UNITS 23&24 • PAT Flashcards
answer (someone) back
uk |ˈɑːn.sər| us |ˈæn.sɚ|
verb
1. to speak rudely when answering someone in authority
* “Don’t you dare answer me back, young lady!”
answer back
uk |ˈɑːn.sər| us |ˈæn.sɚ|
verb
1. to react to criticism by arguing or explaining
* “The company criticized in the documentary was given the opportunity to answer back.”
ask someone out
uk |ɑːsk| us |æsk|
verb
1. to invite someone to come with you to a place such as the cinema or a restaurant, especially as a way of starting a romantic relationship
* “She’s asked Steve out to the cinema this evening.”
* “You should ask her out sometime.”
break something up
uk |breɪk| us |breɪk|
verb
1. to divide into many pieces, or to divide something into many pieces
* “The company has been broken up and sold off.”
break (something) up
uk |breɪk| us |breɪk|
verb
1. If an occasion when people meet breaks up or someone breaks it up, it ends and people start to leave
* “The meeting broke up at ten to three.”
* “I don’t want to break up the party but I have to go now.”
break up
uk |breɪk| us |breɪk|
verb
1. If a marriage breaks up or two people in a romantic relationship break up, their marriage or their relationship ends
* “[break up with] She’s just broken up with her boyfriend.”
* “Jenny and George have broken up.”
2. When schools and colleges, or the teachers and students who go to them break up, their classes stop and the holidays start [UK]
* “We broke up for the holidays in June.”
3. If someone who is talking on a mobile phone is breaking up, their voice can no longer be heard clearly.
break-up
uk |ˈbreɪk.ʌp| us |ˈbreɪk.ʌp|
noun
1. a gradual division into smaller pieces [S]
* “It was feared that the break-up of the oil tanker would result in further pollution.”
2. the coming to an end of a business or personal relationship, caused by the separation of those involved [C]
* “Long separations had contributed to their marriage break-up.”
* “The break-up of the pop group came as no surprise.”
bring out the best in someone
collocation
1. to make someone’s best qualities more noticeable
* “A crisis can bring out the best in people.”
* “A good conductor will bring out the best in an orchestra.”
bring someone/something together
uk |brɪŋ| us |brɪŋ|
verb
1. to help people or groups to become friendly or to do something together, especially when they would not usually do this
* “The disaster brought the community together.”
* “A common interest in chess brought them together.”
2. to combine a number of people, things, or activities in one place, under one title, for one purpose, etc.
* “A school brings together in a single location many activities of educational value.”
* “The exhibition brought together works by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, and Walker Evans.”
bump into someone
uk |bʌmp| us |bʌmp|
verb
1. to meet someone you know when you have not planned to meet them
* “We bumped into Amy when we were in town last week.”
bump into someone/something
collocation
1. to hit someone or something with your body, usually by accident
* “There was no room to move without bumping into someone.”
* “She bumped into his tray, knocking the food onto his lap.”
cancel something out
uk |ˈkæn.səl| us |ˈkæn.səl|
verb
1. to remove the effect of one thing by doing another thing that has the opposite effect
* “This month’s pay cheque will cancel out his debt, but it won’t give him any extra money.”
come between someone
uk |kʌm| us |kʌm|
verb
1. If something comes between two people, it harms their relationship
* “Don’t let one little quarrel come between you.”
come between something
uk |kʌm| us |kʌm|
verb
1. to stop someone from doing something that they like doing
* “Nothing comes between Jim and his food.”
crowd around (someone/something)
uk |kraʊd| us |kraʊd|
verb
1. to come together closely in a crowd around someone or something
* “As soon as he appeared, reporters crowded round.”
go together
uk |ɡəʊ| us |ɡoʊ|
verb
1. to look good together
* “Do you think the cream dress and the blue jacket go together?”
meet up
uk |miːt| us |miːt|
verb
1. to meet another person in order to do something together
* “They suggested we meet up at Mustafa’s.”
