Obscure French Verbs

Question 1

to cancel ( réservation, commande, dette )
to call off ( engagement )
to quash ( jugement, décision )
to nullify

Answer 1

annuler

Question 2

to cancel each other out ( poussées, efforts )

Answer 2

s’annuler

Question 3

to show up, to turn up
to disembark ( troops )

1) he turned up at my place last night
2) where have you been?*
3) But his troops have landed outside the city walls.

Answer 3

débarquer

1) il a débarqué chez moi hier soir
2) ( = ne pas être au courant )* tu débarques !
3) Mais ses troupes ont débarqué hors les murs

Question 4

to crush

to get crushed by a car

Answer 4

écrabouiller

se faire écrabouiller par une voiture

Question 5

to destroy completely,
to annihilate

( the news crushed him )

Answer 5

anéantir

la nouvelle l’a anéanti

Question 6

to fall through / to screw up, mess up something ( project )

Answer 6

Foirer

Question 7

to search through,
to go through, rummage in

to study profoundly

who’s been rummaging about in my things?

delve into someone’s past

Answer 7

Fouiller [fuje]

qui a fouillé dans mes affaires ?

fouiller dans le passé de quelqu’un

Question 8

to nose around, to meddle

Answer 8

fouiner

Question 9

to dig

Answer 9

creuser, bêcher

Question 10

to bring down, tear down, shoot down, cut down, etc

to kill ( human ), to slaughter ( animal )

to weaken, demoralize

1) don’t let things get you down
2) he’s the one that needs to be got rid of

Answer 10

abattre

1) ne te laisse pas abattre
2) c’est l’homme à abattre

Question 11

to freak out, to throw into a panic

to lose one’s head, to panic

1) let’s not panic
2) you just need to calmly reply yes or no.

Answer 11

affoler

s’affoler

1) ne nous affolons pas let’s not panic
2) Il faut répondre oui ou non sans s’affoler.

Question 12

to sadden

1) we were greatly saddened by the news

Answer 12

attrister

1) cette nouvelle nous a profondément attristés

Question 13

to do odd jobs around the house,

to repair, to tinker with, to build

Answer 13

bricoler

Question 14

to have a falling out with someone

Answer 14

se brouiller avec quelqu’un

Question 15

to squabble, argue

Answer 15

se chamailler

Question 16

to squabble ( less common )

Answer 16

chicaner ( sur ), ergoter ( sur )

Question 17

to work like a dog

to get high

Answer 17

se défoncer

Question 18

to listen to reason

Answer 18

écouter la voix de la raison

Question 19

to crash ( plane, car )

to be crushed ( object, body )

Answer 19

s’écraser

Question 20

to collapse

to be dashed, to come to nothing ( dreams )

to be slumped / slouched

1) she broke down in tears
2) he’s slumped over on his chair

Answer 20

s’effondrer

1) elle s’est effondrée en larmes
2) il est effondré sur sa chaise

Question 21

to stretch

to stretch ( muscles )

to stretch out

Answer 21

étirer

s’étirer

Question 22

to sleep in, to sleep late

Answer 22

faire la grasse matinée

Question 23

to shut down for good ( store, etc )

Answer 23

fermer définitivement

Question 24

to smell
to sense

1) to sense danger

Answer 24

flairer, humer

1) flairer le danger

Question 25

to go fast, to charge ahead, to charge at

to get a move on, to hurry, to dash off

1) the truck drove straight at me
2) I gotta take off now
3) It’s no time to wimp out, dude, let’s go, do it!

Answer 25

foncer ( vers - at, dans - into )
(= aller à vive allure) (= se précipiter) (vers at, dans into)

1) le camion a foncé sur moi
2) maintenant, il faut que je fonce
3) c’est pas le moment de flancher, mon vieux, vas y, fonce!

Question 26

to hit, collide with, bump into

to collide

1) the car ran into a tree
2) to run into a problem

Answer 26

heurter

1) la voiture a heurté un arbre
2) se heurter à un problème

Question 27

to offend
to go against ( taste, opinion )
to wound / injure ( ego )

to clash ( opinions, personality )

Answer 27

heurter

se heurter

Question 28

to honk the horn

Answer 28

klaxonner

un coup de klaxon

Question 29

to put an end to

Answer 29

mettre un terme / fin à

Question 30

to catch up on, to make up for

1) the driver made up for lost time.
2) this student will never be able to catch up
3) the cost of living has caught up with the increase in salaries.

