Set 15

harassed |ˈharəәst, həәˈrast|
adjective
feeling or looking strained as a result of having too many
demands made on one: it is a godsend for harassed parents.

harass |ˈharəәs, həәˈras|
verb [ with obj. ]
subject to aggressive pressure or intimidation: if someone is being
harassed at work because of their sexuality they should contact the police.

DERIVATIVES
harasser noun,
harassingly adverb

usage: There are two possible pronunciations of the word
harass: one with the stress on the har- and the other with the
stress on the -ass. The former pronunciation is the older one
and is regarded by some people as the only correct one,
especially in British English. However, the pronunciation with
the stress on the second syllable -rass is very common and is
now accepted as a standard alternative.
harassed
adjective
the programme of activities is a godsend for harassed parents: stressed,
strained, frayed, harried, stressed out, worn out, hard-pressed,
careworn, worried, troubled, vexed, beleaguered, agitated,
fretting, distraught; under stress, under pressure, at the end of
one's tether, with one's back to the wall. ANTONYMS carefree.
harass
verb
1 children always harass their mother: pester, badger, hound, harry,
plague, torment, bedevil, persecute, bother, annoy, exasperate,
worry, disturb, trouble, agitate, provoke, vex; stress, stress out,
nag, keep on at, chivvy; tease, bait, molest; informal hassle,
bug, give someone a hard time, drive someone up the wall,
drive someone round the bend; ANTONYMS leave in peace.
2 they were sent to harass the enemy flanks and rear: harry, attack
repeatedly, raid, press hard, beleaguer, set upon, assail,
maraud, ravage, oppress.

bag |bag|
noun
1 a flexible container with an opening at the top, used for
carrying things: brown paper bags.
• the amount contained in a bag: a bag of sugar.
• a woman's handbag. a velvet evening bag.
• a piece of luggage: she began to unpack her bags.
2 (bags) loose folds of skin under a person's eyes. there were dark
bags under her eyes.

verb (bags, bagging, bagged) [ with obj. ]
1 put (something) in a bag: customers bagged their own groceries.
2 succeed in killing or catching (an animal): Mike bagged nineteen
cod.
• succeed in securing (something): we've bagged three awards for
excellence | get there early to bag a seat in the front row.

PHRASES
bag and baggage with all one's belongings: he threw her out bag
and baggage.
in the bag informal 1 (of something desirable) as good as
secured: the election is in the bag.
DERIVATIVES
bagful noun (pl.bagfuls) ,
bagger noun
ORIGIN Middle English: perhaps from Old Norse baggi .

interview |ˈɪntəәvjuː|
noun
a meeting of people face to face, especially for consultation.
• a conversation between a journalist or radio or television
presenter and a person of public interest, used as the basis of a
broadcast or publication: a half-hour interview with the prime
minister.
• an oral examination of an applicant for a job, college place,
etc.: I am pleased to advise you that you have been selected for interview.
• a session of formal questioning of a person by the police.
verb [ with obj. ]
hold an interview with (someone): she was interviewed by a reporter
from the Daily News | police are keen to interview two men seen nearby.
• [ no obj., with adverbial ] perform (well or badly) at an
interview.
DERIVATIVES
interviewee |-vjuːˈiː| noun,
interviewer noun
ORIGIN early 16th cent. (formerly also as enterview): from
French entrevue, from s'entrevoir ‘see each other’, from
voir ‘to see’, on the pattern of vue ‘a view’.

put-up
adjective [ attrib. ]
arranged beforehand in order to deceive someone: the whole
thing could be a put-up job to get his wife over to Ireland.

deceive |dɪˈsiːv|
verb [ with obj. ]
deliberately cause (someone) to believe something that is not
true, especially for personal gain: I didn't intend to deceive people
into thinking it was French champagne.

board |bɔːd|
noun
1 a long, thin, flat piece of wood or other hard material, used
for floors or other building purposes: loose boards creaked as I
walked on them | [ mass noun ] : sections of board.

2 a thin, flat piece of wood or other stiff material used for
various purposes, in particular:
• a vertical surface on which to write or pin notices. teachers talk
and write on the board.
• a horizontal surface on which to cut things, play games, or
perform other activities. Pete set the pieces out on the board.
• a flat insulating sheet used as a mounting for an electronic
circuit: a graphics board.
• the piece of equipment on which a person stands in surfing,
skateboarding, snowboarding, and certain other sports. you kick-
turn with both feet on the board.
• (boards) pieces of thick stiff card used for book covers.
• (boards) the structure, typically of wood surmounted with
panels of glass, surrounding an ice-hockey rink.
3 [ treated as sing. or pl. ] a group of people constituted as the
decision-making body of an organization: he sits on the board of
directors | [ as modifier ] : a board meeting.
4 [ mass noun ] the provision of regular meals when one stays
somewhere, in return for payment or services: board and lodging.
• [ count noun ] archaic a table set for a meal. he looked at the
banquet which was spread upon his board.

5 Sailing a distance covered by a vessel in a single tack. we were
tacking up to the anchor, shortening cable at each board.
verb
1 [ with obj. ] get on or into (a ship, aircraft, or other vehicle):
we boarded the plane for Oslo | [ no obj. ] : they would not be able to
board without a ticket.
• (be boarding) (of an aircraft) be ready for passengers to get
on: Flight 172 to Istanbul is now boarding.
2 [ no obj. ] live and receive regular meals in a house in return
for payment or services: the cousins boarded for a while with Ruby.
• (of a pupil) live in school during term time. parents had to cope
with their child boarding at a special school.
• [ with obj. ] provide (a person or animal) with regular meals
and somewhere to live in return for payment: dogs may have to be
boarded at kennels.
3 [ with obj. ] (board something up/over) cover or seal a
window or building with pieces of wood: the shop was still boarded
up.
4 [ no obj. ] ride on a snowboard. when we're not boarding, we're
skiing.

PHRASES
go by the board (of something planned or previously upheld)
be abandoned, rejected, or ignored: my education just went by the
board.[earlier in nautical use on board on or in a ship, aircraft, or other vehicle. a plane
crashed with three people on board
ORIGIN Old English bord, of Germanic origin; related to
Dutch boord and German Bort; reinforced in Middle English
by Old French bort ‘edge, ship's side’ and Old Norse borth
‘board, table’.

board
noun

1 a wooden board: plank, beam, panel, slat, batten, timber, length
of timber, piece of wood, lath.
2 the board of directors: committee, council, panel, directorate,
commission, group, delegation, delegates, trustees, panel of
trustees, convocation; Brit. quango.
3 your room and board will be free: food, meals, daily meals,
provisions, sustenance, nourishment, fare, diet, menu, table,
bread, daily bread, foodstuffs, refreshments, edibles; keep,
maintenance, upkeep; Scottish vivas; informal grub, nosh,
eats, chow, scoff; formal comestibles, provender; archaic vittles,
commons, victuals, viands, aliment.
verb
1 he had boarded the aircraft: get on, enter, go on board, go aboard,
step aboard, climb on, mount, ascend, embark; catch; informal
hop on, jump on; formal emplane, entrain, embus.
ANTONYMS alight, get off.
2 a number of his students boarded with him and his wife: lodge, live,
reside, have rooms, be quartered, be housed, be settled, have
one's home; N. Amer. room; informal put up, have digs.
3 the old system of boarding young trainees on the farm has virtually
disappeared: accommodate, lodge, take in, put up, house, billet,
quarter, harbour, provide shelter for, shelter, give a bed to, give
someone a roof over their head, make room for, give
accommodation to, receive; keep, feed, cater for, cook for.
noun [ mass noun ]
temporary accommodation: a fee for board and lodging.
• [ count noun ] (usu. lodgings) a room or rooms rented out to
someone, usually in the same residence as the owner: he was
looking for lodgings and a job.

lodge |lɒdʒ|
noun
1 a small house at the gates of a park or in the grounds of a
large house, occupied by a gatekeeper, gardener, or other
employee.
• a small country house occupied in season for sports such as
hunting, shooting, or skiing. a hunting lodge.
• [ in names ] a large house or hotel: Cumberland Lodge.
• a porter's quarters at the main entrance of a college or other
large building.

• the residence of a head of a college, especially at Cambridge.
he dined at the Master's Lodge.
• an American Indian tent or wigwam.
• a beaver's den.
2 a branch or meeting place of an organization such as the
Freemasons. [ in names ] : the foundation of the Grand Lodge of
England.
verb
1 [ with obj. ] present (a complaint, appeal, claim, etc.)
formally to the proper authorities: he has 28 days in which to lodge
an appeal.
• (lodge something in/with) leave money or a valuable item
in (a place) or with (someone) for safekeeping. the money is lodged
in a bank.
2 [ with adverbial of place ] make or become firmly fixed or
embedded in a place: [ with obj. ] : they had to remove a bullet
lodged near his spine | [ no obj. ] figurative : the image had lodged in
her mind.
3 [ no obj., with adverbial ] rent accommodation in another
person's house: the man who lodged in the room next door.

• [ with obj. and adverbial ] provide (someone) with
accommodation in return for payment. she was lodged in the same
hall.
ORIGIN Middle English loge, via Old French loge ‘arbour,
hut’ from medieval Latin laubia, lobia (see lobby), of
Germanic origin; related to German Laube ‘arbour’.
lodging
noun
she lives in sumptuous lodging in London | he lived alone in a tiny
lodging: accommodation, rooms, chambers, living quarters,
quarters, apartments; place, place to stay, place of residence,
establishment, flat, suite; shelter, board, housing; a roof over
one's head; informal digs, pad; formal abode, residence,
dwelling, dwelling place, habitation.

lodge
noun
1 the porter's lodge: gatehouse, cottage, toll house.
2 a hunting lodge: house, cottage, cabin, chalet;

verb
1 William lodged at our house: reside, board, stay, have lodgings,
have rooms, take a room, put up, live, be quartered, stop;
occupy;
2 Mrs Gould, her maid, and the baby were lodged at an inn in Newcastle:
accommodate, provide accommodation for, put up, take in,
house, board, billet, quarter, shelter, harbour, provide shelter
for; cater for, entertain.
3 I intend to lodge an official complaint: submit, register, enter, put
forward, place, advance, lay, present, press, bring, prefer,
tender, proffer, put on record, record, table, file.
4 the trophy was lodged in the vault of a local bank: deposit, put,
bank, entrust, consign; stash, store, stow, put away, lay in,
squirrel away; rare reposit.

expensive |ɪkˈspɛnsɪv, ɛk-|
adjective
costing a lot of money: keeping a horse is expensive | an expensive
bottle of wine.
DERIVATIVES
expensively adverb,
expensiveness noun
ORIGIN early 17th cent. (in the sense ‘lavish, extravagant’):
from Latin expens- ‘paid out’, from the verb expendere (see
expend), + -ive.
expensive
adjective
an expensive restaurant: costly, dear, high-priced, high-cost,
exorbitant, extortionate, overpriced; immoderate, extravagant,
lavish; valuable, precious, priceless, worth its weight in gold,
worth a king's ransom; ANTONYMS cheap;economical.
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.
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.
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;
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;

perhaps |pəәˈhaps|
adverb
used to express uncertainty or possibility: perhaps I should have
been frank with him.
• used when one does not wish to be too definite or assertive in
the expression of an opinion: perhaps not surprisingly, he was
cautious about committing himself.
• used when making a polite request, offer, or suggestion: would
you perhaps consent to act as our guide?
ORIGIN late 15th cent.: from per + hap.
perhaps
adverb
perhaps he'll come tomorrow: maybe, for all I know, for all you
know, it could be (that), it may be (that), it is possible (that),
possibly, conceivably, feasibly;

scandalize 1 |ˈskand(əә)lʌɪz| (also scandalise)
verb [ with obj. ]
shock or horrify (someone) by a real or imagined violation of
propriety or morality: their lack of manners scandalized their hosts.
ORIGIN late 15th cent. (in the sense ‘make a public
scandal of’): from French scandaliser or ecclesiastical Latin
scandalizare, from Greek skandalizein .

scandalize
verb
Henry is said to have been scandalized by William's conduct: shock,
appal, outrage, horrify, disgust, revolt, repel, sicken, nauseate;
offend, give offence to, affront, insult, cause raised eyebrows.
ANTONYMS impress.

provided |prəәˈvʌɪdɪd|
conjunction
on the condition or understanding that: cutting corners was
acceptable, provided that you could get away with it.
provide |prəәˈvʌɪd|
verb
1 [ with obj. ] make available for use; supply: these clubs provide a
much appreciated service for this area.
• (provide someone with) equip or supply someone with
(something useful or necessary): we were provided with a map of the
area.
• present or yield (something useful): neither will provide answers to
these problems.
2 [ no obj. ] (provide for) make adequate preparation for (a
possible event): new qualifications must provide for changes in
technology.
• supply sufficient money to ensure the maintenance of
(someone): Emma was handsomely provided for in Frannie's will.
• (of a law) enable or allow (something to be done). the Bill
provides for the setting of guaranteed service standards.

ORIGIN late Middle English (also in the sense ‘prepare to do,
get ready’): from Latin providere ‘foresee, attend to’, from
pro- ‘before’ + videre ‘to see’.
provided
conjunction
the clove-pink needs no special cultivation, provided it has well-drained
soil: if, on condition that, providing (that), provided that,
presuming (that), assuming (that), on the assumption that, as
long as, given (that), with the provision/proviso that, with/on
the understanding that, if and only if, contingent on, in the
event that, allowing that.
provide
verb
1 the government refused to provide money for the project: supply, give,
issue, furnish, lay out, come up with, dispense, bestow, impart,
produce, yield, bring forth, bear, deliver, donate, contribute,
pledge, advance, spare, part with, allocate, distribute, allot,
assign, put forward, put up, proffer, present, extend, render;
ANTONYMS refuse; withhold.
2 please provide her with the necessary documents: equip, furnish, issue,
supply, outfit; fit out, rig out, kit out, arm, array, attire,
accoutre, provision, stock, purvey, accommodate, bestow,
favour, endow, present; informal fix up. ANTONYMS deprive.
3 the work at least enabled him to provide for his family: feed,
nurture, nourish, give food to, provide board for; support,
maintain, keep, sustain, provide sustenance for, fend for,
finance, endow; take care of, care for, look after. ANTONYMS
neglect.
4 this procedure can provide an opportunity for testing opinion: make
available, present, offer, afford, accord, give, add, bring, yield,
impart, bestow, confer, lend.
5 we have provided for further restructuring: prepare, allow, make
provision, make preparations, be prepared, anticipate, arrange,
make arrangements, get ready, plan, make plans, cater.
6 the forces of nature which no human foresight can provide against :
take precautions, take steps/measures, guard, forearm oneself;
make provision for.
7 the contract provides that the tenants are responsible for house repairs:
stipulate, lay down, have as a condition, make it a condition,
require, order, ordain, demand, prescribe, state, set out, specify.

crashing |ˈkraʃɪŋ|
adjective informal
complete; total (used for emphasis): a crashing bore.
DERIVATIVES
crashingly adverb
crash 1 |kraʃ|
verb
1 [ no obj. ] (of a vehicle) collide violently with an obstacle or
another vehicle: a racing car had crashed, wrecking a safety barrier |
the stolen car she was riding in crashed into a tree.
• [ with obj. ] cause (a vehicle) to collide violently with
something. they crashed a lorry through a fence.
• (of an aircraft) fall from the sky and hit the land or sea: a jet
crashed 200 yards from the school.
• [ with obj. ] cause (an aircraft) to fall from the sky. the test pilot
crashed a Hurricane fighter plane.
2 move or cause to move with force, speed, and sudden loud
noise: [ no obj., with adverbial of direction ] : huge waves crashed
down on to us | [ with obj. and adverbial of direction ] : she
crashed down the telephone receiver.
• [ no obj. ] make a sudden loud noise: the thunder crashed.
3 [ no obj. ] informal (of shares, a business, etc.) suddenly drop
in value or fail: the shares crashed to 329p.
• be heavily defeated in a sporting competition: Barcelona crashed
out of the European Cup.
4 [ no obj. ] (of a computer, computing system, or software) fail
suddenly. the project was postponed because the computer crashed.
• chiefly N. Amer.(of a patient) suffer a cardiac arrest.

5 [ with obj. ] informal enter (a party) without an invitation;
gatecrash.
• illegally pass (a red traffic light). the cab driver crashed the lights.
noun
1 a violent collision, typically of one vehicle with another or
with an object: a car crash.
• an instance of an aircraft falling from the sky to hit the land
or sea. a pilot who survived the crash of his plane.
2 a sudden loud noise as of something breaking or hitting
another object: he slammed the phone down with a crash.
3 a sudden disastrous drop in the value or price of something:
the 1987 stock-market crash.
• the sudden failure of a business. the crash of the company meant
that 150 jobs would go.
4 a sudden failure which puts a computer system out of action.
system crashes are an everyday hazard.
adjective [ attrib. ]
done rapidly or urgently and involving a concentrated effort: a
crash course in Italian.
adverb
with a sudden loud sound: crash went the bolt.

crash
verb
1 the car crashed into a tree: smash into, collide with, be in
collision with, come into collision with, hit, strike, ram, smack
into, slam into, bang into, cannon into, plough into, meet
head-on, run into, drive into, bump into, knock into, crack
into/against; dash against;
2 he has crashed his car again: smash, wreck, bump;
3 burning timbers crashed to the ground: fall, plunge, hurtle,
plummet, topple, tumble, overbalance, pitch.
4 waves crashed against the shore: be hurled, dash; batter,
pound, pummel, lash, slam into.
5 he crashed down the telephone receiver: slam, bang, ram, smack.

