Upper Intermediate Flashcards
phrasal verb
1 if something unpleasant such as a fire, fight, or war breaks out, it starts to happen
I was still living in London when the war broke out.
Does everyone know what to do if a fire breaks out?
Fighting broke out between demonstrators and the police.
→ outbreak
2 to escape from a prison
of
Three men have broken out of a top-security jail.
→ breakout
3 to change the way you live because you feel bored
of
She felt the need to break out of her daily routine.
4 break out in spots/a rash/a sweat etc if you break out in spots etc, they appear on your skin
I broke out in a painful rash.
My whole body broke out in a sweat.
Break out
کمر
Hip
عفونی شدن عفونت کردن
Got infected
1 [transitive] to say that you will cause someone harm or trouble if they do not do what you want
Postal workers are threatening a strike if they don’t receive a pay increase.
threaten to do something
He threatened to take them to court.
threaten somebody with something
Doctors are sometimes threatened with violence if they don’t do what patients want.
threaten (that)
Then he became angry and threatened that he would go to the police.
2 [transitive] to be likely to harm or destroy something
Poaching threatens the survival of the rhino.
threaten to do something
The incident threatens to ruin his chances in the election.
be threatened with something
Large areas of the jungle are now threatened with destruction.
3 [intransitive, transitive] to be likely to happen or be in a bad situation
Britain’s fishing industry remains threatened.
Dark clouds threatened rain.
Threaten
Felt threatened
adjective
1 extremely angry SYN furious
She was absolutely livid that he had lied.
► see thesaurus at angry
2 formal a mark on your skin that is livid is dark blue and grey
livid bruises
3 literary a face that is livid is very pale
Livid
verb [transitive] to hate someone or something very much SYN detest He loathes their politics. loathe doing something I absolutely loathe shopping.
Loathe
شکایت کردن
Sue
قبرستان
Cemetery
Graveyard
adjective
1 not good, or not as good as someone or something else OPP superior
I felt very inferior among all those academics.
wine of inferior quality
inferior goods
inferior to
I always felt slightly inferior to her.
Their performance was inferior to that of other teams.
2 formal lower in rank OPP superior
an inferior court of law
He refused to accept a job of inferior status.
Inferior OPP superior
Very angry
Violent towards s.b
متعهد بود وفادار بودن
Loyal to s.b
نسبت به کسی ساپورت بودن
To be supportive of s.b
اونا پشت سرت غیبت میکنن
The gossip about you behind your back
phrasal verb
to tell someone about something very private or secret, especially a personal problem, because you feel you can trust them
I’ve never felt able to confide in my sister.
Confide in s.b
Not wanting to be with people pr to go to social events
Unsociable
Antisocial
Very nervous and anxious
Panicky
Not feeling at all confident about yourself, your abilities, or your relationship with people
Insecure
Feeling annoyed, upset and impatient because you can not control or change a situation or achieve something
Frustrated
verb 1 [intransitive] to regularly travel a long distance to get to work commute to/from/between Jim commutes to Manhattan every day. ► see thesaurus at travel 2 → commute a sentence (to something) 3 → commute something for/into something → See Verb table
Commute
approval or support of someone or something:
In applying for this job, Tiffany has a lot in her favor (= to her advantage).
The city council voted in favor of (= in support of) the proposed housing development.
بهنفع
In favor of=pro
1 extremely unhappy, for example because you feel lonely, cold, or badly treated
I’ve been so miserable since Pat left me.
I spent the weekend feeling miserable.
Jan looks really miserable.
Why do you make yourself miserable by taking on too much work?
as miserable as sin British English (=very miserable)
► see thesaurus at sad
2 especially British English always bad-tempered, dissatisfied, or complaining
He’s a miserable old devil.
3 [usually before noun] making you feel very unhappy, uncomfortable etc
They endured hours of backbreaking work in miserable conditions.
Mosquito bites can make life miserable.
4 miserable weather is cold and dull, with no sun shining
It was a miserable grey day.
two weeks of miserable weather
5 [only before noun] very small in amount, or very bad in quality
I can hardly afford the rent on my miserable income.
