Verbi Flashcards
accasciare / accasciarsi
accasciare
I. tr.
1. (fisicamente) to wear out; [caldo] to overcome
- (moralmente) to deject
II. accasciarsi
1. (cadere) to fall, to collapse
• accasciarsi al suolo - to crumple onto the floor
• accasciarsi per lo sfinimento - to collapse in an exhausted heap
- [fig.] (demoralizzarsi) to lose heart, to get depressed
• si accasciò per il dispiacere - the blow made him lose heart
accavallare / accavallarsi
accavallare
1 (= incrociare) to cross
• accavallare le gambe - to cross one’s legs
• accavallare una maglia - to cross stitches
2 (= sovrapporre) to overlap
3 (caccia) to stalk
accavallarsi
1 (= sovrapporsi) to overlap, to cross
• le due linee si accavallano in questo punto - the two lines cross at this point
2 (fig) to crowd, to pile up
• una miriade di pensieri si accavallarono nella sua mente - a myriad of thoughts crowded his mind
- (detto di nervi e sim.) to overlap, to get crossed
• mi si sono accavallati i tendini - I have strained tendons
accucciarsi
1 (= accovacciarsi) to crouch, to grovel, to crouch (down), to squat (down)
• la tigre si accucciò davanti al domatore - the tiger crouched down in front of the tamer
2 (= accoccolarsi) to snuggle (up/down), to nestle
accusare / accusarsi
accusare
1.1 (= incolpare) to accuse (of), to blame (for)
• accusare qn - to lay a charge against sb, to point a finger at sb
• fu accusato di favorire il suo paese - he was accused of favoring his country
1.2 (= tacciare) to tax (with)
2.1 (leg) to charge (with), to accuse (of), to indict (for); (personaggi pubblici) to impeach
• accusare qn di un delitto - to charge sb with a crime
• essere accusato di corruzione - to be charged with bribery
• accusarono l’uomo di assassinio - they charged the man with murder
• il ministro fu accusato di alto tradimento - the minister was impeached
2.2 V+D (≠ difendere) to prosecute
3 V+D(+di/per+IN) (= biasimare) to condemn
• la sua indolenza è da accusare - his laziness is to be condemned
4.1 (dolori, ecc) to complain of
• accusai violenti dolori allo stomaco - I was seized with violent stomach pains
4.2 (= manifestare) to show, to reveal
• simulò indifferenza, ma accusò il colpo - he feigned indifference, but he was hurt
5 (buroc) to acknowledge
• accusiamo ricevuta della Vostra lettera - we acknowledge receipt of your letter
B accusarsi
to accuse oneself, to blame oneself
• si accusò del furto per proteggere il figlio - he took the blame for the theft to protect his son
C accusarsi
to accuse each other, to blame each other
• si accusano sempre di trascurare il bambino - they always accuse each other of neglecting the child
adagiare / adagiarsi
adagiare
to lay (down), to settle, to put down gently • adagiarano il ferito nella barella - the injured man was laid on the stretcher
adagiarsi
1 to lie down, to settle, to make oneself comfortable
• mi adagiai in poltrona - I made myself comfortable in the armchair
2 (fig) to indulge (in), to lapse (into)
• adagiarsi nel lusso - to lapse into a life of luxury
affibbiare
- (allacciare) to buckle, to fasten
• affibbiarsi la cintura - to buckle one’s belt - (fam. fig.) (appioppare) to saddle (sb) with (sthg), to shift (sthg onto sb)
• affibbiò la responsabilità del delitto al suo complice - he saddled his partner with the responsibility for the crime
• mi hanno affibbiato un cinquanta euro falso - they palmed off a false fifty euro bill on me
• affibbiare un soprannome a qn - to give sb a nickname - (ingiurie, botte) to give, to land
• gli affibbiai uno schiaffo - I gave him a slap in the face
• affibbiare una pedata a qn - to land b a kick
aggiudicare / aggiudicarsi
aggiudicare
1. to award; (a un’asta) to award; to bestow:
• aggiudicare un appalto, un premio - to award a contract, a prize
• il quadro è stato aggiudicato per un milione - the picture was sold for a million
• aggiudicato! - sold! (at auction)
- (dir.) to adjudge, to adjudicate
aggiudicarsi
(aggiudicare a sé stessi) to obtain, to win, to gain
• aggiudicarsi un quadro - to obtain a picture
• aggiudicarsi la vittoria - to gain a victory
• si è aggiudicato il primo posto - he won first place
ammucchiare / ammucchiarsi
ammucchiare
1 (= accumulare) to pile up, to heap, to stack, to amass, to hoard
• ammucchia tutti i fascicoli su quello scaffale - pile up all the files on that shelf
• ammucchiò una fortuna in meno di un decennio - he amassed a fortune in less than a decade
2 (= raccogliere in mazzi) to bunch (together)
ammucchiarsi
1 (= accumularsi) to collect, to crowd, to mass, to pile up, (di persone, anche) to huddle, to cluster, to bunch (up)
• la gente si ammucchiò sul ciglio della strada - a crowd formed at the side of the road
• la polvere si era ammucchiata sui mobili - dust had piled up on the furniture
2 (di neve e simili) to drift, to bank up, to build up
• la grandine si ammucchiò sul davanzale - hailstones built up on the windowsill
annacquare
- to water down, to dilute
- (fig.) to moderate, to mitigate; to dilute
• annacquò il suo entusiasmo - he moderated his enthusiasm
appiccicare
- to stick; (attaccare) to attach, to join; (con colla liquida) to glue; (con colla in pasta) to paste
• appiccicare un’etichetta - to stick a label (on sth/sb) (anche fig.) - (fig.) (appioppare) to palm off, to fob off, to foist
• mi appiccicarono un cinquanta euro falso - they palmed off a forged fifty euro bill on me
• appiccicare uno schiaffo a qn - to slap sb’s face - v.intr.
to be sticky, gluey
• come appiccica questo tavolo! - this table is really sticky!
appioppare
vt
1 to tie (vines to poplars)
2 (agric) to plant with poplars
3 (= assestare) to deliver, to land
• appioppare un pugno - to land a punch
4 (= affibbiare) to land, to offload, to palm off
• appioppare un epiteto a qn - to coin a nickname for sb
• le hanno appioppato un mucchio di lavoro - they’ve palmed off a load of work on her
appoggiare / appoggiarsi
appoggiare
A
1 (= accostare) to rest (on), to lean (on/against), to prop, to prop up
• appoggiare la testa - to rest/to recline one’s head
• appoggia le assi contro il muro! - lean the planks against the wall!
• due sedie appoggiate alla parete - two chairs leaning against the wall
2 (= deporre) to lay (down), to put
• non appoggiare le borse sul tavolo! - don’t put the bags on the table!
3 (calcio) to pass
4.1 (= sostenere) to support, to stand for/by, to uphold, to back (up)
• appoggiare la candidatura di qn - to support sb’s candidature
• appoggiare una politica - to support a policy
• appoggiare un sistema di governo - to uphold a system of government
• è appoggiato dall’ala conservatrice del partito - he is backed by the conservative wing of the party
4.2 (= assistere) to help, to assist, to aid
• appoggiare finanziariamente - to stake, to aid, to support
• è sempre pronto ad appoggiare un amico - he’s always willing to help a friend
4.3 (= promuovere) to foster, to promote, to further, to favour, to forward
• appoggiare una causa - to further a cause
• appoggiare un’iniziativa - to favour a project
4.4 (= patrocinare) to sponsor, to back, to finance
• appoggiare un avvenimento culturale - to sponsor a cultural event
5 (= approvare) to endorse, to back; (= secondare) to second, to back
• appoggiare un piano - to endorse a plan
• la mozione fu appoggiata da una grande maggioranza - the motion was seconded by a large majority
6 (= fondare) to vest, to base
• appoggiare le speranze sui giovani - to vest one’s hopes in young people
B (= poggiare, anche fig) to rest, to lie, to be based
• la sua teoria non appoggia su niente di concreto - his theory isn’t based on anything concrete
• l’edificio appoggia su solide fondamenta - the building rests on solid foundations
appoggiarsi
1 (= reggersi) to hold (on), to support oneself
• ci appoggiammo alle rocce - we held on to the rocks
2 (= basarsi) to rest (on), to base oneself (on)
• appoggiarsi a eventi passati - to base oneself on past events
3 (= addossarsi/ricorrere) to lean (on/against), to rely (on)
• appoggiarsi a un amico - to rely on a friend
• appoggiarsi al muro - to lean against the wall
4 (di edifici) to abut
• l’edificio si appoggia a una vecchia chiesa - the building abuts on an old church
appostare / appostarsi
appostare
to lie in wait for, to ambush, to waylay
• appostare un ladro - to waylay a thief
appostarsi
to lurk, to skulk, to lie in ambush, to lie in wait
• i fotografi erano appostati fuori dell’albergo - the photographers were lurking outside the hotel
armare
- to arm; to provide with arms
• armò i suoi uomini - he armed his men
• armare qn cavaliere - to dub sb knight - (mar.) to equip, to rig, to fit out; (fornire di equipaggio) to man
• armare una barca - to man a boat - (armi) to cock, to load
• armare un fucile - to cock a rifle - (edil.) to reinforce
- (mus.) armare la chiave - to put the key signature (to a piece of music)
- (fortificare) to fortify, to strengthen, to brace
arricciare
- to curl
• arricciarsi i capelli - to curl one’s hair
• arricciare il naso - (fig.) to turn up one’s nose
• arricciare il pelo - (di animali) to bristle - (accartocciare) to crumple (up)
• arricciare un foglio - to crumple a sheet
avvinghiare / avvinghiarsi
avvinghiare
to hold tight
• lo avvinghiò con forza - he held him tightly
avvinghiarsi (a)
to cling (a)
• il bimbo si avvinghiò alla madre - the child clung to its mother
bighellonare
1 to hang about/around/round, to loaf, to sit around/about, to sit on one’s hands
• bighellona tutto il giorno senza combinare niente - he hangs about all day doing nothing
2 to loiter, to roam, to wander
• bighellonai per la città fino all’alba - I wandered around the city till dawn
cavarsela
to come off, to cope; (= farla franca) to get away with, to get off; (= passarsela) to fare, to get on; (= scamparla) to save one’s hide/skin; (= tirare avanti) to survive, to get by
- cavarsela a buon mercato - to get off lightly/cheaply
- cavarsela a stento - to scrape through
- cavarsela bene - to be doing very nicely (for oneself), to fare well
- cavarsela bene in qc - to be no slouch at/in sth
- cavarsela con facilità (in qc) - to romp through (sth)
- cavarsela da solo - to shift for oneself, to fend off for oneself, to go it alone, to stand on one’s own two feet
- cavarsela in qualche modo - to muddle through
- cavarsela molto bene - to make a very good job
- cavarsela senza danni - to ride the storm
- se l’è cavata per un pelo - he got away with it by the skin of his teeth
- considerando come stava, ora se la sta cavando molto bene - considering how she was, now she is coping very well
- non cercare di cavartela con una bugia - don’t try to lie your way out of it
- se la sono sempre cavata - they’ve always got away with it
cingere
- to fasten round, to tie round; (letter.) to gird
• cingere la spada - to gird on one’s sword
• cingere la corona - to assume the crown
• cingere la corona di alloro - to be crowned with laurel(s)
• cingere le braccia al collo di qn - to put one’s arms around sb’s neck - (circondare) to encircle, to surround
• cingere di mura una città - to surround a town with walls
• cingere d’assedio - to besiege
conficcare / conficcarsi
conficcare
1 to drive, to sink, to stick, to jab
• conficcare un ago - to jab a needle
• conficcare una bandiera nel terreno - to drive a flag into the ground
• conficcare un chiodo nel muro - to drive a nail into the wall
2 (fig) to hammer, to impress, to drive
• conficcare qs in mente a qn - to impress sth on sb
• gli hanno conficcato in testa quest’idea per anni - they have been hammering this idea into him for ages
conficcarsi
to sink, to stick, to get stuck, to lodge (oneself), to bury (oneself)
• le schegge le si conficcarono sotto la pelle - the splinters lodged themselves under her skin
• lo sci si conficcò nella neve fresca - the ski got stuck in the fresh snow
• quel sospetto gli si è conficcato nel cervello - he has got that suspicion on his brain
• la lancia gli si conficcò nel fianco - the lance pierced his side
decollare
1 to behead, to decapitate, to decollate
• san Giovanni decollato - St John the Baptist beheaded
2.1 to take off, (di razzi, astronavi e simili) to blast off, to lift off
• non far decollare (aerei) - to ground
• l’aereo ha decollato alle undici - the plane took off at eleven
2.2 (fig) to take off, to get off the ground
• sembra che il progetto abbia finalmente decollato - it looks as though the project has taken off at last
esaudire
to grant, to comply with (sth); to satisfy, to fulfil, to meet
- la mia preghiera fu esaudita - my prayer was answered
- Signore, esaudisci la mia preghiera - Lord, hear my prayer
- il suo desiderio fu esaudito - his wish was fulfilled
- esaudire una richiesta - to grant (or comply with) a request
- non abbiamo la capacità di esaudire la richiesta del mercato - we don’t have the capacity to meet market demand
esordire
- (cominciare) to begin, to start, to commence; (in una professione) to begin practicing (a profession)
• esordire con una battuta poco felice - to start with a joke in bad taste - (in arte) to make one’s debut, to make a first appearance
• esordì nell’ ‘Otello’ - she made her debut in ‘Othello’.