6 thunder crashed overhead: boom, crack, roll, clap, explode, bang,
blast, resound, reverberate, rumble, thunder, ring out, sound
loudly, blare, echo, fill the air; clash, clang, clank, clatter,
smash.
7 he used up his fortune repaying creditors after his clothing company
crashed: fail, collapse, fold (up), go under, founder, be ruined,
cave in; go bankrupt, become insolvent, cease trading, go into
receivership, go into liquidation, be liquidated, be wound up,
be closed (down), be shut (down);
noun
1 there was a crash on the main road: accident, collision, smash,
bump, car crash, car accident, road accident, traffic accident,
road traffic accident, RTA, multiple crash, multiple collision;
rail accident, derailment; air accident, air crash; N. Amer.
wreck;
2 I heard the crash when you knocked the statue over: bang, smash,
smack, crack, boom, bump, thud, thump, slam, clunk, clonk,
clash, clang; report, explosion, detonation, shot; clangour,
racket, din;
3 the crash of the company meant that 150 jobs would go: failure,
collapse, foundering, ruin, ruination; bankruptcy, insolvency,
cessation of trading, receivership, liquidation, winding up,
closure, shutting.
adjective
a crash course in diesel engine maintenance: intensive, concentrated,
telescoped, high-pressure, strenuous, vigorous, all-out,
thorough, in-depth, all-absorbing, total-immersion, rapid,
urgent. ANTONYMS extensive.
creak |kriːk|
verb [ no obj. ]
1 (of an object, typically a wooden one) make a scraping or
squeaking sound when being moved or when pressure is
applied: the stairs creaked as she went up them | [ with
complement ] : the garden gate creaked open.
2 show weakness or frailty under strain: the system started to creak.
noun
a scraping or squeaking sound. the creak of a floorboard broke the
silence.

DERIVATIVES
creakingly adverb
ORIGIN Middle English (as a verb in the sense ‘croak’):
imitative.

creak
verb
the floorboards creaked: squeak, groan, grate; screech, squeal,
grind, jar, rasp, rub, scrape; complain.

rot |rɒt|
verb (rots, rotting, rotted)
1 (chiefly of animal or vegetable matter) decay or cause to
decay by the action of bacteria and fungi; decompose: [ no
obj. ] : the chalets were neglected and their woodwork was rotting
away | [ with obj. ] : caries sets in at a weak point and spreads to rot
the whole tooth.
• [ no obj. ] gradually deteriorate, especially through neglect:
the education system has been allowed to rot.
noun [ mass noun ]
1 the process of decaying: the leaves were turning black with rot.
• rotten or decayed matter.
• [ usu. with modifier ] any of a number of fungal or bacterial
diseases that cause tissue deterioration, especially in plants.
• (often the rot) liver rot in sheep.
2 (the rot) Brit.a process of deterioration; a decline in
standards: there is enough talent in the team to stop the rot.
• UScorruption on the part of officials.

ORIGIN Old English rotian (verb), of Germanic origin; related
to Dutch rotten; the noun (Middle English) may have come
via Scandinavian.

rot
verb
1 the floorboards in the centre of the room had rotted: decay,
decompose, disintegrate, crumble, become rotten; corrode,
perish.
2 the meat was beginning to rot: go bad, go off, spoil; go sour,
moulder, go mouldy, taint; putrefy, fester, become gangrenous,
mortify;
3 poor city neighbourhoods have been left to rot for years: deteriorate,
degenerate, decline, decay, fall into decay, go to rack and ruin,
become dilapidated, go to seed, go downhill, languish,
moulder; informal go to pot, go to the dogs, go down the toilet.
ANTONYMS recover, improve.
noun
1 the leaves were turning black with rot: decay, decomposition;
corrosion; mould, mouldiness, mildew, blight, canker;
putrefaction, putrescence; wet rot, dry rot.

2 staunch defenders of traditionalism argued that the rot set in with Van
Gogh and Gauguin: deterioration, decline; corruption, canker,
cancer.
3 informal stop talking rot: nonsense, rubbish, balderdash,
gibberish, claptrap, blarney, blather, blether; informal hogwash,
baloney, tripe, drivel, bilge, bosh, bull, bunk, hot air, eyewash,
piffle, poppycock, phooey, hooey, malarkey, twaddle, guff,
dribble; ANTONYMS sense.
WORD LINKS
sapro- related prefix, as in saprogenic
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.

rustle |ˈrʌs(əә)l|
verb
1 [ no obj. ] make a soft, muffled crackling sound like that
caused by the movement of dry leaves or paper: she came closer,
her skirt swaying and rustling.
• [ with adverbial of direction ] move with a rustling sound: a
nurse rustled in.
• [ with obj. ] cause (something) to make a rustling sound: Dolly
rustled the paper irritably.
2 [ with obj. ] round up and steal (cattle, horses, or sheep). a
murdered rancher whose cattle were being rustled. (as noun rustling) :
horse rustling is a growing problem.
3 [ no obj. ] N. Amer. informal move or act quickly or
energetically; hustle: rustle around the kitchen, see what there is.
noun
a soft, muffled crackling sound like that made by the movement
of dry leaves or paper: there was a rustle in the undergrowth behind
her.
PHRASAL VERBS
rustle something up informal produce something quickly
when it is needed: see if you can rustle up a cup of tea for Paula and
me, please.

DERIVATIVES
rustler nounrustle ( sense 2 of the verb)
ORIGIN late Middle English (as a verb): imitative; compare
with Flemish rijsselen and Dutch ritselen. The noun dates
from the mid 18th cent.
rustle
verb
1 the wind rustled lightly through the cottonwoods | her dress of white
satin rustled as she walked: swish, whisper, sigh, whoosh; rare
susurrate.
2 he was making a lucrative living rustling cattle: steal, thieve, take,
abduct, kidnap.
PHRASES
rustle something up informal prepare hastily, produce,
make, put together; informal fix;
noun
he could hear the soft rustle of her skirt: swish, swishing, whisper,
whispering, rustling; rare susurration, susurrus.


foul |faʊl|
adjective
1 offensive to the senses, especially through having a disgusting
smell or taste or being dirty: a foul odour | his foul breath.
• informal very disagreeable or unpleasant: the news had put
Michelle in a foul mood.
2 wicked or immoral: murder most foul.
• (of language) obscene. foul oaths. foul language.
• done contrary to the rules of a sport: a foul tackle.
3 containing or full of noxious matter; polluted: foul, swampy
water.
• (foul with) clogged or choked with: the land was foul with weeds.
• Nautical (of a rope or anchor) entangled.
• (of a ship's bottom) overgrown with weed, barnacles, or
similar matter.
4 (of the weather) wet and stormy. he walked in fair and foul
weather. the weather turned foul.
• Sailing (of wind or tide) opposed to one's desired course. it
sometimes becomes advantageous to anchor during the periods of foul tide.
noun
(in sport) an unfair or invalid stroke or piece of play, especially
one involving interference with an opponent. the midfielder was
booked for a foul on Ford.
• a collision or entanglement in riding, rowing, or running.
adverb
contrary to the rules; unfairly.
verb [ with obj. ]
1 make foul or dirty; pollute: factories which fouled the atmosphere.
• (of an animal) make (something) dirty with excrement: make
sure that your pet never fouls paths.
• (foul oneself) (of a person) defecate involuntarily.
2 (in sport) commit a foul against (an opponent). United claim
their keeper was fouled.
3 (of a ship) collide with or interfere with the passage of
(another). the ships became overcrowded and fouled each other.
• cause (a cable, anchor, or other object) to become entangled
or jammed: watch out for driftwood which might foul up the engine.
PHRASES
foul one's (own) nest do something damaging or harmful to
oneself or one's own interests. we seem to have fouled our own nest,
running up huge debts and deficits.

PHRASAL VERBS
foul something up (or foul up)make a mistake with or spoil
something: leaders should admit when they foul things up.
DERIVATIVES
foully adverb,
foulness noun
ORIGIN Old English fūl, of Germanic origin; related to Old
Norse fúll ‘foul’, Dutch vuil ‘dirty’, and German faul
‘rotten, lazy’, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin
pus,Greek puos ‘pus’, and Latin putere ‘to stink’.
foul
adjective
1 the skunk produces a foul stench: disgusting, revolting, repellent,
repulsive, repugnant, abhorrent, loathsome, offensive,
detestable, awful, dreadful, horrible, terrible, horrendous,
hideous, appalling, atrocious, vile, abominable, frightful,
sickening, nauseating, nauseous, stomach-churning, stomach-
turning, off-putting, uninviting, unpalatable, unappetizing,
unsavoury, distasteful, nasty, obnoxious, objectionable, odious;
noxious, evil-smelling, foul-smelling, smelly, stinking, high,
rank ANTONYMS fragrant.
2 get your foul clothes out of my bedroom: dirty, filthy, mucky, grimy,
grubby, stained, dirt-encrusted, muddy, muddied, unclean,
unwashed; squalid, sordid, shabby, sleazy, nasty, soiled, sullied,
scummy; rotten, defiled, decaying, putrid, putrefied, smelly,
fetid;
3 she's been foul to poor Adam: unkind, unfriendly, disagreeable,
inconsiderate, uncharitable, rude, churlish, spiteful, malicious,
mean, mean-spirited, ill-tempered, ill-natured, ill-humoured,
bad-tempered, hostile, vicious, malevolent, evil-minded, surly,
obnoxious, poisonous, venomous, vindictive, malign,
malignant, cantankerous, hateful, hurtful, cruel, wounding,
abusive;ANTONYMS kind.
4 foul weather: inclement, unpleasant, disagreeable, dirty, nasty,
rough, bad; stormy, squally, gusty, windy, blustery, blowy, wild,
rainy, wet; foggy, misty, gloomy, murky, overcast, louring.
ANTONYMS fair.
5 foul drinking water was blamed for the outbreak: contaminated,
polluted, adulterated, infected, tainted, defiled, impure, filthy,
dirty, unclean;  ANTONYMS clean.
6 he was booked for a foul tackle in the 67th minute: unfair, against the
rules, illegal, unsporting, unsportsmanlike, below the belt, dirty,
dishonourable, dishonest, underhand, unscrupulous, unjust,
unprincipled, immoral, crooked, fraudulent; informal shady.
ANTONYMS fair.
verb
1 every stream was being fouled with chemical waste: dirty, soil, stain,
blacken, muddy, begrime, splash, spatter, smear, befoul,
besmirch, blight, defile, make filthy, infect, pollute,
contaminate, poison, taint, adulterate, sully;
2 the vessel had fouled her nets: tangle up, entangle, snarl, catch,
entwine, enmesh, twist, tangle.
3 the rivers have been fouled by silt: clog, choke, block, jam, obstruct,
congest, bung up, dam (up), plug, silt up, stop up, seal, fill up,
close; informal gunge up;

fool 1 |fuːl|
noun
1 a person who acts unwisely or imprudently; a silly person: I
felt a bit of a fool.
2 historical a jester or clown, especially one retained in a royal
or noble household.
verb
1 [ with obj. ] trick or deceive (someone); dupe: don't be fooled
into paying out any more of your hard-earned cash | she tried to fool
herself that she had stopped loving him.
2 [ no obj. ] act in a joking, frivolous, or teasing way: some lads
in the pool were fooling around.
adjective [ attrib. ] informal
foolish; silly: that damn fool waiter.
PHRASES
be no (or nobody's) fool be a shrewd or prudent person.
a fool and his money are soon parted proverb a foolish
person spends money carelessly and will soon be penniless.
fools rush in where angels fear to tread proverb people
without good sense or judgement will have no hesitation in
tackling a situation that even the wisest would avoid.
ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French fol ‘fool, foolish’,
from Latin follis ‘bellows, windbag’, by extension ‘empty-
headed person’.

fool
noun
1 you've acted like a complete fool: idiot, ass, halfwit, nincompoop,
blockhead, buffoon, dunce, dolt, ignoramus, cretin, imbecile,
dullard, moron, simpleton, clod; informal dope, ninny, chump,
dimwit, goon, dumbo, dummy, dum-dum, dumb-bell, loon,
jackass, bonehead, fathead, numbskull, dunderhead,
chucklehead, knucklehead, muttonhead, pudding-head,
thickhead, wooden-head, airhead, pinhead, lamebrain, pea-
brain, birdbrain, zombie, jerk, nerd, dipstick, donkey, noodle;
Brit. informal nit, nitwit, numpty, twit, clot, goat, plonker, berk,
prat, pillock, wally, git, wazzock, divvy, nerk, dork, twerp,
charlie, mug.
2 she always makes a fool of him: laughing stock, dupe, butt, gull,
pushover, easy mark, tool, cat's paw;
verb
1 he found he'd been fooled by a schoolboy: deceive, trick, play a trick
on, hoax, dupe, take in, mislead, delude, hoodwink, bluff,
beguile, gull, make a fool of, outwit; swindle, defraud, cheat,
double-cross; informal con, bamboozle, pull a fast one on, pull
someone's leg, take for a ride, pull the wool over someone's
eyes, throw dust in someone's eyes, put one over on, have on,
diddle, fiddle, swizzle, rip off, do, sting, gyp, shaft;
2 she screamed but they thought she was fooling: pretend, make
believe, feign, put on an act, act, sham, fake, counterfeit; tease,
joke, jest, play tricks, clown about/around, play the fool;
informal kid, mess about/around;
3 she fooled around with a bunch of keys while she spoke: fiddle,
play (about/around), toy, trifle, meddle, tamper, interfere,
monkey about/around; informal mess about/around;
4 informal my husband's been fooling around behind my back:
philander, womanize, flirt, have an affair, commit adultery;
informal play around, mess about/around, carry on, play the
field, play away, sleep around, swing;
flour |ˈflaʊəә|
noun [ mass noun ]
a powder obtained by grinding grain, typically wheat, and used
to make bread, cakes, and pastry.
• fine, soft powder obtained by grinding the seeds or roots of
starchy vegetables: manioc flour.
verb [ with obj. ]

1 sprinkle (something, especially a work surface or cooking
utensil) with a thin layer of flour.
ORIGIN Middle English: a specific use of flower in the sense
‘the best part’, used originally to mean ‘the finest quality of
ground wheat’. The spelling flower remained in use alongside
flour until the early 19th cent.
flourish
verb
1 rainforests flourish because of the heat and the rain: grow, thrive,
prosper, grow/do well, develop, burgeon, increase, multiply,
proliferate; spring up, shoot up, bloom, blossom, bear fruit,
burst forth, run riot; put on a spurt, boom, mushroom.
ANTONYMS die; wither.
2 the arts flourished in this period: thrive, prosper, bloom, be in good
shape, be in good health, be well, be strong, be vigorous, be in
its heyday; progress, make progress, advance, make headway,
develop, improve, become better, mature; evolve, make strides,
move forward (in leaps and bounds), move ahead, get ahead,
expand; informal be in the pink, go places, go great guns, get
somewhere. ANTONYMS decline.

3 he flourished the sword at them in a mocking salute: brandish, wave,
shake, wield, raise, hold aloft; swing, twirl, wag, swish, flap;
display, exhibit, flaunt, vaunt, parade, show off.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORD
flourish, thrive, prosper
All three words denote a healthy or successful state.
■ Flourish and thrive both mean ‘grow healthily’ or ‘be
successful, active, or widespread’, and are used
especially of plants, but also of people (either physically
or emotionally), animals, businesses, activities, and
abstract things such as ideas and movements (only
algae will thrive in such an environment | Macedonian
religious and cultural life continued to flourish under the
Byzantines). Both are often found in their adjectival
forms, flourishing and thriving, which predominantly
have a financial sense (he joined his father's thriving
business).
■ Thrive is also used with on in a sense tending towards
‘enjoy’ (the kind of plants that thrive on heat and dust |
he is the kind of person who thrives on arguments).

■ Prosper is used of people and groups of people and
refers mainly to material or financial success (the
company has grown and prospered). Although the
adjective prosperous is an everyday word, to prosper
can have a slightly.
refuse 1 |rɪˈfjuːz|
verb [ no obj., with infinitive ]
indicate or show that one is not willing to do something: I
refused to answer | [ no obj. ] : he was severely beaten when he refused.
• [ with obj. ] indicate that one is not willing to accept or grant
(something offered or requested): she refused a cigarette | [ with
two objs ] : the old lady was refused admission to four hospitals.
• informal (of a thing) fail to perform a required action: the car
refused to start.


• [ with obj. ] (of a horse) stop short or run aside at (a fence or
other obstacle) instead of jumping it. her horse refused a high hedge.
[ no obj. ] : again the horse refused, his nostrils flaring with fear.
DERIVATIVES
refuser noun
ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French refuser, probably
an alteration of Latin recusare ‘to refuse’, influenced by
refutare ‘refute’.
refuse 2 |ˈrɛfjuːs|
noun [ mass noun ]
matter thrown away or rejected as worthless; rubbish: heaps of
refuse | [ as modifier ] : refuse collection.
ORIGIN late Middle English: perhaps from Old French
refusé ‘refused’, past participle of refuser (see refuse 1 ) .
refuse 1 |(stress on the second syllable)|
verb
1 he refused their invitation to lunch: decline, turn down, say no to;
reject, spurn, scorn, rebuff, disdain, repudiate, dismiss, repulse;
shake one's head, send one's regrets; baulk at, demur at, protest
at, jib at, draw the line at; informal pass up; Brit. informal
knock back. ANTONYMS accept.

