Books_12 Flashcards
Tally [sth]
- Conteggiare - Edward tallied the votes.
- Correspond, agree - The detective quickly realised that the accounts given by the two witnesses didn’t tally.
Fussy
Esigente, difficile da accontentare, schizzinoso
Furlough (n)
Unpaid leave / military leave / leave from prison
The inmate was granted a one-day furlough so he could attend his mother’s funeral.
Taxing
Difficult, demanding - Harry finds hiking in cold weather to be taxing on his body.
Jester (n)
Giullare, buffone di corte
Seer (n)
[sb] who sees future / veggente, indovino
Trinket (n)
Piece of jewellery / ornament
Warp (v)
Bend out of shape - The wood had warped and was no longer any use as a building material.
Hit the hay/sack
Go to bed
Fray (n, v)
- Fight, quarrel
- Become ragged / sfilacciarsi
Undertow (n)
Risacca, corrente di ritorno - The swimmer was dragged down by the undertow and drowned.
In disarray
Disordered, untidy / a soqquadro, sottosopra - I went off to work in a hurry this morning and left the house in disarray.
Trickle out
Leave slowly - When the lights went up in the movie theater, people were already trickling out.
Strike up [sth]
Initiate / iniziare, attaccare, stringere (amicizia) - During our visit to Africa I struck up a friendship with our guide - The orchestra struck up a cheerful waltz.
Privy (adj)
Informed
Shore [sth] up
Support, stop [sth] failing - The new minister needs to shore up the government’s policy on benefit cuts.
Perk up
Become more alert, lively / riprendersi, tirarsi su - Lucy perked up after drinking a cup of coffee
Turncoat (n)
Person who changes allegiance / voltagabbana
Undercroft
Underground chamber / cripta, sotterraneo
Hillibilly
From southern US mountain area / montanaro
Ghoulish
Macabro, orrido - I don’t like such ghoulish movies; I prefer romantic comedies
Harrowed
Looking stressed / stressato, sofferente -
Nibble (n)
- Small bite
- Small snack
Churn [sth] out
Produrre in serie - The factory churns out thousands of cans of baked beans every day.
Plump for [sth]
Choose / Appoggiare, preferire - Money or time? I’d plump for time
Clamour (n, v)
- Public demand or protest - The crowd outside the gate clamored to see the king.
- Demand [sth] noisly -The children were clamoring for ice cream
Cow [sb]
Intimidate - This politician is steadfast and does not allow his opponents to cow him.
Brash (adj)
Impertinente, sfacciato - Inviting yourself to a party is a brash thing to do.
Spin doctor
Press agent / esperto di comunicazione
Exert yourself
Make (also physical) effort / sforzarsi - We all need to exert ourselves, if we are going to finish this project on time.
Seethe (v)
Be very angry / fremere di rabbia - Jenny was seething when she discovered her brother wrecked her car.
Shoehorn [sth] into [sth]
Fit, force into small space - Craig shoehorned the book between two others on the shelf
Overhaul [sth]
Revamp / revisionare, correggere, modernizzare - The school overhauled its entire curriculum.
Nibble (away) at (something)
- Literally, to eat something at a slow pace and in small bites.
- To erode something in small increments over time.
Hiatus (n)
- Break - The course is on hiatus while the professor is ill.
- medical: fissure - The procedure will correct a hiatus in the heart tissue
A case in point
An example that demonstrates a point being made as truthful or correct - It’s important to always encrypt your data so hackers can’t steal it. The recent data breach is a case in point.
Sitting duck
Something that is unprotected and vulnerable to an easy attack / easy target - When my car broke down in a bad neighborhood, I felt like a sitting duck, just waiting to get robbed.
Fly off the handle
To become uncontrollably angry, to lose control of one’s temper.
Weather the storm
To endure a period of hardship or disorder / to experience something and survive it.
Give (someone or something) a wide berth
- To maintain a good distance from someone or something.
- By extension, to avoid interacting or dealing with someone or something. -We’ve been giving John a wide berth ever since he dumped our good friend.
Smooth sailing
Progress or advancement that is free from hassle and easy to achieve - Organizing the event was really stressful, but it was pretty smooth sailing on the day
Fall on (one’s) sword
To accept the responsibility or blame for a problem or mistake - The CEO fell on his sword when widespread corruption in the company was exposed.
Batten down the hatches
To prepare for a challenging situation - My mother-in-law is coming to town this weekend, so I better batten down the hatches.
Let sleeping dogs lie
To leave a situation alone so as to avoid worsening it - Oh, don’t mention that fight they had months ago—let sleeping dogs lie!
Riddle me this!
Used to humorously or sarcastically emphasize a question that undercuts another person’s self-assuredness / Answer this question- You act like you have it all figured out, but riddle me this: How are we supposed to get that much cash in less then aday?
Beyond the pale
Completely unacceptable or inappropriate - Disrupting my class is beyond the pale, young lady—go to the principal’s office!
Circle the wagons
- To become defensive - I’m not questioning your decision, so don’t circle the wagons—I’m just looking for some more information
- To confer only with people within a trusted group - Callie’s new group of friends really circles the wagons, so she hardly talks to me anymore.
Be none the wiser
To still be confused about something even after it has been explained to you.
I’ve read the instructions twice and I’m still none the wiser
Switchback (n)
Steep zigzagging path / tracciato a tornanti
Gnaw at [sb]
Worry, trouble // rodere, consumare
