fortepiano

He gave me a handful of walnuts. Walnuts are exceptionally nutritious.

I think this steak tartare is not fresh.

I took my shorts off. It's too cool to wear shorts.

A huge wave capsized the yacht. When the boat capsized we were trapped underneath it.

I've been snacking all day. If you eat three good meals a day, you're less likely to snack on biscuits.

With some difficulty he hoisted her onto his shoulders. I scrabbled for a handhold and hoisted myself up.

Who would be the best person to preside at/over the public enquiry? Judge Langdale is to preside over the official enquiry into the case.

The breeder showed us the dog's pedigree. His voice and manner suggested an aristocratic pedigree. Isolationism has a long and respectable pedigree in American history.

As a student, you get a concession in various places. Maybe we can negotiate a concession regarding the deal. A concession on his part allowed me to pass this exam.

All of that your excuses are simply lame and you do not come across as a reliable person.

an adobe house

His reputation was permanently tainted by the financial scandal. He warned of toxins such as mercury tainting some fish.

He had a bed with a canopy.

It couldn't have developed in a vacuum.

I was born on the cusp of the 80's. on the cusp of adulthood

He got mugged coming home from work. He and his girlfriend were mugged seven years ago.

We all grow up at some stage of our life. The local drama group is staging a production of the musical "Grease". London staged the Olympic Games in 2012.

Most commercially available brands of tea are not suitable to my palate. I can taste ginger on my palate.

Their resolute opposition to new working methods was difficult to overcome. She's utterly resolute in her refusal to apologize.

You must learn to prioritize your work.

Chase that music track down

He has racked up 450 points in three months. Astronomical profits/losses were racked up by airlines last year.

The chemicals can be poisonous if ingested.

Victims of stroke often lack clear enunciation. The participants were chosen based on their enunciation skills and vocabulary There has been no clear enunciation of this policy. She is given to grand enunciations of principles.

The colour red is used to denote passion or danger.

The idea was first mooted as long ago as the 1840s. His name was mooted as a possible successor. We don't have enough money to go, so it's all moot anyway.

We were incarcerated in that broken elevator for four hours. Thousands of dissidents have been interrogated or incarcerated.

political dissidents

He moved so fast that I could only see a blur. He blurred their faces on the image.

The government repatriated him because he had no visa.

Platinum combines with phosphorus and arsenic and is seldom found without an admixture of related metals.

remittance advice/information. She sends a small remittance home to her parents each month.

fluctuations in temperature A certain amount of fluctuation in quality is unavoidable.

Enquiries to our office average 1,000 calls a month. Many doctors average (= work an average of) 70 hours a week. Trainee accountants average (= earn an average of) £32,000 per year.

scrabble around for something. It is a real scrabble for survival. The government is scrabbling around for ways to raise revenue without putting up taxes. He was scrabbling in the sand searching for the ring.

to be avail. We tried to persuade her not to resign, but to no avail (= did not succeed). My attempts to improve the situation were of little/no avail.

a blob of glue/paint

an animal like a large rabbit that can run very fast and has long ears

The procession moved through the streets at a stately pace. He always walked with a stately bearing. stately building

a long, thin cover for the blade of a sword, usually attached to a belt

a sense/feeling of insecurity She had developed an outgoing personality to mask her deep insecurities.

a convex lens/mirror

The country is presently in the throes of the worst recession since the Second World War. He's in the throes of a mid-life crisis that makes him pretty hard to live with.

Arab pastoralists moved their herds across the land. Large swathes of rural Australia were settled by pastoralists.

The party has been trying to woo the voters with promises of electoral reform. He wooed her for months with flowers and expensive presents.

We facilitated our studies to the society. In order to get ourselves out of recession, we should facilitate trade.

We normally plate the car handles with nickel and then chrome.

I shall leave it to the discretion of the Minister as to whether he wishes to deal with this. You have full discretion on this operation. Students can be expelled at the discretion of the principal I leave the decision to your discretion.

I'm catering for twelve on Sunday - the whole family is coming. Which firm will be catering at the wedding reception? Who catered your party?

