UNITS 13&14 • TOPIC Flashcards
abundant
uk |əˈbʌn.dənt| us |əˈbʌn.dənt|
adjective
1. more than enough
* “an abundant supply of food”
* “There is abundant evidence that cars have a harmful effect on the environment.”
* “Cheap consumer goods are abundant (= exist in large amounts) in this part of the world.”
ample
uk |ˈæm.pəl| us |ˈæm.pəl|
adjective
1. more than enough
* “[ample evidence] There’s ample evidence that the lawyer knew exactly what she was doing.”
* “[ample opportunity] You’ll have ample opportunity to ask questions after the talk.”
* “[ample space] There is ample space in the basement for a ping-pong table.”
* “[ample time] Both workshops will allow ample time for questions.”
* “They had ample warning of the factory closure.”
area
uk |ˈeə.ri.ə| us |ˈer.i.ə|
noun
1. a particular part of a place, piece of land, or country [C]
* “[all areas] All areas of the country will have some rain tonight.”
* “The area of New York to the south of Houston Street is known as Soho.”
* “Houses in the London area (= in and around London) are very expensive.”
* “[remote area] It can be difficult getting supplies to more remote areas.”
* “urban/rural areas”
* “He’s an area manager (= is responsible for business in a particular area) for a computer company.”
* “This is a very poor area.”
* “Dogs are not allowed in the children’s play area.”
average
uk |ˈæv.ər.ɪdʒ| us |ˈæv.ɚ.ɪdʒ|
noun
1. the result you get by adding two or more amounts together and dividing the total by the number of amounts [C/U]
* “The average of the three numbers 7, 12, and 20 is 13, because the total of 7, 12, and 20 is 39, and 39 divided by 3 is 13.”
* “[average of] Prices have risen by an average of four percent over the past year.”
* “[on average] My income’s rather variable, but I earn £175 a day on average.”
2. in cricket, the average number of runs scored by a batter in each innings, or the average number of runs scored from a bowler for each time they end a batter’s turn to hit the ball [C/U]
* “With two centuries in the season, she had the best average of all the players on the team.”
* “The spinner has a relatively high average but took a lot of wickets.”
3. in baseball, a number that shows how good a player is at hitting the ball, that is calculated by dividing the number of times the player hit the ball by the number of times they have been at bat [C/U]
* “He has raised his average and home run totals every year.”
* “With an average of .280, he’s one of the most reliable hitters on the team.”
4. a standard or level that is considered to be typical or usual [S/U]
* “The audience figures were lower than average for this sort of film.”
* “[the average] In western Europe, a seven to eight-hour working day is about the average.”
* “[on average] On average, people who don’t smoke are healthier than people who do.”
* “[below average] The quality of candidates was well below average.”
* “[above average] The quality of the wedding cake was well above average.”
* “[an average of] I expect to spend an average of $50 to $60 on a meal in a restaurant.”
average
uk |ˈæv.ər.ɪdʒ| us |ˈæv.ɚ.ɪdʒ|
verb
1. to reach a particular amount as an average
* “Enquiries to our office average 1,000 calls a month.”
* “Many doctors average (= work an average of) 70 hours a week.”
* “Trainee accountants average (= earn an average of) £32,000 per year.”
average
uk |ˈæv.ər.ɪdʒ| us |ˈæv.ɚ.ɪdʒ|
adjective
1. An average number is the number you get by adding two or more amounts together and dividing the total by the number of amounts [before noun]
* “[average earnings] average earnings”
* “[average income] average income”
* “[average rainfall] average rainfall”
* “[average age] The average age of the US soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War was 19.”
2. typical and usual
* “The average person on the street is a lot better off than they were 40 years ago.”
* “a student of average ability”
* “The food was fairly average (= not excellent, although not bad).”
batch
uk |bætʃ| us |bætʃ|
noun
1. a group of things or people dealt with at the same time or considered similar in type
* “The cook brought in a fresh batch of homemade cupcakes.”
* “We looked at the job applications in two batches.”
2. a group of students who are taught together at school, college, or university [Indian English]
bulk
uk |bʌlk| us |bʌlk|
noun
1. something or someone that is very large [C usually singular]
* “She eased her large bulk out of the chair.”
2. large size or mass [U]
* “It was a document of surprising bulk.”
considerable
uk |kənˈsɪd.ər.ə.bəl| us |kənˈsɪd.ɚ.ə.bəl|
adjective
1. large or of noticeable importance
* “The fire caused considerable damage to the church.”
countless
uk |ˈkaʊnt.ləs| us |ˈkaʊnt.ləs|
adjective
1. very many, or too many to be counted
* “There are countless arguments against this ridiculous proposal.”
