MBA Vocab - Oxford Examples - Vol 4

whereas

[]: [you treat the matter lightly, whereas I myself was never more serious]

enviable

[desirable]: [the firm is in the enviable position of having a full order book]

forbidding

[hostile, threatening]: [a grim and forbidding building]

imprecise

[vague, inexact]: [the witness could give only vague and imprecise descriptions]

extricate

[extract]: [he was trying to extricate himself from official duties]

dean

[faculty head]:

trepidation

[fear, apprehension]: [the men set off in fear and trepidation]

take on

[get upset]: [don't take on so—no need to upset yourself]

sunflower

[helianthus]:

indented

[indenture]:

dearth

[lack]: [there is a dearth of evidence]

adulterate

[make impure]: [the brewer is said to adulterate his beer] [adulterate remedies]

matriculation

[matric]: [matriculation requirements]

brimstone

[native sulfur, native sulphur]:

queer

[odd, suspicious, ill, spoil, impoverished]: [she had a queer feeling that they were being watched] [he was feeling rather queer] [queer geek culture has featured gay themes since the 1980s] [nightclubs have traditionally been a space where queer people, trans women in particular, can explore gender with relative safety] [Reg didn't want someone meddling and queering the deal at the last minute]

odoriferous

[offensive, unsavory, unsavoury]: [an odoriferous pile of fish]

percipience

[perceptiveness]:

psychiatry

[psychological medicine, psychopathology]:

refined

[purified, cultivated, discriminating]: [refined sugar] [her voice was very low and refined] [building up a more refined profile of the customer's needs]

monastery

[religious house]:

penitent

[repentant]: [a penitent expression]

reverent

[respectful]: [a reverent silence]

telling

[revealing, convincing]: [a telling argument against this theory]

vituperate

[revile]:

vigorous

[robust, strenuous]: [a tall, vigorous, and muscular man] [vigorous aerobic exercise] [a vigorous denial]

port

[seaport, harbour, aperture]: [the French port of Toulon] [Port Elizabeth] [Belfast's port facilities] [Dora's eye fell on him—any port in a storm] [they settled down to a final glass of port]

ulterior

[secondary]: [could there be an ulterior motive behind his request?]

nifty

[skilful, useful, fashionable]: [nifty footwork] [a nifty black shirt]

memento

[souvenir]: [you can purchase a memento of your visit]

spinal

[spinal anaesthesia, spinal anesthesia]: [spinal injuries] [the building of a new spinal road]

reel

[stagger, be shaken by, recite]: [a cotton reel] [a reel of copper wire] [in the final reel he is transformed from unhinged sociopath into local hero] [we put on the record player and danced reels] [an eightsome reel]

crass

[stupid, gross]: [the crass assumptions that men make about women] [an act of crass stupidity]

transcendent

[superior, supernatural]: [the search for a transcendent level of knowledge] [her transcendent beauty]

advocacy

[support for]: [his outspoken advocacy of the agreement has won no friends] [solicitors should have a record of advocacy in the lower courts]

loquacious

[talkative]: [never loquacious, Sarah was now totally lost for words]

spigot

[tap]:

wedge

[tapered block, triangle, chunk, squeeze]: [the door was secured by a wedge] [a wedge of cheese] [the wedge of horsemen crashed forward] [Davies hit a wedge to within a yard of the hole] [he invested his wedge in stocks and shares]

assessor

[tax assessor]: [the assessor interviews the candidates and observes them actually using the language] [loss assessors were beginning to get an idea of the extent of the damage] [the county tax assessor had reported separate valuations for the buildings and the land] [the expert assessor recommended that the applicant have sole custody]

namely

[that is]: [the menu makes good use of Scottish produce, namely game and seafood]

diminutive

[tiny]: [a diminutive figure dressed in black] ['Nick' is a diminutive of 'Nicholas']

arboriculture

[tree farming]:

characteristic

[typical, attribute]: [he began with a characteristic attack on extremism] [certain defining characteristics of the school emerge from the study]

endure

[undergo, tolerate, bear, last, lasting]: [it seemed impossible that anyone could endure such pain] [these cities have endured through time]

unmatched

[unequalled, peerless]: [he has a talent unmatched by any other politician]

indelible

[unerasable]: [an indelible marker pen] [the story made an indelible impression on me]

heterodox

[unorthodox]: [heterodox views]

le

[]:

cadenza

[]: [the party is having a cadenza about subliminal messages on the news]

antiphon

[antiphony]:

stadium

[arena]:

autarchy

[autarky]:

somehow

[by some means]: [somehow I managed to get the job done] [he looked different somehow]

rural

[country]: [remote rural areas]

fortitude

[courage]: [she endured her illness with great fortitude]

embroider

[decorate, elaborate]: [she embroidered a tablecloth] [an embroidered handkerchief] [she was teaching the girls how to embroider] [a chunky sweater with embroidered flowers] [she embroidered her stories with colourful detail]

ornamentation

[decoration]: [a baroque chandelier with plasterwork ornamentation] [the rhetorical ornamentation of text]

prim

[demure]: [a very prim and proper lady] [Laurie primmed up his mouth]

calamity

[disaster]: [emergency measures may be necessary in order to avert a calamity] [the journey had led to calamity and ruin]

idiosyncratic

[distinctive]: [she emerged as one of the great, idiosyncratic talents of the nineties]

vertigo

[dizziness]:

lawmaker

[lawgiver]: [the game's official lawmakers are preparing the new legislation]

birthright

[patrimony]: [she saw a liberal education as the birthright of every child]

cubism

[]:

journalize

[]: [I would gladly journalize some of my proceedings]

defray

[pay (for)]: [the proceeds from the raffle help to defray the expenses of the evening]

haphazard

[random]: [the music business works in a haphazard fashion]

far from it

[]: [this doesn't make him boring—far from it!]

mutable

[changeable]: [the mutable nature of fashion] [youth is said to be fickle and mutable]

culvert

[channel, drain]: [we have asked for the river to be culverted] [a culverted drain]

regarding

[concerning]: [your recent letter regarding the above proposal]

technic

[]: [this is the primary technic for the diagnosis of Hirschsprung's disease] [in the world of virtual culture, technics is nature]

skyline

[apparent horizon, horizon, sensible horizon, visible horizon]: [the skyline of the city]

diplomat

[ambassador, tactful person]:

yeast

[barm]:

os

[bone]:

compression

[compaction, concretion, densification]:

paramour

[concubine, courtesan, doxy]:

epidermis

[cuticle]:

rodent

[gnawer]:

litigant

[litigator]: [the parties litigant]

knead

[pummel, massage]: [she kneaded his back]

statue

[sculpture]:

societal

[social]: [societal change]

vocable

[spoken word]:

alleged

[supposed]: [[the alleged conspirators] ]

larceny

[theft]:

quarto

[4to]:

aforementioned

[aforesaid, said]: [songs from the aforementioned album]

mien

[appearance]: [he has a cautious, academic mien]

monochrome

[black and white]:

cartridge

[cassette, bullet]:

beloved

[darling, loved, sweetheart]: [his beloved son] [the stark council estates beloved of town planners in the 1960s] [he watched his beloved from afar]

ample

[enough, plentiful, spacious]: [there is ample time for discussion] [an ample supply of consumer goods] [he leaned back in his ample chair] [she stood with her hands on her ample hips]

alimony

[financial support]: [he is said to have paid $300,000 alimony to his first wife]

inundation

[flood, onslaught]: [an inundation of rugby fans] [the annual inundation of the Nile] [areas were at risk of inundation]

botany

[flora, vegetation]: [the botany of North America]

floral

[flower, flower-patterned]: [floral tributes] [a floral pattern] [faunal and floral evolution]

fled

[fly, take flight]:

justify

[give grounds for, warrant]: [the person appointed has fully justified our confidence] [the situation was grave enough to justify further investigation] [one of the elect, justified by faith] [in most European languages you justify text by adding space between letters and words]

glazier

[glass cutter, glass-cutter, glassworker, glazer]:

injurious

[harmful]: [food which is injurious to health]

mania

[madness, obsession]: [many people suffering from mania do not think anything is wrong] [he had a mania for automobiles]

necromancer

[magician, sorcerer, thaumaturge, thaumaturgist, wizard]: [Dr Faustus, a necromancer of the 16th century]

malevolent

[malicious, spiteful]: [the glint of dark, malevolent eyes]

plasticity

[malleability]: [fine clay, at the right degree of plasticity, is more useful]

mammal

[mammalian]:

mutilate

[mangle, vandalize]: [most of the prisoners had been mutilated] [the fine carved screen was mutilated in the 18th century]

conjugal

[marital]: [conjugal loyalty]

equation

[mathematical problem, equating, the situation]: [the equation of science with objectivity] [money also came into the equation]

insider

[member]: [political insiders]

nuts and bolts

[practical details]: [the nuts and bolts of making a movie]

obviate

[preclude]: [the presence of roller blinds obviated the need for curtains] [a parachute can be used to obviate disaster]

preconception

[preconceived idea/notion]:

existing

[present]: [opponents of the existing political system]

need

[require, have to, necessity, requirement, neediness, difficulty, crisis, needy]: [I need help now] [this shirt needs washing] [they need to win tomorrow] [I don't need your sarcasm] [need I say more?]

torn

[ripped]:

cynic

[sceptic, pessimist]: [some cynics thought that the controversy was all a publicity stunt] [the cynics were silenced when the factory opened]

cynicism

[scepticism, pessimism]: [public cynicism about politics] [cynicism about the future]

paragraph

[section, report]: [the concluding paragraph] [the information set out in paragraph 3] [his style deploys a lack of conventional paragraphing]

minor

[slight, unimportant, little known, junior, child]: [she requested a number of minor alterations] [the E flat clarinet sounds a minor third higher than the written notes] [Concerto in A minor] [Smith minor] [the court would take account of the minor's wishes]

directly

[straight, immediately, soon, face to face, exactly, frankly, as soon as]: [they went directly to the restaurant] [I went directly after breakfast] [I'll be back directly] [the decisions directly affect people's health] [the security forces were directly responsible for the massacre]

simply

[straightforwardly, plainly, unpretentiously, merely, utterly]: [she spoke simply and from the heart] [simply complete the application form] [it makes Trevor simply furious] [quite simply, some things have to be taught]

tenor

[strain]: [the Serenade for tenor, horn, and strings] [he had a good tenor voice] [several members of the party had been able to put in the tenor and the bass] [a tenor sax] [the general tenor of the debate]

straw

[strew]: [a straw hat] [the tramp sat chewing a straw] [his affair was the last straw] [you don't care a straw what I think]

stringent

[strict]: [stringent guidelines on air pollution]

endorsement

[support, countersigning]: [the issue of full independence received overwhelming endorsement] [cheques requiring endorsement] [the package was regarded as an endorsement of the government's reform programme] [the entertainer made millions from Pepsi endorsements]

outdo

[surpass, excel]: [the men tried to outdo each other in their generosity] [not to be outdone, Vicky and Laura reached the same standard]

solidarity

[unanimity]: [factory workers voiced solidarity with the striking students]

unification

[union]: [the costs of German unification] [there were conversations about unification between the Church of England and the Methodist Church]

virtu

[vertu]:

achillean

[]:

tundra

[]: [tundra vegetation]

adobe

[adobe brick]: [adobe houses]

obstreperous

[aggressive]: [the boy is cocky and obstreperous]

sharply

[aggressively]: [a sharply pointed tail] [sharply toothed jaws] [sharply angular buildings] [my mouth stings sharply] [champagne can be sharply acidic]

belligerence

[aggressiveness, pugnacity]: [Mortimer was eyeing Guy with belligerence] [a blatant act of belligerence]

nimble

[agile, quick-thinking]: [with a deft motion of her nimble fingers] [her mind was so nimble and she was so quick to learn]

foreigner

[alien]:

estrange

[alienate]: [he became estranged from his father] [his estranged wife]

loyalty

[allegiance]: [his extreme loyalty to the Crown] [rows with in-laws are distressing because they cause divided loyalties]

relieve

[alleviate, free of/from, counteract]: [the drug was used to promote sleep and to relieve pain] [he was relieved by her change of tone] [another signalman relieved him at 5.30] [he dispatched an expedition to relieve the city] [he relieved her of her baggage]

aboard

[alongside]: [the plane crashed, killing all 158 people aboard] [he came aboard as IBM's new chairman] [I climbed aboard the yacht] [with Richard Migliore aboard, he won the cup at a gallop] [putting their first batter aboard]

constantly

[always]: [the world is constantly changing] [he was constantly on her mind]

consul

[ambassador]: [the British consul in Israel]

reparation

[amends]: [the courts required a convicted offender to make financial reparation to his victim] [the Treaty of Versailles imposed heavy reparations and restrictions on Germany] [the old hall was pulled down to avoid the cost of reparation]

amphibious

[amphibiotic, semiaquatic]: [an amphibious vehicle] [an amphibious assault]

animalcule

[animalculum]:

radix

[base]: [Judaism is the radix of Christianity]

sculpture

[carving, sculpt]: [the boundary between painting and sculpture is displaced] [a bronze sculpture] [a collection of sculpture] [ammonite shells with external sculpture near the aperture] [the choir stalls were each carefully sculptured]

barrel

[cask]: [the wine is then matured in old barrels] [a barrel of beer] [the well was producing 10,000 barrels a day] [a gun barrel] [a Welsh mountain pony with a barrel like a butt of wine]

characterization

[characterisation, enactment, personation, portrayal]: [he preferred to emphasize characterization and human conflict] [the film's narrative elegance and richly developed characterizations] [she rejected that characterization of her film]

feature

[characteristic, face, article, present, star]: [a well-appointed house with interesting decorative features] [one salient feature of the case has been overlooked] [a dark-haired man with strong, regular features] [a special feature on children's reference books] [the hotel features a large lounge, a sauna, and a coin-operated solarium]

trait

[characteristic]: [the traditionally British trait of self-denigration] [breeders were installing some trait that allowed the crop to thrive]

quackery

[charlatanism]: [a website dedicated to exposing medical quackery] [the belief that these quackeries actually work]

suave

[charming]: [all the waiters were suave and deferential]

abyss

[chasm]: [a rope led down into the dark abyss] [the abyss between the two nations] [Satan's dark abyss] [teetering on the edge of the abyss of a total political wipeout]

jingo

[chauvinist, flag-waver, hundred-percenter, jingoist, patrioteer]: [the feverish excitement of the jingo crowds]

masticate

[chew]: [dentition affects how well food is masticated and absorbed] [try to masticate slowly]

fledgling

[chick, emerging]: [the country's fledgling democracy]

strangulation

[choking, strangling, throttling]: [death due to strangulation]

log

[chunk of wood, register, attain]: [she tripped over a fallen log] [a roaring log fire] [a ship's log] [keep a detailed log of your activities] [the union served a log on the employers in September, but it was refused]

nauseate

[churn up, disgust, revolt, sicken]: [the thought of food nauseated her] [they were nauseated by the jingoism]

follow

[come behind, accompany, shadow, result, act in accordance with, imitate, be a fan of, understand, complete, investigate]: [she went back into the house, and Ben followed her] [the men followed in another car] [the KGB man followed her everywhere] [I follow fame] [the road follows the track of the railway line]

sustain

[comfort, bear, undergo, continue, continuous, uphold]: [this thought had sustained him throughout the years] [a sustaining breakfast of bacon and eggs] [he sagged against her so that she could barely sustain his weight] [his health will no longer enable him to sustain the heavy burdens of office] [he sustained severe head injuries]

consolation

[comfort]: [there was consolation in knowing that others were worse off] [the Church was the main consolation in a short and hard life] [two minutes from time Moore grabbed a consolation goal for the losers]

hijack

[commandeer]: [a man armed with grenades hijacked the jet yesterday] [the UN convoys have been tamely allowing gunmen to hijack relief supplies] [he argues that pressure groups have hijacked the environmental debate] [an unsuccessful hijack attempt]

fellowship

[companionship, association]: [they valued fun and good fellowship as the cement of the community] [a fellowship in mathematics]

contestant

[competitor]: [an anxious contestant on a television quiz show]

absolutely

[completely, autocratically, no ... whatever, certainly]: [she trusted him absolutely] [you're absolutely right] [he absolutely adores that car] [Dad was absolutely furious] [she had absolutely no idea what he was talking about]

quite

[completely, fairly]: [it's quite out of the question] [are you quite certain about this?] [this is quite a different problem] [I quite agree] [quite frankly, I don't blame you]

proviso

[condition]: [he let his house with the proviso that his own staff should remain to run it]

violation

[contravention, invasion, rape]: [the aircraft were in violation of UN resolutions] [flagrant violations of normal democratic procedure]

infringement

[contravention, undermining]: [copyright infringement] [an infringement of the rules] [the infringement of the right to privacy] [this bill is an infringement of our civil liberties]

expediency

[convenience, advantage]: [an act of political expediency]

cosmogony

[cosmogeny, cosmology]: [today the central questions of cosmology and cosmogony are being explored within the framework of the Big Bang theory] [in their cosmogony, the world was thought to be a square, flat surface]

advise

[counsel, advocate, inform]: [I advised him to go home] [he advised caution] [we advise against sending cash by post] [sleeping pills are not advised] [you will be advised of the requirements]

numeration

[count, counting, enumeration, reckoning, tally]:

convention

[custom, usage, rule, conventions, agreement, conference]: [to attract the best patrons the movie houses had to ape the conventions and the standards of theatres] [he was an upholder of convention and correct form] [the law is felt to express social conventions] [the convention, signed by the six states bordering on the Black Sea, aims to prevent further pollution] [the party held its biennial convention]

client

[customer, clients]: [insurance tailor-made to a client's specific requirements] [a client referred for counselling] [workstation clients are going to be easy to install] [friendly client programs like this enable you to perform complicated actions in just a mouse press or two]

mores

[customs]: [an offence against social mores]

lacerate

[cut (open), hurt]: [the point had lacerated his neck] [his badly lacerated hands and knees] [her true venom seems reserved for the media itself as she lacerates our obsession with celebrity] [a lacerating critique of the war]

shave

[cut off, plane off, grate, take off, reduce, touch lightly]: [he washed, shaved, and had breakfast] [she shaved her legs] [his wife washed and shaved him] [professional male swimmers shave off their body hair] [scrape a large sharp knife across the surface, shaving off rolls of very fine chocolate]

chop

[cut up, chop up, sever, cut down, reduce drastically]: [they chopped up the pulpit for firewood] [finely chop 200g of skipjack tuna] [a paper guillotine chopped off all four fingers] [the boy chopped down eight trees] [Benson chopped the ball onto the stumps]

decipher

[decode, make out]: [authorized government agencies can decipher encrypted telecommunications] [visual signals help us decipher what is being communicated]

deck

[decorate, dress up]: [he stood on the deck of his flagship] [the lower decks] [the upper deck of the car park] [she was sitting on the top deck] [sitting on his deck on that sunny Sunday afternoon]

senility

[decrepitude]: [the onset of senility]

alibi

[defence, cover for]: [she has an alibi for the whole of yesterday evening] [a catch-all alibi for failure and inadequacy] [her friend agreed to alibi her]

refraction

[deflection, deflexion]:

elusive

[difficult to catch/find]: [success will become ever more elusive] [the elusive thought he had had moments before]

solemn

[dignified, serious, thoughtful, sincere]: [a solemn procession] [Tim looked very solemn] [he swore a solemn oath to keep faith]

disrepute

[disgrace]: [one of the top clubs in the country is bringing the game into disrepute]

chaos

[disorder]: [snow caused chaos in the region]

uproarious

[disorderly, hilarious]: [an uproarious party] [uproarious humour]

belittle

[disparage, scoff at, sneer at]: [she belittled Amy's riding skills whenever she could] [his cruel, belittling remarks]

denigrate

[disparage]: [doom and gloom merchants who denigrate their own country]

derogatory

[disparaging]: [she tells me I'm fat and is always making derogatory remarks]

dissatisfy

[displease]: [what is it about these words that dissatisfies you?]

procrastination

[dithering]: [your first tip is to avoid procrastination] [maybe TV and procrastination really are the thieves of time]

distract

[divert, disturbing]: [don't allow noise to distract you from your work] [it was another attempt to distract attention from the truth] [I tried to distract myself by concentrating on Jane] [horror and doubt distract His troubl'd thoughts]

dispossess

[divest, dislodge]: [they were dispossessed of lands and properties during the Reformation] [a champion of the poor and the dispossessed] [he dispossessed Hendrie and set off on a solo run]

denude

[divest, lay bare]: [almost overnight the Arctic was denuded of animals]

divinity

[divine nature, deity, theology]: [Christ's divinity] [busts of Roman divinities] [a doctor of divinity]

angelic

[divine, innocent]: [the angelic hosts] [she looks remarkably young and angelic]

partible

[divisible]: [the entire family lost status as a consequence of partible inheritance]

quay

[dock]:

senile

[doddering]: [she couldn't cope with her senile husband] [senile decay]

drew

[draw play]:

moribund

[dying, declining]: [on examination she was moribund and dehydrated] [the moribund commercial property market]

resound

[echo, reverberate, be acclaimed]: [another scream resounded through the school] [the office resounds with the metronomic clicking of keyboards] [whatever they do in the Nineties will not resound in the way that their earlier achievements did] [Horace resounds the praises of Italy]

edentate

[edental, edentulate]:

surplus

[excess, excess]: [exports of food surpluses] [a trade surplus of $1,395 million] [make the most of your surplus cash] [the firm told 284 employees that they were surplus to requirements] [she had picked up her boots in an army surplus store]

surfeit

[excess, satiate]: [a surfeit of food and drink] [he died of a surfeit] [I am surfeited with shopping] [he never surfeited on rich wine]

undue

[excessive]: [this figure did not give rise to undue concern]

treasury

[exchequer, rich source, anthology]: [the landowners' estates and assets were seized for the imperial treasury] [he is chief secretary to the Treasury] [Henry VII had kept the peace and filled his treasury] [the old town is a treasury of ancient monuments]

enervate

[exhaust]: [enervating heat] [the enervate slightness of his frail form]

excitement

[exhilaration, thrill, arousal]: [her cheeks were flushed with excitement] [the excitements of the previous night]

monster

[fabulous creature, giant, brute, rascal]: [a monster with the head of a hyena and hindquarters of a wolf] [a world of fable, inhabited by other-worldly monsters] [he was an unfeeling, treacherous monster] [he's only a year old, but already he is a little monster] [this is a monster of a book, almost 500 pages]

creed

[faith, system of belief]: [people of many creeds and cultures] [the godparents will then swear that they believe in the Creed and the Commandments] [liberalism was more than a political creed]

meteor

[falling star]:

genetic

[familial, hereditary, inherited, transmissible, transmitted]: [genetic abnormalities] [there are fears that genetic techniques could be abused] [the genetic relations between languages]

acquaint

[familiarize, familiar, known to]: [new staff should be acquainted with fire exit routes] [you need to acquaint yourself with the house style] [I am not acquainted with any young lady of that name] [I'll leave you two to get acquainted]

extremist

[fanatic, radical]: [right-wing extremists] [extremist groups]

whimsical

[fanciful, volatile]: [a whimsical sense of humour] [the whimsical arbitrariness of autocracy]

vogue

[fashion, fashionable]: [the vogue is to make realistic films] [crochet garments are in vogue this season] ['citizenship' was to be the government's vogue word]

trendy

[fashionable]: [I enjoyed being able to go out and buy trendy clothes] [Taiwan's well-heeled young trendies] [they are trendily cosmopolitan]

fixed

[fastened, insincere, predetermined]: [a fixed iron ladder down the port side] [a fixed smile] [loans are provided for a fixed period] [the fixed assumptions of the Cold War] [the fight's fixed—the ref has your card marked]

deadly

[fatal, mortal, unerring, intense, completely, deathly]: [a deadly weapon] [his voice was cold and deadly] [his aim is deadly] [my end of the theatre is deadly at the moment] [she was in deadly earnest]

zoology

[fauna]: [the zoology of Russia's vast interior]

alarm

[fear, siren, frighten, frightening]: [the boat tilted and the boatmen cried out in alarm] [he views the right-wing upsurge in Europe with alarm] [I hammered on several doors to raise the alarm] [Oliver smelled smoke and gave the alarm] [they disabled the alarm and used a glass cutter to get in]

texture

[feel]: [skin texture and tone] [the cheese is firm in texture] [the different colours and textures of bark] [a dark shirt of rough texture] [a closely knit symphonic texture]

stability

[firmness, balance, steadiness]: [there are fears for the political stability of the area]

primarily

[first and foremost, mostly]: [around 80 per cent of personal computers are used primarily for word processing]

primer

[flat coat, ground, primer coat, priming, priming coat, undercoat]: [apply three coats of primer] [new plaster should be treated with a primer] [it's best to apply primer around the eye to help the make-up blend properly] [the nitro-cellulose is ignited by the spark that comes from the primer] [no more than four pumps of the primer usually suffice]

waver

[flicker, become unsteady, be undecided]: [the flame wavered in the draught] [his love for her had never wavered] [she gave a wavering smile] [she never wavered from her intention]

obdurate

[flint, flinty, granitic, stony]: [I argued this point with him, but he was obdurate]

coquette

[flirt, minx, tease, vamp, vamper]: [her transformation from an ice maiden warrior into a winsome coquette]

florist

[florist shop, flower store]:

subsequent

[following, following]: [the theory was developed subsequent to the earthquake of 1906]

therefore

[for that reason]: [he was injured and therefore unable to play]

foreclose

[forbid, forestall, preclude, prevent]: [the bank was threatening to foreclose on his mortgage] [the decision effectively foreclosed any possibility of his early rehabilitation]

outlaw

[fugitive, ban, banish]: [bands of outlaws held up trains] [the outlaw Ned Kelly] [secondary picketing has been outlawed] [the outlawed terrorist group] [he lost the estate in 1626, having been outlawed for non-payment of debts]

interaction

[fundamental interaction]: [ongoing interaction between the two languages]

apoplectic

[furious, incandescent]: [Mark was apoplectic with rage at the decision] [an apoplectic attack]

hindmost

[furthest back]: [the hindmost attendant]

farthest

[furthest]:

garish

[gaudy]: [garish shirts in all sorts of colours]

worldwide

[global]: [worldwide sales of television rights] [she travels worldwide as a consultant]

knotty

[gnarled, knotted, complex, difficult]: [panelling in knotty pine] [a knotty legal problem]

appreciative

[grateful for, supportive]: [an appreciative audience] [the team are very appreciative of your support]

team

[group, pair, join (up), match, harness]: [the village cricket team] [his team played well] [team members] [a team of researchers] [are you team Mac or team PC?]

increase

[grow, add to, growth]: [car use is increasing at an alarming rate] [we are aiming to increase awareness of social issues] [the increasing numbers of students] [an increase of 28.3 per cent] [some increase in inflation is expected]

arrogance

[haughtiness]: [the arrogance of this man is astounding]

arrogant

[haughty]: [he's arrogant and opinionated] [a typically arrogant assumption]

able-bodied

[healthy, fit]: [he was the only able-bodied man on the farm] [full integration between the able-bodied and the disabled]

pile

[heap, great deal, mansion, heap (up), load, increase, amass, crowd, fortune, exaggerate, post, fibres]: [he placed the books in a neat pile] [tottering piles of dirty dishes] [he's making piles of money] [a Victorian Gothic pile] [she piled all the groceries on the counter]

encouragement

[heartening, persuasion, supporting]: [thank you for all your support and encouragement] [incentives and encouragement to play sports] [the encouragement of foreign investment]

interfere

[impede, butt into, meddlesome, sexually abuse]: [a holiday job would interfere with his studies] [the rotors are widely separated and do not interfere with one another] [he admitted interfering with a van] [she tried not to interfere in her children's lives] [they face charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice and interfering with witnesses]

momentum

[impetus]: [the vehicle gained momentum as the road dipped] [the investigation gathered momentum in the spring]

beseech

[implore]: [they beseeched him to stay] ['You have got to believe me,' Violet beseeched him] [they earnestly beseeched his forgiveness]

insinuate

[imply, worm one's way into, slide]: [he was insinuating that she slept her way to the top] [dirty, insinuating laughter] [he insinuated himself into the king's confidence] [I insinuated my shoulder in the gap]

significance

[importance, meaning]: [adolescent education was felt to be a social issue of some significance] [the significance of what was happening was clearer to me than to her]

personage

[important person]: [it was no less a personage than the bishop] [the key explains who all the personages in the paintings are]

on the spur of the moment

[impulsively]: [I don't generally do things on the spur of the moment] [a spur-of-the-moment decision]

consonant

[in agreement with]: [fricatives are by far the largest group of English consonants] [a consonant phoneme] [the findings are consonant with other research] [the bass is consonant with all the upper notes]

self governing

[independent]:

intuition

[instinct, hunch]: [we shall allow our intuition to guide us] [your insights and intuitions as a native speaker are positively sought]

reflex

[instinctive]: [a newborn baby is equipped with basic reflexes] [reflex points] [politics was no more than a reflex of economics] [the reflex from the window lit his face] [sneezing is a reflex action]

disobedient

[insubordinate]: [Larry was stern with disobedient employees]

insurmountable

[insuperable]: [an insurmountable problem]

highbrow

[intellectual, intellectual]: [innovatory art had a small, mostly highbrow following] [she considered all those without television as highbrows, intellectual snobs, or paupers]

comprehensible

[intelligible]: [clear and comprehensible English]

inland

[interior, domestic, towards the interior]: [the inland port of Gloucester] [a network of waterways that allowed inland trade] [the path turned inland and met the road]

intermission

[interval]: [he was granted an intermission in his studies] [the daily work goes on without intermission]

isochronous

[isochronal]:

failure

[lack of success, fiasco, loser, inadequacy, negligence, collapse]: [an economic policy that is doomed to failure] [bad weather had resulted in crop failures] [their failure to comply with the basic rules] [a failure of imagination] [symptoms of heart failure]

pale

[light, white, dim, inferior, go/turn white, decrease in importance, stake, boundary, unacceptable]: [choose pale floral patterns for walls] [she looked pale and drawn] [a pale dawn] [the new cheese is a pale imitation of continental cheeses] [I paled at the thought of what she might say]

image

[likeness, picture, reflection, conception, double, idol, public perception, simile, envisage]: [her work juxtaposed images from serious and popular art] [Voyager 2 sent back images of the planet Neptune] [I had a sudden image of Sal bringing me breakfast in bed] [he's the image of his father] [made in the image of God]

animation

[liveliness]: [they started talking with animation] [the body began to show tiny signs of animation] [a combination of live action with 3-D animation] [animations as backdrops for live action]

bow

[longbow, incline the body, give in, inclination, withdraw from, prow]: [a girl with long hair tied back in a bow] [the techniques by which the pieces were bowed] [the mind can concentrate on finger action without worrying about bowing] [he decided to go for the degree so he would have another string to his bow] [he turned and bowed to his father]

tumultuous

[loud, tempestuous, disorderly]: [tumultuous applause] [a tumultuous crowd] [a tumultuous personal life]

inferiority

[lowliness, shoddiness]: [ideas of sexual difference condemned women to a position of inferiority] [his sense of failure adds to his feelings of inferiority]

devotion

[loyalty, devoutness, religious worship]: [his devotion to duty never wavered] [she was the epitome of wifely devotion] [the order's aim was to live a life of devotion] [she went to her devotions]

fidelity

[loyalty, faithfulness, accuracy]: [his fidelity to liberal ideals] [the 1949 recording provides reasonable fidelity]

baggage

[luggage]: [we collected our baggage before clearing customs] [a baggage allowance] [the artillery and baggage rumbled along the road] [the emotional baggage I'm hauling around] [she was a mercenary little baggage]

decoy

[lure, lure]: [a decoy duck] [we need a decoy to distract their attention] [they would try to decoy the enemy towards the hidden group]

loosen

[make slack, unfasten, unfasten, become slack, weaken]: [loosen your collar and tie] [he loosened his hold so she could pull her arms free] [the stiffness in his shoulders had loosened] [his bowels loosened in terror] [his main mistake was to loosen monetary policy]

deformity

[malformation]: [deformities of the hands or feet] [respiratory problems caused by spinal deformity]

sinister

[menacing]: [there was something sinister about that murmuring voice] [there might be a more sinister motive behind the government's actions]

potpourri

[mixture]: [he played a potpourri of tunes from Gilbert and Sullivan]

ridicule

[mockery, deride]: [he is held up as an object of ridicule] [his theory was ridiculed and dismissed]

state-of-the-art

[modern]: [a new state-of-the-art hospital]

cash

[money, finance, exchange, take advantage of]: [the staff were paid in cash] [a discount for cash] [she was always short of cash] [the bank cashed her cheque] [South cashed the ace, king, and queen of clubs]

euphony

[music]: [the poet put euphony before mere factuality]

net

[netting, trap, catch, after taxes, final, earn]: [fishermen mending their nets] [good nets of roach, chub, and perch] [Wales did find the net in the 32nd minute] [a full net practice] [he felt like a tightrope-walker without a net]

neural

[neuronal, neuronic]: [patterns of neural activity]

atheist

[non-believer]: [he is a committed atheist]

immiscible

[non-miscible, unmixable]: [benzene is immiscible with water]

transgression

[offence, infringement]: [I'll be keeping an eye out for further transgressions] [few ministers now stand down because of sexual transgressions] [her transgression of genteel etiquette]

spectator

[onlooker]: [around fifteen thousand spectators came to watch the thrills and spills]

inundate

[overwhelm, flood]: [we've been inundated with complaints from listeners] [the islands may be the first to be inundated as sea levels rise]

potency

[power, forcefulness, persuasiveness, strength]: [a myth of enormous potency] [the unexpected potency of the rum punch] [she was given a low potency twice daily] [the myth of declining sexual potency with increasing age]

impotent

[powerless, weak]: [he was seized with an impotent anger] [he was on medication which had made him impotent]

prescient

[prophetic]: [a prescient warning]

disengage

[remove, withdraw]: [I disengaged his hand from mine] [they clung together for a moment, then she disengaged herself] [the clutch will not disengage] [the ceasefire gave the commanders a chance to disengage their forces] [plans were already afoot for the Americans to disengage from the city]

allotment

[rented plot/land/garden, allocation, sharing out, quota]: [the allotment of equity securities]

supersede

[replace]: [the older models of car have now been superseded]

reorganize

[restructure]: [we have to reorganize the entire workload] [the company reorganized into fewer key areas]

compunction

[scruples, guilt]: [they used their tanks without compunction]

starfish

[sea star]:

appalling

[shocking, dreadful]: [the cat suffered appalling injuries during the attack] [his conduct was appalling]

symbol

[sign, logo, emblem]: [the symbol r in Figure 5 represents a gene which is ineffective] [the chemical symbol for helium is He] [the Red Cross symbol] [the Star of David, the Jewish symbol] [the limousine was another symbol of his wealth and authority]

gesture

[signal, action, signal]: [Alex made a gesture of apology] [so much is conveyed by gesture] [Maggie was touched by the kind gesture] [a gesture of goodwill] [I hope the amendment will not be just a gesture]

reminiscent

[similar to]: [the sights were reminiscent of my childhood] [her expression was wistful and reminiscent] [her robes were vaguely reminiscent of military dress]

grin

[smile, smile, put up with it]: [Dennis appeared, grinning cheerfully] [a grinning skull] [a silly grin] [you'll just have to grin and bear it]

fume

[smoke, smell, emit smoke, be furious]: [clouds of exhaust fumes spewed by cars] [he breathed fumes of wine into her face] [fragments of lava hit the ground, fuming and sizzling] [the fumed oak sideboard] [he is fuming over the interference in his work]

sleek

[smooth, well groomed, streamlined]: [he was tall, with sleek, dark hair] [a sleek black cat] [a sleek and ambitious junior Minister] [his sleek black car slid through the traffic] [she gave Guy a sleek smile to underline her words]

density

[solidity]: [a reduction in bone density] [a low-density floppy disk] [areas of low population density] [a density of 10,000 per square mile]

reclusive

[solitary]: [he led a reclusive life]

sophism

[sophistication, sophistry]:

grief

[sorrow, trouble, fail]: [she was overcome with grief] [time heals griefs and quarrels] [we were too tired to cause any grief] [many a ship has come to grief along this shore] [he gave me grief about typos]

ashamed

[sorry, embarrassed, be ashamed of, reluctant]: [you should be ashamed of yourself] [his clothes and manners made me ashamed of him] [she felt ashamed that she had hit him] [I'm ashamed to say I followed him home] [I am not ashamed to be seen with them]

cavity

[space]: [the abdominal cavity] [most dentists fill cavities right away]

status

[standing, prestige]: [an improvement in the status of women] [those who enjoy wealth and status] [the duchy had been elevated to the status of a principality] [an update on the status of the bill] [when I updated my status on Facebook yesterday I said I was 'seeking a sense of purpose']

overseer

[supervisor]:

endorse

[support, countersign]: [the report was endorsed by the college] [he earns more money endorsing sports clothes than playing football] [the speed and accuracy achieved will be endorsed on the certificate] [his licence was endorsed with five points] [she's had her licence endorsed]

prone

[susceptible, (lying) face down]: [farmed fish are prone to disease] [he was written off by many as too injury-prone] [I was lying prone on a foam mattress] [a prone position]

fragrant

[sweet-scented]: [she gathered the fragrant blooms]

confectionery

[sweets]: [items of confectionery] [a confectionery company offering hand-made chocolates] [chocolate and fudge are made daily at the village confectionery]

bulge

[swelling, surge, swell]: [the telltale bulge of a concealed weapon] [the advance created an eastward-facing bulge in the line] [a bulge in the birth rate] [the veins in his neck bulged] [he stared with bulging eyes]

overcharge

[swindle]: [send your bill to the Law Society if you think you've been overcharged] [customers have been overcharged £12 million in the last year] [large generators can overcharge batteries] [an overcharge of £40]

errand

[task]: [she asked Tim to run an errand for her] [she knew that if she stated her errand she would not be able to see him] [a mountaineer and his St Bernard setting off on an errand of mercy]

vulgarity

[tastelessness, impoliteness, rudeness]: [he was seen as the embodiment of the vulgarity of the 1980s] [his letters were full of vulgarities]

monotonous

[tedious, toneless]: [the statistics that he quotes with monotonous regularity] [her slurred monotonous speech]

transience

[temporariness]: [the transience of life and happiness]

tenure

[tenancy, incumbency]: [his tenure of the premiership would be threatened] [tenure for university staff has been abolished] [I had recently been tenured and then promoted to full professor] [a tenured academic appointment] [these public servants are given security of tenure by the constitution]

thirst

[thirstiness, craving, crave]: [they quenched their thirst with spring water] [tens of thousands died of thirst and starvation] [his thirst for knowledge was mainly academic] [an opponent thirsting for revenge] [a few could drink while many thirsted]

radical

[thoroughgoing, fundamental, revolutionary, revolutionary]: [a radical overhaul of the existing regulatory framework] [the assumption of radical differences between the mental attributes of literate and non-literate peoples] [the city is known for its radical approach to transport policy] [a radical American activist] [Okay, then. Seven o'clock. Radical!]