2 the Council refused planning permission: withhold, not grant,
disapprove, deny, discountenance; informal give the thumbs
down to. ANTONYMS grant.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORD
refuse, decline, reject, spurn
These words all share the basic meaning of saying ‘no’
to something, but they can also convey how or why it
was said.
■ Refuse is the most neutral word for simply saying ‘no’
to a request, suggestion, or offer (I refused to answer
their questions | he must refuse any food offered him).
Refuse is the only one of these words that can have two
objects (the USA had refused him an entry visa).
■ To decline something is to refuse it politely and rather
formally (I am sorry to have to decline your offer). Decline
and refuse are the only two of these words that can
followed by an infinitive (he declined to speculate about
a cancer cure).
■ Reject suggests that what is on offer is felt to be not
good enough (an article which her editor had rejected). It
is also used, especially in official contexts, when a
request is not granted (the coroner rejected a request to
submit a technical report). Reject is also used of the
body's immune system response to a transplanted
organ.
■ Spurn suggests disdain or contempt (the opposition
spurned an invitation to participate in a coalition
government | she cut herself off from us and spurned our
forgiveness), although nowadays journalists often use it
in a weaker sense (pensions managers may spurn
equities). Both spurn and reject are also used of refusing
affection to someone who used to be or might be
expected to be the object of it (a spurned lover | he was
reared on the bottle, having been completely rejected by
his mother).
These notes show fine distinctions in meaning between
closely related synonyms to help you find the best word.

refuse 2 |(stress on the first syllable)|
noun
dogs nosed around in piles of refuse: rubbish, waste, debris, litter,
garbage, discarded matter, detritus, dross, landfill, scrap,
rubble, slag, spoilage, sullage, sewage, slop; dregs, lees, leavings,
leftovers, sweepings;
assent |əәˈsɛnt|
noun [ mass noun ]
the expression of approval or agreement: a loud murmur of assent
| he nodded assent.
• official agreement or sanction: the act was given the Royal Assent.
verb [ no obj. ] (often assent to)
express approval or agreement: the Prime Minister assented to the
change | [ with direct speech ] : ‘Guest house, then,’ Frank assented
cheerfully.
DERIVATIVES
assenter (also assentor)noun
ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French as(s)enter (verb),
as(s)ente (noun), based on Latin assentire, from ad-
‘towards’ + sentire ‘feel, think’.

assent
noun
a loud murmur of assent: agreement, acceptance, approval,
approbation, consent, acquiescence, compliance, concurrence;
blessing, imprimatur, seal/stamp of approval, rubber stamp;
sanction, endorsement, ratification, authorization, mandate,
licence, validation; confirmation, support, backing; permission,
leave; informal the go-ahead, the green light, the OK, the
thumbs up, the nod, say-so. ANTONYMS dissent; refusal.
verb
the Prime Minister assented to the change: agree to, accept,
approve, consent to, acquiesce in, concur in, accede to, give
one's blessing to, bless, give one's seal/stamp of approval to,
rubber-stamp, say yes to; ratify, sanction, endorse, authorize,
mandate, license, warrant, validate, pass; confirm, support,
back; give one's permission/leave; informal give the go-ahead
to, give the green light to, give the OK to, OK, give the
thumbs up to, give the nod, say the word, buy. ANTONYMS
dissent from; refuse.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORD
assent, agree, consent, acquiesce
See agree.

These notes show fine distinctions in meaning between
closely related synonyms to help you find the best word.
except |ɪkˈsɛpt, ɛk-|
preposition
not including; other than: I was naked except for my socks | they
work every day except Sunday.
conjunction
used before a statement that forms an exception to one just
made: I didn't tell him anything, except that I needed the money | our
berets were the same except mine was blue.

ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin except- ‘taken out’,
from the verb excipere, from ex- ‘out of’ + capere ‘take’.

except
preposition
the shop is open every day except Monday | there was no sound except
for the rain: excluding, not including, excepting, omitting,
leaving out, not counting, but, besides, barring, bar, other than,
exclusive of, saving, save, apart from, aside from; with the
exception of, with the omission of, with the exclusion of;
ANTONYMS including.
verb
you're all crooks, present company excepted: exclude, omit, leave out,
rule out, count out, disregard, pass over, bar. ANTONYMS
include.

ascent |əәˈsɛnt|
noun [ usu. in sing. ]
1 a climb or walk to the summit of a mountain or hill: the first
ascent of the Matterhorn.
• an upward slope or path that one may walk or climb: the ascent
grew steeper.
2 an instance of rising or moving up through the air: the first
balloon ascent was in 1783.
• a rise to a higher social or professional rank: his ascent to
power.
ORIGIN late 16th cent.: from ascend, on the pattern of the
pair of descend, descent.

ascent
noun
1 the first ascent of the Matterhorn: climb, scaling, conquest,
scramble, clamber, trek. ANTONYMS descent.
2 a balloon ascent: rise, upward movement, take-off, lift-off,
launch, blast-off, climb, levitation, soaring; jump, leap;
Christianity Ascension. ANTONYMS descent, drop.
3 the ascent grew steeper: (upward) slope, incline, ramp, rise, bank,
tilt, slant, upward gradient, inclination, acclivity. ANTONYMS
descent, drop.

bail  |beɪl|
noun [ mass noun ]
the temporary release of an accused person awaiting trial,
sometimes on condition that a sum of money is lodged to
guarantee their appearance in court: he has been released on bail.
• money paid by or for someone in order to secure their release
on bail. they feared the financier would be tempted to forfeit the £10
million bail and flee.

verb [ with obj. ]
release or secure the release of (a prisoner) on payment of bail:
nine were bailed on drugs charges | [ with obj. and infinitive ] : he
was bailed to appear at Durham Crown Court.
DERIVATIVES
bailable adjective
ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French, literally ‘custody,
jurisdiction’, from bailler ‘take charge of’, from Latin
bajulare ‘bear a burden’.

PHRASAL VERBS
bail out 
make an emergency parachute descent from an
aircraft.
• withdraw from an obligation or commitment: she felt
ready to bail out of the corporate rat race.
bail someone/thing out 
rescue someone or something from
a difficulty: the state will not bail out loss-making enterprises.
DERIVATIVES
bailer noun
ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from obsolete bail ‘bucket’, from
French baille, based on Latin bajulus ‘carrier’.
bail
noun
he has been released on bail: surety, security, collateral, assurance,
indemnity, indemnification; bond, guarantee, warranty, pledge;

bail
noun
he has been released on bail: surety, security, collateral, assurance,
indemnity, indemnification; bond, guarantee, warranty, pledge;
verb
PHRASES
bail out 
1 the state will not bail out loss-making industries: rescue,
save, relieve, deliver, redeem; finance, help (out), assist, aid,
come to the aid of, give/lend a helping hand to; informal save
someone's bacon, save someone's neck, save someone's skin.
2 after the strong run, investors bailed out: sell up,
sell out, sell; withdraw, retreat, beat a retreat, quit, give up,
abandon ship.

honest |ˈɒnɪst|
adjective
free of deceit; truthful and sincere: I haven't been totally honest with
you.
• morally correct or virtuous: I did the only right and honest thing.
• [ attrib. ] fairly earned, especially through hard work: he's
struggling to make an honest living.
• (of an action) done with good intentions even if unsuccessful
or misguided: he'd made an honest mistake.
• [ attrib. ] simple, unpretentious, and unsophisticated: good
honest food with no gimmicks.
adverb informal
used to persuade someone of the truth of something: you'll like
it when you get there, honest.

PHRASES
to be honest speaking frankly: to be honest, I expected to play
worse.
ORIGIN Middle English (originally in the sense ‘held in or
deserving of honour’): via Old French from Latin honestus,
from honos (see honour) .
honest
adjective
1 I did the only right and honest thing | he is an honest man: morally
correct, upright, honourable, moral, ethical, principled,
righteous, right-minded, respectable; virtuous, good, worthy,
decent, law-abiding, high-minded, upstanding, just, fair,
incorruptible, anti-corruption, truthful, true, veracious,
trustworthy, trusty, reliable, conscientious, scrupulous,
reputable, dependable, loyal, faithful; informal on the level,
honest-to-goodness. ANTONYMS dishonest.

2 I haven't been totally honest with you: truthful, sincere, candid,
frank, direct, open, forthright, straight, straightforward,
genuine, blunt, plain-spoken, plain-speaking, matter-of-fact,
outspoken, as straight as a die, straight from the shoulder;
informal upfront; archaic free-spoken. ANTONYMS
insincere.
3 he'd made an honest mistake: genuine, real, authentic, actual,
true; legitimate, above board, fair and square; Latinbona fide;
informal legit, kosher, on the level, honest-to-goodness.
ANTONYMS intentional.
4 they had given their honest opinion: objective, impartial, unbiased,
balanced, unprejudiced, disinterested, even-handed, fair, just,
equitable. ANTONYMS biased.

cantankerous |kanˈtaŋk(əә)rəәs|
adjective
bad-tempered, argumentative, and uncooperative: he can be a
cantankerous old fossil at times.
DERIVATIVES
cantankerously adverb,
cantankerousness noun
ORIGIN mid 18th cent.: of unknown origin; perhaps a blend
of Anglo-Irish cant‘auction’ and rancorous (see rancour) .
cantankerous
adjective
a cantankerous old man: bad-tempered, irascible, irritable, grumpy,
grouchy, crotchety, tetchy, testy, crusty, curmudgeonly, ill-
tempered, ill-natured, ill-humoured, peevish, cross, as cross as
two sticks, fractious, disagreeable, pettish, crabbed, crabby,
waspish, prickly, peppery, touchy, scratchy, splenetic, shrewish,
short-tempered, hot-tempered, quick-tempered, dyspeptic,
choleric, bilious, liverish, cross-grained; argumentative,
quarrelsome, uncooperative, contrary, perverse, difficult,
awkward; informal snappish, snappy, chippy.
ANTONYMS good-natured, affable.
rash 1 |raʃ|
adjective
acting or done without careful consideration of the possible
consequences; impetuous: it would be extremely rash to make such an
assumption | a rash decision.
DERIVATIVES
rashly adverb,
rashness noun
ORIGIN late Middle English (also in Scots and northern
English in the sense ‘nimble, eager’): of Germanic origin;
related to German rasch .
rash 2 |raʃ|
noun
1 an area of redness and spots on a person's skin, appearing
especially as a result of illness. a red itchy rash appeared on her legs.
next day he broke out in a rash.
ORIGIN early 18th cent.: probably related to Old French
rasche ‘eruptive sores, scurf’; compare with Italian raschia
‘itch’.

rash 1
noun
1 next day, he broke out in a rash: spots, skin eruption, breakout;
hives, heat rash, nettle rash, nappy rash;
2 the incident provoked a rash of articles in the press: series, succession;
spate, wave, flood, deluge, torrent; outbreak, plague, epidemic,
explosion, run, flurry;
rash 2
adjective
he cursed himself for being so rash | a rash decision: reckless,
impetuous, impulsive, hasty, overhasty, foolhardy, incautious,
precipitate, precipitous, premature, careless, heedless,
thoughtless, imprudent, foolish, headstrong, adventurous, over-
adventurous, hot-headed, daredevil, devil-may-care, overbold,
audacious, indiscreet; ill-considered, unconsidered, unthinking,
ill-advised, injudicious, ill-judged, misguided, spur-of-the-
moment, unthought-out, hare-brained, unwary, unguarded,
wild, madcap;
ANTONYMS careful, cautious, prudent.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORD

rash, reckless, foolhardy
All these adjectives are used to criticise actions or
people for a lack of proper caution.
■ Rash suggests an overhasty judgement that one might
regret (now isn't the time for us to make rash statements
| he would be rash to expect everyone to obey him all
the time).
■ Reckless typically describes something more serious:
a reckless act is that of a person who simply does not
care what damage they cause to themselves or others
(reckless consumption of the earth's resources | he could
be convicted of causing death by reckless driving).
■ Foolhardy, as the word suggests, refers to foolish
daring, and a foolhardy act is most likely to harm the
foolhardy person themselves (old mines were not to be
left open as an invitation to any foolhardy visitor).

disrespect |dɪsrɪˈspɛkt|
noun [ mass noun ]
lack of respect or courtesy: growing disrespect for the rule of law.
verb [ with obj. ] informal, chiefly N. Amer.
show a lack of respect for; insult: a young brave who disrespects his
elders.
disrespect
noun
1 there is growing disrespect for authority: contempt, lack of respect,
scorn, disregard, disdain, opprobrium; derision, mockery,
ridicule. ANTONYMS respect, esteem.
2 he said it on the spur of the moment, he meant no disrespect to anybody:
discourtesy, rudeness, impoliteness, incivility, unmannerliness,
lack of respect, lack of civility,  irreverence,
lack of consideration, ill/bad manners; insolence, impudence,
impertinence, cheek, flippancy, churlishness;
ANTONYMS respect, esteem.
noisy |ˈnɔɪzi|
adjective (noisier, noisiest)
1 making or given to making a lot of noise: a noisy, giggling group
of children | diesel cars can be very noisy.
• full of or characterized by noise: the pub was crowded and noisy.
• stridently seeking to attract attention to one's views: noisy
pressure groups.
2 technical accompanied by or introducing random
fluctuations that obscure the real signal or data.
DERIVATIVES
noisily adverb,
noisiness noun
noisy
adjective
1 cats loathe noisy homes | a noisy crowd: rowdy, rackety, clamorous,
boisterous, roisterous, obstreperous, turbulent, brash, clattering,
chattering, talkative, vociferous, shouting, screaming, shrieking,
bawling. ANTONYMS quiet.
2 play some sweet music, not noisy pop: loud, fortissimo, blaring,
booming, blasting, brassy, deafening, thunderous, tumultuous,
clamorous, resounding, reverberating, ear-splitting, piercing,
strident, harsh, cacophonous, raucous. ANTONYMS soft.
quarrelsome |ˈkwɒr(əә)ls(əә)m|
adjective
given to or characterized by quarrelling: a moody, quarrelsome
man.
DERIVATIVES
quarrelsomely adverb,
quarrelsomeness noun
quarrelsome
adjective
he was pleased to be leaving his quarrelsome neighbours behind:
argumentative, disputatious, disputative, contentious,
confrontational, captious, factious, cavilling, pugnacious,
combative, ready for a fight, defiant, hostile, antagonistic,
bellicose, belligerent, militant, warring, fighting, battling;
threatening, litigious; irascible, cantankerous, irritable,
petulant, truculent, fiery, quick-tempered, hot-tempered, ill-
tempered, bad-tempered, choleric; bickering, wrangling;
ANTONYMS peaceable.

vocation |vəә(ʊ)ˈkeɪʃ(əә)n|
noun
a strong feeling of suitability for a particular career or
occupation: not all of us have a vocation to be nurses or doctors.
• a person's employment or main occupation, especially
regarded as worthy and requiring dedication: her vocation as a
poet.
• a trade or profession. GNVQs in Leisure and Tourism will be the
introduction to a wide span of vocations.
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Old French, or from Latin

occupation |ɒkjʊˈpeɪʃ(əә)n|
noun
1 a job or profession: people in professional occupations.
• a way of spending time: a game of cards is a pretty harmless
occupation.
2 [ mass noun ] the action, state, or period of occupying or
being occupied by military force: the Roman occupation of Britain.
• the action of entering and taking control of a building: the
workers remained in occupation until 16 October.
3 [ mass noun ] the action of living in or using a building or
other place: a property suitable for occupation by older people.


ORIGIN Middle English: via Old French from Latin
occupatio(n-), from the verb occupare (see occupy). Sense 2
of the noun dates from the mid 16th cent.

occupation
noun
1 his father's name and occupation are unknown: job, profession, work,
line of work, line of business, trade, employment, position,
post, situation, business, career.
2 among her leisure occupations is birdwatching: pastime, activity,
leisure activity, hobby, pursuit, interest, entertainment,
recreation, diversion, amusement.
3 a property suitable for occupation by older people: residence,
residency, habitation, inhabitation, occupancy, tenancy, tenure,
lease, living in; possession, use; incumbency, holding; formal
dwelling;
4 the Roman occupation of Britain: conquest, capture, invasion,
seizure, takeover, annexation, overrunning, subjugation,
subjection, appropriation; colonization, possession, rule,
control, suzerainty.
holiday |ˈhɒlɪdeɪ, -di| chiefly Brit.
noun
1 (often holidays) an extended period of leisure and
recreation, especially one spent away from home or in
travelling: I spent my summer holidays on a farm | Fred was on
holiday in Spain.
• a day of festivity or recreation when no work is done: 25
December is an official public holiday.
• [ as modifier ] characteristic of a holiday; festive: a holiday
atmosphere.
2 [ with modifier ] a short period during which the payment of
instalments, tax, etc. may be suspended: a pension holiday.
verb [ no obj., with adverbial of place ]
spend a holiday in a specified place: he is holidaying in Italy.
ORIGIN Old English hāligdæg‘holy day’.
holiday
noun
1 she took a 10-day holiday: vacation, break, rest, period of leave,
day off, week off, month off, recess, school holiday, half-term;
time off, time out, leave, leave of absence, furlough, sabbatical;

trip, tour, journey, expedition, voyage; informal hols, vac,
ANTONYMS working time; term
time.
2 in Antigua the twenty-fourth of May is a holiday: public holiday,
bank holiday, festival, festival day, feast day, gala day, carnival
day, fete, fiesta, festivity, celebration, anniversary, jubilee; saint's
day, holy day, religious festival, day of observance.
ANTONYMS working day.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORD
holiday, vacation, leave, break
■ Holiday denotes a period when someone does not
have to work. It can refer to: a day when most
businesses are closed by law or custom (10 June is a
public holiday), a period of time allowed off work (staff
are entitled to 24 working days' holiday per year), time in
between school terms (the school summer holidays), or
a leisure trip away from home (a driving holiday in
France).
■ Vacation is used for the period between two law or
university terms (many students found jobs in the long
vacation), and is in addition the American term for a trip
away from home (your dream vacation in Mexico).
■ Leave is time off duty in the armed forces (Joe was
home on leave) or a formal term for time off work for a
variety of reasons (sick leave | annual leave).
■ A break means any sort of pause, a short period of
rest from work (he wanted to talk to her during the coffee
break), or a shorter-than-average leisure trip away from
home (a weekend countryside break).
These notes show fine distinctions in meaning between
closely related synonyms to help you find the best word.
examination |ɪgˌzamɪˈneɪʃ(əә)n, ɛg-|
noun
1 a detailed inspection or study: an examination of marketing
behaviour | a medical examination is conducted without delay.
• [ mass noun ] the action or process of conducting an
examination: the role of the planning system has come under increasing
critical examination.
2 a formal test of a person's knowledge or proficiency in a
subject or skill: he scraped through the examinations at the end of his
first year.

ORIGIN late Middle English (also in the sense ‘testing (one's
conscience) by a standard’): via Old French from Latin
examinatio(n-), from examinare ‘weigh, test’ (see
examine) .
exam
noun
she prepared for her biology exam: test, examination, paper, question
paper, oral, practical, assessment; set of questions, set of
exercises;
seminar |ˈsɛmɪnɑː|
noun
a conference or other meeting for discussion or training.
• a class at university in which a topic is discussed by a teacher
and a small group of students. [ as modifier ] : a seminar group of
sixteen students.