There is a pleasing lack of flashiness for an expensive resort. The only hint of flashiness was a slim state-of the-art computer sitting on the desk.

a squishy banana. The whole idea of what constitutes a disability is squishy. The definition of spam is squishy - a message that you delete I may think is a worthwhile offer.

a bicycle spoke

Victorian, Wagnerian, and dickensian are all examples of eponymous adjectives.

an ignominious defeat/failure/retreat

Her organization gave succour and strength to those who had been emotionally damaged.

She wanted to work for a bigger and more influential (= powerful) newspaper. Johnson was influential (= important) in persuading the producers to put money into the film.

A grub looks like a short, fat worm. The dog was grubbing around/about in the mud for a bone.

She spent the morning in the garden, grubbing up weeds.

He snitched to my boss that I'd been making long-distance calls at work! People who cooperate with police are viewed by their neighbours as snitches.

She saw the ridge road going off to the right. My parents' house is on the other side of the ridge. We walked along the narrow mountain ridge. figurative A ridge (= a narrow area) of high pressure will bring good weather this afternoon.

As a child, he received the appellation "Mouse".

Orville and Wilbur Wright were aviation trailblazers.

The first batch of a hundred should be ready next week. This is the first batch of uninfected from both testing groups.

The ambulances have all been outfitted with new radios.

an abusive letter/phone call He was apparently abusive to the flight attendants.

This coffee's lukewarm. Her proposals got a lukewarm response.

You can't get a job unless you have experience, but there's the rub, you can't get experience unless you have a job

wring your hair outm. She wrung out the shirt and hung it out to dry. wring sth's neck

He had been extorting money from the old lady for years. Police have not so far been able to extort a confession from the people accused of the bombing.

He hatched a plot to forge documents that would embarrass the company.

There are any number of miracle cures on the market for people gullible enough to buy them.

He leaned towards me and I caught/got a whiff of garlic. During the first few months of pregnancy the slightest whiff of food cooking made my stomach turn. They regularly hold elections without a whiff of corruption or violence. catch a whiff

Gerry's made a right cock-up with/of those figures! So it was delivered to the wrong place? What a cock-up!

He became/grew increasingly despondent when she failed to return his phone calls. She started to feel despondent about ever finding a job. There is a general air of despondency about the state of our democracy

His face reddened with embarrassment.

This issue looks likely to continue to vex the government.

speechless, stunned, wordless, awestruck

I never saw her again," he added regretfully. She regretfully left behind many friends when she moved to Wales.

He was bewitched by her beauty.

She has submerged her identity in the role of photographer's wife and muse. She was taken to hospital after being submerged in an icy river for 45 minutes. She is an actress who always tries to submerge herself completely in a role.

He tackled the problem in a typically haphazard manner. Haphazard record-keeping made it difficult for the agency to keep track of its clients.

Putting a complaint in the suggestions box is one way of airing your grievances. He'll air his views on the war whether people want to listen or not.

A special committee has been appointed to handle prisoners' grievances. Bill still harbours/nurses a grievance against his employers for not promoting him.

Leave the vegetables to simmer for a few minutes. The strike has been simmering for weeks. She's been simmering with resentment ever since the meeting.

I balked at the prospect of spending four hours on a train with him. This is our last balk towrds the goal.

Adams is being courted by a number of football clubs. She courts publicity by inviting journalists to extravagant parties. Drinking and driving is simply courting disaster. He always courts every girl he meets.

A pebble got into my shoe. The man said it was some sort of a rare pebble. Why did you pebble his car?

Some poultry farmers keep turkeys and ducks as well as chickens.

medical negligence. There has been negligence in your investigation.

Poland reached the final of the championship yesterday with an emphatic 5–0 victory over Italy. Johnson has emphatically denied the allegations against him.

the shaft of a golf club. A shaft of (sun)light came through the open door.

a dry/oily/itchy scalp Some tribes used to collect scalps to prove how many of the enemy they had killed in battle.

small, white pieces of dead skin from the head that collect in the hair or fall on the clothes

With her free hand she groped, caught hold of something, lifted a gray tatter up to view.

a solid white substance in meat that comes from near the bone and is hard to chew (= crush with the teeth). gristly. gristliness

Vultures live chiefly on carrion.

