Set 12

anxious
adjective
1 feeling or showing worry, nervousness, or unease about
something with an uncertain outcome: she was extremely anxious
about her exams | an anxious look.
• [ attrib. ] (of a situation or period of time) causing or
characterized by worry or nervousness: there were some anxious
moments.
2 very eager or concerned to do something or for something to
happen: the company was anxious to avoid any trouble | [ with
clause ] : my parents were anxious that I get an education.
DERIVATIVES
anxiously adverb,
anxiousness noun
ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from Latin anxius (from angere ‘to
choke’) + -ous.

adjective
1 I'm very anxious about her welfare | anxious relatives waited for news:
worried, concerned, apprehensive, fearful, uneasy, ill at ease,
perturbed, troubled, disquieted, bothered, disturbed,
distressed, fretful, fretting, agitated, in a state of agitation,
nervous, in a state of nerves, edgy, on edge, tense, overwrought,
worked up, keyed up, strung out, jumpy, afraid, worried sick,
with one's stomach in knots, with one's heart in one's mouth,
on pins and needles, stressed, under stress, in suspense, flurried;
informal uptight, a bundle of nerves, on tenterhooks, with
butterflies in one's stomach, like a cat on a hot tin roof, jittery,
twitchy, in a state, in a stew, all of a dither, in a flap, in a sweat,
in a tizz/tizzy, all of a lather, het up, in a twitter; Brit. informal
strung up, windy, having kittens, in a (flat) spin, like a cat on hot
bricks; N. Amer. informal antsy, spooky, spooked, squirrelly, in
a twit; Austral./NZ informal toey; dated overstrung, unquiet.
.
2 she was anxious for news of him: eager, keen, desirous, impatient,
itching, longing, yearning, aching, dying.

adjective
strongly wanting to do or have something: the man was eager to
please | young intellectuals eager for knowledge.
• (of a person's expression or tone of voice) keenly expectant or
interested: small eager faces looked up and listened.
PHRASES
eager beaver informal a keen and enthusiastic person who
works very hard.
DERIVATIVES
eagerly adverb
ORIGIN Middle English (also in the sense ‘pungent, sour’):
from Old French aigre ‘keen’, from Latin acer, acr- ‘sharp,
pungent’.
adjective
1 small eager faces looked up and listened: keen, enthusiastic, avid,
fervent, ardent, zealous, passionate, motivated, wholehearted,
dedicated, committed, earnest, diligent; informal bright-eyed

and bushy-tailed, mad keen, (as) keen as mustard; rare fervid,
perfervid, passional.
2 her friends were eager for news: anxious, impatient, waiting
with bated breath, longing, yearning, aching, wishing, hoping,
hopeful, thirsty, hungry, greedy; desirous of, hankering after,
intent on, bent on, set on; on the edge of one's seat, on pins
and needles, on tenterhooks; informal hot, itching, gagging,
dying.
.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORD
eager, keen, enthusiastic, avid
■ Someone who is eager wants to do or have
something very much and feels excited pleasure at the
prospect of it (small eager faces looked up and listened |
he seemed eager to talk to her).
■ Keen also suggests intense interest and enjoyment,
but without the connotations of bubbly anticipation. A
keen person's interest in what they do results in
commitment and concentration (he is a keen rugby
player). Keen can also be used to indicate that someone
is anxious to do something, typically because they think
it will be advantageous (Laughton is keen to add Davies

to his squad). To be keen on something can just mean to
like or approve of it (I'm not that keen on the food here).
■ Someone who is enthusiastic about something shows
great enjoyment of or approval for it (make it clear that
you are enthusiastic about the project). An enthusiastic
person does things with energy, gusto, and dedication
(an enthusiastic supporter of music from Africa).
■ Avid derives from a Latin word meaning ‘greedy,
hungry’. Someone described as avid enjoys something
so much that they can never have enough of it (I am an
avid reader of your magazine | she was avid for
information about the murder inquiry).
These notes show fine distinctions in meaning between
closely related synonyms to help you find the best word.

noun
1 [ mass noun ] the action of pursuing someone or something:
the cat crouched in the grass in pursuit of a bird | those whose business
is the pursuit of knowledge.

• [ count noun ] a cycling race in which competitors set off
from different parts of a track and attempt to overtake one
another. [ as modifier ] : the Olympic pursuit champion.
• Physiology the action of the eye in following a moving
object.
2 an activity of a specified kind, especially a recreational or
sporting one: a whole range of leisure pursuits.
PHRASES
give pursuit (of a person, animal, or vehicle) start to chase
another. three cavalry companies gave pursuit.
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French
purseute ‘following after’, from pursuer (see pursue).
Early senses included ‘persecution, annoyance’ and in legal
contexts ‘petition, prosecution’.
noun
1 within France the gendarmerie remains responsible for law enforcement
and the pursuit of criminals: chasing, pursuing, stalking,
tracking, trailing, shadowing, dogging, hounding; chase after,
hunt for;

.
2 the organization is devoted to the pursuit of profit: striving
towards, push towards, aspiration for, quest after/for, search
for; aim of, goal of, objective of, dream of.
3 redirect your energies to a worthwhile pursuit: activity, leisure activity,
leisure pursuit, leisure interest, hobby, pastime, diversion,
avocation, recreation, relaxation, divertissement, sideline,
entertainment, amusement, sport, game; occupation, trade,
calling, vocation, craft, business, line, work, job, employment.
define
adjective
clearly stated or decided; not vague or doubtful: we had no
definite plans.
• clearly true or real; unambiguous: no definite proof has emerged.
• [ predic. ] (of a person) certain or sure about something: you're
very definite about that
• clear or undeniable (used for emphasis): under the circumstances,
air conditioning is a definite asset.
• having exact and discernible physical limits or form.
organizations have boundaries in the sense that they may occupy a definite
geographical area.

DERIVATIVES
definiteness noun
ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: from Latin definitus ‘defined, set
within limits’, past participle of definire (see define) .
usage: For an explanation of the difference between definite
and definitive, see usage at definitive.
adjective
1 I need a definite answer:
, clear-cut; determined, fixed,
established, confirmed, direct; concrete, hard, plain, outright.
2 there is definite evidence of decreasing per capita incomes: certain,
sure, positive, absolute, conclusive, decisive, firm, concrete,
final, unambiguous, unequivocal, unquestionable, unarguable,
clear, manifest, obvious, patent, unmistakable, proven; black
and white, hard and fast, as plain as the nose on your face, as
plain as daylight; guaranteed, settled, decided, assured;


3 she had a definite dislike for Robert's wife:
decided, marked, distinct, unquestioned, not in question, not in
doubt.
4 some organizations occupy a definite geographical area:
, particular,
circumscribed.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORD
definite, sure, certain, positive, convinced
See sure.
These notes show fine distinctions in meaning between
closely related synonyms to help you find the best word.
verb
1 [ with obj. ] point or direct (a weapon or camera) at a target:
aim the camcorder at some suitable object | [ no obj. ] : aim for the
middle of the target.
• direct (a missile or blow) at someone or something: she had
aimed the bottle at Gary's head.

• (aim something at) direct information, a product, or an
action towards (a particular group): the TV campaign is aimed at
the 16–24 age group.
2 [ no obj. ] have the intention of achieving: the programme will
aim at deepening understanding | [ with infinitive ] : we aim to give
you the best possible service.
noun
a desired outcome: our primary aim is to
achieve financial discipline.
2 [ in sing. ] the directing of a weapon or missile at a target: his
aim was perfect.
PHRASES
aim high be ambitious. must women who aim high be more hard-
working than the men?
take aim point a weapon or camera at a target. Kearny took aim
with his pistol. take aim, fire
ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French amer, variant of
esmer (from Latin aestimare ‘assess, estimate’), reinforced
by aemer, aesmer (from late Latin adaestimare, intensified
form of aestimare).

aim
verb
1 he aimed the rifle: point, direct, train, sight, focus, level, line up,
position; turn something on someone.
2 she aimed at the target: take aim at, fix on, zero in on, draw a
bead on.
3 undergraduates aiming for a first degree: work towards, be after, set
one's sights on, try for, strive for, pursue, seek, aspire to,
endeavour to achieve, have in view, have designs on, wish for,
want; formal essay.
4 this system is aimed at the home entertainment market: intend for,
mean for, address to, destine for; target at, direct towards,
market at, design for, tailor to, orient towards, pitch to/
towards.
5 the course aims to educate children to cope with dangerous situations:
intend, plan, resolve, propose, purpose, design, mean, have in
mind/view.
noun
our aim is to develop gymnasts to the top level: objective, object, goal,
end, target, grail, holy grail, design, desire, desired result,
intention, intent, plan, purpose, idea, point, object of the
exercise; ambition, aspiration, wish, dream, hope; resolve;


verb (sees, seeing, saw |sɔː| ; past participleseen |siːn| )
[ with obj. ]
1 perceive with the eyes; discern visually: in the distance she could
see the blue sea | [ no obj. ] : Andrew couldn't see out of his left eye |
figurative : I can't see into the future.
• [ with clause ] be or become aware of something from
observation or from a written or other visual source: I see from
your appraisal report that you have asked for training.
• be a spectator of (a film, game, or other entertainment);
watch: I went to see King Lear at the Old Vic.
• [ in imperative ] refer to (a specified source) for further
information (used as a direction in a text): elements are usually
classified as metals or non-metals (see chapter 11).
2 discern or deduce after reflection or from information;
understand: I can't see any other way to treat it | [ with clause ] : I
saw that perhaps he was right | she could see what Rhoda meant.
• [ with clause ] ascertain after inquiring, considering, or
discovering an outcome: I'll go along to the club and see if I can get a
game.

• [ with obj. and adverbial ] regard in a specified way: he saw
himself as a good teacher | you and I see things differently.
• (see something in) find good or attractive qualities in
(someone): I don't know what I see in you.
• view or predict as a possibility; envisage: I can't see him earning
any more anywhere else.
• used to ascertain or express comprehension, agreement, or
continued attention, or to emphasize that an earlier prediction
was correct: it has to be the answer, don't you see? | see, I told you I'd
come.
3 experience or witness (an event or situation): I shall not live to
see it | [ with obj. and complement ] : I can't bear to see you so
unhappy.
• be the time or setting of (something): the 1970s saw the
beginning of a technological revolution.
4 meet (someone one knows) socially or by chance: I saw Colin
last night.
• visit (a person or place): I went to see Caroline | see Alaska in style.
• meet regularly as a boyfriend or girlfriend: some guy she was
seeing was messing her around.
• consult (a specialist or professional): you may need to see a
solicitor.

• give an interview or consultation to: the doctor will see you now.
5 [ with obj. and adverbial of direction ] escort or conduct
(someone) to a specified place: don't bother seeing me out.
6 [ no obj. ] ensure: Lucy saw to it that everyone got enough to eat
| [ with clause ] : see that no harm comes to him.
7 (in poker or brag) equal the bet of (an opponent) and require
them to reveal their cards in order to determine who has won
the hand.
PHRASES
as far as I can see to the best of my understanding or belief.
as I see it in my opinion.
be seeing things see thing.
(I'll) be seeing you another way of saying see you .
have seen better days have declined from former prosperity
or good condition: this part of South London has seen better days.
have seen it all before be very worldly or very familiar with
a particular situation. she had the cool, calm, and collected manner of
someone who had seen it all before.
let me see said as an appeal for time to think before speaking:
Let me see, how old is he now?

see a man about a dog humorous said euphemistically
when leaving to go to the toilet or keep an undisclosed
appointment.
see eye to eye see eye.
see here said to emphasize a statement or command or to
express a protest: now see here, you're going to get it back for me
see one's way clear to do (or doing) something find that
it is possible or convenient to do something (often used in polite
requests). I wonder if sometime you could see your way clear to signing
this?
see someone coming recognize a person who can be fooled
or deceived.
see something coming foresee or be prepared for an event,
typically an unpleasant one.
see someone damned first Brit. informal said when angrily
refusing to do what a person wants.
see someone right Brit. informal make sure that a person is
appropriately rewarded or looked after. tell the landlord I sent you
—he'll see you right.
see sense (or reason)realize that one is wrong and start
acting sensibly. our aim is to make them see sense and leave us alone.

see the back of informal be rid of (an unwanted person or
thing): we were always glad to see the back of her.
see you (later) informal said when parting from someone.
we'll see about that said when angrily contradicting or
challenging an assertion: Oh, you think it's funny, do you? We'll see
about that
PHRASAL VERBS
see about (or see to)attend to or deal with: he had gone to see
about a job he had heard of | I'll see to Dad's tea.
see after chiefly N. Amer. or archaic take care of; look after.
see something of spend a specified amount of time with
(someone) socially: we saw a lot of the Bakers.
see someone off 1 accompany a person who is leaving to
their point of departure: they came to the station to see him off. 2
Brit.repel an invader or intruder: the dogs saw them off in no time. •
informal deal with the threat posed by: they saw off Cambridge in
the FA Cup.
see someone out Brit.(of an article) last longer than the
remainder of someone's life: no point in fixing the gate, it'll see me
out.
see something out 1 come to the end of a period of time or
undertaking: I could well see out my career in Italy. 2 continue to

work on or be involved with a task or project until it is
completed.
see over tour and examine (a building or site): Bridget asked if
he'd like to see over the house.
see through not be deceived by; detect the true nature of: he
can see through her lies and deceptions.
see someone through support a person for the duration of a
difficult time.
see something through persist with an undertaking until it
is completed.
DERIVATIVES
seeable adjective
ORIGIN Old English sēon, of Germanic origin; related to
Dutch zien and German sehen, perhaps from an Indo-
European root shared by Latin sequi ‘follow’.

verb
1 I can see the house: discern, perceive, glimpse, catch/get a
glimpse of, spot, notice, catch sight of, sight; make out, pick
out, spy, distinguish, identify, recognize, detect, note, mark;
informal clap/lay/set eyes on, clock; literary behold, descry,
espy.
2 they saw a television programme on Hong Kong: watch, look at, view,
observe, catch.
3 would you like to see over the house? inspect, view, see round,
look around/round, look through, have a look around/round,
have a tour of, go on a tour of, tour, survey, scrutinize; informal
give something a/the once-over.
4 I can't see how this helps us: understand, grasp, comprehend,
follow, take in, realize, appreciate, recognize, work out, get the
drift of, make out, conceive, perceive, fathom (out), become
cognizant of; informal get, latch on to, cotton on to, catch on
to, tumble to, figure out, get the hang of, get a fix on, get one's
head round/around, get the message, get the picture; Brit.
informal twig, suss; N. Amer. informal savvy; rare cognize.

5 I must go and see what Victor is up to: find out, discover, learn,
ascertain, get to know, determine, establish; ask, enquire, make
enquiries as to, investigate; Brit. informal suss out.
6 let me see: think, consider, contemplate, reflect, deliberate,
have a think, meditate, muse, ponder, cogitate, brood, agonize;
give it some thought, mull it over, chew it over, puzzle over it,
turn it over in one's mind, revolve it in one's mind; rare
cerebrate.
7 he checked to see that all of his desk drawers were locked | see that you
do it now: make sure, make certain, see to it, check, verify, take
care, mind, satisfy oneself, ensure; remember to, be/make sure
to, not forget to.
8 I see trouble ahead: foresee, predict, forecast, prophesy,
prognosticate, anticipate, envisage, envision, picture, visualize;
archaic augur, previse, presage, foreshow.
9 about a year later, I saw a friend in town: meet (by chance),
encounter, run into, run across, stumble on/across, happen on,
chance on, come across; informal bump into; archaic run
against.
10 they see each other from time to time: meet (by arrangement), meet
up with, get together with, have a meeting, have meetings,
meet socially, make a date with.

11 I'd better see a doctor about it: consult, confer with, talk to, speak
to, seek advice/information from, take counsel from, have
recourse to, call on, call in, turn to, ask.
12 the doctor will see you now: interview, give an interview to, give
a consultation to, give an audience to, give a hearing to,
receive, talk to; examine, treat.
13 he's seeing someone else now: go out with, be dating, take out, be
someone's boyfriend/girlfriend, keep company with, go with,
be with, court, have a fling with, have an affair with, dally with;
informal go steady with; Brit. informal, dated walk out with;
N. Amer. informal, dated step out with.
14 he saw her to her car: escort, accompany, show, walk, conduct,
lead, take, usher, guide, shepherd, attend.
PHRASES
see about I'll go and see about fixing a meal: arrange, make
arrangements for, see to, deal with, take care of, look after,
attend to, sort out; organize, be responsible for, take
responsibility for, be in charge of, direct.
see the light even the Vatican has seen the light and is using the
technology to manage its library: understand, comprehend, realize,
find out, see daylight, work out what's going on, get the point;
informal cotton on, catch on, tumble, latch on, get the picture,

get the message, get the drift, get it, get wise, see what's what,
savvy; Brit. informal twig.
see through I can see right through your little plot | I saw through you
from the start: not be deceived by, not be taken in by, be wise to,
get/have the measure of, read like a book, fathom, penetrate,
realize, understand; informal not fall for, have someone's
number, know someone's (little) game. ANTONYMS be
hoodwinked by.
see someone through it was Francine's devotion which saw him
through: sustain, encourage, buoy up, cheer along, keep going,
keep someone's head above water, tide over; support, give
strength to, be a source of strength to, be a tower of strength
to, comfort, help (out), assist. ANTONYMS let someone down.
see something through I want to see the job through: bring to
completion, continue to the end, bring to a finish; persevere
with, persist with, continue (with), carry on with, go on with,
keep at, keep on with, keep going with, keep up, not give up
with, follow through, press on/ahead with, plod on through,
plough on through, stay with; not take no for an answer;
informal plug away at, peg away at, stick at, soldier on with,
stick something out, stick to one's guns, hang in there.
ANTONYMS give up (on).

see to I'll go and see to the sitting-room fire: attend to, deal with, see
about, take care of, look after, sort out, fix up, get together,
organize, arrange, be responsible for, be in charge of, direct,
run, manage, conduct, administer, administrate.
WORD LINKS
scopophobia fear of being seen
see 2
noun
a bishop's see: diocese, bishopric.
adjective |əәˈprəәʊprɪəәt|
suitable or proper in the circumstances: this isn't the appropriate
time or place | a measure appropriate to a wartime economy.
Appropriate
verb |əәˈprəәʊprɪeɪt| [ with obj. ]
1 take (something) for one's own use, typically without the
owner's permission: the accused had appropriated the property.
2 devote (money or assets) to a special purpose: there can be
problems in appropriating funds for legal expenses.
DERIVATIVES
appropriately adverb [ sentence adverb ] : appropriately, the first
recital will be given at the festival,
appropriateness noun,
appropriator |-eɪtəә| noun
ORIGIN late Middle English: from late Latin appropriatus,
past participle of appropriare ‘make one's own’, from ad-
‘to’ + proprius ‘own, proper’.
sugesstion
verb
1 [ reporting verb ] put forward for consideration: [ with
clause ] : I suggest that we wait a day or two | [ with direct
speech ] : ‘Maybe you ought to get an expert,’ she suggested | [ with
obj. ] : Ruth suggested a holiday.
2 [ with obj. ] cause one to think that (something) exists or is
the case: finds of lead coffins suggested a cemetery north of the river |
[ with clause ] : the temperature wasn't as tropical as the bright sunlight
may have suggested.
• state or express indirectly: [ with clause ] : are you suggesting that
I should ignore her? | [ with obj. ] : the seduction scenes suggest his guilt
and her loneliness.

• evoke: the theatrical interpretation of weather and water almost suggests
El Greco.
• (suggest itself) (of an idea) come into one's mind. a simpler
explanation suggested itself to me.
DERIVATIVES
suggester noun
ORIGIN early 16th cent.: from Latin suggest- ‘suggested,
prompted’, from the verb suggerere, from sub- ‘from
below’ + gerere ‘bring’.
verb
1 Ruth suggested a card-playing evening: propose, put forward,
submit, recommend, advocate; advise, propound, urge,
encourage, counsel; move, table.
2 evidence suggests that teenagers are more responsive to price increases than
adults: indicate, lead to the belief, give the impression, give the
idea, argue, point to, demonstrate, show, evince.
3 government sources suggested that the Prime Minister would not
necessarily change his cabinet: hint, insinuate, imply, intimate, drive
at, indicate; informal get at.

4 the seduction scenes have enough ambivalence to suggest his guilt and her
loneliness: convey, express, impart, imply, intimate, connote,
smack of; put one in mind of, bring to mind, remind one of,
evoke, evince, conjure up, summon up, call up; refer to, allude
to, signify.
verb |ˈɔːltəәneɪt, ˈɒl-| [ no obj. ]
occur in turn repeatedly: bouts of depression alternate with
periods of elation | (as adj.alternating) : a season of alternating hot
days and cool nights.
• [ with obj. ] do or perform in turn repeatedly: some adults who
wish to alternate work with education.
• change repeatedly between two contrasting conditions: the
government alternated between the Labour and Conservative parties.
adjective |ɔːlˈtəәːnəәt, ɒl-| [ attrib. ]
1 every other; every second: she was asked to attend on alternate
days.
• (of two things) each following and succeeded by the other in a
regular pattern: alternate bouts of intense labour and of idleness.
• Botany (of leaves or shoots) placed alternately on the two
sides of the stem.

2 chiefly N. Amer. another term for alternative: a novel set in
an alternate universe.
noun |ɔːlˈtəәːnəәt, ɒl-| N. Amer.
a person who acts as a deputy or substitute. he shall be entitled to
exercise the vote of the director for whom he is an alternate.
DERIVATIVES
alternately |ɔːlˈtəәːnəәtli, ɒl-| adverb,
alternation noun
ORIGIN early 16th cent. (earlier (late Middle English) as
alternation): from Latin alternat- ‘done by turns’, from
alternare, from alternus ‘every other’, from alter ‘other’.
usage: In both British and American English the adjective
alternate means ‘every other or every second’, as in they meet
on alternate Sundays, or ‘(of two things) each following and
succeeded by the other in a regular pattern’, as in alternate
layers of potato and sauce. Alternative means ‘available as
another possibility or choice’ ( an alternative route; some
European countries follow an alternative approach). In American
usage, however, alternate can also be used to mean ‘available
as another choice’: an alternate plan called for construction to begin
immediately rather than waiting for spring. This American use of

alternate is still regarded as incorrect by many people in
Britain.
verb
1 stands of trees alternate with dense shrubby tundra: be interspersed,
follow one another, be staggered, take turns, take it in turns,
work/act in sequence, occur in turn, occur in rotation; rotate,
oscillate, see-saw, yo-yo, chop and change, fluctuate.
2 we could alternate the groups so that no one felt they had been left out:
give turns to, take in turn, rotate, take in rotation; intersperse,
stagger, swap, exchange, interchange, switch, vary.
adjective
1 she was asked to attend on alternate days: every other, every
second.
2 place the leeks and noodles in alternate layers: alternating, in
rotation, rotating, occurring in turns, interchanging, following
in sequence, sequential.
3 N. Amer. an alternate plan of action: alternative, other, another,
second, different, possible, substitute, replacement, deputy,
relief, proxy, surrogate, cover, fill-in, stand-in, standby,
emergency, reserve, backup, auxiliary, fallback; N. Amer.
informal pinch-hitting.

Correct
adjective
free from error; in accordance with fact or truth: make sure you
have been given the correct information.
• [ predic. ] not mistaken in one's opinion or judgement; right:
[ with infinitive ] : the government was correct to follow a course of
defeating inflation.
• meeting the requirements of or most appropriate for a
particular situation or activity: cut the top and bottom tracks to the
correct length with a hacksaw.
• (of a person or their appearance or behaviour) conforming to
accepted social standards; proper: he was a polite man, invariably
correct and pleasant with Mrs Collins.
• chiefly N. Amer.conforming to a particular political or
ideological orthodoxy. the materials used are as environmentally correct
as possible. See also politically correct.
verb [ with obj. ]
put right (an error or fault): the Council issued a statement correcting
some points in the press reports.