ORIGIN late 19th cent.: from German Seminar, from Latin
seminarium (see seminary) .
seminar
noun
1 these suggestions were discussed at a seminar attended by education
authority officials: discussion, symposium, meeting, conference,
congress, convention, forum, awayday, convocation, colloquy,
summit, synod, conclave, consultation.
2 teaching is usually in the form of seminars: study group, workshop,
tutorial, lecture, session, class, lesson, period.

frugality |fruːˈgalɪti|
noun [ mass noun ]
the quality of being economical with money or food;
thriftiness: he scorned the finer things in life and valued frugality and
simplicity.
frugality
noun
he was known for his frugality and modesty: thriftiness, carefulness,
scrimping and saving, conservation, good management;
caution, prudence, providence, canniness; abstemiousness,
abstinence, austerity, asceticism, self-discipline, restraint,
moderation, puritanism, monasticism, monkishness;
miserliness, meanness, niggardliness,
 ANTONYMS extravagance.

enmity |ˈɛnmɪti|
noun (pl.enmities) [ mass noun ]
a state or feeling of active opposition or hostility: decades of
enmity between the two countries | [ count noun ] : family feuds and
enmities.
ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French enemi(s)tie,
based on Latin inimicus (see enemy) .
enmity
noun
a world free from enmity between nations and races: hostility, animosity,
antagonism, friction, antipathy, animus, opposition, dissension,
rivalry, feud, conflict, discord, contention; acrimony, bitterness,
rancour, resentment, aversion, dislike, ill feeling, bad feeling, ill
will, bad blood, hatred, hate, loathing, detestation, abhorrence,
odium; malice, spite, spitefulness, venom, malevolence,
malignity; grudges, grievances;
ANTONYMS friendship; goodwill.

captivity |kapˈtɪvɪti|
noun (pl.captivities) [ mass noun ]
the condition of being imprisoned or confined: he was released
after 865 days in captivity | the third month of their captivity passed.
• (the Captivity) short for Babylonian Captivity.
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin captivitas, from
captivus ‘taken captive’ (see captive) .
captivity
noun
he was weakened by his captivity: imprisonment, confinement,
internment, incarceration, custody, detention, restraint,
constraint, committal, arrest; bondage, slavery, servitude,
enslavement, subjugation, subjection; literary thraldom, thrall;
archaic duress, durance. ANTONYMS freedom.

gaiety |ˈgeɪəәti| (US also gayety)
noun (pl.gaieties) [ mass noun ]
the state or quality of being light-hearted or cheerful: the sudden
gaiety of children's laughter.
• lively celebration or festivities: he seemed to be a part of the gaiety,
having a wonderful time.

gaiety
noun
1 there was unusual gaiety in her manner: cheerfulness, cheer, light-
heartedness, merriment, glee, gladness, happiness, joy,
joyfulness, joyousness, delight, pleasure, high spirits, good
spirits, good humour, jollity, jolliness, hilarity, mirth, joviality,
exuberance, elation, exultation, euphoria, jubilation; liveliness,
vivacity, animation, effervescence, levity, buoyancy,
sprightliness, zest, zestfulness; Frenchjoie de vivre; informal
chirpiness, bounce, pep, zing; literary gladsomeness, blitheness,
ANTONYMS misery.
2 the hotel restaurant was a scene of gaiety: merrymaking, festivity,
fun, fun and games, frolics, revels, revelry, jollification,
celebration, rejoicing, pleasure;

prodigal |ˈprɒdɪg(əә)l|
adjective
1 spending money or using resources freely and recklessly;
wastefully extravagant: prodigal habits die hard.
2 having or giving something on a lavish scale: the dessert was
prodigal with whipped cream.
noun
a person who spends money in a recklessly extravagant way. the
government wished to clip the wings of the local authority prodigals.
• (also prodigal son or daughter)a person who leaves home
to lead a prodigal life but later makes a repentant return.
DERIVATIVES
prodigality |-ˈgalɪti| noun,
prodigally adverb
ORIGIN late Middle English: from late Latin prodigalis,
from Latin prodigus ‘lavish’.
miserable |ˈmɪz(əә)rəәb(əә)l|
adjective
1 (of a person) wretchedly unhappy or uncomfortable: their
happiness made Anne feel even more miserable.
• causing unhappiness or discomfort: horribly wet and miserable
conditions.
• (of a person) habitually morose: a miserable man in his late sixties.
2 pitiably small or inadequate: all they pay me is a miserable
£8,000 a year.
DERIVATIVES
miserableness noun,
miserably adverb
ORIGIN late Middle English: from French misérable, from
Latin miserabilis ‘pitiable’, from miserari ‘to pity’, from
miser ‘wretched’.
miserable
adjective
1 I'm too miserable to eat: unhappy, sad, sorrowful, dejected,
depressed, downcast, downhearted, down, despondent,
despairing, disconsolate, out of sorts, desolate, bowed down,
wretched, glum, gloomy, dismal, blue, melancholy,
melancholic, low-spirited, mournful, woeful, woebegone,
doleful, forlorn, crestfallen, heartbroken,
inconsolable, luckless, grief-stricken;
ANTONYMS happy, contented.
2 their miserable surroundings: dreary, dismal, dark, gloomy, drab,
sombre, wretched, depressing, grim, cheerless, godforsaken,
bleak, desolate, joyless, uninviting, discouraging, disheartening,
unpromising, hopeless, dire, pathetic, tragic, distressing,
grievous; mean, poor, shabby, squalid, filthy, foul, sordid, seedy,
dilapidated.
ANTONYMS luxurious.
3 those planning day trips face four miserable wet or windy days:
unpleasant, disagreeable, displeasing, depressing,
uncomfortable; wet, rainy, stormy; informal rotten.
ANTONYMS glorious, lovely.
4 he was a good leader, but a miserable old prune on a bad day: grumpy,
sullen, sulky, gloomy, bad-tempered, ill-tempered, in a bad
mood, dour, surly, sour, glum, moody, unsmiling, humourless,
uncommunicative, taciturn, unresponsive, unsociable, scowling,
glowering, ill-humoured, sombre, sober, saturnine, pessimistic,
lugubrious, dismal, irritable, churlish, cantankerous, crotchety,
cross, crabbed, crabby, grouchy, testy, snappish, peevish, crusty,
ANTONYMS cheerful, good-natured.
5 the agricultural working class were forced to work for miserable wages:
inadequate, meagre, scanty, scant, paltry, limited, restricted,
insufficient, deficient, negligible, insubstantial, skimpy, short,
little, lean, small, slight, slender, poor, lamentable, pitiful, puny,
niggardly, beggarly; ANTONYMS generous, adequate.
6 all that fuss about a few miserable mushrooms: wretched,
contemptible, despicable, confounded;
WORD TOOLKIT
miserable
See melancholy.
Word Toolkits illustrate the difference between close
synonyms by means of words typically used with them.

solitary |ˈsɒlɪt(əә)ri|
adjective
1 done or existing alone: I live a pretty solitary life | tigers are
essentially solitary.
• (of a place) secluded or isolated: solitary farmsteads.
2 [ attrib. ] [ often with negative ] single; only: we have not a
solitary shred of evidence to go on.
noun (pl.solitaries)
1 a recluse or hermit. he had something of the solitary about him.
2 informal short for solitary confinement.
DERIVATIVES
solitarily adverb,
solitariness noun
ORIGIN Middle English: from Latin solitarius, from solus
‘alone’.
solitary
adjective
1 I live a pretty solitary life: lonely, companionless,
unaccompanied, by oneself/itself, on one's/its own, (all) alone,
friendless; antisocial, unsociable, withdrawn, reclusive,
cloistered, introverted;
ANTONYMS sociable.
2 solitary farmsteads were sparingly dotted about: isolated, remote, out
of the way, outlying, off the beaten track,
hard to find, lonely, in the back of beyond, in the hinterlands,
off the map, in the middle of nowhere, godforsaken, obscure,
inaccessible, cut-off, tucked away, unreachable; faraway, far-
flung; secluded, hidden, concealed, private, unfrequented,
undisturbed, sequestered, desolate;
ANTONYMS accessible, busy.
3 we have not a solitary shred of evidence to go on: single, lone, sole,
unique, only, one, individual; odd.

laudable |ˈlɔːdəәb(əә)l|
adjective
(of an action, idea, or aim) deserving praise and
commendation: laudable though the aim might be, the results have been
criticized.
DERIVATIVES
laudability |-ˈbɪlɪti| noun,
laudably adverb
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin laudabilis, from
laus, laud- ‘praise’.
laudable
adjective
a laudable attempt to get more women into Parliament: praiseworthy,
commendable, admirable, meritorious, worthy, deserving,
creditable, worthy of admiration, estimable, of note,
noteworthy, exemplary, reputable, honourable, excellent,
sterling; ANTONYMS blameworthy,shameful.

humane |hjʊˈmeɪn|
adjective
1 having or showing compassion or benevolence: regulations
ensuring the humane treatment of animals.
• inflicting the minimum of pain: humane methods of killing.
2 formal (of a branch of learning) intended to have a civilizing
effect on people. the humane education of literary study.
DERIVATIVES
humanely adverb,
humaneness noun
ORIGIN late Middle English: the earlier form of human,
restricted to the senses above in the 18th cent.
humane
adjective
regulations ensuring the humane treatment of animals: compassionate,
kind, kindly, kind-hearted, considerate, understanding,
sympathetic, tolerant, civilized, good, good-natured, gentle;
lenient, forbearing, forgiving, merciful, mild, tender, clement,
benign, humanitarian, benevolent, charitable, generous,
magnanimous; approachable, accessible;
ANTONYMS cruel;

person |ˈpəәːs(əә)n|
noun (pl.people or persons)
1 a human being regarded as an individual: the porter was the last
person to see her prior to her disappearance | she is a person of astonishing
energy.
• (in legal or formal contexts) an unspecified individual: each of
the persons using unlawful violence is guilty of riot | the entrance fee is
£2.00 per person.
• [ with modifier ] an individual characterized by a preference
or liking for a specified thing: she's not a cat person.
• a character in a play or story: his previous roles in the person of a
fallible cop.
2 Grammar a category used in the classification of pronouns,
possessive determiners, and verb forms, according to whether
they indicate the speaker (first person), the addressee
(second person), or a third party (third person).

PHRASES
be one's own person do or be what one wishes or in
accordance with one's own character rather than as influenced
by others. she certainly did not live in the shadow of John; she was her
own person.

ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French persone, from
Latin persona ‘actor's mask, character in a play’, later
‘human being’.
usage: The words people and persons can both be used as
the plural of person, but they have slightly different
connotations. People is by far the commoner of the two words
and is used in most ordinary contexts: a group of people; there
were only about ten people; several thousand people have been
rehoused. Persons, on the other hand, tends now to be
restricted to official or formal contexts, as in this vehicle is
authorized to carry twenty persons; no persons admitted without a
pass.

person
noun
you were probably the last person to see Glynn alive | he's an aggressive
person: human being, individual, man/woman, human, being,
living soul, soul, mortal, creature, fellow; figure, personage;
informal character, type, sort, beggar, cookie, customer.
PHRASES
in person the Queen was unable to be there in person: physically, in
the flesh, personally, bodily, actually; oneself;
WORD LINKS

homicide killing of a person

unkind |ʌnˈkʌɪnd|
adjective
inconsiderate and harsh to others: you were terribly unkind to her |
he was the butt of some unkind jokes | it was unkind of her to criticize.
DERIVATIVES
unkindly adverb

throw |θrəәʊ|
verb (throws, throwing; pastthrew |θruː| ; past
participlethrown |θrəәʊn| )
1 [ with obj. and usu. with adverbial ] propel (something) with
force through the air by a movement of the arm and hand: I
threw a brick through the window.
• [ with obj. and adverbial or complement ] push or force
(someone or something) violently and suddenly into a
particular physical position or state: the pilot and one passenger were
thrown clear and survived | the door was thrown open and a uniformed
guard entered the room.
• put in place or erect quickly: the stewards had thrown a cordon
across the fairway.


noun
1 an act of throwing something: Holding's throw hit the stumps.
• an act of throwing one's opponent in wrestling, judo, or a
similar sport: a shoulder throw.
• Cricket an illegitimate delivery considered to have been
thrown rather than properly bowled.
• short for throw of the dice below. this decision represents
something of a final throw. people who hazard their entire company on one
major throw.
2 a light cover for furniture.
3 (a throw) informal used to indicate how much a single item,
turn, or attempt costs: he was offering to draw on-the-spot portraits at
£25 a throw.

PHRASES
throw away the key used to suggest that someone who has
been put in prison should or will never be released: the judge
should lock up these robbers and throw away the key.
throw dust in someone's eyes seek to mislead or deceive
someone by misrepresentation or distraction.
throw good money after bad incur further loss in a
hopeless attempt to recoup a previous loss.
throw one's hand in withdraw from a card game, especially
poker, because one has a poor hand.
• withdraw from a contest or activity; give up.
throw of the dice a risky attempt to do or achieve something:
a struggling actor giving it a last throw of the dice as he stages a self-
financed production of Hamlet.
throw oneself on someone's mercy see mercy.
throw up one's hands raise both hands in the air as an
indication of one's exasperation.
PHRASAL VERBS
be thrown back on be forced to rely on (something) because
there is no alternative: we are once again thrown back on the resources
of our imagination.
throw oneself at appear too eager to become the sexual
partner of. she's throwing herself at that man, making a complete fool of
herself.
throw something away
1 discard something as useless or
unwanted. many of the cans and bottles thrown away may have cost
more to make than the contents.
• discard a playing card in a game.
waste or fail to make use of an opportunity or advantage:
I've thrown away my chances in life.
2 (of an actor) deliver a line with
deliberate underemphasis for increased dramatic effect. he
covered up for his author by charmingly throwing away as many lines as
possible.

throw something down informal (especially of a DJ, rapper,
or similar artiste) play or perform a piece of music: the DJ was
throwing down some sweet tunes.
throw something in 
1 include something free with a
purchase: they cut the price by £100 and threw in the add-on TV
adaptor.
2 make a remark casually as an interjection: he threw in a
sensible remark about funding.
throw something off 
1 rid oneself of something: he was
struggling to throw off a viral-hepatitis problem.
2 write or utter in an
offhand manner: Thomas threw off the question lightly.
throw oneself on (or upon)attack someone vigorously: they
threw themselves on the enemy.
throw something open make something accessible: the market
was thrown open to any supplier to compete for contracts.
 • invite
general discussion of or participation in a subject or a debate
or other event: the debate will be thrown open to the audience.
throw someone out
1 expel someone unceremoniously from
a place, organization, or activity. his wife had thrown him out. Keane
had been thrown out of the game by the umpire.
throw something out
1 discard something as unwanted. he'd
thrown that rubbish out.
2 (of a court, legislature, or other body)
dismiss or reject something brought before it: the charges were
thrown out by the magistrate.
DERIVATIVES
throwable adjective,
thrower noun
ORIGIN Old English thrāwan‘to twist, turn’, of West
Germanic origin; related to Dutch draaien and German
drehen, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin terere
‘to rub’, Greek teirein ‘wear out’. Sense 1 of the verb,
expressing propulsion and sudden action, dates from Middle
English.
surrender |səәˈrɛndəә|
verb
1 [ no obj. ] stop resisting to an enemy or opponent and submit
to their authority: over 140 rebels surrendered to the authorities.
• [ with obj. ] (in sport) lose (a point, game, or advantage) to an
opponent: she surrendered only twenty games in her five qualifying
matches.

• (surrender to) give in to (a powerful emotion or influence):
the president has surrendered to panic and is making things worse | he
surrendered himself to the mood of the hills.
2 [ with obj. ] give up or hand over (a person, right, or
possession), typically on compulsion or demand: in 1815
Denmark surrendered Norway to Sweden | the UK is opposed to
surrendering its monetary sovereignty.
• (of a person assured) cancel (a life insurance policy) and
receive back a proportion of the premiums paid.
• give up (a lease) before its expiry.
noun [ mass noun ]
1 the action of surrendering to an opponent or powerful
influence: the final surrender of Germany on 8 May 1945 | [ count
noun ] : the colonel was anxious to negotiate a surrender.
2 the action of surrendering a lease or life insurance policy.
PHRASES
surrender to bail Law duly appear in court after release on
bail.
ORIGIN late Middle English (chiefly in legal use): from Anglo-
Norman French (see sur- 1 ,render) .

surrender
verb
1 the government surrendered to the Allied forces: capitulate, give in,
give (oneself) up, yield, concede, submit, climb down, give way,
defer, acquiesce, back down, cave in, relent, succumb, quit,
crumble; be beaten, be overcome, be overwhelmed, fall victim;
lay down one's arms, raise/show the white flag, throw in the
towel/sponge, accept defeat, concede defeat. ANTONYMS
resist, withstand.
2 the republics agreed to surrender certain powers to the central government:
give up, relinquish, renounce, forgo, forswear, cede, abdicate,
waive, forfeit, sacrifice; hand over, turn over, deliver (up), yield
(up), resign, transfer, commit, grant; part with, let go of;
 ANTONYMS seize.
3 to abandon the past is to surrender all purposeful hope of changing the
world: abandon, leave behind, cast aside, turn one's back on,
give up, lose.
noun
1 the ordeal ended with the peaceful surrender of the hijackers:
capitulation, submission, yielding, giving in, succumbing,
acquiescence, laying down of arms, quitting; fall, defeat.
2 a surrender of power to the shop floor: relinquishment,
surrendering, renunciation, forgoing, forsaking, ceding, cession,
abdication, waiving, resignation; handing over, giving up,
yielding up, transfer, abandonment.
incensed |ɪnˈsɛnst|
adjective
very angry; enraged: Leonora glared back at him, incensed.
incense 1 |ˈɪnsɛns|

DERIVATIVES
incensation |-ˈseɪʃ(əә)n| noun
ORIGIN Middle English (originally as encense): from Old
French encens (noun), encenser (verb), from ecclesiastical
Latin incensum ‘something burnt, incense’, neuter past
participle of incendere ‘set fire to’, from in- ‘in’ + the base
of candere ‘to glow’.

incense 2 |ɪnˈsɛns|
verb [ with obj. ]
make very angry: locals are incensed at the suggestion.
ORIGIN late Middle English (in the general sense ‘inflame or
excite someone with a strong feeling’): from Old French
incenser, from Latin incendere ‘set fire to’.

