Diary of A Wimpy Kid Flashcards
a guilt trip
(informal) things you say to somebody in order to make them feel guilty about something
ex) For me, summer vacation is basically a three-month guilt trip.
Don’t lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.
frolic verb
BrE /ˈfrɒlɪk/ ; NAmE /ˈfrɑːlɪk/
present simple I / you / we / they frolic BrE /ˈfrɒlɪk/ ; NAmE /ˈfrɑːlɪk/
he / she / it frolics BrE /ˈfrɒlɪks/ ; NAmE /ˈfrɑːlɪks/
past simple frolicked BrE /ˈfrɒlɪkt/ ; NAmE /ˈfrɑːlɪkt/
past participle frolicked BrE /ˈfrɒlɪkt/ ; NAmE /ˈfrɑːlɪkt/
-ing form frolicking BrE /ˈfrɒlɪkɪŋ/ ; NAmE /ˈfrɑːlɪkɪŋ/
[intransitive] to play and move around in a lively, happy way
ex) Just because the weather’s nice, everyone expects you to be outside all day “frolicking” or whatever.
children frolicking on the beach
more/less/much of a something
used for describing the importance of a quality that something has
ex) But the truth is, I’ve always been more of an indoor person.
It was really more of a comment than a question.
Jet travel has made moving from place to place less of an ordeal.
Getting tickets for Tuesday shouldn’t be much of a problem.
let out
(North American English) (of school classes, films/movies, meetings, etc.) to come to an end, so that it is time for people to leave
ex) Rowley’s family belongs to a country club, and when school let out for the summer, we were going there every single day.
The movie has just let out.
think twice about something/about doing something
to think carefully before deciding to do something
pass something↔on (to somebody)
to give something to somebody else, especially after receiving it or using it yourself
ex) I reported all my complaints to Rowley’s dad, but for some reason, Mr. Jefferson never passed them on to the clubhouse manager.
Pass the book on to me when you’ve finished with it.
I passed your message on to my mother.
Much of the discount is pocketed by retailers instead of being passed on to customers.
joe noun
(also Joe)
/dʒoʊ/ usually singular
an ordinary working man
ex) And once you’ve tasted the country club life, it’s hard to go back to being an ordinary Joe at the town pool.
a fitness program for the average joe
soap verb
BrE /səʊp/ ; NAmE /soʊp/
soap yourself/somebody/something to rub yourself/somebody/something with soap
ex) At the town pool you have to go through the locker room before you can go swimming, and that means walking through the shower area, where grown men are soaping down right out in the open.
traumatic adjective
BrE /trɔːˈmætɪk/ ; NAmE /traʊˈmætɪk/
1) extremely unpleasant and causing you to feel upset and/or anxious
ex) The first time I walked through the men’s locker room at the town pool was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life.
a traumatic experience
Divorce can be traumatic for everyone involved.
a traumatic childhood
stink verb
BrE /stɪŋk/ ; NAmE /stɪŋk/ (informal)
2) [intransitive] stink (of something) to seem very bad, unpleasant or dishonest
ex) Mom had a “house meeting” last night and said money is tight this year and we can’t afford to go to the beach, which means no family vacation. That really stinks.
The whole business stank of corruption.
‘What do you think of the idea?’ ‘I think it stinks.’
cranium noun
BrE /ˈkreɪniəm/ ; NAmE /ˈkreɪniəm/ (pl. craniums, crania BrE /ˈkreɪniə/ ; NAmE /ˈkreɪniə/ )(anatomy)
the bone structure that forms the head and surrounds and protects the brain
synonym skull
ex) Anyway, I was looking forward to going to the beach because I’m finally tall enough to go on the Cranium Shaker, which is this really awesome ride that’s on the boardwalk.
boardwalk noun
BrE /ˈbɔːdwɔːk/ ; NAmE /ˈbɔːrdwɔːk/ (especially North American English)
a path made of wooden boards, especially on a beach or near water
ex) Anyway, I was looking forward to going to the beach because I’m finally tall enough to go on the Cranium Shaker, which is this really awesome ride that’s on the boardwalk.
run verb
BrE /rʌn/ ; NAmE /rʌn/
30) [transitive] run something to print and publish an item or a story
ex) One is my birthday, and the other is when the last “Li’l Cutie” comic runs in the paper.
To give you an idea of what I’m talking
about, here’s what ran in the paper today
On advice from their lawyers they decided not to run the story.
butt heads
North American (informal) engage in conflict or be in strong disagreement; to argue uncompromisingly
ex) Even though me and Dad see eye to eye on “Little Cutie,” there are still a lot of things we butt heads over.