The airline authorities are not expecting a let-up in delays (= are not expecting delays to stop) for the rest of the summer. When the rain lets up we'll go for a walk. Neil spent the entire evening moaning about his job - he just wouldn't let up.

He's got a lot of money but he doesn't flaunt it. Flavio was flaunting his tan in a pair of white trunks.

Don't egg him on! He gets himself into enough trouble without your encouragement.

She dived headfirst into the pool.

You won't be warm enough in that flimsy dress. We spent the night in a flimsy wooden hut. a flimsy cardboard box

I need a compass

Don't diss me, man!

He felt like an impostor among all those intelligent people, as if he had no right to be there.

The forest has been so heavily logged that it is in danger of disappearing.

There are ample resources of lumber and mines in the mountains. I have to throw away all this lumber. This area is being lumbered.

I need to hem those curtains. We met by the river's hem of high trees.

He hummed and hawed for a long time before giving an answer.

The police officer said that he had placed the man under arrest and that a scuffle had ensued.

There is a trade-off between doing the job accurately and doing it quickly. For some car buyers, lack of space is an acceptable trade-off for a sporty design.

Wet the hair, apply shampoo, and massage into a rich lather.: a foam or froth formed when a detergent (such as soap) is agitated in water

The government has reiterated its refusal to compromise with terrorists. She reiterated that she had never seen him before.

A package of economic sanctions is to be enacted against the country. The stories are enacted using music, dance and mime.

facial expression. The first scene was performed in mime.

Corn starch is used as a thickener in stews.

New Age thinking seems to be a hotchpotch of old and new ideas.

I've been on a diet for two weeks now, and it's purgatory!

The two groups had lived in perfect amity for many years before the recent troubles.

tuna/olives in brine

Sheep's milk cheese is the quintessential Corsican cheese.

Antiseptic is used to sterilize the skin before giving an injection. Many of the ingredients for antiseptics come from the rainforests.

Peel, core, and chop the apples. The posters were peeling away from the damp walls.

There were no plans for tax equalization. equalization of pressure inside and outside the aircraft

Share prices tumbled yesterday. I lost my footing and tumbled down the stairs. At any moment the whole building could tumble down. She took a nasty tumble on her way to work and grazed her arm.

Their plans to set up their own business are just pie in the sky.

He sniffed his socks to see if they needed washing. Dogs love sniffing each other. He was expelled from school for sniffing glue"They didn't even serve wine at dinner!" she sniffed.

My brother is a painter, he has his own studio.

The last time I saw Rachel she was hobbling around with a stick. Some of the runners could only manage to hobble over the finishing line. A long list of amendments have hobbled the new legislation

The feeble old man collapsed on the sidewalk. She made a feeble attempt to explain the issue.

He laid down on the couch and went for a doze. I need to doze off for half an hour.

He confided (to her) that his hair was not his own. He didn't look like the sort of man you should entrust your luggage to. Two senior officials have been entrusted with organizing the auction.

Perhaps you could coax your father into taking you to the station. A mother was coaxing her reluctant child into the water. Stem cells are coaxed to grow into a variety of cells to be injected into patients. She coaxed the plane in for the landing.

as a lark, have a lark. The kids hid their teacher's bike for a lark. I don't really think I'm suited to this marriage lark. I've had enough of this commuting lark

The former guerrilla leader has become the pivot on which the country's emerging political stability turns/revolves (= it depends on him).

We were gratified by the response to our appeal. He was gratified to see how well his students had done. sexual gratification Some people expect instant gratification (= to get what they want immediately).

fractured lens. She fractured her skull in the accident. Two of her ribs fractured when she was thrown from her horse.

She spent most of those years under house arrest or close confinement.

He killed himself by drinking a deadly poison. What a deadly lack of respect! My husband left me, and I have been deadly insecure ever since.

inviolableness, Everyone has an inviolable right to protection by a fair legal system. Both sides agreed to respect the inviolability of their joint border. They recognized the inviolability of the authority of the church.