filarsela
to leave quickly
frantumare
- to shatter, to break (up), to smash, to crush; (ridurre in briciole) to crumble, to crush
• frantumò la noce con il pugno - he cracked the nut with his fist
• frantumare una roccia - to crush a rock - (fig.) to crush, to shatter, to smash
• frantumare le argomentazioni degli avversari - to crush one’s opponents’ arguments
freddare
- to cool; to chill
• freddare il brodo - to cool the broth (or soup) - (fig.) to cool, to damp, to dampen
• nulla poteva freddare il suo entusiasmo - nothing could dampen his enthusiasm - (ammazzare) to kill
• lo freddò con un colpo di pistola - he shot him dead
fregare
- (strofinare per pulire) to scrub (down), to rub, to scour [parquet, biancheria, tappeto]
• fregare il pavimento con una spazzola - to scrub the floor with a brush
• fregare qcs per pulirla - to scrape sth clean - (massaggiare) to chafe, to rub [pelle]
- (sfregare)
• fregare un fiammifero contro il muro - to strike a match on the wall - [colloq.] (imbrogliare) to rip off
• essere fregato - to be ripped off
• lì ti fregano - they really rip you off in that place
• non mi sono fatta fregare da lui - I wasn’t ripped off by him
• stanno cercando di fregarci! - they’re just trying to rip us off! - [colloq.] (rubare) to nick, to steal [auto, oggetto]; to lift, to rip off [file, idea]
• mi hanno fregato la bici - my bike has been stolen
• fregare qcs a qcn - to con sb out of sth
frignare
to whimper, to whine, to carry on (colloq)
fulminare / fulminarsi
fulminare (transitive)
- (folgorare) to strike down [albero]; to electrocute [persona]; (bruciare) to blow [lampadina]
• fulminare qn con lo sguardo - (fig.) to look scathingly at sb. - (uccidere sul colpo) [fulmine, malattia] to strike [sb] dead
fulminare (intransitive)
• ha tuonato e fulminato tutta la notte - it thundered and lightninged all night long
fulminarsi
[lampadina] to blow, to burn out
• che Dio mi fulmini se… - may God strike me dead if…
ghignare
to smirk, to sneer, to snicker, to laugh scornfully
guizzare
1 (= muoversi di scatto) to dart, to flick
• far guizzare - to flick
• guizzare di mano come un anguilla - to be as slippery as an eel
• il gatto guizzò dietro la siepe - the cat darted behind the hedge
2 (= liberarsi) to free oneself; (= balzare di scatto) to dart, to leap
• guizzare via - to dart off, to slip
• guizzò in piedi e se ne andò - he leapt to his feet and went off
imbandire
to lay, to prepare, to set (up)
• avevano imbandito ricchi piatti - they had prepared rich food
immettere
transitive verb
to introduce, to put in, to put on, to let in; (di liquido) to pour in
• immettere merci sul mercato - to put goods on the market
- (inform.) to enter
• immettere dati in un computer - to enter data into a computer
intransitive verb
to lead (in)to • il corridoio immette nel salone - the corridor leads to the lounge.
imprecare
to curse (sb, sth), to imprecate • imprecò contro la sorte - he cursed his fate
inalberare / inalberasi
inalberare
to hoist, to fly [bandiera]
inalberarsi
- (impennarsi) [cavallo] to rear
• il cavallo si inalberò spaventato - the horse reared up in fright - (= adirarsi) to blow up, to bristle (up), to flare up, to get angry, to lose one’s temper
• si inalbera alla minima osservazione - he flares up at the slightest remark
incappare
(imbattersi)
1. to run into, to run up against
• incappare in un blocco della poliziato - to run into a police roadblock
incassare
1 (= collocare in casse) to put into a case, to pack in(to) cases
• incassare un morto - to put a body into a coffin
• incassarono le merci e le caricarono sul camion - they packed the goods in cases and loaded them onto the lorry
2 to build in, to set, to embed, to sink
• incassare un elettrodomestico - to build in a domestic appliance
• incassate la cassaforte in quella parete, per favore - build the safe into that wall, please
3.1 (= riscuotere) to cash, to encash, to collect
• incassare alla consegna - to collect on delivery
• ha incassato il suo primo compenso come avvocato - he has collected his first fee as a lawyer
3.2 (= introitare) to collect; (di negozi e simili) to take
• non abbiamo ancora incassato il debito - we have not yet collected the debt
• incassa più di seimila euro al mese dal suo cliente più importante - he takes more than six thousand euros a month from his main client
4 (fig) to take, to withstand
• incassare insulti - to swallow insults
inceppare / incepparsi
inceppare
1 (= impacciare) to hamper, to shackle, to hinder
• quest’abito mi inceppa i movimenti - this suit hampers my movements
• gli alti interessi inceppano il commercio - high interest rates hinder trade
2 (= bloccare) to block, to hamper, to jam, to gum up
• la mancanza di fondi inceppò l’operazione - lack of funds blocked the operation
• qualcosa inceppa la fotocopiatrice - something has jammed the photocopier
• la serratura è bloccata - the lock is hampered
incepparsi
1 (= bloccarsi) to jam, to stick, to get stuck, to stall, to lock; (= fare cilecca) arm to misfire
• mi si è inceppata la lampo - my zip got stuck
• il fucile si inceppò - the gun jammed
• la trattativa si è inceppata - the negotiations have stalled
2 (nel parlare) to stutter, to stammer, to stumble
• quando è nervoso s’inceppa - when he gets cross he stutters
incolonnare / incolonnarsi
incolonnare
1 to put into a column, (= tabulare) to tabulate, to tab
• devi incolonnare tutte le cifre - you have to tabulate all the figures
2 (persone) to line up
incolonnarsi
to form a queue, to line up
• incolonnarsi a destra - to form a column on the right
• incolonnarsi su tre file - to form a queue three abreast
incrinare / incrinarsi
incrinare
1 (= fendere) to crack
• un bicchiere incrinato - a cracked glass
• il calore dell’acqua può incrinare il bicchiere - the heat of the water can crack the glass
2 (= guastare) to damage
• quell’episodio ha incrinato il nostro rapporto - that episode damaged our relationship
incrinarsi
1 (= fendersi) to crack; (di ossa) to fracture; (della voce) to break
• si incrinò una costola nell’incidente - he cracked a rib in the accident
2 (= guastarsi) to deteriorate
• il loro rapporto si è incrinato - their relationship has deteriorated
• la loro amicizia si è incrinata - their friendship has cooled
infierire
- (agire con ferocia) to act cruelly, to be pitiless
• infierire contro qn - to be pitiless towards sb - (imperversare) to rage
• l’epidemia infieriva - the epidemic was raging
infognarsi
to get involved, to become embroiled, to become entangled, to get mixed up
• infognarsi con gente di malaffare - to get mixed up with crooks
• infognarsi nei debiti - to become embroiled in debts
infrattare
(colloq.) (nascondere) to hide
intimare
- (ordinare) to order, to bully, to warn, to advise
• intimare a qn di fare - to bully sb into doing, to summon sb to do sth
• intimare l’alt a qn - (mil) to order sb to stop
• intimare la resa al nemico - to bid the enemy surrender
• intimare a qn di andarsene dalla propria proprietà - to warn sb off one’s land - (notificare) to give notice, to serve with a notice/summons
• intimare il pagamento a qn - to give notice of payment to sb
• intimare lo sfratto a qn - to serve sb with an eviction notice
• intimare a qn un mandato di comparizione - to serve sb with a summons
intraprendere
to undertake, to begin, to set about, (come attività) to go into, to take up, (= lanciarsi in) to embark on, to engage in, to start out on, to start up in
• intraprendere un investimento - to undertake an investment
• intraprendere un lavoro - to undertake a job
• intraprendere una nuova carriera - to start up in a new career
• intraprendere qs di nuovo - to turn one’s hand to st new
• intraprendere una riforma - to undertake a reform
• intraprendere un viaggio - to begin a journey
• ha intrapreso l’attività di medico - he has gone into medicine
irrobustire
to strengthen, to fortify, to toughen up
macinare
- to grind; (grano) to mill, to grind
• macinare la farina/il caffè - to grind flour/coffee
• macinare la carne - to mince meat
• macinare i chilometri - to grind out the miles - (fig.) (rimuginare) to brood on (sth), to dwell on (sth)
• macinare rabbia/ricordi - to brood on one’s anger/memories
menarsela
(colloq) to waste time chattering about
= tirarla per le lunghe
sentirla
to feel like (doing) sth
pacare / pacarsi
pacare to calm (down), to appease
pacarsi to calm (oneself) down
perorare
to defend, to champion, to advocate, (law) to plead
• perorare una causa - to plead a cause
• perorare il diritto alla libertà - to champion the right to freedom
• ha perorato la tesi della loro innocenza - he championed the cause of their innocence
to perorate, (law) to plead
• perorare in difesa di qn - to plead in sb’s defense
polemizzare
1 (= cavillare) to quibble, to squabble, to wrangle
• ama polemizzare su tutto - he likes to quibble over everything
• polemizza con la moglie su ogni piccola cosa - he squabbles with his wife over the most trifling things
2 (= disputare) to polemicize, to polemize, to argue
• polemizzare con qn sull’interpretazione di qc - to argue with sb about the interpretation of sth
• polemizzare sulla opportunità di un intervento - to argue over the opportuneness of intervention
pomiciare
(fam.) to pet, to snog, to neck
prosciogliere
- to free, to set free, to absolve, to release
• prosciogliere da un obbligo - to release from an obligation
• prosciogliere qn da un voto, una promessa, un giuramento ecc. - to free/absolve sb from a vow, a promise, an oath, etc. - (dir.) to acquit, to absolve, to release
• prosciogliere un imputato - to acquit a defendant
• è stato prosciolto da tutte le accuse - he was acquitted of all charges
pungolare
- to goad
• pungolare i buoi - to goad the oxen - (fig.) (stimolare) to goad, to prod; to spur on
• se non lo pungoli non studia mai - if you don’t prod him he’ll never study
recepire
1.1 (= accogliere) to adopt, to take into account/into consideration
• il governo recepì le richieste dei lavoratori - the government took into account the workers’ demands
• il personale stenta a recepire le nuove direttive -
the staff are finding it hard to take to the new instructions
• non volle recepire il mio suggerimento - he didn’t want to take my suggestion into consideration
1.2 (= capire) to understand
• gli feci un cenno di assenso, ma non recepì - I nodded my assent to him but he failed to understand
• lei lo disse, ma lui non sembrò recepirlo - she said it, but it didn’t seem to register with him
2 (law) to implement
• gli stati membri recepirono queste misure nella legislazione nazionale - the member states implemented these measures in national legislation
recitare
- (ripetere ad alta voce) to recite, to repeat aloud, to say aloud
• recitò un sonetto - he recited a sonnet
• recitare una lezione - to repeat a lesson
• recitare le preghiere - to say one’s prayers - (teatr.) to act, to perform, to play
• recitano tutti bene in questa commedia - they all act well in this play
• recitare una parte - to play a part
• recitare la parte di Re Lear - to play (o to act) King Lear
• non sa proprio recitare - he just can’t act - (fig.) (fingere) to act, to play
• non recitare la parte dell’ingenuo con me - don’t play the innocent with me
• smettila di recitare! - stop pretending!