incensed
adjective
Leonora glared back at him, incensed: enraged, very angry, irate,
furious, infuriated, angered, in a temper, raging, incandescent,
fuming, seething, beside oneself, outraged, in high dudgeon;
informal mad, hopping mad, wild, livid, as cross as two sticks,
boiling, apoplectic, aerated, hot under the collar, on the
warpath, up in arms, with all guns blazing, foaming at the
mouth, steamed up, in a lather, in a paddy, in a filthy temper, fit
to be tied; Brit. informal shirty, stroppy;
ANTONYMS calm.

incense 1
verb
|(stress on the second syllable)|the glint of amusement in his eyes
incensed her: enrage, infuriate, anger, madden, send into a rage,
outrage, inflame, exasperate, antagonize, provoke, irritate
greatly, rile, gall; informal make someone see red, make
someone's blood boil, make someone's hackles rise, get
someone's back up, hack off, drive mad/crazy, drive up the
wall, get someone's dander up, get someone's goat, get up
someone's nose.
ANTONYMS placate; please.
hate |heɪt|
noun [ mass noun ]
intense dislike: feelings of hate and revenge.
• [ as modifier ] denoting hostile actions motivated by intense
dislike or prejudice: a hate campaign.
• [ count noun ] informal an intensely disliked person or thing:
Richard's pet hate is filling in his tax returns.
verb [ with obj. ]
feel intense dislike for: the boys hate each other | he was particularly
hated by the extreme right.
• have a strong aversion to (something): he hates flying | [ with
infinitive ] : I'd hate to live there.
• [ with infinitive ] used politely to express one's regret or
embarrassment at doing something: I hate to bother you.
• [ no obj. ] (hate on) informal express strong dislike for;
criticize or abuse: I can't hate on them for trying something new.
DERIVATIVES
hatable (also hateable)adjective
ORIGIN Old English hatian (verb), hete (noun), of Germanic
origin; related to Dutch haten (verb) and German hassen
(verb), Hass ‘hatred’.
hate
verb
1 the boys hate each other: loathe, detest, dislike greatly, abhor,
abominate, despise, execrate, feel aversion towards, feel
revulsion towards, feel hostile towards, be repelled by, be
revolted by, regard with disgust, not be able to bear/stand, be
unable to stomach, find intolerable, shudder at, recoil from,
shrink from;
ANTONYMS love; like.
2 I hate to bother you: be sorry, be reluctant, be loath, be
unwilling, be disinclined; regret, dislike, not like, hesitate.
noun
1 feelings of hate and revenge: loathing, hatred, detestation, dislike,
distaste, abhorrence, abomination, execration, resentment,
aversion, hostility, ill will, ill feeling, bad feeling; enmity,
animosity, antagonism, antipathy, bitterness, animus, revulsion,
disgust, contempt, repugnance, odium, rancour; rare disrelish.
ANTONYMS love; liking.
2 Richard's pet hate is filling in his tax returns: bugbear, bane,
bogey, bugaboo, pet aversion, thorn in one's flesh/side, bane of
one's life;
ANTONYMS favourite thing.
repulsion |rɪˈpʌlʃ(əә)n|
noun [ mass noun ]
1 a feeling of intense distaste or disgust: people talk about the case
with a mixture of fascination and repulsion.

repulsion
noun
she shuddered with repulsion: disgust, revulsion, abhorrence,
repugnance, nausea, loathing, horror, hatred, detestation,
aversion, abomination, distaste, antipathy, dislike, contempt,
odium;
ANTONYMS delight, liking.
repulsive |rɪˈpʌlsɪv|
adjective
1 arousing intense distaste or disgust: a repulsive smell.

repulsive
adjective
Gleeson was so repulsive that surely no one would be interested in him:
revolting, disgusting, abhorrent, repellent, repugnant, offensive,
objectionable, vile, foul, nasty, loathsome, sickening,
nauseating, stomach-churning, stomach-turning, hateful,
detestable, execrable, abominable, monstrous, appalling,
reprehensible, deplorable, insufferable, intolerable, despicable,
contemptible, beyond the pale, unspeakable, noxious,
horrendous, heinous, atrocious, awful, terrible, dreadful,
frightful, obnoxious, unsavoury, unpleasant, disagreeable,
distasteful, off-putting, uninviting, displeasing; ugly,
as ugly as sin, hideous, grotesque, gruesome, unsightly,
reptilian;
ANTONYMS delightful, pleasant, attractive.

repulse |rɪˈpʌls|
verb [ with obj. ]
1 drive back (an attack or attacker) by force: rioters tried to storm
the Ministry but were repulsed by police.
• reject or rebuff (an approach or offer or the person making
it): she left, feeling hurt because she had been repulsed.
2 cause to feel intense distaste and aversion: audiences were
repulsed by the film's brutality.

noun [ mass noun ]
the action of driving back an attack or of being driven back:
the repulse of the invaders.
• [ count noun ] a discouraging response to an offer or
approach: his evasion of her scheme had been another repulse.
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin repuls- ‘driven
back’, from the verb repellere (see repel) .

repulse
verb
1 the rebels made another assault on the Secretariat and were again
repulsed: repel, drive back, drive away, fight back, fight off, put
to flight, force back, beat off, beat back, push back, thrust back;
ward off, hold off, stave off, fend off; foil, check, frustrate;
2 she tried to show him affection, but was repulsed: rebuff, reject,
spurn, snub, disdain, give someone the cold shoulder, cold-
shoulder; informal give someone the brush-off, freeze out, stiff-
arm;
ANTONYMS welcome.
3 his bid for the company was repulsed: reject, turn down, refuse,
decline, say no to; informal give the thumbs down to.
ANTONYMS accept.
4 the concept of being with a man repulsed her: revolt, disgust, repel,
sicken, nauseate, make someone feel sick, turn someone's
stomach, be repulsive to, be extremely distasteful to, make
shudder, be repugnant to, make someone's flesh creep, make
someone's skin crawl, make someone's gorge rise, offend,
horrify; informal turn off, give someone the creeps, make
someone want to throw up;
ANTONYMS delight.

noun
1 the repulse of the Austrian attack: repelling, driving back, putting
to flight; warding off, holding off; defeat, check, foiling,
frustration; rare repulsion.
2 he was, no doubt, mortified by this repulse: rebuff, rejection, snub,
slight, repudiation, spurning, cold-shouldering,
discouragement;

touch |tʌtʃ|
verb [ with obj. ]
1 come into or be in contact with: he leaned back so that only two
legs of his chair touched the floor.
• bring one's hand or another part of one's body into contact
with: he touched a strand of her hair | Andrew touched him on the
shoulder.
• come or bring into mutual contact: [ no obj. ] : for a moment
their fingers touched | [ with obj. ] : we touched wheels and nearly came
off the road.
2 handle in order to interfere with, alter, or otherwise affect: I
didn't play her records or touch any of her stuff.
• cause harm to (someone): I've got friends who'll pull strings—
nobody will dare touch me.
• [ usu. with negative ] consume or use (food, drink, money,
etc.): the pint by his right hand was hardly touched | in three years I
haven't touched a cent of the money.
3 affect or concern: a tenth of state companies have been touched by
privatization.
• [ with negative ] have any dealings with: he was good only for the
jobs that nobody else would touch.
• (of a quality or expression) be or become visible or apparent
in: the voice was touched by hysteria | a wry smile touched his lips.
4 produce feelings of affection, gratitude, or sympathy in: she
was touched by her friend's loyalty.
5 informal reach (a specified level or amount): sales touched twenty
grand last year.
• [ usu. with negative ] be comparable to in quality or
excellence: there's no one who can touch him at lightweight judo.
6 (touch someone for) informal ask someone for (money or
some other commodity) as a loan or gift: he touched me for his fare.

noun
1 an act of touching someone or something: her touch on his
shoulder was hesitant | [ mass noun ] : expressions of love through
words and touch | [ in sing. ] : manipulate images on the screen at the
touch of a key.
• [ mass noun ] the faculty of perception through physical
contact, especially with the fingers: reading by touch.
• [ mass noun ] a musician's manner of playing keys or strings.
• [ mass noun ] the manner in which a musical instrument's
keys or strings respond to being played: Viennese instruments with
their too delicate touch.
• a light stroke with a pen, pencil, etc.
2 a small amount; a trace: add a touch of vinegar | he retired to
bed with a touch of flu.
• a small distinctive detail or feature: the film's most inventive touch.

PHRASES
a touch to a slight degree; a little: the water was a touch chilly for
us.
in touch
1 in or into communication: ask someone to put you in
touch with other carers | I'm not much of a one for keeping in
touch.
2 possessing up-to-date knowledge: we need to keep in touch
with the latest developments.
• having an intuitive awareness: you
need to be in touch with your feelings.
lose touch
1 cease to be in communication: I lost touch
with him when he joined the Air Force.
2 cease to be aware or
informed: we cannot lose touch with political reality.
out of touch lacking up-to-date knowledge or information: he
seems out of touch with recent economic thinking.
• lacking in
awareness or sympathy: we have been betrayed by a government out of
touch with our values.
to the touch when touched: the ankle was swollen and painful to
the touch.
touch base (with) see base 1 .
touch bottom reach the ground below a stretch of water with
one's feet or a pole.
• be at the lowest or worst point: the housing
market has touched bottom.
touch a chord see chord 2 .
touch of nature a display of human feeling with which
others sympathize (based on a misinterpretation of
Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida iii iii. 169).

PHRASAL VERBS
touch at (of a ship) call briefly at (a port). before returning to
Denmark, he touched at Sandwich.
touch down
1 Rugby touch the ground with the ball behind
the opponents' goal line, scoring a try.
• American Football
score six points by being in possession of the ball behind the
opponents' goal line.
2 (of an aircraft or spacecraft) land. his
plane touched down at Nice airport.
touch something off 
1 cause something to ignite or explode
by touching it with a lighted match. • cause something to
happen suddenly: there was concern that the move could touch off a
trade war.
2 (of a racehorse) defeat another horse in a race by a
short margin: Royal Ballerina was touched off by Intrepidity in the
English Oaks.
touch on (or upon)
1 deal briefly with (a subject) in written or
spoken discussion: he touches upon several themes from the last chapter.
2 come near to being: a self-confident manner touching on the
arrogant.
touch someone up Brit. informal caress someone without
their consent, for one's own sexual pleasure.
he was sacked after
one of his pupils accused him of touching her up.
touch something up make small improvements to
something: these paints are handy for touching up small areas on walls
or ceilings.
DERIVATIVES
touchable adjective

ORIGIN Middle English: the verb from Old French tochier,
probably from a Romance word of imitative origin; the noun
originally from Old French touche, later (in certain senses)
directly from the verb.

unless |ʌnˈlɛs|
conjunction
except if (used to introduce the case in which a statement being
made is not true or valid): unless you have a photographic memory,
repetition is vital | manuscripts cannot be returned unless accompanied by
a self-addressed envelope.

ORIGIN late Middle English: from on or in (assimilated
through lack of stress to un- 1 ) + less.

suffer |ˈsʌfəә|
verb [ with obj. ]
1 experience or be subjected to (something bad or unpleasant):
he suffered intense pain | [ no obj. ] : he'd suffered a great deal since his
arrest.
• [ no obj. ] (suffer from) be affected by or subject to (an
illness or ailment): his daughter suffered from agoraphobia.
• [ no obj. ] become or appear worse in quality: his relationship
with Anne did suffer.

DERIVATIVES
sufferable adjective,
sufferer noun arthritis sufferers a deterioration in the sufferer's
condition
ORIGIN Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French suffrir,
from Latin sufferre, from sub- ‘from below’ + ferre ‘to
bear’.

suffer
verb
1 I loved him too much to want to see him suffer: hurt, ache, be in
pain, feel pain, be racked with pain, endure agony, agonize, be
distressed, be in distress, experience hardship, be upset, be
miserable, be wretched.
2 he suffered from asthma for many years: be afflicted by, be
affected by, be troubled with, have, have trouble with.
3 England suffered a humiliating defeat: undergo, experience, be
subjected to, receive, encounter, meet with, endure, face, live
through, go through, sustain, bear.
4 the school's reputation has suffered: be impaired, be damaged,
deteriorate, fall off, decline, get worse.
5 he was obliged to suffer intimate proximity with the man he detested:
tolerate, put up with, bear, brook, stand, abide, endure,
support, accept, weather; informal stick, stomach;
6 my conscience would not suffer me to accept any more: allow, permit,
let, give leave to, give assent to, sanction, give one's blessing to;
informal give the green light to, give the go ahead to, give the
thumbs up to, give someone/something the nod, OK.

confidence |ˈkɒnfɪd(əә)ns|
noun [ mass noun ]
1 the feeling or belief that one can have faith in or rely on
someone or something: we had every confidence in the staff | he
had gained the young man's confidence.
• the state of feeling certain about the truth of something: I can
say with confidence that I have never before driven up this street.
• a feeling of self-assurance arising from an appreciation of
one's own abilities or qualities: she's brimming with confidence | [ in
sing. ] : he would walk up those steps with a confidence he didn't feel.
2 the telling of private matters or secrets with mutual trust:
someone with whom you may raise your suspicions in confidence.
• [ count noun ] (often confidences) a secret or private matter
told to someone under a condition of trust: the girls exchanged
confidences about their parents.
PHRASES
have every confidence in feel that one can rely on or trust
(someone): we had every confidence in the staff.
in someone's confidence in a position of trust with
someone. she was never fully in his confidence.
confidere ‘have full trust’ (see confident) .

confidence
noun
1 I have little confidence in these figures: trust, belief, faith, credence,
conviction; reliance, dependence. ANTONYMS distrust,
scepticism.
2 she's brimming with confidence: self-assurance, self-confidence,
self-reliance, belief in oneself, faith in oneself, positiveness,
assertiveness, self-possession, nerve, poise, aplomb, presence of
mind, phlegm, level-headedness, cool-headedness, firmness,
courage, boldness, mettle, fortitude. ANTONYMS doubt;
uncertainty.
3 the girls exchanged confidences about their parents: secret, private
affair, confidential matter, confidentiality, intimacy.

know |nəәʊ|
verb (pastknew |njuː| ; past participleknown |nəәʊn| )
1 [ with clause ] be aware of through observation, inquiry, or
information: most people know that CFCs can damage the ozone layer |
I know what I'm doing.

• [ with obj. ] have knowledge or information concerning: I
would write to him if I knew his address | [ no obj. ] : I know of one
local who shot himself.
• be absolutely certain or sure about something: I just knew it
was something I wanted to do | [ with obj. ] : I knew it
2 [ with obj. ] have developed a relationship with (someone)
through meeting and spending time with them; be familiar or
friendly with: he knew and respected Laura.
• have a good command of (a subject or language).
• recognize (someone or something): Isabel couldn't hear the words
clearly but she knew the voice.
• be familiar or acquainted with (something): a little restaurant she
knew near Leicester Square.
• have personal experience of (an emotion or situation): a man
who had known better times.
• (usu. be known as) regard or perceive as having a specified
characteristic: the loch is known as a dangerous area for swimming.
• (usu. be known as) give (someone or something) a particular
name or title: the doctor was universally known as ‘Hubert’.
• (know someone/thing from) be able to distinguish one
person or thing from (another): you are convinced you know your own
baby from any other in the world.

PHRASES
and one knows it said to emphasise that someone is well
aware of a fact although they might pretend otherwise: that's
nonsense and you know it.
—— as we know it as is familiar or customary in the present:
apocalyptic expectations, envisaging the end of the world as we know it.


don't you know informal, dated used to emphasize what one
has just said or is about to say: I was, don't you know, a great
motoring enthusiast in those days.


God (or goodness or heaven) knows
1 used to emphasize
that one does not know something: God knows what else they might
find.
2 used to emphasize the truth of a statement: goodness
knows, I haven't been perfect.
have been known to do something have occasionally in
the past done something. the fans have been known to rain bottles,
cans, and seats on players who displease them.
I know 
1 I agree: ‘It's not the same without Rosie.’ ‘I know.’.
2 (also I know what) I have a new idea or suggestion:
I know what, let's do it now.
know something backwards see backwards.
know best have better knowledge or more appropriate skills. a
mother always knows best where her children are concerned.
know better than be wise or polite enough to avoid doing a
particular thing: you ought to know better than to ask that.
know someone by sight recognize someone by their
appearance without knowing their name or being so well
acquainted as to talk to them.
know different (or otherwise)be aware of information or
evidence to the contrary.

know something for a fact be aware of something that is
irrefutable or beyond doubt: I know for a fact that he can't speak a
word of Japanese.
know someone in the biblical sense informal, humorous
have sexual intercourse with someone.
know no bounds have no limits: their courage knows no bounds.
know one's own mind be decisive and certain.
know one's way around (or about)be familiar with (an
area, procedure, or subject).
know the ropes have experience of the appropriate
procedures.[with reference to ropes used in sailing.]
know what one likes have fixed or definite tastes, without
necessarily having the knowledge or informed opinion to
support them. I don't understand all this modern poetry at all, but I
know what I like.
know what's what informal be experienced and competent
in a particular area.
know who's who be aware of the identity and status of each
person.
let it be (or make something) known ensure that people
are informed about something, especially via a third party:

[ with clause ] : the Minister let it be known that he was not seeking
reappointment.


not know what to do with oneself be at a loss as to know
what to do, typically through boredom, embarrassment, or
anxiety.
not know where (or which way) to look feel great
embarrassment and not know how to react.
not want to know informal refuse to react or take notice: they
just didn't want to know when I gave my side of the story.

what does —— know? informal used to indicate that
someone knows nothing about the subject in question: what does
he know about football, anyway?
what do you know (about that)? N. Amer. informal used as
an expression of surprise.
wouldn't you like to know? informal used to express one's
intention to keep something secret despite another's curiosity:

you know something (or what)? informal used to indicate
that one is going to say something interesting or surprising: You
know what? I believed her.
you never know informal you can never be certain.
DERIVATIVES
knowable adjective,
knower noun
ORIGIN Old English cnāwan (earlier gecnāwan)‘recognize,
identify’, of Germanic origin; from an Indo-European root

shared by Latin ( g)noscere,Greek gignōskein, also by can 1
and ken.

know
verb
1 she doesn't know I'm here: be aware, realize, be conscious, have
knowledge, be informed, have information; notice, perceive,
see, sense, recognize, understand, appreciate;
2 I would write to him if I knew his address: have knowledge of, be
aware of, be cognizant of, be informed of, be apprised of.
3 he asked whether I knew French | they know the game: be familiar
with, be conversant with, be acquainted with, have knowledge
of, be versed in, be knowledgeable about, have mastered, have
a grasp of, grasp, understand, comprehend, apprehend; have
learned, have memorized, have learned by heart; informal be
clued up on, have something taped.
4 I don't know many people here | we know him well: be acquainted
with, have met, be familiar with; be friends with, be friendly
with, be on good terms with, be close to, be intimate with,
socialize with, associate with, have dealings with; understand,
have insight into, be in sympathy with, empathize with;
Scottish ken; informal be thick with.
5 a man who had known better times: experience, have experience
of, go through, undergo, live through, meet, meet with,
encounter, taste.
6 my brothers don't know a saucepan from a frying pan: distinguish, tell
apart, differentiate, tell, tell which is which, discriminate;
recognize, pick out, identify, make out, discern, see.
familiarity |fəәmɪlɪˈarɪti|
noun (pl.familiarities) [ mass noun ]
1 close acquaintance with or knowledge of something: his
familiarity with the works of Thomas Hardy.
• the quality of being well known from long or close
association: the reassuring familiarity of his parents' home.
2 relaxed friendliness or intimacy between people: familiarity
allows us to give each other nicknames.
• inappropriate informality or intimacy: the unnecessary familiarity
made me dislike him at once.
PHRASES
familiarity breeds contempt proverb extensive knowledge
of or close association with someone or something leads to a
loss of respect for them or it.

