UNITS 15&16 • TOPIC Flashcards
block
uk |blɒk| us |blɑːk|
noun
1. the distance along a street from where one road crosses it to the place where the next road crosses it, or one part of a street like this, especially in a town or city [C mainly US]
* “The museum is just six blocks away.”
* “My friend and I live on the same block.”
2. a square group of buildings or houses with roads on each side [C]
* “I took a walk around the block.”
block
uk |blɒk| us |blɑːk|
verb
1. to prevent movement through something
* “[block someone’s way] As she left the court, an angry crowd tried to block her way.”
* “A fallen tree is blocking the road.”
2. to be between someone and the thing they are looking at, so that they cannot see
* “My view was blocked by a tall man in front of me.”
3. to stop something from happening or succeeding
* “She was very talented and I felt her parents were blocking her progress.”
* “A group of politicians blocked the proposal.”
4. in sport, to stop an opponent or the ball from moving forwards
* “Nobody blocked him as he ran into the open space.”
* “She jumped up and blocked the shot.”
5. If a bank blocks someone’s account, they make it impossible for that person to remove money from it
* “Federal agents blocked the accounts of five money-transfer operations in the city.”
6. to stop emails, text messages, phone calls, etc. from being received
* “The carriers said they have rigorous filters to block spam, and they allow customers to block messages from certain numbers.”
* “Prosecutors say Wilson allegedly made the calls from a blocked phone number.”
7. on social media, to stop a particular person from being able to communicate with you or read what you have written
* “My mum found out that I blocked her on Twitter and gave me another serious talk.”
* “In the Block Users section you should see a list of people you’ve blocked.”
* “Someone you’ve blocked won’t be able to add you to a group.”
brittle
uk |ˈbrɪt.əl| us |ˈbrɪt̬.əl|
adjective
1. delicate and easily broken
* “As you get older your bones become increasingly brittle.”
* “The pond was covered in a brittle layer of ice.”
brittle
uk |ˈbrɪt.əl| us |ˈbrɪt̬.əl|
noun
1. hard toffee (= a type of sweet made from butter and sugar) that contains nuts
* “They gave us pieces of gorgeous almond brittle coated in dark chocolate.”
* “Try making nut brittles with pecans or hazelnuts.”
chip
uk |tʃɪp| us |tʃɪp|
noun
1. a long, thin piece of potato that is fried and usually eaten hot [C usually plural UK (US French fry)]
* “fish and chips”
* “beans/egg/sausage and chips”
* “oven chips (= chips that are baked in an oven rather than fried)”
2. a very thin, often round piece of fried potato, sometimes with a flavour added, sold especially in plastic bags [C usually plural US (US also potato chip); (UK (potato) crisp)]
* “She bought two bags of chips with the drinks.”
* “You can’t just sit in front of the TV eating chips all day.”
3. a thin slice of fried maize, banana, or other food that is eaten cold [C usually plural]
* “[tortilla chip] tortilla chips and salsa”
* “banana chips”
4. a very small piece of semiconductor, especially in a computer, that contains extremely small electronic circuits and devices, and can perform particular operations [C (also microchip)]
* “a silicon chip”
5. a small piece that has been broken off a larger object, or the mark left on an object such as a cup, plate, etc. where a small piece has been broken off it [C]
* “wood chips”
* “Polly fell and knocked a chip out of her front tooth.”
* “This mug’s got a chip in it.”
6. a small plastic disc used to represent a particular amount of money in gambling [C]
* “[figurative] [bargaining chip] The hostages are being held as a bargaining chip by terrorist organizations.”
7. a kick in football or a hit in golf or tennis, in which the ball goes high into the air for a short time [C]
* “His splendid chip from the 18-yard line caught the goalkeeper off his line.”
chip
uk |tʃɪp| us |tʃɪp|
verb
1. to break a small piece off something by accident
* “I wish my nail polish wouldn’t keep chipping.”
* “He’s chipped a bone in his wrist.”