2. If roads or paths meet up, they join at a particular place.
open (something) up
uk |ˈəʊ.pən| us |ˈoʊ.pən|
verb
1. to open the lock on the door of a building
* “The caretaker opens up the school every morning at seven.”
open something up
uk |ˈəʊ.pən| us |ˈoʊ.pən|
verb
1. to improve a situation by making it less limited
* “The government has announced plans to open up access to higher education.”
2. to show something that was hidden or not previously known
* “The debate could open up sharp differences between the countries.”
open someone up
uk |ˈəʊ.pən| us |ˈoʊ.pən|
verb
1. to do a medical operation on someone to see inside their body
* “When they opened her up, they couldn’t find anything wrong with her.”
open up
uk |ˈəʊ.pən| us |ˈoʊ.pən|
verb
1. to start to talk more about yourself and your feelings
* “[open up to] I’ve never opened up to anyone like I do to you.”
pick on someone
uk |pɪk| us |pɪk|
verb
1. to criticize, punish, or be unkind to the same person often and unfairly
* “He gets picked on by the other boys because he’s so small.”
sound someone out
uk |saʊnd| us |saʊnd|
verb
1. to discover informally what someone thinks or intends to do about a particular thing, so that you can be prepared or take suitable action
* “Perhaps you could sound the chairwoman out before the meeting, to see which way she’s going to vote?”
take after someone
uk |teɪk| us |teɪk|
verb
1. to be similar to an older member of your family in appearance or character
* “He takes after his mother/his mother’s side of the family.”
take
uk |teɪk| us |teɪk|
verb
1. to remove something, especially without permission [T]
* “Has anything been taken (= stolen)?”
* “Here’s your pen - I took it by mistake.”
* “[be taken from] All her possessions had been taken from her.”
2. to subtract a number (= remove it from another number) [T]
* “[take something (away) from something] If you take 4 (away) from 12 you get 8.”
take
uk |teɪk| us |teɪk|
noun
1. money that is received from sales or as payment for entrance to an event [U]
* “The box office take was huge for the new show.”
2. the filming of a scene (= small part of a film) [C]
* “This scene needed ten takes before we felt it was right.”
born into something
collocation
1. born as part of a particular type of family, or in a particular condition or situation
* “Diana was born into an aristocratic family.”
* “She was not born into privilege, but has worked hard to achieve her current position.”
born of something
phrase
1. existing as the result of something
* “With a courage born of necessity, she seized the gun and ran at him.”
* “With a strength born of desperation, she hauled herself over the wall.”
* “It was, she explained, an act born of frustration and despair.”
* “This is an outlook born of ignorance and fear and the only solution is education.”
* “He had a sort of bravado about him that was born of loneliness and insecurity.”
born and bred
idiom
1. used to say that someone was born and grew up in a particular place, and usually that they are a typical example of someone who lives there
* “He’s a Parisian born and bred.”
* “I was born and bred in the country and all I know is farming.”
* “We were both born and raised here so the culture was in our blood.”
* “His mother is Mexican born and raised, and her cooking inspires him.”
* “Ann was born and brought up in Delaware.”
newborn
uk |ˈnjuː.bɔːn| us |ˈnuː.bɔːrn|
adjective
1. recently born
* “Breast-feeding is extremely beneficial to the health of newborn babies.”
* “Newborn infants, who have little immunity, are especially vulnerable to whooping cough.”
2. used to refer to something that has recently been created or started to exist
* “This is not some kind of newborn liberalism.”
* “the newborn democracies of the world”
newborn
uk |ˈnjuː.bɔːn| us |ˈnuː.bɔːrn|
noun
1. a baby that was born recently
* “About 94 percent of newborns are given hearing tests.”