• mark the errors in (a written or printed text): he corrected
Dixon's writing for publication.
• tell (someone) that they are mistaken: he had assumed she was
married and she had not corrected him.
• counteract or rectify: the steel industry's current overcapacity will be
corrected this year.
• adjust (an instrument) to function accurately or accord with a
standard: motorists can have their headlights tested and corrected at a
reduced price on Saturday.
• adjust (a numerical result or reading) to allow for departure
from standard conditions: data were corrected for radionuclide
decay.
DERIVATIVES
correctable adjective,
correctness noun,
corrector noun
ORIGIN Middle English (as a verb): from Latin correct-
‘made straight, amended’, from the verb corrigere, from
cor- ‘together’ + regere ‘guide’. The adjective is via French.

adjective
1 the answer he gave was perfectly correct: right, accurate, true,
veracious, exact, precise, unerring, faithful, strict, faultless,
flawless, errorless, error-free, perfect, word-perfect, scrupulous,
meticulous; on the right track, along the right lines; informal
OK, on the mark, on the beam, on the nail, on the button;
Brit. informal spot on, bang on; N. Amer. informal on the
money. ANTONYMS incorrect, wrong.
2 she wondered whether it was the correct thing to say: proper, seemly,
decorous, decent, respectable, right, suitable, fit, fitting,
befitting, appropriate, apt; conventional, approved, accepted,
standard, usual, customary, traditional, orthodox; informal
OK.
verb
1 proofread your work and correct any mistakes you find: rectify, put
right, set right, right, amend, emend, remedy, redress, cure,
square, make good, improve, better, ameliorate, repair, revise,
alter, edit, rewrite, redraft, rescript, reword, rework; sort out,
clear up, deal with; informal patch up, clean up, iron out.

2 all homework should be corrected by your teacher:
.
3 it is important that a vitamin deficiency is corrected by good diet:
counteract, offset, counterbalance, compensate for, make up
for, neutralize.
4 motorists can have their headlights corrected at a reduced price: adjust,
regulate, fix, set, set right, set to rights, standardize, normalize,
calibrate, fine-tune, make good, put in working order, overhaul;
informal jigger, tweak, twiddle, patch up, see to.
5 ‘Courtesy if you please,’ he corrected her: scold, rebuke, chide,
reprimand, reprove, admonish, lecture, berate, chastise,
castigate.
.
verb [ with obj. ]
1 point out; show: dotted lines indicate the text's margins.
• be a sign of; strongly suggest: sales indicate a growing market for
such art | [ with clause ] : his tone indicated that he didn't hold out
much hope.

• mention indirectly or briefly: the president indicated his willingness
to use force against the rebels.
• direct attention to (someone or something) by means of a
gesture: he indicated Cindy with a brief nod of the head.
• (of a gauge or meter) register a reading of (a quantity,
dimension, etc.). an external tube is used to indicate fluid level.
2 suggest as a desirable or necessary course of action: treatment
for shock may be indicated.
3 [ no obj. ] Brit.(of a driver or motor vehicle) signal an
intention to change lanes or turn using an indicator. Cal
indicated and moved across the road. one car had indicated left but pulled
out in front of him.
ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from Latin indicat- ‘pointed out’,
from the verb indicare, from in- ‘towards’ + dicare ‘make
known’.
verb
1 sales indicate a growing market for such art | the scowl on his face
indicated his displeasure: demonstrate, show, point to, be a sign of,
be evidence of, evidence, testify to, bear witness to, be a
symptom of, be symptomatic of, denote, connote, mark, signal,

signify, suggest, imply; manifest, reveal, betray, evince, display,
reflect, represent; literary bespeak, betoken.
2 the Prime Minister indicated that the government would take no further
action: state, declare, make (it) known, announce, communicate,
mention, say, reveal, divulge, disclose, register, record, put it on
record; admit;
3 please indicate your choice of prize: designate, specify, stipulate;
show.
4 he indicated the room to me: point to, point out, gesture towards.
ɔː
noun
1 a violent disturbance of the atmosphere with strong winds
and usually rain, thunder, lightning, or snow.
• (also storm system)an intense low-pressure weather system;
a cyclone.
• a wind of force 10 on the Beaufort scale (48–55 knots or 88–
102 kph).
• a heavy discharge of missiles or blows: two men were taken by a
storm of bullets.

2 a tumultuous reaction; an uproar or controversy: the book
caused a storm in America | the manager is at the centre of a drugs storm
in Germany.
• a vehement outburst of a specified feeling or reaction: the
disclosure raised a storm of protest.
3 (storms) N. Amer.storm windows.
4 a direct assault by troops on a fortified place.
verb
1 [ no obj., with adverbial of direction ] move angrily or
forcefully in a specified direction: she burst into tears and stormed off
| he stormed out of the house.
• [ with direct speech ] shout (something) angrily; rage: ‘Don't
patronize me’ she stormed.
• move forcefully and decisively to a specified position in a
game or contest: Chester stormed back with two goals in five minutes.
2 [ with obj. ] (of troops) suddenly attack and capture (a
building or other place) by means of force: commandos stormed a
hijacked plane early today | (as nounstorming) : the storming of the
Bastille.
3 [ no obj. ] (it storms, it is storming, etc.) (of the weather)
be violent, with strong winds and usually rain, thunder,
lightning, or snow.

PHRASES
go down a storm be enthusiastically received by an
audience. the film went down a storm at Cannes.
the lull (or calm) before the storm a period of unusual
tranquillity or stability that seems likely to presage difficult
times.
storm and stress another term for Sturm und Drang.
a storm in a teacup Brit.great outrage or excitement about a
trivial matter.
take something by storm (of troops) capture a place by a
sudden and violent attack. • have great and rapid success in a
particular place or with a particular group of people: his first
collection took the fashion world by storm.
—— up a storm chiefly N. Amer.perform the specified
action with great enthusiasm and energy: the band could really
play up a storm.
DERIVATIVES
stormproof adjective
ORIGIN Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch
storm and German Sturm, probably also to the verb stir 1 .
The verb dates from late Middle English in sense 3 of the
verb.

noun
1 the severe storms that battered Orkney earlier this year: tempest,
squall; gale, hurricane, tornado, cyclone, typhoon, superstorm;
thunderstorm, cloudburst, downpour, rainstorm, hailstorm,
deluge, monsoon, tropical storm, electrical storm; snowstorm,
blizzard; dust storm, dust devil; N. Amer. williwaw, ice storm,
windstorm; in central Asiaburan.
2 he's at the centre of a drugs storm in Germany: uproar, commotion,
furore, brouhaha, trouble, disturbance, hue and cry, upheaval;
controversy, scandal, argument, fracas, fight, war of words;
informal to-do, hoo-ha, rumpus, hullabaloo, ballyhoo, ructions,
stink; Brit. informal row.
3 the decision provoked a storm of protest: outburst, outbreak,
explosion, eruption, outpouring, surge, upsurge, avalanche,
torrent, flood, deluge; blaze, flare-up.
4 a storm of bullets: volley, salvo, fusillade, barrage, discharge,
shower, spray, hail, rain.
5 an attempt at a storm on the castle was beaten back by defenders:
assault, attack, onslaught, offensive, charge, raid, foray, sortie,

rush, descent, incursion, thrust, push, blitz, blitzkrieg,
aggression; archaic onset.
verb
1 she snatched up her coat and stormed out of the kitchen: stride angrily,
stomp, march, charge, stalk, flounce, stamp, fling.
2 police stormed the building: attack, charge, rush, conduct an
offensive on, make an onslaught on, make a raid/foray/sortie
on, descend on, take by storm, attempt to capture.
3 his mother stormed at him and ordered him to go to bed: rant, rave,
rant and rave, shout, bellow, roar, thunder, rage, explode.

noun [ mass noun ]
1 the exertion of force by means of a lever: my spade hit something
solid that wouldn't respond to leverage.
• mechanical advantage gained by leverage: use a metal bar to
increase the leverage.
• the power to influence a person or situation: the right wing had
lost much of its political leverage in the Assembly.
2 Finance the ratio of a company's loan capital (debt) to the
value of its ordinary shares (equity); gearing.

• the use of credit or borrowed capital to increase the earning
potential of shares.
verb [ with obj. ]
1 (usu. as adj.leveraged) use borrowed capital for (an
investment), expecting the profits made to be greater than the
interest payable: a leveraged takeover bid.
2 use (something) to maximum advantage: the organization needs
to leverage its key resources.
noun
1 the long handles provide increased leverage: grip, purchase, hold,
grasp; contact, attachment, support, anchorage, force, strength;
resistance, friction.
2 the high levels of unionization gave workers significant leverage in
workplace negotiations: influence, power, authority, weight, sway,
control, say, ascendancy, dominance, advantage, pressure, edge,
standing, prestige, rank; informal pull, clout, muscle, teeth,
beef.

verb
1 [ no obj. ] (typically of something regarded as good) become
smaller, fewer, or less; decrease: the birth rate continued to decline.
• diminish in strength or quality; deteriorate: her health began to
decline | (as adj.declining) : declining industries.
2 [ with obj. ] politely refuse (an invitation or offer): Caroline
declined the coffee | [ with infinitive ] : the company declined to
comment.
3 [ no obj. ] (especially of the sun) move downwards. the sun
began to creep round to the west and to decline.
• archaic bend down; droop. the wearisome creatures of the world
declining to their rest.
4 [ with obj. ] (in the grammar of Latin, Greek, and certain
other languages) state the forms of (a noun, pronoun, or
adjective) corresponding to case, number, and gender.
noun
a gradual and continuous loss of strength, numbers, or value: a
serious decline in bird numbers | [ mass noun ] : a civilization in
decline.

• archaic the sun's gradual setting. this Evening from the Sun's
decline arriv'd.
• archaic a disease in which the bodily strength gradually fails,
especially tuberculosis. he died at his brother's of a deep decline.
PHRASES
declining years the period of one's old age. he needed a
companion for his declining years. • the period leading up to the end
of an enterprise or institution: the declining years of the Austro-
Hungarian empire.
DERIVATIVES
declinable adjective,
decliner noun
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Old French decliner,
from Latin declinare ‘bend down, turn aside’, from de-
‘down’ + clinare ‘to bend’.
verb
1 she declined all invitations | he offered me a cigarette but I declined:
turn down, reject, brush aside, refuse, rebuff, spurn, disdain,
look down one's nose at, repulse, repudiate, dismiss, forgo,
deny oneself, pass up, refuse to take advantage of, turn one's

back on; abstain (from), say no to, shake one's head, send one's
regrets; informal give the thumbs down (to), give the red light
(to), give something a miss, give someone the brush-off; Brit.
informal knock back; Austral. informal snout.
2 the number of small local traders has declined: decrease, reduce, get
smaller, grow smaller, lessen, get less, diminish, wane, dwindle,
contract, shrink, fall off, taper off, tail off, peter out; drop, fall,
go down, sink, slump, plummet, plunge; informal nosedive,
take a nosedive, take a header, go into a tailspin, crash.
3 standards of craftsmanship steadily declined: deteriorate,
degenerate, decay, crumble, collapse, fail, fall, sink, slump, slip,
slide, go downhill, worsen, get worse, go to rack and ruin,
stagnate, atrophy, wither, weaken, fade, fade away, wane, ebb;
be abandoned, be neglected, be disregarded, be forgotten;
informal go to pot, go to the dogs, hit the skids, go down the
toilet, go down the tubes; Austral./NZ informal go to the pack;
rare retrograde.
noun

1 the company suffered a decline in profits: reduction, decrease,
downturn, downswing, lowering, devaluation, depreciation,
lessening,
, diminution, slackening, waning,
dwindling, fading, ebb, falling off, abatement, drop, slump,
plunge, tumble; informal nosedive, crash, let-up.
2 there is a link between pollution and forest decline: deterioration,
degeneration, degradation, shrinkage, shrinking, withering,
atrophy, weakening, enfeeblement, fall, failure, death, decay,
decaying; dated decadence; rare
.
PHRASES
in decline the prosperity of the Mediterranean world was in decline:
waning, declining, on the decline, decaying, crumbling,
collapsing, atrophying, failing, disappearing, dying, moribund,
past its prime, obsolescent; informal on its last legs, on the way
out.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORD
decline, refuse, reject, spurn
See refuse 1 .
These notes show fine distinctions in meaning between
closely related synonyms to help you find the best word.

adjective
so small or unimportant as to be not worth considering;
insignificant: he said that the risks were negligible.
DERIVATIVES
negligibility |-ˈbɪlɪti| noun,
negligibly adverb
ORIGIN early 19th cent.: from obsolete French, from
négliger ‘to neglect’.
noun (pl.atrocities)
an extremely wicked or cruel act, typically one involving
physical violence or injury: a textbook which detailed war atrocities.
• humorous a highly unpleasant or distasteful object: atrocities
in cheap red nylon.
ORIGIN mid 16th cent. (in the sense ‘cruelty’): from French
atrocité or Latin atrocitas, from atrox, atroc- ‘cruel’.

flee|fliː|
verb (flees, fleeing; past and past participlefled |flɛd| ) [ no
obj. ]
run away from a place or situation of danger: to escape the
fighting, his family fled from their village.
• [ with obj. ] run away from (someone or something): he was
forced to flee the country.
ORIGIN Old English flēon, of Germanic origin; related to
Dutch vlieden and German fliehen .
verb
1 she fled to her room and hid: run, run away, run off, make a run
for it, run for it, take flight, be gone, make off, take off, take to
one's heels, make a break for it, bolt, beat a (hasty) retreat,
make a quick exit, make one's getaway, escape, absent oneself,
make oneself scarce, abscond, head for the hills, do a
disappearing act; informal beat it, clear off, clear out, vamoose,
skedaddle, split, cut and run, leg it, show a clean pair of heels,
turn tail, scram; Brit. informal do a runner, scarper, do a bunk;
N. Amer. informal light out, bug out, cut out, peel out, take a

powder, skidoo; Austral. informal go through, shoot through;
vulgar slang bugger off; archaic fly.
2 they fled the country: run away from, leave hastily/abruptly, fly,
escape from;
Salacious
adjective
having or conveying undue or indecent interest in sexual
matters: salacious stories.
DERIVATIVES
salaciously adverb,
salaciousness noun,
salacity |səәˈlasɪti| noun( dated)
ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Latin salax, salac- (from
salire ‘to leap’) + -ious.
adjective
a piece of salacious writing: pornographic, obscene, indecent,
improper, indelicate, crude, lewd, erotic, titillating, arousing,
suggestive, sexy, risqué, coarse, vulgar, gross, dirty, ribald,

smutty, filthy, bawdy, earthy; corrupting, exploitative, prurient,
immoral; off colour, nasty, adult, X-rated, low, hard-core, soft-
core; informal porn, porno, blue, skin; rare rank.
Satisfy
adjective
contented; pleased: satisfied customers | she was very satisfied
with the results.
satisfy |ˈsatɪsfʌɪ|
verb (satisfies, satisfying, satisfied) [ with obj. ]
1 meet the expectations, needs, or desires of (someone): I have
never been satisfied with my job.
• fulfil (a desire or need): social services is trying to satisfy the needs of
so many different groups.
• adequately meet or comply with (a condition, obligation, or
demand): the whole team is working flat out to satisfy demand.
• pay off (a debt or creditor): there was insufficient collateral to satisfy
the loan.
2 provide (someone) with adequate or convincing information
or proof about something: [ with obj. and clause ] : people need to
be satisfied that the environmental assessments are accurate | the chief
engineer satisfied himself that it was not a weapon.
3 Mathematics (of a quantity) make (an equation) true.
PHRASES
satisfy the examiners Brit.reach the standard required to
pass an examination.
DERIVATIVES
satisfiability |-əәˈbɪlɪti| noun,
satisfiable adjective
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Old French satisfier,
formed irregularly from Latin satisfacere ‘to content’, from
satis ‘enough’ + facere ‘make’.
adjective
1 Henry felt satisfied with the day's work | there was a satisfied smile on
her face: pleased, well pleased, happy, content, contented; proud,
triumphant; smug, self-satisfied, pleased with oneself,
complacent; Brit. informal like the cat that's got the cream; N.
Amer. vulgar slang shit-eating; humorous gruntled.

2 the pleasure of satisfied desire: fulfilled, gratified, appeased,
assuaged; archaic satiate.
.
3 I am quite satisfied that most of my staff are happy with their
conditions of employment: convinced, certain, sure, positive, free
from doubt, persuaded, easy in one's mind.
verb
1 he wanted one last chance to satisfy his hunger for romance: fulfil,
gratify, meet, fill, serve, provide for, supply; indulge, cater to,
pander to; appease, assuage; quench, slake, satiate, sate, take
the edge off; rare satisfice.
2 his role was a creative one, and it satisfied him up to a point: please,
content, make happy.
3 she satisfied herself that it had been an accident: convince, persuade,
assure, make certain; reassure, put someone's mind at rest,
dispel someone's doubts.
4 products which satisfy the EC's criteria will be awarded a special eco
label: comply with, meet, fulfil, answer, conform to; match up
to, measure up to, come up to; suffice, be good enough, fit/fill

the bill; Law perfect; informal make the grade, cut the
mustard.
5 there was insufficient collateral to satisfy the loan: repay, pay, pay off,
pay in full, settle, make good, discharge, square, liquidate, clear.
adjective (angrier, angriest)
feeling or showing strong annoyance, displeasure, or hostility;
full of anger: why are you angry with me? | I'm angry that she
didn't call me.
• (of the sea or sky) stormy, turbulent, or threatening: the wild,
angry sea.
• (of a wound or sore) red and inflamed. the bruise below his eye
looked angry and sore.
DERIVATIVES
angrily adverb

adjective
1 Vivienne got angry and started shouting | she shot him an angry look:
irate, annoyed, cross, vexed, irritated, exasperated, indignant,
aggrieved, irked, piqued, displeased, provoked, galled,
resentful; furious, enraged, infuriated, in a temper, incensed,
raging, incandescent, wrathful, fuming, ranting, raving,
seething, frenzied, in a frenzy, beside oneself, outraged, in high
dudgeon; irascible, bad-tempered, hot-tempered, choleric,
splenetic, dyspeptic, tetchy, testy, crabby, waspish; hostile,
antagonistic, black, dark, dirty, filthy; informal mad, hopping
mad, wild, livid, as cross as two sticks, boiling, apoplectic,
aerated, hot under the collar, riled, on the warpath, up in arms,
with all guns blazing, foaming at the mouth, steamed up, in a
lather, in a paddy, fit to be tied, aggravated, snappy, snappish;
Brit. informal shirty, stroppy, narky, ratty, eggy; N. Amer.
informal sore, bent out of shape, soreheaded, teed off, ticked
off; Austral./NZ informal ropeable, snaky, crook; W. Indian
informal vex; Brit. informal, dated in a bate, waxy; vulgar
slang pissed off; N. Amer. vulgar slang pissed; literary ireful,
wroth.

2 an angry debate erupted: heated, hot, passionate, furious, fiery,
stormy, tempestuous, lively; bad-tempered, ill-tempered,
acrimonious, bitter.
3 he had an angry spot on the side of his nose: inflamed, red, swollen,
sore, painful.
PHRASES
get angry lose one's temper, become enraged, go into a rage,
rant and rave, go berserk, fume, seethe, flare up, bristle;
informal go/get mad, go crazy, go wild, go bananas, hit the
roof, go through the roof, go up the wall, jump up and down,
see red, go off the deep end, fly off the handle, blow one's top,
blow a fuse/gasket, lose one's rag, go ape, burst a blood vessel,
breathe fire, flip, flip one's lid, foam at the mouth, get all
steamed up, get worked up, have a fit, explode, have steam
coming out of one's ears, gnash one's teeth, go non-linear, go
ballistic, go into orbit, go psycho; Brit. informal go spare, go
crackers, do one's nut, get one's knickers in a twist, throw a
wobbly; N. Amer. informal flip one's wig, blow one's lid/stack,
have a cow, go postal, have a conniption fit; vulgar slang go
apeshit.

lustful
adjective
having or showing strong feelings of sexual desire: lustful glances.
DERIVATIVES
lustfully adverb,
lustfulness noun
adjective
a lustful look: lecherous, lascivious, lewd, libidinous, licentious,
lubricious, salacious, goatish; wanton, unchaste, impure,
immodest, indecent, dirty, prurient; passionate, ardent,
amorous, amatory, hot-blooded, sensual, sexy, erotic; informal
horny, randy, raunchy, naughty; rare concupiscent, lickerish.
derive
verb [ with obj. ] (derive something from)
obtain something from (a specified source): they derived great
comfort from this assurance.

• (derive something from) base a concept on an extension
or modification of (another concept): some maintain that he derived
the idea of civil disobedience from Thoreau.
• [ no obj. ] (derive from) (of a word) have (a specified word,
usually of another language) as a root or origin: the word ‘punch’
derives from the Hindustani ‘pancha’ | [ with obj. ] : the word ‘man’ is
derived from the Sanskrit ‘manas’.
• [ no obj. ] (derive from) arise from or originate in (a
specified source): words whose spelling derives from Dr Johnson's
incorrect etymology.
• (be derived from) Linguistics (of a sentence in a natural
language) be linked by a set of stages to (its underlying logical
form).
• (be derived from) (of a substance) be formed or prepared
by (a chemical or physical process affecting another substance):
strong acids are derived from the combustion of fossil fuels.
• Mathematics obtain (a function or equation) from another
by a sequence of logical steps, for example by differentiation.
the volume fraction of the soil can then be derived as a function of L.
DERIVATIVES
derivable adjective

ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense ‘draw a fluid
through or into a channel’): from Old French deriver or Latin
derivare, from de- ‘down, away’ + rivus ‘brook, stream’.
verb
1 he hated the work, only deriving consolation from his reading of poetry:
obtain, get, take, gain, acquire, procure, extract, attain, glean.
2 ‘coffee’ derives from the Turkish ‘kahveh’: originate in, have its
origins in, have as a source, arise in; stem, descend, spring, be
taken,
be
got.
.
3 his fortune derives from
international property and
finance: originate in, have
its origin in, be rooted in, be traceable to; stem, proceed, flow,
pour, spring, emanate, issue, ensue, descend, come.

verb [ with obj. ]
1 strengthen or support physically or mentally: this thought had
sustained him throughout the years | (as adj.sustaining) : a sustaining
breakfast of bacon and eggs.
• bear (the weight of an object) without breaking or falling: he
sagged against her so that she could barely sustain his weight |
figurative : his health will no longer enable him to sustain the heavy
burdens of office.
2 undergo or suffer (something unpleasant, especially an
injury): he sustained severe head injuries.
3 cause to continue for an extended period or without
interruption: he cannot sustain a normal conversation.
• (of a performer) represent (a part or character) convincingly:
he sustained the role of Creon with burly resilience.
4 uphold, affirm, or confirm the justice or validity of: the
allegations of discrimination were sustained.
noun [ mass noun ] Music
an effect or facility on a keyboard or electronic instrument
whereby a note can be sustained after the key is released.