The team gave a miserable performance.
6 → miserable failure
—miserably adverb
I failed miserably in my duty to protect her.
Miserable
Miserably
enjoyable or attractive and making you feel happy SYN nice, → pleasure It had been a pleasant evening. the pleasant climate of Southern California The restaurant was large and pleasant. Kate! What a pleasant surprise! it is pleasant to do something It was pleasant to sit in a sidewalk cafe and watch people pass. 2 friendly, polite, and easy to talk to Nick seemed very pleasant on the phone. a pleasant-looking woman pleasant to He’s always been very pleasant to me.
Pleasant (adj.)
phrasal verb
1 to run in an area while you are playing
The children were running around in the garden.
2 informal to be very busy doing many small jobs
Maria was running around trying to get the house tidy.
We were all running around like headless chickens (=trying to do a lot of things, in an anxious or disorganized way).
→ runaround
Run around
1 to change someone’s appearance so that people cannot recognize them
disguise yourself as somebody/something
Maybe you could disguise yourself as a waiter and sneak in there.
He escaped across the border disguised as a priest.
► see thesaurus at hide
2 to change the appearance, sound, taste etc of something so that people do not recognize it
There’s no way you can disguise that southern accent.
disguise something as something
a letter bomb disguised as a musical greetings card
3 to hide a fact or feeling so that people will not notice it
Try as he might, Dan couldn’t disguise his feelings for Katie.
disguise the fact (that)
There’s no disguising the fact that business is bad.
The speech was seen by many as a thinly disguised attack on the president.
Disguise
خود انتقادی
خود منتقد
Self-criticism
Self-critical
erb
1 FOLLOW [intransitive, transitive] to quickly follow someone or something in order to catch them
The dogs saw him running and chased him.
kids chasing around the house
chase somebody along/down/up something etc
The police chased the suspect along Severn Avenue.
chase after
A gang of boys chased after her, calling her names.
► see thesaurus at follow
2 MAKE SOMEBODY/SOMETHING LEAVE [transitive always + adverb/preposition] to make someone or something leave, especially by following them for a short distance and threatening them
chase somebody away/off
The men were chased off by troops, who fired warning shots.
chase somebody out of something
Anne went to chase the dog out of the garden.
3 TRY TO GET SOMETHING [intransitive, transitive] to use a lot of time and effort trying to get something such as work or money
Top graduates from the university are chased by major companies.
chase after
reporters chasing after a story
4 HURRY [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] British English to rush or hurry somewhere
chase around/up/down etc
I was chasing around getting everything organized.
5 ROMANCE [transitive] to try hard to make someone notice you and pay attention to you, because you want to have a romantic relationship with them
‘Sometimes a girl wants to be chased, ’ Amelia said.
6 METAL [transitive] technical to decorate metal with a special tool
chased silver
Chase
روان پزشک
Psychiatrist
1 always behaving in the same way or having the same attitudes, standards etc – usually used to show approval OPP inconsistent
She’s the team’s most consistent player.
consistent in
We need to be consistent in our approach.
2 continuing to happen or develop in the same way
a consistent improvement in the country’s economy
3 a consistent argument or idea does not have any parts that do not match other parts OPP inconsistent
The evidence is not consistent.
4 → be consistent with something
—consistently adverb
consistently high performance
همواره
Consistent
Consistently
To try doing something
Give it a go
verb [transitive]
1 to experience something, especially problems or opposition
encounter problems/difficulties
They encountered serious problems when two members of the expedition were injured.
encounter opposition/resistance
The government has encountered strong opposition to its plans to raise income tax.
The doctor had encountered several similar cases in the past.
برخورد مواجهه روبرو شدن مواجه شدن
Encounter
1 [uncountable] when someone is unfriendly and full of anger towards another person
hostility towards/between
hostility towards foreigners
hostility toward American English
hostility toward religious minorities
open/outright hostility (=hostility that is clearly shown)
They eyed each other with open hostility.
2 [uncountable] strong or angry opposition to something
The reform program was greeted with hostility by conservatives.
hostility to/towards
There is a lot of public hostility to the tax.