yarn

[thread, story]: [hanks of pale green yarn] [a fine yarn for a lightweight garment] [he never let reality get in the way of a good yarn] [he had a bit of a yarn with the others] [they were yarning about local legends and superstitions]

trio

[threesome]: [the hotel was run by a trio of brothers] [a jazz trio] [Chopin's G minor Trio]

hurl

[throw]: [rioters hurled a brick through the windscreen] [he hurled himself into the job with enthusiasm] [the demonstrators hurled abuse at councillors] [you make me want to hurl] [hey pal, any chance of a hurl?]

tide

[tidal flow, course, sustain, help out]: [the changing patterns of the tides] [they were driven on by wind and tide] [the rising tide covered the wharf] [he drifted into sleep on a tide of euphoria] [we must reverse the growing tide of racism sweeping Europe]

creek

[tidal inlet, stream]: [a sandy beach in a sheltered creek] [he drove into Adam's Creek] [if the police raided us I'd be up the creek] [he said my idea of Catholicism was up the creek]

forbearance

[tolerance]: [his unfailing courtesy and forbearance under great provocation]

custom

[tradition, habit, business]: [the old English custom of dancing round the maypole] [custom demanded that a person should have gifts for the child] [it is our custom to visit the Lake District in October] [if you keep me waiting, I will take my custom elsewhere] [a custom guitar]

conservative

[traditionalist, conventional, right-wing, low, right-winger]: [they were very conservative in their outlook] [a conservative suit] [the Conservative government] [police placed the value of the haul at a conservative £500,000] [he remains a conservative in constitutional matters]

apprentice

[trainee]: [an apprentice electrician] [an apprentice barman] [Edward was apprenticed to a printer] [she apprenticed with midwives in San Francisco]

transference

[transfer]: [education involves the transference of knowledge] [therapy is aided by the patient's transference to the analyst as mother]

ephemeral

[transitory]: [fashions are ephemeral: new ones regularly drive out the old] [works of more than ephemeral interest] [chickweed is an ephemeral weed, producing several generations in one season] [ephemerals avoid the periods of drought as seeds]

transform

[translate]: [lasers have transformed cardiac surgery] [he wanted to transform himself into a successful businessman] [a wry cynicism rapidly transforms into an overwhelming sense of sourness]

interpreter

[translator, performer, analyst]:

broadcast

[transmit, report, scatter, programme]: [the announcement was broadcast live] [the state monopoly on broadcasting] [they regularly broadcast on Radio 2] [we don't want to broadcast our unhappiness to the world] [the second method is to broadcast the seeds together with not more than 1 kg to the acre of rapeseed]

portable

[transportable]: [a portable television] [portable versions of IBM's Systems Network Architecture technology] [the notes had been typed on an old portable with a faded ribbon]

perfidy

[treachery]: [it was an example of his perfidy] [Hapsburg perfidy]

chicanery

[trickery]: [storylines packed with political chicanery]

trigonometry

[trig]:

triplicity

[trigon]: [the triplicity of persons within the absolute unity of the godhead]

trebly

[triple]: [the sound system delivered a tinny, trebly blare] [to Katherine, the house was trebly impressive]

victorious

[triumphant]: [a victorious army] [the team defied the odds and emerged victorious] [he'd participated in the victorious campaigns of the Franco-Prussian War]

inconvenience

[trouble, nuisance, trouble]: [the inconvenience of having to change trains] [the inconveniences of life in a remote city] [noise and fumes from traffic would inconvenience residents]

stem

[trunk, stalk, have its origins in, staunch]: [the main stem of the wing feathers] [her fingers tightened on the stem of her glass] [Stanley eyed his father over the stem of his pipe] [the stem of the bolt edged clear] [the Hellenic tribes were derived from the Aryan stem]

confidence

[trust, self-assurance, secret]: [we had every confidence in the staff] [he had gained the young man's confidence] [I can say with confidence that I have never before driven up this street] [she's brimming with confidence] [he would walk up those steps with a confidence he didn't feel]

harmonious

[tuneful, euphonious, congruous, friendly]: [harmonious music] [the decor is a harmonious blend of traditional and modern] [harmonious relationships]

felon

[whitlow]:

injury

[wound, harm, offence]: [she suffered an injury to her back] [all escaped without serious injury] [compensation for injury to feelings] [it's a wonder we didn't do ourselves an injury]

wizened

[wrinkled]: [a wizened, weather-beaten old man]

sport

[(competitive) game(s), wear, display, play, as a joke]: [team sports such as soccer and rugby] [I used to play a lot of sport] [a sports centre] [I won the 200 metres in the school sports] [I have heard there is good sport to be had in Buttermere]

turnover

[(gross) revenue, rate of replacement, throughput]: [a turnover approaching £4 million] [high staff turnover left the program with too many young instructors] [an annual turnover of staff as high as 100%] [an apple turnover] [the team were sitting on their lead and taking care to avoid turnovers]

decade

[10, X, ten, tenner]: [he taught at the university for nearly a decade] [the fourth decade of the nineteenth century] [a local priest led the mourners in a decade of the rosary] [power per decade of frequency]

octavo

[8vo, eightvo]: [foolscap octavo] [three octavo volumes]

sergeant-major

[Abudefduf saxatilis]:

pontiff

[Bishop of Rome, Catholic Pope, Holy Father, Roman Catholic Pope, Vicar of Christ, pope]: [the Pope's first visit to Poland as pontiff]

bulrush

[Juncus effusus, bullrush, common rush, soft rush]:

spearmint

[Mentha spicata]:

meth

[Methedrine, chalk, chicken feed, crank, deoxyephedrine, glass, ice, methamphetamine, methamphetamine hydrochloride, shabu, trash]: [he started taking meth to keep up with younger people in sports and at work]

snowflake

[Plectrophenax nivalis, snow bunting, snowbird]:

popcorn

[Zea mays everta]: [pop yourself some popcorn] [a bag of popcorn]

assignee

[]:

attorney-general

[]:

azalea

[]:

barograph

[]:

biograph

[]:

bombardier

[]:

cassette

[]:

colonel

[]:

contumacy

[]:

decasyllable

[]:

dendrology

[]:

denominator

[]:

depositor

[]:

dinosaur

[]:

feedback

[]:

floodwater

[]:

fresco

[]:

frigidarium

[]:

gastritis

[]:

glacier

[]:

grantor

[]:

heartsome

[]:

immersive

[]:

incongruent

[]:

irradiance

[]:

kimono

[]:

lymph

[]:

metonymy

[]:

misogamy

[]:

naphtha

[]:

nestor

[]:

neutron

[]:

nomic

[]:

nunnery

[]:

ode

[]:

ology

[]:

pedosphere

[]:

pesticide

[]:

planisphere

[]:

poetaster

[]:

prairie

[]:

protuberate

[]:

purveyance

[]:

refragable

[]:

sarcophagus

[]:

sociology

[]:

sonata

[]:

statics

[]:

stiletto

[]:

subduce

[]:

viola

[]:

well-doer

[]:

witling

[]:

yo

[]: ['Yo, Ben!' 'Hey Eugene, I thought it was you.'] [yo go home, girl] [what did you do wit' yo money?]

codicil

[]: [Francis has remembered him in a codicil to this will]

accuser

[]: [I dislike any law that puts the burden of proof on the accused rather than the accuser] [Hero faints before her three accusers leave]

despond

[]: [I thought it right not to let my young lady despond]

wholeheartedly

[]: [I wholeheartedly support your campaign]

shiite

[]: [Shiite fundamentalist groups]

eureka

[]: [The answer hit me. 'Eureka!' I cried] [there weren't many eurekas but science is moving steadily] [the eureka moment for him came when he was hill-walking]

tactician

[]: [a brilliant political tactician] [the cunning manoeuvres of a master tactician]

chiffon

[]: [a chiffon blouse] [chiffon cake]

matricide

[]: [a man suspected of matricide]

balsam

[]: [a mixture of olive oil and balsam] [a hair conditioner with protein and balsams]

naval

[]: [a naval base] [a naval officer]

non-resident

[]: [a non-resident caretaker] [if you want to use a non-resident font, you can manually download it] [parking permits are available for Richmond residents and non-residents] [the bar is open to non-residents] [the bank's deposits are held by UK residents and non-residents]

canopy

[]: [a romantic four-poster bed complete with drapes and a canopy] [a full moon and a canopy of stars] [they mounted the station steps under the concrete canopy] [woolly monkeys spend hours every day sitting high in the canopy] [a canopied bed]

bamboo

[]: [a section of bamboo about four feet long] [a bamboo bench]

prose

[]: [a short story in prose] [a prose passage] [closely typed in best office prose] [he was still prosing away about the advantages of a warm climate]

miraculously

[]: [a shrine where people bring the sick to be miraculously healed] [the two drivers miraculously escaped with only minor injuries]

well-organized

[]: [a stable, well-organized political system]

suicide bomber

[]: [a suicide bomber drove a truck full of explosives into the military barracks]

preferment

[]: [after ordination, preferment was fast] [most of her ministers owed their first preferment to her]

at the latest

[]: [all new cars will be required to meet this standard by 1997 at the latest]

derailment

[]: [an investigation into the derailment of a freight train] [track defects are being cited as the cause of the derailment] [the derailment of the peace process]

on set

[]: [an on-set photographer]

sonnet

[]: [and in delightful Tones sit sonneting] [he sonneted his hostess now]

protectionist

[]: [barriers erected by the agricultural protectionists] [protectionist measures against foreign imports]

osmosis

[]: [by some strange political osmosis, private reputations became public]

pollutant

[]: [chemical pollutants] [pollutant gases]

dead-heat

[]: [competition is always fierce, with a dead heat in one of the early races] [there was a dead heat for second place] [he dead-heated at Aintree] [his riding of Marina Park to dead-heat with King's Signet was inspired]

culinary

[]: [culinary skills] [savour the culinary delights of the region]

doe

[]: [doe rabbits]

behind the eight ball

[]: [don't let cash-flow crises put you behind the eight ball]

beck

[]: [enjoy having servants at your beck and call] [she was at her mother's beck and call]

granite

[]: [granite columns] [a man with granite determination]

skull

[]: [he broke his collar bone and fractured his skull] [a skull crammed with too many thoughts] [my waking came in drugged stages—I had been skulled] [I'm out of my skull with happiness] [she'll be lying on a bed, out of her skull]

melodrama

[]: [he gloated like a villain in a Victorian melodrama] [he abandoned melodrama for realism] [what little is known of his early life is cloaked in melodrama]

barber

[]: [he had his hair cut at the local barber's] [his hair was neatly barbered]

insignificance

[]: [he is aware of his own insignificance within the bigger picture]

intuitively

[]: [he knows intuitively how to calm me] [they intuitively understood each other]

unapologetic

[]: [he remained unapologetic about his decision]

furnace

[]: [her car was a furnace]

nepotism

[]: [his years in office were marked by corruption and nepotism]

aural

[]: [information held in written, aural, or visual form] [aural anatomy]

irreducible

[]: [literature is often irreducible to normative ideas]

a square peg in a round hole

[]: [low self-esteem can be exacerbated by a sense of being a square peg in a round hole]

red-letter day

[]: [many a trout angler has had a red-letter day on Loch Awe]

quarantine

[]: [many animals die in quarantine] [I quarantine all new fish for one month] [they had to quarantine infected households]

sophomoric

[]: [my sophomoric years] [sophomoric double entendres]

oxide

[]: [nitrogen oxide]

geometry

[]: [non-Euclidean geometries] [the geometry of spiders' webs]

underneath

[]: [our bedroom's right underneath theirs] [four names written underneath each other] [his eyes were red-rimmed with black bags underneath] [on longer hair, the underneath layers can be permed to give extra body] [money changed hands underneath the table]

herbivore

[]: [predatory carnivores and their herbivore prey]

itinerate

[]: [regular use of itinerating magistrates was made]

rhapsody

[]: [rhapsodies of praise] [Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies]

target market

[]: [schools are a key target market for the apps] [the film is going to be huge with its target market]

flea

[]: [she expected to be sent away with a flea in her ear]

briskly

[]: [she walked briskly into the building] [tickets have been selling briskly] [he replied briskly that no one at his school had ever gone truant] [the wind blew fairly briskly] [we spent our day swimming in the briskly cold water]

lawn

[]: [she was sitting in a deckchair on the lawn] [a croquet lawn] [a patch of lawn] [a white lawn shirt]

relocate

[]: [sixty workers could face redundancy because the firm is relocating] [distribution staff will be relocated to Holland]

predictably

[]: [so far the markets have behaved predictably] [the results were, perhaps predictably, uneven]

promissory

[]: [statements that are promissory in nature] [promissory words] [the glow of evening is promissory of the splendid days to come]

suffice it to say

[]: [suffice it to say that they were not considered suitable for this project]

metropolitan

[]: [the Boston metropolitan area] [metropolitan Spain] [a metropolitan bishop] [the post of Metropolitan of Moldavia and Bucovina] [Metropolitan Aleksei of Leningrad and Novgorod]

martian

[]: [the Martian atmosphere] [the first Martian colony] [a nest of Martians]

hispanic

[]: [the New York Hispanic community]

pentagon

[]: [the Pentagon said that ten soldiers had been killed]

hibernian

[]: [the Royal Hibernian Academy] [the Ancient Order of Hibernians]

overtax

[]: [the UK is not overtaxed compared to other countries] [do athletes overtax their hearts?]

artesian

[]: [the availability of water from artesian wells makes agriculture possible] [water from the island's artesian supply]

evert

[]: [the brown hyena deposits chemicals by everting an anal pouch] [the characteristic facial appearance of full, often everted lips]

deflation

[]: [the deflation of the illusion that the 1960s were a perpetual party] [a time of high unemployment and deflation] [a long deflation lasted until about 1896]

pantheon

[]: [the deities of the Hindu pantheon] [the pantheon of the all-time greats]

managerial

[]: [the division of managerial responsibilities]

scythe

[]: [the grass was scythed at regular intervals] [the first job was to scythe paths through the nettles] [you may want hardy infantry troops to scythe down the opposition] [attacking players can scythe through defences]

leviathan

[]: [the great leviathans of the deep] [it's a challenge to navigate a wheeled leviathan in rush-hour traffic] [we must tame the state Leviathan]

ivory tower

[]: [the ivory tower of academia]

outreach

[]: [the loving outreach of God to the world] [the growth of evangelistic outreach] [outreach centres] [their pack outreached and outwitted the Welsh team] [they stood with earnest eyes, and arms outreaching]

militarism

[]: [the need for liberal democratic reforms to avoid a revival of militarism]

expansionism

[]: [the need to oppose German expansionism]

chronology

[]: [the novel abandons the conventions of normal chronology] [his book transformed prehistoric chronology by applying the results of carbon dating]

counteroffensive

[]: [the operation was bogged down in confusion, allowing the Republicans to mount a counteroffensive]

arrogantly

[]: [the prime minister arrogantly dismissed such concerns]

affordability

[]: [the rapid spread and increasing affordability of wireless communication] [they arrived at their conclusion by comparing the affordability of houses with average historical levels] [the reforms under discussion would have a negligible impact on housing affordability]

refract

[]: [the rays of light are refracted by the material of the lens] [when refracting patients an ophthalmologist relies on verbal reports]

adequately

[]: [the resources required to prepare adequately will be extensive] [the job requirements were not adequately explained]

retail

[]: [the retail trade] [the difficulties in retailing the new products] [the product retails for around £20] [his inimitable way of retailing a diverting anecdote]

benison

[]: [the rewards and benisons of marriage]

monopoly

[]: [the state's monopoly of radio and television broadcasting] [passenger services were largely in the hands of state-owned monopolies] [France's electricity monopoly, EDF] [electricity, gas, and water were considered to be natural monopolies] [men don't have a monopoly on unrequited love]

topography

[]: [the topography of the island]

antipodes

[]: [there were plants from the Antipodes, including eucalyptuses and acacias] [voting and violence are antipodes]

unconstitutional

[]: [they do not countenance unconstitutional action by the police] [the Act would be declared unconstitutional in the courts]

ought

[]: [they ought to respect the law] [thanks for your letter which I ought to have answered sooner] [he ought to be able to take the initiative] [you ought to go] [what ought I to do?]

through thick and thin

[]: [they stuck together through thick and thin]

doublet

[]: [they were wearing red velvet doublets and hose]

tentacle

[]: [trailing tentacles of vapour] [the Party's tentacles reached into every nook and cranny of people's lives]

trisect

[]: [two walls trisect the gallery]

nit

[]: [you stupid nit!] [the press will stop picking nits once the next president is in office]

piecemeal

[a little at a time]: [the village is slowly being killed off by piecemeal development] [many organizations have been built up piecemeal]

multitude

[a lot, crowd, the common people]: [a multitude of medical conditions are due to being overweight] [Father Peter addressed the multitude] [placing ultimate political power in the hands of the multitude] [they would swarm over the river in their multitude] [stucco could cover a multitude of sins, including poor brickwork]

forsake

[abandon, abandoned, desolate, renounce]: [he would never forsake Tara] [I won't forsake my vegetarian principles]

deserted

[abandoned, derelict]: [deserted beaches of soft sand]

subside

[abate, recede, sink, slump]: [I'll wait a few minutes until the storm subsides] [Fergus opened his mouth to protest again, then subsided] [Anthony and Mark subsided into mirth] [the floods subside almost as quickly as they arise] [the island is subsiding]

power

[ability, control, authority, state, strength, forcefulness, driving force, energy, a great deal of, have control over, the authorities]: [the power of speech] [I will do everything in my power to help you] [his powers of concentration] [a political process that offers people power over their own lives] [she had me in her power]

mobile

[able to move, expressive, travelling, adaptable]: [he has a weight problem and is not very mobile] [highly mobile international capital] [her mobile features worked overtime to register shock and disapproval] [a mobile library visits once a fortnight] [a cup of tea from the mobile canteen]

literate

[able to read and write, educated]: [their parents were uneducated and barely literate] [we need people who are economically and politically literate]

subnormal

[abnormal, unnatural]:

grinding

[abrasion, attrition, detrition]: [grinding poverty] [the grinding roar of the lorries]

lack

[absence, be without]: [there is no lack of entertainment aboard ship] [the case was dismissed for lack of evidence] [there is a lack of parking space in the town] [the novel lacks imagination] [she lacks in patience]

entirely

[absolutely, solely]: [the traffic seemed to consist entirely of black cabs] [we have an entirely different outlook] [eight coaches entirely for passenger transport]

acquittal

[absolution]: [the trial resulted in an acquittal] [the women felt their chances of acquittal were poor]

refrain

[abstain]: [she refrained from comment] [he would play the refrain] ['Poor Tom' had become the constant refrain of his friends]

renunciation

[abstention from, repudiation, relinquishment]: [the life of the Spirit required renunciation of marriage] [a renunciation of violence]

bountiful

[abundant, generous]: [the ocean provided a bountiful supply of fresh food] [this bountiful God has thought of everything]

catalyst

[accelerator]: [chlorine acts as a catalyst promoting the breakdown of ozone] [the prime minister's speech acted as a catalyst for debate]

attachment

[accessory, bond, assignment, fixing, seizure]: [the processor comes complete with a blender attachment] [she felt a sentimental attachment to the place creep over her] [he formed an attachment with a young widow] [the students are placed on attachment to schools for one day a week] [the case has a loop for attachment to your waist belt]

mishap

[accident]: [although there were a few minor mishaps, none of the pancakes stuck to the ceiling] [the event passed without mishap]

tribute

[accolade, praise, testimony to, payment]: [the video is a tribute to the musicals of the 40s] [a symposium organized to pay tribute to Darwin] [his victory in the championship was a tribute to his persistence] [an Abba tribute band] [a tribute show]

eulogy

[accolade]: [a eulogy to the Queen Mother]

accompanist

[accompanyist]:

fulfilling

[accomplish, action, carry out, carry through, execute, fulfil]: [a fulfilling and rewarding career]

narrative

[account]: [a gripping narrative] [the dialogue and the narrative suffer from awkward syntax] [traditions of oral narrative] [the coalition's carefully constructed narrative about its sensitivity to recession victims] [a narrative poem]

accounting

[accounting system, method of accounting]: [an investigation into suspected false accounting] [standard accounting practice]

accusatory

[accusative, accusing, accusive]: [he pointed an accusatory finger in her direction]

sour

[acid, (gone) bad, embittered, embitter, spoil]: [she sampled the wine and found it was sour] [the kitchen smelled of sour milk] [her breath was always sour] [he gave her a sour look] [the meeting ended on a sour note]

vitriolic

[acrimonious]: [vitriolic attacks on the politicians] [vitriolic outbursts]

accustom

[adapt]: [I accustomed my eyes to the lenses] [sixth-form education is supposed to accustom pupils to think for themselves] [I am not accustomed to having my word questioned]

variable

[adaptable]: [the quality of hospital food is highly variable] [awards can be for variable amounts] [winds will be light and variable] [the drill has variable speed] [there are too many variables involved to make any meaningful predictions]

additive

[added ingredient]: [many foods contain chemical additives] [the combination of these factors has an additive effect] [the video monitor uses the additive colours red, green, and blue]

cement

[adhesive, stick, fasten]: [tile cement] [trust is the cement that holds organizations together] [dental cement] [wooden posts were cemented into the ground] [the two firms are expected to cement an agreement soon]

suspension

[adjournment, exclusion]: [the suspension of military action] [the investigation led to the suspension of several officers] [modifications have been made to the car's rear suspension] [a suspension of maize starch in arachis oil] [the agitator in the vat keeps the slurry in suspension]

registration

[adjustment, readjustment]: [the registration of births, marriages, and deaths] [the number of new private car registrations has increased] [in certain cases, children may acquire British citizenship through registration] [her car registration is H53 UVO]

advertiser

[adman, advertizer]: [kids hate it when advertisers try too hard to target them on their level]

inflict

[administer to, impose]: [they inflicted serious injuries on three other men] [she is wrong to inflict her beliefs on everyone else]

cherish

[adore, treasure, harbour]: [he needed a woman he could cherish] [I cherish the letters she wrote] [he had long cherished a secret fantasy about his future]

privilege

[advantage, honour, immunity]: [education is a right, not a privilege] [he has been accustomed all his life to wealth and privilege] [I had the privilege of giving the Sir George Brown memorial lecture] [he called on MPs not to abuse their privilege] [a breach of parliamentary privilege]

impinge

[affect, encroach on, strike]: [several factors impinge on market efficiency] [the proposed fencing would impinge on a public bridleway] [the gases impinge on the surface of the liquid]

effete

[affected, weakened, effeminate, weak]: [effete trendies from art college] [the authority of an effete aristocracy began to dwindle] [he chatted away, exercising his rather effete charm]

confirm

[affirm, corroborate, ratify]: [if these fears are confirmed, the outlook for the economy will be dire] [the report confirms that a diet rich in vitamin C can help to prevent cataracts] [he confirmed that the general was in the hands of the rebels] ['It is indeed proper coffee,' I confirmed] [he fuelled his misogyny by cultivating women who confirmed him in this view]

positive

[affirmative, showing a reaction, constructive, optimistic, favourable, definite, certain, utter]: [the company received a positive response from investors] [the positive results of a pregnancy test] [a positive test for Down's syndrome] [a player had tested positive for cocaine use] [he is HIV-positive]

thereafter

[after that (time)]: [thereafter their fortunes suffered a steep decline]

postscript

[afterthought]: [he added a postscript: 'Leaving tomorrow'] [as a postscript to this, Paul did finally marry]

anew

[again]: [her career had begun anew, with a lucrative Japanese modelling contract] [tears filled her eyes anew]

exacerbate

[aggravate]: [the exorbitant cost of land in urban areas only exacerbated the problem] [the strong pound has exacerbated the situation by making it much harder for UK companies to compete on price]

excruciating

[agonizing]: [excruciating back pain] [he explained the procedure in excruciating detail]

anguish

[agony]: [she shut her eyes in anguish] [Philip gave a cry of anguish] [I spent the next two weeks anguishing about whether I'd made the right decision]

bargain

[agreement, good buy, haggle, expect, also]: [bargains between political parties supporting the government] [the table was a real bargain] [a bargain price of 99p] [he bargained with the local council to rent the stadium] [his determination not to bargain away any of the province's economic powers]

unanimity

[agreement]: [there is almost complete unanimity on this issue]

aviation

[air power]: [the aviation industry]

zephyr

[air, breeze, gentle wind]:

aeronaut

[airman, aviator, flier, flyer]:

pilot

[airman/airwoman, navigator, trial episode, experimental, fly, navigate, test]: [a strike by local airline pilots] [the crash had been due to pilot error] [many expected him to get the job as Desert Orchid's pilot] [he returns to our TV screens in a pilot for a Channel 4 sitcom] [a pilot scheme for training workers]

alabaster

[alabastrine]: [the gilded alabaster tomb of Sir Anthony Browne] [her alabaster cheeks flushed with warmth]

panic

[alarm, be alarmed, frighten]: [she hit him in panic] [he ran to the library in a blind panic] [he caused an economic panic by his sudden resignation] [panic selling] [a workload of constant panics and rush jobs]

observant

[alert, practising]: [her observant eye took in every detail] [an observant Jew]

dismount

[alight, unseat]: [he rode over and dismounted] [his escort had dismounted a trooper] [we have to dismount the pump] [the device should now be dismounted and unloaded] [on the uneven bars the women go for ever more complex dismounts]

similar

[alike, comparable, like]: [a soft cheese similar to Brie] [northern India and similar areas] [he was one of those whose similar you never meet] [the principle of treatment by similars] [I've had problems similar to yours]

mitigate

[alleviate, extenuating]: [drainage schemes have helped to mitigate this problem] [he would have faced a prison sentence but for mitigating circumstances] [drainage schemes have helped to mitigate this problem] [these disagreements will militate against the two communities coming together]

ration

[allowance, supplies, control, distribute]: [1947 saw the bread ration reduced] [British rations were highly prized by American soldiers] [refugees queued for their meagre rations] [their emergency rations ran out] [holidaymakers who like a generous ration of activity]

practically

[almost, realistically]: [the strike lasted practically a fortnight] [the place was practically empty] ['He might win,' pointed out Emmeline practically]

sensational

[amazing, overdramatized, gorgeous, striking]: [a sensational murder trial] [cheap sensational periodicals] [you look sensational] [a sensational view]

stupendous

[amazing]: [the most stupendous views] [a stupendously talented player]

entertain

[amuse, receive, receive guests, consider]: [a tremendous game that thoroughly entertained the crowd] [a private dining room where members could entertain groups of friends] [Sunday lunchtime is the best time to entertain] [Washington entertained little hope of an early improvement in relations]

anachronistic

[anachronic, anachronous]: ['Titus' benefits from the effective use of anachronistic elements like cars and loudspeakers] [she is rebelling against the anachronistic morality of her parents]

review

[analysis, reconsideration, survey, criticism, journal, inspection, survey, comment on, inspect, reconsider]: [a comprehensive review of UK defence policy] [all areas of the company will come under review] [a review of her sentence] [his case comes up for review in January] [the Director General's end-of-year review]

primeval

[ancient, instinctive]: [mile after mile of primeval forest] [a primeval desire]

distress

[anguish, danger, hardship, cause anguish to, upsetting, age]: [to his distress he saw that she was trembling] [her fingers flew to her throat in distress] [vessels in distress on or near the coast] [a distress call] [a company in financial distress]

decimate

[annihilate, carry off, eliminate, eradicate, extinguish, wipe out]: [the inhabitants of the country had been decimated] [public transport has been decimated] [the man who is to determine whether it be necessary to decimate a large body of mutineers] [the virus has decimated the population]

intimation

[announcement, suggestion]: [the first intimations of trouble] [no one gave any intimation that there had been any problems] [it took ten years from the intimation of a claim to the assessment of damages]

vexatious

[annoying]: [the vexatious questions posed by software copyrights] [a frivolous or vexatious litigant]

retort

[answer, answer]: ['No need to be rude,' retorted Isabel] [he retorted that this was nonsense] [it was now his time to retort the humiliation] [he was resolute to retort the charge of treason on his foes] [the answer they make to us may very easily be retorted]

respond

[answer, say in response, react to]: [she could not get Robert to respond to her words] [he responded that it would not be feasible] ['It's not part of my job,' Belinda responded] [she responded to his grin with a smile] [his back injury has failed to respond to treatment]

antechamber

[anteroom, entrance hall, foyer, hall, lobby, vestibule]: [the antechamber to an interview room]

florescence

[anthesis, blossoming, efflorescence, flowering, inflorescence]: [the Hieracia are erect throughout the process of florescence] [the great florescence of Classical poetry, music, and drama]

forethought

[anticipation]: [Jim had the forethought to book in advance]

besides

[apart from, as well, furthermore]: [I have no other family besides my parents] [besides being a player, he was my friend] [I'm capable of doing the work, and a lot more besides] [I had no time to warn you. Besides, I wasn't sure]

mechanism

[apparatus, machinery]: [a third motor powers the tape eject mechanism] [the immune system's mechanism for detecting pathogens]

ostensible

[apparent]: [the real dispute which lay behind the ostensible complaint]

request

[appeal, bidding, requirement, ask for]: [a request for information] [the club's excursion was postponed at the request of some of the members] [to have our ideas taken seriously is surely a reasonable request] [the computer is busy servicing requests from other processes] [human intelligence, which is in constant request in a family]

plea

[appeal, claim]: [he made a dramatic plea for disarmament] [her plea of a headache was not entirely false] [he changed his plea to not guilty]

attraction

[appeal, entertainment, pull]: [the timeless attraction of a good tune] [she has very romantic ideas about sexual attraction] [this reform has many attractions for those on the left] [the church is the town's main tourist attraction] [gravitational attraction]

charm

[appeal, ornament, spell, delight, coax]: [he was captivated by her youthful charm] [the hidden charms of the city] [the trinkets were charms from his wife's bracelet] [the charm begins with ritual instructions] [a good luck charm]

acclaimed

[applaud, clap, spat]: [the band released their critically acclaimed debut in 1994] [an acclaimed artist]

technology

[applied science, engineering, engineering science]: [advances in computer technology] [recycling technologies] [it will reduce the industry's ability to spend money on new technology]

approbation

[approval, praise]: [a term of approbation]

arboreal

[arboreous, tree-living]: [arboreal rodents]

tectonics

[architectonics]: [there remains an area of active tectonics north of the mountain chain] [Nicol had come to different conclusions about the tectonics of the area]

quarrel

[argument, argue, find fault with]: [he made the mistake of picking a quarrel with John] [we have no quarrel with the people of the country, only with the dictator] [stop quarrelling with your sister] [some people quarrel with this approach] [he will quarrel like hell if he see black pods on the trees]

noble

[aristocratic, righteous, lofty, magnificent, excellent, aristocrat]: [the medieval palace was once owned by a noble Florentine family] [the Duchess of Kent and several other noble ladies] [the promotion of human rights was a noble aspiration] [noble arches and massive granite columns] [there is nothing more noble than a mature pine forest]

weaponry

[arms, implements of war, munition, weapons system]: [nuclear weaponry] [America's weaponry] [he is in charge of some of the most sophisticated weaponry ever designed]

ersatz

[artificial]: [ersatz coffee] [ersatz emotion]

synthetic

[artificial]: [synthetic rubber] [their tears are a bit synthetic]

consequently

[as a result]: [flexible workers find themselves in great demand, and consequently gain high salaries]

indeed

[as expected, yes, very]: [it was not expected to last long, and indeed it took less than three weeks] ['She should have no trouble hearing him.' 'No indeed.'] [it was a very good buy indeed] [the idea is attractive to many men and indeed to many women] ['A ghost indeed! I've never heard anything so silly.']