DERIVATIVES
sustainer noun,
sustainment noun
ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French soustenir, from
Latin sustinere, from sub- ‘from below’ + tenere ‘hold’.
sustain
verb
1 they were concerned that the balcony might not be able to sustain the
weight: bear, support, carry, stand, keep up, prop up, shore up,
bolster, underpin, buttress.
.
2 she had lived life to the full, but now had only the memories of such
times to sustain her: comfort, help, assist, encourage, succour,
support, give strength to, be a source of strength to, be a tower
of strength to, buoy up, carry, cheer up, hearten, see someone
through; informal buck up.
3 they were unable to sustain a coalition: continue, carry on, keep up,
keep going, keep alive, keep in existence, keep, maintain,
prolong, preserve, conserve, protract, perpetuate, bolster up,
prop up, retain, extend.
4 she had a slab of bread and cheese to sustain her | Britain sustained a
much lower population than did Italy: maintain, continue, preserve,

keep, keep alive, keep going, provide for; nourish, feed,
nurture, provide board for.
5 six Marines sustained slight injuries: undergo, experience, go
through, suffer, endure.
6 the allegation was not sustained by any court: uphold, validate,
ratify, vindicate, confirm, endorse, approve; verify, corroborate,
substantiate, bear out, prove, authenticate, attest to, back up,
evidence, justify.
verb
1 [ with obj. ] get, acquire, or secure (something): adequate
insurance cover is difficult to obtain.
2 [ no obj. ] formal be prevalent, customary, or established: the
price of silver fell to that obtaining elsewhere in the ancient world.
DERIVATIVES
obtainer noun,
obtainment noun
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Old French obtenir, from
Latin obtinere ‘obtain, gain’.

verb
1 the newspaper obtained a copy of the letter: get, acquire, come by,
secure, procure, come into possession of, pick up, be given;
gain, derive, earn, achieve, attain, win, draw, reap; buy,
purchase; informal get/lay hold of, get/lay one's hands on, get
one's mitts on, grab, bag, land, net; Brit. informal blag; S.
African .
.
2 the rules obtaining in other jurisdictions: prevail, be in force, apply,
exist, be in use, be established, be customary, be effective, be
prevalent, stand, hold, be the case.
verb [ with obj. ]
succeed in achieving (something that one has worked for): clarify
your objectives and ways of attaining them | he attained the rank of
Brigadier.
• reach (a specified age, size, or amount): dolphins can attain speeds
in water which man cannot yet emulate.

ORIGIN Middle English (in the senses ‘bring to justice’ and
‘reach a state’): from Old French ateindre, from Latin
attingere, from ad- ‘at, to’ + tangere ‘to touch’.
verb
they help the child attain his or her full potential: achieve, accomplish,
reach, arrive at, come by, obtain, gain, procure, secure, get,
grasp, hook, net, win, earn, acquire, establish, make; realize,
fulfil, succeed in, bring off, bring about, bring to fruition, carry
off, carry through, effect; informal hit, clinch, bag, wangle,
wrap up, polish off; rare effectuate, reify.

verb [ no obj. ]
experience a seemingly real perception of something not
actually present, typically as a result of a mental disorder or of
taking drugs: Ben began hallucinating and having fits.
• [ with obj. ] experience a hallucination of (something). I don't
care if they're hallucinating purple snakes. [ with clause ] : he starts
hallucinating that he is Jesus.

DERIVATIVES
hallucinant adjective& noun,
hallucinator noun
ORIGIN mid 17th cent. (in the sense ‘be deceived, have
illusions’): from Latin hallucinat- ‘gone astray in thought’,
from the verb hallucinari, from Greek alussein ‘be uneasy
or distraught’.
verb
the drug was making me hallucinate: have hallucinations, imagine
things, see things, see visions, be delirious, have delirium
tremens, fantasize, daydream, dream; informal have a trip, trip,
see pink elephants, have daymares.

noun [ mass noun ]
the action of deceiving someone: obtaining property by deception.
• [ count noun ] a thing that deceives: a range of elaborate
deceptions.

ORIGIN late Middle English: from late Latin deceptio(n-),
from decipere ‘deceive’.
noun
1 the court found that they had obtained money by deception: deceit,
deceitfulness, duplicity, double-dealing, fraud, fraudulence,
cheating, trickery, duping, hoodwinking, chicanery,
underhandedness, deviousness, slyness, cunning, craft,
craftiness, wiliness, artfulness, guile, dissimulation, dissembling,
bluff, bluffing, lying, artifice, treachery; informal crookedness,
monkey business, funny business, hanky-panky,; N. Amer.
informal monkeyshines; Irish ;
2 she had proof that this was a deception: trick, stratagem, device,
ruse, scheme, dodge, contrivance, machination, subterfuge,
cheat, swindle, confidence trick; sham, fraud, imposture, hoax,
fake, misrepresentation, blind, wile, artifice, Trojan horse;
informal con, con trick, set-up, game, scam, sting, gyp, leg-pull,
flimflam; Brit. informal wheeze; N. Amer. informal bunco,
grift; Austral. informal lurk; Brit. informal, dated flanker;
archaic shift, fetch, rig.

delusion |dɪˈl(j)uːʒ(əә)n|
noun
an idiosyncratic belief or impression maintained despite being
contradicted by reality or rational argument, typically as a
symptom of mental disorder: the delusion of being watched.
• [ mass noun ] the action of deluding or the state of being
deluded: what a capacity television has for delusion.
PHRASES
delusions of grandeur a false impression of one's own
importance.
DERIVATIVES
delusional adjective
ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense ‘act of deluding or
of being deluded’): from late Latin delusio(n-), from the verb
deludere (see delude) .

delusion
noun
1 the male delusion that attractive young women are harbouring romantic
thoughts about them: misapprehension, mistaken impression, false
impression, mistaken belief, misconception, misunderstanding,
mistake, error, misinterpretation, misconstruction, misbelief;
fallacy, illusion, figment of the imagination, fantasy, chimera;
fool's paradise, self-deception.
2 a web of delusion: deception, misleading, deluding, fooling,
tricking, trickery, duping.
habitat |ˈhabɪtat|
noun
the natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other
organism: wild chimps in their natural habitat.
ORIGIN late 18th cent.: from Latin, literally ‘it dwells’, from
habitare (see habitable) .

habitat
noun
a record of new plants in their native habitat: natural environment,
natural element, natural territory, natural surroundings,
natural terrain, home, domain, haunt; formal habitation,
abode. ANTONYMS unnatural surroundings.
|ˈagrəәveɪt|
verb [ with obj. ]
1 make (a problem, injury, or offence) worse or more serious:
military action would only aggravate the situation.
2 informal annoy or exasperate: (as adj.aggravating) : she
found him thoroughly aggravating and unprofessional.
DERIVATIVES
aggravatingly adverb
ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: from Latin aggravat- ‘made
heavy’, from the verb aggravare, from ad- (expressing
increase) + gravis ‘heavy’.
usage: Aggravate in the sense ‘annoy or exasperate’ dates
back to the 17th century and has been so used by respected
writers ever since. This use is still regarded as incorrect by
some traditionalists on the grounds that it is too radical a

departure from the etymological meaning of ‘make heavy’. It
is, however, comparable to meaning changes in hundreds of
other words which have long been accepted without comment.
verb
1 according to some, the new law will aggravate the situation: worsen,
make worse, exacerbate, inflame, compound; intensify,
increase, heighten, magnify, add to, amplify, augment; add fuel
to the fire/flames, add insult to injury, rub salt in the wound.
ANTONYMS alleviate, improve.
2 informal you don't have to aggravate people to get what you want. See
annoy.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORD
aggravate, annoy, irritate, vex, peeve
See annoy.
These notes show fine distinctions in meaning between
closely related synonyms to help you find the best word.
subsidize |ˈsʌbsɪdʌɪz| (also subsidise)
verb [ with obj. ]

support (an organization or activity) financially: the mining
industry continues to be subsidized.
• pay part of the cost of producing (something) to keep the
selling price low: (as adj.subsidized) : subsidized food.
DERIVATIVES
subsidization |-ˈzeɪʃ(əә)n| noun,
subsidizer noun
subsidize
verb
they were unwilling to subsidize the poorer southern republics: give
money to, pay a subsidy to, give a grant to, contribute to, make
a contribution to, invest in, sponsor, fund, finance, provide
finance/capital for, capitalize, underwrite; back, support, give
support to, keep, help, aid, assist, shore up, prop up, buttress;
informal pick up the tab for, foot the bill for, shell out for, fork
out for, cough up for, chip in for; N. Amer. informal bankroll,
pony up for.
alleviate |əәˈliːvɪeɪt|
verb [ with obj. ]

make (suffering, deficiency, or a problem) less severe: he couldn't
prevent her pain, only alleviate it | measures to alleviate unemployment.
DERIVATIVES
alleviation |-ˈeɪʃ(əә)n| noun,
alleviative |-vɪəәtɪv| adjective,
alleviator noun
ORIGIN late Middle English: from late Latin alleviat-
‘lightened’, from the verb alleviare, from Latin allevare,
from ad- ‘to’ + levare ‘raise’, influenced by levis ‘light’.
alleviate
verb
he couldn't prevent her pain, only alleviate it: reduce, ease, relieve,
take the edge off, deaden, dull, diminish, lessen, weaken,
lighten, attenuate, allay, assuage, palliate, damp, soothe, help,
soften, temper, control, still, quell, quieten, quiet, tone down,
blunt, dilute, moderate, mitigate, modify, abate, lull, pacify,
placate, mollify, sweeten; rare extenuate. ANTONYMS
aggravate.
depreciate
verb

1 these cars will depreciate heavily in the first year: decrease in value,
lose value, decline in price, drop in price, fall in price, cheapen,
devalue. ANTONYMS appreciate.
2 the decision to depreciate land and property is good news for buyers:
devalue, cheapen, reduce, lower in value, lower in price, mark
down, cut, discount; informal slash. ANTONYMS raise.
3 they depreciate the importance of art in education: belittle, disparage,
denigrate, decry, deprecate, make light of, treat lightly,
discredit, underrate, undervalue, underestimate, deflate, detract
from, diminish, minimize, trivialize, run down, traduce,
defame; disdain, ridicule, deride, sneer at, scoff at, mock,
scorn, pour scorn on; informal knock, slam, pan, bad-mouth,
sell short, put down, pooh-pooh, look down one's nose at, do
down, do a hatchet job on, take to pieces, pull apart, pick holes
in, drag through the mud, have a go at, hit out at; Brit.
informal rubbish, slate, slag off; dated cry down; archaic hold
cheap; rare derogate, misprize, minify. ANTONYMS
appreciate.
EASILY CONFUSED WORDS
depreciate or deprecate?
See deprecate.

These notes clear up confusion between similar-looking
pairs.
depreciate |dɪˈpriːʃɪeɪt, -sɪ-|
verb
1 [ no obj. ] diminish in value over a period of time: the latest
cars will depreciate heavily in the first year.
• [ with obj. ] reduce the recorded value in a company's books
of (an asset) each year over a predetermined period.
2 [ with obj. ] disparage or belittle (something): she was already
depreciating her own aesthetic taste.
DERIVATIVES
depreciable adjective,
depreciative adjective,
depreciatively adverb,
depreciatory |dɪˈpriːʃ(ɪ)əәt(əә)ri| adjective
ORIGIN late Middle English (in sense 2): from late Latin
depreciat- ‘lowered in price, undervalued’, from the verb
depreciare, from Latin de- ‘down’ + pretium ‘price’.
extinguish |ɪkˈstɪŋgwɪʃ, ɛk-|
verb [ with obj. ]

cause (a fire or light) to cease to burn or shine: firemen were
soaking everything to extinguish the blaze.
• put an end to; destroy: hope is extinguished little by little.
• subdue or reduce (someone) to silence: a look which would have
extinguished any man.
• cancel (a debt) by full payment: the debt was absolutely
extinguished.
• Law render (a right or obligation) void. rights of common pasture
were extinguished.
DERIVATIVES
extinguishable adjective,
extinguishment noun(Law)
ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: from Latin exstinguere, from ex-
‘out’ + stinguere ‘quench’. Compare with distinguish.
extinguish
verb
1 the fire had to be extinguished: douse, put out, quench, stamp out,
smother, beat out, dampen down; blow out, snuff out; Scottish
dout. ANTONYMS light.
2 the Liberal majority was extinguished by 1910: destroy, end, finish
off, put an end to, put a stop to, bring to an end, terminate,
remove, annihilate, wipe out, wipe off the face of the earth,

wipe off the map, erase, eliminate, eradicate, obliterate,
liquidate, expunge, abolish, exterminate, kill, extirpate,
obscure, suppress, disrupt, undo, upset; informal take out, rub
out, snuff out. ANTONYMS start up.
indelible |ɪnˈdɛlɪb(əә)l|
adjective
(of ink or a pen) making marks that cannot be removed. an
indelible marker pen.
• not able to be forgotten: the story made an indelible impression on
me.
DERIVATIVES
indelibility |-ˈbɪlɪti| noun,
indelibly adverb
ORIGIN late 15th cent. (as indeleble): from French, or from
Latin indelebilis, from in- ‘not’ + delebilis (from delere
‘efface, delete’). The ending was altered under the influence
of -ible.
indelible
adjective

indelible ink | the story made an indelible impression on me:
ineradicable, inerasable, ineffaceable, unexpungeable,
indestructible, permanent, lasting, persisting, enduring,
stubborn, ingrained, unfading, imperishable; unforgettable,
haunting, memorable, not/never to be forgotten.
ANTONYMS erasable.
concerted |kəәnˈsəәːtɪd|
adjective
1 [ attrib. ] jointly arranged or carried out; coordinated: a
concerted attempt to preserve religious unity.
• done with great effort or determination: you must make a
concerted effort to curb this.
2 (of music) arranged in several parts of equal importance.
concerted secular music for voices.
DERIVATIVES
concertedly adverb
concert
noun |ˈkɒnsəәt|
1 a musical performance given in public, typically by several
performers or of several compositions: a pop concert | [ as
modifier ] : a concert pianist.

• [ as modifier ] relating to or denoting the performance of
music written for opera, ballet, or theatre on its own without
the accompanying dramatic action: the concert version of the fourth
interlude from the opera.
2 [ mass noun ] formal agreement or harmony: critics' inability to
describe with any precision and concert the characteristics of literature.
• Law joint action, especially in the committing of a crime. they
found direct evidence of concert of action.
verb |kəәnˈsəәːt| [ with obj. ] formal
arrange (something) by mutual agreement or coordination: they
started meeting regularly to concert their parliamentary tactics.
PHRASES
in concert 1 acting jointly: we must take action in concert with
our European partners. 2 (of music or a performer) giving a public
performance; live: they saw Pink Floyd in concert.
ORIGIN late 16th cent. (in the sense ‘unite’): from French
concerter, from Italian concertare ‘harmonize’. The noun
use, dating from the early 17th cent. (in the sense ‘a
combination of voices or sounds’), is from French concert,
from Italian concerto, from concertare .
concerted

adjective
1 you must make a concerted effort to curb this behaviour: strenuous,
vigorous, energetic, active, forceful, forcible, strong, intensive,
intense, concentrated; informal all-out. ANTONYMS half-
hearted.
2 there were calls for concerted action: joint, united, jointly planned,
coordinated, collaborative, collective, combined, cooperative,
interactive, synergetic. ANTONYMS separate, individual.
concert
noun
a concert at the Albert Hall: musical performance, musical
entertainment, show, production, presentation; recital; prom,
promenade concert; pop concert, rock concert; informal gig,
jam session.
PHRASES
in concert we must take stronger action in concert with our European
partners: together, jointly, in combination, in collaboration, in
cooperation, in league, shoulder to shoulder, side by side,
cooperatively, concertedly; in unison. ANTONYMS alone,
independently.
temporary |ˈtɛmp(əә)rəәri|

adjective
lasting for only a limited period of time; not permanent: a
temporary job.
noun (pl.temporaries)
a person employed on a temporary basis, typically an office
worker who finds employment through an agency. to gain
flexibility, companies are bringing in temporaries or contracting out work.
See also temp 1 .
DERIVATIVES
temporariness noun
ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: from Latin temporarius, from
tempus, tempor- ‘time’.
temporary
adjective
1 temporary accommodation | the temporary captain: non-permanent,
short-term, interim; provisional, pro tem, makeshift, stopgap;
acting, fill-in, stand-in, caretaker; Latinad interim, pro
tempore. ANTONYMS permanent.
2 a temporary loss of self-control: brief, short-lived, momentary,
fleeting, passing, impermanent, here today and gone tomorrow,

transient, transitory, ephemeral, evanescent, fugitive; rare
fugacious. ANTONYMS lasting.
decorous |ˈdɛk(əә)rəәs|
adjective
in keeping with good taste and propriety; polite and restrained:
Charlotte gave David a decorous kiss.
DERIVATIVES
decorously adverb,
decorousness noun
ORIGIN mid 17th cent. (in the sense ‘appropriate, seemly’):
from Latin decorus ‘seemly’ + -ous.
decorous
adjective
he always behaved towards her in a decorous way: proper, seemly,
decent, becoming, befitting, tasteful, in good taste; tactful,
correct, appropriate, suitable, fitting, fit; polite, well mannered,
well behaved, genteel, refined, polished, well bred, dignified,
respectable, courtly, civilized; formal, reserved, modest,
demure, sedate, staid, gentlemanly, ladylike; Frenchcomme il

faut; dated mannerly; humorous couth. ANTONYMS
indecorous; unseemly; immodest.
surprise |səәˈprʌɪz|
noun
1 an unexpected or astonishing event, fact, etc.: the announcement
came as a complete surprise.
• [ mass noun ] a feeling of mild astonishment or shock caused
by something unexpected: much to her surprise, she'd missed him.
• [ as modifier ] denoting something done or happening
unexpectedly: a surprise attack.
2 [ as modifier ] Bell-ringing denoting a complex method of
change-ringing: surprise major.
verb [ with obj. ]
(of something unexpected) cause (someone) to feel mild
astonishment or shock: I was surprised at his statement |
[ with obj. and clause ] : Joe was surprised that he enjoyed the journey.
• capture, attack, or discover suddenly and unexpectedly: he
surprised a gang stealing scrap metal.
PHRASES
surprise, surprise informal said when giving someone a
surprise. a voice called out ‘Surprise, surprise’ and all the lights suddenly

flashed on. • said ironically when one believes that something
was entirely predictable: we entrust you with Jason's care and,
surprise surprise, you make a mess of it.
take someone/thing by surprise attack or capture
someone or something unexpectedly. his flotilla was taken wholly
by surprise when fired on by the British warships. • (take someone
by surprise) happen when someone is not prepared: the
question took David by surprise.
ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense ‘unexpected seizure
of a place, or attack on troops’): from Old French, feminine
past participle of surprendre, from medieval Latin
superprehendere ‘seize’.
surprise
noun
1 Kate looked at me in surprise: astonishment, amazement,
incredulity, bewilderment, stupefaction, wonder, confusion,
disbelief; consternation.
2 the test was supposed to come as a big surprise: shock, bolt from/out
of the blue, thunderbolt, bombshell, revelation, source of
amazement, rude awakening, eye-opener; informal start; turn
up for the books, shocker, whammy.

verb
1 I was so surprised when I got the letter telling me about the award that I
burst into tears: astonish, amaze, nonplus, startle, astound, stun,
flabbergast, stagger, shock, stop someone in their tracks,
stupefy, leave open-mouthed, take someone's breath away,
dumbfound, daze, benumb, confound, take aback, jolt, shake
up; informal bowl over, knock for six, floor, blow someone's
mind, strike dumb.
2 it seems that she surprised a burglar and he attacked her: take by
surprise, catch unawares, catch off guard, catch red-handed,
catch in the act, catch napping, catch out, burst in on, catch
someone with their trousers/pants down, catch in flagrante
delicto; Brit. informal catch on the hop.
retrench |rɪˈtrɛn(t)ʃ|
verb [ no obj. ]
(of an organization or individual) reduce costs or spending in
response to economic difficulty: as a result of the recession the
company retrenched | [ with obj. ] : if people are forced to retrench their
expenditure trade will suffer.
• [ with obj. ] Austral. & S. Africanmake (an employee)
redundant: if there are excess staff they should be retrenched.

• [ with obj. ] formal reduce (something) in extent or quantity:
right-wing parties which seek to retrench the welfare state.
DERIVATIVES
retrenchment noun
ORIGIN late 16th cent. (in the now formal usage): from
obsolete French retrencher, variant of retrancher, from re-
(expressing reversal) + trancher ‘to cut, slice’.
retrench
verb
1 not all the directors wanted to retrench: economize, cut back, make
cutbacks, make savings, make economies, reduce expenditure,
be economical, be sparing, be frugal, budget, tighten one's belt,
husband one's resources, draw in one's horns, save, scrimp and
save, cut corners.
2 welfare services will have to be retrenched: reduce, cut, cut back, cut
down, cut back on, pare, pare down, slim down, bring down,
make reductions in, make cutbacks in, trim, prune, whittle
away/down, salami-slice, take off, decrease, lower, lessen,
shorten, curtail, truncate, shrink, diminish, minimize; informal
slash, axe.

deviate
verb |ˈdiːvɪeɪt| [ no obj. ] (usu. deviate from)
depart from an established course: you must not deviate from the
agreed route.
• depart from usual or accepted standards: those who deviate from
society's values.
noun& adjective |ˈdiːvɪəәt|
old-fashioned term for deviant.
DERIVATIVES
deviator noun
ORIGIN mid 16th cent. (as an adjective in the sense ‘remote’):
from late Latin deviat- ‘turned out of the way’, from the
verb deviare, from de- ‘away from’ + via ‘way’. The verb
dates from the mid 17th cent.
deviate
verb
you must not deviate from the agreed route: diverge, digress, drift,
stray, slew, veer, swerve, turn away, turn aside, get sidetracked,
branch off, differ, vary, change, depart, be different; be at

variance with, run counter to, contrast with, contravene,
contradict; rare divagate.
recruit |rɪˈkruːt|
verb [ with obj. ]
1 enlist (someone) in the armed forces: we recruit our toughest
soldiers from the desert tribes | [ no obj. ] : the regiment was still actively
recruiting.
• form (an army or other force) by enlisting new people. the
weakness of feudal service as a basis for recruiting an army.
• enrol (someone) as a member or worker in an organization or
as a supporter of a cause: there are plans to recruit more staff later
this year.
• [ with obj. and infinitive ] informal persuade to do or help
with something: she recruited her children to help run the racket.
2 dated replenish or reinvigorate (numbers, strength, etc.):
travelling was said to recruit the constitution.
noun
a person newly enlisted in the armed forces and not yet fully
trained.
• a new member of an organization or supporter of a cause.
DERIVATIVES

recruitable adjective,
recruiter noun
ORIGIN mid 17th cent. (in the senses ‘fresh body of troops’
and ‘supplement the numbers in a group’): from obsolete
French dialect recrute, based on Latin recrescere ‘grow
again’, from re- ‘again’ + crescere ‘grow’.
recruit
verb
1 a special unit of Portuguese-speaking soldiers was recruited: enlist, sign
up, enrol, engage, take on, round up; call up, conscript; N.
Amer. draft, muster in, induct; historical press, press-gang,
shanghai; archaic levy, impress, list, conscribe, crimp, attest.
2 a king's power depended on his capacity to recruit armies and to lead
them: muster, form, raise, gather/bring together, assemble,
mobilize, marshal, round up, call to arms. ANTONYMS
demobilize, disband.
3 the company is planning to recruit a thousand new staff: hire, employ,
take on, take into one's employ; enrol, sign up, get, obtain,
acquire. ANTONYMS dismiss, lay off.
noun

1 thousands of recruits had been enlisted: conscript, new soldier; N.
Amer. draftee, inductee; Brit. informal sprog; N. Amer.
informal plebe, buck private, yardbird. ANTONYMS veteran.
2 the profession continues to attract a flow of top-quality recruits: new
member, new entrant, newcomer, new boy/girl, initiate;
trainee, apprentice; beginner, novice, learner, tyro, neophyte,
proselyte; N. Amer. tenderfoot, hire; informal rookie, new kid,
newbie, cub; N. Amer. informal greenhorn.
revamp |riːˈvamp|
verb [ with obj. ]
give new and improved form, structure, or appearance to: an
attempt to revamp the museum's image | (as adj.revamped) : a
revamped magazine.
noun [ usu. in sing. ]
an act of improving the form, structure, or appearance of
something: the brand was given a $1 million revamp.
• a new and improved version: the show was a revamp of an old
idea.
revamp
verb

they plan to revamp the kitchen: renovate, redecorate, refurbish,
recondition, rehabilitate, rebuild, reconstruct, overhaul, make
over; modernize, update, bring up to date, renew; improve,
upgrade; refit, re-equip, refurnish; brighten up, freshen up,
spruce up; remodel, refashion, redesign, restyle, rejig, rework,
redo, remould, reorganize; N. Amer. bring up to code;
informal do up, fix up, give something a facelift, vamp up; Brit.
informal tart up; N. Amer. informal rehab.
belie |bɪˈlʌɪ|
verb (belies, belying, belied) [ with obj. ]
1 (of an appearance) fail to give a true impression of
(something): his lively, alert manner belied his years.
2 fail to fulfil or justify (a claim or expectation): the quality of the
music seems to belie the criticism.
ORIGIN Old English belēogan‘deceive by lying’, from
be-‘about’ + lēogan‘to lie’. Current senses date from the 17th
cent.
belie
verb

1 the expression in his eyes belied his easy manner: contradict, be at
odds with, call into question, give the lie to, show/prove to be
false; disprove, debunk, discredit, explode, knock the bottom
out of, drive a coach and horses through; informal shoot full of
holes, shoot down (in flames); rare controvert, confute,
negative. ANTONYMS testify to.
2 he made a light-hearted speech which belied his deep disappointment:
conceal, cover, disguise, misrepresent, falsify, distort, warp, put
a spin on, colour; give a false idea of, give a false account of.
ANTONYMS reveal.
through thick and thin under all circumstances, no matter
how difficult: they stuck together through thick and thin.
thick |θɪk|
adjective
1 with opposite sides or surfaces that are far or relatively far
apart: thick slices of bread | thick metal cables | the walls are 5 feet
thick.