• recitare la commedia - to play a part - (di legge, norma) (affermare) to state
• l’articolo 3 recita… - the article 3 states…
ricattare
to blackmail
• mi ricatta minacciando il suicidio, divorzio - he’s using threats of suicide, divorce to blackmail me
ricavare
- (trarre, dedurre) to deduce, to draw, to come to
• ricavare una regola - to deduce (or arrive at) a rule
• ricavare una conclusione - to come to (or draw) a conclusion - (ottenere) to obtain, to make, to get
• questo vestito è stato ricavato da uno scampolo - this dress has been made out of a remnant
• ricavare due camere da un salone - to make two rooms out of a large hall - (estrarre) to extract
• questa essenza si ricava da un fiore esotico - this essence is extracted from an exotic flower
• da quest’albero si ricava la gomma - rubber is extracted from this tree - (econ., fin.) (guadagnare) to gain, to earn, to make
• ricavare un grande utile da una vendita - to make a large profit from a sale
• ricavare una forte somma di denaro - to gain (o to earn) a large sum of money
• ricavare migliaia di sterline - to turn over thousands of pounds
• ricavare poco da una vendita - to make little on a sale - (non com.) (cavare di nuovo) to draw again
ridire
- (dire di nuovo) to say again; to tell again
• dobbiamo dirglielo e ridirglielo - we have to tell him over and over again - (riferire) to repeat; (raccontare) to tell, to express
• ridire un segreto - to tell a secret - (obiettare) to object to (sb, sth); to find fault with (sb, sth); to find a blemish in (sth)
• ha sempre da ridire su ciò che faccio - he always finds fault with what I do
• non trovò niente da ridire - he found nothing to object to
• trova da ridire sul mio vestito - he objects to my dress
rimandare
- (mandare di nuovo) to send again
• se lo perdi te lo rimandiamo - if you lose it, we’ll send it to you again - (restituire) to return; to send back
• rimandò tutti i regali che aveva ricevuto - she sent back all the presents she had received
• rimandare una lettera al mittente - to return a letter to the sender - (far tornare) to send back
• fu rimandato al paese di origine - he was sent back to his country of origin
• l’ho rimandato a comprare il giornale - I have sent him back to buy a paper
• la maestra l’ha rimandato a casa perché non si sentiva bene - the teacher sent him home because he didn’t feel well - (posporre) to postpone, to defer, to put off; to adjourn; (procrastinare) to delay, to protract
• la lezione è stata rimandata di una settimana - the lesson has been postponed for a week
• rimandare un dibattito - to put off (o to postpone) a debate
• abbiamo rimandato la partenza per il maltempo - we delayed (o put off) our departure because of the bad weather
• rimandare un pagamento - to delay a payment
• non rimandare a domani ciò che potresti fare oggi - don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today - (a scuola) to make (sb) repeat (an exam)
• fu rimandato a settembre in tre materie - he had to repeat three subjects in September
• mi hanno rimandato in francese - they made me sit my French exam again - (fare riferimento) to refer
• rimandare a un libro, a una pagina - to refer to a book, to a page
rimontare
A transitive verb
1 to reassemble
• rimontare un motore - to reassemble an engine
2 to recover, to catch up, to pull back
• la squadra ha rimontato parecchi punti - the team has pulled back several points
3 mar to sail up along
• rimontare una corrente - to sail upstream
• rimontare un fiume - to sail up along a river
• rimontare un promontorio - to double/to round a cape
B intransitive verb
1 to go up again, to climb again, (a cavallo, in bici, ecc) to remount
• rimontare in auto - to get back into the car
• rimontare su per le scale - to go up the stairs again, to climb the stairs again
2 (= risalire) to go back, to date back
• la costruzione della torre rimonta al medioevo - the tower’s construction dates back to the Middle Ages
3 (in classifiche, ecc) to move up, to climb
• la squadra sta rimontando - the team is moving up the charts
rintanarsi
- (rientrare nella tana) to go back to one’s den
• l’orso si è rintanato - the bear has gone back to his den - (fig) (rifugiarsi) to shut oneself up, to hole up; (nascondersi) to hide oneself
• dov’è andato a rintanarsi? - where has he gone and hidden himself?
• esci con noi, non rintanarti sempre in casa - come out with us, don’t hide yourself away at home
rinvenire
transitive verb
1 (= ritrovare) to find, to trace; (resti o reperti) to uncover, to discover, to unearth, to find
• rinvenire l’arma del delitto - to find the murder weapon
• rinvenire una valigia smarrita - to find a lost suitcase
• non fu possibile rinvenire i documenti scomparsi - it was not possible to trace the missing documents
• alcuni reperti di epoca tardo-romana sono stati rinvenuti nei dintorni di Napoli - some late Roman remains have been found near Naples
2 (= scoprire) to discover, to find
• gli sono state rinvenute tracce di eroina nel sangue - traces of heroin were found in his blood
transitive verb
1 (= ricuperare i sensi) to come to/round, to recover/to regain consciousness
• fare rinvenire qn - to bring sb round/to
• quando rinvenne non ricordava nulla - when she came to, she couldn’t remember anything
2 (= riprendere freschezza) to revive; (= riprendere morbidezza) to soften (up)
• con la pioggia la vegetazione rinvenne - with the rain, the vegetation revived
• i fagioli secchi rinvengono se li lasci a mollo in acqua - dried beans will soften (up) if you soak them in water
rinviare
- to put off, to postpone, to defer, to adjourn
• ho rinviato il mio arrivo - I have put off (o deferred o postponed) my arrival
• rinviare l’inizio di una gara - to put back the start of a match
• l’incontro fu rinviato di una settimana - the meeting was adjourned for a week
• la lezione fu rinviata alla settimana seguente - the lesson was put off until the following week
• rinviare un pagamento - to delay a payment
• rinviare ad altra data - to defer to a later date
• (dir.) rinviare una causa - to adjourn a case - (mandare indietro) to return, to send back
• rinviare la palla - to return the ball - (rimandare) (di citazione di un’opera) to refer back
• la citazione rinvia al primo capitolo - the quotation refers back to the first chapter
ritenere / ritenersi
ritenere
1 (= trattenere) to hold, to retain; (alimenti) to stomach; (= non dare) to withhold
• non riesce a ritenere cibi aromatizzati - he can’t stomach spicy food
2 (= contenere) to hold back, to keep back
• ritenere le lacrime - to keep back tears;
• ritenere una risata - to hold back laughter
• le radici degli alberi ritennero la frana - the roots of the trees held back the landslide
3 (anche ritenere a mente) to remember, to retain, to keep in mind
• non riesco a ritenere le date - I can’t remember dates
4 (somme dovute) to dock, to withhold, to retain
• ritenere un dividendo - to pass a dividend
• ritenere una percentuale su una somma - to dock a percentage off a sum
• ritenere i profitti aziendali - to retain company’s profits
5 (= giudicare) to believe, to consider, to presume; (= considerare) to regard, to consider, to hold; (= immaginare) to imagine; (= supporre) to suppose; (= credere) to reckon, to think
• ritenere qn responsabile di qs - to hold sb responsible for sth
• ritenemmo giusto informarli - we believed it to be the right thing to tell them
• l’aveva sempre ritenuta una perdita di tempo - he had always thought of it as wasting time
• ritengo che sia una brava persona - I consider him to be a nice person
• la polizia lo ritiene colpevole - the police believe he is guilty
ritengo che attendiate una spiegazione da me - I suppose/presume/imagine you’re waiting for an explanation from me
• un prezzo tale lo ritengo esagerato - I think that such a price is a little over the top
• l’ho sempre ritenuto una persona onesta - I’ve always regarded him as an honest person
ritenersi
1 (= considerarsi) to regard oneself, to consider oneself
• si ritiene il migliore nel suo campo - he regards himself the best in his field
• ci riteniamo fortunati - we consider ourselves lucky
2 (= frenarsi) to restrain oneself, to stop oneself
• ritenersi dal ridere - to restrain oneself from laughing
rovesciare / rovesciarsi
rovesciare
1 (= versare in giù, spec accidentalmente) to spill, to slosh, to slop, (spec intenzionalmente) to pour
• rovesciò il vino sulla tovaglia - he spilt the wine on the tablecloth
• rovesciò il contenuto del cassetto sul letto - he poured the contents of the drawer on the bed
• il vulcano rovesciò lava per giorni - the volcano poured out lava for days
2 (= capovolgere) to upset, to turn over, to overturn, to tip over; (imbarcazioni) to capsize, to upset; (decisioni, sentenze, ecc) to overturn, to override, to reverse; (= piegare all’indietro) to throw back; (= rivoltare) to turn inside out; (= invertire) to reverse, to invert
• rovesciare una barca - to capsize a boat
• rovesciare un calzino - to turn a sock inside out
• rovesciare un risultato/una decisione - to reverse a result/a decision
• la corte suprema ha rovesciato il verdetto - the Supreme Court overturned the verdict
• rovesciò le tasche per dimostrare che non aveva nulla con sé - he turned his pockets out to show he had nothing on him
3 (= abbattere) (political) to overthrow, to overturn, to bring down
• rovesciare un regime - to overthrow a regime
• la dittatura è stata finalmente rovesciata - the dictatorship has finally been overthrown
rovesciarsi
1 (= capovolgersi) to cant, to tip over, to fall over, to overturn; (mar) to capsize, to upset
• la bottiglia si è rovesciata sulla tovaglia - the bottle fell over on the tablecloth
• la barca si rovesciò all’improvviso - the boat suddenly capsized
2 (= versarsi) to spill, to slop
• si è rovesciato del tè dalla tazza - some tea has slopped out of the cup
3 (= riversarsi) to stream, to flood
• un sacco di gente si rovesciò per le strade - a lot of people streamed into the streets
• torme di ragazzi si rovesciarono nei cinema - hordes of young people flooded into the cinemas
saccheggiare
- to sack, to ransack, to plunder, to loot; to rob, to raid
• saccheggiare una città - to sack a town
• saccheggiare una banca - to rob a bank
• saccheggiare un negozio - to loot a shop
• avevano fame e mi hanno saccheggiato il frigorifero - they were hungry so they raided my fridge - (un’opera, un autore) to plagiarize
salpare
- (partire) to set sail; to set out
• la nave salperà domani - the ship will sail tomorrow
• è salpato per altri lidi - he has left for foreign lands - (levare l’ancora) to take up anchor
sbarazzare (di)
to clear (up); to rid
• sbarazzare una stanza - to clear up (o to tidy up) a room
• sbarazzare la tavola - to clear the table
• vorrei poterti sbarazzare di queste noie - I wish I could clear up these problems for you
sbarrare
- (ostruire) to block, to bar [cammino, accesso] (con “with”); to dam (up) [fiume] (sprangare) to bar, to bolt [finestra, porta]
• sbarrare il passaggio a qn - to stand in sb’s way (anche fig.)