2. to kick a football or hit a golf or tennis ball high into the air for a short distance
* “Berbatov managed to sidestep a tackle and chip the keeper.”
compact
uk |kəmˈpækt| us |kəmˈpækt|
adjective
1. consisting of parts that are positioned together closely or in a tidy way, using very little space
* “compact soil/sand”
* “a compact camera/bag”
* “What a compact office! How did you fit so much into so little space?”
compact
uk |ˈkɒm.pækt| us |ˈkɑːm.pækt|
noun
1. a small, flat case that contains women’s face powder
* “a powder compact”
2. a small car [US]
3. a formal agreement between two or more people, organizations, or countries [formal]
* ”[+ to infinitive] They made a compact not to reveal any details.”
compact
uk |kəmˈpækt| us |kəmˈpækt|
verb
1. to press something together in a tight and solid way
* “Cars had compacted the snow until it was like ice.”
concentrate
uk |ˈkɒn.sən.treɪt| us |ˈkɑːn.sən.treɪt|
verb
1. to direct your attention or your efforts towards a particular activity, subject, or problem [I/T]
* “Come on, concentrate! We don’t have all day to do this.”
* “I can’t concentrate on my work with all that noise.”
* “I find running concentrates the mind (= helps me to think).”
* “I’m going to concentrate on my writing for a while.”
* “The company is concentrating (its resources) on developing new products.”
2. to bring or come together in a large number or amount in one particular area [T usually passive/I, usually + adv/prep]
* “Most of the country’s population is concentrated in the north.”
* “In the dry season, the animals tend to concentrate in the areas where there is water.”
3. to make a liquid or substance stronger and reduce its size by removing water from it [T]
concentrate
uk |ˈkɒn.sən.treɪt| us |ˈkɑːn.sən.treɪt|
noun
1. a liquid from which some of the water has been removed
* “fruit-juice concentrate”
2. an ore from which rock has been removed [geology specialized]
* “a mineral concentrate”
crack
uk |kræk| us |kræk|
verb
1. to break something so that it does not separate, but very thin lines appear on its surface, or to become broken in this way [T/I]
* “A stone hit the window and cracked the glass.”
* “I cracked my tooth as I fell.”
* “The walls cracked and the roof collapsed in the earthquake.”
2. to become mentally and physically weak [I informal]
* “Stress and overwork are causing teachers to crack.”
3. to fail as a result of problems [I informal]
* “Their relationship began to crack after their child died.”
4. If someone cracks, that person begins to feel weak and agrees that they have been defeated [I]
* “He cracked during questioning and told us where to find the stolen goods.”
5. to break something open, especially in order to reach or use what is inside [T]
* “[crack an egg] Crack three eggs into a bowl and mix them together.”
* “[crack a nut] He cracked the nuts with his hands.”
* “[crack open a nut] The monkeys use stones to crack open hard nuts.”
6. to get into someone else’s computer system without permission and get information or do something illegal [T (also crack into something)]
7. to copy computer programs or recorded material illegally [T informal]
8. to find a solution to a problem [T]
* “They cracked the code and read the secret message.”
* “I’ve been trying to solve this problem all week, but I still haven’t cracked it.”
9. to hit something or someone [I/T, usually + adv/prep]
* “[crack something on something] I cracked my head on the door.”
* “[crack something against something] He fell, cracking his knee against the fence.”
* “[crack someone over the head] They cracked him over the head with a baseball bat.”
10. to make a sudden, short noise, or to cause something to make this noise [I/T]
* “The whip cracked over the horses’ heads.”
* “He’s always cracking his knuckles (= pulling the joints of his fingers to make a noise).”
11. If a voice cracks, its sound changes because the person is upset [I]
* “[crack with] Her voice cracked with emotion as she told the story.”
12. to make a joke or funny remark [T]
* “[crack a joke] He’s always cracking jokes.”
13. to make chemical changes to the hydrocarbons (= chemical combinations of hydrogen and carbon) in oil as part of the process of refining it (= changing it from its natural state into petrol), or to go through this process [I/T chemistry, engineering specialized]
* “He invented the first commercially applicable apparatus for cracking hydrocarbons, a necessary process in petroleum production.”
* “Large, less useful hydrocarbon molecules are cracked to form smaller, more useful molecules.”
* “Hydrogen ions attach themselves to the oil molecules and cause them to crack into smaller molecules, including petrol.”
crack
uk |kræk| us |kræk|
noun
1. a very narrow space between parts of something [C]
* “Cracks had appeared in the dry ground.”
* “We peered through the crack in the floorboards.”