ORIGIN Middle English (in the senses ‘close relationship’ and
‘sexual intimacy’): via Old French from Latin familiaritas,
from familiaris ‘familiar, intimate’ (see familiar) .

familiarity
noun
1 he wants to gain greater familiarity with European politics:
acquaintance with, acquaintanceship with, awareness of,
experience of, insight into, conversancy with, conversance with;
knowledge of, understanding of, comprehension of, cognizance
of, grasp of, mastery of, skill with, skill in, proficiency in,
expertise in.
2 the reassuring familiarity of his parents' home: ordinariness,
customariness, normality, conventionality.
3 they feel comfortable with you because of your familiarity: informality,
casualness, ease, comfortableness, friendliness, lack of
ceremony, lack of restraint, lack of reserve, naturalness,
simplicity.

4 she was affronted by his familiarity: overfamiliarity, presumption,
presumptuousness, forwardness, boldness, audacity, cheek,
impudence, impertinence, intrusiveness, disrespect,
disrespectfulness; liberties; informal sauce, cockiness; archaic
assumption.
5 our familiarity allows us to give each other nicknames: closeness,
intimacy, attachment, affinity, friendliness, friendship, amity;
informal chumminess.

quicken |ˈkwɪk(əә)n|
verb
1 make or become faster or quicker: [ with obj. ] : she quickened
her pace, desperate to escape | [ no obj. ] : I felt my pulse quicken.
2 stimulate or become stimulated: [ no obj. ] : her interest
quickened | (as adj.quickening) : he looked with quickening curiosity
through the smoke.
• [ with obj. ] give or restore life to: on the third day after his death
the human body of Jesus was quickened by the Spirit.
• [ with obj. ] archaic make (a fire) burn brighter.

quicken
verb
1 his pulse quickened | she unconsciously quickened her pace: speed up,
accelerate, step up, hasten, hurry, hurry up;
ANTONYMS slow.
2 the film quickened his interest in wild life: stimulate, excite, stir up,
arouse, rouse, waken, animate, activate, incite, galvanize,
instigate, whet, inspire, kindle, fan, refresh, strengthen,
invigorate, reanimate, reactivate, revive, revitalize, resuscitate,
revivify; titillate, tempt. ANTONYMS dull.

multiply
1 |ˈmʌltɪplʌɪ|
verb (multiplies, multiplying, multiplied) [ with obj. ]
1 obtain from (a number) another which contains the first
number a specified number of times: multiply fourteen by nineteen
| [ no obj. ] : we all know how to multiply by ten.
2 increase or cause to increase greatly in number or quantity:
[ no obj. ] : ever since I became a landlord my troubles have multiplied
tenfold | [ with obj. ] : cigarette smoking combines with other factors to
multiply the risks of atherosclerosis.
• [ no obj. ] (of an animal or other organism) increase in
number by reproducing. listeria and other bacteria were able to
multiply in very low temperatures.
• [ with obj. ] propagate (plants). researchers multiply these varieties
to provide new plants for the farmers.

ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French multiplier, from
Latin multiplicare .

multiply 2 |ˈmʌltɪpli|
adverb [ often as submodifier ]
in several different ways or respects: multiply injured patients.

multiply
verb
1 the difficulties seem to be multiplying by the minute: increase, increase
exponentially, grow, become more numerous, accumulate,
proliferate, mount up, mushroom, snowball, burgeon, spread,
expand; literary wax. ANTONYMS decrease, diminish.
2 rabbits were introduced here and multiplied: breed, reproduce,
procreate, propagate.

increase
verb |ɪnˈkriːs|
become or make greater in size, amount, or degree: [ no obj. ] :
car use is increasing at an alarming rate | [ with obj. ] : we are aiming
to increase awareness of social issues | (as adj.increasing) : the
increasing numbers of students.
noun |ˈɪŋkriːs|
a rise in the size, amount, or degree of something: an increase of
28.3 per cent | [ mass noun ] : some increase in inflation is expected.
PHRASES
on the increase becoming greater, more common, or more
frequent. fraud is on the increase.

DERIVATIVES
increasable adjective

ORIGIN Middle English (formerly also as encrease): from Old
French encreistre, from Latin increscere, from in- ‘into’ +
crescere ‘grow’.

increase
verb |(stress on the second syllable)|
1 gas demand is likely to increase: grow, get bigger, get larger,
become greater, enlarge, expand, swell; rise, climb, escalate,
soar, surge, rocket, shoot up, spiral; improve, intensify,
strengthen; heighten, lengthen, extend, stretch, spread, widen;
multiply, snowball, mushroom, proliferate, balloon, build up,
mount up, pile up, accrue, accumulate;
ANTONYMS decrease.
2 higher expectations will increase user demand: add to, make larger,
make bigger, make greater, augment, supplement, top up, build
up, enlarge, expand, extend, raise, multiply, elevate, swell,
inflate; magnify, intensify, strengthen, amplify, heighten,
escalate; improve, make better, boost, ameliorate, enhance,
enrich, upgrade; worsen, make worse, exacerbate, aggravate,
inflame, compound, reinforce; informal up, jack up, hike up,
hike, bump up, crank up, step up. ANTONYMS reduce.
noun
|(stress on the first syllable)|the increase in size | an increase in
demand: growth, rise, enlargement, expansion, extension,
multiplication, elevation, swelling, inflation; increment,
addition, augmentation; magnification, intensification,
strengthening, amplification, stepping up, step up, heightening;
climb, escalation, surge, upsurge, upswing, spiral;

improvement, boost, amelioration, enhancement, upgrade,
upturn; worsening, exacerbation, aggravation; development,
advance, boom, spurt, snowballing, mushrooming; informal
hike. ANTONYMS decrease, reduction.

animosity |ˌanɪˈmɒsɪti|
noun (pl.animosities) [ mass noun ]
strong hostility: he no longer felt any animosity towards her.
ORIGIN late Middle English (originally in the sense ‘spirit,
courage’): from Old French animosite or late Latin
animositas, from animosus ‘spirited’, from Latin animus
‘spirit, mind’. The current sense dates from the early 17th
cent.

animosity
noun
there was considerable animosity between him and his brother: antipathy,
hostility, friction, antagonism, enmity, animus, opposition,
aversion, acrimony, bitterness, rancour, resentment, dislike, ill
feeling, bad feeling, ill will, bad blood, hatred, hate, loathing,
detestation, abhorrence, odium; malice, spite, spitefulness,
venom, malevolence, malignity; grudges, grievances;
ANTONYMS goodwill, friendship.
malice |ˈmalɪs|
noun [ mass noun ]
the desire to harm someone; ill will: I bear no malice towards
anybody.
• Law wrongful intention, especially as increasing the guilt of
certain offences.
ORIGIN Middle English: via Old French from Latin malitia,
from malus ‘bad’.

malice
noun
the malice of evil men who hated his good qualities: spitefulness, spite,
malevolence, maliciousness, animosity, hostility, ill will, ill
feeling, hatred, hate, bitterness, venom, vindictiveness,
vengefulness, revenge, malignity, malignance, evil intentions,
animus, enmity, devilment, devilry, bad blood, backbiting, gall,
rancour, spleen, grudge; informal bitchiness, cattiness; literary
maleficence. ANTONYMS benevolence.

reciprocity |ˌrɛsɪˈprɒsɪti|
noun [ mass noun ]
the practice of exchanging things with others for mutual
benefit, especially privileges granted by one country or
organization to another. the Community intends to start discussions on
reciprocity with third countries.

ORIGIN mid 18th cent.: from French réciprocité, from
réciproque, from Latin reciprocus ‘moving backwards
and forwards’ (see reciprocate) .

entreaty |ɪnˈtriːti, ɛn-|
noun (pl.entreaties)
an earnest or humble request: the king turned a deaf ear to his
entreaties.
ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense ‘treatment,
management’; formerly also as intreaty): from entreat, on the
pattern of treaty.

entreaty
noun
he ignored her entreaties: plea, appeal, request, petition, cry from
the heart; suit, application, claim; beseeching, pleading,
begging, solicitation, importuning, supplication; bidding,
exhortation, urge, demand;prayer;

accuse |əәˈkjuːz|
verb [ with obj. ] (often accuse someone of)
charge (someone) with an offence or crime: he was accused of
murdering his wife's lover.
• claim that (someone) has done something wrong: he was
accused of favouritism.
DERIVATIVES
accuser noun

ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French acuser, from
Latin accusare ‘call to account’, from ad- ‘towards’ +
causa ‘reason, motive, lawsuit’.

epic |ˈɛpɪk|
noun
1 a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral
tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or
legendary figures or the past history of a nation.
• [ mass noun ] the genre of epics: the romances display gentler
emotions not found in Greek epic.
• a long film, book, or other work portraying heroic deeds and
adventures or covering an extended period of time: a Hollywood
biblical epic.
2 informal an exceptionally long and arduous task or activity:
the business of getting hospital treatment soon became an epic.
adjective
1 relating to or characteristic of an epic or epics: our national epic
poem Beowulf.
2 heroic or grand in scale or character: his epic journey around the
world | a tragedy of epic proportions.

• informal particularly impressive or remarkable: the gig last night
was epic | these CEOs are paid salaries and bonuses in the millions
despite their epic failures.
DERIVATIVES
epical adjective,
epically adverb
ORIGIN late 16th cent. (as an adjective): via Latin from Greek
epikos, from epos ‘word, song’, related to eipein ‘say’.

epic
noun
1 the epics of Homer: heroic poem, long poem, long story; saga,
legend, romance, lay, history, chronicle, myth, fable, folk tale,
folk story.
2 a big Hollywood epic: epic film, long film; informal blockbuster.
adjective
1 a traditional epic poem: heroic, long, grand, monumental, vast,
Homeric, Miltonian; lofty, grandiloquent, high-flown, high-
sounding, extravagant, bombastic. ANTONYMS understated.
2 their epic journey through the mountains: ambitious, heroic, grand,
arduous, extraordinary, Herculean; very long, very great, very
large, huge, monumental.

narration |nəәˈreɪʃ(əә)n|
noun [ mass noun ]
the action or process of narrating a story: the style of narration in
the novel.
• [ count noun ] a commentary delivered to accompany a film,
broadcast, etc.: Moore's narration is often sarcastic. [ mass
noun ] : there's no dialogue or narration.

narration
noun
1 the first chapter is taken up with a narration of past events in his life:
account, narrative, story, tale, chronicle, description, portrayal,
report, sketch, recital, recitation, rehearsal; telling, relation,
story telling, chronicling, detailing; rare recountal.
2 he introduces the story with a narration that sets the tone for the entire
film: voice-over, reading, commentary.

summary |ˈsʌm(əә)ri|
noun (pl.summaries)
a brief statement or account of the main points of something:
a summary of Chapter Three.

adjective
1 not including needless details or formalities; brief: summary
financial statements.

PHRASES
in summary in short: in summary, there is no clear case for one tax
system compared to another.
DERIVATIVES
summariness noun

ORIGIN late Middle English (as an adjective): from Latin
summarius, from summa ‘sum total’ (see sum) .

summary
noun
a summary of the team's findings was released in August: synopsis,
precis, résumé, abstract, abridgement, digest, compendium,
condensation, encapsulation, abbreviated version; outline,
sketch, rundown, review, summing-up, survey, overview, run-
through, notes, recapitulation, recap;
adjective
1 a summary financial statement: abridged, abbreviated, shortened,
condensed, concise, succinct, thumbnail, compact, terse, short,
compressed, cursory, compendious, synoptic; brief, crisp, pithy,
to the point. ANTONYMS lengthy, in full.
2 many collaborators faced summary execution: immediate, instant,
instantaneous, on-the-spot, direct, forthwith, prompt; speedy,
swift, rapid, expeditious, without delay, without hesitation,
sudden, hasty, abrupt; arbitrary, without formality, without
notice, without warning, peremptory, without discussion.
ANTONYMS dilatory, slow.

story 1 |ˈstɔːri|
noun (pl.stories)
1 an account of imaginary or real people and events told for
entertainment: an adventure story | I'm going to tell you a story.
• a plot or storyline: the novel has a good story.
• a piece of gossip; a rumour: there have been lots of stories going
around, as you can imagine.

• informal a false statement; a lie: Ellie never told stories—she
had always believed in the truth.
2 a report of an item of news in a newspaper, magazine, or
broadcast: stories in the local papers.
3 an account of past events in someone's life or in the
development of something: the story of modern farming | the film is
based on a true story.
• a particular person's representation of the facts of a matter:
during police interviews, Harper changed his story.
• [ in sing. ] a situation viewed in terms of the information
known about it or its similarity to another: having such information
is useful, but it is not the whole story | United kept on trying but it was
the same old story—no luck.
• (the story) informal the facts about the present situation:
What's the story on this man? Is he from around here?
4 the commercial prospects or circumstances of a particular
company: the investors' flight to profitable businesses with solid stories.
PHRASES
but that's another story informal used after raising a matter
to indicate that one does not want to expand on it for now.
end of story see end.

it's a long story informal used to indicate that, for now, one
does not want to talk about something that is too painful or
complicated.
it's (or that's) the story of one's life informal used as a
resigned acknowledgement that one has experienced a
particular misfortune too often. ‘He's more likely to have run off
with a dancer,’ Laura said bitterly. ‘It's the story of my life.’.
the story goes it is said or rumoured: the story goes that
he's fallen out with his friends.
to cut (or N. Amer.make) a long story short used to end
an account of events quickly: to cut a long story short, I married
Stephen.
ORIGIN Middle English (denoting a historical account or
representation): shortening of Anglo-Norman French estorie,
from Latin historia (see history) .
story 2
nounN. Amer.
variant spelling of storey.

storey |ˈstɔːri| (N. Amer. also story)
noun (pl.storeys or stories)
a part of a building comprising all the rooms that are on the
same level: [ in combination ] : a three-storey building.

DERIVATIVES
storeyed (N. Amer. also storied)adjective [ in combination ] :
four-storeyed houses

ORIGIN late Middle English: shortening of Latin historia
‘history, story’, a special use in Anglo-Latin, perhaps
originally denoting a tier of painted windows or sculptures on
the front of a building (representing a historical subject).

story
noun
1 an adventure story: tale, narrative, account, recital; anecdote;
chronicle, history; informal yarn, spiel.
2 the novel has a good story: plot, storyline, scenario, chain of
events; technical diegesis.
3 the story appeared in the papers in the usual tabloid style: news item,
news report, article, feature, piece; exclusive, exposé; spoiler;
informal scoop.
4 there have been a lot of stories going round, as you can imagine:
rumour, piece of gossip, piece of hearsay, whisper; speculation;
Frenchon dit; informal kidology; Austral./NZ informal furphy.
5 Harper changed his story about how the fire started: testimony,
statement, report, account, version, description, representation.

6 Ellie never told stories—she had always believed in the truth: lie, fib,
falsehood, untruth, fabrication, fiction, piece of fiction; white
lie; Irish pishogue; W. African nancy story; informal tall story,
fairy story, fairy tale, cock and bull story, shaggy-dog story,
ANTONYMS the truth.

polygamy |pəәˈlɪgəәmi|
noun [ mass noun ]
the practice or custom of having more than one wife or
husband at the same time.

DERIVATIVES
polygamist noun
ORIGIN late 16th cent.: from French polygamie, via late
Latin from Greek polugamia, from polugamos ‘often
marrying’.

polyandry |ˈpɒlɪandri|
noun [ mass noun ]
polygamy in which a woman has more than one husband.
Compare with polygyny.
• Zoology a pattern of mating in which a female animal has
more than one male mate.
DERIVATIVES
polyandrous |-ˈandrəәs| adjective

ORIGIN late 17th cent.: from poly-‘many’ + Greek anēr,
andr- ‘male’.

bigamy |ˈbɪgəәmi|
noun [ mass noun ]
the offence of marrying someone while already married to
another person.
DERIVATIVES
bigamist noun,
bigamous adjective

ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French bigamie, from
bigame ‘bigamous’, from late Latin bigamus, from bi-
‘twice’ + Greek -gamos ‘married’.

incriminate |ɪnˈkrɪmɪneɪt|
verb [ with obj. ]
make (someone) appear guilty of a crime or wrongdoing: he
refused to answer questions in order not to incriminate himself | (as
adj.incriminating) : incriminating evidence.
DERIVATIVES
incrimination |-ˈneɪʃ(əә)n| noun,
incriminatory adjective

ORIGIN mid 18th cent. (earlier (mid 17th cent.) as
incrimination): from late Latin incriminat- ‘accused’, from the
verb incriminare, from in- ‘into, towards’ + Latin crimen
‘crime’.

teetotaller |tiːˈtəәʊt(əә)ləә| (USteetotaler)
noun
a person who never drinks alcohol.
teetotaller
noun
non-drinker, abstainer;
ANTONYMS drunk, lush.

derelict |ˈdɛrəәlɪkt|
adjective
1 in a very poor condition as a result of disuse and neglect: a
derelict Georgian mansion | the barge lay derelict for years.

noun
1 a person without a home, job, or property. derelicts who could fit
all their possessions in a paper bag.
2 a ship or other piece of property abandoned by the owner
and in poor condition. she had been a derelict recommissioned for this
journey.

ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Latin derelictus ‘abandoned’,
past participle of derelinquere, from de- ‘completely’ +
relinquere ‘forsake’.

derelict
adjective
1 a derelict old building: dilapidated, ramshackle, run down,
broken-down, worn out, tumbledown, in (a state of) disrepair,
in ruins, ruined, falling to pieces, falling apart; rickety, creaky,
creaking, decrepit, deteriorating, crumbling, deteriorated;
neglected, untended, unmaintained, gone to rack and ruin,
gone to seed, on its last legs, the worse for wear. ANTONYMS
in good repair.
2 a vast, derelict airfield: disused, abandoned, deserted, discarded,
rejected, forsaken, cast off, relinquished.
ANTONYMS in use.
3 N. Amer. he was derelict in his duty to his country: negligent,
neglectful, remiss, lax, careless, sloppy, slipshod, slack,
irresponsible, delinquent. ANTONYMS dutiful, punctilious.
noun
the community of derelicts who survive on the capital's streets: tramp,
vagrant, vagabond, down and out, homeless person, drifter,
person of no fixed address/abode, knight of the road; beggar,
mendicant; outcast, pariah, ne'er do well, good-for-nothing,
wastrel; informal dosser, bag lady;
WORD TOOLKIT
derelict disintegrating decaying

amphibian |amˈfɪbɪəәn|
noun
a cold-blooded vertebrate animal of a class that comprises the
frogs, toads, newts, salamanders, and caecilians. They are
distinguished by having an aquatic gill-breathing larval stage
followed (typically) by a terrestrial lung-breathing adult stage.
●Class Amphibia: orders Urodela (newts and salamanders),
Anura (frogs and toads), and Gymnophiona (caecilians).
• a seaplane, tank, or other vehicle that can operate on land
and on water.
adjective
relating to amphibians. amphibian eggs.

ORIGIN mid 17th cent. (in the sense ‘having two modes of
existence or of doubtful nature’): from modern Latin
amphibium ‘an amphibian’, from Greek amphibion (noun
use of amphibios ‘living both in water and on land’, from
amphi ‘both’ + bios ‘life’).

aquatic |əәˈkwatɪk, -ˈkwɒt-|
adjective
relating to water. animals have eyes adapted to the hues of their aquatic
home. those who favour cycling or various aquatic sports.
• (of a plant or animal) growing or living in or near water.
aquatic plants. the bay could support aquatic life.
noun

1 an aquatic plant or animal, especially one suitable for a pond
or aquarium. water lilies and other deep-water aquatics. specialist
aquatics suppliers.
2 (aquatics) sports played in or on water.
ORIGIN late 15th cent. (in the sense ‘watery, rainy’): from Old
French aquatique or Latin aquaticus, from aqua ‘water’.

aquatic
adjective
aquatic plants: water; sea, marine, maritime, saltwater, seawater,
oceanic; freshwater, river, fluvial;

ambidextrous |ˌambɪˈdɛkstrəәs|
adjective
able to use the right and left hands equally well. few of us are
naturally ambidextrous.
• (of an implement) designed to be used by left-handed and
right-handed people with equal ease. an ambidextrous tile gauge.
DERIVATIVES
ambidexterity |-ˈstɛrɪti| noun,
ambidextrously adverb,
ambidextrousness noun
ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from late Latin ambidexter (from
Latin ambi- ‘on both sides’ + dexter ‘right-handed’) + -
ous.

animate
verb |ˈanɪmeɪt| [ with obj. ]
1 bring to life: Prometheus stole fire from heaven to animate his clay
men.
• give inspiration, encouragement, or renewed vigour to: she has
animated the government with a sense of political direction.

2 give (a film or character) the appearance of movement using
animation techniques. much-loved characters have been animated in
this Franco-Canadian co-production.

adjective |ˈanɪməәt|
alive or having life: gods in a wide variety of forms, both animate and
inanimate.
DERIVATIVES
animator noun
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin animat- ‘instilled
with life’, from the verb animare, from anima ‘life, soul’.

animate
verb
a sense of excitement animated the whole school: enliven, vitalize, give
(new) life to, breathe (new) life into, energize, invigorate, revive,
vivify, liven up, light up, cheer up, gladden; encourage, hearten,
inspire, exhilarate, thrill, excite, fire, arouse, rouse, stir,
stimulate, galvanize, electrify; informal buck up, pep up, give
someone a buzz, ginger up;
ANTONYMS depress, inhibit.
adjective
an animate being: living, alive, live, breathing, sentient, conscious;
organic; archaic quick. ANTONYMS inanimate.

uphold |ʌpˈhəәʊld|
verb (past and past participleupheld) [ with obj. ]
confirm or support (something which has been questioned): the
court upheld his claim for damages.
• maintain (a custom or practice): they uphold a tradition of not
causing distress to living creatures.
DERIVATIVES
upholder noun

uphold
verb
1 the court upheld his claim for damages: confirm, endorse, sustain,
validate, ratify, verify, vindicate, justify, approve; support, give
one's support to, be supportive of, back, back up, give one's
backing to, stand by, champion, defend, come to the defence
of, stick up for. ANTONYMS overturn, oppose.
2 they've a tradition to uphold: maintain, sustain, continue,
preserve, protect, keep, hold to, keep alive, keep going,
strengthen, nurture. ANTONYMS abandon.

overhaul
verb |əәʊvəәˈhɔːl| [ with obj. ]
1 take apart (a piece of machinery or equipment) in order to
examine it and repair it if necessary: the steering box was recently
overhauled.
• analyse and improve (a system). moves to overhaul the income tax
system.

noun |ˈəәʊvəәhɔːl|
a thorough examination of machinery or a system, with repairs
or changes made if necessary: a major overhaul of environmental
policies.
ORIGIN early 17th cent. (originally in nautical use in the
sense ‘release rope tackle by slackening’): from over- + haul.
overhaul
verb
1 I've been overhauling the gearbox: service, maintain, repair, mend,
fix up, patch up, rebuild, renovate, revamp, recondition,
remodel, refit, refurbish, modernize; regulate, adjust; check,
check out, check over, check up on, give something a check-up,
investigate, inspect, examine, survey; revise, update, reconsider,
rework, restructure, realign, shake up;
2 Kenyon was the only man who could have overhauled him in the world
title race: overtake, pass, get past, go past, go by, go faster than,
get/pull ahead of, outdistance, outstrip; gain on, catch up with,
draw level with.

revel
verb
1 with their exams out of the way they revelled all night: celebrate,
make merry, have a party, party, feast, {eat, drink, and be
merry}, carouse, roister, have fun, have a good time, enjoy
oneself, go on a spree;  ANTONYMS mourn.
2 he revelled in the applause which greeted him: enjoy, delight in,
love, like, adore, be entertained by, be amused by, be pleased by,
take pleasure in, appreciate, relish, lap up, savour, luxuriate in,
bask in, wallow in, glory in; gloat over, feel self-satisfied about,
crow about;
ANTONYMS hate.
noun
there are a few spots in town for night revels: celebration, festivity,
jollification, merrymaking, carousal, carouse, spree, debauch,
bacchanal; party, jamboree; informal rave, shindig, bash, jag;

revel
verb
1 with their exams out of the way they revelled all night: celebrate,
make merry, have a party, party, feast, {eat, drink, and be
merry}, carouse, roister, have fun, have a good time, enjoy
oneself, go on a spree; informal live it up, whoop it up, have a
fling, have a ball, make whoopee, rave, paint the town red;
ANTONYMS
mourn.
2 he revelled in the applause which greeted him: enjoy, delight in,
love, like, adore, be entertained by, be amused by, be pleased by,
take pleasure in, appreciate, relish, lap up, savour, luxuriate in,
bask in, wallow in, glory in; gloat over, feel self-satisfied about,
crow about;
ANTONYMS hate.
noun
there are a few spots in town for night revels: celebration, festivity,
jollification, merrymaking, carousal, carouse, spree, debauch,
bacchanal; party, jamboree; informal rave, shindig, bash, jag;

satisfied |ˈsatɪsfʌɪd|
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.

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’.

satisfied
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;
ANTONYMS dissatisfied, unhappy.
2 the pleasure of satisfied desire: fulfilled, gratified, appeased,
assuaged; archaic satiate. ANTONYMS unfulfilled.
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. ANTONYMS
uncertain, unconvinced.
satisfy
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; ANTONYMS frustrate.
2 his role was a creative one, and it satisfied him up to a point: please,
content, make happy. ANTONYMS dissatisfy, frustrate.
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;
5 there was insufficient collateral to satisfy the loan: repay, pay, pay off,
pay in full, settle, make good, discharge, square, liquidate, clear.

advent |ˈadv(əә)nt, -vɛnt|
noun [ in sing. ]
1 the arrival of a notable person or thing: the advent of television.

ORIGIN Old English, from Latin adventus ‘arrival’, from
advenire, from ad- ‘to’ + venire ‘come’.

advent
noun
operative techniques greatly improved with the advent of anaesthesia | the
inevitable advent of his death: arrival, appearance, emergence,
materialization, surfacing, occurrence, dawn, origin, birth, rise,
development; approach, coming, looming, nearing, advance.
ANTONYMS departure, disappearance.

propeller |prəәˈpɛləә| (also propellor)
noun
a mechanical device for propelling a boat or aircraft, consisting
of a revolving shaft with two or more broad, angled blades
attached to it.
propeller
noun
screw, airscrew, rotor, vane, propulsor; informal prop.
propel |prəәˈpɛl|
verb (propels, propelling, propelled) [ with obj. ]
drive or push something forwards: the boat is propelled by using a
very long paddle | (as adj., in combination-propelled) : a rocket-
propelled grenade launcher.
• [ with obj. and adverbial of direction ] spur or drive into a
particular situation: fear propelled her out of her stillness.

ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense ‘expel, drive out’):
from Latin propellere, from pro- ‘forward’ + pellere ‘to
drive’.

propel
verb
1 a long fishing boat propelled by six oars: push/move forwards,
move, set in motion, get moving, drive.
2 he propelled the ball vertically into the air: throw, thrust, toss, fling,
hurl, lob, let fly, launch, pitch, project, send, shoot; informal
chuck, sling, bung.
3 confusion propelled her into action: spur, drive, prompt, precipitate,
catapult, motivate, force, impel.

missionary |ˈmɪʃ(əә)n(əә)ri|
noun (pl.missionaries)
a person sent on a religious mission, especially one sent to
promote Christianity in a foreign country.

adjective
relating to or characteristic of a missionary or a religious
mission: missionary work | our taxi driver shared a sense of missionary
zeal with us.

ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from modern Latin missionarius,
from Latin missio (see mission) .
missionary
noun
he was a missionary in Sierre Leone: evangelist, apostle, proselytizer,
preacher, televangelist, minister, priest; campaigner, crusader,
champion, converter, promoter, advocate, proponent.

publish |ˈpʌblɪʃ|
verb [ with obj. ]
1 prepare and issue (a book, journal, or piece of music) for
public sale: we publish practical reference books | [ no obj. ] : the
pressures on researchers to publish.
• print (something) in a book or journal so as to make it
generally known: we pay £5 for every letter we publish.
• (usu. as adj.published) prepare and issue the works of (a
particular writer): a published author.
• formally announce or read (an edict or marriage banns).

DERIVATIVES
publishable adjective
ORIGIN Middle English (in the sense ‘make generally
known’): from the stem of Old French puplier, from Latin
publicare ‘make public’, from publicus (see public) .

publish
verb
1 we want to publish good-quality literary works: issue, bring out,
produce, print.
2 it would be useful to publish his comments: make known, make
public, publicize, bring to public notice/attention, announce,
report, declare, post, communicate, impart, broadcast,
transmit, issue, put out, distribute, spread, promulgate,
propagandize, disseminate, circulate, air, blazon, herald,
proclaim; disclose, reveal, divulge, leak.

base 1 |beɪs|
noun
1 the lowest part or edge of something, especially the part on
which it rests or is supported: she sat down at the base of a tree.
2 a conceptual structure or entity on which something draws or
depends: the town's economic base collapsed.
• a foundation or starting point for further work: she uses existing
data as the base for the study.
• [ with modifier ] a group of people regarded as supporting an
organization, for example by buying its products: a customer base.
3 a place used as a centre of operations by the armed forces or
others; a headquarters: he headed back to base.
• the main place where a person works or stays: she makes the
studio her base | your hotel is a good base from which to explore.
4 a main or important element or ingredient to which other
things are added: soaps with a vegetable oil base.
• [ mass noun ] a substance into which a pigment is mixed to
form paint, such as water, oil, or powdered aluminium
hydroxide.
• [ mass noun ] a substance used as a foundation for make-up:
her make-up artist works with base, eye make-up, and lipstick.

verb [ with obj. ]
1 (base something on) use (something specified) as the
foundation or starting point for something: the film is based on a
novel by Pat Conroy | entitlement will be based on income.

base 1
noun
1 the base of the tower: foundation, bottom, foot, support, prop,
stay, stand, pedestal, plinth, rest, bed, substructure.
ANTONYMS top.
2 early learning will provide a sound base for what follows: basis,
bedrock, foundation, core, essence, essential, nitty-gritty, basics,
starting point, key component, fundamental, root(s), heart,
backbone, theory, principle, rationale; source, origin, spring,
well head, fountainhead, fount.
3 he used the hut as a base for his search: headquarters, centre,
starting point, camp, site, station, settlement, post.
4 add a few drops of the aromatic oil to a vegetable oil base: medium,
vehicle, carrier.

verb
1 the legend is based on fact: found, build, construct, form,
establish, ground, root; use as a basis; rest, hinge; emanate
from, derive from, spring from, stem from, originate in, have its
origin in, can be traced back to.
2 the company was based in London: locate, station, situate, post,
position, place, install, deploy, site, establish, garrison.

base 2
adjective
some of these struggles have been inspired by base motives: sordid,
improper, low, mean, bad, wrong, evil, wicked, iniquitous,
immoral, sinful; unscrupulous, unprincipled, unseemly,
unsavoury, shoddy, squalid, vile, foul, vulgar, tawdry, cheap,
low-minded, debased, degenerate, depraved, corrupt,
reprobate, dissolute, dishonest, dishonourable, disreputable,
despicable, discreditable, contemptible, petty, ignominious,
ignoble, shameful, wretched, scandalous, infamous, abhorrent,
abominable, disgusting. ANTONYMS good, lofty.

eliminate |ɪˈlɪmɪneɪt|
verb [ with obj. ]
1 completely remove or get rid of (something): a policy that would
eliminate inflation.
• exclude (someone or something) from consideration or
further participation: the police have eliminated Lawrence from
their inquiries | (as adj.eliminating) : teams who had fought their
way through the eliminating rounds.
2 expel (waste matter) from the body: this diet claims to eliminate
toxins from the body.

DERIVATIVES
eliminable |-nəәb(əә)l| adjective,
elimination |-ˈneɪʃ(əә)n| noun,
eliminator noun,
eliminatory |-nəәt(əә)ri| adjective

ORIGIN mid 16th cent. (in the sense ‘drive out’): from Latin
eliminat- ‘turned out of doors’, from the verb eliminare,
from e- (variant of ex-)‘out’ + limen, limin- ‘threshold’.

sordid |ˈsɔːdɪd|
adjective
1 involving immoral or dishonourable actions and motives;
arousing moral distaste and contempt: the story paints a sordid
picture of bribes and scams.
2 dirty or squalid: the overcrowded housing conditions were sordid and
degrading.
DERIVATIVES
sordidly adverb,
sordidness noun
ORIGIN late Middle English (as a medical term in the sense
‘purulent’): from French sordide or Latin sordidus, from
sordere ‘be dirty’. The current senses date from the early
17th cent.

sordid
adjective
1 I'm not interested in your sordid little affairs: sleazy, seedy, seamy,
unsavoury, shoddy, vile, foul, tawdry, louche, cheap, base, low,
low-minded, debased, degenerate, corrupt, dishonest,
dishonourable, disreputable, despicable, discreditable,
contemptible, ignominious, ignoble, shameful, wretched,
abhorrent, abominable, disgusting;
ANTONYMS high-minded, respectable.
2 the lane was a narrow, sordid little gully, chock-full of rubbish: dirty,
filthy, mucky, grimy, muddy, grubby, shabby, messy, soiled,
stained, smeared, smeary, scummy, slimy, sticky, sooty, dusty,
unclean, foul, squalid, flea-bitten, slummy; informal cruddy,
grungy, yucky, icky, crummy, scuzzy;
WORD TOOLKIT
sordid
See dirty.
Word Toolkits illustrate the difference between close
synonyms by means of words typically used with them.

saga |ˈsɑːgəә|
noun
1 a long story of heroic achievement, especially a medieval
prose narrative in Old Norse or Old Icelandic. a figure straight
out of a Viking saga.
2 a long, involved story, account, or series of incidents: launching
into the saga of her engagement.

nightmarish |ˈnʌɪtmɛːrɪʃ|
adjective
of the nature of a nightmare; very frightening or unpleasant: a
nightmarish vision of the future | a nightmarish eight-hour journey.

DERIVATIVES
nightmarishly adverb

ordeal |ɔːˈdiːəәl|
noun
1 a very unpleasant and prolonged experience: the ordeal of
having to give evidence.