• sbarrare la strada (o il cammino) a qn - to block sb’s way - (barrare) to cross out [parola, paragrafo]
- (spalancare)
• sbarrare gli occhi - to open one’s eyes wide
sbeffeggiare
to mock, to jeer at
sbizzarrire / sbizzarrirsi
sbizzarrire
to sober (sb) down, to cure (sb) of their whims
• il servizio militare lo sbizzarrirà - military service will bring him to his senses
sbizzarrirsi
to satisfy one’s whims, to indulge oneself
• alla sua età può sbizzarrirsi ogni tanto - at his age he can indulge himself from time to time
• si è sbizzarrito a fare spese - he indulged himself in a shopping spree
sbucare
- (uscire) [animale] to come out, to spring (out); [veicolo, persona] to come out
• la volpe sbucò dalla tana - the fox popped out of its hole
• il treno sta sbucando dalla galleria - the train is coming out of the tunnel - (comparire all’improvviso) [auto, persona] to spring
• da dove è sbucato (fuori)? - where did he pop up from? - (avere uno sbocco) [strada] to come out
scagionare / scagionarsi
scagionare
(= scolpare) to exonerate, to clear, to vindicate, to acquit; (= giustificare) to justify, to excuse
• la nuova testimonianza ha scagionato l’accusato - the new evidence has acquitted the accused
• inventò mille scuse per scagionare il figlio - he came up with a thousand and one excuses to clear his son
scagionarsi
to excuse oneself, to clear oneself, to vindicate oneself
• scagionarsi dall’accusa di tradimento - to vindicate oneself from the charge of treason
• non cercare scuse per scagionarti - don’t try to find excuses to clear yourself
scampare
A transitive verb
1 (= salvare) to save, to rescue
• scampare qn dalla morte - to save sb from death
• Dio ce ne scampi e liberi! - may the good Lord save and deliver us!
2 to avoid, to escape, to elude
• scamparla - to survive, to save one’s hide/skin
• scamparla bella - to have a narrow escape
• scampare una malattia - to avoid a disease
• scampare un pericolo - to escape/to elude danger
• scampare la prigione - to avoid imprisonment
• l’ho scampata per un pelo - I escaped by the skin of my teeth
B intransitive verb
1 to survive, to escape, (a un certo evento) to live (through sth)
• scampare a una guerra - to live through a war
• non credo che riuscirà a scampare a questo attacco - I don’t think he’ll be able to live through this attack
• è scampato miracolosamente alla morte - he escaped death miraculously
• solo due persone sono scampate al naufragio - only two people survived the wreck
2 (= trovare scampo o rifugio) to take refuge/shelter, to shelter, to flee
• scampare in un paese straniero - to flee to a foreign country
• i due ribelli scamparono all’estero - the two rebels took refuge abroad
scannare / scannarsi
scannare
1.1 to cut/to slit the throat of, (spec animali) to stick
• non cedo neanche se mi scannano (iperbolico) - I won’t give way even if they lynch me
1.2 to slaughter, to butcher, to kill brutally
• assalirono il villaggio scannando le donne e i bambini - they attacked the village and butchered the women and children
2 fig to fleece, to skin, to bleed white
• gli usurai lo stanno scannando - the moneylenders are bleeding him white
• il ristorante è buono, ma ti scannano - it’s a good restaurant, but they fleece you
scannarsi
to be at each other’s throat, to slit each other’s throat
• si odiano e si scannerebbero se potessero - they hate each other and would slit each other’s throat if they could
schernire
to mock, to jeer (at), to taunt, to scoff at, to sneer at, to deride
• schernire gli ideali - to deride ideals
• schernire la religione - to mock religion
schiattare
1 (= scoppiare) to burst
• schiattare dalla rabbia - to burst with anger, to be livid
2 (= crepare) to drop dead, to conk out, to kick the bucket, to croak, to snuff it, to pop off coll
• se continua a rimpinzarsi così schiatterà presto - if he goes on stuffing himself like that he’ll soon drop dead
sciropparsi
(colloq.) to get stuck with
• mi sono sciroppato i miei suoceri per tutto il weekend - I had to put up with my in-laws for the whole weekend
scongiurare
1 (= esorcizzare) (letterale) to wish away
2 (= implorare) to beg, to beseech, to implore, to plead, to entreat, to conjure
• scongiurò il direttore di non licenziarlo - he begged the boss not to dismiss him
• lo scongiurai di aiutarmi - I begged/implored him to help me
• ti scongiuro! - I beseech you!
3 (= allontanare) to ward off, to avert, to head off
• scongiurare il pericolo - to ward off danger
• col suo coraggio ha scongiurato un disastro - by his courage he averted a disaster
scontare
- (banca) to discount
• scontare cambiali - to discount bills
• la banca ha rifiutato di scontare la cambiale - the bank has refused to discount the bill
• far scontare una cambiale - to have a bill discounted - (amm.) (dedurre) to deduct
• scontare una somma dal totale - to deduct an amount from the total - (fare uno sconto) to reduce, to knock off
• scontare di due sterline il prezzo di un articolo - to knock two pounds off the price of an article - (estinguere) to pay off
• scontare un debito - to pay off a debt - (espiare) to atone for (sth), to pay for (sth):
• la sconterai! - you’ll pay for it!
• si sconta tutto, prima o poi - everything has to be paid for sooner or later
• scontare i propri peccati - to atone (o pay) for one’s sins - (law) (una pena) to serve
• deve ancora scontare tre anni di carcere - he still has three years to serve in prison
• sta scontando una condanna a cinque anni di carcere - he is serving a five-year jail sentence
scorrere
intransitive verb
1 (= muoversi/passare) to slide, to circulate, to flow, to pass; (di liquidi, attività) to run; (= fluire/sgorgare) to pour, to flow, to stream; (= colare) to drip, to dribble, to roll down; to travel, to run; (di traffico) to flow
• fare scorrere - to slide, (di acqua) to run
• fare scorrere sul video - to scroll
• le immagini le scorrevano davanti agli occhi - the pictures passed before her eyes
• l’acqua cominciò a scorrere fuori del lavello otturato - water began to flow out of the blocked sink
• grosse lacrime le scorrevano giù per il viso - large tears rolled down her cheeks
• oggi il traffico scorre - today the traffic is flowing smoothly
• in questa guerra è già scorso troppo sangue - too much blood has been spilt already in this war
• qui il fiume scorre lentamente - at this point the river flows sluggishly
2.1 (= correre) to run
• la penna scorreva rapida sul foglio - the pen ran swiftly over the sheet
2.2 (= essere scorrevole) to flow, (= avere coerenza) to hang together, to make sense, to be consistent/coherent
• questa frase non scorre - this sentence doesn’t flow
• il tuo ragionamento non scorre - your reasoning is not consistent
3 (= trascorrere) to elapse, to go by, to pass
• scorrere impercettibilmente - to glide
• il tempo scorre veloce - time goes by quickly
• le ore scorrevano liete - time passed lightheartedly
transitive verb
1 (= leggere in fretta/percorrere con lo sguardo) to skim, to scan, to dip in/into, to glance through/at, to browse through
• scorrere una pagina - to skim (over) a page
• scorrere una relazione - to dip into a report
• lasciami scorrere i titoli del giornale - let me glance at the newspaper headlines
2 (= percorrere con la memoria) to look back
• in un attimo scorse tutta la sua vita - in a second he looked back over/recalled his whole life
scostare / scostarsi
scostare
1 (= discostare) to move away, to push away/aside, to brush away/aside
• scostare un tavolo dal muro - to move a table away from the wall
• puoi scostare questi pacchi, per favore? - could you move these parcels away, please?
• scostò la tenda e guardò fuori - he brushed aside the curtain and looked out
• la polizia ci fece scostare dal luogo dell’incidente - the police made us move on/away from the scene of the accident
2 (= evitare) to avoid, to keep away, to shun
lo scostano tutti per il suo carattere - everyone shuns him on account of his character
3 (intransitive verb)
to be away
• il letto scosta dieci centimetri dalla parete - the bed is ten centimetres away from the wall
scostarsi
1 (= spostarsi) to move aside/away
• scostati e fammi passare - move aside and let me through
• ci scostammo dal gruppo rumoroso - we moved away from the noisy group
• non si è mai scostato dalla madre - he has never broken free from his mother
2 (= deviare) to diverge, to swerve
• scostarsi dalla retta via - to go astray
• scostarsi dalle proprie abitudini - to diverge from one’s habits
• la traduzione si scosta molto dall’originale - the translation diverges a lot from the original
• non scostiamoci dall’argomento - let’s not get off the subject
segare
- (con la sega) to saw
• segare da parte a parte - to saw through - (tagliare) to cut [gola, vene]
- (stringere tagliando) to cut into
• la corda gli segava i polsi - the rope was cutting into his wrists - [gerg.] (bocciare) to fail, to flunk (colloq.) [studente]
• farsi segare a un esame - to fail o flunk an exam
• segare la scuola - to play truant, to play hooky
sfangarla / sfangarsela
(fig, coll) to manage, to get by; (= farla franca) to get away with it; (= cavarsela) to save one’s hide/skin
• quando c’è da fare riesce sempre a sfangarsela - whenever there’s something to be done he always manages to get out of it
• l’ha sfangata bella! - he got away with it all right!
sfilare
- to unthread; (perle ecc.) to unstring
• sfilare un ago - to unthread a needle
• sfilare una collana - to unthread a necklace
• sfilare perle - to unstring pearls
• sfilare un arrosto dallo spiedo - to take a roast off the spit - (togliere di dosso) to slip off, to take off
• si sfilò i calzoni - he slipped off his trousers
• si sfilò l’anello dal dito - she took the ring off her finger
• sfilare il portafoglio di tasca a qn - to slip a wallet out of sb’s pocket - (togliere i fili a) to pull threads out of (sthg.), to take threads from (sth)
• sfilare la tela per ricamarla - to pull threads out of linen in order to embroider it
sfoderare
1 (= sguainare) to unsheathe, (armi) to pull, to draw, to bare
• sfoderare la spada - to draw a sword
2.1 (fig) to produce, to come out/up with
• ha sfoderato argomenti validi - he came up with valid arguments
• sfoderò una serie di domande difficili - he came out with a string of teasers
2.2 (= sfoggiare) to display, to show off, to parade, to flaunt
• sfoderare la propria cultura - to flaunt one’s culture
• ha sfoderato tutta la sua eloquenza - he displayed all his powers of eloquence
3 (abbigl) to unline, to remove the lining from; (poltrone e simili) to uncover, to remove the cover from
sfrecciare
to speed, to dart; (fam.) to whizz
• le automobili sfrecciavano sull’autostrada - the cars sped along the motorway
• mi è sfrecciato davanti senza salutare - he whizzed past me without saying hello
• l’auto sfrecciò via - the car shot off
• vidi sfrecciare un proiettile - I saw a bullet whizz past
• la squadriglia aerea sfrecciò sulla città - the squadron streaked down on the city
sfregiare
(deturpare) to disfigure; (con oggetto tagliente) to slash
• le sfregiò il viso - he slashed her face
• sfregiare un quadro, to slash a painting
• sfregiare un monumento, to deface a monument
sgamare
to suss out, to see through
sgarrare
- (mancare d’esattezza) to be inaccurate; (di orologio) (se è avanti) to gain, (se è indietro) to lose
• il mio orologio sgarra cinque minuti al giorno - my watch gains (or loses) five minutes every day
• il mio orologio non sgarra di un minuto - my watch keeps perfect time - (di persona) (sbagliare) to go wrong, to be wrong, to be mistaken, to step out of line; (venir meno al proprio dovere) to slip up, to fail to do one’s duty
• è un impiegato perfetto, non sgarra mai - he is the perfect employee, he never slips up
• ho detto così e non si sgarra - that’s what I said and that’s the way it is
sgattaiolare
- to slip away
• sgattaiolò via senza che lo vedessimo - he slipped away without our seeing him - (fig.) (cavarsi d’impaccio) to wriggle out (of sth)
• non potei sgattaiolare da quell’impegno - I could not wriggle out of that commitment
sguarnire
- to untrim, to strip the trimmings from/off (sth)
• sguarnire un vestito - to strip a dress of ornament - (mil) to uncover, to dismantle:
• sguarnire un fortino, un presidio - to dismantle a fort, a garrison
slabbrare
to chip, to crack the edge of; (lacerare) to tear the edge of
• slabbrare una ferita - to tear the margins of a wound
• slabbrare un vaso - to crack the rim of a vase
sloggiare
transitive
1 (= cacciare da un alloggio) to evict, to eject
• la polizia ha sloggiato gli occupanti abusivi - the police evicted the squatters
• è stato sloggiato dall’appartamento - he was evicted from the flat
2 (mil) to dislodge
• sloggiare il nemico da una posizione - to dislodge the enemy from a position
intransitive
3 (anche mil) to move out, to leave, to clear out coll
• ho molto da fare ora, sloggia! - I’ve got a lot to do, clear out!
