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English Vocabulary > Books_12 > Flashcards

Books_12 Flashcards

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1
Q

Tally [sth]

A
  1. Conteggiare - Edward tallied the votes.
  2. Correspond, agree - The detective quickly realised that the accounts given by the two witnesses didn’t tally.
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2
Q

Fussy

A

Esigente, difficile da accontentare, schizzinoso

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3
Q

Furlough (n)

A

Unpaid leave / military leave / leave from prison

The inmate was granted a one-day furlough so he could attend his mother’s funeral.

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4
Q

Taxing

A

Difficult, demanding - Harry finds hiking in cold weather to be taxing on his body.

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5
Q

Jester (n)

A

Giullare, buffone di corte

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6
Q

Seer (n)

A

[sb] who sees future / veggente, indovino

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7
Q

Trinket (n)

A

Piece of jewellery / ornament

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8
Q

Warp (v)

A

Bend out of shape - The wood had warped and was no longer any use as a building material.

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9
Q

Hit the hay/sack

A

Go to bed

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10
Q

Fray (n, v)

A
  1. Fight, quarrel
  2. Become ragged / sfilacciarsi
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11
Q

Undertow (n)

A

Risacca, corrente di ritorno - The swimmer was dragged down by the undertow and drowned.

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12
Q

In disarray

A

Disordered, untidy / a soqquadro, sottosopra - I went off to work in a hurry this morning and left the house in disarray.

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13
Q

Trickle out

A

Leave slowly - When the lights went up in the movie theater, people were already trickling out.

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14
Q

Strike up [sth]

A

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.

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15
Q

Privy (adj)

A

Informed

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16
Q

Shore [sth] up

A

Support, stop [sth] failing - The new minister needs to shore up the government’s policy on benefit cuts.

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17
Q

Perk up

A

Become more alert, lively / riprendersi, tirarsi su - Lucy perked up after drinking a cup of coffee

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18
Q

Turncoat (n)

A

Person who changes allegiance / voltagabbana

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19
Q

Undercroft

A

Underground chamber / cripta, sotterraneo

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20
Q

Hillibilly

A

From southern US mountain area / montanaro

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21
Q

Ghoulish

A

Macabro, orrido - I don’t like such ghoulish movies; I prefer romantic comedies

22
Q

Harrowed

A

Looking stressed / stressato, sofferente -

23
Q

Nibble (n)

A
  1. Small bite
  2. Small snack
24
Q

Churn [sth] out

A

Produrre in serie - The factory churns out thousands of cans of baked beans every day.

25
Q

Plump for [sth]

A

Choose / Appoggiare, preferire - Money or time? I’d plump for time

26
Q

Clamour (n, v)

A
  1. Public demand or protest - The crowd outside the gate clamored to see the king.
  2. Demand [sth] noisly -The children were clamoring for ice cream
27
Q

Cow [sb]

A

Intimidate - This politician is steadfast and does not allow his opponents to cow him.

28
Q

Brash (adj)

A

Impertinente, sfacciato - Inviting yourself to a party is a brash thing to do.

29
Q

Spin doctor

A

Press agent / esperto di comunicazione

30
Q

Exert yourself

A

Make (also physical) effort / sforzarsi - We all need to exert ourselves, if we are going to finish this project on time.

31
Q

Seethe (v)

A

Be very angry / fremere di rabbia - Jenny was seething when she discovered her brother wrecked her car.

32
Q

Shoehorn [sth] into [sth]

A

Fit, force into small space - Craig shoehorned the book between two others on the shelf

33
Q

Overhaul [sth]

A

Revamp / revisionare, correggere, modernizzare - The school overhauled its entire curriculum.

34
Q

Nibble (away) at (something)

A
  1. Literally, to eat something at a slow pace and in small bites.
  2. To erode something in small increments over time.
35
Q

Hiatus (n)

A
  1. Break - The course is on hiatus while the professor is ill.
  2. medical: fissure - The procedure will correct a hiatus in the heart tissue
36
Q

A case in point

A

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.

37
Q

Sitting duck

A

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.

38
Q

Fly off the handle

A

To become uncontrollably angry, to lose control of one’s temper.

39
Q

Weather the storm

A

To endure a period of hardship or disorder / to experience something and survive it.

40
Q

Give (someone or something) a wide berth

A
  1. To maintain a good distance from someone or something.
  2. 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.
41
Q

Smooth sailing

A

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

42
Q

Fall on (one’s) sword

A

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.

43
Q

Batten down the hatches

A

To prepare for a challenging situation - My mother-in-law is coming to town this weekend, so I better batten down the hatches.

44
Q

Let sleeping dogs lie

A

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!

45
Q

Riddle me this!

A

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?

46
Q

Beyond the pale

A

Completely unacceptable or inappropriate - Disrupting my class is beyond the pale, young lady—go to the principal’s office!

47
Q

Circle the wagons

A
  1. To become defensive - I’m not questioning your decision, so don’t circle the wagons—I’m just looking for some more information
  2. 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.
48
Q

Be none the wiser

A

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

49
Q

Switchback (n)

A

Steep zigzagging path / tracciato a tornanti

50
Q

Gnaw at [sb]

A

Worry, trouble // rodere, consumare

English Vocabulary (20 decks)

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