Pictures of refugees aroused popular hostility (=felt by a lot of people) towards the war.
hostility toward American English
Republican hostility toward slavery
3 → hostilities
Examples from the Corpus
خصومت
Hostility
ظن
Suspicion
رفاه
noun [uncountable] when people have money and everything that is needed for a good life a time of economic prosperity prosperity of the future prosperity of the country
Prosperity
To be Quite thin on top
He is quite thin on top!
Sیه کم موهات ریخته باشه
همسر من کوهاش یه کم ریخته
I’m the second of 4 children
من بچه ی دوم از چهار تا بچه ام
used to say that something happens or is true even though something else might have prevented it
Despite
also hatch out) [intransitive, transitive] if an egg hatches, or if it is hatched, it breaks, letting the young bird, insect etc come out
The eggs take three days to hatch.
2 (also hatch out) [intransitive, transitive] if a young bird, insect etc hatches, or if it is hatched, it comes out of its egg
All the chicks have hatched out.
Hatch
verb
1 [intransitive, transitive] informal to complain in an annoying way, especially in an unhappy voice and without good reason
‘I feel seasick already, ’ she moaned.
moan about
A lot of people moaned about the parking problems.
moan at British English
My mum never stops moaning at me.
moan that
He’s always moaning that we use too much electricity.
He moaned and groaned all the way there.
► see thesaurus at complain
2 [intransitive] to make a long low sound expressing pain, unhappiness, or sexual pleasure SYN groan
She moaned and cried out in pain.
3 [intransitive] literary if the wind moans, it makes a long low sound
They could hear the wind moaning in the trees.
—moaner noun [countable] British English
Dad’s a gloomy old moaner.
→ See Verb table
Maon
بحران
noun (plural crises /-siːz/) [countable, uncountable]
1 a situation in which there are a lot of problems that must be dealt with quickly so that the situation does not get worse or more dangerous → emergency
The country now faces an economic crisis.
The prime minister was criticized for the way in which he handled the crisis.
the current debt crisis
a major political crisis
I was relieved that we had averted yet another financial crisis.
Oil companies were heavily criticized when they made large profits during the oil crisis of the 1970s.
The car industry is now in crisis.
He doesn’t seem to be very good at crisis management.
2 a time when a personal emotional problem or situation has reached its worst point
an emotional crisis
In times of crisis, you find out who your real friends are.
He seems to be going through a crisis.
She has reached a crisis point in her career.
Both parties experienced an identity crisis (=feeling of uncertainty about their purpose) at the end of the ’90s.
3 → crisis of confidence
4 → crisis of conscience
Crisis
1 to become less sad, or to make someone feel less sad
Cheer up! The worst is over.
They cheered up when they saw us coming along.
cheer somebody ↔ up
Here’s a bit of news that will cheer you up.
You both need cheering up, I think.
2 cheer something ↔ up to make a place look more attractive
I bought some posters to cheer the place up a bit.
Cheer up
adjective so surprising that it is almost impossible to believe SYN astonishing The concert was an astounding success. ► see thesaurus at surprising —astoundingly adverb astoundingly beautiful scenery
Astounding
adjective
1 making you feel embarrassed so that you are not sure what to do or say SYN difficult
I hoped he would stop asking awkward questions.
There was an awkward moment when she didn’t know whether to shake his hand or kiss his cheek.
an awkward silence
A laugh can help people over an awkward situation.
Philip’s remarks put her in an awkward position (=made it difficult for her to know what to do).
► see thesaurus at embarrassed
2 not relaxed or comfortable
She liked to dance but felt awkward if someone was watching her.
Geoff looked uneasy and awkward.
Make sure that the baby is not sleeping in an awkward position.
3 difficult to do, use, or deal with
It’ll be awkward getting cars in and out.
The new financial arrangements were awkward to manage.
A good carpenter can make a cupboard to fit the most awkward space.
She was afraid he was going to ask an awkward question.
► see thesaurus at difficult
4 not convenient
I’m sorry to call at such an awkward time but I won’t keep you a minute.