* “A newborn’s sense of touch may be as acute as their ability to taste and smell.”
only child
uk |ˌəʊn.li ˈtʃaɪld| us |ˌoʊn.li ˈtʃaɪld|
noun
1. a child who has no sisters or brothers
childcare
uk |ˈtʃaɪld.keər| us |ˈtʃaɪld.ker|
noun
1. care for children, especially that provided by either the government, an organization, or a person while parents are at work or are absent for another reason
* “Without affordable childcare, many mothers who wish to work are unable to.”
* “I need to arrange child care for the school holidays.”
* “What childcare facilities does your company offer?”
for the common good
phrase
1. If something is done for the common good, it is done to help everyone
* “We have to use our freedoms for the common good rather than our own selfish interests.”
* “Most people are willing to work together for the common good.”
* “The public can often be persuaded to make sacrifices for the common good.”
* “For the common good of our country, we need better employment prospects for our young people.”
* “He always acted out of concern for the common good.”
equal
uk |ˈiː.kwəl| us |ˈiː.kwəl|
adjective
1. the same in amount, number, or size
* “[equal to] One litre is equal to 1.76 imperial pints.”
* “[equal in] One box may look bigger than the other, but in fact they are roughly (= almost) equal in volume.”
2. the same in importance and deserving the same treatment
* “All people are equal, deserving the same rights as each other.”
* “[equal pay/status] They’ve got a long way to go before they achieve equal pay/status for men and women.”
3. skilled or brave enough for a difficult duty or piece of work [after verb formal]
* “[prove equal to] It’s a challenging job but I’m sure you’ll prove equal to it.”
* “[equal to the task] Do you think he’s equal to the task ahead of him?”
equal
uk |ˈiː.kwəl| us |ˈiː.kwəl|
noun
1. someone or something that has the same importance as someone or something else and deserves the same treatment
* “The good thing about her as a boss is that she treats us all as equals.”
* “Throughout her marriage she never considered her husband as her intellectual equal.”
* “[have no equal] As an all-round athlete he has no equal (= no-one else is as good).”
equal
uk |ˈiː.kwəl| us |ˈiː.kwəl|
verb
1. to be the same in value or amount as something else
* “16 ounces equals one pound.”
2. to achieve the same standard or level as someone else, or the same standard or level as you did before
* “We raised over $500 for charity last year and we’re hoping to equal that this year.”
3. to result in something
* “He disputed the idea that more money equals better education.”
nuclear family
uk |ˌnjuː.klɪə ˈfæm.əl.i| us |ˌnuː.kliː.ɚ ˈfæm.əl.i|
noun
1. a family consisting of two parents and their children, but not including aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.
extended family
uk |ɪkˌsten.dɪd ˈfæm.əl.i| us |ɪkˌsten.dɪd ˈfæm.əl.i|
noun
1. a family unit that includes grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, and uncles, etc. in addition to parents and children
one-parent family
uk |ˌwʌn.peə.rənt ˈfæm.əl.i| us |ˌwʌn.per.ənt ˈfæm.əl.i|
noun
1. a family that includes either a mother or a father but not both
run in the family
idiom
1. If a quality, ability, disease, etc. runs in the family, many members of the family have it
* “Intelligence seems to run in that family.”
* “We’re all ambitious - it seems to run in the family.”
feature
uk |ˈfiː.tʃər| us |ˈfiː.tʃɚ|
noun
1. a typical quality or an important part of something [C]
* “The town’s main features are its beautiful mosque and ancient marketplace.”
* “Our latest model of phone has several new features.”
* “A unique feature of these rock shelters was that they were dry.”
feature
uk |ˈfiː.tʃər| us |ˈfiː.tʃɚ|
verb
1. to include someone or something as an important part
* “The movie features James Dean as a disaffected teenager.”
* “This week’s broadcast features a report on victims of domestic violence.”