ascension

[ascending, ascent, rise]: [his ascension to the presidency]

enquire

[ask, conduct an enquiry, investigate]: [he enquired about cottages for sale] [I enquired where he lived] ['How well do you know Berlin?' he enquired of Hencke] [Angus enquired after her parents] [that was Mr Paul enquiring for you—I told him he couldn't come in]

consult

[ask, confer, consider, refer to]: [if you consult a solicitor, making a will is a simple procedure] [patients are entitled to be consulted about their treatment] [the government must consult with interested bodies] [she consulted a large desk diary] [after a consult with his attorneys, he retracted his previous statement]

sloping

[aslant, aslope, diagonal, slanted, slanting, sloped]: [a sloping floor]

wannabe

[aspirant, aspirer, hopeful, wannabee]: [a star-struck wannabe] [for every success story there are thousands of wannabees who don't make it] [a pair of wannabe pop stars] [wannabee millionaires]

pretension

[aspiration, pretentiousness]: [his pretensions to the imperial inheritance] [all that we cannot tolerate is pretension to infallibility] [another ageing rocker with literary pretensions] [he spoke simply, without pretension]

hallmark

[assay mark, distinctive feature]: [the tiny bubbles are the hallmark of fine champagnes] [he was reprimanded for not hallmarking his work] [this attitude hallmarks many a Briton's behaviour abroad]

project

[assignment, scheme, forecast, intend, stick out, sticking out, throw, cast, convey, attribute]: [a research project] [a project to build a new power station] [a history project] [the novel undermines its own stated project of telling a story] [her family still lives in the projects]

aid

[assistance, donations, help, facilitate]: [he saw the pilot slumped in his cockpit and went to his aid] [she walked with the aid of a Zimmer frame] [700,000 tons of food aid] [an aid agency] [exercise is an important aid to recovery after heart attacks]

secretary

[assistant]: [she was secretary to David Wilby MP] [she was secretary of the Women's Labour League] [Chief Secretary to the Treasury]

dumbfound

[astonish, astonished]: [she was dumbfounded at the sight that met her eyes] [a dumbfounded look on her face]

initially

[at first]: [initially, he thought the new concept was nonsense]

straightaway

[at once, directly, forthwith, immediately, instantly, like a shot, now, right away, straight off]: [the straightaway hitter sprays his hits to all fields] [his skis shudder wildly as he tops 90 on the straightaways]

aura

[atmosphere]: [the ceremony retains an aura of mystery] [emotional, mental, and spiritual levels form an energy field around the body known as the aura] [muddy colours in the aura indicate negative emotions] [there was a faint aura of disinfectant]

nuclear

[atomic]: [nuclear chemistry] [nuclear submarines] [nuclear warheads] [a nuclear attack] [nuclear DNA]

attache

[attache case]: [naval and air attachés]

assail

[attack, trouble, criticize]: [the Scots army assailed Edward's army from the rear] [she was assailed by doubts and regrets] [he assailed a group of editors for their alleged excesses]

assailant

[attacker]: [the police have no firm leads about the identity of his assailant]

effort

[attempt, try, achievement, exertion, try hard]: [in an effort to reduce inflation, the government increased interest rates] [he was a keen gardener, winning many prizes for his efforts] [achieving independence requires some effort and self-discipline] [the war effort] [make an effort to do some kind of abdominal exercise]

attendee

[attendant, attender, meeter]: [seminar attendees]

ministration

[attention]: [a kitchen made spotless by the ministrations of a cleaning lady] [the ministrations of Father Martin] [the celebration and ministration of the sacraments]

interest

[attentiveness, attraction, hobby, dividends, concern, interests, of benefit to, stake, involvement, be of interest to, arouse someone's interest in]: [she looked about her with interest] [he developed an interest in art] [a tale full of interest] [their sole interests are soccer, drink, and cars] [the monthly rate of interest]

prepossessing

[attractive]: [he was not a prepossessing sight]

auction

[auction bridge]: [the books are expected to fetch a six-figure sum at tomorrow's auction] [the Ferrari sold at auction for £10 million] [the painting was auctioned at Christie's]

venturesome

[audacious, daring, venturous]: [he took a venturesome approach to the standard operas] [anyone venturesome enough to try to blaze a trail through it would soon beat a hasty retreat]

auditory

[audile, auditive]: [the auditory nerves] [teaching methods use both visual and auditory stimulation]

nix

[aught, cipher, cypher, goose egg, nada, naught, nil, nothing, null, zero, zilch, zip, zippo]: [apart from that, nix] ['I owe you some money,' 'Nix, nix.'] [he nixed the deal just before it was to be signed]

reinforcement

[augmentation, additional troops, strengthening]: [older electricity mains required reinforcement to meet increased demand] [positive feedback leads to reinforcement] [a small force would hold the position until reinforcements could be sent] [glass-fibre reinforcement] [reinforcements set in the concrete]

legitimacy

[authenticity, genuineness]: [refusal to recognize the legitimacy of both governments] [disputes over the legitimacy of heirs] [it is difficult to judge the legitimacy of the rumour]

charter

[authority, permit, constitution, hire, hire]: [the town received a charter from the Emperor] [the impending review of the BBC's Charter] [the standard set by the patient's charter] [he described the act as a charter for vandals] [a plane on charter to a multinational company]

enable

[authorize, allow]: [the evidence would enable us to arrive at firm conclusions] [each of them has wheels to enable easy transportation] [the Department is leading the effort to enable a smooth and timely transition] [you can enable compression or even virus scanning prior to backup] [WAP-enabled mobile phones]

automobile

[auto, car, machine, motorcar]:

moderate

[average, reasonable, restrained, dispassionate, die down, curb, chair]: [we walked at a moderate pace] [a moderate reform programme] [an unlikely alliance of radicals and moderates] [I shall not moderate my criticism] [the weather has moderated considerably]

evasion

[avoidance, prevarication]: [their adroit evasion of almost all questions] [the protestations and evasions of a witness]

wake

[awake, waken, realize, evoke, vigil, backwash, aftermath]: [she woke up feeling better] [I woke him gently] [he needs to wake up to reality] [his voice wakes desire in others] [we waked Jim last night]

sensible

[aware, cognisant, cognizant]: [I cannot believe that it is sensible to spend so much] [a sensible diet] [he was a sensible and capable boy] [Mum always made me have sensible shoes] [it will effect a sensible reduction in these figures]

cognizant

[aware]: [statesmen must be cognizant of the political boundaries within which they work]

attention

[awareness, listen, observation, care, courtesy]: [he drew attention to three spelling mistakes] [he turned his attention to the educational system] [her business needed her attention] [he was found guilty of failing to give a patient adequate medical attention] [she felt flattered by his attentions]

peach

[babble, babble out, blab, blab out, let the cat out of the bag, sing, spill the beans, talk, tattle]: [the sky began to change from grey to peach] [a peach satin nightdress] [it was another peach of a day] [the other members of the gang would not hesitate to peach on him]

bachelor

[bachelor-at-arms, knight bachelor]: [one of the country's most eligible bachelors] [a Bachelor of Arts] [it's just one room, a bachelor]

yard

[backyard, workshop]: [a full skirt that took twenty yards of cloth] [yards and yards of fine lace] [it cost two hundred up front—one yard for Maurice, one for the girl] [golf continues to inspire books by the yard] [tiny houses with the lavatory in the yard]

choleric

[bad-tempered]: [he was a choleric, self-important little man] [a choleric disposition]

eject

[bail out, expel, dismiss]: [lumps of viscous lava were ejected from the volcano] [he ejected the spent cartridge] [he put the plane in a nosedive and ejected] [angry supporters were forcibly ejected from the court] [he was ejected from office in July]

yearling

[bambino, toddler, tot]: [a yearling calf] [the yearling market]

dispel

[banish]: [the brightness of the day did nothing to dispel Elaine's dejection]

insolvent

[bankrupt]: [the company became insolvent] [insolvent liquidation]

prohibition

[banning, ban]: [they argue that prohibition of drugs will always fail] [prohibitions on insider dealing]

feast

[banquet, treat, festival, gorge on, hold a banquet for]: [a wedding feast] [the concert season offers a feast of classical music] [a feast day] [the feast of St John] [the feast was the highlight of the village year]

christen

[baptize, call, begin using]: [their second daughter was christened Jeanette] [we have christened our regular train home the ghost train] [he bought a new pair of boots and christened them with his first goal at the McAlpine Stadium]

bolt

[bar, rivet, arrow, flash, lock, rivet, shock, straight, dash, gobble, dash, roll]: [all the doors were locked and bolted] [the lid was bolted down] [new benefits have been bolted on to the social security system] [the job came like a bolt from the blue] [she sat bolt upright in bed]

dam

[barrage, block (up)]: [the dam burst after torrential rain] [the Hoover Dam] [the dam was full of water] [the river was dammed to form Lake Powell] [the closed lock gates dammed up the canal]

predicate

[base]: [a word which predicates something about its subject] [aggression is predicated of those who act aggressively] [the Pleistocene colonization of Tasmania has long been predicated] [the theory of structure on which later chemistry was predicated]

groundless

[baseless]: [your fears are quite groundless]

hamper

[basket, hinder]: [a picnic hamper] [a Christmas food hamper] [a laundry hamper] [their work is hampered by lack of funds]

wand

[baton]: [the fairy godmother waves her magic wand and grants the heroine's wishes] [the beadle rapped noisily with his wand] [a mascara wand] [he waves the computer wand over the special barcode] [you pull out a laser wand and point at the screen on the wall]

baste

[batter, clobber]: [slip herbs under the skin and baste the chicken constantly] [keep any remaining sauce ready for basting] [baste the zip under the edges so that it is concealed] [stitch in place over the basting] [go baste him one!]

howl

[baying, wail, bay, laugh, wail]: [he let out a howl of anguish] [I got howls of protest from readers] [they listened to the howl of the gale] [he howled in agony] [the wind howled around the house]

oppose

[be against]: [a majority of the electorate opposed EC membership] [a workers' movement opposed the regime] [a candidate to oppose the leader in the presidential contest]

drift

[be carried, wander, doze off, stray, pile up, movement, deviation, gist, pile]: [the cabin cruiser started to drift downstream] [excited voices drifted down the hall] [people began to drift away] [I was drifting off to sleep] [I noticed my audience's attention drifting]

suffice

[be enough]: [a quick look should suffice] [two examples should suffice to prove the contention] [simple mediocrity cannot suffice them] [suffice it to say that they were not considered suitable for this project]

outweigh

[be heavier than, be greater than]: [the advantages greatly outweigh the disadvantages]

tend

[be inclined, incline, look after]: [written language tends to be formal] [her hair tended to come loose] [Walter tended towards corpulence] [fire is hot and tends upwards] [the orbit tends to infinity]

reign

[be king/queen, ruling, incumbent, prevail, prevailing, rule, period in office]: [Queen Elizabeth reigns over the UK] [in America, baseball reigns supreme] [confusion reigned] [the original chapel was built in the reign of Charles I] [she was hoping for a long reign as world champion]

stink

[be very unpleasant, strongly suggest, stench, fuss]: [the place stank like a sewer] [his breath stank of drink] [her perfume stank the place out] [he thinks the values of our society stink] [the whole affair stinks of a set-up]

shone

[beam, glow, radiate]:

effulgent

[beaming, beamy, radiant, refulgent]: [standing there was my father with the most effulgent smile on his face]

battered

[beaten, abused, damaged]: [he finished the day battered and bruised] [battered babies] [a pair of battered black boots]

exquisite

[beautiful, intense, discriminating, dandy]: [exquisite, jewel-like portraits] [the most exquisite kind of agony] [her exquisite taste in painting]

cosmetic

[beautifying, make-up, superficial, make-up]: [cosmetic surgery] [cosmetic creams] [the reform package was merely a cosmetic exercise] [the range covers everything from the latest cosmetics to skin and hair care]

owing to

[because of]: [his reading was hesitant owing to a stammer]

ripen

[become ripe, make ripe]: [honeydew melons ripen slowly] [for ease of harvesting, the fruit is ripened to order]

pandemonium

[bedlam, chaos, topsy-turvydom, topsy-turvyness]: [there was complete pandemonium—everyone just panicked]

plead

[beg]: [she pleaded with them not to gag the boy] ['Don't go,' she pleaded] [Anne pleaded to go with her] [he gave her a pleading look] [the idea that in public relations work someone is paid to plead a special case is disliked]

neophyte

[beginner, novice]: [four-day cooking classes are offered to neophytes and experts] [a cast of neophyte actors]

novice

[beginner, novitiate]: [he was a complete novice in foreign affairs] [last season as a novice he won three races] [the novice hurdles]

alluring

[beguiling, enticing, tempting]: [the town offers alluring shops and restaurants]

react

[behave, rebel against]: [he reacted angrily to the news of his dismissal] [the market reacted by falling a further 3.1%] [they reacted against the elite art music of their time] [many babies react to soy-based formulas] [the shares reacted to 222p before rallying to 228p]

colossus

[behemoth, giant, heavyweight, titan]: [two statues known as the Colossi of Memnon] [the Russian Empire was the colossus of European politics] [he bestrode French cinema like a colossus] [the Hapsburg empire had bestrode Europe like a colossus]

detract

[belittle]: [these quibbles in no way detract from her achievement] [it is detracting nothing from his ability to say that he owed the championship to a superior car]

loop

[bend, coil, coil, wind]: [make a loop in the twine] [a loop of rope tied round their wrists] [a feedback loop] [she looped her arms around his neck] [the canal loops for two miles through the city]

crook

[bend, criminal, cock]: [seizing his crook from behind the door, he set off to call his dogs] [her head was cradled in the crook of Luke's left arm] [the man's a crook, he's not to be trusted] [he crooked a finger for the waitress] [it was pretty crook on the land in the early 1970s]

recipient

[beneficiary]: [the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize] [a recipient country]

irrelevant

[beside the point]: [an irrelevant comment] [theory can sometimes be hastily dismissed as irrelevant to the classroom]

treason

[betrayal, perfidy, treachery]: [they were convicted of treason] [doubt is the ultimate treason against faith]

roller coaster

[big dipper, chute-the-chute]: [a roller-coaster ride] [a terrific roller coaster of a book] [the twentieth century fades behind us and history roller-coasters on]

bilingual

[bilingualist]: [a bilingual secretary] [bilingual dictionaries] [bilingual education]

raven

[black]: [thick raven hair] [fierce lions went ravening to and fro] [clusters of grapes, the which they raven'd quick]

rib

[blackguard, guy, jest at, laugh at, make fun, poke fun, ridicule, roast]: [he had several broken ribs] [a lunch of ribs, wings, and blueberry pie] [1,300 lb of beef rib] [stone is used only for ribs, piers, and windows] [a rib vault]

clamorous

[blatant, clamant, strident, vociferous]: [a jostling, clamorous mob] [the clamorous radical wing of the party]

fire

[blaze, heater, dynamism, gunfire, criticism, launch, shoot, dismiss, ignite, stimulate, activate, stir up, ignite, burning, ardent, light]: [his house was destroyed by fire] [a fire at a hotel] [we had a bath in a tin tub by the fire] [she was freezing and keeping the fire low to save money] [a fire sign]

blazing

[blaze]: [the delicious cool of marble corridors after the blazing heat outside] [she had a blazing row with Eddie and stormed out]

flaw

[blemish]: [a flaw in the glass] [he had his flaws, but he was still a great teacher] [there were fundamental flaws in the case for reforming local government] [the computer game was flawed by poor programming]

conflate

[blend, coalesce, combine, commingle, flux, fuse, immix, meld, merge, mix]: [the urban crisis conflates a number of different economic, political, and social issues]

blossom

[bloom, develop]: [tiny white blossoms] [the slopes were ablaze with almond blossom] [fruit trees in blossom] [a garden in which roses blossom] [blossoming magnolia]

eclipse

[blotting out, decline, outshining, outshine, blot out]: [an eclipse of the sun] [the election result marked the eclipse of the traditional right] [eclipse plumage] [Jupiter was eclipsed by the Moon] [the economy has eclipsed the environment as the main issue]

evanesce

[blow over, fade, fleet, pass, pass off]: [water moves among reeds, evanesces, shines]

plank

[board]: [the central plank of the bill is the curb on industrial polluters] [the session usually include a lot of core work, lunges, planks, and squats] [the planked wooden steps] [Ned planked the glasses in front of him] [he had planked £1,000 under the mattress]

vessel

[boat, container, duct]: [giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel]

excretion

[body waste, excrement, excreta, excretory product]: [bodily excretions]

spurious

[bogus]: [separating authentic and spurious claims] [this spurious reasoning results in nonsense]

audacious

[bold, impudent]: [a series of audacious takeovers] [he made an audacious remark]

lock

[bolt, bolt, join, become stuck, quarrel, imprison, tress]: [the key turned firmly in the lock] [a steering lock] [a bicycle lock] [there's a security lock on the phone and he doesn't know the code] [I have seen all Albermarle Street closed by a lock of carriages]

rigidly

[bolt, stiffly]: [the rigidly disciplined world of gymnastics] [a rigidly fixed exchange rate]

ledger

[book]: [the total balance of the purchases ledger] [the ledger stone of William Averie] [ledger tackle]

loot

[booty, plunder]: [the rooms were stuffed with the loot from Francis's expeditions into Italy] [the gang escaped with their loot] [ten thousand quid is a lot of loot] [police confronted the protestors who were looting shops] [tonnes of food aid awaiting distribution had been looted]

boundary

[border, bounds, dividing line, limits]: [a county boundary] [the river marks the boundary between the two regions] [a boundary wall] [a community without class or political boundaries]

tedious

[boring]: [a tedious journey]

emboss

[boss, stamp]: [an embossed brass dish] [the silverware is embossed with falcons] [a dull gold casing with the logo embossed on the front]

botanize

[botanise]: [I'd always be scheming to go off birdwatching or botanizing]

mismanage

[botch]: [he was accused of mismanaging the economy]

rebound

[bounce, recover, backfire on]: [his shot hammered into the post and rebounded across the goal] [he proved that he can score and rebound as well as any of his peers] [the Share Index rebounded to show a twenty-point gain] [Nicholas's tricks are rebounding on him] [he blasted the rebound into the net]

bowler

[bowler hat, derby, derby hat, plug hat]:

diversify

[branch out, vary]: [the trilobites diversified into a great number of species] [new plants will diversify the habitat] [the company expanded rapidly and diversified into computers] [the rise of the diversified corporation]

digest

[break down, assimilate, classify, condense, summary]: [Leonora digested this piece of news with mixed feelings] [the computer digested your labours into a form understandable by a program] [a digest of their findings] [a digest of cloned DNA]

intermit

[break, pause]: [he was urged to intermit his application]

momentary

[brief]: [a momentary lapse of concentration]

resuscitate

[bring round, revive]: [an ambulance crew tried to resuscitate him] [measures to resuscitate the ailing economy]

terminate

[bring to an end, abort, end its journey]: [he was advised to terminate the contract] [the train will terminate at Stratford] [Adamson's putting pressure on me to terminate you] [he was terminated by persons unknown] [the chain terminated in an iron ball covered with spikes]

wide

[broad, baggy, fully open, comprehensive, fully, fully open, off target, fully awake]: [a wide road] [it measures 15 cm long by 12 cm wide] [how wide do you think this house is?] [his eyes were wide with fear] [tax revenues have undershot Treasury projections by a wide margin]

catholic

[broad-minded]: [her tastes are pretty catholic] [the Church of England must not compromise its Catholic principles]

relay

[broadcast, pass on]: [the wagons were pulled by relays of horses] [gangs of workers were sent in relays] [a 550-metre relay race] [TV transmitters and relay stations] [a relay of a performance live from the concert hall]

brogan

[brogue, clodhopper, work shoe]:

effervescent

[bubbling, frothy, scintillating, sparkly]: [an effervescent mixture of cheap wine, fruit flavours, sugar, and carbon dioxide] [effervescent young people]

ramp up

[build, build up, work up]:

architecture

[building design, building style, structure]: [schools of architecture and design] [Georgian architecture] [the chemical architecture of the human brain]

light bulb

[bulb, electric light, electric-light bulb, incandescent lamp, lightbulb]: [the watchman switched on an electric light bulb]

browbeat

[bully]: [a witness is being browbeaten under cross-examination]

hector

[bully]: [she doesn't hector us about giving up things] [a brusque, hectoring manner]

jostle

[bump into/against, push, struggle]: [he was jostled by passengers rushing for the gates] [people jostled against us] [a jumble of images jostled for attention] [the jostle of shoppers]

burgess

[burgher]:

fiery

[burning, bright, passionate]: [the sun was a fiery ball low on the hills] [a fiery pepper sauce] [the car was painted a fiery red] [a fiery, imaginative Aries] [a fiery speech]

sunburn

[burnt, tanned]: [my hands and face were raw with sunburn] [the sunburns on them stopped halfway up their foreheads] [most of us managed to get sunburnt] [a handsome sunburned face] [a complexion that sunburnt easily]

rear

[buttocks, back, bring up, breed, grow, rise, raise]: [the kitchen door at the rear of the house] [the field at the rear of the church] [two policemen at the rear fell out of the formation] [the car's rear window] [I made the men walk in front while I brought up the rear]

bribe

[buy off, inducement]: [they attempted to bribe opponents into losing] [they had bribed an official to sell them a certificate] [lawmakers were caught accepting bribes to bring in legalized gambling]

avocation

[by-line, hobby, pursuit, sideline, spare-time activity]: [they are basically doctors, and negotiators by avocation]

serenity

[calmness, peace]: [an oasis of serenity amidst the bustling city]

revoke

[cancel]: [the men appealed and the sentence was revoked]

directness

[candidness, candor, candour, forthrightness, frankness]: [he was renowned for the clarity and directness of his sermons] [I like the simplicity and directness of the image] [despite the directness of the route, the old road was terribly difficult]

competence

[capability, authority, adequacy]: [courses to improve the competence of staff] [the players displayed varying degrees of competence] [the court's competence has been accepted to cover these matters] [he found himself with an ample competence and no obligations]

voluminous

[capacious]: [a voluminous purple cloak] [he sank into a voluminous armchair] [we all scribbled down voluminous notes]

ability

[capacity, talent]: [the manager had lost his ability to motivate the players] [a man of exceptional ability] [pupils of all abilities] [Conrad must do his job to the best of his abilities]

enchant

[captivate]: [Isabel was enchanted with the idea] [an enchanted garden]

enchanting

[captivating]: [enchanting views] [Dinah looked enchanting]

engage

[capture, participate in, employ, contract, interlock, do battle with]: [he ploughed on, trying to outline his plans and engage Sutton's attention] [I told him I was otherwise engaged] [they attempted to engage Anthony in conversation] [organizations engage in a variety of activities] [some are actively engaged in crime]

ensnare

[capture]: [they were ensnared in city centre traffic]

shell

[carapace, pod, projectile, framework, bombard, extract]: [cowrie shells] [the technique of carving shell] [peanuts roasted in their shells] [she'll soon come out of her shell with the right encouragement] [the sound of the shell passing over, followed by the explosion]

caution

[care, warning, advise]: [anyone receiving a suspect package should exercise extreme caution] [they let him off with a caution] [business advisers have sounded a note of caution] ['You're a caution, you are,' she said] [the Chancellor cautioned that economic uncertainties remained]

swag

[careen, keel, lurch, reel, stagger]: [swags of holly and mistletoe] [garden machinery is the most popular swag] [check out the fun bag of swag we gave our guests!] [prices range from $40 a 10-seed packet for some Jamaican swag to $345 per pack for something tastier] [not only does he have a great voice, but he's got swag]

profession

[career, declaration]: [his chosen profession of teaching] [a barrister by profession] [the legal profession has become increasingly business-conscious] [his profession of delight rang hollow] [they were baptized on profession of faith]

warily

[carefully, suspiciously]: [they walk warily down the street, terrified of being caught] [she looked at him warily]

negligent

[careless]: [the council had been negligent in its supervision of the children in care]

commit

[carry out, pledge, devout, consign, hospitalize]: [he committed an uncharacteristic error] [they were reluctant to commit themselves to an opinion] [the treaty commits each party to defend the other] [try it out before you commit to a purchase] [we are committed to the fundamental principles of democracy]

casting

[cast]: [bronze castings]

informal

[casual, casual, colloquial, unofficial]: [an informal atmosphere] [an informal agreement between the two companies] [the guys wore very informal clothes] [Peru's huge and dense informal sector of street vendors and cottage industries]

nonchalant

[casual, insouciant]: [she gave a nonchalant shrug]

forty winks

[cat sleep, catnap, nap, short sleep, snooze]: [I could do with forty winks right now]

holocaust

[cataclysm]: [a nuclear holocaust]

slogan

[catchphrase]: [a series of arson attacks gave new meaning to the advertising slogan 'come home to a real fire'] [students were chanting slogans]

sake

[cause, benefit]: [the couple moved to the coast for the sake of her health] [let us say, for the sake of argument, that the plotter and the assassin are one and the same person] [new ideas amount to change for change's sake] [I have to make an effort for John's sake] ['Oh, for God's sake!' snarled Dyson]

dragoon

[cavalryman, coerce]: [she had been dragooned into helping with the housework]

grotto

[cave]: [visits to Father Christmas's grotto]

commemorate

[celebrate]: [a wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate the war dead] [a stone commemorating a boy who died at sea] [the victory was commemorated in songs]

fabled

[celebrated, legendary]: [a fabled art collection] [the fabled kingdom]

basement

[cellar]: [they went down the stairs into the basement] [a basement flat] [basement rocks]

pivotal

[central]: [Japan's pivotal role in the world economy] [a sliding or pivotal motion]

grain

[cereal, kernel, granule, trace, texture, weave]: [a few grains of corn] [a grain of salt] [there wasn't a grain of truth in what he said] [he scored along the grain of the table with the knife] [the lighter, finer grain of the wood is attractive]

ritually

[ceremonially]: [the temple is ritually cleansed] [I ritually check the local news sites]

bond

[chains, friendship, promise, join]: [she brushed back a curl which had strayed from its bonds] [he stooped over the trussed man and tested his bonds] [there was a bond of understanding between them] [each carbon atom uses three electrons to form bonds with the adjacent atoms] [stretcher bond]

preside

[chair, be in charge of]: [the prime minister will preside at an emergency cabinet meeting] [the sentence imposed by the presiding judge] [Johnson has presided over eight matches since Beck's dismissal]

confront

[challenge, trouble, tackle, present]: [300 policemen confronted an equal number of union supporters] [the new government was confronted with many profound difficulties] [we knew we couldn't ignore the race issue and decided we'd confront it head on] [Merrill confronted him with her suspicions] [we were confronted with pictures of moving skeletons]

relent

[change one's mind, ease off]: [she was going to refuse his request, but relented] [the rain relented]

reversible

[changeable, changeful]: [a reversible pushchair seat] [a reversible jacket] [a reversible duvet cover] [potentially reversible forms of renal failure] [the formation of ethyl acetate from ethyl alcohol and acetic acid is a reversible reaction]

committee

[citizens committee]: [the housing committee] [a committee meeting] [there was much scrutiny in committee]

simplicity

[clarity, plainness, unpretentiousness, straightforwardness]: [for the sake of simplicity, this chapter will concentrate upon one theory] [the grandeur and simplicity of Roman architecture] [the simplicities of pastoral living] [putting data into a spreadsheet is simplicity itself]

reverend

[clergyman, man of the cloth]: [the Reverend Pat Tilly] [a retired reverend] [the Reverend James Smith] [the Reverend J. Smith] [Reverend Smith]

clergy

[clergymen, clergywomen]: [all marriages were to be solemnized by the clergy]

ascend

[climb (up)]: [she ascended the stairs] [we had ascended 3,000 ft] [the first traveller to ascend the mountain] [salmon ascend rivers from the sea to spawn] [the lift ascended from his sight]

intimate

[close, friendly, detailed, personal, sexual, close friend, announce, imply]: [intimate friends] [they are on intimate terms] [an intimate little Italian restaurant] [their intimate involvement with their community] [an intimate knowledge of the software]

closely

[close, tight]: [closely spaced homes] [the medical sergeant follows closely behind the squad] [pens of closely confined fish] [a closely fought contest] [the students had to answer questions closely related to what they just learned]

wardrobe

[clothes cupboard, collection of clothes]: [her wardrobe is extensive] [a wardrobe assistant]

buffoon

[clown]:

congeal

[coagulate]: [the blood had congealed into blobs] [a lump of congealed moussaka] [the ballet failed to congeal as a single oeuvre]

collier

[coal miner, pitman]:

boorish

[coarse]: [boorish behaviour]

layer

[coating]: [arrange a layer of aubergines in a dish] [a managerial layer] [the majority of fish are egg-layers] [they can be increased from cuttings and layers] [the current trend for layered clothes]

cobbled

[cobblestone]: [a cobbled courtyard] [the street was narrow and cobbled]

neology

[coinage, neologism]:

chilly

[cold, cold, unfriendly]: [a chilly February evening] [I felt a bit chilly] [he got a chilly reception from Republican activists]

inclement

[cold]: [walkers should be prepared for inclement weather]

partner

[colleague, spouse]: [a partner in a prosperous legal practice] [a junior partner] [arrange the children in pairs so that each person has a partner] [the striker looked sharp and eager as Jackson's partner in attack] [she lived with her partner]

repertoire

[collection]: [the mainstream concert repertoire] [his repertoire of denigratory gestures]

antique

[collector's item, old, ancient, out of date]: [Pauline loves collecting antiques] [an antique dealer] [an antique clock] [bookshelves with an antique finish] [statues of antique gods]

titanic

[colossal]: [a series of titanic explosions]

behemoth

[colossus, giant, heavyweight, titan]: [behemoths like the brontosaurus] [shoppers are now more loyal to their local shops than to faceless behemoths]

frolicsome

[coltish, frolicky, rollicking, sportive]:

litigious

[combative, contentious, disputatious, disputative]: [our increasingly litigious society]

amalgam

[combination]: [a curious amalgam of the traditional and the modern] [amalgam fillings]

cartel

[combine, corporate trust, trust]: [the Colombian drug cartels]

circumnavigate

[compass]: [he undertook to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days or less] [he helped her to circumnavigate a frozen puddle] [they circumnavigated the issue]

reconcilable

[compatible]: [the two propositions are hardly reconcilable] [the theory was quite reconcilable with industrialization]

constrain

[compel, unnatural, restrict, confine]: [children are constrained to work in the way the book dictates] [he was acting in a constrained manner] [agricultural development is considerably constrained by climate] [Calypso in her caves constrained his stay] [the walls are high, the gates are strong, but true love never yet was thus constrained]

contest

[competition, struggle, compete for, compete in, oppose, debate]: [a tennis contest] [a leadership contest] [a contest between traditional and liberal views] [she declared her intention to contest the presidency] [a coalition was formed to contest the presidential elections]

rivalry

[competitiveness]: [there always has been intense rivalry between the clubs] [personal and political rivalries]

carp

[complain, complaining]: [I don't want to carp about the way you did it]

grumble

[complain, rumble, complaint, rumble]: ['I'm getting old,' she grumbled] [the cashier grumbled about changing Swiss money] [his father was grumbling that he hadn't heard from him] [thunder was grumbling somewhere in the distance] [a grumbling appendix]

exclusive

[complete, incompatible, not including, sole, select, scoop]: [an exclusive focus on success and making money] [the list is not exclusive] [mutually exclusive options] [the couple had exclusive possession of the flat] [the problem isn't exclusive to Dublin]

implicitly

[completely]: [she implicitly suggested that he was responsible for the error] [he trusted Sarah implicitly]

conformity

[compliance with, conventionality, similarity]: [conformity to regulations] [the goods were in conformity with the contract] [a word of praise or an encouraging smile provide rewards for conformity to social norms] [these changes are intended to ensure conformity between all schemes]

imbroglio

[complicated situation]: [the abdication imbroglio of 1936]

abide

[comply with, tolerate, continue]: [I said I would abide by their decision] [if there is one thing I cannot abide it is a lack of discipline] [at least one memory will abide] [many unskilful Men do abide in our City of London]

understanding

[comprehension, intellect, belief, compassion, agreement, compassionate]: [foreign visitors with little understanding of English] [a child of sufficient intelligence and understanding] [my understanding was that he would find a new supplier] [he wrote with understanding and affection of the people of Dent] [he and I have an understanding]

squeeze

[compress, hug, extract, crowd, force, extort, press, hug, crush, drop]: [Kate squeezed his hand affectionately] [he squeezed with all his strength] [squeeze out as much juice as you can] [freshly squeezed orange juice] [Sarah squeezed in beside her]

obligatory

[compulsory, customary]: [use of seat belts in cars is now obligatory] [a sovereign whose laws are obligatory] [it was a quiet little street with the obligatory pub at the end]

estimable

[computable]: [she was shown into that estimable woman's presence]

calculate

[compute, expect, intend]: [the program can calculate the number of words that will fit in the space available] [local authorities have calculated that full training would cost around £5,000 per teacher] [I was bright enough to calculate that she had been on vacation] [his last words were calculated to wound her] [I calculate it's pretty difficult to git edication down there]

virus

[computer virus]: [the hepatitis B virus] [a virus infection] [I've had a virus] [the virus of cruelty that is latent in all human beings]

pertain

[concern, belong to, exist]: [matters pertaining to the organization of government] [the shop premises and stock and all assets pertaining to the business] [their economic circumstances are vastly different from those which pertained in their land of origin]

definitive

[conclusive, authoritative]: [a definitive decision] [the definitive biography of Prince Charles] [low-value British definitives simply have a portrait of the reigning monarch] [a definitive decision] [a definite decision]

federate

[confederate, combine]: [in 1901 the six colonies federated to form the Commonwealth of Australia] [he resisted British attempts to federate Barbados with neighbouring islands] [a federated state consisting of 15 union republics] [federate armies]

bestow

[confer on]: [the office was bestowed on him by the monarch of this realm] [stooping to bestow the presents into eager hands]

convinced

[confident, positive]: [she was not entirely convinced of the soundness of his motives] [I am convinced the war will be over in a matter of months] [a convinced pacifist]

conformation

[configuration, contour, form, shape]: [the judges run their hands over the dog's body and legs, checking its conformation] [we've been looking for stock with good overall conformation] [a change of DNA conformation induced by binding of RNA polymerase]

corroborate

[confirm]: [the witness had corroborated the boy's account of the attack]

verification

[confirmation]: [the verification of official documents] [the verification principle]

conformance

[conformity]: [conformance to international standards] [conformance testing]

heredity

[congenital characteristics]: [the relative influence of heredity and environment] [he wears a Cossack tunic to emphasize his Russian heredity] [a second chamber whose membership is largely based on heredity]

felicitate

[congratulate]: [the award winner was felicitated by the cultural association]

conifer

[coniferous tree]:

hypothesize

[conjecture, hypothecate, hypothesise, speculate, suppose, theorise, theorize]: [lack of cushioning in shoes has been hypothesized as a cause of running injuries] [he hypothesized that the black market would naturally die out] [to be able to hypothesize is important]

link

[connection, bond, loop, associate, join]: [a commission to investigate a link between pollution and forest decline] [he retained strong links with the media] [sign language interpreters represent a vital link between the deaf and hearing communities] [they set up a satellite link with Tokyo] [a high-speed rail link to the Channel Tunnel]

aficionado

[connoisseur]: [a crossword aficionado]

diligence

[conscientiousness]: [few party members challenge his diligence as an MP]

cautiously

[conservatively, guardedly]: [we must proceed cautiously] [such laws have been cautiously welcomed]

dramatic

[considerable, exciting, striking, theatrical, exaggerated]: [the dramatic arts] [a dramatic society] [a dramatic increase in recorded crime] [he recalled his dramatic escape from the building] [dramatic mountain peaks]

substantial

[considerable, sizeable, sturdy, successful, fundamental, real, physical]: [a substantial amount of cash] [a row of substantial Victorian villas] [breakfast is a substantial buffet] [the first meal of the day should be substantial] [a substantial Devon family]

substantially

[considerably, largely]: [profits grew substantially] [substantially higher pension costs] [things will remain substantially the same over the next ten years]