Only one competitor wins and gets the spoils of victory.

louse

Thousands of young salmon and trout have been killed by pollution. The lake is famous for its trout fishing. We are going to dine today in the trout restaurant

They waited as the twilight faded. As the the twilight set in we emerge of being defenceless

She idolized her father.

He poured some boiling broth into her bowl.

That's not only childish, it's ill-mannered.

Problems at work are weighing on him.

The children were all clamouring for attention. the clamour of the city a clamour of voices

Celibacy is not exclusive to Catholic priests. She chose celibacy after a pregnancy scare at 16.

You need to be more decisive. a decisive reply. These results could prove decisive in establishing the criminal's identity. a decisive role a decisive victory

It does not bode you well. read somebody's tea leaves

She's always bleating (on) about how badly she's been treated.

a corpulent gentleman

I can see pieces of flesh in this orange juice. Cut the fruit open and remove the pulp.

Teaching computers to read and write has always foundered on the unpredictable human element in language. The ferry foundered in a heavy storm, taking many of the passengers and crew with it.

The scare started after the man shot the gun into the air. The communist scare was a serious problem in the United States.

a nettle is a very diuretic weed that in an inordinate amounts consumed may lead to serious problem with one's health

He was portrayed as a feckless drunk.

It was just a ruse to distract her while his partner took the money. subterfuge

The Venice Film Festival has always been the showcase of Italian cinema. The main aim of the exhibition is to showcase British design

The union safeguards the interests of all its members. Extensive background checks on staff are carried out to safeguard children in schools.

He repudiated the allegation/charge/claim that he had tried to deceive them. I utterly repudiate those remarks.

artisanal bread/cheese.

I train my army unit. Has the troop already set off? The station was evacuated and the bomb squad experts called. An additional detachment will be arriving at our outpost today.

Stay a little longer, I beseech you!

He steered him away from this crazy idea. I steered the conversation towards a different topic.

She managed to muster the courage to ask him to the cinema. The team will need all the strength they can muster to win this game. The twelfth division mustered on the hill.

Susan had long white hair in a single braid.

To what do you ascribe the enormous success of your latest book? People like to ascribe human feelings to animals (= believe animals have human feelings).

I drilled students in English pronunciation. I had to drill the multiplication table.

the odds are in somebody's favour

I see, however, I beg to differ.

He was recently fitted with a brace for his bad back. The side wall of the old house was braced with a wooden support. She told me she had some bad news for me and I braced myself for a shock. The passengers were told to brace themselves

Mrs Blower was the stout lady with the glasses. I bought myself a pair of good stout hiking boots.

He claimed that the police continued to harass foreign journalists. She felt she was being harassed by the coach’s constant demands.

The thought of eating meat fills me with repugnance. Overcoming his physical repugnance, he reached out to touch the wound.

There is a fluid building up in your brain.

The soldiers have been ordered to desist from firing their guns. The high winds are expected to desist tomorrow.

Most of his students aspired to a career in business. We aspire to become full-service providers to our clients. pretend to peak on my occupational basis

Perhaps, he could be barter on good conditions. Normans may pay a lot to ransom him from us.

For starters, we should introduce our guest.

He passed on the chance to be head coach and took a job in Florida. Some organizations passed on substantially less money to the candidates. There are some diseases that a woman might pass on to her child.

stainless, Strawberry juice stained my shirt. [I ] This carpet is practical because it doesn’t stain easily. His solicitor said, "He leaves this court without a stain on his character." SMART Vocabulary: related words and. wood stain

Beat the mixture until it becomes frothy. frothy hot chocolate

incursions into enemy territory. Incursion of German discount retailers into the American market was a surprise.

They sent a deputation to Parliament. The deputation from the EU arrives/arrive tomorrow.

I'm trying to use my time in a more impactful way. The speech was very impactful.

The accident left me incapacitated for seven months. Rubber bullets are designed to incapacitate people rather than kill them. The novel tells the story of a man’s incapacity for love.

Food stocks were replenished by/with imports from abroad. Does your glass need replenishing?

The telephone warning turned out to be a hoax. The bomb threat turned out to be a hoax. He'd made a hoax call claiming to be the president.

