phone 17

Question 1

cardiac

Answer 1

of the heart or heart disease:
The patient had a history of cardiac disease.
cardiac muscle
cardiac function

Question 2

plot

Answer 2

a small piece of land that has been marked or measured for a particular purpose:
a vegetable plot
There are several plots of land for sale.

a secret plan made by several people to do something that is wrong, harmful, or not legal, especially to do damage to a person or a government:
The plot was discovered before it was carried out.
[ + to infinitive ] The police have foiled a plot to assassinate the president.

to write the plot for something:
So far I’ve only plotted (out) the story in a rough form.

Question 3

upsurge

Answer 3

a sudden and usually large increase in something:
An upsurge of/in violence in the district has been linked to increased unemployment.

Department stores report a recent upsurge in credit-card fraud.

Question 4

colossal

Answer 4

extremely large:
In the centre of the hall stood a colossal wooden statue, decorated in ivory and gold.
They were asking a colossal amount of money for the house.

(esp. of something bad) very great:
The whole business has been a colossal failure/mistake.
It was a colossal waste of time.

prodigious
adjective formal
UK /prəˈdɪdʒ.əs/ US /prəˈdɪdʒ.əs/
Add to word list
extremely great in ability, amount, or strength:
She wrote a truly prodigious number of novels.
She was a prodigious musician.
He had a prodigious appetite for both women and drink.

Question 5

ensuing

Answer 5

happening after or following something else:
In the ensuing decades he specialized in neurology.
Ensuing tests disclosed an irregular heartbeat.

happening after something and because of it:
An argument broke out and in the ensuing fight, a gun went off.
He lost his job and in the ensuing months became more and more depressed.

Question 6

diastolic

Answer 6

relating to the diastole (= the period when the main chamber of the heart is relaxed and filling with blood):
diastolic blood pressure

Question 7

trench

Answer 7

a narrow hole that is dug into the ground:
A workman was killed when the sides of the trench he was working in collapsed.

[ C usually plural ]
a deep hole dug by soldiers and used as a place from which they can attack the enemy while being hidden:
the trenches of the First World War
trench warfare

Question 8

whiff

Answer 8

a slight smell, carried on a current of air:
catch/get a whiff of He leaned towards me and I caught/got a whiff of garlic.
whiff of During the first few months of pregnancy the slightest whiff of food cooking made my stomach turn.

to try to hit a ball, puck, or person and miss completely :
He took a wild swing and whiffed badly.

a slight sign of something:
They regularly hold elections without a whiff of corruption or violence.

Question 9

discreet

Answer 9

careful not to cause embarrassment or attract too much attention, especially by keeping something secret:
The family made discreet enquiries about his background.
They are very good assistants, very discreet - they wouldn’t go talking to the press.

careful not to cause embarrassment or attract a lot of attention:
She hung the laundry on a line in a discreet corner of the yard.
There was a discreet knock on the door.

Question 10

choppiness

Answer 10

the fact or quality of stopping and starting, or changing suddenly many times:
He believes that the recent choppiness in the market is just a seasonal correction.
The choppiness in the text is not helped by a lack of editorial input.

Question 11

terminally

Answer 11

terminally adverb (EXTREMELY)

If someone or something is terminally stupid, boring, etc., they are extremely stupid, boring, etc. and that will not change:
a terminally naive college student

very seriously; in a way that will lead to death:
terminally ill cancer patients

Question 12

bail out

Answer 12

to jump out of an aircraft with a parachute because the aircraft is going to have an accident:
The plane’s engine failed and the pilot was forced to bail out.

to stop doing or being involved with something:
The actor has bailed out of the film after only three weeks’ shooting.

to help a person or organization that is in difficulty, usually by giving or lending them money:
She keeps running up huge debts and asking friends to bail her out.

to pay money to a court so that someone can be released from prison until their trial

Question 13

precarious

Answer 13

in a dangerous state because of not being safe or not being held in place firmly:
The lorry was lodged in a very precarious way, with its front wheels hanging over the cliff.

A precarious situation is likely to get worse:
Many borrowers now find themselves caught in a precarious financial position.

in danger because not firmly fixed; likely to fall or suffer harm:
I climbed onto a precarious platform to get a better view.

Question 14

laurels

Answer 14

praise for a person because of something they have done, usually in sport, the arts, or politics:
The actors are very good, but when all is considered the laurels must surely go to the director of the play.
Audiences tend to enjoy adventures and romance, whereas critics give laurels to more serious movies.
That year, China collected laurels in several new Olympic categories.
She has won many academic laurels.
He received a variety of laurels during his football career.

Question 15

fruition

Answer 15

an occasion when a plan or an idea begins to happen, exist, or be successful:
come to fruition None of his grand plans for a TV series ever came to fruition.

the state of having successfully completed an activity or plan:
The governor plans to use his considerable influence to bring the museum to fruition.