* “[countless times] I’ve heard it played countless times on the radio.”
dimension
uk |ˌdaɪˈmen.ʃən| |ˌdɪˈmen.ʃən| us |ˌdɪˈmen.ʃən| |ˌdaɪˈmen.ʃən|
noun
1. a measurement of something in a particular direction, especially its height, length, or width [C often plural]
* “[dimensions of] Please specify the dimensions (= the height, length and width) of the room.”
* “a building of vast dimensions (= size)”
2. a part or feature or way of considering something [C]
* “His personality has several dimensions.”
* “[new dimension] These weapons add a new dimension to modern warfare.”
* “There is a spiritual dimension to her poetry.”
diminish
uk |dɪˈmɪn.ɪʃ| us |dɪˈmɪn.ɪʃ|
verb
1. to reduce or be reduced in size or importance
* “I don’t want to diminish her achievements, but she did have a lot of help.”
* “These memories will not be diminished by time.”
* “What he did has seriously diminished him in many people’s eyes.”
* “[diminish greatly] We’ve seen our house diminish greatly in value over the last six months.”
* “[diminish significantly] Pumpkins must be harvested and sold before Halloween or their value diminishes significantly.”
equation
uk |ɪˈkweɪ.ʒən| us |ɪˈkweɪ.ʒən|
noun
1. a mathematical statement in which you show that two amounts are equal using mathematical symbols [C]
* “In the equation 3x - 3 = 15, x = 6.”
* “[solve an equation] The students were learning to solve simple equations, such as 6 + x = 18.”
2. a statement containing chemical symbols, used to show the changes that happen during a particular chemical reaction [C (also chemical equation)]
3. a difficult problem that can only be understood if all the different influences are considered [C usually singular]
* “Managing the economy is a complex equation of controlling inflation and reducing unemployment.”
4. the act of considering one thing to be the same as or equal to another, or the fact that they are the same or equal [U]
* “[equation between] The equation between higher education and higher earnings still holds true.”
* “These drugs have broken the equation between AIDS and death.”
* “[make an equation] There is a tendency in movies to make an equation between violence and excitement.”
equidistant
uk |ˌek.wɪˈdɪs.tənt| |ˌiː.kwɪˈdɪs.tənt| us |ˌiː.kwəˈdɪs.tənt| |ˌek.wəˈdɪs.tənt|
adjective
1. Places or points that are equidistant have equal distances between them.
* “Along the avenue, all the trees were of the same height and were equidistant.”
* “He checked the other two meters, positioned at equidistant points around the edge of the building.”
* “[equidistant from] Australia is roughly equidistant from Africa and South America.”
* “[equidistant between] Milton Keynes is equidistant between Birmingham and London.”
expand
uk |ɪkˈspænd| us |ɪkˈspænd|
verb
1. to increase in size, number, or importance, or to make something increase in this way
* “The air in the balloon expands when heated.”
* “They expanded their retail operations during the 1980s.”
extent
uk |ɪkˈstent| us |ɪkˈstent|
noun
1. area or length; amount
* “[the extent of] We don’t yet know the extent of his injuries (= how bad his injuries are).”
* “[the full extent of] From the top of the Empire State Building, you can see the full extent of Manhattan (= the area it covers).”
* “Rosie’s teacher was impressed by the extent of her knowledge (= how much she knew).”
* “The River Nile is over 6,500 kilometres in extent (= length).”
finite
uk |ˈfaɪ.naɪt| us |ˈfaɪ.naɪt|
adjective
1. having a limit or end
* “The funds available for the health service are finite and we cannot afford to waste money.”
* “[finite amount] We only have a finite amount of time to complete this task - we can’t continue indefinitely.”
2. in a form that shows the tense and subject of a verb, rather than the infinitive form or a participle [language specialized]
* “In the following sentence “go” is finite: “I often go to the cinema.””
force
uk |fɔːs| us |fɔːrs|
noun
1. physical, especially violent, strength or power [U]
* “The force of the wind had brought down a great many trees in the area.”
* “She slapped his face with unexpected force.”
* “Teachers aren’t allowed to use force in the classroom.”