My bank has agreed to defer the repayments on my loan. Can we defer making a decision until next week? DEFERMENT. Cheaper graduate loans are available without the deferment option.

If you refuse to cooperate with us, you will pay dearly for it. She will be dearly missed by her family and friends.

look at my new flex! He's flexing on Mike. Weird flex but ok.

My fears turned out to be groundless.

succinctness Keep your letter succinct and to the point.

Wind and rain have eroded the statues into shapeless lumps of stone. The cliffs are eroding several feet a year. His behaviour over the last few months has eroded my confidence in his judgment

I'll be blunt - that last piece of work you did was terrible. My recent bad experience has blunted my enthusiasm for travel.

Japan is monetizing several trillion dollars of government debt. The problem was how to monetize this kind of social networking site.

He rakes in over $200,000 a year. She's really raking it in

He rakes in over $200,000 a year. She's really raking it in

If I don't agree to do what they ask, I'm toast.

His lyrics about love and peace are too trite for me to take them seriously. I know it will sound trite, but I've loved being part of this club.

a highly corrosive acid. the corrosive influence of racism

In this diagram, every node is a neuron, and every line is a connection. A network is a series of points or nodes interconnected by communication paths.

You are to be paid at scale, with no extra privileges whatsoever.

The president said it was imperative that the release of all hostages be secured. It's imperative to act now before the problem gets really serious.

intermittent rain an intermittent noise Although she made intermittent movie appearances, she was essentially a stage actress.

The car's lightweight chassis is made from aluminium sheets.

They claimed he had been consorting with drug dealers.

The diaries were written in 1837, when Queen Victoria acceded to the throne. He graciously acceded to our request. It is doubtful whether the government will ever accede to the nationalists' demands for independence.

an imaginative new approach/policy The architects have made imaginative use of glass and transparent plastic. an imaginative designer

I fail to comprehend their attitude. He doesn't seem to comprehend the scale of the problem I'll never comprehend why she did what she did.

His excessive familiarity offended her. Your familiarity with this criminal is disturbing.

He was battered to death with a rifle butt. He was battering (at/on) the door with his fists and howling. fish in batter

Try not to slurp. I wish you wouldn't slurp your soup like that. He slurped down his coffee.

act of impiety. The Church accused him of impiety and had all his writings burned.

The airline has been criticized for failing to heed advice/warnings about lack of safety routines. Perhaps they should have heeded their own advice. Voters are dissatisfied, and Congress should take heed (= consider this).

The dead son becomes a ghostly revenant.

He believed that he would be condemned to eternal damnation for what he had done. Damnation! I completely forgot about it.

He received the news of his mother's death with remarkable equanimity. Three years after the tragedy she has only just begun to regain her equanimity. equanimous. Living lightly, he trained his mind to be equanimous under all circumstances.

a venal ruler. a venal regime They are accused of being involved in venal practices. His reputation has been defined by allegations of corruption and venality. His best-known novel is a bitter study of the venality of the literary world.

carnal desires. His descriptions of food are invitations to carnality.

It is the job of the inspectors to enforce compliance with the regulations. The company said that it had always acted in compliance with environmental laws. Children were believed to owe docility and obedience to their parents.

He could not arrive due to an unexpected reversal. The reversal in our international policy has proven to be beneficial. We have suffered a couple of minor/temporary reversals.

to incur debts/fines/bills The play has incurred the wrath/anger of both audiences and critics. Please detail any costs/expenses incurred by you in attending the interview.

He gagged on the water he was drinking when he heard the news. He was talking too much, so I gagged him. He had a gag tied over his mouth.

The speaker sidestepped the question by saying that it would take him too long to answer it. He sidestepped the blow/the tackle.

high-profile politicians He resigned from a high-profile job as economic adviser to the president.

At least when we have a national assembly, there will be no tug of war within that body. I watched his prowess in the tug of war with great respect and considerable fear.

a strong thick column used to support a wall, roof, or other structure. a fishing pier

Workers, in their countless thousands, were facing the dole. He spent eighteen months on the dole.

The stolen pictures were stashed (away) in a warehouse. He needed a place to stash some cash. They discovered a stash of money hidden at the back of a drawer. He has a stash of old comic books in the attic.