comprise

[consist of, make up]: [the country comprises twenty states] [this single breed comprises 50 per cent of the Swiss cattle population] [documents are comprised of words] [the country comprises twenty states] [this single breed comprises 50 per cent of the Swiss cattle population]

habitual

[constant, inveterate, customary]: [his habitual use of heroin] [this pattern of behaviour can become habitual] [a habitual late sleeper] [his habitual dress]

advisory

[consultative]: [the Commission acts in an advisory capacity] [the EC has put forward an advisory maximum figure] [a frost advisory]

receptacle

[container]: [fast-food receptacles]

pollute

[contaminate, corrupt]: [the explosion polluted the town with dioxin] [the Mersey is one of Europe's most polluted rivers] [a society polluted by racism]

pollution

[contamination]: [the level of pollution in the air is rising]

contemporary

[contemporaneous, modern, peer]: [the event was recorded by a contemporary historian] [this series of paintings is contemporary with other works in an early style] [the tension and complexities of our contemporary society] [contemporary ceramics by leading potters] [he was a contemporary of Darwin]

disdain

[contempt, scorn, spurn]: [her upper lip curled in disdain] [an aristocratic disdain for manual labour] [he disdained his patients as an inferior rabble] [she remained standing, pointedly disdaining his invitation to sit down] [he disdained to discuss the matter further]

argue

[contend, persuade to, dissuade from, quarrel]: [sociologists argue that inequalities in industrial societies are being reduced] [he argued for extra resources] ['It stands to reason,' she argued] [I tried to argue him out of it] [the two men started arguing in a local pub]

content

[contented, soothe, be content, things inside, amount, chapters, subject matter, subject matter]: [he seemed more content, less bitter] [he had to be content with third place] [the duke was content to act as Regent] [nothing would content her apart from going off to Barcelona] [we contented ourselves with a few small purchases]

satisfaction

[contentment, fulfilment, compensation]: [I looked round with satisfaction] [managing directors seeking greater job satisfaction] [in full and final satisfaction of the claim] [the work will come to a halt if the electricity and telephone people don't get satisfaction] [I demand the satisfaction of a gentleman]

competitor

[contestant, rival]: [two competitors were banned for taking drugs] [our main industrial competitors]

continental

[continent-wide, transcontinental]: [continental Antarctica] [a continental holiday]

paradox

[contradiction]: [the uncertainty principle leads to all sorts of paradoxes, like the particles being in two places at once] [the liar paradox] [Parmenides was the original advocate of the philosophical power of paradox] [cathedrals face the paradox of having enormous wealth in treasures but huge annual expenses]

comparison

[contrast, resemblance]: [they drew a comparison between Gandhi's teaching and that of other teachers] [the two books invite comparison with one another] [perhaps the best comparison is that of seasickness] [when it comes to achievements this season, there's no comparison between Linfield and Bangor] [our pupils' results will bear comparison with any in Scotland]

dominate

[control, predominate, overlook]: [the company dominates the market for operating system software] [the race was dominated by the 1998 champion] [a picturesque city dominated by the cathedral tower]

regulate

[control, supervise]: [a hormone which regulates metabolism] [the Code regulates the takeovers of all public companies] [the standard time by which other clocks were regulated]

expedient

[convenient, measure]: [either side could break the agreement if it were expedient to do so] [holding a public enquiry into the scheme was not expedient] [the current policy is a political expedient]

persuasive

[convincing]: [an informative and persuasive speech]

cogent

[convincing]: [they put forward cogent arguments for British membership] [the newspaper's lawyers must prepare a cogent appeal]

bake

[cook, scorch]: [they bake their own bread and cakes] [the bread was baking on hot stones] [the soil in the desert is baked dry by the fierce heat of the sun] [the city was baking in a heatwave] [a vegetable bake]

reproduction

[copying, print, copy, breeding]: [the cost of colour reproduction in publication is high] [a reproduction of Monet's 'Wild Poppies'] [reproduction French classical beds] [the design was changed to allow louder reproduction] [toads converge upon lakes and ponds intent on reproduction]

plagiarism

[copying]: [there were accusations of plagiarism] [it claims there are similar plagiarisms in the software produced at the university]

obese

[corpulent, rotund, weighty]: [a hugely obese young man] [one in ten people surveyed were obese]

atom

[corpuscle, molecule, mote, particle, speck]: [the power of the atom] [I shall not have one atom of strength left] [eight atom hockey teams]

edit

[correct, be the editor of]: [Volume I was edited by J. Johnson] [edited highlights of the match] [the film's sexually explicit scenes have been edited out] [he began to edit the magazine in 1923] [the system has no word wrap feature—so even small edits involved extensive rekeying]

rectify

[correct]: [mistakes made now cannot be rectified later] [efforts to rectify the situation] [the current from the transformers is rectified by high-voltage diodes] [rectified AC power systems] [his methods of rectifying the cycloid]

disciplinary

[corrective, disciplinal]: [a soldier will face disciplinary action after going absent without leave]

correspond

[correlate with, commensurate, be equivalent, represent, exchange letters]: [the carved heads described in the poem correspond to a drawing of Edgcote House] [communication is successful when the ideas in the minds of the speaker and hearer correspond] [the rank of Feldwebel in the German forces nominally corresponded to the British rank of sergeant] [Margaret corresponded with him until his death] [the doctor and I corresponded for more than two decades]

confirmation

[corroboration, ratification]: [high unemployment figures were further confirmation that the economy was in recession] [the kind of joy mixed with tears one finds at weddings and confirmations]

corrosion

[corroding, erosion]: [each aircraft part is sprayed with oil to prevent corrosion] [engineers found the corrosion when checking the bridge]

subversion

[corruption]: [the ruthless subversion of democracy] [an 11-year sentence for inciting subversion] [subversions of conventional morality]

cosmology

[cosmogeny, cosmogony]:

visage

[countenance]: [an elegant, angular visage] [there was something hidden behind his visage of cheerfulness] [a stern-visaged old man]

offset

[counterbalance]: [widow's bereavement allowance is an offset against income] [these wheels have an offset of four inches] [if it was a simple curve, he was taught the 'ranging by offsets' technique] [offset adjustment circuits] [a present of tulip bulbs, offsets, and seeds for his garden]

orbit

[course, sphere, revolve round]: [the Earth's orbit around the sun] [the satellite will complete one orbit every 12 hours] [the earth is in orbit around the sun] [audiences drawn largely from outside the Party orbit] [Mercury orbits the Sun]

trajectory

[course]: [the missile's trajectory was preset] [the rapid upward trajectory of Rich's career]

trial

[court case, test, nuisance, trouble, test]: [the newspaper accounts of the trial] [the editor was summoned to stand trial for libel] [clinical trials must establish whether the new hip replacements are working] [he cracked his ankle the week before the final trial] [horse trials]

court

[court of law, playing area, yard, royal household, royal residence, go out together, curry favour with, seek, risk, homage, pay court to]: [she will take the matter to court] [a court case] [everyone in the court knew he was going down, innocent or guilty] [a squash court] [the map showed the crescents and courts of recent urban sprawl]

politely

[courteously]: [he waited politely for me to ask questions] [I politely thanked him for the suggestion]

civility

[courtesy, polite remark]: [I hope we can treat each other with civility and respect] [she was exchanging civilities with his mother]

concealed

[covert, bushwhacking, dark, furtive, sneak, sneaky, stealthy, surreptitious, hidden, obscure, hidden, secret, incognito, lying in wait, sealed, secret, sneaking, unavowed]: [a concealed weapon] [he spoke with barely concealed anger]

cattle

[cows]:

artisan

[craftsman]: [street markets where local artisans display handwoven textiles, painted ceramics, and leather goods] [Britain's artisan cheeses] [the growing appreciation of artisan foods]

peevish

[cranky, fractious, irritable, nettlesome, peckish, pettish, petulant, scratchy, techy, testy, tetchy]: [a thin peevish voice]

frizz

[crape, crimp, frizzle, kink, kink up]: [her hair was crimped and frizzed into a leonine mane] [his hair had frizzed out symmetrically] [a perm system designed to add curl without frizz]

inventive

[creative, original]: [the most inventive composer of his time] [a courageous and inventive piece of film-making]

inspiration

[creativity, stimulus, bright idea, inhalation]: [Helen had one of her flashes of inspiration] [the Malvern Hills have provided inspiration for many artists] [a rare moment of inspiration in an otherwise dull display] [he is an inspiration to everyone] [then I had an inspiration]

plausible

[credible]: [a plausible explanation] [it seems plausible that one of two things may happen] [a plausible liar]

villain

[criminal]: [a pantomime villain] [I have played more good guys than villains] [some people have been tricked by villains with false identity cards] [the armed villains run off into the night] [the industrialized nations are the real environmental villains]

miscreant

[criminal]: [the police are straining every nerve to bring the miscreants to justice] [her miscreant husband]

jam

[crowd, stick, immobilize, tailback, preserve]: [four of us were jammed in one compartment] [people jammed their belongings into cars] [mum, dad, and I jammed into the pickup truck] [he jammed his hat on] [the streets were jammed with tourist coaches]

inhuman

[cruel, non-human]: [the inhuman treatment meted out to political prisoners] [the inhuman scale of the dinosaurs]

guilty

[culpable, ashamed]: [he was found guilty of manslaughter] [Williams pleaded guilty to three separate offences] [she was guilty of a serious error of judgement] [he felt guilty about the way he had treated her] [a guilty conscience]

unwieldy

[cumbersome]: [huge, unwieldy arc lamps] [the benefits system is unwieldy and unnecessarily complex]

cabinet

[cupboard, senior ministers]: [a cocktail cabinet] [a cabinet meeting]

sneer

[curl of the/one's lip, jibe, sneers, scorn, curl one's lip, scoff at]: [he acknowledged their presence with a condescending sneer] [she had sneered at their bad taste] ['I see you're conservative in your ways,' David sneered]

brusque

[curt]: [she could be brusque and impatient]

scion

[cutting, descendant]: [he was the scion of a wealthy family]

ballroom

[dance hall, dance palace]: [the number of people learning ballroom has doubled in the last two years]

foppish

[dandyish, effeminate]: [he is foppish and vain] [a foppish dandy]

risky

[dangerous]: [it was much too risky to try to disarm him] [their risky patter made the guests laugh]

darkling

[dark]: [the darkling sky]

nefarious

[dastardly, villainous]: [the nefarious activities of the organized-crime syndicates]

stupor

[daze]: [a drunken stupor]

mortal

[deadly, extreme, conceivable, human being]: [all men are mortal] [the coffin held the mortal remains of her uncle] [a mortal disease] [the scandal appeared to have struck a mortal blow to the government] [the drawing shows Holmes and Moriarty locked in mortal combat]

fatality

[death, fatalities, fatal accident]: [80 per cent of pedestrian fatalities occur in built-up areas] [a sense of fatality gripped her]

martyrdom

[death]: [the martyrdom of St Anthony] [you know martyrdom isn't my style]

mislead

[deceive]: [the government misled the public about the road's environmental impact]

trickery

[deception]: [the dealer resorted to trickery]

distinctly

[decidedly, clearly]: [reading each word slowly and distinctly] [two distinctly different cultures] [he looked distinctly uncomfortable]

ruling

[decision, judgement, reigning, governing]: [the ruling was reversed in the appeal court] [the ruling coalition]

seemly

[decorous]: [I felt it was not seemly to observe too closely]

commitment

[dedication, vow, responsibility]: [the company's commitment to quality] [I could not fault my players for commitment] [I cannot make such a commitment at the moment] [with so many business commitments time for recreation was limited]

cobbler

[deep-dish pie]: [sherry cobbler] [apricot cobbler] [I've been kicked in the cobblers a few times] [I thought it was a load of cobblers]

flout

[defy]: [the advertising code is being flouted] [the women pointed and flouted at her]

graduate

[degree holder, qualify, progress, arrange in a series, calibrate]: [he graduated from Glasgow University in 1990] [he graduated in the summer with a 2:2 degree] [he graduated Harvard in 1965] [the school graduated more than one hundred arts majors in its first year] [he started with motorbikes but now he's graduated to his first car]

connive

[deliberately ignore, conspire, scheming, manipulative]: [government officials were prepared to connive in impeding the course of justice] [she connived with a senior official to rig the results of last year's election]

joy

[delight, pleasure, success]: [tears of joy] [the joy of being alive] [the joys of country living] [you'll get no joy out of her] [I felt shame that I had ever joyed in his discomfiture or pain]

enrapture

[delight]: [Ruth was enraptured by the sleeping child]

alluvion

[deluge, flood, inundation]:

destruction

[demolition, spoliation, annihilation]: [the destruction of the rainforest] [the avalanche left a trail of destruction] [the wanton destruction of human life] [gambling was his destruction]

diabolic

[demonic, diabolical, fiendish, hellish, infernal, satanic, unholy]: [the darkness of a diabolic world]

prove

[demonstrate, turn out, demonstrate one's abilities/qualities/courage]: [the concept is difficult to prove] [a proven ability to work hard] [if they are proved guilty we won't trade with them] [the scheme has proved a great success] [she displayed an ingenuousness which sprung from a yearning need to prove herself]

disavowal

[denial]: [his disavowal of his previous writings] [they know this, despite their disavowals]

denunciation

[denouncement]: [denunciation of his reckless methods] [a denunciation of the bombing]

rely

[depend, be dependent]: [I know I can rely on your discretion] [the charity has to rely entirely on public donations]

reliable

[dependable, trustworthy, dependable, reputable]: [a reliable source of information] [the supporting cast includes old reliables like Mitchell]

numb

[deprived of sensation, deadening, freezing, deaden]: [my feet were numb with cold] [the tragic events left us shocked and numb] [the cold had numbed her senses] [vodka might numb the pain in my hand]

aspire

[desire (to), would-be]: [we never thought that we might aspire to those heights] [other people will aspire to be like you] [above the domes of loftiest mosques these pinnacles aspire]

covet

[desire, want]: [I covet one of their smart bags] [I gave up a coveted job, that of editor-in-chief]

contemptible

[despicable]: [a display of contemptible cowardice]

obliterate

[destroy, erase]: [the memory was so painful that he obliterated it from his mind] [clouds were darkening, obliterating the sun] [the special stamp should be placed on the left-hand side and not be used to obliterate the postage stamp]

explosion

[detonation, bang, outburst, sudden increase]: [three explosions damaged buildings at the barracks] [an explosion of methane gas] [an explosion of anger inside the factory] [an explosion in the adder population]

debris

[detritus]: [workmen were clearing the roads of the debris from shattered buildings] [leaves and garden debris] [a stable arrangement of planets, comets, and debris orbiting the sun]

tirade

[diatribe]: [a tirade of abuse]

tyrant

[dictator, slave-driver]: [the tyrant was deposed by popular demonstrations] [her father was a tyrant and a bully]

tyrannical

[dictatorial]: [a tyrannical government] [a momentary quieting of her tyrannical appetite]

dietary

[dietetic, dietetical]: [dietary advice for healthy skin and hair]

vary

[differ, range, fluctuate, varied, change, diversify]: [the properties vary in price] [varying degrees of success] [your skin's moisture content varies according to climatic conditions] [he tried to vary his diet]

awkward

[difficult, cumbersome, inconvenient, unreasonable, embarrassing, embarrassed, clumsy]: [some awkward questions] [the wheelbarrow can be awkward to manoeuvre] [you're being damned awkward!] [he had put her in a very awkward position] [she felt awkward alone with him]

tangential

[digressive]: [a tangential line] [tangential thoughts] [the reforms were tangential to efforts to maintain a basic standard of life]

quandary

[dilemma]: [Kate was in a quandary] [a legal quandary]

conscientious

[diligent]: [a conscientious man, he took his duties very seriously] [the individual is denied even the opportunity to break the law on conscientious grounds]

fade

[dim, become pale, bleach, wither]: [the light had faded and dusk was advancing] [the noise faded away] [hopes of peace had faded] [his fair hair had faded to a dusty grey] [faded jeans]

filthy

[dirty, unwashed, obscene, bad, despicable, very]: [a filthy hospital with no sanitation] [filthy language] [it looked like being a filthy night] [he arrived at the meeting half an hour late and in a filthy temper] [you filthy liar]

cripple

[disable, maim, ruin]: [a young student was crippled for life] [a crippling disease] [developing countries are crippled by their debts] [an emotional cripple]

incapacitate

[disabled, immobilized]: [he was incapacitated by a heart attack]

deprived

[disadvantaged]: [the charity cares for destitute and deprived children] [the men felt sexually deprived]

controversy

[disagreement]: [the design of the building has caused controversy] [the announcement ended a protracted controversy]

disapproval

[disapprobation]: [Jill replied with a hint of disapproval in her voice]

cataclysm

[disaster]: [the cataclysm at the end of the Cretaceous Period] [the cataclysm of the First World War]

moralist

[disciplinarian, martinet]:

martinet

[disciplinarian]: [the woman in charge was a martinet who treated all those beneath her like children] [a martinet of a staff officer]

emergence

[disclosure, appearance]: [I misjudged the timing of my emergence] [the parasite's eggs hatch synchronously with the emergence of the wasp larvae] [the emergence of the environmental movement]

stain

[discolour, damage, colour, mark, blemish, tint]: [her clothing was stained with blood] [a stained beer mat] [red powder paint can stain] [the awful events would unfairly stain the city's reputation] [wood can always be stained to a darker shade]

unsettle

[discompose]: [the crisis has unsettled financial markets] [an unsettling conversation]

pull the plug

[discontinue]: [the company pulled the plug on the deal]

disparity

[discrepancy]: [economic disparities between different regions of the country] [the arrangements could lead to disparity of treatment between companies]

negotiation

[discussion(s), working out]: [a worldwide ban is currently under negotiation] [negotiations between unions and employers]

debate

[discussion, discuss, consider]: [last night's debate on the Education Bill] [the national debate on abortion] [there has been much debate about prices] [MPs debated the issue in the Commons] [members of the society debated for five nights]

seminar

[discussion, study group]: [a seminar group of sixteen students]

conversation

[discussion]: [she picked up the phone and held a conversation in French] [the two men were deep in conversation] [we sat together, trying somewhat stiltedly to make conversation]

plague

[disease, huge number, bane, afflict, pester]: [diseases like smallpox wiped out the indigenous people in a succession of plagues] [a plague of locusts] [staff theft is usually the plague of restaurants] [a plague on all their houses!] [he has been plagued by ill health]

deplorable

[disgraceful, lamentable]: [children living in deplorable conditions] [her spelling was deplorable]

ignoble

[dishonourable]: [ignoble feelings of intense jealousy]

aversion

[dislike of]: [they made plain their aversion to the use of force] [my dog's pet aversion is visitors, particularly males]

consternation

[dismay]: [to her consternation her car wouldn't start]

defy

[disobey, resist, elude, challenge]: [a woman who defies convention] [his actions defy belief] [the outfit defied adequate description] [he glowered at her, defying her to mock him] [go now, defy him to the combat]

discouragement

[dispiritedness, deterrent]: [do not give in to discouragement] [the discouragement of crime]

blazon

[display, publicize]: [they saw their company name blazoned all over the media] [accounts of their ordeal were blazoned to the entire nation] [the book contains tens of thousands of blazons of arms held by English families] [his knowledge of medieval blazon was unrivalled]

treatise

[disquisition]: [his treatise on Scottish political theory]

shrug

[disregard]: [Jimmy looked enquiringly at Pete, who shrugged his shoulders] [he just shrugged and didn't look interested] [the managing director shrugged off the criticism] [she lifted her shoulders in a dismissive shrug]

dissentient

[dissenting, nonconformist]: [dissentient voices were castigated as 'hopeless bureaucrats']

heretic

[dissident]:

licentious

[dissolute, lustful]: [the ruler's tyrannical and licentious behaviour] [the licentious avenues of New York City]

aloof

[distant]: [they were courteous but faintly aloof] [an aloof and somewhat austere figure] [he stayed aloof from the bickering]

perversion

[distortion, deviance]: [the thing which most disturbed him was the perversion of language and truth] [a scandalous perversion of the law] [his book revolutionized ideas about sexual perversion] [he indulged in most perversions you could care to name]

disturbing

[distressful, distressing, perturbing, troubling, worrisome, worrying]: [disturbing unemployment figures]

sector

[district, part]: [operations in the southern sector of the North Sea] [the government aimed to reassure the industrial and commercial sector]

vacillate

[dither, irresolute]: [I vacillated between teaching and journalism]

pedant

[dogmatist]: [the royal palace (some pedants would say the ex-royal palace)]

contribution

[donation, input into, article, contributions]: [the agency is mainly financed from voluntary contributions] [the major contribution of social scientists to the understanding of political life] [there was scarcely a branch of art to which he did not make a contribution] [local historians are requesting contributions for a forthcoming book on the history of the community]

manual

[done with one's hands, handbook]: [manual dexterity] [a manual typewriter] [a manual labourer] [a computer manual]

undoing

[downfall, fatal flaw]: [he knew of his ex-partner's role in his undoing] [that complacency was to be their undoing]

gutter

[drain]: [men who had fought their way out of the gutter] [my cheeks are guttered with tears] [the raindrops gutter down her visage]

milk

[draw off, exploit]: [a healthy mother will produce enough milk for her baby] [a glass of milk] [coconut milk] [cleansing milk] [two hours later he was up again to milk the cows]

gown

[dress]: [a silk ball gown] [she was gowned in luminous silk] [the lab is supposed to be sterile, so you have to gown up]

arid

[dry, barren, dreary]: [the arid plains north of Cape Town] [his arid years in suburbia]

obligation

[duty, function, duty, contract, owing someone a favour]: [I have an obligation to look after her] [they are under no obligation to stick to the scheme] [she didn't want to be under an obligation to him]

starve

[dying of hunger, be starving]: [she left her animals to starve] [seven million starved to death] [the world's starving children] [for a while she had considered starving herself] [I don't know about you, but I'm starving]

desirous

[eager for]: [the Pope was desirous of peace in Europe]

keen

[eager, enthusiastic, enthusiastic about, acute, acute, sharp, cold, intense]: [a keen gardener] [John was keen to help] [Bob makes it obvious he's keen on her] [I have keen eyesight] [her keen intellect]

income

[earnings]: [he has a nice home and an adequate income] [figures showed an overall increase in income this year]

omnivorous

[eating a mixed/varied diet, undiscriminating]: [an omnivorous reader]

fringe

[edging, perimeter, unconventional, trim, border]: [a long grey skirt with a fringe] [the fringes of a prayer shawl] [she smiled as she pushed her fringe back out of her eyes] [a long fringe of hair on the tail] [his uncles were on the fringes of crooked activity]

uptight

[edgy, high-strung, highly strung, jittery, jumpy, nervy, overstrung, restive]: [he is so uptight about everything]

egoism

[egocentrism, self-centeredness, self-concern, self-interest]:

intricacy

[elaborateness, elaboration, involution]: [the intricacy of the procedure] [the intricacies of economic policy-making]

thunderstorm

[electric storm, electrical storm]:

entitled

[eligible]: [kids who feel so entitled and think the world will revolve around them] [his pompous, entitled attitude]

articulate

[eloquent, express]: [she was not very articulate] [delicate articulate plants with a slender central stem] [he articulated each word with precision] [they were unable to articulate their emotions] [the mandible is a solid piece articulating with the head]

boarding

[embarkation, embarkment]: [the advantages of boarding] [students all had to pay boarding fees] [remember to buy your tickets before boarding]

abash

[embarrassed]: [Harriet looked slightly abashed]

revision

[emendation, reconsideration, version]: [the scheme needs drastic revision] [a revision of the Hegelian concept of history]

nascent

[emergent, emerging, dissilient, parturient]: [the nascent space industry]

workforce

[employees]: [a quarter of Galway's manufacturing workforce are being put out of a job]

hollow

[empty, sunken, dull, meaningless, insincere, hole, valley, gouge out, trounce]: [a hollow metal tube] [her cheeks were hollow and she had dark circles under her eyes] [a hollow groan] [the result was a hollow victory] [a hollow promise]

corral

[enclose, enclosure]: [the organizers were corralling the crowd into marching formation] [sheep and goats grazed the plains during the day but they were corralled at night] [the wagons, in forming the encampment, were corralled] [he was galloping a pony very fast round a tiny corral]

wind up

[end up]: [she wound up in hospital with pneumonia] [he wound up by attacking Nonconformists] [surely this was a wind-up] [a company wind-up]

terminal

[end, final, incurable, fatal, dying, complete, station, workstation]: [a terminal date] [the terminal tip of the probe] [the terminal building] [the terminal segments of the antennae] [terminal buds]

cessation

[end]: [the cessation of hostilities] [a cessation of animal testing of cosmetics]

imperil

[endanger]: [they advised against tax increases for fear of imperilling the recovery] [urban sprawl is the leading cause of species imperilment in California]

endemic

[endemic disease]: [complacency is endemic in industry today] [the persistence of infection on pastures in endemic areas] [a marsupial endemic to north-eastern Australia] [there are three types of island endemics]

infinity

[endlessness, infinite number]: [the infinity of space] [an infinity of combinations] [the lawns stretched into infinity] [the transmission approaches 100% as the frequency tends to infinity]

lively

[energetic, busy, heated, awkward]: [a lively and uninhibited girl] [Barcelona's many lively bars] [a lively discussion] [her lively mind] [a lively homeward passage dodging aircraft and E-boats]

involution

[enfolding]: [periods of artistic involution]

enrich

[enhance, make more nutritious, fertilize]: [her exposure to museums enriched her life in France] [enriched uranium] [top party members had enriched themselves]

recruit

[enlist, muster, hire, conscript, new member]: [we recruit our toughest soldiers from the desert tribes] [the regiment was still actively recruiting] [the weakness of feudal service as a basis for recruiting an army] [there are plans to recruit more staff later this year] [she recruited her children to help run the racket]

sufficient

[enough]: [he had a small private income which was sufficient for her needs] [they had sufficient resources to survive]

sufficiency

[enough]: [the judge would rule on the sufficiency of the provocation] [a sufficiency of good food] [the calm sufficiency of the born leader]

infuriate

[enrage, exasperate, exasperating]: [I was infuriated by your article]

entrepreneurial

[enterprising]: [an entrepreneurial culture] [our entrepreneurial spirit thrives on meeting the next challenge]

amuse

[entertain, occupy]: [he made faces to amuse her] [people looked on with amused curiosity] [they amused themselves digging through an old encyclopedia]

compelling

[enthralling, convincing]: [his eyes were strangely compelling] [a compelling film] [there is compelling evidence that the recession is ending] [a compelling argument] [the temptation to give up was compelling]

stallion

[entire]:

entrance

[entry, appearance, admission, enchant, cast a spell on]: [the southern entrance of the palace] [the entrance to a tunnel] [an entrance hall] [at their abrupt entrance he rose to his feet] [their entrance into the political arena]

admittance

[entry]: [people were unable to gain admittance to the hall]

epizootic

[epidemic]: [epizootic, endemic, and contagious diseases]

exemplar

[epitome]: [the place is an exemplar of multicultural Britain]

typify

[epitomize, symbolize]: [tough, low-lying vegetation typifies this arctic area] [the sun typified the Greeks, and the moon the Persians]

equivalent

[equal, counterpart]: [one unit is equivalent to one glass of wine] [some regulations are equivalent to censorship] [the French equivalent of the Bank of England]

ambivalent

[equivocal]: [some loved her, some hated her, few were ambivalent about her] [an ambivalent attitude to Europe]

ambivalence

[equivocation]: [the law's ambivalence about the importance of a victim's identity] [government ambivalence towards the arts]

fugitive

[escapee, fleeting]: [fugitives from justice] [the fugitive effects of light] [a fugitive dye]

balk

[eschew, impede]: [he balked at such a drastic solution] [he raised every objection he could to balk this plan] [a tiger balked of its prey] [it's got to be done, so why balk it?] [he balked, both forefeet thrust stiffly in front of him]

guide

[escort, adviser, model, guidebook, lead, direct, advise]: [a tour guide] [his spiritual guide] [your resting pulse rate is a rough guide to your general physical condition] [a comprehensive guide to British hotels and restaurants] [the guides for the bolt needed straightening]

rarefied

[esoteric]: [every ounce carried counts triple when you're trudging uphill in rarefied air] [rarefied scholarly pursuits]

descry

[espy, spot, spy]: [she descried two figures]

dissertation

[essay]: [a dissertation on the novels of the Brontë sisters] [he had considered writing his doctoral dissertation on Kant]

vital

[essential, life-preserving, lively]: [secrecy is of vital importance] [it is vital that the system is regularly maintained] [the vital organs] [a beautiful, vital girl] [the wound is vital]

found

[establish, build]: [collages of found photos] [the ship was well found and seaworthy] [the monastery was founded in 1665] [the three founding partners] [William Penn founded Pennsylvania]

inception

[establishment]: [[she has been on the board since its inception two years ago] ]

respect

[esteem, due regard, aspect, esteem, show consideration for, abide by, concerning]: [the director had a lot of respect for Douglas as an actor] [his first chance in over fifteen years to regain respect in the business] [give my respects to their Excellencies] [respect to Hill for a truly non-superficial piece on the techno scene] [young people's lack of respect for their parents]

engraving

[etching, etching]: [the scene is depicted in a contemporary engraving by William Hogarth] [the quality of his engraving established new standards]

incident

[event, disturbance, excitement]: [several amusing incidents] [there was not one incident of teasing from the 90 pupils] [one person was stabbed in the incident] [the US regretted the incident] [my period in Egypt wasn't without incident]

occurrence

[event, existence]: [vandalism used to be a rare occurrence] [the occurrence of cancer increases with age] [the occurrence of natural gas fields]

finally

[eventually, lastly, conclusively]: [he finally arrived to join us] [a referendum followed by local, legislative and, finally, presidential elections] [finally, it is common knowledge that travel broadens the horizons] [the need to dispel finally the belief that auditors were clients of the company]

testimony

[evidence, testament]: [the testimony of an eyewitness] [his blackened finger was testimony to the fact that he had played in pain]

development

[evolution, forming, event, estate]: [she traces the development of the novel] [the paintings provide evidence of his artistic development] [the wings attain their full development several hours after birth] [the latest developments in information technology] [I don't think there have been any new developments since yesterday]

retroactive

[ex post facto, retro]: [a big retroactive tax increase]

aggravate

[exacerbate, exasperate]: [military action would only aggravate the situation] [she found him thoroughly aggravating and unprofessional]

precisely

[exactly, exactly, yes]: [the guidelines are precisely defined] [at 2.00 precisely, the phone rang] [kids will love it precisely because it will irritate their parents] ['You mean it was a conspiracy?' 'Precisely.']

analysis

[examination, dissection]: [statistical analysis] [an analysis of popular culture] [the procedure is often more accurately described as one of synthesis rather than analysis] [samples are sent to the laboratory for analysis] [analyses of the rocks are consistent with a basaltic composition]

check

[examine, make sure, look at, halt, suppress, examination, control, bill, curb, report, leave, investigate]: [customs officers have the right to check all luggage] [a simple blood test to check for anaemia] [phone us to check the availability of your chosen holiday] [she glanced over her shoulder to check that the door was shut] [keep your receipt to check against your statement]

inspector

[examiner]: [a prison inspector] [Inspector Simmons]

exceeding

[exceptional, olympian, prodigious, surpassing]: [she spoke warmly of his exceeding kindness] [an ale of exceeding poor quality]

live

[exist, pass one's life, experience, survive, enjoy oneself, reside, live extravagantly, subsist on, measure up to, living, in the flesh, electrified, unexploded, hot, topical]: [the doctors said she had only six months to live] [both cats lived to a ripe age] [he lived four centuries ago] [people are living in fear in the wake of the shootings] [he was living a life of luxury in Australia]

usurious

[exorbitant, extortionate, outrageous, steep, unconscionable]: [they lend money at usurious rates]

extend

[expand, widen, prolong, prolonged, stretch out, include, hold out, offer]: [the car park has been extended] [they asked the government to extend its period of deliberation] [hold the index finger down with the thumb extended] [a case with wheels and an extending handle] [the damage extended 400 yards either side of the shop]

excrete

[expel]: [excess bicarbonate is excreted by the kidney]

existential

[experiential]:

ace

[expert, excellent]: [the ace of diamonds] [life had started dealing him aces again] [a motorcycle ace] [a Battle of Britain ace] [Nadal banged down eight aces in the set]

define

[explain, determine, outline]: [the contract will seek to define the client's obligations] [the dictionary defines it as 'a type of pasture'] [for some, the football club defines their identity] [clearly defined boundaries] [she defined her eyes by applying eyeshadow to her eyelids]

expository

[explanatory]: [an expository prologue]

apology

[expression of regret, travesty of, defence]: [we owe you an apology] [my apologies for the delay] [Robert can't come and sends his apologies] [we were shown into an apology for a bedroom] [here, with apologies to Rudyard Kipling, is a more apt version of 'If']

extensor

[extensor muscle]:

usury

[extortionate moneylending]: [the medieval prohibition on usury]

overtime

[extra time]: [fewer opportunities for overtime] [the company could not afford to pay overtime] [they lost in overtime] [we worked overtime to fulfil a big order] [his brain was working overtime]

excerpt

[extract]: [she read out excerpts from an article in the Times] [the notes are excerpted from his forthcoming biography] [a book excerpted in this week's Time magazine]

remarkable

[extraordinary]: [a remarkable coincidence]

drastic

[extreme]: [[a drastic reduction of staffing levels] ]

jubilation

[exultation]: [unbelievable scenes of jubilation]

oculist

[eye doctor, ophthalmologist]: [he visited an oculist in Chicago, who prescribed a pair of reading glasses]

monstrosity

[eyesore, mutant]: [the shopping centre, a multi-storey monstrosity of raw concrete] [how could anyone be capable of such monstrosities?] [had my tone of reason in the face of monstrosity finally registered?]

amenity

[facility, amenities, pleasantness]: [the property is situated in a convenient location, close to all local amenities] [developments which would clash with amenity]

disagree

[fail to agree, disapprove of, differ, make ill]: [no one was willing to disagree with him] [historians often disagree] [she disagreed with the system of apartheid] [results which disagree with the findings reported so far] [the sea crossing disagreed with her]

impression

[feeling, opinion, impact, impersonation, indentation, representation, print run]: [his first impressions of Manchester were very positive] [I got the impression that he was sorely disappointed] [her courtesy had made a good impression] [the floor was too dirty for the mop to make much impression] [he did an impression of Shirley Bassey]

emotion

[feeling, passion, instinct]: [she was attempting to control her emotions] [his voice was shaky with emotion] [responses have to be based on historical insight, not simply on emotion]

garland

[festoon, festoon]: [they were garlanded with flowers]

gala

[fete, festive]: [a gala performance by the Royal Ballet] [we met at a swimming gala]

feudalism

[feudal system]:

picayune

[fiddling, footling, lilliputian, little, niggling, petty, piddling, piffling, trivial]: [the picayune squabbling of party politicians]

fiducial

[fiduciary]:

repel

[fight off, be impervious to, revolt]: [government units sought to repel the rebels] [electrically charged objects attract or repel one another] [like poles repel and unlike poles attract] [boots with good-quality leather uppers to repel moisture] [she was repelled by the permanent smell of drink on his breath]

warrior

[fighter]: [the warrior heroes of ancient Greece] [I really love the warrior pose—it makes me feel centred and strong]

extended

[figurative, nonliteral]: [an extended kitchen and new balcony] [an extended period of time]

satiate

[fill]: [he folded up his newspaper, his curiosity satiated] [satiate with power, of fame and wealth possess'd]

full

[filled, crowded, occupied, well stocked, replete, eventful, comprehensive, abundant, well rounded, loose-fitting, resonant, rich, directly, very, to the maximum, in its entirety, fully]: [waste bins full of rubbish] [she could only nod, for her mouth was full] [the hotel is full up] [she just ate till she was full up] [his diary is full of entries about her]

replete

[filled, well fed, sated]: [sensational popular fiction, replete with adultery and sudden death] [I went out into the sun-drenched streets again, replete and relaxed]

budget

[financial plan, allowance, allocate, cheap]: [keep within the household budget] [the government had put forward the biggest tax increases for any Budget in history] [they have a limited budget] [the university is budgeting for a deficit] [the council proposes to budget £100,000 to provide grants]

subtle

[fine, understated, delicate, astute, ingenious]: [his language expresses rich and subtle meanings] [subtle lighting] [a subtle mind] [the German plan was simple yet subtle] [he tried a more subtle approach]

delicacy

[fineness, sensitivity, sickliness, care, choice food]: [miniature pearls of exquisite delicacy] [I have to treat this matter with the utmost delicacy] [the delicacy of the situation] [traditional Japanese delicacies]

conclude

[finish, bring to an end, negotiate, come to the conclusion]: [they conclude their study with these words] [the talk concluded with slides] [an attempt to conclude a ceasefire] [the doctors concluded that Esther had suffered a stroke] [what do you conclude from all this?]