• (of a garment or other knitted or woven item) made of heavy
material: a thick sweater.
• (of writing or printing) consisting of broad lines: a headline in
thick black type.
2 made up of a large number of things or people close
together: his hair was long and thick | the road winds through thick
forest.
• (thick with) densely filled or covered with: the ground was thick
with yellow leaves | figurative : the air was thick with tension.
• (of the air or atmosphere, or a substance in the air) opaque,
dense, or heavy: a motorway pile-up in thick fog | a thick cloud of
smoke.
• (of a person's head) having a dull pain or heavy feeling,
especially as a result of a hangover or illness. influenza can cause a
thick head. Stephen woke late, his head thick and his mouth sour.
3 (of a liquid or a semi-liquid substance) relatively firm in
consistency; not flowing freely: thick mud.
4 informal of low intelligence; stupid: he's a bit thick.
5 (of a voice) not clear or distinct; hoarse or husky. Guy's voice
was thick with desire. a snarling thick voice.

• (of an accent) very marked and difficult to understand. he
explained in his thick brogue. a thick French accent.
6 [ predic. ] informal having a very close, friendly relationship:
he's very thick with the new master.
noun (the thick)
the most active or crowded part of something: we were in the
thick of the battle.
adverb
in or with deep, dense, or heavy mass: bread spread thick with
butter.
PHRASES
be thick on the ground see ground 1 .
a bit thick Brit. informal unfair or unreasonable. I thought this
was a bit thick and tried to defend myself.
give someone (or get) a thick ear Brit. informal punish
someone (or be punished) with a blow on the ear or head. if I
thought you were serious, I would give you a thick ear
have a thick skin see skin.

thick and fast rapidly and in great numbers. replies are coming
in thick and fast.
(as) thick as a brick another way of saying thick as two
planks below.
(as) thick as thieves informal (of two or more people) very
close or friendly. he and Auntie Lou were thick as thieves.
(as) thick as two (short) planks (or as a plank)Brit.
informal very stupid. that school is where you are sent if you are thick
as two planks but sporty.
the thick end of something Brit. informal the greater part
of something: he was borrowing the thick end of £750 every week.
through thick and thin under all circumstances, no matter
how difficult: they stuck together through thick and thin.
DERIVATIVES
thickish adjective,
thickly adverb [ as submodifier ] : thickly carpeted corridors
ORIGIN Old English thicce, of Germanic origin; related to
Dutch dik and German dick .
energetic |ˌɛnəәˈdʒɛtɪk|

adjective
1 showing or involving great activity or vitality: moderately
energetic exercise.
2 Physics relating to or characterized by energy (in the
technical sense): energetic X-rays.
DERIVATIVES
energetically adverb
ORIGIN mid 17th cent. (in the sense ‘powerfully effective’):
from Greek energētikos, from energein ‘operate, work in
or upon’ (based on ergon ‘work’).
energetic
adjective
1 a skinny, energetic young man: active, lively, dynamic, zestful,
spirited, animated, vital, vibrant, sparkling, bouncy, bubbly,
perky, bright and breezy, frisky, sprightly, tireless, indefatigable,
enthusiastic, zealous, fiery, passionate; informal peppy, zippy,
sparky, full of get-up-and-go, full of vim and vigour, full of
beans, full of the joys of spring, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed;
N. Amer. informal go-go, peart. ANTONYMS inactive,
lethargic.

2 energetic exercises: vigorous, strenuous, brisk, lively; rigorous,
hard, arduous, demanding, taxing, tough. ANTONYMS
gentle.
3 an energetic advertising campaign: forceful, aggressive, vigorous,
high-powered, all-out, determined, zealous, fiery, impassioned,
emphatic, bold, pushing, driving, effective, effectual, powerful,
potent; intense, intensive, hard-hitting, pulling no punches;
informal pushy, punchy, gutsy, in-your-face, go-ahead, high-
octane, feisty. ANTONYMS half-hearted.
PHRASES
live wire she's a real live wire: energetic person; informal ball of
fire, fireball, human dynamo, busy bee, eager beaver, go-getter,
whizz-kid, mover and shaker, powerhouse, life and soul of the
party, tiger, demon.
live 2 |(rhymes with ‘five’)|
adjective
1 the use of live bait: living, alive, having life, breathing; animate,
organic, biological, sentient; existing, existent, extant; informal
in the land of the living, among the living; archaic quick.
ANTONYMS dead, inanimate.

2 this is her first live appearance in Britain | a live radio phone-in: in the
flesh, personal, in person, actual; not pre-recorded, not
recorded, unedited; not delayed, real-time; with an audience.
ANTONYMS recorded.
3 he touched a live rail while working on the track: electrified, charged,
powered, connected, active, switched on; informal hot.
ANTONYMS inactive.
4 the fire grate was full of live coals: hot, glowing, red hot, aglow,
smouldering; burning, alight, flaming, aflame, blazing, fiery,
ignited, on fire, afire.
5 a live grenade: unexploded, explosive, explodable, active;
loaded, charged, primed; unstable, volatile. ANTONYMS
inactive.
6 gay rights have become a live issue across America: topical, current,
of current interest, contemporary; burning, pressing,
important, vital; relevant, pertinent; controversial, debatable,
unsettled.
bury the hatchet end a quarrel or conflict and become
friendly.[in allusion to an American Indian custom.]

hatchet |ˈhatʃɪt|
noun
a small axe with a short handle for use in one hand.
PHRASES
bury the hatchet end a quarrel or conflict and become
friendly.[in allusion to an American Indian custom.]
ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French hachette,
diminutive of hache ‘axe’, from medieval Latin hapia, of
Germanic origin.
wet one's whistle informal have a drink. they meet ostensibly to
discuss politics, but also to wet their whistles with brandy and soda.
wet |wɛt|
adjective (wetter, wettest)
1 covered or saturated with water or another liquid: she followed,
slipping on the wet rock.
• (of the weather) rainy: a wet, windy evening.
• (of paint, ink, plaster, or a similar substance) not yet having
dried or hardened. the waterproofer can easily be washed off while it is
still wet.

• (of a baby or young child) having urinated in its nappy or
underwear. the baby was wet and needed changing.
• involving the use of water or liquid: wet methods of photography.
• Nautical (of a ship) liable to take in water over her bows or
sides.
2 Brit. informal showing a lack of forcefulness or strength of
character; feeble: they thought the cadets were a bit wet.
• Conservative with liberal tendencies, especially as regarded
by right-wing Conservatives. they came across as the most liberal or
wet members of the government.
3 informal (of a country or region or of its legislation) allowing
the free sale of alcoholic drink.
• (of a person) addicted to or drinking alcohol. our programme
depends on our willingness to help other alcoholics, both wet and dry.
verb (wets, wetting; past and past participlewet or wetted)
[ with obj. ]
cover or touch with liquid; moisten: he wetted a finger and flicked
through the pages | (as nounwetting) : it was a velvet cap, and a
wetting would ruin it.
• (especially of a baby or young child) urinate in or on: while
dreaming the child wet the bed.

• (wet oneself) urinate involuntarily. she was going to wet herself
from fear.
• dialect infuse (tea) by pouring on boiling water. she said she'd
wet the tea immediately because they must be parched.
noun
1 [ mass noun ] liquid that makes something damp: I could feel
the wet of his tears.
• (the wet) rainy weather: the race was held in the wet.
• [ count noun ] Brit. informal a drink: I took a wet from my bottle.
2 Brit. informal a person lacking forcefulness or strength of
character. there are sorts who look like gangsters and sorts who look like
wets.
• a Conservative with liberal tendencies. the wets favoured a change
in economic policy.
3 USa person opposed to the prohibition of alcohol.
PHRASES
all wet N. Amer.completely wrong. I may be all wet on this point.
wet the baby's head Brit. informal celebrate a baby's birth
with a drink, typically an alcoholic one.
wet behind the ears informal lacking experience; immature.
he's a nice young fellow but a bit wet behind the ears.

wet through (or to the skin)with one's clothes soaked;
completely drenched. she was wet through and felt cold.
wet one's whistle informal have a drink. they meet ostensibly to
discuss politics, but also to wet their whistles with brandy and soda.
DERIVATIVES
wetly adverb,
wetness noun,
wettable adjective,
wettish adjective
ORIGIN Old English wǣt (adjective and noun), wǣtan (verb);
related to water.
vivid |ˈvɪvɪd|
adjective
1 producing powerful feelings or strong, clear images in the
mind: memories of that evening were still vivid | a vivid description.
2 (of a colour) intensely deep or bright: the rhododendron bush
provides a vivid splash of mauve.
3 archaic (of a person or animal) lively and vigorous.
DERIVATIVES
vividly adverb,
vividness noun

ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Latin vividus, from vivere ‘to
live’.
vivid
adjective
1 a vivid blue Mediterranean sea: bright, bright-coloured, colourful,
deep-coloured, brilliant, glowing, radiant, vibrant, strong, bold,
deep, intense, rich, warm, flaming, flamboyant, glaring, eye-
catching; informal jazzy. ANTONYMS dull, washed out.
2 Dickens provides us with a vivid account of nineteenth-century urban
poverty: graphic, evocative, realistic, true to life, lifelike, faithful,
authentic, clear, crystal clear, detailed, lucid, striking, arresting,
impressive, colourful, highly coloured, rich, dramatic,
picturesque, lively, stimulating, interesting, fascinating,
scintillating; memorable, unforgettable, powerful, stirring,
affecting, emotive, moving, haunting. ANTONYMS vague;
boring.
3 she had a deep voice and a strikingly vivid personality: dynamic,
flamboyant, striking, strong, powerful, fiery, lively, animated,
spirited, vibrant, vital, vigorous, energetic, vivacious, zestful.
WORD TOOLKIT
vivid

See graphic.
Word Toolkits illustrate the difference between close
synonyms by means of words typically used with them.
majestic |məәˈdʒɛstɪk|
adjective
having or showing impressive beauty or scale: the majestic
Canadian Rockies.
DERIVATIVES
majestically adverb
majestic
adjective
majestic mountain scenery | his father's majestic presence: exalted,
august, great, awesome, elevated, sublime, lofty; stately,
dignified, distinguished, striking, magisterial, solemn, maestoso,
magnificent, grand, splendid, resplendent, glorious, sumptuous,
impressive, awe-inspiring, monumental, palatial; statuesque,
Olympian, imposing, marvellous, sonorous, resounding, heroic,
portentous, superb, proud; regal, royal, kingly, queenly,
princely, imperial, noble, lordly, sovereign. ANTONYMS
pitiful, pathetic.

wildlife |ˈwʌɪl(d)lʌɪf|
noun [ mass noun ]
wild animals collectively; the native fauna (and sometimes
flora) of a region. you can watch the wildlife. [ as modifier ] : a
wildlife refuge.
depict |dɪˈpɪkt|
verb [ with obj. ]
represent by a drawing, painting, or other art form. paintings
depicting Old Testament scenes. these equations may be depicted on a
graph.
• portray in words; describe: youth is depicted as a time of vitality
and good health.
DERIVATIVES
depicter noun,
depictive adjective
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin depict-
‘portrayed’, from the verb depingere, from de- ‘completely’
+ pingere ‘to paint’.
depict

verb
1 the painting depicts Christ and the Virgin Mary: portray, represent,
picture, illustrate, delineate, outline, reproduce, render; draw,
paint, sketch, draft; literary limn.
2 evolution is not the haphazard process depicted by Darwin's theory:
describe, detail, relate, narrate, recount, unfold; present, set
forth, set out, outline, delineate, sketch, paint; represent,
portray, characterize; record, chronicle.
and |əәnd, (əә)n, and|
conjunction
1 used to connect words of the same part of speech, clauses, or
sentences, that are to be taken jointly: bread and butter | they can
read and write | a hundred and fifty.
• used to connect two clauses when the second refers to
something that happens after the first: he turned round and walked
out.
• used to connect two clauses, the second of which refers to
something that results from the first: there was a flash flood and by
the next morning the town was under water.

• connecting two identical comparatives, to emphasize a
progressive change: getting better and better.
• connecting two identical words, implying great duration or
great extent: I cried and cried.
• used to connect two identical words to indicate that things of
the same name or class have different qualities: all human conduct
is determined or caused—but there are causes and causes.
• used to connect two numbers to indicate that they are being
added together: six and four makes ten.
• archaic used to connect two numbers, implying succession: a
line of men marching two and two.
2 used to introduce an additional comment or interjection: if it
came to a choice—and this was the worst thing—she would turn her back
on her parents.
• used to introduce a question in connection with what
someone else has just said: ‘I found the letter in her bag.’ ‘And did you
steam it open?’.
• used to introduce a statement about a new topic: and now to the
dessert.
3 informal used after some verbs and before another verb to
indicate intention, instead of ‘to’: I would try and do what he said.
noun

(AND)Electronics a Boolean operator which gives the value
one if and only if all the operands are one, and otherwise has a
value of zero.
• (also AND gate)a circuit which produces an output signal
only when signals are received simultaneously through all input
connections.
PHRASES
and/or either or both of two stated possibilities: audio and/or
video components.
ORIGIN Old English and, ond, of Germanic origin; related to
Dutch en and German und .
usage: 1 It is still widely taught and believed that conjunctions
such as and (and also but and because) should not be used to
start a sentence, the argument being that a sentence starting
with and expresses an incomplete thought and is therefore
incorrect. Writers down the centuries have readily ignored this
advice, however, using and to start a sentence, typically for
rhetorical effect, as in the following example: What are the
government's chances of winning in court? And what are the
consequences? 2 A small number of verbs, notably try, come,
and go can be followed by and with another verb, as in
sentences like we're going to try and explain it to them or why don't

you come and see the film? The structures in these verbs
correspond to the use of the infinitive to, as in we're going to try
to explain it to them or why don't you come to see the film? Since
these structures are grammatically odd—for example, the use is
normally only idiomatic with the infinitive of the verb and not
with other forms (i.e. it is not possible to say I tried and
explained it to them)—they are regarded as wrong by some
traditionalists. However, these uses are extremely common and
can certainly be regarded as part of standard English. 3 For
information about whether it is more correct to say both the
boys and the girls or both the boys and girls, see usage at
both 4 Where items in a list are separated by and, the
following verb needs to be in the plural: see usage at or 1 .
-and |and|
suffix
(forming nouns) denoting a person or thing to be treated in a
specified way: analysand.
ORIGIN from Latin gerundive ending -andus .
AND
abbreviation
Andorra (international vehicle registration).

and
conjunction
together with, along with, with, as well as, in addition to,
including, also, too; besides, furthermore, moreover; informal
plus, what's more.
weigh 1 |weɪ|
verb [ with obj. ]
1 find out how heavy (someone or something) is, typically using
scales: weigh yourself on the day you begin the diet | the vendor weighed
the vegetables.
• have a specified weight: when the twins were born they weighed ten
pounds.
• balance in the hands to guess or as if to guess the weight of:
she picked up the brick and weighed it in her right hand.
• (weigh something out) measure and take from a larger
quantity of a substance a portion of a particular weight: she
weighed out two ounces of loose tobacco.
2 assess the nature or importance of, especially with a view to a
decision or action: the consequences of the move would need to be very
carefully weighed.

• (weigh something against) compare the importance of
one factor with that of (another): they need to weigh benefit against
risk.
• [ no obj. ] influence a decision or action; be considered
important: arguments which weighed in favour of publication |
the evidence weighed against him.
PHRASES
weigh anchor see anchor.
weigh one's words carefully choose the way one expresses
something.
PHRASAL VERBS
weigh someone down be heavy and cumbersome to
someone: my waders and fishing gear weighed me down. • be
oppressive or burdensome to someone: she was weighed down by
the responsibility of looking after her sisters.
weigh in 1 (of a boxer or jockey) be officially weighed before
or after a contest. Mason weighed in at 17st 10 lb. 2 informal
make a forceful contribution to a competition or argument: the
dispute turned nastier when Steward weighed in | the paper's editor
weighed in with criticism of the president.

weigh in at be of (a specified weight). I had been putting on weight
until I weighed in at 12 stone 3 pounds. • cost (a specified amount).
the car weighs in at £10,270.
weigh into informal join in forcefully or enthusiastically: they
weighed into the election campaign. • attack physically or verbally: he
weighed into the companies for their high costs.
weigh on be depressing or burdensome to: his unhappiness would
weigh on my mind so much.
weigh out (of a jockey) be weighed before a race.
weigh someone/thing up carefully assess someone or
something: the coach weighed up his team's opponents.
DERIVATIVES
weighable adjective,
weigher noun
ORIGIN Old English wegan, of Germanic origin; related to
Dutch wegen ‘weigh’, German bewegen ‘move’, from an
Indo-European root shared by Latin vehere ‘convey’. Early
senses included ‘transport from one place to another’ and ‘raise
up’.
weigh 2 |weɪ|
noun (in phrase under weigh) Nautical
another way of saying under way.

ORIGIN late 18th cent.: from an erroneous association with
weigh anchor (see anchor) .
weigh
verb
1 the vendor at our market weighs the vegetables carefully: measure the
weight of, measure how heavy someone/something is, put
someone/something on the scales.
2 he weighed 118 kg: tip/turn the scales at, come to.
3 the destructive family situation weighed heavily on him: oppress,
lie heavy on, press down on, burden, be a burden on/to, weigh
down, cast down, hang over, gnaw at, prey on, prey on
someone's mind; trouble, worry, beset, bother, disturb, upset,
get someone down, depress, distress, grieve, haunt, nag,
torment, afflict, perturb; plague, obsess, take over, take control
of.
4 the consequences of the move would need to be very carefully weighed |
he has to weigh up the possibility of a conviction: consider,
contemplate, think about, give thought to, entertain the idea of,
deliberate about, turn over in one's mind, mull over, chew over,
reflect on, ruminate about, muse on; assess, appraise, analyse,
investigate, enquire into, look into, make enquiries into,

examine, scrutinize, research, review, explore, probe, study,
survey, inspect, take stock of; N. Amer. think on. ANTONYMS
ignore, take on trust.
5 they need to weigh benefit against risk: balance; compare with,
evaluate, juxtapose with, place side by side (with), contrast
with.
6 the opinions of chief fire officers will obviously weigh with the
Government: influence, have influence with, be influential to,
carry weight with, count with, tell with, matter to, be
important to, be significant to, mean something to, make an
impression on, get to, register with.
PHRASES
weigh someone down 1 my waders and fishing gear weighed me
down: burden, weight, saddle, charge; overload, overburden,
overwhelm, encumber, hamper, handicap, tax, strain; literary
trammel. 2 the awful silence of the terrible prison weighed me down:
oppress, depress, lie heavy on, weigh on, press down on,
burden, be a burden on/to, cast down, hang over, gnaw at,
prey on, prey on someone's mind; trouble, worry, beset, bother,
disturb, upset, get someone down, distress, grieve, haunt, nag,
torment, afflict, perturb; plague, obsess, take over, take control
of.

weigh into someone he weighs into the tribunes with unmasked
contempt: attack, turn on, lash out at, set upon, assault, fly at,
lunge at, let fly at, tear into, pitch into, belabour; informal lay
into, sail into, lace into, let someone have it, take a pop at; N.
Amer. informal light into.
although |ɔːlˈðəәʊ, ɒl-|
conjunction
in spite of the fact that; even though: although the sun was shining
it wasn't that warm | although small, the room has a spacious feel.
• however; but: he says he has the team shirt, although I've never seen
him wear it.
ORIGIN Middle English: from all (as an adverb) + though.
usage: The form although can be replaced by though, the
only difference being that although tends to be more formal
than though. Some uses of though are not interchangeable
with although, however: for example, adverbial uses ( it was
nice of him to phone, though) and uses in phrases with ‘as’ or
‘even’ ( she doesn't look as though she's listening).
although
conjunction

although the sun was shining it wasn't that warm: in spite of the fact
that, despite the fact that, notwithstanding the fact that,
notwithstanding that, even though, even if, for all that, while,
whilst; granted that, even supposing, despite the possibility that,
albeit, however, yet, but.
anticipate |anˈtɪsɪpeɪt|
verb [ with obj. ]
1 regard as probable; expect or predict: she anticipated scorn on her
return to the theatre | [ with clause ] : it was anticipated that the rains
would slow the military campaign.
• guess or be aware of (what will happen) and take action in
order to be prepared: they failed to anticipate a full-scale invasion.
• look forward to: Stephen was eagerly anticipating the break from the
routine of business.
2 act as a forerunner or precursor of: he anticipated Bates's theories
on mimicry and protective coloration.
• come or take place before (an event or process expected or
scheduled for a later time). this is to anticipate the argument.
DERIVATIVES
anticipative adjective,
anticipator noun