* “[force of numbers] The police were able to control the crowd by sheer force of numbers (= because there were more police than there were people in the crowd).”
force
uk |fɔːs| us |fɔːrs|
verb
1. to make something happen or make someone do something difficult, unpleasant, or unusual, especially by threatening or not offering the possibility of choice
* “[force someone/something to do something] You can’t force her to make a decision.”
* “[be forced to] Hospitals are being forced to close departments because of lack of money.”
* “[force yourself to do something] I really have to force myself to be nice to him.”
* “[force something back] You could tell he was having to force back the tears (= to stop himself from crying).”
* “[force something down] The food tasted nasty, but I managed to force it down (= to make myself swallow it).”
* “[force something on someone] I didn’t actually want any more dessert, but Julia forced it on me (= made me accept it).”
* “[force yourself on someone] I couldn’t stay at their flat - I’d feel as if I was forcing myself on them (= making them allow me to stay).”
* “[force something out of someone] You never tell me how you’re feeling - I have to force it out of you (= make you tell me)!”
2. If plants or vegetables are forced, they are made to grow faster by artificially controlling growing conditions such as the amount of heat and light [biology, food & drink specialized]
* “forced strawberries”
fraction
uk |ˈfræk.ʃən| us |ˈfræk.ʃən|
noun
1. a number that results from dividing one whole number by another
* “¼ and 0.25 are different ways of representing the same fraction.”
2. a small part of something, or a small amount
* “[only a tiny/small fraction of] Although sexual and violent crimes have increased by 13 percent, they remain only a tiny/small fraction of the total number of crimes committed each year.”
* “[at a fraction of] They can produce it at a fraction of the cost of (= much more cheaply than) traditional methods.”
* “Could you just move a fraction to the right, so I can get by?”
heap
uk |hiːp| us |hiːp|
noun
1. an untidy pile or mass of things
* “a heap of clothes/rubbish”
heap
uk |hiːp| us |hiːp|
verb
1. to put things into a large, untidy pile
* “[heap something onto something] He heaped more food onto his plate.”
imbalance
uk |ˌɪmˈbæl.əns| us |ˌɪmˈbæl.əns|
noun
1. a situation in which two things that should be equal or that are normally equal are not
* “[imbalance between] There is huge economic imbalance between the two countries.”
immense
uk |ɪˈmens| us |ɪˈmens|
adjective
1. extremely large in size or degree
* “immense wealth/value”
* “[immense amount] They spent an immense amount of time getting the engine into perfect condition.”
intensity
uk |ɪnˈten.sə.ti| us |ɪnˈten.sə.t̬i|
noun
1. the quality of being felt strongly or having a very strong effect [U]
* “The explosion was of such intensity that it was heard five miles away.”
2. the strength of something that can be measured such as light, sound, etc. [C/U]
* “measures of light intensity”
3. the quality of being very serious and having strong emotions or opinions [U]
* “The intensity of their relationship was causing problems.”
magnitude
uk |ˈmæɡ.nɪ.tʃuːd| us |ˈmæɡ.nə.tuːd|
noun
1. the large size or importance of something
* “They don’t seem to grasp the magnitude of the problem.”
mass
uk |mæs| us |mæs|
adjective
1. having an effect on or involving a large number of people or forming a large amount
* “weapons of mass destruction”
* “a mass murderer”
* “mass starvation”
* “Opposition groups plan to stage mass demonstrations all over the country.”
mass
uk |mæs| us |mæs|
noun
1. a large amount of something that has no particular shape or arrangement [S]
* “The explosion reduced the church to a mass of rubble.”
* “The forest is a mass of colour in autumn.”
mass
uk |mæs| us |mæs|
verb
1. to come together in large numbers
* “Thousands of troops have massed along the border in preparation for an invasion.”
meagre
uk |ˈmiː.ɡər| us |ˈmiː.ɡɚ|
adjective
1. (of amounts or numbers) very small or not enough
* “[meagre salary] The porters relied on tips, rather than their meagre salary, to earn a living.”
* “[meagre diet] The prisoners existed on a meagre diet.”
minor
uk |ˈmaɪ.nər| us |ˈmaɪ.nɚ|
adjective
1. having little importance, influence, or effect, especially when compared with other things of the same type
* “[minor operation] Last year he went into hospital for a minor operation.”
* “[minor problem] It’s only a minor problem - we’ll soon find a solution.”
* “[minor offence] There’s been an increase in minor offences, such as traffic violations and petty theft.”
* “[minor injury] She suffered only minor injuries.”
* “It requires a few minor adjustments.”
* “a minor poet of the 16th century”
