Objects & actions Flashcards
Freeze
Verb
(of a liquid) be turned into ice or another solid as a result of extreme cold: Water changing from a liquid to a solid state because of the cold.
Spin
Verb
Turn or cause to turn or whirl around quickly; Revolve- Rotate: The drum in a washing machine moving very quickly in its final stage of a wash.
Slide
The disc tray opening and closing on a computer
Evaporate
Water slowly turning into vapor.
Congeal (for blood, we would say clot)
Cooking fat or oil becoming solid on an unwashed plate.
Rotate
The planet Earth moving around on its axis.
Wobble
Move unsteadily from side to side; stumble
A loose wheel on a car
Leak (we could also say escape. The noise it makes is a hiss
Gas coming out of a faulty valve.
Vibrate (if the glass is loose in the frame, it would also rattle)
A pane of glass in a window frame when a large vehicle passes nearby.
Fade
A T-shirt which has been washed so often it is losing its color.
Rise
The sun coming up in the morning.
Erode
Cliffs being slowly destroyed by the sea.
Smolder
Slightly damp wood on a fire giving off smoke but no flames.
Expand
Cold metal as it gets hotter.
Stretch
A piece of elastic being pulled so that it becomes longer.
Crack (if the glass breaks completely, it shatters)
A window being hit by a stone so that a long, thin break forms in the glass.
Spill
Coffee falling out of a cup by mistake.
Explode
A bomb suddenly blowing up.
Revolve,
The Earth moving around the Sun.
Subside
A house slowly sinking into soft ground.
Flow
Traffic moving smoothly along a motorway. ……………
Melt
Glass changing from a solid to a liquid in very high heat.
Bounce
A rubber ball hitting the ground and going back into the air.
Grow
The population of a town becoming bigger.
Set
The sun going down in the evening.
Condense
Gas or steam changing into a liquid.
Meander
A wide river going through the countryside in big curves.
Spread
Documents being laid out on a table.
Trickle (if the water is coming out very slowly in small drops, we say drip)
Water coming very slowly out of a tap.
Burn
A slice of bread in a toaster turning black and beginning to give off smoke.
Crumble
A lump of dry earth being rubbed between somebody’s fingers.
Contract
Hot metal as it gets cooler.
Ring (we also use this word for the noise a telephone makes when
someone is calling you)
An old-fashioned alarm clock suddenly going off.
Sink
A boat going to the bottom of a river.
Float
Dead fish lying on the surface of a polluted lake.
Erupt
A volcano throwing out lava and ash.
Froze
The company froze its employees wages until the end of the year. (to say officially that the rate
or level of something must stay the same and not increase)
Float
Some people float through life without really knowing what they want to do. (to behave in a way that shows you do not have a clear plan for what you want to do)
Rising
Food prices have been rising steadily all year. (to increase in amount)
Fades
As the light fades in the evening, people start coming out onto the street. (to become less bright)
Condense
He managed to condense a two-hour presentation into 30 minutes. (to make something shorter or smaller)
Subsided
As the storms slowly died out, the floodwaters gradually subsided. (to become lower)
Revolved
The discussion we had last night revolved around the problem of finding affordable accommodation. (to have something as the main or most important part of a subject)
Set
You can set the machine to turn itself on or off at a particular time. (to make a piece of equipment ready to operate)
Trickle
- As soon the company’s website went on-line, orders began to trickle in. (to arrive or leave in
small amounts or numbers)
Stretched
The queue for tickets was so long it stretched all the way down the street. (to continue for a long
distance)
Bounce (we can also bounce ideas around. These are informal expressions),
Once a week we get together and bounce ideas off each other. (to discuss ideas with other
people in order to get their opinion and make a decision)
Leaked
They wanted to keep the story secret, but someone leaked it to the press. (to give private or
secret information to journalists or