ORIGIN mid 16th cent. (in the senses ‘to take something into
consideration’, ‘mention something before the proper time’):
from Latin anticipat- ‘acted in advance’, from anticipare,
based on ante- ‘before’ + capere ‘take’.
anticipate
verb
1 the police did not anticipate any trouble: expect, foresee, predict,
think likely, forecast, prophesy, foretell, contemplate the
possibility of, allow for, be prepared for; count on, bank on,
look for, bargain on; informal reckon on; N. Amer. informal
figure on; archaic apprehend.
2 Elaine tingled with excitement as she anticipated her meeting with Will:
look forward to, await, count the days until; informal lick one's
lips over. ANTONYMS dread.
3 warders can't always anticipate the actions of prisoners: pre-empt,
forestall, intercept; second-guess; informal beat someone to it,
beat someone to the draw, beat someone to the punch.
4 she wrote plays for all-women casts, which anticipated her film work:
foreshadow, precede, antedate, come/go before, be earlier
than.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORD

anticipate, expect, foresee
These words all mean ‘regard as probable’, but they all
have other meanings that can colour the general sense.
■ Anticipate is used especially when someone takes
action or makes plans to prepare for what they think will
happen (the police anticipated trouble and drafted in
reinforcements). It is often used for looking forward to
something desirable, and when used as an adjective it is
frequently modified by an adverb such as eagerly (it was
the most eagerly anticipated show in town) and, with the
same approving sense, highly (one of the year's most
highly anticipated video games). Anticipate is less
commonly used in a passive construction than the other
two words.
■ Expect is the most general word (sales are expected
to drop next year | over 20,000 visitors are expected).
Expect may also be used of something that is required
or demanded, whether or not one thinks it is likely (the
firm expected its employees to be prepared to move).
While all these words can be used with a direct object or
a that-clause (I expect that she knew too), only expect

can be used with an object and an infinitive (you expect
me to believe you? ).
■ Foresee can imply certainty, as its meaning verges on
‘prophesy, predict’, and the objects with which it is used
are typically undesirable (we foresee enormous
problems for local authorities). Only foresee and
anticipate can be used with a present participle (Cleo
had anticipated having to apologize for him).
These notes show fine distinctions in meaning between
closely related synonyms to help you find the best word.
medieval |ˌmɛdɪˈiːv(əә)l, miː-| (also mediaeval)
adjective
relating to the Middle Ages: a medieval castle.
• informal resembling or likened to the Middle Ages, especially
in being cruel, uncivilized, or primitive: without other people around
I would let my flat degenerate into medieval levels of squalor.
DERIVATIVES
medievalism noun,
medievalist noun,

medievalize (also medievalise)verb,
medievally adverb
ORIGIN early 19th cent.: from modern Latin medium
aevum ‘middle age’ + -al.
medieval
adjective
1 of the Middle Ages, Middle Age, of the Dark Ages, Dark-
Age, 11th to 14th century, 6th to 14th century, Gothic, early.
ANTONYMS modern.
2 informal the plumbing's a bit medieval, I'm afraid. See crude
(sense 2), antiquated.
precarious |prɪˈkɛːrɪəәs|
adjective
not securely held or in position; dangerously likely to fall or
collapse: a precarious ladder.
• dependent on chance; uncertain: he made a precarious living as a
painter.
DERIVATIVES
precariously adverb,
precariousness noun

ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Latin precarius ‘obtained by
entreaty’ (from prex, prec- ‘prayer’) + -ous.
precarious
adjective
the club's precarious financial position: uncertain, insecure,
unreliable, unsure, unpredictable, undependable, risky,
hazardous, dangerous, unsafe, hanging by a thread, hanging in
the balance, perilous, treacherous, on a slippery slope, on thin
ice, touch-and-go, built on sand, doubtful, dubious, delicate,
tricky, problematic; unsettled, unstable, unsteady, shaky, rocky,
wobbly; informal dicey, chancy, hairy, iffy; Brit. informal dodgy;
archaic or humorous parlous. ANTONYMS safe, secure.
fastidious |faˈstɪdɪəәs|
adjective
very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail: she
dressed with fastidious care.
• very concerned about matters of cleanliness: the child seemed
fastidious about getting her fingers dirty.
DERIVATIVES
fastidiously adverb,

fastidiousness noun
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin fastidiosus, from
fastidium ‘loathing’. The word originally meant
‘disagreeable’, later ‘disgusted’. Current senses date from the
17th cent.
fastidious
adjective
he was fastidious about personal hygiene: scrupulous, punctilious,
painstaking, meticulous, assiduous, sedulous, perfectionist,
fussy, finicky, dainty, over-particular; critical, overcritical,
hypercritical, hard/difficult/impossible to please; pedantic,
precise, exact, hair-splitting, exacting, demanding; informal
pernickety, nitpicking, choosy, picky; N. Amer. informal
persnickety; archaic nice, overnice. ANTONYMS easy-going;
sloppy.
WORD TOOLKIT
fastidious
See finicky.
Word Toolkits illustrate the difference between close
synonyms by means of words typically used with them.

maiden |ˈmeɪd(əә)n|
noun
1 archaic an unmarried girl or young woman. two knights fought
to win the hand of a fair maiden.
• a virgin.
2 (also maiden over)Cricket an over in which no runs are
scored.
adjective [ attrib. ]
1 (of an older woman) unmarried: a maiden aunt.
• (of a female animal) not having mated. the top-priced maiden
heifer.
2 being or involving the first attempt or act of its kind: the
Titanic's maiden voyage.
• denoting a horse that has never won a race, or a race
intended for such horses. the Beckhampton Maiden Stakes.
• (of a tree or other fruiting plant) in its first year of growth.
DERIVATIVES
maidenish adjective,
maiden-like adjective

ORIGIN Old English mægden, from a Germanic diminutive
meaning ‘maid, virgin’; related to German Mädchen,
diminutive of Magd ‘maid’, from an Indo-European root
shared by Old Irish mug ‘boy, servant’.
maiden
noun archaic
See girl (sense 2).
adjective
1 a maiden aunt: unmarried, spinster, unwed, unwedded, single,
husbandless, spouseless, celibate.
2 the maiden voyage of the Titanic: first, initial, inaugural,
introductory, initiatory, proving.
intaglio |ɪnˈtalɪəәʊ, -ˈtɑːl-|
noun (pl.intaglios)
a design incised or engraved into a material. the dies bore a design
in intaglio. [ as modifier ] : an intaglio design.
• a gem with an incised design. a carnelian intaglio showing a fish.
• [ mass noun ] a printing process in which the type or design is
etched or engraved, such as photogravure. [ as modifier ] : the
craft of intaglio printmaking.

verb (intaglioes, intaglioing, intaglioed) [ with obj. ] (usu.
as adj.intaglioed)
engrave or represent by an engraving: a carved box with little
intaglioed pineapples on it.
ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: Italian, from intagliare ‘engrave’.
incise |ɪnˈsʌɪz|
verb [ with obj. ]
mark or decorate (an object or surface) with a cut or cuts: a
button incised with a skull.
• cut (a mark or decoration) into a surface: figures incised on
upright stones.
• cut (skin or flesh) with a surgical instrument. the wound was
incised and drained.
ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: from French inciser, from Latin
incis- ‘cut into, engraved’, from the verb incidere, from in-
‘into’ + caedere ‘to cut’.
intestate |ɪnˈtɛsteɪt|
adjective
not having made a will before one dies: he died intestate.
noun

a person who has died without having made a will.
DERIVATIVES
intestacy |-təәsi| noun
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin intestatus, from in-
‘not’ + testatus ‘testified, witness’ (see testate) .
inveterate |ɪnˈvɛt(əә)rəәt|
adjective [ attrib. ]
having a particular habit, activity, or interest that is long-
established and unlikely to change: an inveterate gambler.
• (of a feeling or habit) long-established and unlikely to change.
his inveterate hostility to what he considered to be the ‘reactionary’ powers.
DERIVATIVES
inveteracy |-rəәsi| noun,
inveterately adverb
ORIGIN late Middle English (referring to disease, in the sense
‘of long standing, chronic’): from Latin inveteratus ‘made
old’, past participle of inveterare (based on vetus, veter-
‘old’).
inveterate

adjective
1 an inveterate gambler: confirmed, hardened, chronic, hard-core,
incorrigible; habitual, addicted, compulsive, obsessive,
obsessional; informal pathological, hooked.
2 an inveterate Democrat: staunch, steadfast, committed, devoted,
dedicated; deep-dyed, dyed-in-the-wool, thorough,
thoroughgoing, out and out, diehard, long-standing.
3 mankind's inveterate pride and stupidity: ingrained, deep-seated,
deep-rooted, deep-set, entrenched, established, long-
established, congenital; ineradicable, incurable, irredeemable.
insolvent |ɪnˈsɒlv(əә)nt|
adjective
unable to pay debts owed: the company became insolvent.
• relating to insolvency: insolvent liquidation.
noun
an insolvent person.
insolvent
adjective
the bank was declared insolvent: bankrupt, unable to pay one's
debts, ruined, collapsed, defaulting, liquidated, wiped out;

penniless, impoverished, penurious, impecunious, without a
sou; Brit. in the hands of the receivers, in receivership, in
administration, without a penny (to one's name); informal bust,
broke, flat broke, belly-up, gone under, gone to the wall, on the
rocks, in the red, hard up, strapped for cash; Brit. informal
skint, in Queer Street, stony broke, cleaned out, without two
pennies to rub together; Brit. informal, dated in Carey Street;
rare pauperized, beggared. ANTONYMS solvent.
sadistic |səәˈdɪstɪk|
adjective
deriving pleasure from inflicting pain, suffering, or humiliation
on others: she took a sadistic pleasure in tormenting him. a sadistic
killer.
DERIVATIVES
sadistically adverb
sadistic
adjective
we learned that a sadistic killer was on the loose in the area: callous,
barbarous, bestial, perverted, vicious, brutal, cruel, savage,

fiendish, cold-blooded, inhuman, ruthless, heartless, merciless,
pitiless.
egoism |ˈɛgəәʊɪz(əә)m, ˈiː-|
noun [ mass noun ]
1 another term for egotism.
2 Philosophy an ethical theory that treats self-interest as the
foundation of morality.
DERIVATIVES
egoist noun,
egoistic |-ˈɪstɪk| adjective,
egoistical |-ˈɪstɪk(əә)l| adjective,
egoistically |-ˈɪstɪk(əә)li| adverb
ORIGIN late 18th cent.: from French égoïsme and modern
Latin egoismus, from Latin ego ‘I’.
usage: The words egoism and egotism are frequently treated
as interchangeable, but there are distinctions which are worth
noting. Egotism, the more commonly used term, means ‘the
fact of being excessively conceited or absorbed in oneself ’.
Strictly speaking, egoism is a term used in Ethics to mean ‘a
theory that treats self-interest as the foundation of moral
behaviour’, although this sense is not dominant today; around

90 per cent of the citations for egoism in the Oxford English
Corpus are for the meaning ‘excessive conceit’.
egotist, egoist
noun
boxing is a sport that breeds egotists and exhibitionists: self-seeker,
egocentric, egomaniac, self admirer, narcissist; boaster, brag,
bragger, braggart, show-off; informal blowhard, swank, big-
head; N. Amer. informal showboat; Austral./NZ informal skite;
Brit. informal, dated swankpot. ANTONYMS altruist.
masochism |ˈmasəәkɪz(əә)m|
noun [ mass noun ]
the tendency to derive sexual gratification from one's own pain
or humiliation. with things such as bondage and masochism, it's all
right if you both go for it.
• (in general use) the enjoyment of an activity that appears to
be painful or tedious: there's plenty to do when the weather turns
moorland walks into exercises in masochism.
DERIVATIVES
masochist noun,
masochistic |-ˈkɪstɪk| adjective,

masochistically |-ˈkɪstɪk(əә)li| adverb
ORIGIN late 19th cent.: named after Leopold von Sacher-
Masoch (1835–95), the Austrian novelist who described it, + -
ism.
womanish |ˈwʊməәnɪʃ|
adjective derogatory
suitable for or characteristic of a woman: he confused introspection
with womanish indecision.
• (of a man) effeminate; unmanly: Burden thought him a weak
womanish fool.
DERIVATIVES
womanishly adverb,
womanishness noun
womanish
adjective
his high womanish voice: effeminate, effete, unmanly, unmasculine,
girlish, namby-pamby; informal sissy, girly, camp, limp-wristed,
queeny; rare epicene, emasculate. ANTONYMS manly,
macho.

delicate |ˈdɛlɪkəәt|
adjective
1 very fine in texture or structure; of intricate workmanship or
quality: a delicate lace shawl.
• (of colour) subtle and subdued: delicate pastel shades.
• (of food or drink) subtly and pleasantly flavoured: a delicate,
sweet flavour.
2 easily broken or damaged; fragile: delicate china.
• susceptible to illness or adverse conditions: his delicate health.
• (of a state or condition) easily upset or affected: owls have a
delicate balance with their habitat.
3 requiring sensitive or careful handling: delicate negotiations.
• tactful and considerate: a delicate approach is needed.
• skilful and finely judged; deft: his delicate ball-playing skills.
• (of an instrument) highly sensitive.
noun informal
a delicate fabric or garment. [ as modifier ] : the delicates cycle of
a washing machine.
PHRASES
in a delicate condition archaic pregnant.
DERIVATIVES
delicately adverb,

delicateness noun
ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense ‘delightful,
charming’): from French délicat or Latin delicatus, of
unknown origin. Senses also expressed in Middle English (now
obsolete) include ‘voluptuous’, ‘self-indulgent’, ‘fastidious’, and
‘effeminate’.
delicate
adjective
1 delicate embroidery | delicate fabrics: fine, exquisite, intricate,
dainty, airy, elegant, graceful; flimsy, gauzy, filmy, floaty,
gossamer, diaphanous, chiffony, silky, wispy, thin, insubstantial,
papery. ANTONYMS crude; coarse.
2 a delicate shade of blue: subtle, soft, subdued, muted; pastel,
pale, light. ANTONYMS bold, vibrant; lurid.
3 delicate bone-china cups: fragile, breakable, easily broken/
damaged, frail, frangible; eggshell. ANTONYMS strong,
durable.
4 his wife is delicate: sickly, in poor health, unhealthy,
valetudinarian, frail, feeble, weak, weakly, debilitated; unwell,
infirm, ailing, poorly; N. English informal nesh. ANTONYMS
healthy, strong, robust.

5 a delicate issue: difficult, tricky, sensitive, ticklish, awkward,
problematic, problematical, touchy, prickly, controversial,
emotive, embarrassing; informal sticky, dicey. ANTONYMS
uncontroversial.
6 the matter required delicate handling: careful, considerate, sensitive;
tactful, diplomatic, discreet, gentle, kid-glove, softly-softly.
ANTONYMS inept, clumsy, insensitive.
7 his delicate ball-playing skills: deft, dexterous, skilled, skilful,
expert, finely judged, adept, adroit, neat, slick; informal nifty.
ANTONYMS clumsy, inept.
8 Faustina's delicate palate: discriminating, discerning; fastidious,
fussy, finicky, dainty, hard to please; informal picky, choosy,
pernickety, faddy, faddish.
9 a delicate mechanism: sensitive, precision, precise, accurate,
exact.
unmanly |ʌnˈmanli|
adjective
not manly: unmanly behaviour.
DERIVATIVES
unmanliness noun

unmanly
adjective
he was on the verge of tears, but did not wish to appear unmanly:
effeminate, effete, unmasculine; womanish, girlish, feminine;
weak, soft, timid, timorous, fearful, cowardly, lily-livered, limp-
wristed, spineless, craven, milksoppish, pusillanimous, chicken-
hearted, weak-kneed; informal sissy, wimpish, wimpy, pansy-
like, queeny. ANTONYMS manly, virile.
effeminate |ɪˈfɛmɪnəәt|
adjective derogatory
(of a man) having characteristics regarded as typical of a
woman; unmanly. he lisps and his handshake is effeminate.
DERIVATIVES
effeminacy noun,
effeminately adverb
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin effeminatus, past
participle of effeminare ‘make feminine’, from ex-
(expressing a change of state) + femina ‘woman’.
effeminate
adjective

as his manicured fingers played with the gold medallion around his neck, he
looked very effeminate: womanish, unmanly, effete, foppish,
affected, niminy-piminy, mincing, posturing; informal campy,
queeny; informal, derogatory poncey, limp-wristed, pansyish,
faggy. ANTONYMS manly.
illegible |ɪˈlɛdʒɪb(əә)l|
adjective
not clear enough to be read: his handwriting is totally illegible.
DERIVATIVES
illegibility |-ˈbɪlɪti| noun,
illegibly adverb
illegible
adjective
an illegible signature: unreadable, indecipherable, unintelligible,
hard to read; scrawled, scribbled, squiggly, crabbed,
hieroglyphic, obscure; informal clear as mud. ANTONYMS
legible; clear.
illogical |ɪˈlɒdʒɪk(əә)l|
adjective

lacking sense or clear, sound reasoning: an illogical fear of the
supernatural.
DERIVATIVES
illogicality |-ˈkalɪti| noun (pl.illogicalities) ,
illogically adverb
illogical
adjective
he drew a strange and illogical conclusion: irrational, unreasonable,
unsound, unreasoned, unfounded, groundless, unjustifiable,
unjustified; incorrect, erroneous, wrong, invalid, spurious,
faulty, flawed, fallacious, unscientific, inconsistent, unproved;
specious, sophistic, casuistic; absurd, preposterous, untenable,
implausible, impossible, beyond belief, beyond the bounds of
possibility; senseless, meaningless, nonsensical, insane,
ridiculous, idiotic, stupid, foolish, silly, inane, imbecilic;
informal crazy, off beam, way out, full of holes; Brit. informal
daft, barmy. ANTONYMS logical.
unintelligible |ʌnɪnˈtɛlɪdʒɪb(əә)l|
adjective

impossible to understand: dolphin sounds are unintelligible to
humans.
DERIVATIVES
unintelligibility |-ˈbɪlɪti| noun,
unintelligibly adverb
unintelligible
adjective
1 jargon words usually sound ugly and unintelligible to outsiders:
incomprehensible, indiscernible, meaningless, unfathomable,
obscure, cryptic, inscrutable, enigmatic, mumbled, indistinct,
unclear, slurred, inarticulate, incoherent, confused, garbled,
scrambled, muddled, jumbled, senseless; informal all Greek to
me.
2 unintelligible graffiti: illegible, indecipherable, unreadable, hard
to read, scrawled, scribbled, crabbed.
eligible |ˈɛlɪdʒɪb(əә)l|
adjective (often eligible for/to do something)

having the right to do or obtain something; satisfying the
appropriate conditions: customers who are eligible for discounts |
eligible candidates.
• (of a person) desirable or suitable as a partner in marriage: the
world's most eligible bachelor.
DERIVATIVES
eligibility |-ˈbɪlɪti| noun,
eligibly adverb
ORIGIN late Middle English: via French from late Latin
eligibilis, from Latin eligere ‘choose’ (see elect) .
eligible
adjective
1 she had paid sufficient contributions to be eligible to receive
unemployment benefit: entitled, permitted, allowed, qualified;
acceptable, suitable, appropriate, fit, fitting, worthy, competent.
ANTONYMS ineligible.
2 an eligible bachelor: desirable; available, single, unmarried,
unattached, unwed.
impersonate |ɪmˈpəәːs(əә)neɪt|
verb [ with obj. ]

pretend to be (another person) for entertainment or fraud: it's a
very serious offence to impersonate a police officer.
DERIVATIVES
impersonator noun
ORIGIN early 17th cent. (in the sense ‘personify’): from
in- 2 ‘into’ + Latin persona ‘person’, on the pattern of
incorporate.
impersonate
verb
she tried to impersonate her boss: imitate, mimic, do an impression
of, ape; parody, caricature, burlesque, travesty, mock, satirize,
lampoon; masquerade as, pose as, pass oneself off as, profess
to be, purport to be, represent oneself as; informal take off, do,
spoof, send up; N. Amer. informal make like; archaic monkey;
rare personate.
act |akt|
verb [ no obj. ]
1 take action; do something: they urged Washington to act | [ with
infinitive ] : governments must act to reduce pollution.

• (act on) take action according to or in the light of: I shall
certainly act on his suggestion.
• (act for) take action in order to bring about: one's ability to act
for community change.
• (act for/on behalf of) represent (someone) on a contractual,
legal, or paid basis: he chose a solicitor to act for him.
• (act from/out of) be motivated by: you acted from greed.
2 [ with adverbial ] behave in the way specified: they challenged a
man who was seen acting suspiciously | he acts as if he owned the place
| try to act like civilized adults.
3 (act as) fulfil the function or serve the purpose of: they need
volunteers to act as foster-parents | a day-care centre which will act as a
meeting place.
4 take effect; have a particular effect: bacteria act on proteins and
sugar.
5 perform a role in a play, film, or television: she acted in her first
professional role at the age of six | [ with obj. ] : he acted the role of the
king.
• [ with complement ] behave so as to appear to be; pretend to
be: I acted dumb at first.
• [ with obj. ] (act something out) perform a narrative as if it
were a play: encouraging pupils to act out the stories.

• [ with obj. ] (act something out) Psychoanalysis express
repressed emotion or impulses in overt behaviour as a defensive
substitute for conscious recall, typical of some behavioural
disorders.
noun
1 a thing done; a deed: a criminal act | the act of writing down one's
thoughts | an act of heroism.
• (Acts or Acts of the Apostles)a New Testament book
immediately following the Gospels and relating the history of
the early Church.
2 [ in sing. ] a pretence: she was putting on an act and laughing a lot.
• [ with adj. or noun modifier ] a particular type of behaviour
or routine: he did his Sir Galahad act.
3 (usu. Act or Act of Parliament)a written law passed by
Parliament, Congress, etc.: the 1989 Children Act.
• a document attesting a legal transaction.
• (acts) dated the recorded decisions or proceedings of a
committee or an academic body.
4 a main division of a play, ballet, or opera: the first act.
• a set performance: her one-woman poetry act.
• a performing group: an act called the Apple Blossom Sisters.
PHRASES

act of God an instance of uncontrollable natural forces in
operation. the flooding was surely an act of God.
act of grace a privilege or concession that cannot be claimed
as a right. the bonus remains a payment made as an act of grace.
catch someone in the act surprise someone in the process of
doing something wrong: the thieves were caught in the act.
get one's act together informal galvanize oneself into
organizing one's affairs effectively.
get (or be) in on the act informal become (or be) involved in
a particular activity, in order to gain an advantage. many German
breeders want to get in on the act.
a hard (or tough) act to follow an achievement or
performance which sets a standard regarded as being hard for
others to measure up to. it was not easy being the second President of
the United States; George Washington was a hard act to follow.
in the act of in the process of: they photographed him in the act of
reading other people's mail.
PHRASAL VERBS
act up 1 informal (of a thing) fail to function properly: the
plane's engine was acting up. • behave badly. all children talk back and
act up from time to time. 2 be promoted to a more senior position
on a temporary basis.

DERIVATIVES
actable adjective
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin actus ‘event, thing
done’, act- ‘done’, from the verb agere, reinforced by the
French noun acte .
act
verb
1 the Government must act to remedy the situation: take action, take
steps, take measures, take the initiative, move, make a move,
react, do something, proceed, go ahead; make progress, make
headway, be active, be employed, be busy; informal get moving.
ANTONYMS do nothing.
2 over dinner Alison began to act oddly: behave, function, react,
perform; conduct oneself, acquit oneself, bear oneself; rare
comport oneself, deport oneself.
3 the scents act as a powerful aphrodisiac: operate, work, take effect,
function, serve, be efficacious.
4 he acted in a highly successful film: perform, play, play a part, take
part, be an actor, be an actress, be one of the cast, appear;
informal tread the boards.

5 we laughed, but most of us were just acting: pretend, play-act,
sham, fake, feign, put it on, bluff, pose, posture, masquerade,
dissemble, dissimulate; informal kid.
PHRASES
act for the estate agent was acting for a prospective buyer: represent,
act on behalf of, speak on behalf of; stand in for, fill in for,
deputize for, cover for, substitute for, be a substitute for, replace,
take the place of, act in place of, do/be a locum for, sit in for,
understudy; hold the fort, step into the breach; informal sub
for, fill someone's shoes/boots; N. Amer. informal pinch-hit for.
act on/upon 1 the drug acted directly on the blood vessels: affect,
have an effect on, influence, exert influence on, work on, have
an impact on, impact on, alter, change, modify, transform,
condition, control. ANTONYMS have no effect on. 2 he was
merely acting on the orders of the party leader: comply with, act in
accordance with, follow, go along with; obey, take heed of,
heed, conform to, abide by, adhere to, stick to, stand by,
uphold, fulfil, meet, discharge. ANTONYMS flout.
act up 1 the pupils are past masters at acting up in class: misbehave,
give someone trouble, cause someone trouble, act badly, get up
to mischief, get up to no good, be bad, be naughty, forget
oneself, misconduct oneself; clown about/around, fool about/

around, act the clown, act the fool, act the goat, act foolishly;
informal carry on, mess about/around; Brit. informal muck
about/around, play up. 2 the computers are always acting up:
malfunction, crash, develop a fault, go wrong, break down, give
out, stall, be defective, be faulty, fail, cease to function, cease to
work, stop working; informal conk out, go kaput, go phut, go
on the blink, be on the blink; Brit. informal pack up, play up.
noun
1 a life filled with acts of kindness | a criminal act: deed, action,
gesture, feat, exploit, move, performance, undertaking,
manoeuvre, stunt, operation, venture, effort, enterprise,
achievement, accomplishment.
2 the Act raised the tax on tobacco: law, decree, statute, bill, Act of
Parliament, edict, fiat, dictum, dictate, enactment, resolution,
ruling, rule, judgement, canon, ordinance, proclamation,
command, commandment, mandate, measure, stipulation,
direction, requirement; legislation; in Tsarist Russiaukase; in
Spanish-speaking countriespronunciamento.
3 I have written one act of a play: division, section, subsection,
portion, part, segment, component, bit; passage, episode,
chapter.