ORIGIN Old English ordāl, ordēl, of Germanic origin; related
to German urteilen ‘give judgement’, from a base meaning
‘share out’. The word is not found in Middle English (except
once in Chaucer's Troilus); modern use of sense 2 began in the
late 16th cent., whence sense 1 (mid 17th cent.).

ordeal
noun
both women were understandably shaken by their ordeal: painful/
unpleasant experience, trial, tribulation, test, nightmare,
trauma, baptism of fire, hell, hell on earth, misery, trouble,
difficulty, torture, torment, agony.

undergo |ʌndəәˈgəәʊ|
verb (undergoes, undergoing |-ˈgəәʊz| ; pastunderwent |-
ˈwɛnt| ; past participleundergone |-ˈgɒn| ) [ with obj. ]
experience or be subjected to (something, typically something
unpleasant or arduous): he underwent a life-saving brain operation.
ORIGIN Old English undergān‘undermine’ (see under-,go 1 ) .

undergo
verb
she had to undergo a ferocious and lengthy cross-examination: go
through, experience, engage in, undertake, live through, face,
encounter, submit to, be subjected to, come in for, receive,
sustain, endure, brave, bear, tolerate, stand, withstand, put up
with, weather, support, brook, suffer, cope with;

adjective
causing great sadness or distress: a heart-rending story.

DERIVATIVES
heart-rendingly adverb
heart-rending
adjective
a heart-rending cry of torment: distressing, upsetting, disturbing,
heartbreaking, sad, tragic, painful, saddening, traumatic,
agonising, desolate, harrowing, excruciating; pitiful, piteous,
poignant, plaintive, affecting, moving, tear-jerking; rare
distressful. ANTONYMS comforting.

hapless |ˈhaplɪs|
adjective
(especially of a person) unfortunate: the hapless victims of the
disaster.
DERIVATIVES
haplessly adverb,
haplessness noun
ORIGIN late Middle English: from hap (in the early sense
‘good fortune’) + -less.

hapless
adjective
the hapless victims of exploitation: unfortunate, unlucky, luckless,
out of luck, ill-starred, ill-fated, jinxed, cursed, doomed;
unhappy, forlorn, wretched, miserable, woebegone; informal
down on one's luck; literary star-crossed. ANTONYMS lucky.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORD
hapless, unfortunate, unlucky, ill-starred
See unfortunate.

insensitive |ɪnˈsɛnsɪtɪv|
adjective
1 showing or feeling no concern for others' feelings: an insensitive
remark.
2 not sensitive to a physical sensation: she was remarkably
insensitive to pain.
• not aware of or able to respond to something: both were in
many ways insensitive to painting.

DERIVATIVES
insensitively adverb,
insensitiveness noun,
insensitivity |-ˈtɪvɪti| noun

dexterous |ˈdɛkst(əә)rəәs| (also dextrous)
adjective
showing or having skill, especially with the hands: a dexterous
keyboard player.

DERIVATIVES
dexterously adverb,
dexterousness noun

ORIGIN early 17th cent. (in the sense ‘mentally adroit’): from
Latin dexter ‘on the right’ + -ous.

dexterous
adjective
1 a dexterous flick of the wrist: deft, adept, adroit, agile, nimble,
neat, nimble-fingered, handy, able, capable, talented, skilful,
skilled, proficient, accomplished, expert, experienced,
practised, polished, efficient, effortless, slick, professional,
masterful, masterly, impressive, finely judged, delicate;
ANTONYMS clumsy.
2 Klein had achieved notoriety for his dexterous accounting abilities:
shrewd, ingenious, inventive, clever, intelligent, bright, brilliant,
smart, sharp, sharp-witted, razor-sharp, acute, quick, quick-
witted, astute, canny, intuitive, discerning, perceptive,
perspicacious, insightful, incisive, sagacious, wise, judicious;
cunning, artful, crafty, wily, calculating; informal on the ball,
quick off the mark, quick on the uptake, brainy, streetwise,
savvy; ANTONYMS stupid.

firework |ˈfʌɪəәwəәːk|
noun
a device containing gunpowder and other combustible
chemicals which causes spectacular effects and explosions
when ignited, used for display or in celebrations: they were oohing
and aahing as if they were watching the fireworks | [ as modifier ] : a
firework display.
• (fireworks) an outburst of anger, or a display of great skill
or energy: when you put these men together you're bound to get
fireworks.
fireworks
plural noun
1 many people watch fireworks at organized displays: pyrotechnics,
explosions, illuminations;
2 there have been times when his stubbornness has produced some
fireworks: uproar, trouble, mayhem, fuss; tantrums, hysterics,
paroxysms; rage, fit, outburst, frenzy, row.

hazardous |ˈhazəәdəәs|
adjective
risky; dangerous: we work in hazardous conditions | it is hazardous
to personal safety.
DERIVATIVES
hazardously adverb,
hazardousness noun
ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: from French hasardeux, from
hasard ‘chance’ (see hazard) .

hazardous
adjective
1 we work in hazardous conditions: dangerous, risky, unsafe,
perilous, precarious, insecure, tricky, unpredictable, uncertain,
high-risk, touch-and-go, fraught with danger; informal dicey,
hairy, sticky, iffy; Brit. informal dodgy; ANTONYMS safe;
secure.
2 a hazardous venture: chancy, uncertain, undependable,
unpredictable, precarious, speculative. ANTONYMS certain.

glassware |ˈglɑːswɛː|
noun [ mass noun ]
ornaments and articles made from glass.

hygienic |hʌɪˈdʒiːnɪk|
adjective
conducive to maintaining health and preventing disease,
especially by being clean; sanitary: hygienic conditions.
DERIVATIVES
hygienically adverb

hygienic
adjective
this will leave the whole kitchen clean and hygienic: sanitary, clean,
germ-free, dirt-free, disinfected, sterilized, sterile, antiseptic,
aseptic, uninfected, unpolluted, uncontaminated, salubrious,
healthy, pure, wholesome; informal squeaky clean, as clean as a
whistle. ANTONYMS dirty; insanitary.

unhygienic |ʌnhʌɪˈdʒiːnɪk|
adjective
not clean or sanitary: damp, unhygienic accommodation.
DERIVATIVES
unhygienically adverb
unhygienic
adjective
animals are kept in cramped and often unhygienic conditions: insanitary,
unsanitary, dirty, filthy, unclean, impure, contaminated,
unhealthy, deleterious, detrimental, harmful, unwholesome,
germ-ridden, germy, disease-ridden, infested, insalubrious,
noxious, polluted, foul, septic. ANTONYMS hygienic, sanitary.

power |ˈpaʊəә|
noun [ mass noun ]
1 the ability or capacity to do something or act in a particular
way: the power of speech | I will do everything in my power
to help you | (powers) : his powers of concentration.
2 the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behaviour of
others or the course of events: a political process that offers people
power over their own lives | she had me in her power.
• political or social authority or control, especially that
exercised by a government: the party had been in power for eight
years.
• authority that is given or delegated to a person or body: police
do not have the power to stop and search.
• the military strength of a state: the sea power of Venice.
• [ count noun ] a state or country, especially one viewed in
terms of its international influence and military strength: a great
colonial power.
• [ count noun ] a person or organization that is strong or
influential within a particular context: he was a power in the
university.
• [ count noun ] a supernatural being, deity, or force: the powers
of darkness.

verb
1 [ with obj. ] supply (a device) with mechanical or electrical
energy: the car is powered by a fuel-injected 3.0-litre engine | (as adj.,
in combination-powered) : a nuclear-powered submarine.
• (power something up/down) switch a device on or off: the
officer powered up the fighter's radar.
2 [ no obj., with adverbial of direction ] move or travel with
great speed or force: he powered round a bend.
• [ with obj. ] direct (something, especially a ball) with great
force: Nicholas powered a header into the net.

power
noun
1 my mother suffered a stroke and lost the power of speech | I'll do
everything within my power to help: ability, capacity, capability,
potential, potentiality, faculty, property, competence,
competency. ANTONYMS inability, incapacity.
2 the unions wield enormous power in party affairs: control, authority,
influence, dominance, mastery, domination, rule, command,
ascendancy, supremacy, dominion, sovereignty, jurisdiction,
sway, weight, leverage, hold, grasp, say; informal clout, pull,
beef, teeth; N. Amer. informal drag; literary puissance.
3 police do not have the power to stop and search: authority, right,
authorization, warrant, licence, prerogative, faculty; informal
say-so.
4 in the eighteenth century Russia became a major European power: state,
country, nation, world power, superpower.
5 he hit the ball with as much power as he could | the sheer physical
power of the man: strength, powerfulness, might, force,
forcefulness, mightiness, weight, vigour, energy, intensity,
potency; brawn, brawniness, muscle; informal punch; Brit.
informal welly; literary thew.
6 the power of his arguments: forcefulness, powerfulness, potency,
strength, force, eloquence, effectiveness, cogency,
persuasiveness, impressiveness, authoritativeness; informal
punch. ANTONYMS weakness, impotence.
7 the new engine has more power: driving force, horsepower, hp,
acceleration; informal poke, oomph;
8 generating power from waste: energy, electrical power, nuclear
power, solar power, steam power, water power;

historical |hɪˈstɒrɪk(əә)l|
adjective
of or concerning history or past events: historical evidence.
• belonging to the past: famous historical figures.
• (especially of a novel or film) set in the past.
• (of the study of a subject) based on an analysis of its
development over a period: for the Darwinians, biogeography became
a historical science.
ORIGIN late Middle English: via Latin from Greek
historikos (see historic) .

usage: On the use of an historical event or a historical event, see
usage at an.
historical
adjective
1 the historical background to such studies: documented, recorded,
chronicled, attested, factual, verified, confirmed, archival,
authentic, actual, true. ANTONYMS legendary.
2 famous historical figures: past, bygone, ancient, old, former, prior,
from the past; literary of yore. ANTONYMS contemporary.
root 1 |ruːt|
noun
1 the part of a plant which attaches it to the ground or to a
support, typically underground, conveying water and
nourishment to the rest of the plant via numerous branches
and fibres. cacti have deep and spreading roots. a tree root. [ as
modifier ] : root growth.
• the persistent underground part of a plant, especially when
fleshy and enlarged and used as a vegetable, e.g. a turnip or
carrot. you should never wash roots before storing.
• any plant grown for its root. roots like beet and carrot cannot be
transplanted.
• the embedded part of a bodily organ or structure such as a
hair, tooth, or nail: her hair was fairer at the roots.
• the part of a thing attaching it to a greater or more
fundamental whole; the end or base. a little lever near the root of
the barrel. they disappeared from sight behind the root of the crag.
2 the basic cause, source, or origin of something: money is the
root of all evil | jealousy was at the root of it | [ as modifier ] : the root
cause of the problem.
• (roots) family, ethnic, or cultural origins: it's always nice to
return to my roots.

3 establish deeply and firmly: vegetarianism is rooted in Indian
culture.
• (be rooted in) have as an origin or cause: the Latin verb is
rooted in an Indo-European word.

PHRASES
at root basically; fundamentally: it is a moral question at root.
put down roots (of a plant) begin to draw nourishment from
the soil through its roots.
• (of a person) begin to have a settled
life in a particular place. I think it's time I put down some roots. they
have married, put down roots.
root and branch used to express the thorough or radical
nature of a process or operation: root-and-branch reform of personal
taxation.
strike at the root (or roots) of affect in a vital area with
potentially destructive results: the proposals struck at the roots of
community life.
take root (of a plant) begin to grow and draw nourishment
from the soil through its roots. • become fixed or established:
the idea had taken root in my mind.

PHRASAL VERBS
root something out (also root something up)dig or pull up
a plant by the roots. they are rooting up hawthorn bushes. they make a
mess, root up plants and flowers.
• find and get rid of someone or
something pernicious or dangerous: a campaign to root out
corruption.
DERIVATIVES
rootedness noun,
rootlet noun,
root-like adjective,
rooty adjective (rootier, rootiest)
ORIGIN late Old English rōt, from Old Norse rót; related to
Latin radix, also to wort.

PHRASAL VERBS
root for informal support or hope for the success of (a person
or group entering a contest or undertaking a challenge): the
whole of this club is rooting for him.
root
noun
1 the fungus attacks a plant's roots: radicle, rhizome, rootstock,
tuber, tap root, rootlet;
2 the root of the problem: source, origin, starting point, seed, germ,
beginnings, genesis; cause, reason; base, basis, foundation,
bottom, seat, fundamental; core, nucleus, heart, kernel, nub,
essence;
3 (roots) he has rejected his roots: origins, beginnings, family,
ancestors, predecessors; heritage; birthplace, native land,
motherland, fatherland, homeland, native country, native soil.
PHRASES
put down roots they married and put down roots in Britain: settle,
become established, establish oneself, make one's home, set up
home.
root and branch 
1 the whole ghastly superstructure should be brought
down and got rid of, root and branch: completely, entirely, wholly,
totally, utterly, thoroughly; radically.
2 the party wanted a root-and-
branch reform of the electoral system: complete, total, entire, utter,
thorough; radical.
take root
1 leave the plants to take root over the next couple of weeks:
begin to germinate, begin to sprout, establish, strike, take.
2
environmentalism had taken root as a political movement in Europe:
become established, establish itself, become fixed, take hold;
develop, thrive, flourish.
verb
1 give the shoot a gentle tug to see if it has rooted: take root, grow
roots, become established, establish, strike, take.
2 June is a good month to begin rooting cuttings: plant, bed out, sow.
3 he rooted around in the cupboard and brought out a packet of biscuits:
rummage, hunt, search, rifle, delve, forage, dig, nose, poke;
PHRASES
root for informal the clamour of baseball fans rooting for their team:
cheer, applaud, cheer on, support, encourage, urge on, shout
for.
root something out 
1 the hedge was rooted out: uproot, tear
something up by the roots, pull something up, grub something
out; ANTONYMS plant.
2 his main purpose was
to root out corruption in the judiciary: eradicate, get rid of, eliminate,
weed out, remove, destroy, put an end to, do away with, wipe
out, stamp out, extirpate, abolish, extinguish. ANTONYMS
establish.
3 are you hoping to root out some dark secret from Joseph's
past? unearth, dig up, dig out, turn up, bring to light, uncover,
discover, dredge up, ferret out, hunt out, nose out, expose.
WORD LINKS
radical relating to roots

antiquity |anˈtɪkwɪti|
noun (pl.antiquities) [ mass noun ]
1 the ancient past, especially the period of classical and other
human civilizations before the Middle Ages: the great civilizations
of antiquity.
2 [ count noun ] (usu. antiquities) an object, building, or
work of art from the ancient past: a collection of Islamic antiquities.
3 great age: a church of great antiquity.
ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French antiquite, from
Latin antiquitas, from antiquus ‘old, former’ (see
antique) .

antiquity
noun
1 the great civilizations of antiquity: ancient times, the ancient past,
classical times, former times, the distant past, times gone by;
literary the olden days, days of yore, yesteryear;
2 a collection of Islamic antiquities: antique, period piece, museum
piece; treasure, relic, curio;
3 a church of great antiquity: age, oldness, ancientness.

vital |ˈvʌɪt(əә)l|
adjective
1 absolutely necessary; essential: secrecy is of vital importance | it is
vital that the system is regularly maintained.
• indispensable to the continuance of life: the vital organs.
2 full of energy; lively: a beautiful, vital girl.
3 archaic fatal: the wound is vital.
noun (vitals)
the body's important internal organs. he felt the familiar knot
contract in his vitals.
DERIVATIVES
vitally adverb [ as submodifier ] : eating sensibly is vitally
important for health
ORIGIN late Middle English (describing the animating
principle of living beings, also in sense 2 of the adjective):
via Old French from Latin vitalis, from vita ‘life’. The sense
‘essential’ dates from the early 17th cent.

vital
adjective
1 it is vital that action is taken to protect jobs: essential, indispensable,
crucial, key, necessary, needed, required, requisite, important,
all-important, of the utmost importance, of great consequence,
of the essence, critical, life-and-death, imperative, mandatory,
urgent, pressing, burning, compelling, acute, paramount, pre-
eminent, high-priority, significant, consequential; informal
earth-shattering, world-shaking. ANTONYMS unimportant,
peripheral, secondary.
2 a layer of fat protects the vital organs: life-preserving, life-
sustaining, basic, fundamental, essential, necessary; major,
main, chief, key, prime. ANTONYMS minor, dispensable.
3 the new president appeared young and vital: lively, energetic, active,
sprightly, spry, animated, spirited, high-spirited, vivacious,
exuberant, bouncy, enthusiastic, vibrant, zestful, sparkling,
dynamic, vigorous, full of vim and vigour, forceful, fiery, lusty,
hale and hearty, in fine fettle; informal go-getting, zippy, peppy,
feisty, spunky, raring to go, full of beans, bright-eyed and
bushy-tailed; N. Amer. chipper. ANTONYMS listless.

WORD TOOLKIT
vital crucial utmost

information
service
work
ingredient
support
resources
funds
equipment role
part
question
factor
moment
step
stage
evidence importance
respect
care
concern
caution
attention
urgency
secrecy
Word Toolkits illustrate the difference between close
synonyms by means of words typically used with them.

unlock |ʌnˈlɒk|
verb [ with obj. ]
undo the lock of (something) using a key: he unlocked the door to
his room.
• make (something previously inaccessible or unexploited)
available for use: the campaign has helped us unlock rich reserves of
talent among our employees.

unlock
verb
I unlocked the door and led the way in: unbolt, unlatch, unbar, undo,
unfasten, unpick, unseal, unclose, open, free, throw open/wide.
ANTONYMS lock.

dynamo |ˈdʌɪnəәməәʊ|
noun (pl.dynamos) chiefly Brit.
a machine for converting mechanical energy into electrical
energy, typically by means of rotating coils of copper wire in a
magnetic field.
• informal an extremely energetic person: she was a dynamo in
London politics.
ORIGIN late 19th cent.: abbreviation of dynamo-electric machine,
from Greek dunamis ‘power’.

generator |ˈdʒɛnəәreɪtəә|
noun
1 a person or thing that generates something.
• [ with modifier ] Computing a routine that constructs other
routines or subroutines using given parameters, for specific
applications.
• Mathematics a point, line, or surface regarded as moving
and so notionally forming a line, surface, or solid.

2 a dynamo or similar machine for converting mechanical
energy into electricity.
• an apparatus for producing gas, steam, or another substance.