Answer 30

rattraper

1) le conducteur a rattrapé son retard
2) cet élève ne pourra jamais rattraper son retard
3) le coût de la vie a rattrapé l’augmentation de salaire

Question 31

to fail in a subject, to flunk

1) to flunk history
2) he failed his driving test three times

Answer 31

recaler

1) se faire recaler / être recalé en histoire
2) il a été recalé trois fois au permis de conduire

Question 32

to dread

1) I dread asking this question, but…

Answer 32

redouter

1) je redoute de poser cette question, mais…

Question 33

to cure, remedy
to “take care of” / fix

to find a solution for

Answer 33

remédier (à)

1) C’est évidement notre point faible, et il est grand temps d’y remédier.

Question 34

to snort, to sniff

Answer 34

renifler ( human )
flairer ( dog )
humer ( air, perfume, aroma )

Question 35

to sniff out / to find / to sense

a scam, a good deal, etc

Answer 35

flairer, renifler

Question 36

to show / feel the effects of something

1) his work is affected

Answer 36

se ressentir de

1) son travail s’en ressent

Question 37

to daydream

Answer 37

rêvasser

Question 38

to delete
to remove,
to withdraw

1) this medicine is a painkiller
2) we must cut out the middleman
3) air travel shortens distances
4) the line was taken out of service

Answer 38

supprimer

1) ce médicament supprime la douleur
2) il faut supprimer les intermédiaires
3) l’avion supprime les distances
4) 3) la ligne a été supprimée

Question 39

to deprive someone of something

1) he’s had his bonus stopped
2) to eliminate something from one’s diet

Answer 39

supprimer quelque chose à quelqu’un

1) on lui a supprimé sa prime
2) supprimer quelque chose de son alimentation

Question 40

to tighten ( rope, cable )
to tense ( muscle )
to stretch ( material )

Answer 40

tendre

Question 41

to set a trap for someone

Answer 41

tendre un piège à quelqu’un

Question 42

to suspend / hang

Answer 42

tendre, suspendre

1) tendre une chaîne entre deux poteaux

Question 43

to hold out, to reach out, to stretch to someone

1) to hold out one’s hand to catch or beg, etc
2) to hold out one’s hand ( to greet )
3) he stretched out his arms to me
4) he held out a packet of cigarettes to her
5) to throw someone a lifeline

Answer 43

tendre quelque chose à quelqu’un

1) tendre la main (pour attraper, mendier)
2) tendre la main à qn (pour saluer)
3) il m’a tendu les bras
4) il lui a tendu un paquet de cigarettes
5) tendre une perche à quelqu’un

Question 44

to become taut / tight ( rope ),

to become strained, awkward, bad ( relationship )

Answer 44

se tendre

Question 45

to trip, to stumble

1) to trip someone

Answer 45

Trébucher ( sur ou contre )
( over / against )

1) faire trébucher quelqu’un

Question 46

to fiddle with, mess with,
to grope ( sexually ),
to root around in

1) to play with oneself
2) to grope each other
3) to fiddle with someone’s stuff
4) to root through a drawer

Answer 46

Tripoter

1 & 2 )se tripoter

3) tripoter dans les affaires de quelqu’un
4) tripoter dans un tiroir

Question 47

to mooch off of

Answer 47

vivre aux crochets

Question 48

Take the ( necessary ) steps to do something/ obtain something

Answer 48

faire les démarches ( nécessaires )

Question 49

To be kidding oneself,

To have another thing coming

Answer 49

se faire des idées

Question 50

To be bad at someone,
To hold something against someone

1) don’t tell me you’re still mad at me about that.
2) how could I be mad at you?
3) I should be mad at them

Answer 50

En vouloir à quelqu’un

1) ne me dites pas que vous m’en voulez encore pour cela
2) comment pourrais-je vous en vouloir?
3) je devrais leur en vouloir

Question 51

Take a shortcut

1) let’s just say I thought about taking a shortcut downstairs

Answer 51

Prendre un raccourci

1) disons, j’ai songé à prendre comme un raccourci jusqu’en bas.

Question 52

To work behind the scenes

1) what goes on behind the scenes of politics

Answer 52

Rester dans la coulisse / tout contrôler des coulisses

1) les coulisses de la politique

Question 53

To be gifted

1) she has a knack for getting on my nerves

Answer 53

Avoir des dons

1) elle a le don de m’énerver

Question 54

To give someone a gift ( usually emotionally, something significant )

1) by giving you the same gift you gave me before
2) to give one’s life to save someone
3) It’s a godsend

Answer 54

Faire don de

1) en vous offrant à mon tour ce dont vous m’aviez fait don autrefois
2) faire (le) don de sa vie pour sauver quelqu’un
3) c’est un don du ciel

Question 55

To go through an ordeal, a rest test, a crazy experience

1) you’ve been through quite an ordeal
2) these are the moments where my patience is really tested.

Answer 55

Passer par / traverser une rude épreuve

1) Vous êtes passée par une rude épreuve.
2) c’est à des moments pareils que ma patience est soumise à rude épreuve.