They always seem to butt heads when they end up talking about politics.
And it’s very intense, and it’s good to have somebody really strong to butt heads against.
crabby adjective
BrE /ˈkræbi/ ; NAmE /ˈkræbi/ (informal)
(of people) bad-tempered and unpleasant
ex) But Dad gets kind of crabby if I’m still in bed when he gets home from work.
wide awake
1) completely awake
ex) So I keep a phone by my bed and use my best wide-awake voice when he calls.
I was already wide awake before the alarm went off.
2) able to think clearly and react quickly
I want to be wide awake for the board meeting at ten.
kick back
(especially North American English) to relax
ex) I think Dad’s jealous because he has to go to work while the rest of us get to kick back and take it easy every day.
Kick back and enjoy the summer.
take it/things easy
- take it easy
to relax and avoid working too hard or doing too much
ex) I think Dad’s jealous because he has to go to work while the rest of us get to kick back and take it easy every day.
The doctor told me to take it easy for a few weeks.
I like to take things easy when I’m on holiday.
- (informal) used to tell somebody not to be worried or angry
ex) Take it easy! Don’t panic.
snowplough noun
(North American English snowplow)
BrE /ˈsnəʊplaʊ/ ; NAmE /ˈsnoʊplaʊ/
a vehicle or machine for cleaning snow from roads or railways
ex) But if he’s gonna be all grumpy about it, he should just become a teacher or a snowplow driver or have one of those jobs where you get to take summers off.
on top of something/somebody
4) in control of a situation
ex) When my older brother, Rodrick, was a baby, Mom was totally on top of things.
Do you think he’s really on top of his job?
Work tends to pile up if I don’t keep on top of it.
shaggy adjective
BrE /ˈʃæɡi/ ; NAmE /ˈʃæɡi/ (shaggier, shaggiest)
1) (of hair, fur, etc.) long and untidy
ex) Today Mom said I was looking “shaggy,” so she told me she was taking me to get a haircut.
a shaggy mane of hair
The dog has a thick, shaggy white coat.
checkout noun
BrE /ˈtʃekaʊt/ ; NAmE /ˈtʃekaʊt/
1) [countable] the place where you pay for the things that you are buying in a supermarket
ex) Second, they have lots of tabloids, those newspapers you see in the checkout lines at grocery stores.
a checkout assistant/operator
long queues at the checkouts
You can’t just go through the checkout without paying!
have time on your hands, have time to kill
(informal) to have nothing to do or not be busy
ex) Granma’s dog, Henry, died recently, and ever since then Granma has had a lot of time on her hands.
fish out somebody | fish out somebody of something | fish out something | fish out something of something | fish somebody out | fish somebody out of something | fish something out | fish something out of something
to take or pull something/somebody out of a place
ex) Last week I fished one out of the trash and read it in my bedroom.
She fished a piece of paper out of the pile on her desk.
They fished a dead body out of the river.
dirt noun
BrE /dɜːt/ ; NAmE /dɜːrt/ [uncountable]
3) (informal) unpleasant or harmful information about somebody that could be used to damage their reputation, career, etc.
ex) The ladies who work there know the dirt on just about everyone in town.
Do you have any dirt on the new guy?
just about (informal)
1) almost; very nearly
ex) The ladies who work there know the dirt on just about everyone in town.
I’ve met just about everyone.
‘Did you reach your sales target?’ ‘Just about.’
2) approximately
ex) She should be arriving just about now.
head start noun
1) [singular] head start (on/over somebody) an advantage that somebody already has before they start doing something
2) a situation in which you start a race before your opponent or from a position that is further ahead
ex) I figured if anything came out of there in the middle of the night, it would grab Rowley first and I’d have a five-second head start to escape.
Being able to speak French gave her a head start over the other candidates.
trample verb
BrE /ˈtræmpl/ ; NAmE /ˈtræmpl/
1) [transitive, intransitive] to step heavily on somebody/something so that you crush or harm them/it with your feet
ex) Me and Rowley practically trampled each other to death trying to get up the basement stairs.
People were trampled underfoot in the rush for the exit.
He was trampled to death by a runaway horse.
The campers had trampled the corn down.