Question 16

privy

Answer 16

to be told information that is not told to many people:
I was never privy to conversations between top management.

having secret knowledge:
Only top management was privy to (= knew about) the proposed merger.

a toilet, especially in a very small building in the garden of a house

Question 17

stake

Answer 17

If you have a stake in something, it is important to you because you have a personal interest or involvement in it:
Employers have a stake in the training of their staff.

a situation where someone is judged on how much of a particular quality they have:
The prime minister is not very high in the popularity stakes (= he is not very popular) at the moment.

In an activity or competition, the stakes are the reward for the person who wins or succeeds in it:
The team is playing for enormous stakes - the chance to play in the final.

to make a situation more urgent or more difficult to ignore:
The stowaways are trying to raise the stakes by refusing to eat until they are given money and aid.

Question 18

forge

Answer 18

to make an illegal copy of something in order to deceive:
a forged passport
a forged signature
A number of forged works of art have been sold as genuine.

to make or produce something, especially with some difficulty:
forge a bond The accident forged a close bond between the two families.
She forged a new career for herself as a singer.

to suddenly and quickly move forward:
forge ahead Just 100 metres from the finishing line Jackson forged ahead.
She forged through the snow.

to make things out of metal by heating it until it is soft and then bending and hitting it with a hammer to create the right shape:
He taught them to forge iron swords and spears.
A spade with a forged blade is best.

Question 19

gusto

Answer 19

great energy, enthusiasm, and enjoyment that is experienced by someone taking part in an activity, especially a performance:
with gusto Everyone joined in the singing with great gusto.

eager enjoyment experienced when doing something:
We ate and drank with gusto.

Question 20

gall

Answer 20

rudeness and the quality of being unable to understand that your behaviour or what you say is not acceptable to other people:
[ + to infinitive ] Considering that he never even bothers to visit my parents, I’m amazed that Tim has the gall to ask them for money!

to make someone feel annoyed:
I think it galls him to take orders from a younger and less experienced colleague.

a gall is a kind of unusual solid mass that forms on the outer tissues of plants:
The galls deform the leaves and stems of the host tree.
One of the best plants to examine for galls is an oak tree.

Question 21

bidding

Answer 21

the act of offering to pay a particular amount of money for something, by different people:
Most of the bidding was done by phone.

open the bidding

to make the first offer of money for an object at a public sale of goods:
Who will open the bidding at £200?

(in some card games) the process of the players saying, before play starts, how many points they expect to win in a particular game:
In this course, we will cover the basics of Contract Bridge, including bidding, playing, and scorekeeping.

a request or an order:
At my grandmother’s bidding, I wore my best dress.

Question 22

invigorate

Answer 22

to make someone feel fresher, healthier, and more energetic:
We were invigorated by our walk.

to give new energy or strength to someone or something:
They argued that a cut in the tax rate would invigorate the economy.

Question 23

whiner

Answer 23

a person, especially a child, who complains or expresses disappointment or unhappiness repeatedly

Question 24

blackout

Answer 24

a time when all lights must be hidden by law, or when there is no light or power because of an electricity failure:
wartime blackouts
Power lines were blown down and we had a blackout of several hours.

a period of time when electric power has failed, causing a loss of lights:
A blackout ended the game early.

a period of time when a service, product, etc. is not available:
Pay-per-view returned after a three-year blackout.
A media blackout was imposed the day after the riots.

a short period when someone suddenly becomes unconscious:
He can’t drive because he suffers from blackouts.

the action taken to make certain that information about something is not reported to the public:
a news blackout

Question 25

rear-end

Answer 25

to hit the back of one car with another in an accident:
My new car was rear-ended while it was parked outside the station.

to hit esp. the back of a vehicle from behind:
A truck rear-ended a car stopped in traffic on the expressway.

Question 26

garner

Answer 26

to collect something, usually after much work or with difficulty:
Coppola garnered several Oscar awards for “The Godfather”.

to get or earn something valuable or respected, often with difficulty:
Coppola garnered several Oscars for his movie, “The Godfather.”

Question 27

tap into

Answer 27

to manage to use something in a way that brings good results:
If only we could tap into all that energy and creativity.

Question 28

ram

Answer 28

to hit or push something with force:
Someone rammed (into) my car while it was parked outside my house.
He rammed the sweets/his pipe into his mouth.
I rammed down the soil around the fence post.
She slammed the door and rammed home the bolt (= closed it forcefully and completely).

a piece of equipment used to hit something and force it open or break it:
They used a ram to break down the door.

Question 29

slap around

Answer 29

to hit someone repeatedly or often:
Her husband has been slapping her around, but she’s afraid to go to the police.

Question 30

happenstance

Answer 30

chance or a chance situation, especially one producing a good result:
By (a strange) happenstance they were both in Paris at the same time.