Journalists do not divulge their sources. The CEO refused to divulge how much she earned.

a frail old lady I last saw him just last week and thought how old and frail he looked. the country's frail economy

These tape recorder differs in price and quality.

I find chicken a little bland. Pop music these days is so bland.

cutlery - eating irons, silverware

wholemeal bread/flour/pastry

She mistook me for my brother.

fizzy orange/mineral water

In some parts of the world, sheep's eyes are considered a great delicacy.

More funds are needed to establish trade missions in eastern Europe. The Methodist mission is situated in one of the poorest parts of the city.

fattening food, such as cheese and chocolate

I've got the hiccups. an attack of the hiccups

When the cake is cooked, sift some icing sugar over the top of it. sift the flour. The police are sifting the evidence very carefully to try and find the guilty person. After my father's death, I had to sift through all his papers.

Many hours of meticulous preparation have gone into writing the book.

I heard through the grapevine that he was leaving - is it true? I heard through the grapevine that they fired him – is that true?

The plant fibre has incredible strength and resilience. Trauma researchers emphasize the resilience of the human psyche.

I saw a small fawn in the forest! I think this blouse is too fawn for you. I will not fawn on him! He can serve himself.

He can't stomach the idea that Peter might be the next chairman. She found the violence in the film hard to stomach.

The hollow glass tank contains hot mercury vapour. Poisonous vapours burst out of the factory during the accident.

They were accused of duplicity in their dealings with both sides. a duplicitous traitor/spy/politician

In an indiscreet moment, the president let his genuine opinions be known. They have been rather indiscreet about their affair.

The ambassador was recalled when war broke out. The government ordered a recall of the garment, saying it could burst into flames. an emergency recall of Parliament

with glee, childish glee. She opened her presents with glee.

What do you infer from her refusal? [+ that ] I inferred from her expression that she wanted to leave.

I will make put on weight if I decide to overindulge myself. I wish I hadn't overindulged so much last night. Some people regularly overindulge in alcohol.

Do you know the whole timetable by heart?! public transport timetable

an insurance application, I've sent off applications for four different jobs. Argentina has submitted an application to host the World Cup.

He saw one brother weekly and was in touch with one niece regularly.

a statue in memory of the fallen. The Education Minister will now join the ranks of other fallen politicians.

The Russian chess team routed all the rest. The battle/election was a complete and utter rout.

Their caskets are more ornate and only portions of the two flanking skeletons are visible.

He is a lickspittle who fawns before his aristocratic employers.

coffee dregs

Western decadence

I didn't expect his sanction - he surprised me. Not all of it had been sanctioned by the state.

The operation proved a complete success. The dispute over the song rights proved impossible to resolve. The new treatment has proved to be a disaster.

Most of the old road has been superseded by the great interstate highways.

Why does the conversation have to revert to money every five minutes? When they divorced, she reverted to using her maiden name. When I die, the house will revert to my sister. The new procedures are being seen as a reversion to old, inefficient methods.

They are living an extravagant lifestyle at the taxpayer's expense. If you lose your ticket, you will have to buy another at your own expense. No expense was spared in redesigning the chairman's office.

I enjoyed the film, but I couldn't follow all the intricacies of the plot. the intricacy of the needlework

We were surprised when he announced he wanted to join the clergy.

Physical exertion isn’t always a good thing in a hot climate. If you were to exert your influence they might change their decision.

You met her, she's rebellious and unapologetic. They were very rude and completely unapologetic about it.

the process of getting information about enemy forces or positions by sending out small groups of soldiers or by using aircraft, etc.: Aerial reconnaissance of the enemy position showed they were ready to attack.

The judge commended her for/on her bravery. For a low-budget film, it has much to commend it (= it deserves praise). It says on the back cover of the book "highly commended". The reporter did a commendable job under difficult circumstances.

The book was heavily censored when first published. Is it possible to censor the internet?

His dishonest behaviour came under severe censure. Ministers were censured for their lack of decisiveness during the crisis. The likelihood is that he will be severely censured and possibly also fined

a preemptive air strike on an enemy base. State laws preempted local governments from restricting newspaper displays.