UNITS 15&16 • PAT Flashcards
board something up
uk |bɔːd| us |bɔːrd|
verb
1. to cover a door or window with wooden boards
* “Stores are boarding up their windows in case rioting breaks out.”
close-up
uk |ˈkləʊs.ʌp| us |ˈkloʊs.ʌp|
noun
1. a photograph taken from a short distance that gives a very detailed picture
* “[take a close-up of] She took a stunning close-up of him.”
come out
uk |kʌm| us |kʌm|
verb
1. to go somewhere with someone for a social event [UK]
* “Would you like to come out for a drink sometime?”
2. If a book, record, film, etc. comes out, it becomes available for people to buy or see
* “When does their new album come out?”
3. When the sun, moon, or stars come out, they appear in the sky
* “The clouds finally parted and the sun came out.”
4. If something comes out, it becomes known publicly after it has been kept secret
* “[it comes out that] After her death, it came out that she’d lied about her age.”
* “When the truth came out, there was public outrage.”
5. If information, results, etc. come out, they are given to people
* “The exam results come out in August.”
6. to tell people that you are gay, queer, transgender, non-binary, or another identity that is not heterosexual (= sexually attracted to men if you are a woman and women if you are a man)or cisgender (= having a gender that matches the body you were born with), often after having kept this a secret from them for some time
* “[come out as] He was the first CEO of a major company to come out as gay.”
* “Seeing LGBTQ+ characters represented on television has helped many young people come out to their families.”
cut something out
uk |kʌt| us |kʌt|
verb
1. to remove something or form a shape by cutting, usually from paper or cloth
* “She cut out his picture from the magazine.”
2. to stop eating or drinking something, usually to improve your health
* “Since my heart attack, I’ve cut fatty foods out altogether.”
cut someone out
uk |kʌt| us |kʌt|
verb
1. to not allow someone to share something or be included in something
* “[cut someone out of something] They cut me out of the conversation.”
cut out
uk |kʌt| us |kʌt|
verb
1. If an engine, machine, or piece of equipment cuts out, it suddenly stops working
* “One of the plane’s engines cut out, so they had to land with only one.”
fix
uk |fɪks| us |fɪks|
verb
1. to repair something [T]
* “They couldn’t fix my old computer, so I bought a new one.”
2. to arrange or agree a time, place, price, etc. [I/T mainly UK]
* “Shall we fix a time for our next meeting?”
* “[be fixed at] I understand the rent is fixed at £750 a month.”
3. to fasten something in position so that it cannot move [T + adv/prep]
* “[fix something to something] We fixed the bookcase to the wall.”
4. to keep something or someone in sight [T]
* “[be fixed on] His eyes were fixed on the distant yacht.”
* “[fix someone with something] She fixed the child with a stare of such disapproval he did not dare move.”
5. to continue to think about or remember something [T usually + adv/prep]
* “[be fixed in your mind] It is somehow fixed in my mind that my fate and that woman’s are intertwined.”
* “[fix something on something] She was so frightened that she could not fix her thoughts on anything.”
6. to do something dishonest to make certain that a competition, race, or election is won by a particular person [T often passive]
* “Several jockeys were arrested on suspicion of fixing the race.”
* “It sounds like the election was fixed.”
7. to make your hair, make-up, clothes, etc. look tidy [T]
* “Give me a couple of minutes while I fix my hair.”
8. to cook or prepare food or drink [T mainly US informal]
* “Whose turn is it to fix dinner?”
* ”[+ two objects] Can I fix you a drink?”
* “[fix something for someone] Can I fix a drink for you?”
fix
uk |fɪks| us |fɪks|
noun
1. a situation in which someone does something dishonest to make certain that a competition, race, or election is won by a particular person [C usually singular]
* “The result was a fix!”
2. an awkward or difficult situation [C usually singular informal]
* “I’m in a bit of a fix with the arrangements.”
3. a solution to a problem
* “She says the problem is not a new one, and the fix would be easy enough for a government to achieve, if it were willing.”
* “[quick fix] There is no quick fix to the organization’s problems.”
4. an amount of an illegal drug, or of another substance that has an effect on someone [C slang]
* “He was shaking badly and needed a fix.”
* “[humorous] Ginny needs her daily fix of chocolate.”
5. (the calculation of) the position of a vehicle, usually in relation to the earth [C]
* “[have a fix on] Do we still have a fix on that jet?”
tear something down
uk |teər| us |ter|
verb
1. to intentionally destroy a building or other structure because it is not being used or it is not wanted any more
* “They’re going to tear down the old hospital and build a new one.”
pile (something) up
uk |paɪl| us |paɪl|
verb
1. to form a pile, or to put a lot of things into a pile
2. (of something bad) to increase
* “Unpaid bills began to pile up alarmingly.”
* “They piled up such a huge debt that they soon went bankrupt.”
pile-up
uk |ˈpaɪl.ʌp| us |ˈpaɪl.ʌp|
noun
1. a traffic accident involving several vehicles that hit each other
prop something up
uk |prɒp| us |prɑːp|
verb
1. to lift and give support to something by putting something under it
* “He was sitting upright in his hospital bed, propped up by pillows.”
* “There were the usual bunch of drinkers propped up at (= leaning against) the bar.”
2. to give support to something, especially a country or organization, so that it can continue to exist in a difficult situation
* “How long is the government likely to survive without the US military force there to prop it up?”
put sth in/into sth
uk |pʊt|
verb
1. to spend a lot of time or effort doing something
* “If I put in some extra hours today, I can have some time off tomorrow.”
* “We’ve put a lot of time into redesigning the packaging.”