• si è piazzato a casa mia e non vuole sloggiare - he has made himself at home in my house and will not move out
smontare
transitive verb
- (scomporre in parti) to dismantle, to take apart, to take (sth) to pieces; to disassemble
• smontare un tavolo - to take a table to pieces (o apart)
• smontare gli scaffali - to take down (o to dismantle) the shelves
• smontare una radio - to take a radio to pieces (o to disassemble a radio)
• smontare un motore - to strip down (o to dismantle) an engine
• smontare una porta - to take down (o to unhinge) a door - (fig) (deprimere, scoraggiare) to discourage, to dishearten; to cool; to dampen
• avevo molta speranza, ma questo insuccesso mi ha smontato - I had great hopes but this failure has discouraged me
• è molto presuntuoso, cercherò di smontarlo - he is very self-conceited, I shall try to take him down a peg or two
• non si lascia smontare facilmente - he isn’t easily discouraged (o disheartened)
• quando ha deciso qualcosa non è facile smontarlo - when he has decided something it is not easy to discourage him
• smontare l’orgoglio di qn - to cool sb’s pride
• smontare la speranza di qn - to dampen sb’s hopes
• smontare lo zelo di qn - to dampen sb’s zeal - (fig) (demolire) to demolish
• smontare un’accusa - to demolish an accusation - (far tornare liquido) to let (sth) melt
intransitive verb
- (da un treno, autobus, tram, bicicletta ecc.) to get off, to alight (from sth); (da un’automobile) to get out (of sth); (da cavallo) to dismount
- (terminare il proprio turno) to go off duty, to stop work, to knock off
gli operai smontano alle sei - workers stop work (o knock off) at six p.m.
smontare di servizio, di guardia - to go off duty
snobbare
to snub, to rebuff, to give (sb) the cold shoulder
• snobbare un invitato - to give a guest the cold shoulder
• hanno snobbato la nostra compagnia - they snubbed our company
snocciolare
snocciolare
- to stone, to remove the stone from (sth)
• snocciolare le ciliegie - to stone cherries - (fig) (sborsare) to pay out, to fork out, to shell out
• dovetti snocciolare un mucchio di denaro - I had to pay out a lot of money - (fig) (spiattellare) to tell, to speak, to say,
• snocciolare tutta la verità - to tell the whole truth - (pronunciare di seguito) to rattle off
• snocciolare le preghiere - to say one’s prayers
• snocciolare il rosario - to say the Rosary
• dopo l’incidente snocciolò una serie di insulti - after the accident he poured out a string of insults
solcare
- (scavare) to plough, to plow (AE), to furrow, to rut [campo, terreno]
• solcare un campo - to plough a field - (navigare) to sail, to ply [mare]
• solcare gli oceani - to sail the oceans - [fig] [cicatrice] to line, to score [volto]
• la cicatrice che gli solca il volto - the scar across his face
• le lacrime le solcavano il viso - tears were running down her face
solleticare
1 to tickle (anche fig), to tease (fig)
• solleticare la curiosità di qn - to excite/to arouse sb’s curiosity
• solleticare la fantasia - to tickle one’s fancy
• questo profumino mi solletica l’appetito - this delicious smell is giving me an appetite
• smettila di solleticarmi! - stop tickling me! (fig) stop teasing me!
• le sue parole solleticarono la mia curiosità his words aroused my curiosity
2 (= stimolare) to titillate, to spur
• solleticare i sensi - to titillate the senses
• il successo mi solleticò a fare meglio - success spurred me on to do better
sormontare
transitive verb
- (= montare al di sopra, di acque) to overflow
• il fiume in piena ha sormontato persino i ponti cittadini - the swollen river has overflowed even the bridges of the city - (= superare) to surmount, to overcome, to get around
• sormontare una difficoltà - to overcome a difficulty
• sormontare un ostacolo - to surmount an obstacle
• sormontare un problema - to get around/to overcome a problem - (= essere sopra a) to surmount, to top
• uno stemma in marmo sormonta il portale - a marble coat of arms surmounts the gateway
• uno strato di panna sormontava la torta - a layer of cream topped the cake
intransitive verb
- to overlap
spaccare / spaccarsi
spaccare
(= rompere/fracassare) to break, to smash, to chop; (= dividere) to split
• spaccare il capello - to split hairs
• spaccare la legna - to chop wood
• spaccare pietre - to break stones
• spaccare la testa a qn - to split sb’s head open
• una scena da spaccare il cuore - (fig) a heart-breaking scene
• spaccare una vetrina - to smash a shop window
• spaccare un vetro - to smash a pane of glass
• mi sono spaccato la schiena nel tentativo di fare tutto da solo - I exhausted myself trying to do everything alone
• c’è un sole che spacca le pietre! - (fig) the sun is scorching!
• la questione ha spaccato il sindacato - the issue has split the union
spaccarsi
to cleave, to split, to break, to burst (apart)
• spaccarsi a metà/in due - (anche fig) to split down the middle, to cleave in half/in two
• la lastra di ghiaccio si spaccò - the sheet of ice broke up
• mi si sono spaccate le labbra per il gelo - my lips have split on account of the cold
• il partito si è spaccato sulla riforma elettorale - the party has split over the electoral reform
• questa legna si spacca facilmente - this wood cleaves easily
• ieri notte si è spaccato un tubo dell’acqua - one of the water pipes burst last night
spadroneggiare
to throw one’s weight about, to domineer (over), to lord it (over), to call the shots
• in questo quartiere spadroneggia una banda di teppisti - in this quarter a gang of hooligans call the shots
• gli stranieri spadroneggiavano nel paese - the foreigners lorded it in the country
spaparanzarsi
to sprawl (i.e. on a couch)
spartire
1 to share out, to deal out, to divide up, to divvy up
• spartire i guadagni - to share out profits
• spartire le spese per la casa - to share the housekeeping (expenses)
• spartirsi una torta - to divvy up a cake
• non avere niente a che spartire con… - to have nothing to do with…
• il patrimonio fu equamente spartito fra gli eredi - the patrimony was divided equally among the heirs
2 (= separare) to part, to pull apart, to separate
• un poliziotto tentò di spartire i due litiganti - a policeman tried to part the two fighting men
3 (music) to score
spianare
- to level, to make level; (rendere liscio) to smooth
• spianare il terreno - to level the ground
• in questo tratto la strada non è stata spianata - along this stretch the road has not been levelled
• spianare con rulli - to roll
• spianare una lamiera - to straighten out (or flatten) a metal sheet
• spianare le cuciture di un vestito - to smooth (or flatten) out the seams of a dress
• spianare a livello - to flush
• spianare la pasta - to roll out the dough
• spianare il fucile contro qn - to level one’s gun at sb - (radere al suolo) to raze (to the ground)
• spianare una fortezza, una città - to raze a fortress, a city (to the ground) - (fig) (appianare) to smooth (away)
• spianare una difficoltà, un ostacolo - to smooth a difficulty, an obstacle away
• spianare il cammino, la strada a qn - to smooth (or pave) the way for sb
spiccare / spiccarsi
spiccare (transitive)
to pluck, to remove
• spiccare foglie da una pianta - to remove leaves from a plant
• spiccare una pera - to pluck a pear
• spiccare le parole - to enunciate words
• gli spiccò la testa dal busto con un fendente - he removed his head from his torso with a blow of his sword
2 (leg) to issue; (tratta, assegno) to issue, to draw, to make out
• spiccare un mandato di arresto/di perquisizione - to issue an arrest/a search warrant
• spiccare tratta su - to draw (a bill) on
3 to start, to initiate
• spiccare il bollore - to start boiling
• spiccare un muro - to start building a wall
• spiccare un salto - to take a leap
• spiccare il volo - to take flight, to take off, (fig) to spread one’s wings
spiccare (intransitive)
(= risaltare) to stand out (in bold/sharp relief), to stick out, to rise, (= eccellere) to sparkle, to shine, to distinguish oneself
• fare spiccare - to complement, to highlight
• spiccare tra la folla - to stick out in the crowd
• spicca su tutti i suoi colleghi - he outshines all his colleagues
• il rosso spicca molto - the red stands out a lot
• spicca per la sua intelligenza - he shines for his intelligence
• la catena montuosa spiccava all’orizzonte - the mountain chain rose on the horizon
spiccarsi (reflexive)
(di frutta) to split open easily, to come loose from the stone
sputtanare / sputtanarsi
sputtanare (vulgar)
1 to defame, to slander, to smear sb’s name, to vilify; to humiliate
• lo dice per sputtanarmi - he’s saying it to smear my good name
• mi ha sputtanato davanti tutti! - he humiliated me in front of everyone!