4 a marvellous music hall act: performance, turn, routine, number,
item, piece, sketch, skit, playlet, dance, song; show, production,
presentation, entertainment; informal gig.
5 my mother thinks crying is simply putting on an act: pretence, false
display, show, front, facade, masquerade, charade, guise,
posture, pose, affectation, appearance; sham, fake, bluff, hoax;
make-believe, play-acting, feigning, shamming, posturing,
posing, counterfeit, subterfuge, dissimulation, dissemblance,
fabrication, falsification; informal a put-on, a put-up job.
imitate |ˈɪmɪteɪt|
verb [ with obj. ]
take or follow as a model: his style was imitated by many other
writers.
• copy (a person's speech or mannerisms), especially for comic
effect: she imitated my Scots accent.
• copy or simulate: synthetic fabrics can now imitate everything from
silk to rubber.
DERIVATIVES
imitable adjective
ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: from Latin imitat- ‘copied’, from
the verb imitari; related to imago ‘image’.

imitate
verb
1 it was quite acceptable for artists to imitate other artists: emulate,
copy, take as a model, model oneself on, take as a pattern,
pattern oneself on/after, follow the example of, take as an
example, take as a role model, take after, follow, follow in
someone's steps/footsteps; echo, parrot; follow suit, take a leaf
out of someone's book; informal rip off.
2 he was a splendid mimic, and loved to imitate Winston Churchill:
mimic, do an impression of, impersonate, ape; parody,
caricature, burlesque, travesty, mock; masquerade as, pose as,
pass oneself off as; informal take off, send up, spoof, do; N.
Amer. informal make like; archaic monkey; rare personate.
3 the tombs imitated houses: resemble, look like, be like, simulate;
match, echo, mirror; bring to mind, remind one of.
pretend |prɪˈtɛnd|
verb
1 [ with clause or infinitive ] behave so as to make it appear
that something is the case when in fact it is not: I closed my eyes
and pretended I was asleep | she turned the pages and pretended to read.

• engage in an imaginative game or fantasy: children pretending to
be grown-ups.
• [ with obj. ] give the appearance of feeling or possessing (an
emotion or quality); simulate: she pretended a greater surprise than
she felt.
2 [ no obj. ] (pretend to) lay claim to (a quality or title): he
cannot pretend to sophistication.
adjective [ attrib. ] informal
not really what it is represented as being; imaginary: the children
poured out pretend tea for the dolls.
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin praetendere
‘stretch forth, claim’, from prae ‘before’ + tendere
‘stretch’. The adjective dates from the early 20th cent.
pretend
verb
1 they just pretend to listen: make as if, profess, affect;
dissimulate, dissemble, pose, posture, put it on, put on a false
front, go through the motions, sham, fake it; informal kid.
2 if you like, I'll pretend to be the dragon: put on an act, make
believe, play at, act, play-act, pass oneself off as, bluff,
impersonate.

3 it was useless to pretend innocence: feign, sham, fake, simulate, put
on, counterfeit, affect.
4 he did not even pretend to a crushing burden of work: claim, lay
claim to, make a claim to, purport to have, profess to have, go
through the motions of having.
adjective
informal she picked up the phone and had a pretend conversation:
imaginary, imagined, pretended, make-believe, made-up,
fantasy, fantasized, fancied, dream, dreamed-up, unreal,
fanciful, invented, fictitious, fictive, mythical, feigned, fake,
mock, imitative, sham, simulated, artificial, ersatz, dummy,
false, faux, spurious, bogus, counterfeit, fraudulent, forged,
pseudo; informal phoney; S. African informal play-play.
annihilate
verb
this was an attempt to annihilate an entire people: destroy, wipe out,
obliterate, wipe off the face of the earth, wipe off the map, kill,
slaughter, exterminate, eliminate, liquidate, eradicate,
extinguish, finish off, erase, root out, extirpate; informal take
out, rub out, snuff out, zap, waste. ANTONYMS create, build,
establish.

embarrassed |ɪmˈbarəәst, ɛm-|
adjective
feeling or showing embarrassment: I felt quite embarrassed
whenever I talked to her | an embarrassed silence.
• having or showing financial difficulties. he had to sort out the
embarrassed financial affairs of his brother.
DERIVATIVES
embarrassedly adverb
embarrass |ɪmˈbarəәs, ɛm-|
verb [ with obj. ]
1 cause (someone) to feel awkward, self-conscious, or ashamed:
she wouldn't embarrass either of them by making a scene.
• (be embarrassed) be caused financial difficulties: he would be
embarrassed by estate duty.
2 archaic hamper or impede (a person or action): the state of the
rivers will embarrass the enemy.
• archaic make difficult or intricate; complicate. I do not
apprehend that this case will be embarrassed by that decision.
ORIGIN early 17th cent. (in sense 2): from French
embarrasser, from Spanish embarazar, probably from
Portuguese embaraçar (from baraço ‘halter’).

embarrassed
adjective
she felt embarrassed at having been so frank before a servant: awkward,
self-conscious, uneasy, uncomfortable, unsettled, sheepish, red-
faced, blushing, shy; shamed, ashamed, shamefaced,
humiliated, humbled, demeaned, abashed; mortified, horrified,
appalled, crushed; upset, disconcerted, discomfited,
discomposed, confused, flustered, agitated, nonplussed,
discountenanced, distressed, chastened, chagrined; discredited,
dishonoured; informal with egg on one's face, wishing the earth
would swallow one up. ANTONYMS unabashed.
embarrass
verb
he was embarrassed by a front-page story which alleged that he had had an
affair: shame, humiliate, make ashamed, demean, abash;
mortify, horrify, appal, crush; make uncomfortable, make
awkward, make self-conscious, make uneasy; upset, disconcert,
discomfit, discompose, confuse, fluster, agitate, nonplus,
discountenance, distress, chagrin; discredit, dishonour;
informal show up, faze, rattle, discombobulate; US informal
own.

reason |ˈriːz(əә)n|
noun
1 a cause, explanation, or justification for an action or event:
she asked him to return, but didn't give a reason | I resigned for personal
reasons | [ with clause ] : Giles is the reason that I am here.
• [ mass noun ] good or obvious cause to do something: we have
reason to celebrate.
• Logic a premise of an argument in support of a belief,
especially a minor premise when given after the conclusion.
2 [ mass noun ] the power of the mind to think, understand,
and form judgements logically: there is a close connection between
reason and emotion.
• what is right, practical, or possible; common sense: people are
willing, within reason, to pay for schooling.
• (one's reason) one's sanity: she is in danger of losing her
reason.
verb [ no obj. ]
think, understand, and form judgements logically: humans do not
reason entirely from facts.

• [ with obj. ] (reason something out) find an answer to a
problem by considering possible options. she was growing too
sleepy to reason it out.
• (reason with) persuade (someone) with rational argument: I
tried to reason with her, but without success.
PHRASES
beyond (all) reason to a foolishly excessive degree: he indulged
Andrew beyond all reason.
by reason of formal because of: persons who, by reason of age, are
in need of care.
for some reason used to convey that one does not know the
reason for a particular situation, often with the implication that
one finds it strange or surprising: for some reason he likes you.
listen to reason be persuaded to act sensibly. he's too
emotionally overwrought to listen to reason.
theirs (or ours) not to reason why used to suggest that it is
not someone's (or one's) place to question a situation. to be a Met
Assistant you didn't have to understand the weather, only to record—ours
not to reason why.[with allusion to Tennyson's ‘Charge of the
Light Brigade’ (1854).]
reason of state another term for raison d'état.

(it) stands to reason it is obvious or logical: it stands to reason
that if you can eradicate the fear the nervousness will subside.
DERIVATIVES
reasoner noun,
reasonless adjective( archaic)
ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French reisun (noun),
raisoner (verb), from a variant of Latin ratio(n-), from the
verb reri ‘consider’.
usage: 1 Many people object to the construction the reason
why ..., on the grounds that the subordinate clause should
express a statement, using a that-clause, not imply a question
with a why-clause: the reason (that) I decided not to phone rather
than the reason why I decided not to phone. 2 The construction
the reason ... is because, as in the reason I didn't phone is
because my mother has been ill, is also disliked, on the grounds
that either ‘because’ or ‘the reason’ is redundant; it is better to
use the word that instead ( the reason I didn't phone is that ...)
or rephrase altogether ( I didn't phone because ...).Nevertheless,
both the above usages are well established and, although they
may be inelegant, they are generally accepted in standard
English.

reason
noun
1 he cited a lack of funds as the main reason for his decision: cause,
grounds, ground, basis, rationale; motive, motivation, purpose,
point, aim, intention, objective, goal, occasion, impetus,
inducement, incentive; explanation, justification, case,
argument, defence, apology, vindication, excuse, pretext,
rationalization; warrant; the whys and wherefores;
Latinapologia.
2 a rising crescendo of postmodern voices today rail against reason and
science: rationality, logic, logical thought, scientific thinking,
reasoning, thought, cognition; the mind, intellect, intelligence,
intellectuality; Philosophy nous; rare ratiocination.
ANTONYMS emotion, feeling.
3 he was afraid of losing his reason: sanity, mind, mental faculties,
mental health, soundness of mind; senses, wits; informal
marbles.
4 he continues, against reason, to love the woman passionately: good
sense, good judgement, common sense, sense, judgement,
understanding, wisdom, sagacity; reasonableness, moderation,
propriety; practicality, practicability, advisability.
PHRASES

by reason of those incapable of supporting themselves by reason of
age, infirmity, or disease: because of, on account of, as a result of,
as a consequence of, owing to, due to, by virtue of, thanks to,
through.
with reason he was anxious, with reason, about his own political
survival: justifiably, justly, legitimately, rightly, properly,
reasonably.
verb
1 such a child, left to himself, grows up unable to express himself and
unable to reason: think rationally, think logically, think straight,
use one's mind, use one's common sense, use one's head, use
one's brain, think things through, cogitate; intellectualize;
informal put on one's thinking cap; rare cerebrate, ratiocinate,
logicize.
2 Scott reasoned that if Annabel were having a heart attack, she wouldn't
be able to talk on the telephone: calculate, come to the conclusion,
conclude, reckon, think, consider, be of the opinion, be of the
view, judge, deduce, infer, surmise; N. Amer. informal figure.
3 she was growing too tired to reason it out : work out, find an
answer/solution to, think through, come to a conclusion about,
sort out, make sense of, get to the bottom of, puzzle out, solve;
informal figure out.

4 her husband tried to reason with her, but she refused to listen: talk
round, bring round, win round, persuade, coax, prevail on,
convince; show someone the error of their ways, make
someone see the light.
WORD LINKS
rational relating to reason
Word Links sections supply words that are related to the
headword but do not normally appear in a thesaurus
because they are not actual synonyms.
instead |ɪnˈstɛd|
adverb
as an alternative or substitute: do not use lotions, but put on a clean
dressing instead | she never married, preferring instead to remain single.
• (instead of) as a substitute or alternative to; in place of: walk
to work instead of going by car.
ORIGIN Middle English (originally as two words): from in +
stead.
instead
adverb

people should leave their cars at home and travel by train instead: as an
alternative, as a substitute, as a replacement, in lieu,
alternatively; rather, by contrast, for preference, by choice,
from choice; on second thoughts; all things being equal, ideally;
N. Amer. alternately. ANTONYMS as well.
PHRASES
instead of their menus are written in English instead of French: as an
alternative to, as a substitute for, as a replacement for, in place
of, in lieu of, in preference to; rather than, as opposed to, in
contrast with, as against, as contrasted with, before.
ANTONYMS as well as.
house-train |ˈhaʊstreɪn|
verb [ with obj. ] Brit.
train (a pet) to excrete outside the house or only in a special
place. you can't house-train a bird as you can a cat.
• (often as adj.house-trained) informal, humorous teach
(someone) good manners or tidiness. he's house-trained and fit for
civilized society.
chew |tʃuː|

verb [ with obj. ]
bite and work (food) in the mouth with the teeth, especially to
make it easier to swallow: he was chewing a mouthful of toast | [ no
obj. ] : he chewed for a moment, then swallowed.
• gnaw at (something) persistently: he chewed his lip reflectively |
[ no obj. ] : she chewed at a fingernail.
noun
a repeated biting or gnawing of something. the dog was enjoying a
quiet chew of his bone.
• something that is meant for chewing: a dog chew | a chew of
tobacco.
• a chewy sweet. a gobstopper or a chew could be bought for a farthing.
PHRASES
chew the cud see cud.
chew the fat (or rag) informal chat in a leisurely and
prolonged way. we were chewing the fat, telling stories about the old
days.
PHRASAL VERBS
chew someone out N. Amer. informal reprimand someone
severely: he chewed me out for being late.
chew something over discuss or consider something at
length: executives met to chew over the company's future.

chew something up damage or destroy something as if by
chewing: the bikes were chewing up the paths.
DERIVATIVES
chewable adjective,
chewer noun [ usu. in combination ] : a tobacco-chewer
ORIGIN Old English cēowan, of West Germanic origin;
related to Dutch kauwen and German kauen .
chew
verb
Carolyn chewed a mouthful of toast: masticate, munch, champ,
chomp, crunch, bite, nibble, gnaw, grind; eat, consume,
devour; technical manducate, triturate; rare chumble.
PHRASES
chew something over the doctor chewed over possible responses:
meditate on, ruminate on, think about, think over, think
through, mull over, contemplate, consider, weigh up, ponder
on, deliberate on, reflect on, muse on, cogitate about, dwell on,
take stock of, give thought to, turn over in one's mind, consider
the pros and cons of; brood over, wrestle with, puzzle over, rack
one's brains about; N. Amer. think on; informal kick around/
about, bat around/about; archaic pore on; rare cerebrate.

chew the fat/rag informal he liked drinking with friends and
chewing the fat: chat, talk, converse, speak to each other, discuss
things, have a talk, have a chat, have a tête-à-tête, have a
conversation; informal have a confab, jaw, rap, yak, yap; Brit.
informal natter, rabbit, have a chinwag, chinwag; N. Amer.
informal shoot the breeze, shoot the bull, visit; Austral./NZ
informal mag; formal confabulate.
leash |liːʃ|
noun
a dog's lead.
• Falconry a thong or string attached to the jesses of a hawk,
used for tying it to a perch or a creance.
• a restraint: her bristling temper was kept on a leash | the state needs
to let business off the leash.
verb [ with obj. ]
put a leash on (a dog). he called Azor to heel so that he could leash
him.
• restrain: his violence was barely leashed.
PHRASES
strain at the leash be eager to begin or do something. by this
time we were straining at the leash to get away.

ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French lesse, laisse, from
laissier in the specific sense ‘let run on a slack lead’ (see
lease) .
leash
noun
1 you should always keep your dog on a leash: lead, rein, tether, rope,
cord, chain, line, strap; restraint; archaic lyam.
2 the adolescent Wolfgang found himself off the parental leash: control,
restraint, check, curb, rein, hold, discipline.
PHRASES
straining at the leash each year some 300 youngsters are straining
at the leash to get into professional golf: eager, impatient, anxious,
enthusiastic; informal itching, dying, gagging.
verb
1 she called the dog to heel so that she could leash him: put a leash on,
put a lead on, fasten, hitch up, tether, tie up, secure, bind,
fetter; confine, restrain. ANTONYMS unleash, release.
2 the ire in her face was barely leashed: curb, control, keep under
control, check, restrain, hold back, suppress. ANTONYMS
unleash, release.

pound 2 |paʊnd|
verb [ with obj. ]
1 strike or hit heavily and repeatedly: Patrick pounded the couch
with his fists | [ no obj. ] : pounding on the door, she shouted at the top
of her voice.
• [ no obj. ] beat or throb with a strong regular rhythm: her heart
was pounding.
• [ no obj., with adverbial of direction ] walk or run with heavy
steps: I heard him pounding along the gangway.
2 crush or grind (something) into a powder or paste: pound the
cloves with salt and pepper until smooth.
• informal defeat (an opponent) in a resounding way: [ with
obj. and complement ] : he pounded the unseeded American 6–2 7–5
7–5.
PHRASES
pound the beat (of a police officer) patrol an allocated route
or area.
PHRASAL VERBS
pound something out produce a text or piece of music with
heavy strokes on a keyboard or instrument: an old typewriter on
which she pounded out her poems.

ORIGIN Old English pūnian; related to Dutch puin,Low
German pün ‘(building) rubbish’.
pound 1
verb
1 the two bigger men pounded him with their fists: beat, strike, hit,
batter, thump, pummel, punch, rain blows on, belabour,
hammer, thrash, set on, tear into, weigh into, bang, crack,
drub, welt, thwack; informal bash, clobber, wallop, beat the
living daylights out of, give someone a (good) hiding, whack,
biff, bop, lay into, pitch into, lace into, let someone have it,
knock into the middle of next week, sock, lam, whomp; Brit.
informal stick one on, slosh; N. Amer. informal boff, bust, slug,
light into, whale; Austral./NZ informal dong, quilt; literary
smite, swinge.
2 40ft waves pounded the seafront: beat against, crash against,
batter, dash against, crack into/against, lash, strike, hit, buffet.
3 US gunships pounded the capital: bombard, bomb, shell, blitz,
strafe, torpedo, pepper, fire on, attack; archaic cannonade.
4 pound the cloves with salt and pepper until smooth: crush, grind,
pulverize, beat, mill, pestle, mash, pulp, bruise, powder,

granulate; technical triturate, comminute; archaic bray,
levigate; rare kibble.
5 I heard him pounding along the gangway: walk/run heavily, stomp,
lumber, clomp, clump, tramp, trudge; thunder; N. Amer.
tromp.
6 she leaned weakly against the door, her heart pounding: throb, thump,
thud, hammer, pulsate, pulse, pump, palpitate, race, beat
heavily, go pit-a-pat, pitter-patter, vibrate, drum; literary pant,
thrill; rare quop.
pound 2
noun
every Christmas she sent the girls ten pounds each: pound sterling, £;
Brit. informal quid, smacker, smackeroo, nicker, oner, oncer;
Brit. historical sovereign.
pound 3
noun
the dog ended up in the local pound: enclosure, compound, pen,
yard; Brit. greenyard; historical pinfold.
optimistic |ɒptɪˈmɪstɪk|
adjective

hopeful and confident about the future: the optimistic mood of the
Sixties | the government was optimistic that reform would take place.
• (of an estimate) unrealistically high: previous estimates of whale
numbers may be wildly optimistic.
DERIVATIVES
optimistically adverb
optimistic
adjective
1 always optimistic, Anne felt sure that she would see him: cheerful,
cheery, positive, confident, hopeful, sanguine, bullish, buoyant,
bright; disposed to look on the bright side, inclined to look
through rose-coloured spectacles, always expecting the best, full
of hope, Pollyannaish, Panglossian; informal upbeat; archaic
of good cheer. ANTONYMS pessimistic, negative.
2 the forecast is certainly more optimistic: encouraging, promising,
hopeful, bright, rosy, reassuring, favourable, auspicious,
propitious. ANTONYMS pessimistic, gloomy, ominous.
WORD TOOLKIT
optimistic
See confident.

Word Toolkits illustrate the difference between close
synonyms by means of words typically used with them.
responsible |rɪˈspɒnsɪb(əә)l|
adjective
1 [ predic. ] having an obligation to do something, or having
control over or care for someone, as part of one's job or role:
the cabinet minister responsible for Education.
• (responsible to) having to report to (a superior) and be
answerable to them for one's actions: the Prime Minister and
cabinet are responsible to Parliament.
2 being the primary cause of something and so able to be
blamed or credited for it: Gooch was responsible for 198 of his
side's 542 runs.
• morally accountable for one's behaviour: the progressive
emergence of the child as a responsible being.
3 (of a job or position) involving important duties, independent
decision-making, or control over others. she had risen rapidly to a
high and responsible position in the civil service.
• capable of being trusted: a responsible adult.
DERIVATIVES
responsibleness noun,

responsibly adverb
ORIGIN late 16th cent. (in the sense ‘answering to,
corresponding’): from obsolete French responsible, from
Latin respons- ‘answered, offered in return’, from the verb
respondere (see respond) .
responsible
adjective
1 the Home Office is responsible for prisons: in charge of, in
control of, at the helm of, accountable for, liable for, charged
with; (be responsible for) manage, oversee, superintend,
supervise, conduct, run, look after, organize, produce, see to.
2 those responsible for the mistake have been dealt with:
accountable, answerable, to blame; behind, at the bottom of,
guilty of, culpable of; blameworthy, at fault, in the wrong.
ANTONYMS guiltless.
3 Margaret holds a responsible position in marketing: important,
powerful, authoritative, executive, decision-making, high.
ANTONYMS lowly.
4 he is responsible to the president: answerable, accountable;
supervised by, managed by.

5 Mr Smith is likely to prove a respectable and responsible tenant:
trustworthy, capable of being trusted, trusty, level-headed,
rational, sane, reasonable, sensible, sound, stable, mature,
adult; reliable, dependable, conscientious. ANTONYMS
irresponsible, untrustworthy.
serious |ˈsɪəәrɪəәs|
adjective
1 demanding or characterized by careful consideration or
application: marriage is a serious matter | we give serious consideration
to safety recommendations.
• solemn or thoughtful in character or manner: her face grew
serious.
• (of music, literature, or other art forms) requiring or meriting
deep reflection: he bridges the gap between serious and popular music.
2 acting or speaking sincerely and in earnest, rather than in a
joking or half-hearted manner: actors who are serious about their
work.
3 significant or worrying because of possible danger or risk;
not slight or negligible: she escaped serious injury.
4 [ attrib. ] informal substantial in terms of size, number, or
quality: he suddenly had serious money to spend.

ORIGIN late Middle English: from Old French serieux or
late Latin seriosus, from Latin serius ‘earnest, serious’.
serious
adjective
1 he had a serious expression on his face | Prudence was a thin, pale,
serious young woman: solemn, earnest, grave, sober, sombre,
unsmiling, poker-faced, stern, grim, dour, humourless, stony-
faced; thoughtful, preoccupied, deep in thought, pensive,
meditative, ruminative, contemplative, introspective; staid,
sedate, studious, bookish. ANTONYMS light-hearted,
cheerful, jovial.
2 we have some serious decisions to make: important, significant,
consequential, of consequence, momentous, of moment, key,
grave, weighty, far-reaching, major; urgent, pressing, crucial,
critical, vital, life-and-death, high-priority; no joke, no laughing
matter. ANTONYMS trivial, unimportant.
3 the president should give serious consideration to this advice: careful,
detailed, in-depth, deep, profound, meaningful. ANTONYMS
superficial.

4 a serious play about Art and Life: intellectual, highbrow,
heavyweight, deep, profound, literary, learned, scholarly,
cultured; classical; informal heavy. ANTONYMS light,
lowbrow, populist.
5 four of the victims received serious injuries | he appealed for emergency
foreign aid to combat the serious shortages of foodstuff and medicines:
severe, grave, bad, critical, acute, alarming, worrying, grievous,
dreadful, terrible, dire, extreme, dangerous, perilous,
precarious; archaic or humorous parlous. ANTONYMS
minor, negligible.
6 is the government serious about developing decent employment
opportunities for women? in earnest, earnest, sincere,
wholehearted, genuine, meaning what one says; committed,
fir m, resolute, resolved, deter mined. ANTONYMS
uncommitted, half-hearted, flippant.
7 informal she spends serious sums of money. See considerable.
strict |strɪkt|
adjective
1 demanding that rules concerning behaviour are obeyed and
observed: my father was very strict | a strict upbringing.