5 an awkward person is deliberately unhelpful SYN difficult
awkward about
The staff wanted to go home and they were getting awkward about a meeting starting so late.
an awkward customer (=person who is difficult and unhelpful)
—awkwardly adverb
‘I’m very sorry about your sister, ’ he said awkwardly.
Vera smiled awkwardly.
—awkwardness noun [uncountable]
He tried to smooth over the awkwardness of the situation.
Examples from the Corpus
awkward
• She may appear stiff and perhaps awkward.
• Do you have to be so awkward about everything?
• I didn’t know anyone at the party, and I felt really awkward at first.
• The Department can be very awkward at times.
• It was really awkward, because she and Rachel don’t get along.
• She felt awkward in her high-heeled shoes.
• This, with his stupid loyalty and his awkward maleness, she found touching.
• For one awkward moment I thought I had said something terribly wrong.
• Seals are awkward on land, but graceful in the water.
• He’s at an age when kids start asking awkward questions - like ‘Where do babies come from?’
• Whilst the others joked, drank and flirted, they would sit in awkward seriousness.
• If Jack had been at all concerned that his impulsive gesture would result in an awkward silence he need not have worried.
• an awkward silence
• Carrie laughed out loud, and there was an awkward silence.
• an awkward teenager
• I’m sorry, have I called at an awkward time?
• The camera is awkward to use.
• Bud turned round and gave an awkward wave out of the car window.
• Getting in and out of the water is awkward when you’re wearing flippers.
• the awkward wording of the letter
awkward silence
• Spider said after an awkward silence.
• When we got to the restaurant, there was an awkward silence as I took out my tape recorder.
• There was another awkward silence, broken by the laughter from the bar.
• An awkward silence fell between them.
• If Jack had been at all concerned that his impulsive gesture would result in an awkward silence he need not have worried.
• She figured the awkward silence was partly the result of people believing that only big topics were worthy of being discussed.
• There was an awkward silence which Maidstone might have broken with some amiable
Awkward
1. adjective formal annoyed or not satisfied OPP pleased He looked extremely displeased. displeased with City officials are displeased with the lack of progress.
- verb
1 [intransitive, transitive] to make someone happy or satisfied
a business that wants to please its customers
She did everything she could to please him.
Most children are eager to please.
be hard/easy/impossible etc to please
She’s hard to please. Everything has to be perfect.
Displeased (adj.)
Please (verb)
adjective
1 someone who is illiterate has not learned to read or write
2 badly written, in an uneducated way
It was an illiterate letter, full of mistakes.
3 → economically/politically/scientifically etc illiterate
—illiteracy
Illiterate
Verb
1 IMAGE [transitive] if a person or a thing is reflected in a mirror, glass, or water, you can see an image of the person or thing on the surface of the mirror, glass, or water
be reflected in something
She could see her face reflected in the car’s windshield.
Grammar
Reflect is usually passive in this meaning.
2 BE A SIGN OF SOMETHING [transitive] to show or be a sign of a particular situation or feeling
The drop in consumer spending reflects concern about the economy.
be reflected in something
The increasing racial diversity of the US is reflected in the latest census statistics.
reflect who/what/how etc
How much you’re paid reflects how important you are to the company you work for.
3 LIGHT/HEAT/SOUND
a) [transitive] if a surface reflects light, heat, or sound, it sends back the light etc that reaches it
Wear something white – it reflects the heat.
b) [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] if light, heat, or sound reflects off something it reaches, it comes back from it
4 THINK ABOUT SOMETHING [intransitive, transitive] to think carefully about something, or to say something that you have been thinking about
reflect on
He had time to reflect on his successes and failures.
reflect that
Moe reflected that he had never seen Sherry so happy.
Reflect
not liked by most people an unpopular choice an unpopular teacher unpopular with/among a decision that was deeply unpopular with students
Unpopular
adjective
extremely good, enjoyable, impressive etc SYN wonderful
‘How was your holiday?’ ‘Marvellous!’
We had a marvellous time.
I can’t stand him, but my wife thinks he’s marvellous.
It’s marvellous what they can do these days.
—marvellously adverb
Marvelous