Question 31

rebound

Answer 31

If an action rebounds on you, it does not have the effect you hoped for but has an unpleasant effect on you instead:
His continual demands for sympathy rebounded on him because his friends finally stopped listening.

to rise in price after a fall:
Cotton rebounded from declines early in the day to end at a higher price.

to exercise by performing jumps and movements on a rebounder (= a piece of equipment like a small trampoline):
We recommend you rebound in suitable trainers, although you can also rebound barefoot.

to return to an earlier and better condition; improve:
Older athletes find it harder to rebound from injuries.

if prices, shares, etc. rebound, they increase in value again after a period when they were going down in value:
Cotton rebounded from declines early in the day to end at a higher price.
Shares rebounded 18p to 379p yesterday.
rebound from $18/6.5p/2.6% etc. The group posted a profit last year of $24.8 million, rebounding from a loss of $10.9 million the previous year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid as much as 53.64 to 5594.01, before rebounding to 5616.21.

Question 32

blend in

Answer 32

to look or seem the same as surrounding people or things and therefore not be easily noticeable:
We tried to blend into the crowd.
They have adopted local customs and tried to blend in with the community.

Question 33

throw off

Answer 33

If you throw off your clothes, you take them off quickly and carelessly:
They threw off their clothes and jumped in the sea.

to stop suffering from a cold or other illness that is not serious:
I can’t seem to throw off this cold.

to escape from something or someone following you:
They threw the police off the scent by travelling on false passports.

to cause an amount to be wrong or a person to be confused:
They left very rich people out of the study so their spending would not throw off the results.
A busy morning can throw off my entire daily schedule.

Question 34

fetch

Answer 34

to be sold for a particular amount of money:
The paintings fetched over a million dollars.
The house didn’t fetch as much as she was hoping it would.

fetch someone a blow
to hit someone with the hand:
I fetched him a smart blow on the ear!

to go get something or someone and bring the thing or person back:
[ I ] She’s been teaching the dog to fetch (= get a stick or ball that is thrown and bring it back).

far-fetched
very unlikely to be true, and difficult to believe:
a far-fetched idea/story

Question 35

notch

Answer 35

to achieve something:
She has recently notched up her third win at a major ski event.
Her band notched another Grammy Award last night.

a V-shaped cut in a hard surface:
The stick has two notches, one at each end.

an imaginary point or position in a system of comparing values, where a higher position is better and a lower position is worse:
Among current players, she is rated a notch above (= is better than) the rest.

Question 36

hitch

Answer 36

a temporary difficulty that causes a short delay:
technical hitch Due to a slight technical hitch the concert will be starting half an hour late.
without a hitch The ceremony went off without a hitch.

a difficulty or troubling fact esp. in a situation that is generally positive:
I finally did get a job offer that sounded perfect – the only hitch was the low salary.
The taping at Channel 4 went off without a hitch (= perfectly).

a particular type of knot:
A hitch is a knot used to tie a rope to a fixed object.
There are many different hitches, such as a barrel hitch, a boom hitch, a cow hitch and a pipe hitch.

a device for fastening one thing to another, for example for fastening a caravan (= a wheeled vehicle for sleeping in) to a car:
The unit can be mounted to most bikes with a special hitch.
trailer hitches for large travel trailers

to get a free ride in someone else’s vehicle as a way of travelling:
They hitched a lift to Edinburgh from a passing car.

Question 37

bring down

Answer 37

to cause someone in a position of power to lose their job:
This scandal could bring down the country’s government.

to cause someone to fall down by pushing or kicking the person when they are moving:
Suarez was awarded a penalty when Olsson brought him down.

to reduce the level of something:
They’ve really brought down the price of DVD players.

Question 38

hammer / into

Answer 38

to hit or kick something with a lot of force:
hammer on/at I was woken up suddenly by the sound of someone hammering on/at the front door.
hammer something into something He hammered the ball into the net, giving France a 3–2 win over Italy.

to defeat someone completely in a game or a fight:
We were hammered in both games.

to criticize someone or something strongly:
Her latest film has been hammered by the critics.

to reduce the value or amount of something:
Concern over the economic crisis continues to hammer the country’s stock market and currency, with both falling by 6%.
be/get hammered (by sth) Public transport users will be hammered by a 15 percent reduction in service set to go into effect June 17.

hammer the market

to sell a large number of shares in the belief that prices are higher than they should be

hammer sth home

to make certain that something is understood by expressing it clearly and forcefully:
The severity of the slump in the housing market has been hammered home by figures released recently by the banks.
hammer home a message/point It is hoped that the latest advertising campaign will hammer home the message about the dangers of alcohol.

come/go under the hammer

to be sold at an auction to the person who offers the most money:
Auctioneers estimate the collection could fetch up to £50,000 when it goes under the hammer next month.

