phone 12 Flashcards
deplore
o say or think that something is very bad:
We deeply deplore the loss of life.
He said that he deplored all violence.
UK The attitude of the Minister is to be deplored (= is very bad).
pitch
the level or degree of something:
If you teach children and adults in the same class, it’s difficult to get the pitch (= level of difficulty or interest) right.
That June, the pitch of the local anti-pipeline campaign was turned up.
[ S ]
the level of a feeling:
By this time their disagreement had reached such a pitch that there was no hope of an amicable conclusion.
The children were at fever pitch (= very excited) the day before the party.
wail
to make a long, high cry, usually because of pain or sadness:
The women gathered around the coffin and began to wail, as was the custom in the region.
[ + speech ] “My finger hurts,” wailed the child.
[ I ] informal
to complain loudly or strongly:
[ + that ] Business people wailed that their trade would be ruined.
backfire
(of a plan) to have the opposite result from the one you intended:
Her plans to make him jealous backfired on her when he started dating her best friend.
beaming
used to describe a smile that is very wide and happy, or someone who is smiling in this way:
a beaming smile
instil
to put a feeling, idea, or principle gradually into someone’s mind, so that it has a strong influence on the way that person thinks or behaves:
instil confidence in/into It is part of a teacher’s job to instil confidence in/into his or her students.
braid
a thin strip of cloth or twisted threads that is attached to clothes, uniforms, or other things made of cloth, as a decoration:
The captain of the ship wore a cap decorated with gold braid (= twisted gold threads).
intimidate
to frighten or threaten someone, usually in order to persuade them to do something that you want them to do:
They were intimidated into accepting a pay cut by the threat of losing their jobs.
cling
to stick onto or hold something or someone tightly, or to refuse to stop holding it, him, or her:
We got so wet that our clothes clung to us.
They clung together in terror as the screams grew louder.
One little girl was clinging onto a cuddly toy.
She clung to the handrail as she walked down the slippery steps.
to stay close to someone who is taking care of you, because you need their support:
Jenny is the kind of child who always clings whenever she’s taken to a new place.
sublimate
to express strong emotions or use energy by doing an activity, especially an activity that is considered socially acceptable:
Hostile feelings and violent responses often seem to be sublimated into sporting activities.
prepend
to add something to the beginning of something else, especially a piece of data (= information) to the beginning of a computer instruction:
If the remote machine is Windows based, prepend the address with smb://.
lurk
to wait or move in a secret way so that you cannot be seen, especially because you are about to attack someone or do something wrong:
Someone was lurking in the shadows.
Why are you lurking around in the hallway?
[ I usually + adv/prep ]
(of an unpleasant feeling or quality) to exist although it is not always noticeable:
Danger lurks around every corner.
It seems that old prejudices are still lurking beneath the surface.
veer
to change direction:
All of a sudden, the car veered off the road.
Moments before crashing, the jet was seen veering sharply to the right.
Three men were feared dead last night after a helicopter veered off course into an oil platform.
Our talk soon veered onto the subject of money.
come down on someone/something
to punish or criticize a person or activity very strongly:
They’re coming down heavily on people for not paying their licence fees.
The authorities plan to come down hard on truancy in future.
recline
to lean or lie back with the upper part of your body in a nearly horizontal position:
She was reclining elegantly on the sofa.
He reclined his head against/on my shoulder.
defrost
to (cause to) become free of ice, or to (cause to) become no longer frozen:
When you get a build-up of ice in your freezer, you know it’s time to defrost it.
Defrost the chicken thoroughly before cooking.
Leave the chicken to defrost.
relent
to act in a less severe way towards someone and allow something that you had refused to allow before:
Her parents eventually relented and let her go to the party.
The security guard relented and let them through.
converse
the opposite:
In the US, you drive on the right-hand side of the road, but in the UK the converse applies.
However, the converse of this theory may also be true.
to have a conversation with someone:
converse with She’s so shy that conversing with her can be pretty hard.
facile
A facile remark or theory is too simple and has not been thought about enough:
a facile explanation
We must avoid facile recriminations about who was to blame.
easy or too easy; not needing effort:
He does not permit himself facile answers.
thaw
to (cause to) change from a solid, frozen state to a liquid or soft one, because of an increase in temperature:
Allow the meat to thaw completely before cooking it.
The sun came out and thawed the ice.
It’s beginning to thaw (= the weather is warm enough for snow and ice to melt).
to become friendlier or more relaxed:
The report shows that relations between the two enemies may be thawing.
an increase in friendliness:
There are signs of a thaw in relations between the two countries.