* “It’s an Australian company whose logo features a red kangaroo.”
distinguishing feature
collocation
1. A distinguishing feature is one that makes someone or something different from similar people or things, or that allows you to identify it or them
* “Under “distinguishing features” on his passport, it said “scar on left cheek”.”
* “The bright green taxis are a distinguishing feature of the city.”
the generation gap
uk |dʒen.əˈreɪ.ʃən ˌɡæp| us |dʒen.əˈreɪ.ʃən ˌɡæp|
noun
1. a situation in which older and younger people do not understand each other because of their different experiences, opinions, habits, and behaviour
* “[bridge/cross the generation gap] She’s a young politician who manages to bridge/cross (= understand both groups in) the generation gap.”
love
uk |lʌv| us |lʌv|
verb
1. to like another adult very much and be romantically and sexually attracted to them, or to have strong feelings of liking a friend or person in your family
* “I love you.”
* “Last night he told me he loved me.”
* “I’ve only ever loved one man.”
* “I’m sure he loves his kids.”
2. to like something very much
* “She loves animals.”
* “I absolutely love chocolate.”
* “He really loves his job.”
* ”[+ -ing verb] I love skiing.”
* “Love it or hate it, reality TV is here to stay.”
love
uk |lʌv| us |lʌv|
noun
1. the feeling of liking another adult very much and being romantically and sexually attracted to them, or strong feelings of liking a friend or person in your family [U]
* "”I’ve been seeing him over a year now.” “Is it love?””
* “Children need to be shown lots of love.”
* “[give someone your love] “I’m seeing Laura next week.” “Oh, please give her my love” (= tell her I am thinking about her with affection).”
* “[send your love to someone] Maggie asked me to send her love to you and the kids (= tell you that she is thinking about you with affection).”
* “[informal] [love life] How’s your love life (= your romantic and/or sexual relationships) these days?”
2. a person that you love and feel attracted to [C]
* “[love of someone’s life] He was the love of my life.”
* “[first love] She was my first love.”
3. used as a friendly form of address [as form of address UK informal]
* “You look tired, love.”
* “That’ll be four pounds exactly, love.”
4. used before your name at the end of letters, cards, etc. to friends or family [U informal (also love from); (all my love)]
* “See you at Christmas. Love, Kate.”
for love nor money
idiom
1. If you cannot get something, or if someone will not do something, for love nor money, it is impossible to get it or to persuade them to do it
* “You can’t get hold of those tickets for love nor money these days.”
love affair
uk |ˈlʌv əˌfeər| us |ˈlʌv əˌfer|
noun
1. a romantic and sexual relationship between two people who are not married to each other [C]
2. a strong liking for a particular activity or place [S]
* “Her love affair with ballet began when she was ten.”
vow
uk |vaʊ| us |vaʊ|
verb
1. to make a determined decision or promise to do something
* ”[+ (that)] The guerrillas vowed (that) they would overthrow the government.”
* ”[+ to infinitive] After the awful meals we had last Christmas, I vowed to do more of the cooking myself.”
vow
uk |vaʊ| us |vaʊ|
noun
1. a serious promise or decision
* ”[+ to infinitive] She took/made a vow never to lend money to anyone again.”
mother country
uk |ˈmʌð.ə ˌkʌn.tri| us |ˈmʌð.ɚ ˌkʌn.tri|
noun
1. the country where you were born or that you feel is your original home
* “Even though she hasn’t lived in Spain for 50 years, she still calls it her mother country.”
national anthem
uk |ˌnæʃ.ən.əl ˈæn.θəm| us |ˌnæʃ.ən.əl ˈæn.θəm|
noun
1. a country’s official song, played and/or sung on public occasions
go native
idiom
1. If a person who is in a foreign country goes native, they begin to live and/or dress like the people who live there.
native
uk |ˈneɪ.tɪv| us |ˈneɪ.t̬ɪv|
adjective
1. relating to or describing someone’s country or place of birth or someone who was born in a particular country or place [before noun]
* “She returned to live and work in her native Japan.”