canary

[fink, sneak, sneaker, snitch, snitcher, stool pigeon, stoolie, stoolpigeon]: [villas painted in canary yellow] [a canary waistcoat]

flame

[fire, passion, ignite, glow, become red, sweetheart]: [the car was engulfed in flames] [a sheet of flame blocked my escape] [the flame of hope flickered and died] [there's nothing like a holiday to rekindle the flames of passion] [a flame-red Alfa Romeo]

capital

[first city, money, capital letter, upper-case]: [Warsaw is the capital of Poland] [the fashion capital of the world] [rates of return on invested capital were high] [a conflict of interest between capital and labour] [there is insufficient investment in human capital]

tantrum

[fit of temper]: [he has temper tantrums if he can't get his own way]

adherent

[follower, fan, adhesive]: [he was a strong adherent of monetarism] [the eggs have thick sticky shells to which debris is often adherent] [any adherent sand grains are easily removed]

folly

[foolishness]: [an act of sheer folly] [the follies of youth] [the Ziegfeld Follies]

indefinitely

[for an unspecified time/period, forever]: [talks cannot go on indefinitely] [an indefinitely large number of channels]

hay

[forage, make the most of an opportunity]: [the grass had all hayed off and gone to seed] [the hayed-off growth is eaten through the winter] [they made political hay out of the issue]

toleration

[forbearance, acceptance, freedom of worship]: [the king demanded greater religious toleration]

tolerance

[forbearance, endurance of, deviation]: [the tolerance of corruption] [an advocate of religious tolerance] [the desert camel shows the greatest tolerance to dehydration] [various species of diatoms display different tolerances to acid] [the body's tolerance to Ecstasy builds up very quickly]

extort

[force]: [he attempted to extort money from the company]

ancestor

[forebear]: [he could trace his ancestors back to James the First] [the ancestor of most dolphins is not clear] [both species of elephant have a common ancestor] [this instrument is an ancestor of the lute]

vanguard

[forefront]: [the experimental spirit of the modernist vanguard] [the prototype was in the vanguard of technical development]

alien

[foreign, unfamiliar, incompatible with, extraterrestrial, foreigner, extraterrestrial]: [an alien culture] [many food chains are based upon alien plants] [principles that are alien to them] [they found the world of further education a little alien] [alien beings]

precursor

[forerunner]: [a three-stringed precursor of the violin] [pepsinogen is the inactive precursor of pepsin]

envisage

[foresee, imagine]: [the Rome Treaty envisaged free movement across frontiers] [he knew what he liked but had difficulty envisaging it]

accidental

[fortuitous, unintentional, incidental]: [a verdict of accidental death] [the damage might have been accidental] [the location is accidental and contributes nothing to the poem] [horn parts are usually written without key signature, the necessary accidentals being added]

accidentally

[fortuitously, unintentionally]: [his gun went off accidentally] [accidentally knocked the vase over]

aerial

[forward pass]: [an aerial battle] [an intrepid aerial adventurer] [aerial bombardment of civilian targets] [aerial photography] [a huge banyan tree whose aerial roots hung back down to the ground]

ahead

[forward(s), in front, in the future, leading, in front of, in store for, in advance of, early, more advanced than, revolutionary]: [the road ahead] [he was striding ahead towards the stream] [he contemplated the day ahead] [we have to plan ahead] [he was slightly ahead on points]

scrap

[fragment, bit, leftovers, waste, throw away, abandon, quarrel, quarrel]: [I scribbled her address on a scrap of paper] [scraps of information] [he filled Sammy's bowls with fresh water and scraps] [there was not a scrap of aggression in him] [every scrap of green land is up for grabs by development]

infirm

[frail]: [those who were old or infirm] [elderly and infirm people] [care for the infirm] [he was infirm of purpose]

infirmity

[frailty, ailment, weakness]: [old age and infirmity come to men and women alike] [the infirmities of old age]

repine

[fret]: [you mustn't let yourself repine]

geniality

[friendliness]: [he was endowed with geniality and good humour]

conviviality

[friendliness]: [the conviviality of the evening]

affable

[friendly]: [an affable and agreeable companion]

amicable

[friendly]: [an amicable settlement of the dispute] [the meeting was relatively amicable]

gambol

[frolic]: [the mare gambolled towards Constance] [the two of them run off to the woods for a gambol together]

facade

[front, show]: [the house has a half-timbered facade] [her flawless public facade masked private despair]

ado

[fuss]: [this is much ado about almost nothing] [I hastened there without delay or ado] [without further ado he hurried down the steps]

amplification

[gain]: [even without amplification, her voice carries to the farthest corners] [the amplification of radio signals is possible] [you're an actor in that you are using emotion and amplification of ideas to make your point] [the words 'no real prospect of succeeding' do not need any amplification] [thanks to all who wrote in with corrections and amplifications]

deportment

[gait, posture, behaviour]: [poise is directly concerned with good deportment] [there are team rules governing deportment on and off the field]

jewel

[gem, piece of jewellery, finest example/specimen, treasure]: [she loved dressing up in her jewels] [the Crown Jewels] [she was a jewel of a nurse] [Galway is the jewel in the crown of the Irish racing industry]

generalize

[generalise]: [it is not easy to generalize about the poor] [attempts to generalize an elite education] [generalized myalgia]

create

[generate, establish, bring about, appoint]: [he created a thirty-acre lake] [over 170 jobs were created] [divorce created only problems for children] [Callas created only one role, and that was Eurydice] [he was created a baronet]

mastermind

[genius, control]: [an eminent musical mastermind] [McAvoy was the mastermind of the robbery] [he was accused of masterminding a gold-smuggling racket]

morphology

[geomorphology]: [grammar is organized along two main dimensions: morphology and syntax] [a generative approach to Italian morphology]

escape

[get away, get away from, avoid, leak (out), getaway, avoidance of, distraction, leak]: [two burglars have just escaped from prison] [escaped convicts] [he drove along the dual carriageway to escape police] [the driver escaped with a broken knee] [a baby boy narrowly escaped death]

relapse

[get ill/worse again, revert, deterioration, recurrence]: [two of the patients in remission relapsed after 48 months] [he relapsed into silence] [he responded well to treatment, but then suffered a relapse]

obtain

[get, prevail]: [adequate insurance cover is difficult to obtain] [the price of silver fell to that obtaining elsewhere in the ancient world]

apparition

[ghost, appearance]: [a headless apparition] [an apparition of the Virgin Mary]

dizzy

[giddy, dazed, giddy-making, silly]: [Jonathan had begun to suffer dizzy spells] [he looked around, dizzy with happiness] [a sheer, dizzy drop] [a dizzy range of hues] [a dizzy blonde]

preach

[give a sermon, religious teaching, proclaim, advocate, moralize]: [he preached to a large congregation] [our pastor will preach the sermon] [large numbers of people would come to hear his preaching] [he preached the word of God] [my parents have always preached toleration and moderation]

dictate

[give orders to, prescribe, lay down, determine, say aloud, order, dictates, principle]: [the tsar's attempts to dictate policy] [that doesn't give you the right to dictate to me] [choice is often dictated by availability] [a review process can be changed as circumstances dictate] [I have four letters to dictate]

lay off

[give up, redundancy]: [I laid off smoking for seven years] [the workforce is on strike over lay-offs] [the most recent lay-off saw staff fall to 175 from 250] [there were serious doubts over her fitness after such a lengthy lay-off]

distribution

[giving out, supply, dispersal]: [the government released about 74,000 tonnes of rice for distribution among people affected by the cyclone] [unequal distributions of income and wealth] [a manager has the choice of four types of distribution] [an established distribution channel] [strength has two ingredients, high cards and distribution]

mount

[go up, climb on to, get astride, organize, put on display, increase, install, setting, horse]: [he mounted the steps] [the master of ceremonies mounted the platform] [he mounted the horse] [he took the bicycle, mounted it, and rode to the station] [she was mounted on a white horse]

locomote

[go, move, travel]: [an amphibious fish that has the ability to locomote on land] [forget the car and locomote by other means]

provocation

[goading]: [you should remain calm and not respond to provocation] [he burst into tears at the slightest provocation] [the assault had taken place under provocation] [walking with deliberate provocation, she struck a pose, then giggled] [twenty patients had a high increase of serum gastrin after provocation with secretin]

deity

[god]: [a deity of ancient Greece] [a ruler driven by delusions of deity] [she raised her head as if appealing to the Deity presiding over the church] [also on show is a bronze falcon deity]

afoot

[going on]: [plans are afoot for a festival] [they were forced to go afoot]

auriferous

[gold-bearing]: [not all the quartz veins are auriferous]

snatch

[grab, steal, achieve, accept eagerly, period, fragment]: [she snatched a biscuit from the plate] [a victory snatched from the jaws of defeat] [she snatched at the handle] [the baby was snatched from a shopping centre last night] [we snatched a few hours' sleep]

benignant

[gracious]: [an old man with a benignant expression] [the benignant touch of love and beauty]

postgraduate

[grad student, graduate student]: [a postgraduate degree]

granule

[grain]: [coffee granules]

grip

[grasp, afflict, engross, engrossing, grasp, handshake, traction, control, understanding of, travelling bag, stagehand, deal with]: [his knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel] [a sole that really grips well on wet rock] [she was gripped by a feeling of excitement] [the country was gripped by recession] [we were gripped by the drama]

apprehensible

[graspable, intelligible, perceivable, understandable]: [a bat whirred, apprehensible only from the displacement of air]

hydrometer

[gravimeter]:

sebaceous

[greasy, oily, oleaginous]:

gluttonous

[greedy]: [a gluttonous, cigar-smoking capitalist]

conservatory

[greenhouse, summer house, conservatoire]: [keep plant cuttings in a frost-free conservatory or greenhouse]

gnash

[grind]: [no doubt he is gnashing his teeth in rage] [the dog's jaws were primed to gnash]

leverage

[grip, influence]: [my spade hit something solid that wouldn't respond to leverage] [use a metal bar to increase the leverage] [the right wing had lost much of its political leverage in the Assembly] [a leveraged takeover bid] [the organization needs to leverage its key resources]

cartilage

[gristle]: [his knees failed and the cartilages were removed]

monstrous

[grotesque, appalling, huge]: [monstrous, bug-eyed fish] [he wasn't lovable, he was monstrous and violent] [it is a monstrous waste of money] [the monstrous tidal wave swamped the surrounding countryside]

convoy

[group, escort]: [a convoy of lorries] [American destroyers helped to convoy much-needed supplies to Britain in 1917-18] [the army trucks had passed through in convoy the previous evening]

flourish

[grow, thriving, brandish]: [wild plants flourish on the banks of the lake] [the organization has continued to flourish] [the caricaturist and wit who flourished in the early years of this century] ['Happy New Year!' he yelled, flourishing a bottle of whisky] [with a flourish, she ushered them inside]

grisly

[gruesome]: [the town was shaken by a series of grisly crimes] [grisly crimes]

fractious

[grumpy, irritable, wayward]: [they fight and squabble like fractious children] [King Malcolm struggled to unite his fractious kingdom]

surmise

[guess]: [he surmised that something must be wrong] ['I don't think they're locals,' she surmised] [Charles was glad to have his surmise confirmed] [all these observations remain surmise]

leadership

[guidance, headship]: [different styles of leadership] [the party prospered under his leadership] [the leadership was divided into two camps]

credulous

[gullible]: [a ceremony staged for credulous tourists]

blow

[gust, sweep, drift, exhale, wheeze, sound, burst, fuse, squander, spoil, expose, gale, toot, vacillate, impress, be extinguished, extinguish, abate, explode, lose one's temper, break out, explode, inflate, exaggerate, enlarge, knock, shock]: [a cold breeze was blowing in off the sea] [a gust of wind blew a cloud of smoke into his face] [the spire was blown down during a gale] [it was so windy that the tent nearly blew away] [cotton curtains blowing in the breeze]

bald

[hairless, leafless, plain]: [he was starting to go bald] [hedgehogs are born bald] [the bald trunks with their empty branches] [the Nissan had two bald tyres] [the bald statement in the preceding paragraph requires amplification]

ham

[ham it up, overact, overplay]: [thin slices of ham] [a honey-baked ham] [he squatted down on his hams] [ham actors] [she hammed it up for the cameras]

fistful

[handful]: [the man took a fistful of cash from the drawer] [he grabbed fistfuls of my hair and tugged at it]

manipulation

[handling]: [the format allows fast picture manipulation] [conscious manipulations of oral language] [there was no deliberate manipulation of visitors' emotions] [he saw through her manipulations]

yen

[hankering]: [she always had a yen to be a writer] [it's no use yenning for the old simplicities]

betide

[happen]: [I waited with beating heart, not knowing what would betide] [she was trembling with fear lest worse might betide her]

rejoice

[happiness, be joyful, take delight in, crow about]: [we spent the evening rejoicing at our victory] [he rejoiced in her spontaneity] [the guard rejoiced in the name of Blossom] [I love to rejoice their poor Hearts at this season]

molestation

[harassment]: [he was tried for molestation of two young girls] [the boy said the alleged molestations occurred two days apart] [the soldiers were allowed to depart without molestation]

diehard

[hard-line, hardliner]: [my stepfather was a diehard Republican] [a diehard Yankees fan]

industrious

[hard-working]: [an industrious people striving to make their country prosperous]

solidify

[harden]: [the magma slowly solidifies and forms crystals] [social and political pressures helped to solidify national identities]

barely

[hardly]: [she nodded, barely able to speak] [a barely perceptible pause] [they had barely sat down before forty policemen swarmed in] [their barely furnished house]

deleterious

[harmful]: [divorce is assumed to have deleterious effects on children]

detrimental

[harmful]: [recent policies have been detrimental to the interests of many old people] [moving her could have a detrimental effect on her health]

innocuous

[harmless, inoffensive]: [it was an innocuous question]

inoffensive

[harmless]: [a shy, inoffensive, and sensitive girl]

coordinate

[harmonize, cooperate, blend]: [he had responsibility for coordinating London's transport services] [you will coordinate with consultants and other departments on a variety of projects] [the stud fastenings are coloured to coordinate with the shirt] [a variety of coordinating colours] [the sodium atom is coordinated to two oxygen atoms]

complementary

[harmonizing]: [they had different but complementary skills] [the second TV network was complementary to the BBC] [a pair of complementary oligonucleotides were synthesized] [complementary therapies such as aromatherapy]

reap

[harvest, receive]: [many men were employed to reap the harvest] [in terms of science, the Apollo programme reaped a meagre harvest] [farmers agreed to continue reaping the land by traditional means] [the company is poised to reap the benefits of this investment] [we are now reaping the harvest of our permissive ways]

precipitant

[hasty, overhasty, precipitate, precipitous]: [the immediate precipitants of the conflict] [depression may be a precipitant in many cases] [a protein precipitant]

pitfall

[hazard]: [the pitfalls of buying goods at public auctions]

misty

[hazy, foggy, blurry, vague]: [the evening was cold and misty] [the misty air above the frozen river] [it was their last night and Ruth turned her misty eyes to Fernando] [a misty out-of-focus silhouette] [a few misty memories]

sincere

[heartfelt, honest]: [they offer their sincere thanks to Paul] [she'd sounded sincere enough] [a painfully sincere young actor]

hedge

[hedgerow, safeguard, equivocation, surround, confine, safeguard, prevaricate]: [a privet hedge] [index-linked gilts are a useful hedge against inflation] [a garden hedged with yew] [the cathedral is closely hedged in by other buildings] [they hedged their story about with provisos]

epicurean

[hedonist, hedonistic, gourmet]: [Epicurean philosophers] [epicurean feasts]

level

[height, floor, quantity, rank, flat, unchanging, make level, raze, equalize, aim, be frank, genuine]: [the front garden is on a level with this floor] [storms caused river levels to rise] [a high level of unemployment] [debt rose to unprecedented levels] [at six he could play chess at an advanced level]

strawberry

[hemangioma simplex, strawberry mark]: [she thought she would wear the strawberry crushed velvet]

patrimony

[heritage]: [owners refuse to part with their patrimony in the interests of agricultural development] [patrimony laws] [an organization that saves the world's cultural patrimony by restoring historic buildings]

recluse

[hermit, loner]: [she has turned into a virtual recluse] [he's a bit of a recluse]

hernia

[herniation]: [umbilical hernia] [a hernia operation]

hello

[hi, how-do-you-do, howdy, hullo]: [hello there, Katie!] [hello, what's all this then?] ['Hello below!' he cried] [Hello! Did you even get what the play was about?] [she was getting polite nods and hellos from people]

pinnacle

[highest level, peak, turret]: [he had reached the pinnacle of his career]

impediment

[hindrance, speech defect]: [a serious impediment to scientific progress]

hairy

[hirsute, shaggy, risky]: [a hairy chest] [a hairy tweed coat and skirt] [we drove up yet another hairy mountain road]

beat

[hit, bang, hammer, defeat, surpass, pulsate, flap, whisk, rhythm, pounding, pulse, circuit, prevaricate, repel, extinguish, assault]: [aristocratic women were often beaten by their husbands] [the victims were beaten to death with baseball bats] [he beat the table with his hand] [drums were beating in the distance] [upright cleaners have a motorized head which beats the carpet to loosen the dirt]

opening

[hole, doorway, beginning, opening ceremony, opportunity, vacancy]: [an opening in the roof would get rid of the smoke] [Maya started tapping out the opening of her story] [I covered the opening of a new computerized diagnosis unit] [they seem to have exploited fully the openings offered] [there are few openings for the ex-footballer]

sacred

[holy, religious, sacrosanct]: [sacred rites] [the site at Eleusis is sacred to Demeter] [sacred music] [a sacred Hindu text] [cows are sacred and the eating of beef is taboo]

house

[home, household, clan, firm, inn, audience, legislative assembly, accommodate, contain, free]: [a house of Cotswold stone] [house prices] [make yourself scarce before you wake the whole house] [the power and prestige of the House of Stewart] [a hen house]

monochromatic

[homochromatic]: [monochromatic light] [it employs diffraction to focus monochromatic light]

homogenous

[homogeneous]:

truthful

[honest, true]: [I think you're confusing being rude with being truthful] [I want a truthful answer] [astonishingly truthful acting]

aghast

[horrified]: [she winced, aghast at his cruelty]

enmity

[hostility]: [decades of enmity between the two countries] [family feuds and enmities]

antagonism

[hostility]: [the antagonism between them] [his antagonism towards the local people] [petty antagonisms and jealousies]

torrid

[hot, dry, passionate]: [the torrid heat of the afternoon] [a torrid love affair] [he'd been given a pretty torrid time by the nation's voters] [the world's most torrid economies]

negligee

[housecoat, neglige, peignoir, wrapper]: [a black silk negligee]

mortar

[howitzer, trench mortar]: [mortars and machine guns] [nine civilians died in a horrific mortar attack] [a pestle and mortar] [the Commando positions were being heavily mortared] [at first light the mortaring and sniping started]

vast

[huge]: [a vast plain full of orchards]

degradation

[humiliation, demeaning, deterioration]: [a trail of human misery and degradation]

suffer

[hurt, undergo, hardship, be afflicted by, be impaired, tolerate, allow]: [he suffered intense pain] [he'd suffered a great deal since his arrest] [his daughter suffered from agoraphobia] [his relationship with Anne did suffer] [France will no longer suffer the existing government]

frenzy

[hysteria, fit]: [Doreen worked herself into a frenzy of rage]

refrigerator

[icebox]:

idol

[icon, hero]: [a soccer idol]

diagnosis

[identification, opinion]: [early diagnosis and treatment are essential] [a diagnosis of Crohn's disease was made]

mannerism

[idiosyncrasy]: [learning the great man's speeches and studying his mannerisms] [he seemed deliberately to be stripping his art of mannerism]

disregard

[ignore, indifference]: [the body of evidence is too substantial to disregard] [blatant disregard for the law]

unattended

[ignored, unguarded]: [her behaviour went unnoticed and unattended to] [it is not acceptable for parents to leave children unattended at that age] [an unattended vehicle]

untimely

[ill-timed, premature]: [Dave's untimely return] [his untimely death in military action] [the moment was very untimely chosen]

extrajudicial

[illegal]: [there have been reports of extrajudicial executions] [an extrajudicial offer does not carry the same penalty in expenses]

illiteracy

[illiterateness, ignorance]: [the ineffective educational system meant that illiteracy was widespread] [his economic illiteracy]

illumine

[illume, illuminate, light, light up]: [he moved her lamp so that her face was illumined]

mimic

[imitate, resemble, impersonator, simulated]: [she mimicked Eileen's pedantic voice] [wild potatoes mimic an aphid alarm signal] [tiger beetles are mimicked by grasshoppers] [the drug ephedrine mimics noradrenaline] [bacterial meningitis can present with acute disturbance of behaviour which may closely mimic substance abuse]

instant

[immediate, pre-prepared, moment, short time]: [the offence justified instant dismissal] [we can't promise instant solutions] [instant coffee] [become an instant millionaire] [an instant desire to blame others when things go wrong]

soak

[immerse, drench, permeate, absorb]: [soak the beans overnight in water] [she spent some time soaking in a hot bath] [the rain poured down, soaking their hair] [cold water was soaking into my shoes] [don't disturb the wound—soak the dressing off if necessary]

impunity

[immunity, unpunished]: [the impunity enjoyed by military officers implicated in civilian killings] [protestors burned flags on the streets with impunity]

exemption

[immunity]: [vehicles that may qualify for exemption from tax]

intangible

[impalpable, indefinable]: [the moonlight made things seem intangible] [the rose symbolized something intangible about their relationship] [intangible business property like patents] [intangibles like self-confidence and responsibility]

objective

[impartial, factual, aim]: [historians try to be objective and impartial] [a matter of objective fact] [the system has achieved its objective] [examine with high power objective]

serious

[important, careful, solemn, intellectual, in earnest, severe]: [marriage is a serious matter] [we give serious consideration to safety recommendations] [her face grew serious] [he bridges the gap between serious and popular music] [actors who are serious about their work]

boost

[improve, increase, lift, uplift, increase, lift up]: [a range of measures to boost tourism] [the specially designed circuit boosts signal strength] [Andy boosted him up high enough to reach the keys] [he'd had his wallet boosted in a bar] [the cut in interest rates will give a further boost to the economy]

hence

[in consequence]: [many vehicle journeys (and hence a lot of pollution) would be saved] [two years hence they might say something different] [hence, be gone]

discordant

[in disagreement, inharmonious]: [the operative principle of democracy is a balance of discordant qualities] [a study of children in discordant homes] [the singers continued their discordant chanting] [the chair's modernity struck a discordant note in a room full of eighteenth-century furniture]

fashionable

[in fashion]: [fashionable clothes] [they risked being scoffed at by their more fashionable friends] [a fashionable Manhattan restaurant]

incarnate

[in human form]: [God incarnate] [here is capitalism incarnate] [the idea that God incarnates himself in man] [a desire to make things which will incarnate their personality] [the man who incarnates the pain of the entire community]

ongoing

[in progress, continuous]: [ongoing negotiations]

nevertheless

[in spite of that/everything]: [statements which, although literally true, are nevertheless misleading]

amid

[in the middle of, at a time of]: [our dream home, set amid magnificent rolling countryside] [talks broke down amid accusations of a hostile takeover bid]

quiescent

[inactive]: [strikes were headed by groups of workers who had previously been quiescent]

latent

[inactive]: [they have a huge reserve of latent talent] [axillary buds or eyes in the leaf axils are latent growth buds] [diabetes may be latent for some years before diagnosis] [the latent stage of syphilis]

meagre

[inadequate, thin]: [they were forced to supplement their meagre earnings] [a tall, meagre, but erect man]

inviolable

[inalienable]: [an inviolable rule of chastity] [the Polish-German border was inviolable]

careless

[inattentive, shoddy, thoughtless, negligent in, unstudied]: [she had been careless and had left the window unlocked] [a careless error] [he admitted careless driving] [a careless error] [he was careless of his own safety]

conception

[inception of pregnancy, inception, idea, plan, understanding]: [an unfertilized egg before conception] [a rise in premarital conceptions] [the time between a product's conception and its launch] [our conception of how language relates to reality] [the conception of a balance of power]

comprehensive

[inclusive, thorough]: [a comprehensive list of sources] [a comprehensive collection of photographs] [a comprehensive victory for Swansea] [a comprehensive school] [he trained as an accountant after leaving the local comprehensive]

incoherence

[incoherency, unintelligibility]: [difficult questions that expose the incoherence of their policy] [the incoherences of the doctrine] [she descended into stammering incoherence]

expand

[increase in size, grow, elaborate on, relax]: [their business expanded into other hotels] [the work began as a short story and was later expanded into a novel] [the minister expanded on the government's proposals] [Alice opened and expanded in this normality]

unseemly

[indecorous]: [an unseemly squabble]

reflect

[indicate, discredit, think about]: [when the sun's rays hit the Earth a lot of the heat is reflected back into space] [he could see himself reflected in Keith's mirrored glasses] [schools should reflect cultural differences] [the main contract is progressing well, which reflects great credit on those involved] [the incident reflects badly on the operating practices of the airlines]

arraign

[indict, criticize]: [her sister was arraigned on charges of attempted murder] [social workers were relieved it was not they who were arraigned in the tabloids]

incensed

[indignant, outraged, umbrageous]: [Leonora glared back at him, incensed]

outrage

[indignation, affront, atrocity, enrage]: [her voice trembled with outrage] [some of the worst terrorist outrages] [the public were outraged at the brutality involved] [their behaviour outraged all civilized standards]

vague

[indistinct, hazy, uncertain, absent-mindedness, imprecise, sketchy, unclear, puzzled]: [many patients suffer vague symptoms] [he had been very vague about his activities]

separately

[individually, apart]: [they arrived together but left separately] [I shall consider that figure separately from the prime costs]

magnate

[industrialist]: [a property magnate]

inefficient

[ineffective, uneconomical]: [inefficient transport systems] [the government was both inefficient and corrupt]

ineffectual

[inefficient, ineffective]: [an ineffectual campaign] [she was neglectful and ineffectual as a parent]

incompetent

[inept]: [a forgetful and utterly incompetent assistant] [the patient is deemed legally incompetent] [the tanker captain was a known incompetent]

unavoidable

[inescapable]: [the natural and unavoidable consequences of growing old]

renewable

[inexhaustible]: [we are on renewable annual contracts] [a shift away from fossil fuels to renewable energy] [production costs for the renewables are higher than for coal, oil, or gas]

infarction

[infarct]:

frail

[infirm, fragile, weak]: [his small, frail body] [she looked frail and vulnerable] [the balcony is frail] [the country's frail economy]

combustible

[inflammable]: [a combustible gas] [a volatile and combustible personality]

flammable

[inflammable]: [the use of highly flammable materials]

rigidity

[inflexibility, rigidness]: [the tough substance that gives plants their rigidity] [the rigidity of the school system] [there was a regrettable rigidity in this decision]

seminal

[influential, spermatic]: [his seminal work on chaos theory] [the spermatozoa are washed to separate them from the seminal plasma] [the seminal root system]

enlighten

[inform, civilize]: [Christopher had not enlightened Francis as to their relationship] [the Holy Spirit enlightened the Apostles] [the sun enlightened some such clouds near him]

denizen

[inhabitant]: [denizens of field and forest]

wound

[injury, insult, injure, hurt]: [a knife wound] [chest wounds] [a wound to the thigh] [the new crisis has opened old wounds] [the sergeant was seriously wounded]

canal

[inland waterway, duct]: [they travelled on by canal] [the Oxford Canal] [the ear canal]

naive

[innocent, gullible]: [the rather naive young man had been totally misled] [Andy had a sweet, naive look when he smiled]

curious

[inquisitive, strange]: [I began to be curious about the whereabouts of the bride and groom] [she was curious to know what had happened] [a curious stare] [a curious sensation overwhelmed her]

address

[inscription, location, speech, label, send, talk to, preach to, greet, attend to, take aim at]: [they exchanged addresses and agreed to keep in touch] [our officers called at the address] [a numerical value which acts as a storage address for the data] [an address to the European Parliament] [his address was abrupt and unceremonious]

interpolation

[insertion]: [the interpolation of songs into the piece] [this passage is clearly an interpolation by some later narrator] [yields were estimated using linear interpolation] [the interpolation formula] [as the evening progressed their interpolations became more ridiculous]

interior

[inside, inland, internal, inner, inside, centre]: [the interior lighting is not adequate] [the layer immediately interior to the epidermis] [interior scenes] [the interior jungle regions] [the interior minister]

interpose

[insinuate, introduce, intervene]: [she interposed herself between the newcomers] [if I might interpose a personal remark here] [the legislature interposed to suppress these amusements] [the memo interposes no objection to issuing a discharge]

fitful

[intermittent]: [a few hours' fitful sleep] [business was fitful]

intramural

[internal, intragroup]: [both intramural and churchyard graves] [recreational intramural games] [an intramural social symbol within the tribe] [an intramural haematoma]

flatulence

[intestinal gas, pomposity]: [foods that may cause flatulence] [the flatulence characterizing his writings]

daunting

[intimidating]: [a daunting task]

suspicion

[intuition, misgiving, trace]: [she had a sneaking suspicion that he was laughing at her] [police would not say what aroused their suspicions] [he was arrested on suspicion of murder] [her activities were regarded with suspicion by the headmistress] [a suspicion of a smile]

instinctive

[intuitive, automatic]: [an instinctive distaste for conflict] [he was an instinctive cook]

flood

[inundation, outpouring, succession, inundate, overflow, pour, glut]: [the villagers had been cut off by floods and landslides] [a flood barrier] [she burst into floods of tears] [his column provoked a flood of complaints] [floods of tourists come each year to marvel at the sights]

void

[invalid, empty, devoid of, gap, invalidate, eject, evacuate]: [the contract was void] [all the stratagems you've worked out are rendered void] [void spaces surround the tanks] [what were once the masterpieces of literature are now void of meaning] [there is a danger that one of the opponents will be void in that suit]

probe

[investigation, examine, investigate]: [a probe into city hall corruption] [hands probed his body from top to bottom] [what right had he to probe into her personal life?] [his dark probing eyes] [police are probing a nightwatchman's murder]

detective

[investigator]: [detectives are anxious to interview anyone who saw the car] [a detective inspector] [detective work]

dyed-in-the-wool

[inveterate]: [she's a true blue dyed-in-the-wool Conservative]

instrumental

[involved, be instrumental in]: [the Society was instrumental in bringing about legislation] [a very instrumental view of education and how it relates to their needs] [a largely instrumental piece] [brilliance of instrumental colour] [instrumental error]

intervention

[involvement]: [a high degree of state intervention in the economy] [repeated interventions by central banks] [the government was reported to be considering military intervention] [two patients were referred for surgical intervention] [as her health worsened, her daughters considered staging an intervention]

introspective

[inward-looking]: [he grew withdrawn and introspective]

illogical

[irrational]: [an illogical fear of the supernatural]

annoy

[irritate, irritated]: [the decision really annoyed him] [your damned cheerfulness has always annoyed me] [a gallant Saxon, who annoyed this Coast]

pique

[irritation, stimulate, irritate]: [he left in a fit of pique] [with his scientific curiosity piqued, he was looking forward to being able to analyse his find] [she was piqued by his curtness] [men, who are thought to pique themselves upon their Wit] [a white cotton piqué shirt]

out on a limb

[isolated, in a precarious position]: [Aberdeen is rather out on a limb] [I wouldn't go out on a limb like this if I didn't have the data to justify it]

alienation

[isolation, transfer]: [a sense of alienation from our environment] [unemployment may generate a sense of political alienation] [most leases contain restrictions against alienation]

surely

[it must be the case that, certainly, firmly]: [if there is no will, then surely the house goes automatically to you] [if he did not heed the warning, he would surely die] ['You'll wait for me?' 'Surely.'] [no one knows how to move the economy quickly and surely in that direction]

vagabond

[itinerant, itinerant]: [a vagabond poacher] [he went vagabonding about the world]

lassie

[jeune fille, lass, young girl]: [I'm going to see a wee lassie tonight]

joggle

[jiggle]: [helium balloons were joggling above the crowds] [the lurch and joggle of the car] [a joggle joint made of iron]

junction

[join, confluence, crossroads]: [the junction of the two rivers] [the junction of Queen's Road and Lancaster Avenue] [accidents happen at road junctions] [the vena cava is formed by the junction of three veins] [the junction of two roundels produces a triangular space]

jerk

[jolt, jolt]: [he gave a sudden jerk of his head] [the van jerked forward] [she jerked her chin up] [the thud jerked her back to reality] [they either jerk the meat or dry it above a smoky fire]

bliss

[joy, blessedness]: [she gave a sigh of bliss] [the bliss of heaven] [Josh is just blissed out, always smiling] [blissed-out hippies]

arbiter

[judge]: [the Secretary of State is the final arbiter] [an arbiter of taste]

sentence

[judgement, prison term, pass judgement on]: [her husband is serving a three-year sentence for fraud] [slander of an official carried an eight-year prison sentence] [he was under sentence of death] [ten army officers were sentenced to life imprisonment]

derail

[jump]: [a train was derailed after it collided with a herd of cattle] [the trams had a tendency to derail on sharp corners] [the plot is seen by some as an attempt to derail the negotiations]

sovereignty

[jurisdiction, autonomy]: [the sovereignty of Parliament] [national sovereignty]

minimize

[keep down, belittle]: [the aim is to minimize costs] [they may minimize, or even overlook, the importance of such beliefs]

signature

[key signature]: [the signature of a senior manager] [the licence was sent to the customer for signature] [the chef produced the pâté that was his signature] [his signature dish]

gentle

[kind, light, gradual]: [a gentle, sensitive man] [her gentle voice] [take some gentle exercise] [a gentle breeze] [a gentle embankment]

informed

[knowledgeable]: [an informed readership] [she lacks the ability to make an informed decision] [obtaining informed consent from research participants is central to ethical research practice]

inability

[lack of ability]: [his inability to accept new ideas]

hunger

[lack of food, desire, desire]: [she was faint with hunger] [they died from cold and hunger] [her hunger for knowledge] [he hungered for a sense of self-worth] [when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he afterwards hungered]

la

[lah]:

acreage

[land area]: [a 35 per cent increase in net acreage] [a modest acreage]

touch down

[land]: [his plane touched down at Nice airport]