* “[figurative] Cracks began to show in his façade of self-confidence.”
crack
uk |kræk| us |kræk|
adjective
1. excellent, or of the highest quality
* “a crack regiment”
* “crack troops”
crumb
uk |krʌm| us |krʌm|
noun
1. a very small piece of bread, cake, or biscuit
crush
uk |krʌʃ| us |krʌʃ|
verb
1. to press something very hard so that it is broken or its shape is destroyed [T]
* “The package had been badly crushed in the post.”
* “Add three cloves of crushed garlic.”
* “His arm was badly crushed in the car accident.”
2. to press paper or cloth so that it becomes full of folds and is no longer flat [T UK]
* “My dress got all crushed in my suitcase.”
3. If people are crushed against other people or things, they are pressed against them [T]
* “[be crushed to death] Tragedy struck when several people were crushed to death in the crowd.”
4. to upset or shock someone badly [T usually passive]
* “He was crushed by the news of the accident.”
5. to defeat someone completely [T]
* “The president called upon the army to help crush the rebellion.”
* “France crushed Wales by 36 to 3 in last Saturday’s match in Paris.”
crush
uk |krʌʃ| us |krʌʃ|
noun
1. a strong but temporary feeling of liking someone romantically [C informal]
* “[have a crush on] She has a crush on her best friend’s older brother.”
* “I think most of us know what it’s like to have a crush.”
* “It was just one of those passing crushes.”
2. someone who you like a lot romantically, usually someone that you do not have a relationship with, or not a serious relationship [C informal]
* “He wanted to tell his crush how he felt about her.”
* “How do I talk to my crush?”
* “Here are 10 signs your crush likes you.”
* “My crush knows I like him but we’re both shy.”
* “It hurts so bad when you can’t be with your crush.”
3. a crowd of people forced to stand close together [S]
* “I had to struggle through the crush to get to the door.”
* “[UK] You can come in our car, but it’ll be a bit of a crush (= there will be a lot of people in it).”
dense
uk |dens| us |dens|
adjective
1. having parts that are close together so that it is difficult to go or see through
* “[dense fog] The plane crashed in heavy rain and dense fog.”
* “a dense forest”
* “[dense undergrowth] The body was found hidden in dense undergrowth.”
dilute
uk |daɪˈluːt| us |daɪˈluːt|
verb
1. to make a liquid weaker by mixing in something else
* “After the stock is done and strained, you can dilute it as necessary.”
* “[dilute something with something] Dilute the juice with water before you drink it.”
2. to reduce the strength of a feeling, action, etc.
* “These measures are designed to dilute public fears about the product’s safety.”
dilute
uk |daɪˈluːt| us |daɪˈluːt|
adjective
1. made weaker by diluting
* “dilute hydrochloric acid”
dissolve
uk |dɪˈzɒlv| us |dɪˈzɑːlv|
verb
1. (of a solid) to be absorbed by a liquid, especially when mixed, or (of a liquid) to absorb a solid [I/T]
* “[dissolve something in something] Dissolve two spoons of powder in warm water.”
* “Nitric acid will dissolve most animal tissue.”
2. to end an official organization or a legal arrangement [T often passive]
* “Parliament has been dissolved.”
* “Their marriage was dissolved in 1968.”
3. to disappear [I]
* “The tension in the office just dissolves when she walks out.”
fabric
uk |ˈfæb.rɪk| us |ˈfæb.rɪk|
noun
1. cloth or material for making clothes, covering furniture, etc. [C/U]
* “dress fabric”
* “seats upholstered in red fabric”
* “cotton fabrics”
firm
uk |fɜːm| us |fɝːm|
adjective
1. not soft but not completely hard
* “I’d rather sleep on a firm mattress than a soft one.”
* “These pears are still too firm to eat.”
2. well fixed in place or position
* “The bridge provided a firm platform for the bungee jumpers.”
3. fixed at the same level or opinion and not changing
* “The government remains firm in its opposition to tax reform.”
firm
uk |fɜːm| us |fɝːm|
noun
1. a company offering a professional service, for example a company of lawyers
* “He works for a law firm called Neil and Vigliano.”
* “She’s just started working for an accounting firm.”
* “[UK] [firm of] He took advice from the firm of accountants that helped him to sell his business.”
* “She is talking to a firm of solicitors about taking legal action.”
* “Three firms of architects have submitted proposals for the project.”
2. a company or business, especially a small one [mainly UK]
* “She works for a local firm that makes medical equipment.”
* “This new tax will put a lot of small firms out of business.”