* “She’s a native Californian.”
2. used to refer to plants and animals that grow naturally in a place, and have not been brought there from somewhere else
* “Henderson Island in the Pacific has more than 55 species of native flowering plants.”
* “The horse is not native to America - it was introduced by the Spanish.”
3. relating to the first people to live in an area [before noun]
* “The Aborigines are the native inhabitants of Australia.”
* “the native population”
* “native customs and traditions”
native
uk |ˈneɪ.tɪv| us |ˈneɪ.t̬ɪv|
noun
1. a person who was born in a particular place, or a plant or animal that lives or grows naturally in a place and has not been brought from somewhere else
* “a native of Monaco”
* “The red squirrel is a native of Britain.”
2. an extremely offensive word for someone who lived in a country, especially in Africa, before Europeans went there [offensive old-fashioned]
from far and wide
phrase
1. from a large number of places
* “People came from far and wide to see the house.”
* “Athletes from far and wide competed in the regional finals.”
* “Inmates come to this facility from far and wide.”
* “The inspiring curriculum draws students from far and wide.”
* “People from far and wide gathered to celebrate her life.”
from head to toe
idiom
1. completely covering your body
* “The dog was covered in mud from head to toe.”
a close/near thing
idiom
1. something bad that almost happened
* “The car just missed the child but it was a very close thing.”
your nearest and dearest
idiom
1. your family, especially those that you live with or are very involved with
relative to
phrase
1. If something is relative to something else, it changes according to the speed or level of the other thing
* “The amount of petrol a car uses is relative to its speed.”
* “The overall risk to health is almost certainly relative to the amount of these substances ingested.”
* “The cost of installing the solar panel system is relative to the size of the house.”
* “At this level, salaries should be relative to the performance of the company.”
* “Of course, the real cost of food and drink is relative to earnings, and these have also risen over this period.”
* “Are these documents relative to the discussion?”
* “These articles relative to Chaucer’s history have had to be revised given recent discoveries.”
* “The auction house sold the painter’s ephemera, particular those items relative to his “blue” period, to the national museum.”
* “All information relative to his imprisonment is classified and will not be released to the press.”
direct relation/relative/descendant
phrase
1. a relation who is related to you through one of your parents, not through an aunt or uncle, etc.
* “Diana is a direct descendant of Robert Peel.”
* “He was a direct relative of the artist.”
* “His mother was a direct descendant of the governor of Massachusetts.”
* “She had no living direct descendants.”
* “It was always said that he was a direct relation of the former president.”
* “As a direct relative of someone who was diagnosed with the disease, he should also be screened for it.”
born with a silver spoon in your mouth
idiom
1. to have a high social position and be rich from birth
be on the same wavelength
idiom
1. (of two or more people) to think in a similar way and to understand each other well
* “What makes the problem worse is that Howard and Tina are not on the same wavelength about how to deal with it.”
get on like a house on fire
idiom
1. If two people get on like a house on fire, they like each other very much and become friends very quickly
* “I was worried that they wouldn’t like each other but in fact they’re getting on like a house on fire.”
like two peas in a pod
idiom
1. very similar, especially in appearance
* “The twins are like two peas in a pod.”
put something in(to) perspective
phrase
1. to compare something to other things so that it can be accurately and fairly judged
* “Total investments for this year reached $53 million, and, to put this into perspective, investments this year were double those made in 2013.”
* “People were unset by the sudden rise in violent crime, so he tried to put it in perspective by explaining that crime rates were actually falling.”
* “Let’s look at how some other businesses are doing to put our results in some sort of perspective.”
* “We saw people who were homeless and that put everything into perspective.”
* “Looking at these figures should help you put your fears into perspective.”
see eye to eye
idiom
1. If two people see eye to eye, they agree with each other
* “[don’t see eye to eye with] My sisters don’t see eye to eye with me about the arrangements.”