Question 39

instigate

Answer 39

Add to word list
to cause an event or situation to happen by making a set of actions or a formal process begin:
The government will instigate new measures to combat terrorism.
The revolt in the north is believed to have been instigated by a high-ranking general.

to cause an event or situation to happen by your actions:
Changes in the orientation program were instigated by the new director.

Question 40

manic

Answer 40

very excited or anxious (= worried and nervous) in a way that causes you to be very physically active:
He’s kind of manic - I wish he’d calm down.

She was a manic talker.

Question 41

turn off

Answer 41

to leave the road you are travelling on and travel along another one:
Turn off the motorway at the next exit.

to stop someone feeling interested or excited, especially sexually:
I would think the smell of her breath would turn anyone off.

something that you dislike or that you do not find interesting or sexually exciting:
This system may provide a powerful tool for adults who find computers a turn-off yet need to learn to use them.
Rudeness is, for me, the ultimate turn-off.

Question 42

shorty, shawty

Answer 42

Shawty, shorty, shauty or shortie is a slang term from African American Vernacular English used as a term of endearment but also frequently heard as a catcall. After the 1990s, the term has largely referred to a young and attractive woman.

Question 43

fathom

Answer 43

a unit for measuring the depth of water, equal to 1.8 metres or 6 feet

to discover the meaning of something:
For years people have been trying to fathom the mysteries of the whale’s song.
fathom out I still haven’t fathomed out how to put this bookcase together.

to understand someone or why someone acts as they do:
I can’t fathom her at all.

Question 44

baddie

Answer 44

a baddie is a girl who is highly confident and can hold her own”. A baddie remains confident and beautiful whether in makeup, barefaced, tight clothes or even in sweatpants.

Question 45

penchant

Answer 45

a liking for, an enjoyment of, or a habit of doing something, especially something that other people might not like:
a penchant for melodrama/skiing/exotic clothes
Her penchant for disappearing for days at a time worries her family.

a liking for or a habit of doing something, esp. something that other people might not like:
Ives had a penchant for musical experimentation.

Question 46

halt

Answer 46

to (cause to) stop moving or doing something or happening:
“Halt!” called the guard. “You can’t go any further without a permit.”
Production has halted at all of the company’s factories because of the pay dispute.
Security forces halted the demonstrators by blocking the road.

an occasion when something stops moving or happening:
halt in the recent halt in production
bring something to a halt Severe flooding has brought trains to a halt (= prevented them from moving) on several lines in Scotland.
come to a halt The bus came to a halt (= stopped) just in time to avoid hitting the wall.
grind to a halt If traffic increases beyond a certain level, the city grinds to a halt (= stops completely).
screech to a halt The car screeched to a halt (= stopped suddenly and noisily) just as the lights turned red.

Question 47

abnegate

Answer 47

to not allow yourself to have something, especially something you like or want

to not accept something, or to say that you do not have something:
to abnegate responsibility/guilt

Question 48

exorbitant

Answer 48

Exorbitant prices, demands, etc. are much too large:
The bill for dinner was exorbitant.
The interest charged on most credit cards is exorbitant.
an exorbitant price/fee/rate

extortionate
extremely expensive:
The price of books nowadays is extortionate.

Question 49

conspire

Answer 49

Add to word list
to plan secretly with other people to do something bad, illegal, or against someone’s wishes:
[ + to infinitive ] He felt that his colleagues were conspiring together to remove him from his job.
As girls, the sisters used to conspire with each other against their brother.

to plan secretly with other people to do something bad, illegal, or against someone’s wishes:
[ + to infinitive ] Moore conspired with Graham to rob the bank.

To conspire can also mean to make something happen that is difficult to do:
[ + to infinitive ] They somehow conspired to keep the theater alive when all government funding ended.

If events or conditions conspire against something or conspire to do something, they combine in such a way that they spoil your plans:
The weather had conspired to ruin their day out.
I’d planned a romantic evening together, but circumstances conspired against it - friends arrived unexpectedly and then Dave was called out to an emergency.

2) collude
to act together secretly or illegally in order to deceive or cheat someone:
It was suspected that the police had colluded with the witnesses.
collude with sb He is accusing the administration of colluding with industry to stall the state’s strict vehicle-emissions standards.

Question 50

tingle

Answer 50

to have a feeling as if a lot of sharp points are being put quickly and lightly into your body:
My fingers and toes are tingling with the cold.
There’s a line in that poem that makes my spine tingle every time I read it.

When you tingle with an emotion, such as excitement or fear, you feel it very strongly:
She tingled with fear as she entered the dark alleyway.

a feeling as if a lot of sharp points are being put quickly and lightly into your body:
There’s a slight tingle in my wrists.
She stroked his head, sending tingles down his spine.