1033 Flashcards
crushing
making one lose all hope; very difficult to deal with
* When her mother died, it was crushing for Susan.
victory
victory – win; successful completion of a competition or race, with no one else having done better
* Getting a few victories early in the season improved the players’ self- confidence
to characterize
to describe something in a particular way; to select certain words to talk about or to describe something
* I would say that Thelma is friendly, but I wouldn’t characterize her as being too talkative.
to fall short
to not meet expectations; to not do as well as expected or hoped * We fell short of our sales goal by just a few hundred dollars.
up until
as far as; during some period and leading to the present moment
* She had second thoughts about marrying Ezekiel up until the moment she said, “I do.”
in your dreams
a phrase used to show that one does not believe what another person has just said; a phrase meaning that one’s opinion or belief is not realistic or possible
* A: With this new haircut, I look like Brad Pitt!
B: In your dreams!
to dominate
to control and have complete power over someone or something; to be superior to someone or something
* The new king dominated everyone and everything in his kingdom.
blowout
an easy win or victory
* The other team won 20-0. It was a major blowout.
to throw in the towel
to give up; to no longer try to do something because it was too difficult, challenging, or impossible
* After receiving 30 rejection letters, Sally decided to throw in the towel and stop trying to get her book published.
to melt down
to lose control of one’s thoughts, actions, and/or emotions and no longer be able to perform, especially when one is under a lot of stress * The math teacher melted down in class and started yelling at the students.
Monday morning quarterback
a person who criticizes how something was done and acts as if he or she would have done it better, but is able to do that only because the thing has already happened and more information is now available
* Sure, it sounds easy when you explain it now, but remember that anyone can be a Monday morning quarterback. It’s must harder to make the right decision when those things are actually happening.
to go down in flames
to end and/or fail completely and very quickly
* Their dream of traveling to Hawaii went down in flames when they had to use all their savings for medical treatments.
rematch
another game played between the same two players or teams after a first game has ended
* I’m sorry you lost, but hopefully you can win the rematch.
to whup
to beat another person or team very badly; to have a clear win * Nobody expected that team to whup our team so badly
to trash talk
to use insulting words and phrases to make someone seem worse or less important in order to make oneself seem better
* Don’t listen to those kids who are trash talking you. They’re just trying to make themselves feel better.