2 to squander, to throw away, to dissipate
• sputtanare capitali al gioco - to squander one’s fortune gambling
sputtanarsi
to disgrace oneself, to shame oneself, to bring shame/disgrace on oneself
• ho promesso e se non lo faccio mi sputtano - I promised to do it, and if I don’t I’ll disgrace myself
stentare
1.1 (= durare fatica) to find it hard, to have difficulty
• stento a crederlo - it’s hard to believe
• stenta a fare l’università - he’s finding it hard at university
• stentò a non addormentarsi - he had difficulty in not falling asleep
• stentò a riconoscermi - he hardly recognized me
1.2 to have problems, to have/to find difficulty
• stenta in latino - he’s weak in Latin
2 (= sopportare stenti) to suffer privations, to be badly off, to pinch and scrape
• la sua famiglia stenta - his family is hard up
stivare
1 to stow
• stivare alla rinfusa - to stow in bulk
• le macchine sono stivate nella stiva prodiera - the machines are stowed in the fore hold
2 (= caricare) to load
• stivare un aereo/una nave - to load a plane/a ship
3 (= accalcare) to cram, to crowd, to jam, to pack, to stuff
• stivò tutto in una sola valigia - he packed everything in one suitcase
stordire / stordirsi
stordire
1 (= stupire/sbalordire) to stun, to stupefy
• la bellezza del luogo mi stordì - the beauty of the place stunned me
2 (= tramortire) to stun
• la caduta lo aveva stordito - the fall had stunned him
• lo stordirono con una botta in testa - they stunned him with a blow on the head
3 (= intontire) to numb, to muddle, to befuddle, to confuse mentally
• era stato stordito dal dolore - he had been numbed by pain
• il vino lo ha stordito - the wine has befuddled him
• questa confusione mi stordisce - this chaos confuses me
stordirsi
(fig) to stupefy oneself, to dull one’s senses
• cominciò a stordirsi con l’alcol - he started to stupefy himself with drink
• per non pensare alle sue disgrazie si stordisce col lavoro - in order not to think about his misfortunes he wears himself out working
stravolgere / stravolgersi
stravolgere
1.1 (= agitare malamente) to shake, to toss
• la burrasca stravolse le navi - the squall tossed the ships
1.2 (= contorcere) to contort, to distort
• stravolgere gli occhi - to roll one’s eyes
• il dolore gli stravolgeva il viso - his face was contorted with pain
2 (= turbare) to upset, to disrupt
• stravolgere l’equilibrio di un mercato - to disrupt the equilibrium of a market
• stravolgere i piani di qn - to upset sb’s plans
• la notizia lo stravolgerà - the news is going to upset him
3.1 (= distorcere) to distort, to twist
• stravolgere una storia - to twist a story
• i giornali hanno completamente stravolto la mia dichiarazione - the media have completely distorted my statement
3.2 (= travisare) to change completely, to alter radically
• stravolse il significato delle mie parole - he completely changed the meaning of my words
stravolgersi
(= contorcersi) to writhe, to twist
stroncare / stroncarsi
stroncare
1 (= troncare con violenza) to break off; (fig) to strike down, to cut down/off, to wear out
• stroncare un legame - to break off a relationship
• stroncare un ramo - to break off a branch
• stroncare una vita - to take a life away
• lo stroncò il cancro - cancer struck him down
• la salita mi ha stroncato - the climb has worn me out
2 (= reprimere) to squash, to put down, to suppress, to stamp out, to crush
• stroncare il dissenso - to squash dissent
• stroncare una rivolta - to suppress a revolt
• stroncare il traffico della droga - to stamp out drug trading
3 (= criticare aspramente) to slash, to savage, to slate, to maul, to demolish
• stroncare un autore - to maul an author
• la critica ha stroncato il suo ultimo libro - the critics slated his latest book
stroncarsi (reflexive)
to snap, to break
svendere
1 (= liquidare/vendere a prezzo ridotto) to sell off, to close out; to sell out
• in periodi di saldi, i negozi svendono tutto - during the sales, shops sell off everything
• svendiamo tutto - we’re selling off everything
2 (vendere a prezzi inferiori a quelli della concorrenza) to undersell, to dump; (= vendere sottocosto/in perdita) to sell at a loss
• svendendo i loro prodotti sono stati scorretti verso la concorrenza - by underselling their products they were unfair towards their competitors
3 (diritti, rivendicazioni e simili) to bargain away, to trade off
svitare / svitarsi
svitare
to unscrew, to screw off, to loosen (a screw)
• svitare i piedi di un tavolo - to unscrew the legs of a table
• svitare la serratura - to unscrew the lock
• svitare un tappo - to unscrew a cap
svitarsi
to loosen, to unscrew, to become loose, to come/to work loose, to come unscrewed
• la maniglia si è svitata - the handle has become loose
• si è svitato un bullone - a bolt has worked loose
travolgere
- (trascinare via) to sweep away, to carry away
• l’alluvione travolse tutto - the flood swept (o carried) away everything
• la casa fu travolta da una frana - the house was swept away by a landslide - (sopraffare) to overwhelm; to rout, to crush
• travolgere il nemico - to overwhelm (or crush) the enemy
• essere travolto da una passione - to be overwhelmed (or swept away) by passion - (investire) to run over (sb, sth)
• fu travolto da un autobus - he got run over by a bus
troneggiare
- to dominate (sth); (con autorità) to lord it (over sb, sth)
• il presidente troneggiava nella sua poltrona - the President dominated the proceedings from his armchair
• troneggiava nel salotto - she was dominating the drawing room - (torreggiare) to tower (over sb, sth)
• la torta nuziale troneggiava in mezzo alla tavola - the wedding cake towered in the middle of the table - (spiccare) to stand out, to be conspicuous
acciuffare
(prendere) to seize; to catch
• acciuffò il portafoglio e fuggì - he seized the wallet and ran away
• il poliziotto acciuffò il ladro - the policeman caught the thief
allietare
to gladden; to cheer (up); to raise sb’s spirits
alloggiare
- to accommodate, to lodge, to house, to give (sb) lodgings
• ti posso alloggiare per la notte - I can put you up for the night - (mil.) (in caserma) to quarter; (in casa privata) to billet; (in accampamento) to camp
- (mecc.) to lodge, to seat, to house; to fit in a slot
amoreggiare
to flirt
• amoreggiare con qn - to flirt with sb
annaffiare (also: innaffiare)
1 to water
• annaffiare le piante - to water plants
2 (fig) to wash down, to rinse down
• una bistecca annaffiata con vino rosso - a steak washed down with red wine
appollaiarsi
to roost, to perch
• si appollaiò sul bracciolo della poltrona - he perched on the arm of the chair
appurare
- (verificare) to verify; to check
• bisognerà appurare se i fatti stanno proprio così - we will have to check the accuracy of the facts - (chiarire) to make clear, to clear up
- (accertare) to ascertain
arenare / arenarsi
1 (= dare in secco) to ground, to run aground, to take ground; (sulla spiaggia) to strand, to be beached
• fare arenare un’imbarcazione - to ground a boat
• la nave si arenò su un banco di sabbia - the ship was grounded on a sand bank
2 (fig) to reach a deadlock, to end in a deadlock, to come to a standstill, to go aground
• il progetto si è arenato - the project has come to a standstill
• la trattativa si è arenata - the negotiations come to a standstill
assestare
- (sistemare) to arrange; to settle
• assestare una faccenda - to settle a matter - (mettere in ordine) to tidy
• assestare la propria stanza - to tidy (up) one’s room - (regolare con cura) to adjust (carefully)
• assestare la mira - to adjust one’s aim - (dare) to deal, to deliver, to land
• assestare un colpo - to deal a blow
assicurare
1 to ensure, to assure, to guarantee
• assicurare controlli adeguati contro le frodi - to ensure adequate controls against fraud
• mi hanno assicurato che sarà tutto pronto per domani - they’ve assured me everything will be ready tomorrow
• non possiamo assicurare la consegna immediata - we cannot guarantee immediate delivery
2.1 (= dare per certo) to assure
• farò di tutto per venire, te l’assicuro - I’ll do my best to come, I assure you
2.2 (= convincere) to convince, to satisfy
• mi assicurò della sua buona fede - he convinced me he was in good faith
2.3 (= dare assicurazione) to guarantee, to assure
• assicurare la buona qualità della merce - to guarantee the quality of the goods
3 (= fissare) to secure, to make fast/secure, (con funi) to lash
• assicurò le imposte e chiuse la finestra - he secured the shutters and closed the window
• assicurarono bene il carico nella stiva - they made the cargo secure in the hold
4 (= coprire con assicurazione) to insure, to assure, to underwrite, to cover
• assicurare qs contro un rischio - to insure st against a risk
• assicurare un rischio - to underwrite a risk
• voglio assicurare la casa contro il furto - I want to insure my house against burglary
attenersi
(= conformarsi) to abide (by), to comply (with), to adhere (to), to keep (to), to observe (vt), to stick (to)
• attenersi al contratto - to abide by/to observe the contract
• attenersi agli ordini (spec polit) - to toe the (party) line
• attenersi ai fatti - to keep to the facts
• attenersi scrupolosamente a una legge - to stick to the letter of the law, to go by the book
• attenersi alle norme - to stick to the rules, to comply with the rules
• attenersi alle regole grammaticali - to keep to the grammar rules
attingere
- (trarre) to draw
• attingere acqua da un pozzo - to draw water from a well
• attingere denaro da qn - (fig) to get money from sb - (procurarsi) to get
• attingere informazioni da qn - to get (o to obtain) information from sb
• attingere notizie - to get news - (letter.) (raggiungere) to reach, to attain
attutire / attutirsi
attutire
(= attenuare, rumori) to dampen down, to damp down, to muffle; (emozioni, sentimenti, ecc) to blunt; (sensazioni o suoni) to deaden, to tone down; (colpi e simili) to cushion, to buffer
• voci attutite - muffled voices
• il rumore dello sparo fu attutito dal silenziatore - the noise of the shot was muffled by the silencer
• il tempo attutì il dolore della separazione - time blunted the pain of separation
• la caduta fu attutita dall’erba - the fall was cushioned by the grass
attutirsi
(= diminuire d’intensità) to ease off, to diminish, to die down
• dopo un po’ il rumore si attutì - after a while the noise diminished
avvalersi
to avail oneself, to make use
• avvalersi di una prerogativa - to exercise a prerogative
• non si avvalse dell’opportunità - he didn’t avail himself of the opportunity
azzoppare
to hobble, to render lame/limping
bidonare
to swindle, to cheat
• sono stato bidonato ad arte - I was cheated in a most artful way
bofonchiare
to mutter, to mumble
• bofonchiò delle scuse - he mumbled some excuse
congedare
- (accomiatare) to take leave of sb, to say goodbye to sb; (mandare via) to dismiss
• congedare gli ospiti - to take leave of one’s guests
• mi hanno congedato bruscamente - they said goodbye to me unceremoniously
• congedò il maggiordomo e andò a dormire - he dismissed his butler and went to bed - (mil.) to discharge
congedare qn - to discharge sb from the force
corrompere
- (moralmente) to corrupt, to deprave
• molti giovani sono corrotti dalle cattive compagnie - many young people are corrupted by bad company - (con denaro) to bribe, to corrupt
• corrompere un testimone - to bribe (o to suborn o fam. to fix) a witness
• lasciarsi corrompere - to accept a bribe - (guastare) to corrupt; (contaminare) to contaminate, to taint; to pollute
• il caldo corrompe i cibi - heat makes food go bad
• corrompere l’acqua - to pollute (or contaminate) water
• corrompere un documento - to corrupt a document
• corrompere una lingua - to corrupt a language
crepare
- (fendersi) to crack (i.e. a vase)
- (fam.) (scoppiare) to burst, to die (of sthg.)
• crepare dalle risa - to split one’s sides laughing
• crepare di rabbia - to fume with rage
• crepare di salute - to be in the pink of health (or to be bursting with health) - (fam.) (morire) to snuff it, to croak
• si augurano che io crepi in fretta - they hope I snuff it soon
• crepare solo come un cane - to die like a dog
• crepi l’avarizia - to hell with the expense
• crepa! - drop dead!
• sto crepando di sete - I’m dying of thirst
disdire / disdirsi
disdire
1.1 (= negare) to deny
• ha disdetto le nostre dichiarazioni alla stampa - he denied our statements to the press
1.2 (= ritrattare) to retract, to unsay, to withdraw, to take back
• disdire promesse - to withdraw promises
2.1 (= rescindere) to terminate, to cancel, to denounce
• disdire l’affitto - to terminate the lease
• disdire un abbonamento - to cancel a subcription/a season ticket
• disdire una polizza assicurativa - to terminate an insurance policy
2.2 (= annullare) to call off, to cancel
• disdire un appuntamento - to cancel an appointment
• disdire un impegno - to call off/to cancel an engagement
• disdire uno sciopero - to call off a strike
disdirsi
to contradict oneself
escogitare
to think up, to contrive, to devise, to concoct
• escogitare un complotto - to cook up a scheme
• escogitare un piano - to devise a plan
• escogitare una scusa - to invent/to contrive an excuse
• devo escogitare un sistema per impedirgli di nuocerti - I’ll have to devise a system to stop him from hurting you
• escogita sempre le soluzioni migliori - he always thinks up the best solutions
• le escogita tutte per non studiare - he comes up with every possible excuse not to study
• dovrai escogitare qs di nuovo per scusarti - you’ll have to think up something new to get out of this one
espellere
- to expel; to turn out, to throw out, to drive out
• fu espulso dalla scuola - he was expelled from school
• espellere dal partito - to expel (o to throw out) of the party
• espellere un giocatore (dal campo) - to send a player off - (emettere) to discharge, to eliminate, to eject
• espellere gas di scarico - to discharge exhaust fumes - (med.) to expel; to excrete, to evacuate, to pass
estromettere
to drive out; to exclude, to expel; to oust
• estromettere qn da un partito - to drive out (or oust) sb from a party
• sono stato estromesso dalle trattative - I have been excluded from the talks
ficcare / ficcarsi
ficcare
- to thrust; to drive (in), to ram
• ficca bene il chiodo nella parete - drive the nail well into the wall
• ficcare un palo nel terreno - to ram a post into the ground
• ficcarsi le mani in tasca - to stick one’s hand into one’s pocket
• gli ficcarono un bavaglio in bocca - they thrust a gag into his mouth
• poco mancò che mi ficcasse un dito in un occhio - he nearly poked me in the eye
• ficcare qc in testa a qn - to hammer (o to get) sth into sb’s head
• non riesco a ficcarmi in testa tutte queste date - I just can’t get all these dates into my head
• ficcare il naso dappertutto - to poke (o to thrust) one’s nose into everything
• ficcare gli occhi addosso a qc - to stare hard at sb - (fam.) (mettere) to put (away), to stick, to stuff
• ho ficcato le chiavi da qualche parte - I stuck the keys somewhere
• ho ficcato qualche cosa in valigia e sono partita - I stuffed a few things in my suitcase and left
ficcarsi
- to get oneself (into), to hide (oneself)
• ficcarsi sotto le lenzuola - to dive/to hide oneself under the bedcovers
• ficcarsi in un angolo buio - to hide oneself in a dark corner
• è andato a ficcarsi in un bel pasticcio - he got himself into a fine mess
• dove ti eri ficcato? - where were you hiding yourself?