landslide

[landslip, decisive victory]: [the road was blocked by a landslide] [businessmen have been buried under a landslide of paperwork] [they won by a landslide]

cavern

[large cave]: [a dark cavern of a shop]

ridiculous

[laughable, pointless, absurd]: [that ridiculous tartan cap] [it seems absolutely ridiculous that anyone would try to pull a stunt like this]

furlough

[lay off]: [a civil servant home on furlough] [a six-week furlough in Australia] [furloughed workers]

ply

[layer, use, engage in, go regularly, provide, bombard]: [tiles that have a black PVC ply in the lamination] [four-ply yarn] [the yarn can be any ply from two to eight] [a tailor delicately plying his needle] [for three years he plied a profitable export trade between England and Australia]

bask

[laze, revel]: [sprawled figures basking in the afternoon sun] [the seals came ashore to breed and to bask] [he went on basking in the glory of his first book]

indolent

[lazy]: [they were indolent and addicted to a life of pleasure]

commander

[leader]: [the commander of a paratroop regiment]

premier

[leading, head of government]: [Germany's premier rock band] [the premier league] [he holds the premier barony in the UK—created in 1269]

foremost

[leading]: [one of the foremost art collectors of his day] [it was, foremost, the first unequivocal demonstration of the process]

bequeath

[leave, hand down]: [he bequeathed his art collection to the town] [he ditched the unpopular policies bequeathed to him]

leaven

[leavening, raise, permeate, enliven]: [they acted as an intellectual leaven to the warriors who dominated the city] [leavened breads are forbidden during Passover] [the proceedings should be leavened by humour] [underneath the frills and fuss there's a leavening of serious intent]

departure

[leaving, deviation, change of direction]: [the day of departure] [she made a hasty departure] [the album is not a radical departure from the band's previous work]

satyr

[lech, lecher, letch]: [Charles was an unmarried satyr]

rigmarole

[lengthy process, fuss, lengthy story/explanation]: [he went through the rigmarole of securing the front door] [she went into a long rigmarole about the different jobs she'd had]

long

[lengthy, in length, prolonged, soon, eventually, yearn]: [a long corridor] [long black hair] [the queue for tickets was long] [a boat 150 feet long] [I went for a long walk]

stationery

[letter paper]: [a range of stationery] [a stationery supplier]

degree

[level, social class, gradually, to some extent]: [a degree of caution is probably wise] [a question of degree] [set at an angle of 45 degrees] [water boils at 100 degrees Celsius] [second-degree murder]

defame

[libel, slander]: [he claimed that the article defamed his family]

biologist

[life scientist]: [a team of marine biologists]

lifetime

[lifespan, duration, all one's life]: [a reward for a lifetime's work] [fifteen shops closed during the lifetime of the scheme] [five weeks was a lifetime, anything could have happened] [being part of the Commonwealth Games has been a once in a lifetime experience] [because of Frankie she had rejected the opportunity of a lifetime]

illuminate

[light, decorate, clarify, informative]: [a flash of lightning illuminated the house] [his face was illuminated by a smile] [a most illuminating discussion]

extremity

[limit, hands and feet, intensity, dire straits, crisis]: [the peninsula's western extremity] [tingling and numbness in the extremities] [the extremity of the violence concerns us] [the terror of an animal in extremity]

alcohol

[liquor]: [it is an offence to drive if you have more than 80 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood] [the use of petrol containing alcohol] [he has not taken alcohol in twenty-five years] [unpleasant stuff like formaldehyde is produced as alcohols burn] [polyvinyl alcohol]

scant

[little]: [companies with scant regard for the safety of future generations] [she weighed a scant two pounds] [he does not scant his attention to the later writings] [the press regularly scants a host of issues relating to safety and health]

reside

[live in, be situated, belong to, be inherent in]: [people who work in the city actually reside in neighbouring towns] [the paintings now reside on the walls of a restaurant] [legislative powers reside with the Federal Assembly] [the meaning of an utterance does not wholly reside in the semantic meaning]

spirited

[lively]: [a spirited campaigner for women's rights] [a warm-hearted, generous-spirited man]

liver

[liver-colored]: [cholesterol may accumulate in the liver] [a liver transplant] [liver pâté] [liver-coloured lesions] [a clean liver]

protoplasm

[living substance]:

organic

[living, pesticide-free, structured]: [organic soils] [organic farming] [organic meat] [the organic unity of the integral work of art] [the organic growth of community projects]

venue

[locale, locus]: [the club is the city's main venue for live music]

whereabouts

[location]: [whereabouts do you come from?] [his whereabouts remain secret]

magnet

[lodestone, attraction]: [the beautiful stretch of white sand is a magnet for sun-worshippers]

wallow

[loll about/around, roll, luxuriate]: [there were watering places where buffalo liked to wallow] [a ship wallowing in stormy seas] [I was wallowing in the luxury of the hotel] [he had been wallowing in self-pity] [a wallow in nostalgia]

durable

[long-lasting, hard-wearing, lasting]: [porcelain enamel is strong and durable] [a durable peace can be achieved] [the durable Smith lasted the full eight rounds]

baritone

[low, low-pitched]: [he sang in a rich baritone] [he starred as a baritone] [a baritone sax]

subordinate

[lower-ranking, secondary, junior]: [his subordinate officers] [in adventure stories, character must be subordinate to action] [he was mild-mannered, especially with his subordinates] [practical considerations were subordinated to political expediency] [to define life would be to subordinate it to reason]

lush

[luxuriant, luxurious]: [lush greenery and cultivated fields] [lush orchestrations] [I had some really lush pressies] [her husband degenerated into a lush who played the drums alone for comfort] [Mr Hobart got so lushed up he was spilling drinks down his shirt]

perjury

[lying under oath]: [he claimed two witnesses at his trial had committed perjury]

mendacious

[lying]: [mendacious propaganda]

impressive

[magnificent, admirable]: [an impressive view of the mountains] [impressive achievements in science]

splendid

[magnificent, distinguished, excellent]: [a splendid view of Windsor Castle] [his robes were splendid] [a splendid fellow] ['Is your family well? Splendid!'] [the stone stands in splendid isolation near the moorland road]

grand

[magnificent, ostentatious, august, main, excellent, thousand pounds/dollars]: [a grand country house] [the dinner party was very grand] [his grand design for the future of Europe] [this was opera on a grand scale] [she was such a grand lady]

entree

[main course, means of entry]: [an actress with an entrée into the intellectual society of Berlin] [her beauty and charm rapidly gained her entrée to high society] [their connections and relative wealth gave them entree to all of the most select entertainments]

principal

[main, boss, head teacher, leading actor/actress, capital sum]: [the country's principal cities] [the principal amount of your investment] [a design consultancy whose principal is based in San Francisco] [I was appointed principal of the new school] [the singing style of the principals]

predominant

[main, controlling]: [the predominant colour was white] [the predominant political forces]

especially

[mainly, expressly, exceptionally]: [he despised them all, especially Sylvester] [a new song, written especially for Jonathan] [he didn't especially like dancing] [sleep is especially important in growing children] [written especially for Jonathan]

upkeep

[maintenance, subsistence]: [we will be responsible for the upkeep of the access road] [payments for the children's upkeep]

tease

[make fun of]: [I used to tease her about being so house-proud] [she was just teasing] [teasing comments] [she had thrown herself at him and teased him] [she was teasing out the curls into her usual hairstyle]

enact

[make law, act out]: [legislation was enacted to attract international companies] [the pressure group's aim was to see the proposals enacted] [Mystery Plays were staged and enacted by members of the guilds] [walkers stopped to watch, aware that some tragedy was being enacted]

simplify

[make simple/simpler]: [an overhaul of court procedure to simplify litigation]

strengthen

[make strong/stronger, reinforce, toughen, become strong/stronger, fortify, step up, reinforce]: [he advises an application of fluoride to strengthen the teeth] [the wind won't strengthen until after dark] [the military aid will only strengthen the hand of the army]

administer

[manage, dispense]: [each school was administered separately] [a Health and Safety agency would administer new regulations] [paramedic crews are capable of administering drugs] [retribution was administered to those found guilty] [he administered the sacraments to the flock]

production

[manufacture, output, presentation, performance, play]: [banning the production of chemical weapons] [the car is no longer in production] [non-intensive methods of food production] [steel production had peaked in 1974] [excess production of collagen by the liver]

dowry

[marriage settlement]: [Elizabeth's dowry was to be £45,000 in diamonds]

swamp

[marsh, flood, overwhelm]: [the ceaseless deluge had turned the lawn into a swamp] [a huge wave swamped the canoes] [the life boat somehow did not swamp, but made it to shore] [the country was swamped with goods from abroad] [feelings of guilt suddenly swamped her]

strategy

[master plan, the art of war]: [time to develop a coherent economic strategy] [shifts in marketing strategy] [he was a genius when it came to military strategy] [non-provocative defence strategies]

nuptial

[matrimonial, wedding]: [moments of nuptial bliss] [nuptial plumage] [the forthcoming nuptials between Richard and Jocelyn]

perhaps

[maybe]: [perhaps I should have been frank with him] [perhaps not surprisingly, he was cautious about committing himself] [would you perhaps consent to act as our guide?]

niggardly

[mean, meagre, meanness, meagreness]: [he accused the Government of being unbelievably niggardly] [niggardly allowances from the Treasury] [a niggardly shoestring budget]

average

[mean, normally, mean, ordinary, mediocre]: [the proportion of over-60s is above the EU average of 19 per cent] [underground water reserves are below average] [they take about thirty minutes on average] [the average temperature in May was 4°C below normal] [a woman of average height]

parsimony

[meanness]: [a great tradition of public design has been shattered by government parsimony]

weigh

[measure the weight of, tip/turn the scales at, consider, balance, influence, burden, oppress, attack, oppress]: [weigh yourself on the day you begin the diet] [the vendor weighed the vegetables] [when the twins were born they weighed ten pounds] [she picked up the brick and weighed it in her right hand] [she weighed out two ounces of loose tobacco]

rendezvous

[meeting, meeting place, meet]: [Edward turned up late for their rendezvous] [you'd be welcome to use this place as a rendezvous] [a lively West End restaurant rendezvous] [I rendezvoused with Bea as planned]

melancholic

[melancholiac]: [his work often has a wistful or melancholic mood] [a haunting, melancholic melody] [patients with melancholic depression]

insane

[mentally ill, mad, extremely foolish]: [he had gone insane] [his eyes were glowing with insane fury] [a fly whose buzzing had been driving me insane] [she had an insane desire to giggle] [they were making insane amounts of money]

gaily

[merrily, heedlessly, brightly]: [he waved gaily to the crowd] [she plunged gaily into speculation on the stock market] [gaily coloured sailing boats]

web

[mesh, network]: [he found himself caught up in a web of bureaucracy] [material downloaded from the Web] [Web publishing] [she noticed his tanned skin, webbed with fine creases]

hypnotism

[mesmerism]:

hypnotic

[mesmerizing, soporific]: [a hypnotic state] [her voice had a hypnotic quality] [hypnotics may be prescribed]

memorandum

[message, record]: [he told them of his decision in a memorandum] [the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on economic cooperation] [articles of association must be signed by subscribers to the memorandum]

metal

[metallic]: [an adjustable pole made of metal] [being a metal, aluminium readily conducts heat] [the locomotive is presently being made ready for operation over Network SouthEast metals] [the work also involves dealing with rock aggregates for potential use as suitable road metal] [industrial music is also a blend of metal and techno]

weather

[meteorological conditions, weather-beaten, survive, ill]: [if the weather's good we can go for a walk] [stone walls provide shelter from wind and weather] [the weather side of the yacht] [his skin was weathered almost black by his long outdoor life] [the ice sheet preserves specimens that would weather away more quickly in other regions]

means

[method, money, wealth, certainly, of course, using, not at all]: [technology seen as a means to bring about emancipation] [resolving disputes by peaceful means] [a woman of modest but independent means] [a man of means] [the government is living beyond its means]

microwave

[micro-cook, nuke, zap]: [microwave radiation] [a cheesecake was defrosting in the microwave] [he microwaved some steak out of the freezer]

bourgeois

[middle-class, capitalistic, member of the middle class]: [a rich, bored, bourgeois family] [these views will shock the bourgeois critics] [bourgeois society took for granted the sanctity of property] [a self-confessed and proud bourgeois]

interlocutor

[middleman]:

pantomime

[mime]: [a pantomime villain] [he is currently appearing in pantomime in Manchester] [he made a pantomime of checking his watch] [the drive to town was a pantomime] [they pantomimed picking up dropped food]

infinitesimal

[minute]: [an infinitesimal pause]

illusion

[mirage, appearance, delusion]: [stripes embellish the surface to create the illusion of various wood-grain textures] [the illusion of family togetherness] [he had no illusions about the trouble she was in] [the world is under the illusion that the original painting still hangs in the Winter Palace]

misconception

[misapprehension]: [public misconceptions about AIDS remain high]

overlook

[miss, disregard, deliberately ignore, have a view of]: [he seems to have overlooked one important fact] [she was more than ready to overlook his faults] [he was overlooked by the Nobel committee] [the chateau overlooks fields of corn and olive trees] [it's better if the property isn't overlooked]

blunder

[mistake, make a mistake, stumble]: [she stopped, finally aware of the terrible blunder she had made] [he knew he'd blundered] [one's first blundering attempts] [we were blundering around in the darkness]

conglomerate

[mixture, corporation, aggregate, aggregate, coalesce]: [the Earth is a specialized conglomerate of organisms] [a media conglomerate] [the sediments vary from coarse conglomerate to fine silt and clay] [conglomerate firms] [atoms which conglomerate at the centre]

furthermore

[moreover]: [It was also a highly desirable political end. Furthermore, it gave the English a door into France]

archetypal

[most typical]: [the archetypal country doctor] [archetypal myths] [an archetypal journey representing the quest for identity]

largely

[mostly]: [he was soon arrested, largely through the efforts of Tom Poole]

miller

[moth miller]:

stationary

[motionless, unchanging]: [a car collided with a stationary vehicle] [a stationary population] [a car collided with a stationary vehicle] [I wrote to my father on the hotel stationery]

come

[move nearer, arrive, extend, progress, progress, happen, be communicated, seem, break up, be available, climax, happen, happen, meet/find by chance, hand over, hurry, alienate, obtain, decide, amount to, become ill/sick with, volunteer, be from, receive, inherit, succeed, end up, become known, end, be published, declare that one is homosexual, enter society, utter, regain consciousness, be converted (to), occur, recur, survive, withstand, regain consciousness, amount to, arise, produce]: [Jess came into the kitchen] [they came here as immigrants] [he came rushing out] [we walked along till we came to a stream] [it was very late when she came back]

humidity

[mugginess]: [the temperature is seventy-seven, the humidity in the low thirties] [the humidity should be supplied by regularly spraying the leaves]

myriad

[multitude, innumerable]: [myriads of insects danced around the light above my head] [the army was organized on a decimal system, up to divisions of 10,000 or myriads] [he gazed at the myriad lights of the city] [the myriad political scene]

crunch

[munch, moment of truth]: [she paused to crunch a ginger biscuit] [footsteps began to crunch across the frozen rock] [the snow crunched as we walked] [the program crunches data from 14,000 sensors to decipher evolving patterns] [Marco's fist struck Brian's nose with a crunch]

assassination

[murder]: [the assassination of President Kennedy] [a failed assassination attempt] [a wave of bombings and assassinations]

concert

[musical performance, together]: [a pop concert] [a concert pianist] [the concert version of the fourth interlude from the opera] [critics' inability to describe with any precision and concert the characteristics of literature] [they found direct evidence of concert of action]

dumb

[mute, silent]: [she stood dumb while he poured out a stream of abuse] [they stared in dumb amazement] [he was born deaf, dumb, and blind] [a dumb question] [the producers categorically deny that they're dumbing down the show]

enigmatic

[mysterious]: [he took the money with an enigmatic smile]

title

[name, caption, publication, designation, form of address, championship, ownership of, call]: [the author and title of the book] [Rumbelows will get exclusive sponsorship with opening and closing titles] [the company publishes 400 titles a year] [Leese assumed the title of director general] [he will inherit the title of Duke of Marlborough]

reputation

[name]: [his reputation was tarnished by allegations of bribery] [his knowledge of his subject earned him a reputation as an expert]

anonymity

[namelessness]: [the official spoke on condition of anonymity] [the anonymity of big city life definitely has its advantages]

insular

[narrow-minded, isolated]: [a stubbornly insular farming people] [people living restricted and sometimes insular existences] [goods of insular origin] [insular illumination of the 6th century]

patriotic

[nationalist]: [today's game will be played before a fiercely patriotic crowd]

indigenous

[native]: [the indigenous peoples of Siberia] [coriander is indigenous to southern Europe]

inevitably

[naturally]: [inevitably some details are already out of date] [war inevitably has casualties] [inevitably, the phone started to ring just as we sat down]

mischief

[naughtiness, impishness, harm]: [she'll make sure Danny doesn't get into mischief] [her eyes twinkled with irrepressible mischief] [she was bent on making mischief] [the statute was passed to prevent a mischief in respect of which the defendant was already under a duty at common law] [I would have done myself a mischief if I'd carried on]

all but

[nearly]: [the subject was all but forgotten] [we have support from all but one of the networks]

hypodermic

[needle]: [the hypodermics left strewn around the piazza]

remiss

[negligent]: [it would be very remiss of me not to pass on that information]

parley

[negotiation, discuss terms]: [a parley is in progress and the invaders may withdraw] [they disagreed over whether to parley with the enemy]

pinch

[nip, tweak, hurt, steal, arrest, economize, nip, tweak, small quantity, if necessary, suffer hardship]: [she pinched his cheek] [Mrs Grandison's pointed, Italian-style shoes were already beginning to pinch her feet] [if your shoes pinch, take them off] [Aunt Rose pinched her thin lips together] [to explore in more detail just pinch the screen]

atheism

[non-belief]:

temporary

[non-permanent, brief]: [a temporary job] [to gain flexibility, companies are bringing in temporaries or contracting out work]

secular

[non-religious]: [secular buildings] [secular attitudes to death] [there is evidence that the slump is not cyclical but secular]

platonic

[non-sexual]: [their relationship is purely platonic] [platonic love] [readers of the Platonic dialogues] [a kind of Platonic ideal of a New York City apartment] [a Platonic gesture]

monopolistic

[noncompetitive]: [the investigation into monopolistic practices among supermarkets]

freethinker

[nonconformist]:

usually

[normally]: [he usually arrives home about one o'clock] [heat-resistant paints are usually black or aluminium-coloured]

observe

[notice, watch, comment, comply with, participate in]: [she observed that all the chairs were already occupied] [Rob stood in the hallway, from where he could observe the happenings on the street] [the behaviour observed in groups of chimpanzees] ['It's chilly,' she observed] [a stockbroker once observed that dealers live and work in hell]

striking

[noticeable, impressive, stunning]: [the murder bore a striking similarity to an earlier shooting] [it is striking that no research into the problem is being carried out] [she is naturally striking] [a striking landscape] [striking mineworkers]

sustenance

[nourishment, support]: [poor rural economies turned to potatoes for sustenance] [he kept two or three cows for the sustenance of his family] [the sustenance of parliamentary democracy]

atomic

[nuclear]: [the nature of matter at the atomic level] [the atomic nucleus] [atomic hydrogen] [a society made up of atomic individuals pursuing private interests] [the atomic age required a new way of political thinking]

overdose

[o.d.]: [a fatal overdose of painkillers] [he was admitted to hospital after overdosing on cocaine] [I think he had a quack doctor who overdosed him]

compulsory

[obligatory]: [compulsory military service] [it was compulsory to attend mass] [the abuse of compulsory powers]

helpful

[obliging, useful, handy]: [people are friendly and helpful] [helpful staff] [pages of helpful information]

obfuscate

[obscure, bewilder]: [the spelling changes will deform some familiar words and obfuscate their etymological origins] [the new rule is more likely to obfuscate people than enlighten them]

manifest

[obvious, display, show, be evidence of]: [her manifest charm and proven ability] [Lizzy manifested signs of severe depression] [bad industrial relations are often manifested in strikes] [a disorder that usually manifests in middle age] [one deity manifested in the form of a bird]

tenant

[occupant]: [council-house tenants] [a frequent tenant of the gossip columns] [the house was tenanted by his cousin]

phenomenon

[occurrence, marvel]: [glaciers are interesting natural phenomena] [the band was a pop phenomenon just for their sales figures alone] [these phenomena are not fully understood] [this is a strange phenomena]

bid

[offer, try to obtain, offer, attempt, wish, order, invite to]: [a consortium of dealers bid a world record price for a snuff box] [guests will bid for pieces of fine jewellery] [nineteen companies have indicated their intention to bid for the contract] [North bids four hearts] [she's now bidding to become a top female model]

surgeon

[operating surgeon, sawbones]:

averse

[opposed to]: [as a former CIA director, he is not averse to secrecy] [the bank's approach has been risk-averse] [hostile to] [disinclined to]

bullish

[optimistic]: [he has campaigned courageously despite difficulties that would have stopped many more bullish men] [the market was bullish] [high points in the stock market cycle, when investors are at their most bullish] [we are very bullish about our prospects]

luxury

[opulence, indulgence, joy]: [he lived a life of luxury] [luxuries like chocolate, scent, and fizzy wine] [they actually had the luxury of a whole day together] [a luxury yacht] [luxury goods]

verbal

[oral, abuse]: [the root of the problem is visual rather than verbal] [verbal abuse] [a verbal agreement] [he's very verbal] [a verbal adjective]

rhetorician

[orator, public speaker, speechifier, speechmaker]: [they're ready to listen to any smooth-tongued rhetorician]

requisition

[order, appropriation, commandeer, request]: [I had to make various requisitions for staff and accommodation] [requisitions for an Extraordinary General Meeting must state the business to be transacted] [requisition of grain at the point of a gun proved a novel experience for the peasantry] [the government had assumed powers to requisition cereal products at fixed prices] [a stakeholder has requisitioned an extraordinary general meeting]

manage

[organize, cope, accomplish]: [their elder son managed the farm] [the skills needed to manage a young, dynamic team] [he managed five or six bands in his career] [we manage our cash extremely well] [she manages horses better than anyone I know]

innovative

[original]: [innovative designs] [innovative ways to help unemployed people] [writers who are now viewed as innovative]

invention

[origination, innovation, inventiveness, fabrication]: [the invention of printing in the 15th century] [medieval inventions included spectacles for reading and the spinning wheel] [his powers of invention were rather limited] [you know my story is an invention] [Bach's two-part Inventions]

parentage

[origins]: [a boy of Jamaican parentage] [this ice cream boasts American parentage]

flamboyant

[ostentatious, colourful, elaborate]: [the band's flamboyant lead singer] [a flamboyant bow tie]

passe

[out of date]: [minis are passé—the best skirts are knee-length]

outworn

[out of date]: [outworn prejudices] [outworn lead flashings]

obsolete

[out of date]: [the disposal of old and obsolete machinery] [the phrase was obsolete after 1625] [we're trying to stimulate the business by obsoleting last year's designs]

incongruous

[out of place, ill-matched]: [the duffel coat looked incongruous with the black dress she wore underneath]

disproportionate

[out of proportion to, inordinate]: [people on lower incomes spend a disproportionate amount of their income on fuel] [persistent offenders were given sentences that were disproportionate to the offences they had committed] [water disproportionates to oxygen and hydrogen]

barn

[outbuilding]: [a great barn of a pub]

picnic

[outdoor meal, easy task]: [we swam and went on picnics] [we packed up a picnic and went to the reservoir] [in summer they picnicked on the beach] [being a freelance was no picnic]

unusually

[outstandingly, remarkably, unco]: [the name is spelt unusually] [perhaps unusually for the time, William never remarried] [there were an unusually large number of excellent performances]

surcharge

[overcharge, overload]: [we guarantee that no surcharges will be added to the cost of your holiday] [retailers will be able to surcharge credit-card users]

surmount

[overcome, cap, rise above]: [all manner of cultural differences were surmounted] [the tomb was surmounted by a sculptured angel]

jubilant

[overjoyed]: [a large number of jubilant fans ran on to the pitch]

overproduction

[overrun]: [there was a crisis of overproduction in traditional manufacturing] [certain foods cause overproduction of bacteria in the stomach] [so many tracks suffer from overproduction]

deposition

[overthrow, statement, depositing]: [Edward V's deposition] [the deposition of four expert witnesses] [a commissioner to take depositions from witnesses] [pebbles formed by the deposition of calcium in solution]

hackneyed

[overused, trite]: [hackneyed old sayings]

possessor

[owner]: [his father was the possessor of a considerable fortune]

block

[pad, building, batch, obstacle, blockage, clog (up), close up, hinder, parry, conceal, rough (out)]: [a block of marble] [a chopping block] [a family block of ice cream] [a sketching block] [Jackson jetted out of his blocks]

bucket

[pail, floods]: [a bucket and spade] [an ice bucket] [she emptied a bucket of water over them] [I wept buckets] [the Laxey wheel had 168 buckets, each holding 24 gallons]

agony

[pain]: [he crashed to the ground in agony] [his last agony]

sore

[painful, upset, dire, inflammation]: [she had a sore throat] [he was sore from the long ride] [I didn't even know they were sore at us] [we're in sore need of him] [all of us had sores and infections on our hands]

analgesic

[painkilling, painkiller]:

negligible

[paltry, trifling]: [he said that the risks were negligible]

bull

[papal bull]: [bull calves] [aim for the bull!] [he bulled the motor cycle clear of the tunnel] [I try not to analyse anything—I just go in like a bull at a gate] [he was rushing about like a bull in a china shop]

nirvana

[paradise]: [the days of socialist nirvana in Europe are over]

organ

[part of the body, newspaper]: [the internal organs] [the male organ] [the organs of local government] [he repositioned the journal as a leading organ of neoconservatism]

portion

[part, share, helping, destiny, share out]: [a portion of the jetty still stands] [he could repeat large portions of Shakespeare] [she wanted the right to decide how her portion of the allowance should be spent] [a portion of ice cream] [burger joints offering huge portions]

participant

[participator]: [staff are to be active participants in the decision-making process]

consort

[partner, associate]: [Queen Victoria and her consort, Prince Albert] [you chose to consort with the enemy] [it did not consort with his idea of scientific government] [a consort of viols] [an anthology of Tudor consort music]

host

[party-giver, presenter, give, present, multitude, crowd]: [a dinner-party host] [Innsbruck once played host to the Winter Olympics] [your host is Stuart Macmillan] [Australia is host to some of the world's most dangerous animals] [Canada was asked to host a Commonwealth conference in Ottawa]

vehement

[passionate]: [her voice was low but vehement] [vehement criticism]

intense

[passionate]: [the job demands intense concentration] [the heat was intense] [an intense blue] [a phase of intense activity] [an intense young woman, passionate about her art]

inmate

[patient, prisoner]: [inmates of the Louisiana State Penitentiary]

benefactor

[patron]: [a low-interest loan from a benefactor allowed them to build a floor for the exhibition hall]

subscribe

[pay a subscription, donate, agree with]: [subscribe to the magazine for twelve months and receive a free limited-edition T-shirt] [some 40,000 users have subscribed to the service] [he is one of the millions who subscribe to the NSPCC] [he subscribed £400 to the campaign] [the course has been fully subscribed]

heed

[pay attention to, attention]: [he should have heeded the warnings] [if he heard, he paid no heed] [we must take heed of the suggestions]

pacifist

[peace-lover]: [she was a committed pacifist all her life]

climax

[peak, orgasm, culminate, have an orgasm]: [she was nearing the climax of her speech] [a thrilling climax to the game] [near the equator the tropical rainforest is the climax vegetation] [a mixed hardwood climax forest] [the day climaxed with a gala concert]

sanction

[penalty, authorization, authorize, punish]: [a range of sanctions aimed at deterring insider abuse] [the United States had agreed to lift economic sanctions] [he appealed to the bishop for his sanction] [the scheme was sanctioned by the court] [foreigners in France illegally should be sent home, their employers sanctioned and border controls tightened up]

penultimate

[penult, penultima]: [the penultimate chapter of the book]

discern

[perceive]: [I can discern no difference between the two policies] [pupils quickly discern what is acceptable to the teacher] [she could faintly discern the shape of a skull]

roost

[perch, rest]: [birds were hurrying to their evening roosts] [migrating martins and swallows were settling to roost] [for the overextended borrowers, the chickens have come home to roost]

exemplary

[perfect, serving as a deterrent]: [exemplary behaviour] [exemplary sentencing may discourage the violent minority]

ideal

[perfect, unattainable, abstract, perfection, model, principle, ideals]: [the swimming pool is ideal for a quick dip] [this is an ideal opportunity to save money] [in an ideal world, we might have made a different decision] [mathematical modelling can determine theoretically ideal conditions] [you're my ideal of how a man should be]

idyllic

[perfect]: [an attractive hotel in an idyllic setting]

cursory

[perfunctory, hasty]: [a cursory glance at the figures]

circumference

[perimeter, girth]: [babies who have small head circumferences] [a rope two inches in circumference]

circumlocution

[periphrasis, tautology]: [his admission came after years of circumlocution] [he used a number of poetic circumlocutions]

authorization

[permission]: [the raising of revenue and the authorization of spending] [Horowitz handed him the authorization signed by Evans]

allowance

[permitted amount/quantity, concession, payment, take into consideration, excuse]: [your baggage allowance] [a personal allowance] [the elderly receive a heating allowance every winter] [the allowance of slavery in the South] [I have made up my mind to allowance him]

permissible

[permitted]: [it is permissible to edit and rephrase the statement]

perseverance

[persistence]: [medicine is a field which requires dedication and perseverance]

coax

[persuade]: [the trainees were coaxed into doing boring work] ['Come on now,' I coaxed] [we coaxed our fare money out of my father] [her lovely hair had been coaxed into ringlets] [coax connectors]

cajolery

[persuasion, wheedling]: [she uses cajolery, deception, and manipulation to get what she wants]

pharmacy

[pharmaceutics]: [the local pharmacy] [courses in pharmacy]

symphony

[philharmonic, symphony orchestra]: [Beethoven's Fifth Symphony] [the Boston Symphony] [autumn is a symphony of texture and pattern]

terminology

[phraseology]: [the terminology of semiotics] [specialized terminologies for higher education]

painting

[picture]: [pastels require a different approach to painting] [an oil painting]

segment

[piece, subdivision, divide, share out]: [a large segment of the local population] [orange segments] [the market for private cars can be broken down into several segments] [they probably want to tape you for the eleven o'clock segment] [Hammond and the others were filming a segment for his programme]

heap

[pile, a lot, pile up, shower on]: [a disordered heap of a lot of boxes] [her clothes lay in a heap on the floor] [a heap of gravel] [we have heaps of room] [they climbed back in the heap and headed home]

plunder

[pillage, steal, looting, booty, loot]: [looters moved into the disaster area to plunder shops] [the contents of the abandoned houses were plundered by members of the new regime] [we shall plunder related sciences to assist our research] [the commander refused to maintain his troops through pillage and plunder] [the army sacked the city and carried off huge quantities of plunder]

cushion

[pillow, protection, protect, soften]: [comfortable chairs and sofas piled with cushions] [underlay forms a cushion between carpet and floor] [the bag cushions equipment from inevitable knocks] [to cushion the blow, wages and pensions were increased]

pathetic

[pitiful, feeble]: [she looked so pathetic that I bent down to comfort her] [he's a pathetic excuse for a man]

patter

[pitter-patter, scurry, pitter-patter, rambling(s), prattle, (sales) pitch, way/manner of speaking, prattle]: [a flurry of rain pattered against the window] [he quickly pattered down the stairs] [the plashing patter of steady rain] [I had given up hope of hearing the patter of tiny feet] [take a friend with you to deflect the sales patter]

crucial

[pivotal, very important]: [negotiations were at a crucial stage] [this game is crucial to our survival]

lieu

[place, position, stead]: [the company issued additional shares to shareholders in lieu of a cash dividend]

flora

[plant, plant life]: [Britain's native flora]

plaster

[plasterwork, plaster of Paris, sticking plaster, cover thickly, flatten (down)]: [strip away the plaster to expose the bare brick] [the crumbling plaster ceiling] [he had both arms in plaster] [a small plaster statue of Our Lady] [waterproof plasters]

scale

[plate, flake, scales, limescale, weighing machine, calibrated system, hierarchy, extent, ratio, climb, reduce, increase]: [banging sounds emanating from the boiler may be caused by a build-up of scale] [a spray-on chemical for removing welding scale and heat discoloration from stainless steel] [he scales the fish and removes the innards] [dental hygienists give treatment such as scaling and polishing teeth] [moisturizers can ease off drying and scaling]

implore

[plead with]: [he implored her to change her mind] ['Hold me,' Ellen implored] [an imploring look] [I implore mercy]

gratify

[please, satisfy]: [she was gratified to see the shock in Jim's eyes] [the results were gratifying] [not all the sexual impulses can be gratified]

flexibility

[pliability, adaptability, willingness to compromise]: [players gained improved flexibility in their ankles] [I enjoyed the flexibility of the schedule] [the government has shown flexibility in applying its policy]

flexible

[pliable, adaptable, accommodating]: [flexible rubber seals] [small businesses which are dependent on flexible working hours] [you can save money if you're flexible about where your room is located]

ruse

[ploy]: [Emma tried to think of a ruse to get Paul out of the house]

dive

[plunge, swim under water, leap, plunge, lunge, sleazy bar]: [she walked to the deep end, then she dived in] [he dived off the bridge for a bet] [the fish dive down to about 1,400 feet] [he had been diving in the area to test equipment] [arctic skuas which dive at your head as you walk near their territories]

pathos

[poignancy]: [the actor injects his customary humour and pathos into the role]

standpoint

[point of view]: [she writes on religion from the standpoint of a believer]

aim

[point, take aim at, intend for, work towards, intend, objective]: [aim the camcorder at some suitable object] [aim for the middle of the target] [she had aimed the bottle at Gary's head] [the TV campaign is aimed at the 16-24 age group] [the programme will aim at deepening understanding]

juncture

[point]: [it is difficult to say at this juncture whether this upturn can be sustained] [the plane crashed at the juncture of two mountains]

post

[pole, affix, announce, letters, record, write in, keep informed]: [follow the blue posts until the track meets a road] [Robertson, at the near post, headed wide] [in a recent post, he cautioned investors to be wary of these predictions] [a curt notice had been posted on the door] [we have posted all the bars]

shaft

[pole, handle, quill, ray, cutting remark, mineshaft, borehole]: [the shaft of a golf club] [the shaft of a feather] [the shafts of a horse-drawn wagon] [a shaft of sunlight] [a shaft of inspiration]

courtesy

[politeness, benevolence]: [he treated the players with courtesy and good humour] [a ritual exchange of courtesies with the lawyers] [links to the manufacturers' websites are provided as a courtesy to the user] [a courtesy car] [he was not at the conference only by courtesy]

movement

[political group, campaign, development, trend, part, mechanism]: [a slight movement of the body] [the free movement of labour] [the Civil Aviation Authority directed 125,000 aircraft movements in 1991] [your movements and telephone conversations are recorded] [the scene was almost devoid of movement]

linguist

[polyglot]:

representation

[portrayal, likeness, statement]: [you may qualify for free legal representation] [the representation of women in newspapers] [Picasso is striving for some absolute representation of reality] [a striking representation of a vase of flowers] [the Law Society will make representations to the Lord Chancellor]

delineation

[portrayal]: [the artist's exquisite delineation of costume and jewellery] [the eventual delineation of the border between the two states]

constructive

[positive, useful]: [constructive advice] [constructive liability]

property

[possessions, building(s), quality]: [she wanted Oliver and his property out of her flat] [the stolen property was not recovered] [he's expanding now, buying property] [the renovation of council properties] [properties ran into profit-taking, with Haslemere 176p]

autopsy

[post-mortem]: [a Home Office pathologist carried out the autopsy] [on autopsy it was established that he had suffered from a rare brain condition] [the animal must be autopsied as soon as possible] [an autopsied brain]

posit

[postulate]: [the Confucian view posits a perfectible human nature] [these plots are posited on a false premise about women's nature as inferior] [the Professor posits Cohen in his second category of poets]

elixir

[potion, mixture]: [an elixir guaranteed to induce love] [he finds world train travel something of an elixir of life] [a cough elixir]

functional

[practical, working]: [a functional role] [there are important functional differences between left and right brain] [functional diarrhoea] [functional psychosis] [a small, functional bathroom]

eulogize

[praise enthusiastically]: [he was eulogized as a rock star] [a plaque that eulogizes the workers]

invoke

[pray to, summon, cite, bring forth]: [the antiquated defence of insanity is rarely invoked in England] [she invoked his help against this attack] [how could she explain how the accident happened without invoking his wrath?]

