heels have also worn down so far the shoes have become flatties, instead of the fashionable high heels they once were.
3. However young and crazed by ‘vintage’, no one will be going out wearing square-toed flatties with space-age mini dresses, that's a given.
4. The idea is that at the end of a long evening's stagger round Bigg Market, you slip off your agonising four-inch heels, stick them in the bag and put on the flatties to walk home.
5. Shall it be dungarees, trousers, long skirts, short skirts, lipstick, high heels, flatties?
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π What makes someone tick, phrase.
❓ Definition (informal): What motivates someone.
❗️ Examples:
1. People are curious to know what makes British men tick.
2. We're good at finding out about people, what makes them tick, what they are interested in, what they have bees in their bonnets about - a key networking skill.
3. I'd like the opportunity to find out a bit what they were like as people, what makes them tick, and, you know, enjoy their company.
4. No one really knows how these people think, what makes them tick, and which of the five contenders stirs their blood.
5. I get a thrill when I can get into the male psyche and learn about what makes them tick.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Heritage, noun.
π /ΛhΙrΙͺtΙͺdΚ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (in singular): Valued objects and qualities such as historic buildings and cultural traditions that have been passed down from previous generations.
❗️ Examples:
1. Europe's varied cultural heritage.
2. The estuary has a sense of history and heritage.
3. History is necessary to instil patriotism and pride in the younger generation about the cultural heritage, values systems and religions, she says.
4. The ruins evoke the nation's Indian past and legitimizes both Peru's historical heritage and cultural tradition.
5. In addition, this model helps non-Asian readers to understand and value the cultural heritage of others.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Rant and rave, phrase.
❓ Definition: Shout and complain angrily and at length.
❗️ Examples:
1. Stop ranting and raving for a minute and start being honest with yourself.
2. I began to rant and rave angrily, in a loud voice.
3. ‘You can't rant and rave; you can't scream and put people in shock, though I have worked with directors who do that and it's pretty scary,’ Garry says.
4. I could rant and rave about it but that wouldn't make a difference.
5. Only this afternoon did I rant and rave about these designs.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Whistle-blower, noun.
❓ Definition: A person who informs on a person or organization regarded as engaging in an unlawful or immoral activity.
❗️ Examples:
1. Nurses also may not report other nurses for fear of being perceived as snitches or labeled as whistle-blowers.
2. They're trying to put in measures to help whistle-blowers point out wrongdoing at the United Nations without losing their job.
3. Meet the new target for whistle-blowers and conspiracy theorists: big business.
4. He indicated his information came from FDA whistle-blowers.
5. Tayside Police admit the whistle-blower's inside knowledge shows he has to be a high-ranking officer - at least an inspector and probably a superintendent.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Hey up, phrase.
❓ Definition (Northern English • informal): Used as a greeting or as a way of drawing attention to something.
❗️ Examples:
1. Hey up, Margaret!
2. Hey up! Here's the cops!
3. Hey up! Look who's 'ere!
4. Just then there was a cry of ‘Hey up! Here's the cops!’
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Make someone's blood boil, phrase.
❓ Definition (informal): Infuriate someone.
❗️ Examples:
1. It made her blood boil every time he came near.
2. It was those thoughts that made her blood boil with anger and frustration.
3. Experience what makes the Inspector tick, and what makes his blood boil.
4. I am increasingly sensitive to injustice, which makes my blood boil, and these paintings were born from the anger provoked by this horror.
5. All her words make my blood boil with jealousy and anger as she speaks the taboo.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Wry, adjective.
π /rΚΙͺ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Using or expressing dry, especially mocking, humour.
❗️ Examples:
1. A wry smile.
2. Wry comments.
3. She gave a wry smile at the comment on breakfast.
4. Director Peter Evans highlights the play's wry humour and latent evil with a low-key, ironic spin.
5. Levy's wry sort of humour and the ironic use of an English woman's perspective to describe the problems confronted by the immigrants is both clever and sensitive.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Abdabs, plural noun.
π /Λabdabz/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (British • informal): Nervous anxiety or irritation.
❗️ Examples:
1. That idea gives most lawyers the screaming abdabs.
2. As long as they continue to keep out of my kitchen cupboards and bed I won't have the screaming abdabs.
3. These are the nightmare scenarios that have caused me to wake with the screaming abdabs over the past month.
4. He goes into prison (the cameraman had the abdabs) to interview the much feared mogul, who is polite and tells him nothing.
5. I'm not superstitious, but the whole area gave me a case of the screaming abdabs, something Awful and EVIL had happened nearby.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
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.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Cope, verb.
π /kΙΚp/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (no object): (of a person) deal effectively with something difficult.
❗️ Examples:
1. His ability to cope with stress.
2. It all got too much for me and I couldn't cope.
3. All I can say about it is nice people are easy to deal with and unpleasant people are much more difficult to cope with.
4. Urban and rural dwellers have adopted creative survival strategies, that have helped them cope with difficult times.
5. In a police interview the 39-year-old unemployed man, who is not being identified for legal reasons, admitted he found it difficult to cope with the children.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Half-g, noun.
❓ Definition (New Zealand • informal): A half-gallon container in which beer, sherry, or other alcohol is sold or stored.
❗️ Examples:
1. It was cheaper if we took our half-g's to off-licences to be refilled.
2. It is a criminal offence for a person to take away a half-g of port or sherry from the off-licence.
3. There is nothing better than tucking up with one's half-g of sherry or port.
4. I wonder if it's what we used to call a half-G flagon into which draft beer was poured at the pub for thirsty young men.
5. Let's grab a couple of half g's and walk back.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
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.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Savoury, adjective.
π /ΛseΙͺv(Ι)ri/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: (of food) belonging to the category that is salty or spicy rather than sweet.