2 (= intromettersi) to interfere, to meddle
fregare
1 (= strofinare) to rub, to scrub; (= massaggiare) to rub, to massage
• fregare il pavimento - to scrub the floor
• fregare una pentola sporca - to scrub a dirty pot
• fregarsi le mani - to rub one’s hands
• fregarsi gli occhi - to rub one’s eyes
2 (= segnare con un frego) to scratch; (= cancellare con un frego) to strike out, to cross out
• fregare la carrozzeria di un’auto - to scratch a car paintwork
• fregare un muro - to scratch a wall
3 (= truffare) to rip (off), to sting (for); (= sgraffignare) to filch, to nick, to snitch
• mi ha fregato più di diecimila euro - he stung me for over ten thousand euros
• chi mi ha fregato il cellulare? - who filched my mobile?
giovare / giovarsi
giovare
1 (= essere utile) to be of help/of use, to help, to be good, to benefit
• il loro aiuto ci ha giovato molto - their help benefited us a lot
• camminare giova alla salute e allo spirito - walking is good for health of body and mind
• gli giova conoscere un po’ le lingue - it helps him to speak the languages a little
• a che ti giova piangere così? - what good does it do you to cry like that?
2 (= fare bene) to agree, to suit, to benefit, to do (sb) good
• l’aria di mare gli giova - the sea air agrees with him
• la cura mi ha giovato - the treatment did me good
• questo clima non gli giova - this climate doesn’t suit him
giovarsi
to avail oneself (of), to use, to make use (of)
• giovarsi di un’occasione propizia - to take advantage of a suitable occasion
• per fare carriera si è giovato delle conoscenze che aveva - to get ahead in his career he made use of the acquaintances he had
gironzolare (also: gironzare)
to roam, to wander, to range, to tootle, to hang about/around
• gironzolare per la città - to wander round town
• mi gironzola sempre intorno - he’s always hanging around me
giurarla
to swear vengeance (against sb)
• gli ha giurato vendetta - he has sworn his revenge against him
• da quando hanno litigato, gliel’ha giurata - ever since their quarrel, he has sworn he would have his revenge
imbattersi (in)
to come across, to bump into (colloquial)
impratichire / impratichirsi
impratichire
(fare pratica) to train, to drill (i.e. a skill)
impratichirsi
to practice
• frequenta uno studio notarile per impratichirsi prima del concorso - he’s working in a notary’s office to get experience before the exam
• devi impratichirti nell’uso del computer - you’ve got to get some practice in using the computer
inchiodare / inchiodarsi
inchiodare
1 to nail; (su superficie verticale) to nail up
• inchiodare una foto alla parete - to nail up a photograph
• inchiodò il quadro a una parete del soggiorno - he hung the picture in the living room
• inchiodammo il tappeto al pavimento - we nailed the carpet to the floor
2 (= immobilizzare) to pin down, (= tener fermo) (fig) to pin, to hold; (= paralizzare) (fig) to transfix, to rivet; (= incolpare) to nail
• inchiodare qn alle sue responsabilità - to hold sb to his/her responsibilities
• il poliziotto lo inchiodò al muro - the policeman pinned him to the wall
• l’ingessatura l’ha inchiodato a letto - his plaster kept him laid up in bed
• sono inchiodato in ufficio dal lunedì al venerdì - I’m stuck in the office from Monday to Friday
• gli investigatori sono riusciti a inchiodare tutti i componenti della banda - the investigators managed to nail all the members of the gang
3 (fig) to stiff, to welsh, to evade paying (sb) a debt
inchiodarsi
(= indebitarsi) to fall into debt, to incur debts
• s’è inchiodato per le nozze della figlia - he got into debt because of his daughter’s marriage
(= bloccarsi) to stop dead, to freeze, to halt; (mecc) to jam, to stick
• l’auto si inchiodò al centro della strada - the car stopped dead in the middle of the road
inforcare
1 to pitchfork, to fork (up)
• inforcare il fieno - to pitchfork hay
2 (bicicletta, cavallo) to mount, to get on, to put on
• inforcare una bici - to get on a bike
3 (occhiali) to put on
• inforcare gli occhiali - to put on one’s glasses
4 (fig, scacchi) in chess, to threaten two pieces simultaneously with the same piece
innestare / innestarsi
innestare
1 (agric) to graft
• innestare un arancio su un limone - to graft an orange cutting onto a lemon tree
• innestare per approssimazione - to inarch
• innestare una pianta - to graft a plant
2 (mecc) to engage; (= inserire, spine, ecc) to plug (into)
• cosa aspetti a innestare la frizione e partire? - why don’t you push the clutch in and move off?
• innesta la spina del rasoio - plug in the shaver
• innesta la prima - go into first (gear)
3 (med) to graft, to implant
• innestare un organo artificiale - to implant an artificial organ
4 (= inserire) to insert, to graft
• innestare il nuovo sul vecchio - to graft the new onto the old
• innestare un racconto in un discorso - to insert a story/an anecdote into a speech
innestarsi
1 to engage
• il fermo non vuole innestarsi - the catch won’t engage
2 (med) to graft (to/onto)
• l’organo artificiale si innestò facilmente al suo corpo - the artificial organ grafted easily onto his organism
3 (= inserirsi) to be grafted, (di strade a simili) to join, to debouch (into), to come out (onto)
• le nuove tradizioni si innestano sulle vecchie - new traditions are grafted onto old ones
• il sentiero si innesta sulla strada statale - the path comes out onto the main road
intavolare
- (raro) to table, to place or lay on a table
- (= cominciare) to broach, to bring up, to open
• intavolare un argomento - to broach a subject
• intavolare una discussione - to open a discussion
• intavolare una trattativa - to open talks - (scacchi - chess) to place on the board
intimorire
to frighten, to intimidate
• le sue minacce lo intimorirono - his threats frightened him
luccicare
to sparkle, to shine, to glimmer, to twinkle
• il diamante le luccicava al dito - the diamond sparkled on her finger
• le stelle luccicavano in cielo - the stars were twinkling in the sky
• una luce luccicava in lontananza - a light glimmered in the distance
• gli occhi le luccicavano di gioia - her eyes shone with joy
manovrare
1 to manoeuvre, to work, to handle
• manovrare una gru - to manoeuvre a crane
• manovrare un trattore - to handle a tractor
2 (= guidare) to navigate, to manoeuvre, to steer
• manovrare una discussione - to steer a discussion
• manovrare la nave in porto - to manoeuvre/to navigate the ship into the harbour
3 (= manipolare) to manipulate, to manoeuvre; (a proprio vantaggio) to engineer, to rig
• manovrare una persona - to manipulate a person
• manovra il marito come vuole - she twists her husband round her little finger
• riesce sempre a manovrare in suo favore - she always manages to engineer things in her favour
• qualcuno ha cercato di manovrare le elezioni - somebody tried to rig the elections
4 (fig) to scheme, to manoeuvre, to pull strings
• da mesi manovra per riuscire nel suo scopo - he has been scheming for months to reach his goal
• ha manovrato per essere eletto - he pulled a few strings to get elected
• manovrando abilmente il ministro ha evitato lo sciopero - the minister averted the strike by skilful manoeuvring
• non lasciarti manovrare da loro - don’t let them twist your arm
mazzolare
- (colpire con il mazzuolo) to hit with a mallet; (bastonare) to club
- (fig. fam.) (sgridare) to scold, to tell off
pigiare
to press, to squeeze; (schiacciare) to crush
• pigiare un pulsante - to press a button
• eravamo pigiati come sardine - we were packed like sardines
• pigiare qc in una valigia - to cram sth into a suitcase
• pigiare l’uva - to squeeze grapes
(spingere) to push
• la gente pigiava per entrare nel vagone - the people pushed to get into the train car
pigliare
to pick up, to grab, to catch
• piglia questa sedia, non quella - take this chair, not that one
to take root
• i fiori non hanno pigliato - the flowers didn’t take root
propendere
to incline, to lean, to be inclined, to be disposed, to tend
• propende sempre verso l’indulgenza - he is always inclined to be indulgent
• propendo a credere che - I am inclined to believe that
• propendo per il nuovo candidato - I favour the new candidate
• propendere per il no, per il sì - to be rather against, in favour
• riguardo alla sua proposta propendo per il no - as regards his proposal, I am rather against it
protrarre
- to prolong, to extend, to draw out
• protrarre una discussione, una visita - to prolong a discussion, a visit - (differire) to put off, to postpone, to defer
• ha protratto la partenza - he has put off his departure
punzecchiare / punzecchiarsi
punzecchiare
- (di insetti) to sting; to bite
- (estens.) (toccare ripetutamente) to poke, to prod, to jab
• continuava a punzecchiarmi con una matita - he kept prodding me with his pencil - (fig.) (molestare) to tease; to taunt, (fam.) to get at (sb)
• smettila di punzecchiarlo - stop teasing him
punzecchiarsi
to tease each other
• quei due non fanno che punzecchiarsi - those two are always teasing each other
rallegrare / rallegrarsi
rallegrare
(= allietare) to enliven, to brighten, to gladden, to cheer (up)
• rallegrare il cuore a qn - to gladden sb’s heart
• rallegrare una festa - to enliven a party
• la vista dei fiori lo rallegrò - the sight of the flowers cheered him up
• occorre aggiungere una nota di colore che rallegri l’ambiente - a touch of colour needs to be added to cheer up the room
rallegrarsi
1 (= gioire) to rejoice, to be glad, to cheer up, to buck up coll
• si rallegrò alla prospettiva di un nuovo viaggio - she cheered up at the prospect of a new trip
• tutto il mondo si rallegrò sapendo che era stato evitato il pericolo di una catastrofe - the whole world rejoiced at the news that the danger of a catastrophe had been averted
2 (= congratularsi) to congratulate oneself, to congratulate (sb else)
• rallegrarsi con se stesso - to congratulate oneself
• mi rallegro con te per la promozione - I congratulate you on your promotion
• hai ben poco di cui rallegrarti - you have very little reason to congratulate yourself
rannicchiare / rannicchiarsi
rannicchiare
to curl up, to crouch, to draw in, to shrink
• rannicchiare le gambe - to curl up one’s legs
rannicchiarsi
(= raggomitolarsi) to cuddle up, to curl (up), to nestle, to huddle up, (= accovacciarsi) to crouch, to burrow, to snuggle, to squat, (= appollaiarsi) to perch
• rannicchiarsi nel proprio guscio - to go into one’s shell
• rannicchiarsi su uno sgabello - to perch on a stool
• si rannicchiarono l’uno vicino all’altro per riscaldarsi - they cuddled up to each other to get warm
• si rannicchiò sul divano e si addormentò - she curled up on the couch and went to sleep
rincarare
transitive
to increase the price of
• i produttori di automobili hanno rincarato i prezzi - carmakers have raised their prices
intransitive
to rise in price, to become more expensive
• i generi alimentari stanno rincarando - food products are rising in price
risentire / risentirsi
risentire (transitive)
1 (= provare di nuovo) to feel again; (= udire di nuovo) to hear again
• risentire freddo - to feel cold again
• risentire una registrazione - to hear a recording again
2 (= provare/subire) to suffer, to experience, to feel
• risente ancora quella delusione - he still feels the effects of that disappointment
• risentii a lungo le conseguenze del colpo - I felt the effects of the blow for a long time
risentire (intransitive)
to suffer (from); to show the consequences (of) • risente molto degli sbalzi di temperatura - he suffers a lot from temperature changes • il mercato non sembra risentire dell’attuale situazione politica - the market doesn’t seem to be suffering from the present political situation • la zona risente ancora della contaminazione - the area is still suffering from the effects of contamination
risentirsi
1 (= svegliarsi/riaversi) (literal) to wake; to come round
2 (= inalberarsi) to rear up, to resent, to take offense (at), to take umbrage (at), to bridle, to bristle
• risentirsi con qn - to be resentful at sb
• si risentì della nostra ingerenza - he took umbrage at our meddling
• non risentirti se te lo dico - don’t get offended if I tell you
3 to hear (from) each other, to talk to each other again
• a risentirci! - good-bye!