evangelist

[preacher]: [an American television evangelist] [a local evangelist working with a youth mission] [he has become an evangelist for the European Union] [St John the Evangelist]

exact

[precise, careful, demand, inflict]: [the exact details were still being worked out] [an exact replica, two feet tall, was constructed] [she was an exact, clever manager] [psychomedicine isn't an exact science yet] [he exacted promises that another Watergate would never be allowed to happen]

on the dot

[precisely, promptly]: [he arrived on the dot at nine o'clock]

forecast

[predict, prediction]: [rain is forecast for Scotland] [coal consumption in Europe is forecast to increase]

preparatory

[preliminary, in preparation for]: [more preparatory work is needed] [preparatory schooling] [she applied her make-up preparatory to leaving]

overture

[prelude, preliminary, opening move]: [the overture to Mozart's 'Don Giovanni'] [Overture and Incidental Music for 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'] [Tchaikovsky's '1812 Overture'] [the talks were no more than an overture to a long debate] [he began making overtures to British merchant banks]

engross

[preoccupy, absorbed, absorbing, copy]: [they seemed to be engrossed in conversation] [the notes totally engrossed him] [the most engrossing parts of the book] [the country had made the best of its position to engross trade] [the solicitors will submit a draft conveyance and engross the same after approval]

rehearse

[prepare, practise, train, enumerate, restate]: [we were rehearsing a radio play] [she was rehearsing for her world tour] [he listened to Charlie rehearsing the band] [he had rehearsed a thousand fine phrases] [criticisms of factory farming have been rehearsed often enough]

attendance

[presence, audience, present]: [my attendance at church was very patchy] [she is being blamed for the museum's low attendances] [some 200 were in attendance at the fourteenth reunion] [Her Royal Highness travelled in an aircraft of The Queen's Flight, with Viscountess Campden in attendance]

nowadays

[present]: [the sort of clothes worn by almost all young people nowadays] [nowadays, many people condemn hunting]

showing

[presentation, performance]: [Alsatian dog, championship quality, excellent results in showing] [another showing of the three-part series] [despite poor opinion poll showings, the party selected him as its candidate] [on her own showing she would make a more suitable wife for him than her twin]

dominant

[presiding, assertive]: [they are now in an even more dominant position in the market] [it is the dominant gene causing polydactyly] [the mutant allele is dominant to the wild type] [red spruce is a dominant species in many types of forest] [holding back is here a dominant strategy]

stress

[pressure, tension, strain, emphasis, emphasis, emphasize, place the emphasis on, overstretch]: [the distribution of stress is uniform across the bar] [he's obviously under a lot of stress] [stress-related illnesses] [the stresses and strains of public life] [he has started to lay greater stress on the government's role in industry]

assume

[presume, accept, seize, acquire, feign, false]: [topics which assume detailed knowledge of local events] [it is reasonable to assume that such changes have significant social effects] [they were assumed to be foreign] [he assumed full responsibility for all organizational work] [the rebels assumed control of the capital]

preponderance

[prevalence, bulk, majority, predominance]: [the preponderance of women among older people] [a preponderance of lower-paid jobs]

counteract

[prevent, offset]: [should we deliberately intervene in the climate system to counteract global warming?]

thorn

[prickle, annoyance]: [the issue has become a thorn in renewing the peace talks] [the pastor has long been a thorn in the side of the regime]

snob

[prig, snoot, snot]: [her mother was a snob and wanted a lawyer as a son-in-law] [extra snob appeal] [a musical snob]

hardship

[privation]: [intolerable levels of hardship] [the shared hardships of wartime]

poke

[prod, stick out, prod, thrust, mock, pry into, interfere in, search]: [he poked Benny in the ribs and pointed] [they sniffed, felt, and poked at everything they bought] [she drew the curtains then poked the fire into a blaze] [don't forget to poke holes in the dough to allow steam to escape] [I poked my head around the door to see what was going on]

career

[profession, existence, professional, rush]: [he seemed destined for a career as an engineer like his father] [the end of a distinguished career in the Royal Navy] [the court has had a chequered career] [a career diplomat] [a career girl]

mushroom

[proliferate]: [she sautéd the mushrooms in butter] [mushroom soup] [a mushroom of smoke and flames] [a mushroom leather bag] [environmental concern mushroomed in the 1960s]

conspicuously

[prominently]: [the signs were conspicuously displayed inside the restaurant] [his arguments conspicuously lack rigour] [one important voice has been conspicuously absent]

pledge

[promise, surety, token, promise, undertake to give, mortgage]: [the conference ended with a joint pledge to limit pollution] [appeals for emergency relief met with pledges totalling £250,000,000] [she persuaded Arthur to take the pledge] [he had given the object as a pledge to a creditor] [I have no intention of giving you anything that could be held against me as a pledge]

budding

[promising]: [a budding chrysanthemum] [her budding breasts] [budding young actors] [their budding relationship]

swift

[prompt, rapid, fast]: [a remarkably swift recovery] [the water was very swift] [the swiftest horse in his stable] [streams which ran swift and very clear] [a swift-acting poison]

proofread

[proof]: [they must revise and proofread their work] [typesetting from the writer's keystrokes reduces the need for proofreading]

tendency

[propensity, trend]: [for students, there is a tendency to socialize in the evenings] [criminal tendencies]

correctitude

[properness, propriety]: [Athens, not to be outdone in correctitude under cold war conditions, did not intervene until the Spartans had gone home]

decency

[propriety, courtesy]: [she had the decency to come and confess] [a loose dress, rather too low-cut for decency] [an appeal to common decencies] [I can't afford any of the decencies of life]

prohibitive

[proscriptive, excessively high]: [prohibitive legislation] [books made browser-proof with prohibitive cellophane wrapping] [the cost of converting existing power stations is likely to be prohibitive]

fulminate

[protest, explode]: [all fulminated against the new curriculum] [thunder fulminated around the house] [fulminating appendicitis]

complaint

[protest, protesting, disorder]: [I intend to make an official complaint] [there were complaints that the building was an eyesore] [I have no complaints about the hotel] [a letter of complaint] [he hasn't any cause for complaint]

objection

[protest]: [they have raised no objections to the latest plans] [his view is open to objection]

validate

[prove, ratify]: [all analytical methods should be validated in respect of accuracy] [acclaim was seen as a means of validating one's existence] [a wide range of professional bodies validate courses leading to these awards] [without Patti to validate my feelings, they seemed not to exist] [he seems to need other women's attention to validate him as a man]

facility

[provision, amenity, establishment, possibility, aptitude, ease]: [cooking facilities] [facilities for car parking] [a manufacturing facility] [an overdraft facility] [he had a facility for languages]

retract

[pull in, take back]: [she retracted her hand as if she'd been burnt] [the tentacle retracted quickly] [he retracted his allegations] [the parish council was forced to retract a previous resolution]

uproot

[pull up, eradicate]: [the elephant's trunk is powerful enough to uproot trees] [a revolution is necessary to uproot the social order] [my father travelled constantly and uprooted his family several times]

penalize

[punish, prohibit, handicap]: [high-spending councils will be penalized] [the Scots appeared to be wrongly penalized when the umpire awarded Berlin a penalty corner] [section twenty penalizes possession of a firearm when trespassing] [if the bill is not amended genuine claimants will be penalized]

pawn

[puppet, pledge]: [he was a pawn in the game of power politics] [I pawned the necklace to cover the loan] [the bank did lend money upon pawns at low interest] [our money was gone and everything was in pawn] [newly industrialized economies are racing to pawn off old processes on poorer countries]

consumer

[purchaser, the consumer, consumers]: [recession-hit consumers are being lured by cheap prices] [consumer demand] [Scandinavians are the largest consumers of rye]

purification

[purgation]: [water purification] [his blood is pumped out and, after purification, pumped back in] [the purification of DNA from any sample type] [purification of the mind through reflection and contemplation] [the goal of the religious fast is purification of the soul]

function

[purpose, responsibility, consequence, social event, work, serve]: [bridges perform the function of providing access across water] [bodily functions] [building designs that prioritize style over function] [the function (bx + c)] [the magnetic field has varied as a function of time]

chase

[pursue, court, drive away, rush, pursuit, chase, engrave]: [police chased the stolen car through the city] [the dog chased after the stick] [the team are chasing their first home win this season] [he spends all his free time chasing girls] [she chased him out of the house]

immobilize

[put out of action]: [the car had been immobilized by a wheel clamp] [fear immobilized her] [other children in the ward were immobilized in traction]

dislocate

[put out of joint, disrupt]: [he dislocated his shoulder in training] [trade was dislocated by a famine] [the symbol is dislocated from its political context]

reassure

[put/set someone's mind at rest]: [he understood her feelings and tried to reassure her] [Joachim reassured him that he was needed] [Gina gave her a reassuring smile]

mysterious

[puzzling, enigmatic]: [his colleague had vanished in mysterious circumstances] [a mysterious benefactor provided the money] [she was mysterious about herself but said plenty about her husband]

entitle

[qualify, title]: [employees are normally entitled to redundancy pay] [the landlord is entitled to require references] [a satire entitled 'The Rise of the Meritocracy'] [they entitled him Sultan]

dilemma

[quandary]: [he wants to make money, but he also disapproves of it: Den's dilemma in a nutshell] [the insoluble dilemma of adolescence] [the insoluble dilemma of adolescence]

epigram

[quip, proverb]: [a Wildean epigram]

ratchet

[rachet up, ratchet down]: [a ratchet screwdriver] [the upward ratchet of property taxes] [a ratcheted quick release system] [a smooth ratcheting action] [the Bank of Japan ratcheted up interest rates again]

fury

[rage, fierceness]: [tears of fury and frustration] [Rachel shouted, beside herself with fury] [in a fury, he lashed the horse on] [the fury of a gathering storm] [she was paddling with a new fury]

lift

[raise, improve, clear, amplify, dig up, airlift, boost, cancel, plagiarize, elevator, push, car ride, boost, take off]: [he lifted his trophy over his head] [he lifted his eyes for an instant] [Thomas's eyelids drowsily lifted] [the factory smoke hung low, never lifted] [she lifted her voice in a great shout]

elevate

[raise, promote]: [the exercise will naturally elevate your chest and head] [she ordered the bishop celebrating Mass in her chapel not to elevate the Host] [the field guns were elevated twenty degrees] [he was elevated to Secretary of State] [he has elevated bad taste into an art form]

scrape

[rake, scoop out, graze, grate, collect, manage, just pass, grate, graze, predicament, scrapes]: [remove the green tops from the carrots and scrape them] [we scraped the dishes clean] [she scraped the mud off her shoes] [he scraped the long-bladed razor across the stubble on his cheek] [he found a ditch, scraped a hole, and put the bag in it]

indiscriminately

[randomly]: [his armies slaughtered men, women, and children indiscriminately] [people who are sedentary and who eat indiscriminately]

choice

[range, appointee, superior, well chosen, rude, voluntarily]: [the choice between good and evil] [I had to do it, I had no choice] [you can have a sofa made in a choice of forty fabrics] [this disk drive is the perfect choice for your computer] [he picked some choice early plums]

escalation

[rapid increase, intensification]: [cost escalations] [an escalation of violence] [the present escalation of global warming]

accessible

[reachable, understandable, approachable]: [the town is accessible by bus] [this room is not accessible to elderly people] [making learning opportunities more accessible to adults] [an accessible account of his theories] [features such as non-slip floors and accessible entrances]

breech

[rear of barrel, rear of tube]: [the 47-round ammunition drum fits over the breech] [in those days it wasn't customary to breech a boy until he was about four]

rally

[reassemble, muster, gather, come/get together, recover, meeting, recovery]: [De Montfort's troops rallied and drove back the king's infantry] [the king escaped to Perth to rally his own forces] [up to 50,000 people rallied in the city centre] [colleagues rallied round to help Ann] [a series of meetings to rally support for the union]

insurgent

[rebel, rebellious]: [an attack by armed insurgents] [alleged links with insurgent groups] [a series of insurgent attacks]

insurrection

[rebellion]: [the insurrection was savagely put down] [opposition to the new regime led to armed insurrection]

scold

[rebuke, rebuke, nag]: [Mum took Anna away, scolding her for her bad behaviour] [she was a scold—whenever she was near him he felt in the wrong]

berate

[rebuke]: [she berated herself for being fickle]

alcove

[recess]:

recessive

[recessive allele]: [the recessive housing market] [recessive stress is characteristic of British English] [this variant was a low-status and recessive feature]

mutual

[reciprocal]: [a partnership based on mutual respect and understanding] [my father hated him from the start and the feeling was mutual] [his contract with City has been terminated by mutual consent] [they cooperated as potentially mutual beneficiaries of the settlement] [we were introduced by a mutual friend]

rash

[reckless, spots, series, spate]: [it would be extremely rash to make such an assumption] [a rash decision] [a red itchy rash appeared on her legs] [next day he broke out in a rash] [a rash of strikes by health-service workers]

rapprochement

[reconciliation]: [there were signs of a growing rapprochement between the two countries]

suggestive

[redolent, indecent]: [there were various suggestive pieces of evidence] [flavours suggestive of coffee and blackberry] [a suggestive remark]

alleviate

[reduce]: [he couldn't prevent her pain, only alleviate it] [measures to alleviate unemployment]

allude

[refer to]: [she had a way of alluding to Jean but never saying her name] [we will allude briefly to the main points] [the photographs allude to Italian Baroque painting]

allusion

[reference to]: [an allusion to Shakespeare] [a classical allusion] [the use of allusion]

genteel

[refined]: [her genteel upbringing]

abstention

[refusal to vote]: [a resolution passed by 126 votes to none, with six abstentions] [alcohol consumption versus abstention]

rejection

[refusal, repudiation]: [the Union decided last night to recommend rejection of the offer] [the rejection of the application for parole] [some people are reluctant to try it, because they fear rejection]

rule

[regulation, precept, control, procedure, govern, be in power, prevail, decree, usually, exclude]: [the rules of cricket] [those who did break the rules would be dealt with swiftly] [the rules of grammar] [the Rule of St Benedict] [the revolution brought an end to British rule]

regulatory

[regulative]: [the existing legal and regulatory framework] [regulatory enzymes]

governor

[regulator]: [the governor of the Bank of England]

restore

[reinstate, repair, return]: [the government restored confidence in the housing market] [order was eventually restored by riot police] [the effort to restore him to office isn't working] [the building has been lovingly restored] [the government will restore land to those who lost it through confiscation]

repetition

[reiteration, repeating, recurrence]: [her comments are worthy of repetition] [a repetition of his reply to the delegation] [there was to be no repetition of the interwar years] [I didn't want a repetition of the scene in my office that morning] [the geometric repetitions of Islamic art]

disown

[reject]: [Lovell's rich family had disowned him because of his marriage]

veto

[rejection, reject]: [neither state was given a veto over amendments to the Act] [the royal power of veto] [his veto on our drinking after the meal was annoying] [the president vetoed the bill] [I vetoed the idea of a holiday]

corresponding

[related, related to]: [the corresponding Jamaican word is 'bada']

germane

[relevant]: [that is not germane to our theme]

trustworthy

[reliable]: [leave a spare key with a trustworthy neighbour]

disburden

[relieve]: [I decided to disburden myself of the task]

loath

[reluctant]: [I was loath to leave] [I was loath to leave] [she loathed him on sight]

singular

[remarkable, strange]: [the third person singular form of the verb] [she always thought of herself as singular, as his only daughter] [he had the singular good fortune not to die in the trenches] [no explanation accompanied this rather singular statement] [a word in the singular]

reminisce

[remember (with pleasure)]: [they reminisced about their summers abroad]

unmanned

[remote-controlled]: [an unmanned level crossing]

evacuation

[removal, clearance, emptying (out), expulsion, bowel movement/motion]: [there were waves of evacuation during the blitz] [a full-scale evacuation of the city centre] [patients with a feeling of incomplete evacuation] [those who required an evacuation of retained products] [the evacuations of cholera victims are almost colourless]

dislodge

[remove]: [the hoofs of their horses dislodged loose stones] [government opponents failed to dislodge the Prime Minister]

recite

[repeat from memory, give a recitation, enumerate, recount]: [he recited passages of Dante] [she recited the dates and names of kings and queens]

encore

[repeat performance]: [everybody got up on stage for the final encore] [it was Louis who shouted 'Bravo! Encore!'] [several arias were encored] [he encored with a solo number]

shot

[report, shots, marksman, stroke, attempt, ball, photograph, injection, without hesitation, immediately, boost, variegated, dispose of]: [Mulder killed him with a single shot] [they have fired the opening shot in what's expected to be a savage price war] [he asked me if I would like to have a shot at a pheasant] [Roy was a very good shot] [Paul tried one last shot—'You realize what you want will cost more money?']

journalist

[reporter, journalists]: [foreign journalists had been expelled from the area] [he was a seasoned TV journalist]

depository

[repository]: [Irish libraries became depositories for material from all over the world]

sample

[representative, specimen, cross section, try out]: [investigations involved analysing samples of handwriting] [samples of products for evaluation] [a free sample of chewing gum] [a urine sample] [they shared these characteristics with other women in the sample]

abrogate

[repudiate]: [a proposal to abrogate temporarily the right to strike] [we believe the board is abrogating its responsibilities to its shareholders]

application

[request, implementation, relevance, putting on, ointment, diligence, program]: [an application for leave] [licences are available on application] [an application form] [the application of general rules to particular cases] [massage has far-reaching medical applications]

involve

[require, entail, include, implicate]: [my job involves a lot of travelling] [a bill proposing harsher penalties for crimes involving firearms and drugs] [an opportunity to involve as many people as possible in all aspects of music-making] [her husband had been very involved in his work] [Angela told me she was involved with someone else]

abdicate

[resign, resign from, disown]: [in 1918 Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated as German emperor] [Ferdinand abdicated the throne in favour of the emperor's brother] [the government was accused of abdicating its responsibility]

immunity

[resistance to, exemption, indemnity]: [immunity to typhoid seems to have increased spontaneously] [the rebels were given immunity from prosecution] [products must have an adequate level of immunity to interference]

decision

[resolution, verdict, decisiveness]: [I'll make the decision on my own] [the editor's decision is final] [the information was used as the basis for decision] [she was a woman of decision]

mediate

[resolve, negotiate, convey]: [Wilson attempted to mediate between the powers to end the war] [set up a tribunal to arbitrate and mediate disputes] [efforts to mediate a peaceful resolution of the conflict] [the right hemisphere plays an important role in mediating tactile perception of direction] [this important ministry of mediating the power of the word]

homage

[respect, honour]: [many villagers come here to pay homage to the Virgin] [Daniel's films were a homage to her] [a man doing homage to his personal lord]

reactive

[responsive]: [pupils are reactive to light] [lysosomal activity can activate B lymphocytes reactive against self-components] [reactive arthritis] [reactive depression] [nitrogen dioxide is a highly reactive gas]

sensitivity

[responsiveness, consideration, touchiness, delicacy]: [a total lack of common decency and sensitivity] [he has a sensitivity to cow's milk] [the only rules that matter are practical ones that respect local sensitivities]

impatience

[restlessness, eagerness, irritability]: [she crumpled up the pages in a burst of impatience] [he was shifting in his seat with impatience]

stimulate

[restorative, encourage, thought-provoking]: [the women are given fertility drugs to stimulate their ovaries] [the reader could not fail to be stimulated by the ideas presented] [the courses stimulate a passion for learning]

circumscribe

[restrict, limit]: [the minister's powers are circumscribed both by tradition and the organization of local government] [if a hexagon is circumscribed about a circle the lines joining opposite vertices meet in one point]

ensue

[result]: [the difficulties which ensued from their commitment to Cuba] [there were repeated clashes in the ensuing days]

renew

[resume, reaffirm, revive, extend, renovate]: [the parents renewed their campaign to save the school] [he had renewed an acquaintance with MacAlister] [detectives renewed their appeal for witnesses to contact them] [she would face the future with renewed determination] [her contract had not been renewed]

renewal

[resumption, renovation]: [a renewal of hostilities] [the contracts came up for renewal] [a renewal of his passport] [the need for urban renewal] [the call to continual spiritual renewal]

retainer

[retaining fee, attendant]: [a guitar string retainer] [he's on a retainer as a consultant] [faithful family retainers]

reconsider

[rethink]: [they called on the US government to reconsider its policy] [I beg you to reconsider]

recurrence

[return]: [a drug used to prevent the recurrence of breast cancer] [fifty-two patients had recurrences of intestinal problems]

echo

[reverberation, duplicate, trace, reverberate, repeat]: [the walls threw back the echoes of his footsteps] [his love for her found an echo in her own feelings] [the cheese has a sharp rich aftertaste with echoes of salty, earthy pastures] [Clarendon, whom they reckoned the faithful echo of their master's intentions] [the South Wales Echo]

countermand

[revoke]: [an order to arrest the strike leaders had been countermanded] [he was already countermanding her] [the election commission has countermanded voting on the grounds of intimidation] [I forthwith mounted, and went off, lest I should receive a countermand]

declamatory

[rhetorical]: [a long declamatory speech]

amply

[richly]: [the persistent reader is amply rewarded]

ridge

[ridgepole, rooftree]: [the North-East ridge of Everest] [the roof was unusual due to the relative heights of the eaves and the ridge] [buff your nails in order to smooth ridges] [a path led through the ridges and furrows of fields long left to nature] [a high-pressure ridge helping to steer cyclones further south]

thorough

[rigorous, utter]: [planners need a thorough understanding of the subject] [officers have made a thorough examination of the wreckage] [the British authorities are very thorough] [the child is being a thorough nuisance]

ascendant

[rising (in power)]: [the newly ascendant liberal party] [the reformers are in the ascendant]

observance

[rite, scrutiny, compliance with]: [strict observance of the rules] [the decline in religious observance] [official anniversary observances] [he drew up a body of monastic observances] [the baby's motionless observance of me]

sacrifice

[ritual slaughter, (votive) offering, giving up, renunciation, offer up, give up]: [they offer sacrifices to the spirits] [the ancient laws of animal sacrifice] [a flat cake offered by the Romans as a sacrifice to their gods] [we must all be prepared to make sacrifices] [the goat was sacrificed at the shrine]

opposing

[rival, conflicting, opposite]: [the opposing team] [the brothers fought on opposing sides in the war] [on the opposing page there were two addresses]

capacious

[roomy]: [she rummaged in her capacious handbag]

nest

[roost, lair, hideaway, hotbed, cluster]: [two sparrows frantically building a nest] [a nest site] [an ants' nest] [potato nests filled with okra] [I'm off to my cosy nest]

latency

[rotational latency]: [tension, and the latency of violence, make the greatest impressions] [the latency of tumours in mice] [the disease's latency period can last up to five years] [poor performance due to network latency] [subscribers can expect some latency time when issuing a request]

rugged

[rough, well built, strong, durable, austere, uncompromising]: [a rugged coastline] [he was known for his rugged good looks] [the binoculars are compact, lightweight, and rugged] [a week of rugged, demanding adventure at an outdoor training centre]

approximately

[roughly]: [a journey of approximately two hours]

nonsense

[rubbish, mischief]: [he was talking absolute nonsense] ['Nonsense! No one can do that.'] [nonsense poetry] [she's a strong woman who stands no nonsense] [the law is a nonsense]

impertinent

[rude, impudent, irrelevant]: [an impertinent question] [talk of 'rhetoric' and 'strategy' is impertinent to this process]

prescript

[rule]:

abscond

[run away]: [the barman absconded with a week's takings] [176 detainees absconded] [charges of absconding while on bail]

jog

[run slowly, nudge, run, continue, stimulate]: [he began to jog along the road] [right now she is jogging two miles a day] [they caught and saddled their horses and jogged up to the high grass moorland] [the bus jogged and jolted] [a hand jogged his elbow]

depressed

[sad, weak, poverty-stricken, sunken]: [she felt lonely and depressed] [depressed inner-city areas] [a depressed fracture of the skull]

disappointment

[sadness, failure]: [to her disappointment, there was no chance to talk privately with Luke] [the job proved a disappointment] [I was a big disappointment to her]

harmless

[safe, inoffensive]: [the venom of most spiders is harmless to humans] [as an entertainer, he's pretty harmless]

perspicacious

[sagacious, sapient]: [it offers quite a few facts to the perspicacious reporter]

pay cut

[salary cut]:

sarcastic

[sardonic]: [making sarcastic comments] [I think they're being sarcastic]

quench

[satisfy, lessen, extinguish]: [he only pursued her to quench an aching need] [firemen hauled on hoses in a desperate bid to quench the flames] [fury rose in him, but he quenched it] [she quenched Anne by a curt command to hold her tongue]

brutal

[savage, unsparing]: [a brutal murder] [the brutal morning light] [the brutal honesty of his observations]

scuttle

[scamper, scamper]: [carrying endless scuttles of coal up from the cellar] [a mouse scuttled across the floor] [I heard the scuttle of rats across the room] [the ship was scuttled by its German prize crew, who took to the boats] [some of the stockholders are threatening to scuttle the deal]

disreputable

[scandalous, scruffy]: [he was heavy, grubby, and vaguely disreputable]

disperse

[scatter, break up, dissipate]: [storms can disperse seeds via high altitudes] [caravan sites could be dispersed among trees so as to be out of sight] [the crowd dispersed] [the police used tear gas to disperse the protesters] [the earlier mist had dispersed]

chide

[scold]: [she chided him for not replying to her letters] ['Now, now,' he chided]

compass

[scope]: [walkers should be equipped with a map and compass] [a magnetic compass] [Crewe was ideally placed on the rail network, with connections running to all points of the compass] [a regular heptagon cannot be constructed accurately with only ruler and compass] [the event had political repercussions which are beyond the compass of this book]

contemptuous

[scornful]: [she was intolerant and contemptuous of the majority of the human race]

rogue

[scoundrel, scamp]: [you are a rogue and an embezzler] [Cenzo, you old rogue!] [a rogue elephant] [he hacked into data and ran rogue programs] [a rogue cop who took the law into his own hands]

shriek

[scream, screech, scream, screech]: [the audience shrieked with laughter] ['There it is!' she shrieked] [she was shrieking abuse at a taxi] [the wheels shrieked as the car sped away] [the answer shrieked at her all too clearly]

water

[sea, sprinkle, moisten, dilute, moderate]: [sodium chloride dissolves in water] [can I have a drink of water?] [a water sign] [you can take the waters at the Pump Room] [ammonia water]

shore

[seashore, prop up]: [I made for the shore] [record companies have been anxious to import the music to American shores] [are any of the crew left on shore?] [rescue workers had to shore up the building, which was in danger of collapse] [Congress approved a $700 billion plan to shore up the financial industry]

deputy

[second in command, assistant]: [his deputy has been largely running the business for the past year] [the deputy prime minister] [the communists had numbered 324 out of the 450 deputies] [the wardens of the forests performed important duties by deputy]

certificate

[security]: [a birth certificate] [a university-accredited certificate] [a share certificate] [an 18 certificate] [the amounts earned have to be certificated by employers]

aqueous

[sedimentary]: [an aqueous solution of potassium permanganate] [an eerie, aqueous light]

grab

[seize, obtain, lunge for, available]: [she grabbed him by the shirt collar] [she grabbed her keys and rushed out] [I'll grab another drink while there's still time] [the brakes grabbed very badly] [how does that grab you?]

assured

[self-confident, guaranteed]: [an extremely assured performance] [an assured tenancy]

autonomous

[self-governing]: [the federation included sixteen autonomous republics] [school governors are legally autonomous]

pompous

[self-important, bombastic]: [a pompous ass who pretends he knows everything] [processions and other pompous shows]

self-reliant

[self-sufficient]: [a self-reliant little girl]

peddle

[sell, advocate]: [he peddled printing materials around the country] [youths involved in drug peddling] [the giant con that has been peddled in the Conservative press]

purveyor

[seller]: [a purveyor of large luxury vehicles] [a purveyor of traditional Christian values]

dismiss

[send away, give someone their notice]: [she dismissed the taxi at the corner of the road] [the prime minister dismissed five members of his cabinet] [he told his company to dismiss] [Australia were dismissed for 118] [it would be easy to dismiss him as all brawn and no brain]

patriarch

[senior figure]: [Hollywood's reigning patriarch rose to speak] [he's the patriarch of all spin doctors] [Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia] [Patriarch of Venice]

diverge

[separate, differ, deviate]: [the flight path diverged from the original flight plan] [their ways had diverged at university] [the coverage by the columnists diverged from that in the main news stories] [diverging concepts of nation-building] [suddenly he diverged from his text]

order

[sequence, tidiness, peace, command, commission, system, class, community, organization, type, condition, taxonomic group, instruct, decree, tell someone what to do, request, organize, in sequence, tidy, appropriate, roughly, predominant, not working, unacceptable]: [I filed the cards in alphabetical order] [she tried to put her shattered thoughts into some semblance of order] [the army was deployed to keep order] [the meeting was called to order] [he was not going to take orders from a mere administrator]

calm

[serene, windless, tranquil, composure, tranquillity, soothe, compose oneself]: [she had to keep calm at all costs] [his voice was calm] [the city was reported to be calm, but army patrols remained] [the night was clear and calm] [a dead calm sea]

stern

[serious, strict, rear end]: [a smile transformed his stern face] [Mama looked stern] [stern measures to restrict vehicle growth] [the past year has been a stern test of the ability of British industry] [whereas James was deeply wounded by the failure, George was made of sterner stuff]

establish

[set up, prove]: [the scheme was established in 1975] [the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1992] [the principle of the supremacy of national parliaments needs to be firmly established] [he had established himself as a film star] [establish the location with a wide shot]

couch

[settee, express]: [I sat in an armchair and they sat on the couch] [the child was lying on the examination couch] [the assurances were couched in general terms] [two fair creatures, couched side by side in deepest grass] [To arms! cried Mortimer, and couch'd his quiv'ring lance]

establishment

[setting up, business, institution, the powers that be]: [the establishment of an independent government] [her chief solicitude was to procure an affluent establishment for their daughter] [hotels or catering establishments] [he scandalized the Establishment of his day] [she became an establishment figure]

austere

[severe, strict, plain]: [he was an austere man, with a rigidly puritanical outlook] [conditions in the prison could hardly be more austere] [the cathedral is impressive in its austere simplicity]

overshadow

[shade, cast gloom over, outshine]: [an enormous oak tree stood overshadowing the cottage] [it is easy to let this feeling of tragedy overshadow his story] [his competitive nature often overshadows the other qualities] [he was always overshadowed by his brilliant elder brother]

axle

[shaft]: [the exhaust pipe corrodes around the bend which goes over the rear axle on motor cars] [axle grease] [North American railways operate cars at much higher axle loads]

convulse

[shake uncontrollably/violently, laugh uproariously]: [she convulsed, collapsing to the floor with the pain] [she rocked backwards and forwards, convulsed with helpless mirth] [a wave of mass strikes convulsed the Ruhr, Berlin, and central Germany]

stitch

[sharp pain, sew, sew up, falsely incriminate]: [he had to have sixteen stitches to his head] [basic embroidery stitches] [nymphs with come-hither looks and not a stitch on] [he was panting and had a stitch] [stitch a plain seam with right sides together]

stark

[sharply delineated, desolate, austere, blunt, sheer]: [the ridge formed a stark silhouette against the sky] [his position is in stark contrast to that of Curran] [the stark reality of life for deprived minorities] [he came running back in stark terror] [a human body lying stiff and stark by the stream]

bitterness

[sharpness, resentment, trauma, intense cold, acrimony]: [the lime juice imparts a slight bitterness] [he expressed bitterness over his dismissal without notice]

bombard

[shell, inundate]: [the city was bombarded by federal forces] [they will be bombarded with complaints]

gravel

[shingle]: [gravelled paths] [the strike was badly organized and it gravelled him to involve himself in it] [the wisest doctor is gravelled by the inquisitiveness of a child]

vice

[shortcoming]: [an open sewer of vice and crime] [a mobile phone network is being used to peddle vice] [hypocrisy is a particularly sinister vice] [cigars happen to be my father's vice] [the letter was drafted by David Hunt, vice Bevin who was ill]

deficit

[shortfall]: [an annual operating deficit] [the balance of payments is again in deficit] [a 3-0 deficit] [deficits in speech comprehension]

vociferate

[shout out]: [he then began to vociferate loudly] [he entered, vociferating curses]

bawl

[shout, cry, shout, reprimand]: ['Move!' bawled the drill corporal] [we began to bawl out the words of the carol] [bawling babies] [he addressed every class in a terrifying bawl] [tales of how she bawled out employees]

roar

[shout, guffaw, loud noise, bellow, boom, guffaw, speed]: [she waited for the lion's roar] [he gave a roar of rage] [her remarks brought a roar of laughter from the old man] [the roar of the sea] [we heard a lion roar]

chant

[shout, incantation, shout, sing]: [a group of young people set up a chant of 'Why are we waiting?'] [he was whispering something, repeating it like a chant or a mantra] [Gregorian chant] [protesters were chanting slogans] [everyone was singing and chanting]

thrust

[shove, impose, thrust something on someone, shove, advance, barbed remark, gist, force]: [she thrust her hands into her pockets] [Howard was thrust into the limelight] [he thrust at his opponent with his sword] [she thrust through the bramble canes] [he tried to thrust his way past her]

ostentatious

[showy]: [a simple design that is glamorous without being ostentatious]

diffident

[shy, insecure]: [a diffident youth]

inhibition

[shyness, hindrance]: [the children, at first shy, soon lost their inhibitions] [she showed an enthusiasm for sex and a lack of inhibition which was entirely alien to him]

diffidence

[shyness, insecurity]: [I say this with some diffidence]

offshoot

[side shoot, subsidiary, outcome]: [commercial offshoots of universities]

blockade

[siege, barricade, barricade, besiege]: [they voted to lift the blockade of major railway junctions] [the authorities blockaded roads in and out of the capital] [vessels suspected of running the UN blockade]

autograph

[signature, sign]: [fans surged around the car asking for autographs] [the earliest version of the work is possibly an autograph] [a songbook in Purcell's autograph] [the whole team autographed a shirt for him] [an autographed photo]

analogy

[similarity]: [an analogy between the workings of nature and those of human societies] [he interprets logical functions by analogy with machines] [the syndrome is called deep dysgraphia because of its analogy to deep dyslexia] [works of art were seen as an analogy for works of nature] [argument from analogy]

oblong

[simple, unsubdivided]: [an oblong of grass] [oblong tables]

concurrent

[simultaneous, convergent]: [there are three concurrent art fairs around the city] [he received concurrent sentences of two years' imprisonment for each of his two convictions] [she was given nine months concurrent for each offence]