❗️ Examples:
1. Fresh pineapple is useful in savoury as well as in sweet dishes.
2. Leanne imagined thin, crispy crust smothered in sweet yet savory tomato sauce, warm cheese, pepperoni, and succulent mushrooms.
3. Maple syrup is no longer relegated to its standard role of sweetening pancakes and waffles; this versatile ingredient adds flavor to both sweet and savory dishes alike.
4. In general, most of the salt we consume is not added during cooking or at the table, but comes from processed foods such as bread, cheese, savoury snacks, breakfast cereals and ready-meals.
5. Nutmeg is as popular a spice for savoury dishes as sweet, lending a mellow flavour to rice puddings, sausages and mash, baked custards and fruit cake.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Spousing, noun.
π /ΛspaΚzΙͺΕ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (rare): The action of "spouse"; marriage, matrimony, wedlock; betrothal, engagement.
❗️ Examples:
No examples.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
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.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Dough, noun.
π /dΙΚ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (mass noun): A thick, malleable mixture of flour and liquid, used for baking into bread or pastry.
❗️ Examples:
1. Add water to the flour and mix to a manageable dough.
2. It is this technique that allows pastry doughs to rise and pie crusts to flake.
3. The oven can cook thinner doughs but not thicker ones.
4. Pour a little rose water in to fruit salads, use it to flavour thick syrups or add it to pastry and biscuit doughs, or whipped cream.
5. One outcome: lower-quality flour, resulting in doughs that were unable to withstand the rigorous mixing that's part of making bread.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Fain, adjective.
π /feΙͺn/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (archaic • with infinitive): Pleased or willing under the circumstances.
❗️ Examples:
1. The traveller was fain to proceed.
2. He held out his hand watching me, but I fain to think that I would still question myself, pulled away.’
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
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.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Intervene, verb.
π /ΙͺntΙΛviΛn/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (no object): Take part in something so as to prevent or alter a result or course of events.
❗️ Examples:
1. He acted outside his authority when he intervened in the dispute.
2. Their forces intervened to halt the attack.
3. US forces intervened in the mid-1960s to prop up the stooge government of South Vietnam, against the North.
4. For example, in 1845, as in 1806-07, British forces intervened in the River Plate.
5. A watershed was reached when NATO forces intervened in Kosovo in 1999.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Gurgler, noun.
π /ΛΙ‘ΙΛΙ‘lΙ/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (Australian, New Zealand • informal): A drain.
❗️ Examples:
No examples.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
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.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Disinclined, adjective.
π /dΙͺsΙͺnΛklΚΙͺnd/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (predicative, with infinitive): Unwilling; reluctant.
❗️ Examples:
1. The rural community was disinclined to abandon the old ways.
2. Audiences today are not only disinclined to listen to new music, they're reluctant to listen to anything unfamiliar.
3. The majority party is a closely-knit organization nationwide and is less popular among youths who are generally disinclined to go to the poll.
4. For the rest, the hand emerges abruptly from the kiosk without greeting or acknowledgement, and one is then disinclined to be pleasant in return.
5. All parties and institutions are affected by a climate of cynicism and mistrust in which society is disinclined to believe whatever it is told by authorities and experts.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Polylithic, adjective.
π /ΛpΙlΙͺΛlΙͺΞΈΙͺk/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Made of several stones; Geology containing several kinds of stone or rock; also figurative (opposed to monolithic).
❗️ Examples:
No examples.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
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.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Inquisitive, adjective.
π /ΙͺnΛkwΙͺzΙͺtΙͺv/ π¬π§
❓ Definition: Having or showing an interest in learning things; curious.
❗️ Examples:
1. His poems reveal an intensely inquisitive mind.
2. This is one scientific journey that should interest those with an inquisitive mind.
3. I felt a calm but inquisitive interest in every thing.
4. I've always had an inquisitive mind about everything from flowers to television sets to motor cars.
5. While computer games ignited his interest in computers, his inquisitive mind made him pick up the nuances of computers in no time.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Prezzie, noun.
π /ΛprΙzi/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (British • informal): A present.
❗️ Examples:
1. A birthday card and prezzie for Chris.
2. With special offers on beauty products and a wide range of flowers, plants, confectionery, gifts, cakes and wine, if you're struggling to decide on the perfect prezzie, gift vouchers could be the solution.
3. I think Benji had fun over his birthday, he certainly got millions of lovely cards and some nice pressies.
4. I had some cards and a pressie waiting for me in the post.
5. This week has been a good one, I got birthday pressies that were totally unexpected, I got stuff I bought off e-bay, and I have been nominated for president.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
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.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Acquiesce, verb.
π /ΛakwΙͺΛΙs/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (no object): Accept something reluctantly but without protest.
❗️ Examples:
1. Sara acquiesced in his decision.
2. The police reluctantly acquiesced to the proposals given no alternatives were offered.
3. However, to understand is not to acquiesce in or accept these developments.
4. Then folding the map away, he instructed her to start driving again and Andrea reluctantly acquiesced.
5. And so we yielded, acquiesced to that, and we hope that it's going to be done as soon as possible.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
π Prezzie, noun.
π /ΛprΙzi/ π¬π§
❓ Definition (British • informal): A present.
❗️ Examples:
1. A birthday card and prezzie for Chris.
2. With special offers on beauty products and a wide range of flowers, plants, confectionery, gifts, cakes and wine, if you're struggling to decide on the perfect prezzie, gift vouchers could be the solution.
3. I think Benji had fun over his birthday, he certainly got millions of lovely cards and some nice pressies.
4. I had some cards and a pressie waiting for me in the post.
5. This week has been a good one, I got birthday pressies that were totally unexpected, I got stuff I bought off e-bay, and I have been nominated for president.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
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.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
π @cambridge_dic