• (of a rule or discipline) demanding total obedience or
observance; rigidly enforced: civil servants are bound by strict rules
on secrecy.
2 (of a person) following rules or beliefs exactly: a strict
vegetarian.
3 exact in correspondence or adherence to something; not
allowing or admitting deviation or relaxation: a strict
interpretation of the law.
ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense ‘restricted in space
or extent’): from Latin strictus, past participle of stringere
‘tighten, draw tight’.
strict
adjective
1 a strict interpretation of the new law: precise, exact, literal, close,
faithful, true, accurate, unerring, scrupulous, careful,
meticulous, rigorous, stringent; conscientious, punctilious,
painstaking, thorough; informal spot on, on the mark, on the
beam, on the nail, on the button. ANTONYMS imprecise,
loose.
2 strict controls on public spending: stringent, rigorous, severe, harsh,
hard, rigid, tough, extreme. ANTONYMS liberal.

3 their parents were too strict: ster n, severe, harsh,
uncompromising, authoritarian, firm, austere, illiberal,
inflexible, unyielding, unbending, no-nonsense; Austral./NZ
informal solid. ANTONYMS lenient.
4 the information will be treated in strict confidence: absolute, utter,
complete, total, perfect.
5 her father was a strict Roman Catholic: orthodox, fundamentalist,
conservative, traditional; devout, conscientious, true, religious.
ANTONYMS moderate, liberal.
leave 1 |liːv|
verb (past and past participleleft |lɛft| )
1 [ with obj. ] go away from: she left London on June 6 | [ no
obj. ] : we were almost the last to leave | the England team left for
Pakistan on Monday.
• depart from permanently: at the age of sixteen he left home.
• cease attending (a school or college) or working for (an
organization): she is leaving the BBC after 20 years.
2 [ with obj. ] allow or cause to remain: the parts he disliked he
would alter and the parts he didn't dislike he'd leave.

• (be left) remain to be used or dealt with: we've even got one of
the Christmas puddings left over from last year | [ with infinitive ] :
a retired person with no mortgage left to pay.
• [ with obj. and adverbial of place ] go away from a place
without taking (someone or something): we had not left any of our
belongings behind | figurative : women had been left behind in the
struggle for pay equality.
• abandon (a spouse or partner): her boyfriend left her for another
woman.
• have as (a surviving relative) after one's death: he leaves a wife
and three children.
• bequeath (property) to a person or other beneficiary by a will:
he left £500 to the National Asthma Campaign | [ with two objs ] :
Cornelius had left her fifty pounds a year for life.
3 [ with obj. and adverbial or complement ] cause (someone or
something) to be in a particular state or position: he'll leave you in
no doubt about what he thinks | I'll leave the door open | the children
were left with feelings of loss.
• [ with obj. and infinitive ] let (someone) do or deal with
something without offering help or assistance: infected people are
often rejected by family and friends, leaving them to face this chronic
condition alone.

• [ with obj. ] cause to remain as a trace or record: dark fruit that
would leave purple stains on the table napkins | figurative : they leave
the impression that they can be bullied.
• [ with obj. ] deposit or entrust to be kept, collected, or
attended to: she left a note for me.
• [ with obj. ] (leave something to) entrust a decision, choice,
or action to (someone else, especially someone considered
better qualified): the choice of which link to take is generally left up
to the reader.
noun
(in snooker, croquet, and other games) the position in which a
player leaves the balls for the next player.
PHRASES
be left at the post be beaten from the start of a race or
competition.
be left for dead be abandoned as being almost dead or
certain to die. she was left for dead after being repeatedly hit over the
head with a rock.
be left to oneself be alone or solitary: left to himself he removed
his shirt and tie. • be allowed to do what one wants: women, left to
themselves, would make the world a beautiful place to live in.
leave someone/thing alone see alone.

leave someone be informal refrain from disturbing or
interfering with someone. why can't you all just leave me be?
leave someone cold fail to interest someone: the Romantic
poets left him cold.
leave go Brit. informal remove one's hold or grip: leave go of
me
leave hold of cease holding.
leave it at that abstain from further comment or action: if you
are not sure of the answers, say so, and leave it at that.
leave much (or a lot) to be desired be highly
unsatisfactory. their education leaves much to be desired.
PHRASAL VERBS
leave off discontinue (an activity): the dog left off chasing the sheep
| he resumed the other story at the point where the previous author had left
off.
leave someone/thing out fail to include: it seemed unkind to
leave Daisy out, so she was invited too | (as adj.left out) : Olivia was
feeling rather left out. • (usu. in imperativeleave it out) Brit.
informal stop it: ‘Leave it out,’ I said sternly, pushing him off.
DERIVATIVES
leaver noun

ORIGIN Old English lǣfan‘bequeath’, also ‘allow to remain,
leave in place’ of Germanic origin; related to German bleiben
‘remain’.
leave 2 |liːv|
noun [ mass noun ]
1 (also leave of absence)time when one has permission to be
absent from work or from duty in the armed forces: Joe was
home on leave | maternity leave.
2 [ often with infinitive ] permission: leave from the court to
commence an action.
PHRASES
by (or with) your leave 1 with your permission: with your
leave, I will send him your address. 2 informal an apology for rude
or unwelcome behaviour: she came in without so much as a by your
leave.
take one's leave formal say goodbye: he went to take his
leave of his hostess.
take leave of one's senses see sense.
take leave to do something formal venture or presume to
do something: whether this amounts to much, one may take leave to
doubt.

ORIGIN Old English lēaf‘permission’, of West Germanic
origin; related to lief and love.
leave 3 |lēvliːv|
verb
put forth leaves.
leave 1
verb
1 I left the hotel: depart from, go away from, go from, withdraw
from, retire from, take oneself off from, exit from, take one's
leave of, pull out of, quit, be gone from, decamp from,
disappear from, abandon, vacate, absent oneself from,
evacuate; say one's farewells/goodbyes, make off, clear out,
make oneself scarce, check out; abscond from, run away from,
flee (from), fly from, bolt from, go AWOL, take French leave,
escape (from); informal push off, shove off, cut, cut and run, do
a bunk, do a disappearing act, split, vamoose, scoot, clear off,
take off, make tracks, up sticks, pack one's bags, flit; Brit.
informal sling one's hook. ANTONYMS arrive, come, stay.
2 the next morning we left for Leicester: set off, head, make, begin
one's journey, set sail.

3 he's left his wife: abandon, desert, discard, turn one's back on,
cast aside, cast off, jilt, leave in the lurch, leave high and dry,
throw over, leave stranded, brush off; informal dump, ditch,
chuck, drop, walk out on, run out on, rat on, leave flat; Brit.
informal give someone the push, give someone the elbow, give
someone the big E, bin off; archaic forsake. ANTONYMS stay
with.
4 he left his job in November: quit, give up, abandon, move from,
resign from, retire from, bow out of, step down from, withdraw
from, get out of, pull out of, back out of. ANTONYMS stay in.
5 she left her handbag on a bus: leave behind, omit to take, forget,
lose, mislay.
6 I thought I'd leave it to the experts: entrust, hand over, pass on,
refer; delegate; assign, consign, allot, give, commit.
7 when he died he left her £100,000: bequeath, will, endow, hand
down, transfer, convey, make over; Law demise, devise.
8 the speech left some feelings of disappointment: cause, produce,
generate, give rise to, result in.
PHRASES
leave someone in the lurch I wouldn't have left the club if it
meant leaving them in the lurch: leave in trouble, let down, leave
helpless, leave stranded, leave high and dry, abandon, desert,

betray; N. Amer. informal bail on; archaic forsake.
ANTONYMS help, support, come to the aid of.
leave off informal I wish he would leave off hanging around with
them: stop, cease, finish, desist from, keep from, break off, lay
off, give up, discontinue, refrain from, restrain oneself from,
hold back from, swear off, resist the temptation to, stop oneself
from, withhold from, eschew; conclude, terminate, suspend,
bring to an end, renounce, forswear, forbear, relinquish; N.
Amer. quit; informal give over, knock off, jack something in.
ANTONYMS continue, go on.
leave someone/something out 1 Adam left out the address on
the letter: miss out, omit, omit by accident, fail to include,
overlook, pass over, neglect to notice, leave unnoticed, forget;
skip, miss, jump. ANTONYMS include. 2 he was left out of the
England squad: exclude, omit, except, eliminate, drop, count out,
disregard, ignore, reject, pass over, neglect, cut out, do away
with, bar, debar, keep out. ANTONYMS include.
leave 2
noun
1 the judge granted leave to appeal: permission, consent,
authorization, sanction, warrant, dispensation, concession,
indulgence, approval, clearance, blessing, agreement, backing,

assent, acceptance, confirmation, ratification, mandate, licence,
acquiescence, concurrence, liberty, freedom; informal the go-
ahead, the green light, the OK, the rubber stamp.
2 he was on leave from the Royal Engineers: holiday, vacation, break,
time off, furlough, sabbatical, leave of absence, a day/week/
month off, leisure time, respite, breathing space; half-term,
bank holiday, recess; informal hols, vac.
3 if you will excuse me, I will now take my leave of you: departure,
leaving, leave-taking, parting, withdrawal, exit, farewell,
goodbye, adieu, valediction.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORD
leave, permission, consent, authorization
See permission.
These notes show fine distinctions in meaning between
closely related synonyms to help you find the best word.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORD
leave, holiday, vacation, break
See holiday.
These notes show fine distinctions in meaning between
closely related synonyms to help you find the best word.

rest 1 |rɛst|
verb [ no obj. ]
1 cease work or movement in order to relax, sleep, or recover
strength: he needed to rest after the feverish activity | I'm going to rest
up before travelling to England.
• [ with obj. ] allow to be inactive in order to regain strength or
health: her friend read to her while she rested her eyes.
• (be resting) Brit.used euphemistically by actors to indicate
that they are out of work. she was an actress but doing domestic work
while she was resting.
• [ with obj. ] leave (a player) out of a team temporarily: both
men were rested for the cup final.
• (of a problem or subject) be left without further investigation
or discussion: the council has urged the planning committee not to allow
the matter to rest.
• [ with obj. ] allow (land) to lie fallow. the field should be grazed or
rested.
2 [ no obj., with adverbial of place ] be placed or supported so
as to stay in a specified position: her elbow was resting on the arm of
the sofa.
• (of a body) lie buried: the king's body rested in his tomb.

• [ with obj. and adverbial of place ] place (something) so that
it is supported in a specified position: he rested a hand on her
shoulder.
• (rest on/upon) (of a look) alight or be steadily directed on:
his eyes rested briefly on the boy.
3 (rest on/upon) be based on; depend on: the country's security
rested on its alliances.
• [ with obj. ] (rest something in/on) place hope, trust, or
confidence on or in: she rested her hopes in her attorney.
• be the responsibility of or belong to a specified person: the
final say rests with the regional assemblies.
4 Law, N. Amer.conclude presentation of either party's case in
a suit or prosecution: the prosecution rests. See also rest one's
case below.
noun
1 an instance or period of resting: you look as though you need a rest
| [ mass noun ] : a couple of days of complete rest.
• [ mass noun ] a motionless state: the car accelerates rapidly from
rest.
2 Music an interval of silence of a specified duration.
• the sign denoting a musical rest.
• a pause in speech or verse.

3 [ in combination ] an object that is used to support
something: a shoulder rest.
• a support or hook for a telephone receiver when not in use.
carefully the receiver was replaced on the rest.
• a support for a cue in billiards or snooker.
PHRASES
at rest not moving or exerting oneself. uncurl so your arms and
legs are at rest. • not agitated or troubled: if you think something's
wrong, consult the doctor to set your mind at rest. • dead and
buried. she lies at rest in the churchyard.
come to rest stop moving; settle: the lift came to rest at the first
floor.
give it a rest Brit. informal used to ask someone to stop
talking about something that the speaker finds irritating. give it a
rest, lads—agree to differ.
no rest for the wicked see wicked.
rest one's case conclude one's presentation of evidence and
arguments in a lawsuit. the prosecution rested its case. • humorous
said to show that one believes one has presented sufficient
evidence for one's views.
rest on one's laurels see laurel.

rest (or God rest) his (or her) soul used to express a wish
that God should grant someone's soul peace.
ORIGIN Old English ræst, rest (noun), ræstan, restan (verb), of
Germanic origin, from a root meaning ‘league’ or
‘mile’ (referring to a distance after which one rests).
rest 2 |rɛst|
noun
1 [ in sing. ] the remaining part of something: what do you want
to do for the rest of your life? | I'll tell you the rest tomorrow night.
• [ treated as pl. ] the remaining people or things; the others:
the rest of us were experienced skiers.
2 Anatomy a small, detached portion of an organ or tissue.
3 a rally in real tennis.
verb [ no obj., with complement ]
remain or be left in a specified condition: you can rest assured she
will do everything she can.
PHRASES
and the rest informal used to assert that something is an
understatement: ‘You mean it took three hours?’ ‘And the rest.’.
and (all) the rest (of it)and everything else of a similar type
that might be mentioned: it's all very well to talk about natural
affection and love and the rest of it.

for the rest Brit.as far as other matters are concerned.
the rest is history see history.
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Old French reste (noun),
rester (verb), from Latin restare ‘remain’, from re- ‘back’ +
stare ‘to stand’.
rest 1
verb
1 he needed to rest and think: relax, take a rest, ease up/off, let up,
slow down, pause, have/take a break, unbend, repose, laze,
idle, loaf, do nothing, take time off, slack off, unwind, recharge
one's batteries, be at leisure, take it easy, sit back, sit down,
stand down, lounge, luxuriate, loll, slump, flop, put one's feet
up, lie down, go to bed, have/take a nap, nap, catnap, doze,
have/take a siesta, drowse, sleep; informal de-stress, take five,
have/take a breather, veg out, snooze, snatch forty winks, get
some shut-eye; Brit. informal kip, have a kip, get some kip; N.
Amer. informal chill out, kick back, catch some Zs; literary
slumber.
2 his hands rested on the small rucksack he carried: lie, be laid, recline,
repose, be, be placed, be positioned; be supported by, be
propped up by.

3 she rested her basket on the ground: support, prop (up), steady,
balance, lean, lay, set, sit, stand, position, place, put.
4 the film script rests on an improbable premise: be based on, be
grounded in, be founded on, depend on, be dependent on, rely
on, hinge on, turn on, hang on, pivot on, be contingent on,
revolve around, centre on.
noun
1 get some rest, or you won't be fit for tomorrow | Robbie was ready for a
rest and some food: repose, relaxation, leisure, ease, inactivity,
respite, time off, time out, breathing space; sleep; period of
relaxation, period of repose, nap, doze, siesta; informal shut-
eye, snooze, lie-down, forty winks; Brit. informal kip; literary
slumber.
2 I was in need of a short rest from work: holiday, vacation, recess;
break, breathing space, pause, interval, interlude, intermission;
time off, time out; informal breather.
3 she took the poker from its rest: stand, base, holder, support, stay,
prop, brace, rack, hook, frame, shelf, bracket, trestle, tripod,
plinth, pedestal, foundation, bed, foot, substructure.
4 our landing was cushioned by the snow, and we came to rest 100 metres
lower: a standstill, a halt, a stop; stationary.
rest 2

noun
only the chairman has been elected—the rest are appointees: remainder,
residue, balance, remaining part/number/quantity, part/
number/quantity (that is) left over, others, those left, remains,
remnant, remnants, rump, surplus, difference, extra, excess,
superfluity, overflow, overspill, additional people/material/
things, extra people/material/things; technical residuum.
verb
you may rest assured that he is there: remain, continue to be, stay,
keep, persist in being, carry on being, go on being.
work |wəәːk|
noun [ mass noun ]
1 activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to
achieve a result: he was tired after a day's work in the fields.
• work as a means of earning income; employment: I'm still
looking for work.
• the place where one is employed: I was returning home from work
on a packed subway.
• the period of time one spends in paid employment: he was
going to the theatre after work.
• [ count noun ] W. Indiana job: I decided to get a work.

2 a task or tasks to be undertaken: they made sure the work was
progressing smoothly.
• the materials for a task: she frequently took work home with her.
• (in combination or with modifierworks) chiefly Brit.activity
involving construction or repair: extra costs caused by additional
building works.
• informal cosmetic plastic surgery: between you and me, I think he's
had some work done.
• (works) Theology good or moral deeds: the Clapham sect was
concerned with works rather than with faith.
3 a thing or things done or made; the result of an action: her
work hangs in all the main American collections | the bombing had been
the work of a German-based cell.
• [ count noun ] a literary or musical composition or other
piece of art: a work of fiction.
• (works) the artistic production of a particular author,
composer, or artist, regarded collectively: the works of Schubert fill
several feet of shelf space.
• a piece of embroidery, sewing, or knitting, typically made
using a specified stitch or method.

4 (works) [ treated as sing. ] chiefly Brit.a place or premises in
which industrial or manufacturing processes are carried out: he
found a job in the locomotive works.
5 (works) the operative part of a clock or other machine: she
could almost hear the tick of its works.
6 [ count noun ] (usu. works) Military a defensive structure. just
north of the fort were trenches and the freshly reconstructed patriot siege
works.
7 Physics the exertion of force overcoming resistance or
producing molecular change.
8 (the works) informal everything needed, desired, or
expected: the heavens put on a show: sheet lightning, hailstones, the
works.
verb (past and past participleworkedor archaic wrought)
[ no obj. ]
1 be engaged in physical or mental activity in order to achieve
a result; do work: an engineer who was working on a design for a
more efficient wing | new contracts forcing employees to work longer hours.
• be employed in a specified occupation or field: he worked as
a waiter in a rather shabby restaurant.
• [ with obj. ] set to or keep at work: Jane is working you too hard.

• [ with obj. ] practise one's occupation in or at (a particular
place): I worked a few clubs and so forth.
• [ with obj. ] W. Indianbe engaged in (a particular
occupation): I worked fireman on ships.
2 (of a machine or system) function, especially properly or
effectively: his phone doesn't work unless he goes to a high point.
• (with reference to a machine or machine part) be or cause to
be in operation: [ no obj. ] : the device is designed to go into a special
‘rest’ state when it's not working | [ with obj. ] : teaching customers how
to work a VCR.
3 (of a plan or method) have the desired result or effect: the
desperate ploy had worked.
• [ with obj. ] produce as a result: with a dash of blusher here and
there, you can work miracles.
• make efforts to achieve something; campaign: an organization
working for a better life for people with mental illness.
• (work on/upon) exert influence or persuasion on: she worked
upon the sympathy of her associates.
• [ with obj. ] use one's persuasive power to stir the emotions
of: the born politician's art of working a crowd.

4 [ with obj. and adverbial or complement ] bring (a material
or mixture) to a desired shape or consistency by hammering,
kneading, etc.: work the mixture into a paste with your hands.
• [ no obj. ] (work in) produce artistic pieces using (a
particular material or medium): he works in clay over a very strong
frame.
• [ with obj. ] produce (an article or design) using a specified
material or sewing stitch: the castle itself is worked in tent stitch.
• [ with obj. ] cultivate (land) or extract materials from (a mine
or quarry): contracts and leases to work the mines.
5 move or cause to move gradually or with difficulty into
another position: [ with obj. and adverbial or complement ] :
comb hair from tip to root, working out the knots at the end | [ no obj.,
with adverbial or complement ] : look for small parts that might
work loose.
• [ no obj. ] (of a person's features) move violently or
convulsively: hair wild, mouth working furiously.
• [ no obj., with adverbial ] Sailing make progress to
windward, with repeated tacking: trying to work to windward in
light airs.
6 [ with obj. ] bring into a specified emotional state: Harold had
worked himself into a minor rage.

PHRASES
at work in action: researchers were convinced that one infectious agent
was at work.
give someone the works informal 1 tell someone
everything. 2 treat someone harshly or violently.
have one's work cut out be faced with a hard or lengthy
task. Shaw had his work cut out keeping fires at bay in London.
in the works being planned, worked on, or produced. a major
consolidation of companies was in the works.
out of work unemployed. any reduction in spending will close shops
and put people out of work.
set to work (or set someone to work)begin or cause to
begin work: the owners set to work itemizing what was wrong.
a spanner (or N. Amer.monkey wrench) in the works a
person or thing that prevents the successful implementation of
a plan. even the weakest parties can throw a spanner in the
works of the negotiations.
the work of —— a task occupying a specified amount of
time: it was the work of a moment to discover the tiny stab wound.
work one's ass (butt, etc.) off vulgar slang work extremely
hard.
work one's fingers to the bone see bone.

work to rule chiefly Brit.follow official working rules and
hours exactly in order to reduce output and efficiency,
especially as a form of industrial action. • (as nounwork-to-
rule) an instance or period of working to rule: management urged
cabin crew to call off their work-to-rule.
work one's passage see passage 1 .
work one's way through university (or college,
etc.)obtain the money for educational fees or maintenance as a
student by working.
work one's will on/upon accomplish one's purpose on: she
set a coiffeur to work his will on her hair.
work wonders see wonder.
PHRASAL VERBS
work something in try to include something, typically in a
text or speech.
work something off 1 discharge a debt by working. indentured
servants working off their parents' debts. 2 reduce or eliminate
something by work or other activity: one of those gimmicks for
working off aggression.
work out 1 (of an equation) be capable of being solved. •
(work out at) be calculated at: the losses work out at $2.94 a share.
2 have a good or specified result: things don't always work out that

way. 3 engage in vigorous physical exercise. they regularly walked,
danced, ran and worked out at the gym.
work someone out understand someone's character.
work something out 1 solve a sum or determine an amount
by calculation. she worked out sums on her way to school. • find the
answer to something: I couldn't work out whether it was a band
playing or a record. 2 plan something in detail: work out a seating
plan. 3 literary accomplish something with difficulty: malicious
fates are bent on working out an ill intent. 4 work a mine until it is
exhausted of minerals. 5 another way of saying work
something off above.
work someone over informal beat someone severely: the
coppers had worked him over a little just for the fun of it.
work to follow or operate within the constraints of (a schedule
or system): working to tight deadlines.
work up to proceed gradually towards (something more
advanced or intense): the course starts with landing technique, working
up to jumps from an enclosed platform.
work someone up (often get worked up) gradually bring
someone, especially oneself, to a state of intense excitement,
anger, or anxiety: he got all worked up and started shouting and
swearing.

work something up 1 bring something gradually to a more
complete or satisfactory state: painters were accustomed to working up
compositions from drawings. 2 develop or produce by activity or
effort: despite the cold, George had already worked up a fair sweat.
DERIVATIVES
workless adjective,
worklessness noun
ORIGIN Old English weorc (noun), wyrcan (verb), of
Germanic origin; related to Dutch werk and German Werk,
from an Indo-European root shared by Greek ergon .
-work
combining form
denoting things or parts made of a specified material or with
specified tools: silverwork | fretwork.
• denoting a mechanism or structure of a specified kind:
bridgework | clockwork.
• denoting ornamentation of a specified kind, or articles
having such ornamentation: knotwork.
work
noun

1 he was tired after a day's work in the fields: labour, toil, exertion,
effort, slog, drudgery, the sweat of one's brow; industry; service;
informal grind, sweat, donkey work, spadework, elbow grease;
Brit. informal graft, fag; Austral./NZ informal yakka; archaic
travail, moil. ANTONYMS leisure, rest.
2 I'm still looking for work | his work takes him to France, Spain, and
Germany: employment, a job, a post, a position, a situation, a
means of earning one's living; occupation, profession, career,
business, trade, line; vocation, calling; archaic employ.
3 haven't you got any work to do? tasks, jobs, duties, assignments,
commissions, projects; chores.
4 one of the best works of modern English literature: composition,
piece, creation, achievement, accomplishment; work of art,
opus, oeuvre.
5 the shooting was the work of a radical left-wing group: handiwork,
doing, act, deed, feat, performance.
6 (works) a lifetime spent doing good works: deeds, acts, actions.
7 (works) the complete works of Shakespeare: writings, oeuvre,
canon, output.
8 (works) the site of a former car works: factory, plant,
manufacturing complex, mill, foundry, yard, industrial unit,
business unit; workshop, shop.