unison

[simultaneously]: ['Yes, sir,' said the girls in unison] [the flutes play in unison with the violas] [good unisons are formed by flutes, oboes, and clarinets] [unison congregational singing]

bite

[sink one's teeth into, puncture, corrode, accept, grip, take effect, mouthful, nip, puncture, snack, piquancy, die, fail]: [the woman's arm was bitten off by an alligator] [Rosa bit into a cream cake] [she had bitten, scratched, and kicked her assailant] [while on holiday she was bitten by an adder] [chemicals have bitten deep into the stone]

drawing

[sketch]: [a series of charcoal drawings on white paper] [she took lessons in drawing]

prowess

[skill, courage]: [his prowess as a fisherman] [her culinary prowess] [the hereditary nobility had no monopoly of skill and prowess in war]

horizon

[skyline, range of experience, imminent]: [the sun rose above the horizon] [she wanted to leave home and broaden her horizons] [the upper horizon of the site showed an arrangement of two rows of features] [trouble could be on the horizon]

calumny

[slander]: [a bitter struggle marked by calumny and litigation] [a change in the law would prevent the press from publishing calumnies]

sordid

[sleazy, dirty]: [the story paints a sordid picture of bribes and scams] [the overcrowded housing conditions were sordid and degrading]

dormant

[sleeping]: [dormant butterflies] [the event evoked memories that she would rather had lain dormant] [the disease may remain dormant and undetected until transmitted to other fish]

slip

[slide, fall, creep, escape, put, put on, take off, decline, drop, false step, mistake, mistake, underskirt, escape from, reveal, die, pass, make a mistake, piece of paper, cutting, small]: [I slipped over on the ice] [he kept slipping in the mud] [the envelope slipped through Luke's fingers] [a wisp of hair had slipped down over her face] [the front wheels began to slip]

bevel

[slope]: [a very small 45° bevel is ground on the top surface] [a bevelled mirror]

dart

[small arrow, dash, dash, direct]: [the classroom was littered with paper darts] [she shot the animal with a tranquillizing dart] [Jack's first dart pierced the treble twenty] [the cat made a dart for the door] [a dart of panic]

paltry

[small, worthless]: [she would earn a paltry £33 more a month] [naval glory struck him as paltry]

scent

[smell, perfume, spoor, perfumed, sweet-smelling, smell, sense]: [the scent of freshly cut hay] [she sprayed scent over her body] [the hound followed the scent] [once their interest is aroused they follow the scent with sleuth-like pertinacity] [the dog, having the help of scent as well as of sight]

smut

[smut fungus]: [all those black smuts from the engine] [a few bad crop years with smut and drought and frost] [fungal infections such as the smuts] [porn, in his view, is far from being harmless smut] [the smutted sky]

nestle

[snuggle]: [the baby nestled in her arms] [she nestled her head against his shoulder] [picturesque villages nestle in the wooded hills]

flaccid

[soft, lacklustre]: [she took his flaccid hand in hers] [the flaccid leadership campaign was causing concern]

documentation

[software documentation]: [you will have to complete the relevant documentation] [user documentation] [she arranged the collection and documentation of photographs]

satellite

[space station, moon, dependent, dependency]: [a communications satellite] [a spy satellite] [the report was sent via satellite] [satellite broadcasting] [a news service on satellite]

clearance

[space]: [cleaning of the machine should include clearance of blockages] [there will be sunny intervals after clearance of any early mist] [slum clearance accelerated during the 1960s] [forest clearances] [the sheriff's officers supervised the house clearance]

spatial

[spacial]: [the spatial distribution of population]

accost

[speak to]: [reporters accosted him in the street]

spear

[spear up]: [smoked salmon wrapped around asparagus spears] [she speared her last chip with her fork]

audience

[spectators, market, meeting]: [he asked for questions from members of the audience] [the programme attracted an audience of almost twenty million] [the newspaper has a sophisticated audience] [the report deserves consideration by a much wider audience] [he demanded an audience with the Pope]

lecture

[speech, scolding, give a lecture, teach, scold]: [in each course there are supporting lectures and tutorials] [a lecture hall] [the usual lecture on table manners] [he was lecturing at the University of Birmingham] [he was lecturing future generations of health-service professionals]

accelerate

[speed up, increase, hasten]: [the car accelerated towards her] [inflation started to accelerate] [the key question is whether stress accelerates ageing] [an accelerating electron radiates off some of its energy]

overflow

[spill over, overspill, surplus]: [chemicals overflowed from a storage tank] [the river overflowed its banks] [boxes overflowing with bright flowers] [an overflowing ashtray] [the waiting area was overflowing]

emotional

[spiritual, poignant, emotive, passionate]: [gaining emotional support from relatives] [an emotional speech] [he was a strongly emotional young man]

splash

[splashing, spot, drop, patch, feature, spatter, sprinkle, swash, paddle, be flecked with, blazon, cause a sensation, be extravagant]: [we hit the water with a mighty splash] [the girls joined them for a final splash in the pool] [a splash of gravy] [a splash of lemonade] [add a red scarf to give a splash of colour]

magnificent

[splendid, sumptuous, admirable, masterly]: [a dramatic landscape of magnificent mountains] [she paid tribute to their magnificent efforts]

mar

[spoil, disfigure, spoil, harm]: [violence marred a number of New Year celebrations]

miscarriage

[spontaneous abortion, failure]: [[his wife had a miscarriage] ] [[some pregnancies result in miscarriage] ] [[the miscarriage of the project] ]

husband

[spouse, use economically, conserve]: [she and her husband are both retired] [she husbanded their financial resources through difficult times]

fairy

[sprite]: [she believed she had had fairies at the bottom of her garden] [fairy gold]

waste

[squander, grow weak, murder, unwanted, uncultivated, squandering, rubbish, desert, devastate]: [we can't afford to waste electricity] [I don't use the car, so why should I waste precious money on it?] [her small talk was wasted on this guest] [we're wasted in this job] [20% of stock will need to be wasted]

stabilize

[stabilise]: [the craft was stabilized by throwing out the remaining ballast] [an emergency program designed to stabilize the economy] [his condition appears to have stabilized]

platform

[stage, policy]: [there are viewing platforms where visitors may gape at the chasm] [he was a popular platform speaker] [she was good enough to earn her living on the concert platform] [he walked along Platform 2] [offshore platforms]

booth

[stall, cubicle]:

staunch

[stalwart]: [a staunch supporter of the anti-nuclear lobby] [a staunch Catholic] [these staunch walls could withstand attack by cannon] [powerful and stanch boats] [he staunched the blood with whatever came to hand]

norm

[standard, convention]: [strikes were the norm] [the norms of good behaviour in the Civil Service] [the 7 per cent pay norm had been breached again]

monolith

[standing stone]: [we passed Stonehenge, the strange stone monoliths silhouetted against the horizon] [the 72-storey monolith overlooking the waterfront] [independent voices have been crowded out by the media monoliths]

glare

[stare angrily, blaze, angry stare, strong light]: [she glared at him, her cheeks flushing] [he glared defiance at the pistols pointing at him] [the sun glared out of a clear blue sky] [she gave Harley a glare of contempt] [Murray narrowed his eyes against the glare of the sun]

onset

[start]: [the onset of winter] [early-onset Alzheimer's disease]

effigy

[statue]: [a tomb effigy of Eleanor of Aquitaine] [angry campaigners plan to burn an effigy of the social security minister] [the minister was burned in effigy]

steadily

[steady]: [the business has been growing steadily] [the mountain got steadily steeper] [it rained steadily all night] [Nicholas gazed steadily at the face in the crowd]

exhilarating

[stimulating]: [an exhilarating two-hour rafting experience]

pillory

[stocks, attack, ridicule]: [he found himself pilloried by members of his own party]

gut

[stomach, intestines, instinctive, courage, disembowel, devastate]: [the terrible pain in his gut] [microbes which naturally live in the human gut] [the guts of a modern computer] [what's the matter with you, misery guts?] [greedy guts]

intercept

[stop]: [intelligence agencies intercepted a series of telephone calls] [I intercepted Edward on his way to work] [a second prism can be swung in to intercept the light beam] [he read the file of radio intercepts]

immediately

[straight away, directly]: [I rang immediately for an ambulance] [she was sitting immediately behind me] [they would be the states most immediately affected by any such action] [let me know immediately she arrives]

odd

[strange, strange, uneven, occasional, spare, mismatched]: [the neighbours thought him very odd] [it's odd that she didn't recognize me] [atoms which possess an odd number of electrons] [she looked younger than her fifty-odd years] [they lost a close-fought game by the odd goal in five]

literal

[strict, word-for-word, literal-minded, misprint]: [dreadful in its literal sense, full of dread] [you shouldn't take this as a literal record of events] [fifteen years of literal hell] [a literal translation from the Spanish] [his interpretation was rather too literal]

strain

[struggle, injure, overtax, make severe demands on, pull, sieve, tension, injury, pressure, stress, sound, variety, element, tendency to]: [I stopped and listened, straining my ears for any sound] [his voice was so quiet that I had to strain to hear it] [on cold days you are more likely to strain a muscle] [glare from the screen can strain your eyes] [he strained her tolerance to the limit]

trip

[stumble, make a mistake, catch out, run lightly, set off, travel, excursion, stumble, mistake]: [he tripped over his cat] [she tripped up during the penultimate lap] [she shot out her foot to trip him up] [taxpayers often trip up by not declaring taxable income] [the man was determined to trip him up on his economics]

suppression

[subduing, censorship]: [the heavy-handed suppression of political dissent]

rarefy

[sublimate, subtilize]: [air rarefies and degrounds the physical body] [as the shell continues to expand and rarefy, astronomers may eventually be able to see characteristic gamma rays from the radioactivity within]

passive

[submissive]: [the women were portrayed as passive victims] [a passive optical network is to be installed in 2000 homes] [passive sensors detect the emissions from enemy radar] [bananas can be grown at the highest altitude using passive solar heating alone]

abate

[subside, decrease]: [the storm suddenly abated] [nothing abated his crusading zeal] [this action would not have been sufficient to abate the odour nuisance]

reductive

[subtractive]: [such a conclusion by itself would be reductive] [he combines his reductive abstract shapes with a rippled surface] [the reductive elimination of acetyl iodide]

fulfil

[succeed in, carry out, comply with]: [he wouldn't be able to fulfil his ambition to visit Naples] [arts grants go to young people who say they wish to fulfil themselves] [friends whose ill-timed speed fulfilled my soon-repented deed] [some officials were dismissed because they could not fulfil their duties] [goods must fulfil three basic conditions]

descendant

[successor, descendants]: [she's a descendant of Charles Darwin] [house music is a descendant of disco]

abrupt

[sudden, curt, jerky, steep]: [I was surprised by the abrupt change of subject] [the match came to an abrupt end] [you were rather abrupt with that young man] [abrupt, epigrammatic paragraphs] [an occasionally abrupt narrative]

smother

[suffocate, overwhelm, extinguish, stifle, smear]: [a teenage mum tried to smother her baby in hospital] [it's time for you to leave the house—she'll smother you if you remain] [use a fire blanket to smother a chip-pan fire] [she smothered a sigh] [the goalkeeper was able to smother the ball]

recapitulate

[summarize, restate]: [he began to recapitulate his argument with care] [many features of regeneration in the peripheral nervous system recapitulate development]

peak

[summit, mountain, brim, height, reach its highest point, maximum]: [tatters of fog clung to the peak of the mountain] [he climbed his last Swiss peak at the age of 80] [whisk two egg whites to stiff peaks] [further storage is found in the bow peak] [the peak halyard]

psychic

[supernatural, clairvoyant, emotional, clairvoyant]: [psychic powers] [I could sense it—I must be psychic] [he dulled his psychic pain with gin] [pier-end palmists and fake psychics] [the field of psychics]

superintend

[supervise]: [he superintended a land reclamation scheme]

provide

[supply, equip, make available, prepare, feed, support, stipulate]: [these clubs provide a much appreciated service for this area] [we were provided with a map of the area] [neither will provide answers to these problems] [new qualifications must provide for changes in technology] [Emma was handsomely provided for in Frannie's will]

superfluous

[surplus, unnecessary]: [the purchaser should avoid asking for superfluous information]

startle

[surprise, perturb]: [a sudden sound in the doorway startled her] [he was startled to see a column of smoke] [her startled eyes met his]

wag

[swing, shake, swing, waggle]: [his tail began to wag] [the dog went out, wagging its tail] [she wagged a finger at Elinor] [a chirpy wag of the head] [there is no very good theory of how the world wags these days]

curriculum

[syllabus]: [course components of the school curriculum]

emblem

[symbol, crest]: [America's national emblem, the bald eagle] [our child would be a dazzling emblem of our love]

token

[symbol, memento, voucher, counter, symbolic, perfunctory]: [mistletoe was cut from an oak tree as a token of good fortune] [I wanted to offer you a small token of my appreciation] [Ruthven was murdered and the assassin left his token] [you should have a token that will stand you in good stead if ever you should fall foul of the prince's officers] [a record token]

emblematic

[symbolic, allegorical]: [this case is emblematic of a larger problem]

symphonic

[symphonious]: [Franck's Symphonic Variations] [symphonic and chamber music]

dismantle

[take apart]: [the engines were dismantled and the bits piled into a heap] [the old regime was dismantled]

precedence

[take priority over, priority]: [his desire for power soon took precedence over any other consideration] [quarrels over precedence among the Bonaparte family marred the coronation]

avenge

[take revenge for]: [he vowed in silent fervour to avenge their murders] [we must avenge our dead] [they avenged themselves on the interlopers]

chat

[talk, talk, flirt with]: [she chatted to her mother on the phone every day] [I have chatted to a few women on the Net] [he dropped in for a chat] [that's enough chat for tonight] [online chat has been widely accepted by average Internet users]

assignment

[task, allocation, transfer]: [a homework assignment] [the effective assignment of tasks] [the assignment of individuals to particular social positions] [an assignment of leasehold property]

raillery

[teasing]: [she was greeted with raillery from her fellow workers]

militate

[tend to prevent]: [these fundamental differences will militate against the two communities coming together]

terrace

[terrasse]: [breakfast is served on the terrace] [an attractive Regency terrace] [modern furniture looks out of place in your Victorian terrace] [the slope had to be terraced]

ghastly

[terrible, serious, ill, pale, unpleasant, nasty]: [one of the most ghastly crimes ever committed] [she had sobered up but she felt ghastly] [a ghastly pallor] [the weather was ghastly]

frightening

[terrorisation, terrorization]: [a frightening experience]

evidence

[testimony, signs, indicate, noticeable]: [the study finds little evidence of overt discrimination] [without evidence, they can't bring a charge] [there was no obvious evidence of a break-in] [the quality of the bracelet, as evidenced by the workmanship, is exceptional] [the person concerned may refuse to give evidence]

nadir

[the lowest point]: [asking that question was the nadir of my career]

philosophize

[theorize]: [he paused for a while to philosophize on racial equality] [Marx himself did not philosophize the issue]

thermoelectric

[thermoelectrical]:

item

[thing, report, entry]: [the items on the agenda] [an item of clothing] [item two statute books ... item two drums]

ruminate

[think about, chew the cud]: [we sat ruminating on the nature of existence] [goats ruminated nonchalantly around them]

imaginable

[thinkable]: [the most spectacular views imaginable]

rant

[tirade]: [she was still ranting on about the unfairness of it all] [his rants against organized religion] [stop ranting and raving for a minute and start being honest with yourself]

exhausted

[tired out, used up]: [she returned home, exhausted from work] [Kirov spat, his patience suddenly exhausted] [exhausted peat workings]

caption

[title]: [he designed a series of posters with the caption: 'No One is Innocent'] [the programme has a closing caption thanking the university for its cooperation] [the photograph was captioned 'Three little maids']

aside

[to one side, apart, whispered remark, apart from]: [he pushed his plate aside] [they stood aside to let a car pass] [she must put aside all her antagonistic feelings] [she set aside some money for rent] [joking aside, I've certainly had my fill]

across

[to the other side of, on the other side of]: [I ran across the street] [travelling across Europe] [he had swum across] [mounds some 30 metres across] [they lived across the street from one another]

mausoleum

[tomb]: [the cathedral was built in 1517 as a royal mausoleum] [a cultural mausoleum such as the Tate]

excruciate

[torment, torture]: [I stand back, excruciated by the possibility]

retouch

[touch up]: [full-colour images can be retouched, enhanced, or colour-corrected]

trace

[track down, find the source of, copy, vestige, trail, bit]: [police are trying to trace a white van seen in the area] [Bob's book traces his flying career with the RAF] [through the binoculars, I traced the path I had taken the night before] [a tear traced a lonely path down her cheek] [trace a map of the world on to a large piece of paper]

commerce

[trade]: [the changes in taxation are of benefit to commerce] [the noise and warmth of human commerce]

displacement

[translation]: [vertical displacement of the shoreline] [a displacement of the vertebra at the bottom of the spine] [males may be able to resist displacement by other males] [the displacement of farmers by guerrilla activity] [a displacement of 6.8 metres along the San Andreas fault]

trample

[tread, treat with contempt]: [the fence had been trampled down] [her dog trampled on his tulips] [a lay statesman ought not to trample upon the opinions of his Church advisers] [destruction's trample treads them down]

therapy

[treatment, psychotherapy]: [a course of antibiotic therapy] [cancer therapies] [he is currently in therapy] [therapy sessions]

soprano

[treble]: [a piece composed for soprano, flute, and continuo] [a good soprano voice] [a soprano saxophone]

terrific

[tremendous, excellent]: [there was a terrific bang] [it's been such a terrific day] [you look terrific] [his body presented a terrific emblem of death]

dramatize

[turn into a play/film, exaggerate]: [his play dramatized the plight of Maureen, a pregnant young woman] [she had a tendency to dramatize things]

reversal

[turnaround, swap, exchange, alteration, setback]: [a dramatic reversal in population decline in the Alps] [the reversal of tidal currents] [a reversal by the House of Lords of the Court of Appeal's decision] [the champions suffered a League reversal at Gloucester last month] [a black-and-white reversal kit]

string

[twine, stringed instruments, strand, series, hang, stretch, thread, conditions, go along, mislead, protract, hang, tense]: [unwieldy packs tied up with string] [the elephant mask had a trunk you could raise by pulling a string] [the D string broke] [the blend of the wind-group is less perfect than that of the strings] [a string quartet]

contort

[twist, twist]: [a spasm of pain contorted his face] [her face contorted with anger] [contorted limbs] [a contorted version of the truth]

winding

[twist, twisting and turning]: [the windings of the stream] [our bedroom was at the top of a winding staircase]

biennial

[two-year]: [the first of a series of biennial exhibitions] [the top antiques fairs are the Milan and Florence biennials] [the biennial Ryder Cup tournament] [the solstice is a biannual event]

sort

[type, person, classify, organize, unwell, irritable, unhappy, slightly, as it were, separate (out)]: [if only we knew the sort of people she was mixing with] [a radical change poses all sorts of questions] [Frank was a genuinely friendly sort] [in law also the Judge is in a sort superior to his King] [the mail was sorted]

ilk

[type]: [the veiled suggestions that reporters of his ilk seem to be so good at] [there was music by Parry and Elgar and others of that ilk] [Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk] [of his ilk] [of that ilk]

referee

[umpire, supporter, umpire]: [the referee sent off two French players] [the subject of a bad reference can sue the referee for libel] [most journals send the referees' reports to the author] [he refereed two of the first-round group matches] [erratic and inconsistent refereeing]

illiterate

[unable to read or write, ignorant]: [his parents were illiterate] [the extent to which voters are politically illiterate] [as you can see, I have corrected your misspelt, illiterate letter]

inexpedient

[unadvisable]: [because of his age, it was inexpedient to inflict punishment for the crime]

inescapable

[unavoidable]: [political reform was inescapable] [they came to the inescapable conclusion that he was responsible]

oblivious

[unaware]: [she became absorbed, oblivious to the passage of time]

incredible

[unbelievable, magnificent]: [an almost incredible tale of triumph and tragedy] [the noise from the crowd was incredible] [I was mesmerized: she looked so incredible]

unsympathetic

[uncaring, opposed to, unlikeable]: [I'm not being unsympathetic, but I can't see why you put up with him] [they were initially unsympathetic towards the cause of Irish freedom] [a totally unsympathetic character]

doubt

[uncertainty, indecision, scepticism, think something unlikely, disbelieve, be undecided, doubtful, irresolute]: [some doubt has been cast upon the authenticity of this account] [they had doubts that they would ever win] [I doubt my ability to do the job] [I doubt if anyone slept that night] [who can doubt the value and necessity of these services?]

plenary

[unconditional, full]: [crusaders were offered a plenary indulgence by the Pope] [a plenary session of the European Parliament] [working parties would report back to the plenary with recommendations]

oblivion

[unconsciousness, insensibility, obscurity]: [they drank themselves into oblivion] [his name will fade into oblivion] [only our armed forces stood between us and oblivion]

raw

[uncooked, unprocessed, sore, strong, realistic, unsophisticated, bleak, inexperienced]: [raw eggs] [salsify can be eaten raw in salads] [raw silk] [raw sewage] [there were a number of errors in the raw data]

incognito

[under an assumed name]: [in order to observe you have to be incognito] [he is now operating incognito] [she is locked in her incognito]

undersell

[undercut]: [we can equal or undersell mail order] [she feels she was underselling herself by putting her disability high on her CV]

comprehend

[understand, comprise]: [he couldn't comprehend her reasons for marrying Lovat] [I simply couldn't comprehend what had happened] [a divine order comprehending all men]

comprehension

[understanding]: [some won't have the least comprehension of what I'm trying to do] [the comprehension of spoken language] [comprehension exercises]

enterprise

[undertaking, initiative, business]: [a joint enterprise between French and Japanese companies] [success came quickly, thanks to a mixture of talent, enterprise, and luck] [a state-owned enterprise] [an economic environment which encourages enterprise] [local enterprise agencies]

strip

[undress, peel, empty, dismantle, take away from, outfit, narrow piece]: [they stripped the bed] [the man had been stripped naked] [I was tempted to strip off for a swim] [she stripped down to her underwear] [she stripped off her shirt]

disquiet

[unease, perturb]: [public disquiet about animal testing] [she felt disquieted at the lack of interest the girl had shown]

infallible

[unerring, unfailing]: [doctors are not infallible] [infallible cures] [for an encyclical to be infallible the Pope must speak ex cathedra]

unconscionable

[unethical, excessive]: [the unconscionable conduct of his son] [shareholders have had to wait an unconscionable time for the facts to be established]

rough

[uneven, coarse, gnarled, dry, violent, careless, boorish, turbulent, stormy, gruff, raucous, sharp-tasting, approximate, difficult, harsh, ill, ruffian, preliminary sketch, draft, roughen, basic, beat up]: [they had to carry the victim across the rough, stony ground] [her skin felt dry and rough] [pushchairs should be capable of withstanding rough treatment] [the workmen hate going to the rough estates] [the lifeboat crew braved rough seas to rescue a couple]

hard-hearted

[unfeeling]: [only the most hard-hearted man would not have offered comfort]

unfertilized

[unfertilised, unimpregnated]: [an unfertilized egg] [unfertilized land]

spontaneous

[unforced, natural, reflex]: [the audience broke into spontaneous applause] [a spontaneous display of affection] [spontaneous miscarriages] [the spontaneous mechanical activity of circular smooth muscle]

union

[unification, unity, marriage, coupling, association]: [he was opposed to closer political or economic union with Europe] [a currency union between the two countries] [they live in perfect union] [their union had not been blessed with children] [the Mothers' Union]

incomprehensible

[unintelligible, unintelligible]: [a language which is incomprehensible to anyone outside the office]

regiment

[unit, organize, strict]: [the Royal Highland Regiment] [the whole regiment of women MPs] [the powers of ecclesiastical regiment which none but the Church should wield] [every aspect of their life is strictly regimented]

gratuitous

[unjustified, free]: [gratuitous violence] [solicitors provide a form of gratuitous legal advice]

unwarranted

[unjustified, unauthorized]: [I am sure your fears are unwarranted]

implausible

[unlikely]: [this is a blatantly implausible claim]

unfortunately

[unluckily]: [unfortunately, we do not have the time to interview every applicant]

inert

[unmoving, chemically inactive]: [she lay inert in her bed] [an inert political system]

nameless

[unnamed, unspeakable, indefinable]: [some pictures were taken by a nameless photographer] [the clinic was situated in a little nameless square off James Street] [the director of an organization which shall remain nameless] [his grandfather had been a nameless, parentless child] [a nameless yearning for transcendence]

imperceptible

[unnoticeable]: [his head moved in an almost imperceptible nod]

nasty

[unpleasant, serious, unpleasant, unkind, annoying, wretch]: [plastic bags burn with a nasty, acrid smell] [dad's had a nasty accident] [it's a nasty old night] [her stories are very nasty, full of murder and violence] [Harry was a nasty, foul-mouthed old devil]

erratic

[unpredictable]: [her breathing was erratic] [the source of stone for the whetstones may have been glacial erratics]

crude

[unrefined, primitive, vulgar]: [crude oil] [the crude mortality rate] [a crude estimate of the number of people available for work] [a relatively crude nuclear weapon] [the measure was condemned by economists as crude and ill-conceived]

orthogonal

[unrelated]:

unwind

[unroll, relax]: [Ella unwound the long woollen scarf from her neck] [the net unwinds from the reel] [the Grand Hotel is a superb place to unwind]

fluster

[unsettle, state of agitation]: [Rosamund seemed rather flustered this morning] [the main thing is not to get all in a fluster]

impractical

[unsuitable, unrealistic, unrealistic]: [impractical high heels] [his impractical romanticism] [Paul was impractical and dreamy]

disorder

[untidiness, unrest, disease, untidy, dysfunctional]: [the world 's currency markets were in disorder] [recurrent food crises led to outbreaks of disorder] [skin disorders] [an improved understanding of mental disorder] [she went to comb her disordered hair]

unkempt

[untidy]: [they were unwashed and unkempt]

exceptional

[unusual, outstanding]: [late claims will only be accepted in exceptional circumstances] [a child of exceptional ability]

uncommon

[unusual, rare, remarkable]: [prostate cancer is not uncommon in men over 60] [an uncommon name] [an uncommon amount of noise] [he was uncommon afraid]

invariable

[unvarying]: [his routine was invariable]

unwelcome

[unwanted, undesirable, regrettable]: [guards kept out unwelcome visitors] [unwelcome attentions from men]

relax

[unwind, calm, loosen, moderate]: [he relaxed and smiled confidently] [a relaxing holiday] [the team relax with a lot of skiing] [relax the leg by bringing the knee towards the chest] [Cicely relaxed her hold]

unsophisticated

[unworldly, simple, crude]: [an unsophisticated young man] [unsophisticated computer software]

advantage

[upper hand, benefit, benefit, exploit, make use of]: [companies with a computerized database are at an advantage] [she had an advantage over her mother's generation] [you could learn something to your advantage] [he saw some advantage in the proposal] [the village's proximity to the town is an advantage]

urbanization

[urbanisation]: [he saw nature being destroyed by urbanization] [public opposition to the urbanization of the countryside]

normally

[usually, typically, as usual]: [normally, it takes three or four years to complete the training] [try to breathe normally]

tap

[valve, listening device, draw liquid from, pour (out), draw on, listen in on/to, on draught, on hand, knock, touch, touch]: [she turned the cold tap on] [the air-supply tap] [those taps produced hundreds of hours of recordings] [several barrels had been tapped to celebrate old victories] [in the cellars of the monasteries the butlers were tapping new and old ale]

evaporate

[vaporize, dry up, dry out, end]: [cook until most of the liquid has evaporated] [this gets the oil hot enough to evaporate any moisture] [the solution was evaporated to dryness] [the militancy of earlier years had evaporated in the wake of defeat]

vociferous

[vehement]: [he was a vociferous opponent of the takeover]

literally

[verbatim]: [the driver took it literally when asked to go straight over the roundabout] [tiramisu, literally translated 'pull-me-up'] [I have received literally thousands of letters] [I told him I never wanted to see him again, but I didn't expect him to take it literally] [they bought the car and literally ran it into the ground]

certify

[verify, accredit]: [the profits for the year had been certified by the auditors] [the Law Society will certify that the sum charged is fair and reasonable] [scenes of violence had to be cut before the film could be certified] [a certified accountant]

excellent

[very good]: [the lorry was in excellent condition] [their results are excellent] ['What a lovely idea! Excellent!']

tropical

[very hot, humid]: [tropical countries] [a tropical rainforest] [some plants thrived in last year's tropical summer heat]

overwhelming

[very large, very strong]: [his party won overwhelming support] [she felt an overwhelming desire to giggle]

delightful

[very pleasant, charming, lovely]: [a delightful secluded garden]

awful

[very unpleasant, very bad, serious, ill, remorseful, awe-inspiring]: [the place smelled awful] [I look awful in a swimsuit] [an awful speech] [awful, bloody images] [I felt awful for being so angry with him]

ship

[vessel]: [the ship left England with a crew of 36] [a cargo ship] [the wounded soldiers were shipped home] [he was captured and shipped off to a labour camp] [the freight would be shipped by rail]

successful

[victorious, prosperous, flourishing]: [a successful attack on the town] [marketing of Japanese products has been highly successful] [a successful actor]

triumph

[victory, jubilation, tour de force, win, defeat, crow]: [a garden built to celebrate Napoleon's many triumphs] [the king returned home in triumph] ['Here it is!' Helen's voice rose in triumph] [the marriage had been a triumph of togetherness] [they had no chance of triumphing over the Nationalists]

perspective

[view, outlook]: [the theory and practice of perspective] [a perspective drawing] [a trick of perspective] [most guidebook history is written from the editor's perspective] [we must keep a sense of perspective about what he's done]

tireless

[vigorous, untiring]: [a tireless campaigner]

opprobrium

[vilification, disgrace]: [the critical opprobrium generated by his films] [the opprobrium of being closely associated with gangsters]

graphic

[visual, symbolic, vivid, picture]: [his mature graphic work] [graphic information such as charts and diagrams] [a graphic account of the riots]

mercurial

[volatile]: [his mercurial temperament] [gels containing organic mercurial compounds] [for twenty years organic mercurials were the most potent diuretics in clinical use]

regurgitate

[vomit, repeat]: [gulls regurgitate food for the chicks] [facts which can then be regurgitated at examinations]

poll

[vote, ballot, voting figures, survey, canvass, survey, get]: [the country went to the polls on March 10] [the ruling party won 24 seats, narrowly topping the poll] [the polls have only just closed] [over half of those polled do not believe the prime minister usually tells the truth] [the Green candidate polled 3.6 per cent]

susceptibility

[vulnerability, liability, predisposition]: [lack of exercise increases susceptibility to disease] [I was so careful not to offend their susceptibilities]

service

[waiting, work, use, amenity, armed forces, ceremony, overhaul, help, out of order]: [millions are involved in voluntary service] [he has done us a great service] [he volunteered his services as a driver] [they aim to provide better quality of service] [they complained of poor bar service]

caveat

[warning, proviso]: [there are a number of caveats which concern the validity of the assessment results]

guarantee

[warranty, promise, guarantor, underwrite, promise]: [we offer a 10-year guarantee against rusting] [the treaty provides a guarantee of free trade] [a degree is no guarantee of a fast-track career] [the company guarantees to refund your money] [the cooker is guaranteed for five years]

sponge

[wash, scrounge off/from]: [they gave him a quick sponge down] [the headguard is padded with sponge] [platinum sponge] [a chocolate sponge] [the gateau is made with moist sponge]

lave

[wash]: [she ran cold water in the basin, laving her face and hands] [the sea below laved the shore with small, agitated waves]

profligate

[wasteful, dissolute, libertine]: [profligate consumers of energy] [he succumbed to drink and a profligate lifestyle] [he is a drunkard and a profligate]

ripple

[wavelet, form ripples (on)]: [he dived into the pool leaving barely a ripple] [the ripples spread across the pond] [the sand undulated and was ridged with ripples] [a ripple of laughter ran around the room] [his words set off a ripple of excitement within her]

tongue

[way/manner of speaking, language]: [a galantine of tongue] [he was a redoubtable debater with a caustic tongue] [the girls were singing in their native tongue] [a tongue of flame flashed from the gun] [Eugene has worked out the correct tonguing]

underdog

[weaker party]: [we go into this game as the underdogs] [what is it like to be an underdog in America?]

arms

[weapons (of war), crest, fight]: [arms and ammunition] [arms exports] [the right to bear arms] [those who had a conscientious objection to bearing arms were freed from military service] [it is understood as a call to arms to defend against a takeover]

corrode

[wear away, rust]: [acid rain poisons fish and corrodes buildings] [over the years copper pipework corrodes] [the self-centred climate corrodes ideals and concerns about social justice]

erode

[wear away/down]: [the cliffs on this coast have been eroded by the sea] [soft sedimentary rocks have eroded away] [this humiliation has eroded what confidence Jean has] [many had their upper incisors missing and their maxillae eroded] [vascular injury due to eroding ulcers]

boredom

[weariness, tedium]: [I'll die of boredom if I live that long]

climate

[weather pattern, region, atmosphere]: [our cold, wet climate] [agricultural development is constrained by climate] [he had grown up in a hot climate] [the current economic climate]

outlandish

[weird]: [outlandish, brightly coloured clothes] [three wise, outlandish kings]

airy

[well ventilated, delicate, nonchalant]: [the conservatory is light and airy] [a large, airy room] [airy clouds] [her airy presence filled the house] [her airy unconcern for economy]

westward

[westwards]: [the journey covers eight time zones in a westward direction] [a track leads westwards through the glen] [he sees a light to the westward]

tornado

[whirlwind]: [teenagers caught up in a tornado of sexual confusion]

entirety

[whole, completely]: [she would have to stay in her room for the entirety of the weekend] [the poem is too long to quote in its entirety here]

turpitude

[wickedness, immorality]: [acts of moral turpitude]

pandemic

[widespread]: [the AIDS pandemic]

complaisant

[willing]: [he went to join his apparently complaisant wife for Christmas]

champion

[winner, prizewinner, advocate, knight, advocate]: [a champion hurdler] [he became the determined champion of a free press] [he championed the rights of the working class and the poor] ['Thank ye, lad,' the farmer said. 'That's champion.']

prudent

[wise, cautious, thrifty]: [no prudent money manager would authorize a loan without first knowing its purpose]

judicious

[wise]: [the judicious use of public investment]

retreat

[withdraw, go out, change one's decision, withdrawal, climbdown, refuge, seclusion]: [the French retreated in disarray] [it becomes so hot that the lizards retreat into the shade] [the ice retreated during warmer periods called interglacials] [the sound of retreating footsteps] [after the funeral he retreated to Scotland]

incomparable

[without equal]: [the incomparable beauty of Venice] [censorship still exists, but now it's incomparable with what it was]

resist

[withstand, oppose, refrain from, love, struggle with/against]: [antibodies help us to resist infection] [we will resist changes to the treaty] [I couldn't resist buying the blouse] [without giving her time to resist, he dragged her off her feet] [new lithographic techniques require their own special resists]

effeminate

[womanish]: [he lisps and his handshake is effeminate]

feminine

[womanly]: [the snowdrops gave a feminine touch to the table] [he enjoys feminine company] [the association of the arts with the feminine]

timber

[wood, (wooden) beam]: [the exploitation of forests for timber] [a small timber building] [contracts to cut timber] [we cried 'Timber!' as our tree fell] [she is frequently hailed as presidential timber]

verbose

[wordy]: [much academic language is obscure and verbose]

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