2. to invest money in something
put something together
uk |pʊt| us |pʊt|
verb
1. to put the parts of something in the correct places and join them to each other
* “It took several hours to put the puzzle together.”
2. to prepare a piece of work by collecting several ideas and suggestions and organizing them
* “The management are putting together a plan/proposal/package to rescue the company.”
* “It takes about three weeks to put the magazine together.”
put something up
uk |pʊt| us |pʊt|
verb
1. to raise something, or to fix something in a raised position
* “Why don’t you put up your hood/umbrella?”
* “I put my hand up to ask the teacher a question.”
* “I put my hair up (= fastened it into a position on the top of my head) for the wedding.”
2. to build something
* “They’re planning to put a hotel up where the museum used to be.”
* “We’re going to put up a new fence around our garden.”
3. to fix an object to a vertical surface
* “We’ve put up some new curtains in the living room.”
* “Posters advertising the concert have been put up all over the town.”
4. to increase the price or value of something [mainly UK]
* “I see they’ve put up the price of fuel again.”
5. to provide or lend an amount of money for a particular purpose
* “The money for the new hospital was put up by an anonymous donor.”
* “His brother has agreed to put up bail for him.”
6. to preserve food in glass or metal containers [US]
* “There is a period of young motherhood when you wash and iron, garden, and put up preserves.”
put up something
uk |pʊt| us |pʊt|
verb
1. to show or express a particular type of opposition to something
* “The villagers were unable to put up any resistance to the invading troops.”
* “We’re not going to let them build a road here without putting up a fight.”
put something/someone up
uk |pʊt| us |pʊt|
verb
1. to suggest an idea, or to make a person available, to be considered
* “It was Bob who originally put up the idea of the exhibition.”
* “Each party is allowed to put up one candidate.”
* “William has been put up as a candidate for the committee.”
* “Is Chris willing to be put up for election?”
put someone up
uk |pʊt| us |pʊt|
verb
1. to provide someone with a place to stay temporarily
* “Sally is putting me up for the weekend.”
put up
uk |pʊt| us |pʊt|
verb
1. to stay somewhere for the night
* “We put up at a small hotel for the night.”
set something up
uk |set| us |set|
verb
1. to formally establish a new company, organization, system, way of working, etc.
* “A committee has been set up to organize social events for the students.”
* “She plans to set up her own business.”
* “They’ve set up a fund for victims of the earthquake.”
2. to arrange for an event or activity to happen
* “We need to set up a meeting to discuss the proposals.”
* “The government has agreed to set up a public enquiry.”
set someone up
uk |set| us |set|
verb
1. to establish someone or yourself in a business or position
* “After he left college, his father set him up in the family business.”
* “She set herself up as an interior designer.”
2. to provide the money that someone needs for an important task or activity that is expected to last a long time
* “Winning the lottery has set them up for life.”
3. to provide someone with the energy or health that you need for a particular period of time
* “A good breakfast really sets you up for the day.”
4. to trick someone in order to make them do something, or in order to make someone seem guilty of something that they have not done [often passive informal]
* “They claimed that they weren’t selling drugs, but that they’d been set up by the police.”
set something/someone up
uk |set| us |set|
verb
1. to provide someone or something with all the necessary things for a particular activity or period of time
* “I think we’re set up with everything we need for the journey.”
* “We went on a shopping trip and got him all set up for the new term.”
set (something) up
uk |set| us |set|
verb
1. to prepare something for use, especially by putting the different parts of it together
* “We only had a couple of hours to set up before the exhibition opened.”
* “I need one or two people to help me set up the equipment.”
set-up
uk |ˈset.ʌp| us |ˈset̬.ʌp|
noun
1. the way in which things are organized or arranged
* “When I started my new job, it took me a while to get used to the set-up.”
* "”Nice little set-up you’ve got here,” he said as we showed him around the house.”
2. a situation in which someone is tricked into doing something or is made to seem guilty of something they did not do
* “When drugs were found in her luggage, she claimed it was a set-up.”
spread out
uk |spred| us |spred|
verb
1. If people spread out, they move from being close together in a group to being in different places across a larger area
* “They spread out to search the whole area.”
take someone down
uk |teɪk| us |teɪk|
verb
1. to defeat or kill someone, or to stop someone from causing harm [mainly US]
* “The Indiana Pacers took down Cleveland, 80–74.”
take something down
uk |teɪk| us |teɪk|
verb
1. to remove something that is on a wall or something that is temporary, or to remove a structure by separating its different parts
* “I took the pictures down.”
2. to write something that another person has just said
* “He took down my address and phone number and said he’d call me.”
water something down
uk |ˈwɔː.tər| us |ˈwɑː.t̬ɚ|
verb
1. to add water to a drink, usually an alcoholic drink, in order to make it less strong
2. to deliberately make an idea or opinion less extreme, usually so that other people will accept it
* “The party has watered down its ideals in order to appeal to the centre ground.”
wear someone down
uk |weər| us |wer|
verb
1. to make someone feel tired and less able to deal successfully with a situation
* “Both sides are trying to wear the other down by being obstinate in the negotiations.”
* “All the stress and extra travel is beginning to wear him down.”
drive someone around the bend
idiom
1. to make someone very bored or very angry
* “My mother’s been driving me around the bend.”
* “Staying at home all day was driving her around the bend.”
mental block
uk |ˌmen.təl ˈblɒk| us |ˌmen.t̬əl ˈblɑːk|
noun
1. If you have a mental block about something, you cannot understand it or do it because something in your mind prevents you
* “He has a mental block about names - he just can’t remember them.”