9 (works) the works of a clock: mechanism, machinery, workings,
working parts, parts, movement, action; informal innards,
insides.
10 (the works) informal for only $60 you can get the works:
everything, the full treatment; informal everything but the
kitchen sink, the lot, the whole shooting match, the whole (kit
and) caboodle, the whole shebang, the whole nine yards; Brit.
informal the full monty; N. Amer. informal the whole ball of
wax.
verb
1 staff worked late into the night to make the necessary repairs: toil,
labour, exert oneself, slave (away), plod away; work one's
fingers to the bone, work like a Trojan/dog, work day and
night, keep at it, keep one's nose to the grindstone; informal
slog (away), beaver away, plug away, peg away, put one's back
into something, work one's guts out, work one's socks off, knock
oneself out, sweat blood, kill oneself; Brit. informal graft, fag;
Austral./NZ informal bullock; Brit. vulgar slang work one's
balls/arse off; N. Amer. vulgar slang work one's ass/butt off;
archaic drudge, travail, moil. ANTONYMS rest, play.

2 Taylor has worked in education for 17 years: be employed, have a
job, earn one's living, hold down a job, do business, follow/ply
one's trade.
3 many farmers had given up working the land: cultivate, farm, till,
plough; exploit.
4 Dino's car was now working perfectly: function, go, run, operate,
perform; be in working order; informal behave.
5 she showed me how to work the ice-cream machine: operate, use,
handle, control, manipulate, manoeuvre, drive, run, direct; ply,
wield.
6 their desperate ploy had worked: succeed, be successful, work out,
turn out well, go as planned, have the desired result, get results;
be effective, take effect, be efficacious; informal come off, pay
off, do the trick, do the business; N. Amer. informal turn the
trick. ANTONYMS fail.
7 with a dash of blusher you can work miracles: bring about,
accomplish, achieve, produce, do, perform, carry out,
implement, execute, create, engender, contrive, effect.
8 informal the chairman was prepared to work it for Philip if he was
interested: arrange, manipulate, manoeuvre, contrive; pull
strings; N. Amer. pull wires; informal fix, swing, wangle, fiddle.

9 he worked the crowd into a frenzy: stir (up), excite, drive, move,
spur, rouse, fire, galvanize; whip up, inflame, incite, agitate.
10 work the mixture into a paste: knead, squeeze, form, shape,
fashion, mould, model; mix, stir, blend.
11 he worked the blade into the padlock: manoeuvre, manipulate,
negotiate, guide, edge.
12 Bella's mouth worked furiously for a few seconds: twitch, quiver,
twist, move spasmodically, convulse.
13 John had worked his way through the crowd: manoeuvre, make,
thread, wind, weave.
PHRASES
work on someone leave him to me—I'll work on him: persuade,
manipulate, influence, sway, put pressure on, lean on; coax,
cajole, wheedle, soften up; informal twist someone's arm, put
the squeeze on.
work out 1 the bill works out at £50: amount to, add up to,
come to, total; Brit. tot up to. 2 I'm glad my idea worked out:
succeed, be successful, work, turn out well, go as planned, get
results, be effective; informal come off, pay off, do the trick, do
the business. ANTONYMS fail. 3 things didn't quite work out the
way she had planned: end up, turn out, go, come out, develop,

evolve, result; happen, occur; informal pan out. 4 Bob keeps in
shape by working out at the local gym: exercise, do exercises, train.
work something out 1 work out how much you can afford to spend:
calculate, compute, reckon up, determine. 2 I'm still trying to
work out what she meant: understand, comprehend, puzzle out,
sort out, reason out, make sense of, think out, think through,
get to the bottom of, make head or tail of, solve, find an
answer/solution to, unravel, untangle, decipher, decode, find
the key to, piece together; informal figure out, crack; Brit.
informal suss out. 3 they worked out a plan of action: devise,
formulate, draw up, put together, develop, prepare, construct,
arrange, organize, plan, think up, contrive, concoct; hammer
out, thrash out, reach an agreement on, negotiate.
work someone over it looked like someone had worked him over to
get him to say what they wanted him to say: beat up, beat, attack,
assault, knock about/around, maltreat, mistreat, abuse, batter,
manhandle; informal do over, bash up, rough up, beat the
living daylights out of; Brit. informal duff up; N. Amer.
informal beat up on.
work something up he couldn't seem to work up any enthusiasm:
stimulate, rouse, raise, arouse, awaken, excite, build up, whet;
develop, produce.

WORD LINKS
ergophobia fear of work
Word Links sections supply words that are related to the
headword but do not normally appear in a thesaurus
because they are not actual synonyms.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORD
work, labour, toil
■ Work is the general term for things that one has to do
in order to earn a living or to achieve a particular aim
(she did clerical work before she married | work on
landscaping the disused railway line was started in
1980). When applied to the actual doing of these things,
work implies that effort is involved (thank you for your
hard work on the project). As a verb, the word means
simply to carry out any kind of such activity (a man was
working in the garden).
■ Labour typically denotes physical work, especially
when this is hard and exhausting (manual labour |
exhausted by labour in the fields). To labour is to work
hard (they laboured from dawn to dusk) or to have
difficulty in doing something in spite of working hard (the

media group is currently labouring to reduce its debt
mountain).
■ Toil, as a noun or a verb, refers to exhausting, tedious,
and seemingly unending hard work (most of the poet's
life was spent in toil on the farm | the clerks sat toiling
into the night over some urgent piece of business). To
toil in a stated direction means to struggle to move
somewhere (she toiled up the path with her packages).
These notes show fine distinctions in meaning between
closely related synonyms to help you find the best word.
play |pleɪ|
verb
1 [ no obj. ] engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation
rather than a serious or practical purpose: the children were playing
by a pool | her friends were playing with their dolls.

• [ with obj. ] engage in (a game or activity) for enjoyment: I
want to play Snakes and Ladders.
• amuse oneself by engaging in imaginative pretence: the boys
were playing at soldiers.
• (play at) engage in without proper seriousness or
understanding: it would be wrong to assume that he is simply playing at
right-wing politics.
• (play with) treat inconsiderately for one's own amusement:
she likes to play with people's emotions.
• (play with) fiddle or tamper with: has somebody been playing
with these taps?
• [ with negative or in questions ] (be playing at) used to
convey one's irritation at someone's actions or one's failure to
understand their motives: what on earth do you think you're playing
at?
2 [ with obj. ] take part in (a sport): I play squash and badminton.
• participate in (a sporting match or contest): the squad will have
played 14 games in six weeks.
• compete against (another player or team) in a sporting match:
the team will play France on Wednesday.
• [ no obj. ] be part of a team, especially in a specified position,
in a sporting contest: he played in goal.

• strike (a ball) or execute (a stroke) in a game. was he in an offside
position when his teammate played the ball?
• [ no obj., with adverbial ] (of a cricket ground) be in such
condition as to have a specified effect on play.
• assign to take part in a match, especially in a specified
position: the manager played his strongest side of the season.
• move (a piece) or display (a playing card) in one's turn in a
game: he played his queen.
• bet or gamble at or on: he didn't gamble or play the ponies.
3 [ no obj. ] [ usu. with negative ] be cooperative: he needs
financial backing, but the building societies won't play.
4 [ with obj. ] represent (a character) in a theatrical
performance or a film: early in her career she played Ophelia.
• [ no obj. ] perform in a film or theatrical production: he was
proud to be playing opposite a famous actor.
• put on or take part in (a theatrical performance, film, or
concert): the show was one of the best we ever played.
• give a dramatic performance at (a particular theatre or place).
the company are playing 11 cities around the country.
• behave as though one were (a specified type of person): the
skipper played the innocent, but smuggled goods were found on his vessel.

• (play someone for) treat someone as being of (a specified
type): don't imagine you can play me for a fool.
5 [ with obj. ] perform on (a musical instrument): a man was
playing a guitar.
• possess the skill of performing on (a musical instrument): he
taught himself to play the violin.
• produce (notes) from a musical instrument; perform (a piece
of music): they played a violin sonata.
• make (a music player, disc, radio, etc.) produce sounds.
someone is playing a record—I can hear the drum.
• [ no obj. ] (of a musical instrument, music player, radio, etc.)
produce sounds: somewhere within, a harp was playing.
• [ with obj. and adverbial of direction ] accompany (someone)
with music as they are moving in a specified direction: the
bagpipes played them out of the dining room.
6 [ no obj. ] move lightly and quickly, so as to appear and
disappear; flicker: little beams of light played over the sea.
• (of a fountain or similar source of water) emit a stream of
gently moving water. a fountain played in the courtyard.
7 [ with obj. ] allow (a fish) to exhaust itself pulling against a
line before reeling it in. no fisherman ever played a bonita more
carefully or with greater wile.

noun [ mass noun ]
1 activity engaged in for enjoyment and recreation, especially
by children: a child at play may use a stick as an aeroplane.
• behaviour or speech that is not intended seriously: I flinched,
but only in play.
• [ as modifier ] designed to be used in games of pretence; not
real: play families are arranged in play houses.
2 the conducting of a sporting match: rain wrecked the second day's
play.
• the action or manner of engaging in a sport or game: he
maintained the same rhythm of play throughout the game.
• the status of the ball in a game as being available to be played
according to the rules: the ball was put in play.
• the state of being active, operative, or effective. someone has a
bright idea and decides to put it into play. the forces of a worldwide
economy are in play.
• [ count noun ] a move or manoeuvre in a sport or game: the
best play is to lead the 3 of clubs.
• archaic the activity of gambling. a young nobleman, ruined by
play.
3 [ count noun ] a dramatic work for the stage or to be
broadcast: the actors put on a new play.

4 the space in or through which a mechanism can or does
move: the steering rack was loose, and there was a little play.
• scope or freedom to act or operate: our policy allows the market to
have freer play.
5 light and constantly changing movement: the artist exploits the
play of light across the surface.
PHRASES
bring (or call) into play cause something to start working so
that one can make use of it: he cannot afford to bring into play the
kind of leadership veto that operated all those years ago.
come into play becoming active, operative, or effective: luck
comes into play.
make a play for informal attempt to attract or attain. we
invited men to make a play for the award. she started to make a play for
the young man.
make (great) play of (or with)draw attention to in an
ostentatious manner, typically to gain prestige or advantage: the
company made great play of their recent growth in profits.
make play with treat frivolously. leaders should not make play
with values and ideals.
not playing with a full deck see deck.
play ball see ball 1 .

play both ends against the middle keep one's options
open by supporting or favouring opposing sides.
play something by ear perform music without having to
read from a score. she could play both by ear and by reading. • (play
it by ear) informal proceed instinctively according to results
and circumstances rather than according to rules or a plan.
we'll just have to play it by ear until we can get something definite sorted
out.
play by the rules follow what is generally held to be the
correct line of behaviour. some women refused to play by the rules and
allow motherhood to put an end to their career prospects.
play one's cards close to one's chest see chest.
play one's cards right (or well) see card 1 .
play ducks and drakes with see ducks and drakes.
play fair observe principles of justice; avoid cheating. he decided
to play fair and own up.
play someone false deceive or cheat someone. the Assembly
played us false. his memory plays him false if he thinks I chose this post.
play fast and loose behave irresponsibly or immorally. I am
not someone who plays fast and loose with other people's lives.

play favourites N. Amer.show favouritism towards someone
or something. the Soviet diplomat said he wasn't playing favourites in
the presidential campaign.
play the field see field.
play for time use specious excuses or unnecessary
manoeuvres to gain time. he played for time by establishing an
advisory committee.
play the game see game 1 .
play God see God.
play havoc with see havoc.
play hell see hell.
play hookey see hookey.
play a (or one's) hunch make an instinctive choice. it had only
been a shot in the dark—playing a hunch, really.
play oneself in Brit.become accustomed to the circumstances
and conditions of a game or activity. once he had played himself in
he was an excellent stroke-maker.
play into someone's hands act in such a way as
unintentionally to give someone an advantage. overreaction to the
threats would be playing into the hands of the terrorists.

play it cool informal make an effort to be or appear to be
calm and unemotional. the band wanted the deal badly, but were
determined to play it cool.
play the market speculate in stocks. these investors know how to
play the market and win.
a play on words a pun. every page contains a subtle play on words
or arresting metaphor.
play a part make a contribution to a situation: social and
economic factors may have also played a part | he personally wanted to
thank those nurses and staff who had played a part in his recovery.
play (or play it) safe (or for safety)take precautions; avoid
risks. I think we'll play safe and get another set of X-rays done.
play to the gallery see gallery.
play a trick (or joke) on behave in a deceptive or teasing
way towards. she played a trick on me by not telling me what to expect.
play truant see truant.
play with oneself informal masturbate.
play with fire take foolish risks. an urge to play with fire made her
provoke him.
played out informal used or seen too many times before so no
longer interesting: the melodrama is a little played out to be entirely
satisfying.

PHRASAL VERBS
play about (or around)behave in a casual, foolish, or
irresponsible way: you shouldn't play around with a child's future.
• informal (of a married person) have a love affair. was her
husband playing around?
play along perform a piece of music at the same time as it is
playing on a tape or record. I could make harmonies by playing along
with the tape. • pretend to cooperate: she had to play along and be
polite.
play someone along informal deceive or mislead someone
over a period of time. he'd play her along till she got fed up.
play away Brit.play a sports fixture on an opponent's ground.
• informal (of a married person) have a love affair.
play something back play sounds that one has recently
recorded, especially to monitor recording quality. I did a lot of
recording and then played it back.
play something down represent something as being less
important than it in fact is: he tried to play down the seriousness of
his illness.
play someone off bring people into conflict or competition
for one's own advantage: top footballers were able to play clubs off
against each other to gain higher pay.

play off (of two teams or competitors) play an extra match to
decide a draw or tie. the top two teams would play off at
Twickenham.
play on exploit (a weak or vulnerable point in someone): he
played on his opponent's nerves.
play out 1 develop in a particular way: the position of the sub-
tropical jet stream across North America will determine how winter plays
out. 2 happen; take place: this scenario plays out all across the country.
play someone out drain someone of strength or life. she was
played out, too exhausted even to weep.
play something out act the whole of a drama; enact a scene
or role. they were playing out a familiar scenario.
play up Brit. 1 informal (of a child) misbehave: I hadn't had
much sleep – the kids had been playing up. • fail to function properly:
his phone line was constantly playing up. 2 put all one's energy into a
game. the captain told his team to play up.
play someone up (of a part of the body or an illness) cause
pain or discomfort to someone. my rheumatism's playing me up.
play something up emphasize the extent or importance of
something: the mystery surrounding his death was played up by the
media.
play up to exploit, trade on, or make the most of.

DERIVATIVES
playability |-ˈbɪlɪti| noun,
playable adjective
ORIGIN Old English pleg(i)an‘to exercise’, plega‘brisk
movement’, related to Middle Dutch pleien ‘leap for joy,
dance’.
play
verb
1 the children were playing with toys on the floor: amuse oneself,
entertain oneself, enjoy oneself, have fun, have a good time,
relax, rest, be at leisure, occupy oneself, divert oneself, play
games, frolic, frisk, gambol, romp, cavort, caper; informal mess
about/around, lark (about/around); dated sport; archaic or
humorous disport oneself.
2 I used to play football: take part in, participate in, engage in, be
involved in, join in, compete in, do.
3 Liverpool play Sheffield United on Wednesday: compete against,
contend against, oppose, take on, challenge, vie with, rival.
4 he was about to play Macbeth: act the part of, play the part of,
act, take the role of, enact, represent, perform, appear as,

portray, depict, impersonate, pretend to be, execute, render,
interpret; rare personate.
5 he never learned to play a musical instrument: perform on, make
music on; blow, sound, strum.
6 his hair gleamed as the sunlight played on it: move lightly, dance,
flit, dart, ripple, lick, touch.
PHRASES
play around informal I played around a bit but now I've settled
down: womanize, philander, have affairs/an affair, flirt, dally,
trifle/toy with someone's affections; informal carry on, mess
about/around, play the field, play away, sleep around, swing,
be a man-eater; N. Amer. informal fool around; vulgar slang
screw around; rare coquet.
play at like a dictator he will play at being kind and good: pretend to
be, give the appearance of, assume/affect the role of, pass
oneself off as, masquerade as, profess to be, pose as,
impersonate, make out, fake, feign, simulate, affect, go through
the motions of; N. Amer. informal make like.
play ball informal if you play ball, I can help you: cooperate,
collaborate, play along, play the game, go along with the plan,

show willing, be willing, help, lend a hand, assist, be of
assistance, contribute, reciprocate, respond; informal pitch in.
play something down ministers sought to play down the extent of
the damage: make light of, make little/nothing of, set little/no
store by, gloss over, de-emphasize, underemphasize, downplay,
understate, underplay, minimize, shrug off; soft-pedal, tone
down, diminish, downgrade, trivialize, detract from, underrate,
underestimate, undervalue, think little of, disparage, decry,
deprecate, talk down, belittle, slight, scoff at, sneer at; informal
pooh-pooh; rare derogate. ANTONYMS exaggerate.
play for time use delaying tactics, stall, temporize, gain time,
hang back, hang fire, hold back, procrastinate, beat about the
bush, drag one's feet, delay, filibuster, stonewall.
play havoc with dust will play havoc with electrical systems:
disturb, disrupt, disorder, disorganize, disarrange, interfere
with, upset, unsettle, convulse; obstruct, impede, hamper; hold
up, delay, retard, slow (down); throw into confusion, throw into
disorder, throw into disarray, cause confusion/turmoil in,
derange, turn upside-down, make a mess of; ruin, wreck, spoil,
undo, mar, frustrate, blight, crush, quell, quash, dash, scotch,
shatter, devastate, demolish, sabotage; informal mess up, screw
up, louse up, foul up, make a hash of, do in, put paid to, put the

lid on, put the kibosh on, stymie, queer, nix, banjax, blow a
hole in; Brit. informal scupper, dish, throw a spanner in the
works of; N. Amer. informal throw a monkey wrench in the
works of; Austral. informal euchre, cruel.
play it by ear improvise, extemporize, rise to the occasion, ad
lib; take it as it comes; Latinad libitum; informal busk it, wing
it.
play on it is despicable to play on the fears of ordinary people: exploit,
take advantage of, use, make use of, turn to (one's) account,
profit by, capitalize on, impose on, trade on, milk, abuse,
misuse; informal walk all over.
play out 1 the position of the sub-tropical jet stream across North
America will determine how winter plays out: turn out, work out,
conclude, end (up), result, come out, fall out, develop, evolve. 2
this scenario plays out all across the country: happen, occur, take
place, come about, come to pass, crop up, turn up, arise,
chance, ensue, befall, be realized, take shape, transpire; rare
eventuate.
play something out the simmering tension between them is played
out against the sweep of world events: portray, represent, depict,
characterize, describe, present; enact, perform, render, act,

stage; express, give expression to, communicate, set forth,
articulate.
played out informal the melodrama is a little played out to be entirely
satisfying: stale, hackneyed, well-worn, clichéd, stock, trite,
banal, worn out, time-worn, threadbare, hoary, tired, overused,
obsolete, antiquated, finished, old; informal clapped out, old
hat.
play a part in historical events have also played a part in directing
these efforts: contribute to, be instrumental in, be a factor in, be
partly responsible for, have a hand in, be conducive to, make
for, lead to, cause, give rise to; help, promote, advance, further,
forward, oil the wheels of, open the door for, add to; formal
conduce to. ANTONYMS stand in the way of.
play the fool clown about/around, act the clown, act the fool,
fool about/around, mess about/around, monkey about/
around, about/around, joke, play pranks, indulge in horseplay;
informal horse about/around, screw around, puddle about/
around, act the goat, lark about/around; Brit. informal muck
about/around, fanny about/around; Brit. vulgar slang piss
about/around, about/around; dated play the giddy goat.

play the game I don't trust them—they don't always play the game:
play fair, be fair, play by the rules, abide by the rules, follow the
rules, conform, be a good sport, toe the line, keep in step.
play up 1 there were some boys that really did play up: misbehave, be
misbehaved, behave badly, be bad, be naughty, be mischievous,
get up to mischief, be disobedient, be awkward, give/cause/
make trouble; Brit. informal be, be. 2 Brit. informal the boiler's
playing up again: not work properly, be defective, be faulty,
malfunction, act up, give trouble; informal be/go on the blink.
3 Brit. informal his injured leg was playing up: be painful, hurt,
ache, be sore, cause pain, cause discomfort, cause trouble,
annoy; informal kill someone, give someone gyp.
play something up the press has played up the problems:
emphasize, put/lay emphasis on, accentuate, bring/draw/call
attention to, focus attention on, point up, underline,
underscore, highlight, spotlight, foreground, feature, give
prominence to, bring to the fore, heighten, stress, accent.
play up to he's been playing up to her the whole time: ingratiate
oneself with, seek the favour of, try to get on the good side of,
curry favour with, court, fawn on/over, make up to, keep
someone sweet, toady to, crawl to, grovel to, pander to, be
obsequious towards, truckle to, flatter; informal soft-soap, suck

up to, butter up, be all over, lick someone's boots; N. Amer.
informal brown-nose; vulgar slang lick/kiss someone's arse.
noun
1 one must strike a balance between work and play: amusement,
entertainment, relaxation, recreation, enjoyment, pleasure,
diversion, distraction, leisure, fun, games, fun and games;
playfulness, horseplay, skylarking, larks, a good time,
jollification, junketing, merrymaking, revelry; informal living it
up; dated sport. ANTONYMS work.
2 a play by Shakespeare: drama, stage play, stage show, theatrical
work, theatrical piece, radio play, television play, teleplay,
screenplay, comedy, tragedy, farce, sketch; production,
performance, spectacle, show.
3 they have understood the play of the real world: action, activity,
operation, movement, motion, agency, employment, working,
function, functioning, exercise, interaction, interplay.
4 the steering rack was loose, and there was a little play: movement,
freedom of movement, free motion, slack, give; room to
manoeuvre, room to operate, scope, latitude, elbow room,
space, margin.

5 we enable people to give full play to their energy and abilities: scope,
range, latitude, liberty, licence, freedom, indulgence, free rein,
release.
PHRASES
bring into play all of these factors are brought into play in the
strategic planning process: use, employ, exercise, make use of,
utilize, avail oneself of, put to use; practise, apply, bring to bear,
implement, exert, wield.
play on words its very title turns out to be a play on words: pun,
wordplay, double entendre, double meaning, innuendo,
witticism, quip, quibble; rare paronomasia,, amphibology,
pivot,clench, clinch, conundrum, nick, whim.
playboy |ˈpleɪbɔɪ|
noun
a wealthy man who spends his time enjoying himself, especially
one who behaves irresponsibly or is sexually promiscuous. he
isn't the marrying type, he's just a playboy. [ as modifier ] : a playboy
lifestyle.
ORIGIN early 17th cent. (in the sense ‘boy actor’): from play
+ boy. The current sense originated in the early 19th cent. in
Irish English.

playboy
noun
Nigel isn't the marrying type—he's just a playboy: socialite, pleasure
seeker, sybarite; ladies' man, womanizer, philanderer, rake,
roué; rich man about town; informal ladykiller, gay dog; W.
Indian informal saga boy.