Don’t trample on the flowers!
rustling noun
BrE /ˈrʌslɪŋ/ ; NAmE /ˈrʌslɪŋ/
1) [uncountable, countable] the sound of light, dry things moving together; the sound that papers or leaves make, for example when the wind blows on them
ex) I heard some rustling and a few bumps, and I was ready to make a run for it.
the soft rustling of leaves
fess up
(informal) to admit that you have done something wrong
synonym own up
ex) Dad wanted to know what was going on, and I had to fess up.
It’s time for the President to fess up.
dream something↔up
(informal) to have an idea, especially a very unusual or silly one
synonym think up
ex) I thought about it, though, and I realized there’s only so much ground a muddy hand can cover in a day.
Trust you to dream up a crazy idea like this!
horse about | horse around
(informal) to play in a way that is noisy and not very careful so that you could hurt somebody or damage something; to play in a very lively or rough way
ex) After Mom caught me horsing around, she banned me from watching TV until I read the book.
He was horsing around in the kitchen and broke my favourite bowl.
trip verb
BrE /trɪp/ ; NAmE /trɪp/
1) [intransitive] to catch your foot on something and fall or almost fall
ex) This morning Dad tripped over a dictionary I left at the top of the stairs, so now he’s mad at me.
She tripped and fell.
Someone will trip over that cable.
(figurative) I was tripping over my words in my excitement to tell them the news.
Be careful you don’t trip up on the step.
hang out to dry
2) (transitive, idiomatic) to abandon someone who is in need or in danger, especially a colleague or one dependent; leave somebody in a difficult situation without your support, especially to avoid receiving any blame yourself; to expose someone’s weakpoints or vulnerability
ex) Yesterday Rowley went golfing or something with his dad, so he kind of hung me out to dry.
It was his own party who hung him out to dry for losing the election.
At the town meeting next week, the city council is going to hang out to dry the mayor
rack your brain(s)
to think very hard or for a long time about something
ex) Me and Rowley racked our brians all day yesterday trying to figure out how to pay off that eighty three dollars.
She racked her brains, trying to remember exactly what she had said.
run-of-the-mill adjective
BrE ; NAmE (often disapproving)
Add to my wordlist
ordinary, with no special or interesting features
ex) I’m not talking about some average, run-of-the-mill lawn care service, either. I’m talking about a company that lawn care to the next level.
a run-of-the-mill job
These should be run-of-the-mill problems to the experienced manager.
clip art noun
BrE /ˈklɪp ɑːt/ ; NAmE /ˈklɪp ɑːrt/ uncountable
pictures and symbols that are stored in computer programs or on websites for computer users to copy and add to their own documents
ex) After that we got some clip art of lawn tools and put it all together.
hit verb
BrE /hɪt/ ; NAmE /hɪt/
9) [transitive] hit something (informal) to reach a place
ex) After we hit a few houses, we realized it would be a lot easier to just ask the next person we spoke with to pass the flyer along so me and Rowley wouldn’t have to do all that walking.
Follow this footpath and you’ll eventually hit the road.
The President hits town tomorrow.
roll in(informal)
1) to arrive in great numbers or amounts
ex) Now the only thing we have to do is sit back and wait for the phone calls to start rolling in.
Offers of help are still rolling in.
light into
NORTH AMERICAN (informal) criticize severely; attack
ex) Well, I must’ve caught Gramma on a bad day, because she really lit into me.
“he lit into him for his indiscretion”
buy verb
BrE /baɪ/ ; NAmE /baɪ/
5) [transitive] buy something (informal) to believe that something is true, especially something that is not very likely
ex) Believe it or not, Mrs. Can field bought it.
You could say you were ill but I don’t think they’d buy it (= accept the explanation).
go along with somebody | go along with something
to agree with somebody/something
ex) I guess Mrs. Canfield must have been pretty desperate to get her lawn mowed, because she went along with my plan.
I don’t go along with her views on private medicine.
poke around/about
look around a place, typically in search of something
ex) That’s when me and Rowley realized neither one of us had ever actually operated a lawn mower before. So the two of us poked around for a while and tried to figure out how to get the thing started.
tilt verb
BrE /tɪlt/ ; NAmE /tɪlt/
[intransitive, transitive] to move, or make something move, into a position with one side or end higher than the other
synonym tip
ex) Unfortunately, when we tilted the mower on its side, all the gasoline spilled out onto the grass, and we had to go back over to Gramma’s to get a refill.
Suddenly the boat tilted to one side.
The seat tilts forward, when you press this lever.
His hat was tilted slightly at an angle.
She tilted her head back and looked up at me with a smile.