• ci risentiremo presto - we’ll hear from one another soon
sballare
transitive verb
- to unpack, to unwrap, to uncrate:
• sballare la merce - to unpack the goods - (fig. fam.) (millantare) to brag, to boast, to talk big
• sballarle grosse - to tell tall stories - (mecc.) to put out of order, to run an engine/motor too high out of gear
intranstive verb
- (a carte) to go bust, to lose
- (fam.) (sbagliare per eccesso) to overestimate, to go over
• sballare nelle previsioni - to be out in one’s forecast
• basta con il whisky, non vorrei sballare - enough whiskey, I don’t want to overdo it - (gergo) (per la droga) to be high
sbarazzare / sbarazzarsi
sbarazzare
(= liberare) to clear, to relieve, to free, to disencumber
• sbarazzare l’intestino - to clear the intestine
• sbarazzare qn da un peso - to relieve sb of a burden
• sbarazzare la scrivania - to clear the desk
• sbarazzare la tavola - to clear the table
• sbarazzare la vescica - to relieve the bladder
• sbarazzò la stanza da tutte le cose inutili - she cleared the room of all the useless objects
sbarazzarsi
1 (= liberarsi) to get rid, to rid oneself, to dispose, to throw off, to ditch; (= uccidere) (eufem) to get rid of sb
• sbarazzarsi di qc - to get rid of
• sbarazzarsi di qn - to get rid of
• essersi sbarazzato di qn/qc - to be rid of sb/sth
• si è sbarazzato di tutti gli impiegati inefficienti - he got rid of all the inefficient employees
• mi sono sbarazzato di un grosso peso! - that’s a big load off my mind!
• non riuscii a sbarazzarmi di quel seccatore - I didn’t manage to get rid of that pest
• si sbarazzò dei suoi vecchi mobili - she ditched her old furniture
• tentò di sbarazzarsi di quei tristi ricordi - she tried to throw off those sad memories
2 (= smerciare) to unload, to offload
• sbarazzarsi di fondi di magazzino - to offload old stock
sbattersene
not to give a fuck about
• me ne sbatto! - I don’t give a fuck!
• sbattitene! - fuck it!
• se ne sbattono - they don’t give a fuck
sbigottire / sbigottirsi
1 (= sconcertare) to shock, to stagger, to take aback, to dismay, to dumbfound
• la scena ci sbigottì - the sight shocked us
• la sua improvvisa partenza mi ha sbigottito - his sudden departure took me aback
2 (= sgomentare) to appal, to horrify
• la disgrazia ci lasciò tutti sbigottiti - the misfortune left us all appalled
• la sua rivelazione sbigottì tutti - his revelation horrified everyone
sbigottirsi
to be flabbergasted/staggered, to reel, to be stunned, to be appalled
• di fronte a tanto coraggio ci sbigottimmo - in the face of such courage we were staggered
sbirciare
- (guardare di nascosto) to peep; to glance at (sb, sth); to cast a sidelong glance at (sb, sth)
• sbirciò attraverso le imposte - he peeped through the shutters
• ho sbirciato sul suo tavolo per vedere la lettera - I glanced at his table to see the letter - (guardare attentamente) to eye
• lo sbirciò con molta attenzione - he eyed him very carefully
sbottare
to burst out
• sbottare in pianto, in riso - to burst out crying, laughing
• non ce l’ha fatta più ed è sbottato in una risata - he couldn’t control himself any longer and burst out laughing
scadere
- to expire, to fall due, to be due, to mature; (di polizza) to lapse
• il contratto scade oggi - the contract expires today
• il termine è scaduto il… - the term expired on…
• l’affitto scade domani - the rent is due tomorrow
• questa cambiale scade fra un mese - this bill will fall due (o will mature) in a month’s time
• il suo permesso di soggiorno scadrà domani - his residence permit expires tomorrow
• la sua carica scadrà alla fine del mese - his term of office will expire at the end of the month
• quando scade questo latte? - when’s the sell-by date of this milk? - (peggiorare) to fall off; (diminuire) to go down, to decrease
• la qualità della vostra merce è scaduta in questi ultimi anni - the quality of your goods has fallen off these last few years
• lo spettacolo sta scadendo di qualità - the show is deteriorating in quality
• scadere di valore - to decrease in value
• mi è molto scaduto - he has sunk very much in my estimation
scassare
- (fam.) (rompere) to break; to wreck; to bust
• ha scassato la bicicletta - he has wrecked his bicycle
• smettila di scassare (le scatole) - (fam.) stop getting on my nerves - (agr.) (dissodare) to break up; to plough up
scassinare
to force open; to pick the lock of (sth); to break open
• scassinare una porta - to force a door open
• scassinare una cassaforte - to crack a safe
schedare
- (registrare su schede) to card-index; (annotare, catalogare) to register, to catalogue, to record; (persone) to keep a file on (sb)
• schedare i libri di una biblioteca - to card-index the books of a library
• schedare le entrate, le uscite - to record revenues, expenditure
• (trib.) schedare i contribuenti - to keep a file on taxpayers - (da parte della polizia) to put down in the police records; to book
schierare
- (mil.) to marshal, to draw up, to array
• schierare truppe - to draw up troops
• passare in rassegna le truppe schierate - to inspect the troops that were lined up - (disporre in un certo ordine) to line up (anche sport)
• schierare le statuine sulla mensola del camino - to line up the statues on the mantelpiece
• schierare i giocatori in campo - to line the players up on the field
scodinzolare
1 (di animali) to wag its tail
2 (popolare) (spec di donne) to walk with a wiggle, (fig) to shake one’s tail
• guarda come scodinzola quella ragazza! - check out that girl shaking her tail!
3 (fig) to bow and scrape, to suck up
• tutti scodinzolano davanti al capo - everybody bows and scrapes to the boss
4 (di veicoli) to fishtail
seminare
- to sow
• seminare frumento - to sow wheat
• seminare un campo a frumento - to sow a field with wheat
• è troppo presto per seminare - it is too soon to sow yet - (sparpagliare) to scatter; (fig.) (diffondere) to sow; to spread
• smettila di seminare la tua roba dappertutto - stop scattering your stuff all over the place
• seminare il malcontento, l’odio tra i cittadini - to sow the seeds of discontent, of hatred among the citizens
• seminare il terrore - to sow (o to spread) terror - (fam.) (lasciare indietro) to leave behind; (far perdere le proprie tracce) to shake off, to lose
• il ciclista seminò gli avversari - the cyclist left his competitors behind
• i ladri riuscirono a seminare gli sbirri - the thieves managed to lose the cop pigs
setacciare
- to sift; to sieve
• setacciare la farina - to sift the flour - (fig.) to search; to comb
• setacciate tutto il quartiere! - comb the whole area!
sgominare
to crush, to thrash, to defeat
• sgominare gli avversari - to crush one’s opponents
• sgominare il nemico - to defeat the enemy
• la banda di rapinatori è stata sgominata - the gang of robbers has been broken up
smarchettare
(colloquial) to work as a sex worker
smorzare
- (attenuare) (luce) to shade; to dim; (colori) to tone down; to soften; (suoni) to deaden, to lower, to muffle; (oscillazioni) to damp, to dampen
• in questo quadro i rossi vanno smorzati - in this picture the reds must be toned down
• per smorzare questa luce violenta devi chiudere le imposte - in order to soften this harsh light you must close the shutters
• smorzare un suono - to deaden a sound
• smorzare la voce, il tono della voce - to lower one’s voice - (passioni, sentimenti) to quench, to appease; to damp
• smorzare la collera di qn - to appease sb’s anger
• smorzare le speranze - to damp hopes - (region.) (spegnere) to put out; to extinguish
• smorzare il fuoco - to put out the fire
• smorzare il lume, la luce - to put out the light
• smorzare la sete - (fig.) to quench one’s thirst
sorvolare
1 (= volare sopra) to fly past/beyond, to overfly, to fly over
• sorvolare a bassa quota - to buzz
• l’aereo sta sorvolando Parigi - the plane is flying over Paris
2 (= lasciar correre) to overlook, to gloss over, to slide over; (= tralasciare) to skip, to ignore, to slur over
• sorvolare su una domanda - to ignore a question
• sorvolare sugli errori di qn - to gloss over sb’s mistakes
• sorvolare su una questione molto importante - to slide over a very important issue
• sorvoliamo su questo punto - let’s skip this point
• sorvoliamo i particolari! - let’s ignore the details!
spaziare
- (muoversi in ampio spazio) to sweep
• le aquile spaziano nel cielo - eagles sweep through the sky - (fig.) (estendersi) to sweep, to range
• il suo sguardo spaziava su tutta la vallata - his gaze swept over the valley
• i suoi interessi spaziano in molti campi - his interests cover many fields
spiazzare
- to fake out (anche fig.), to catch (sb) on the wrong foot
• spiazzare il portiere con una finta - to fake out the goalkeeper with a dummy
• con il suo intervento ci ha spiazzato - he faked us out with his intervention - (econ.) (escludere) to place out, to crowd out (anche fin.)
• la contrazione di prestiti da parte dello stato spesso spiazza le richieste dei privati - government borrowing often crowds out private requests
spicciare / spicciarsi
spicciare (transitive)
1 (= sbrigare) to finish off, to rush through, to deal with, to handle
• spicciare le faccende domestiche - to rush through the housework
• spicciarsela (popol) - to disentangle oneself, to get off the hook
• spiccio questa pratica e ti raggiungo - I’ll rush through this case and join you
2 (= servire) to attend to, to serve
• spicciare un cliente - to attend to a customer
• se mi spicciano subito sarò da te fra poco - if they serve me quickly I’ll be with you shortly
3 (= spicciolare) to change
• spicciare una banconota da dieci euro - to change a ten-euro note
spicciare (transitive)
(= sgorgare) to gush, to flow out, to spout, to spurt
• il sangue spiccia dalla ferita - blood is gushing from the wound
spicciarsi
(= fare presto/sbrigarsi) to hasten, to hurry (up), to rush, to zap
• spicciati, siamo in ritardo! - hurry up, we’re late!
sprecare / sprecarsi
sprecare
(= usare male, anche fig to waste, to squander, to throw away, to misspend
• sprecare una buona occasione - to throw away/to waste/to squander an opportunity
• sprecare energia in - to waste energy on
• sprecare la giovinezza - to waste one’s youth
• sprecare l’inchiostro - to write to no purpose
• con lui ho sprecato tempo e fatica - I wasted my time and energy with him
sprecarsi
1 to waste one’s time/energy
• si è sprecato in studi inutili - he wasted his time and energy in fruitless studies
2 (dialet), (ironia) to put oneself out, to go to the trouble
• non si è neanche sprecato a telefonare - he didn’t even go to the trouble of ringing up
spulciare
spulciare
- to flea, to rid of fleas
• spulciare un cane - to rid a dog of fleas - (fig) to vet, to screen, to sift (through)
• spulciare documenti - to sift (through) documents
spulciarsi
to flea oneself, to rid oneself of fleas
• i gorilla passano ore a spulciarsi - gorillas spend hours ridding themselves of fleas
spupazzare / spupazzarsi
spupazzare
to cuddle, to fondle, to pet, to canoodle with
• spupazzare la fidanzata - to canoodle with one’s girlfriend
• spupazzare un bambino - to cuddle a child
spupazzarsi
to cuddle, to fondle, to pet, to neck, to spoon
• si spupazzavano tutto il giorno! - they were necking all day!
stabilire
- to establish, to fix, to set
• stabilire il prezzo di qc - to fix the price of sth
• resta da stabilire il giorno della partenza - the departure date remains to be settled (o fixed o decided upon)
• stabilire una data - to fix a date
• stabilite voi le condizioni - name your own terms
• stabilire delle norme - to lay down rules
• stabilire dei turni di lavoro per il personale - to stagger the staff’s working hours
• la legge stabilisce che… - the law provides that…
• stabilire per legge - to decree
• stabilire un calendario - to lay down a timetable
• (comm.) stabilire quote di vendita - to set sales quotas
• stabilire la propria dimora in un luogo - to take up one’s residence in a place - (accertare) to establish, to ascertain
• prima di tutto devo stabilire se questo è vero o no - first of all I must ascertain whether this is true or not
• stabilire un fatto - to establish a fact - (decidere) to decide, to arrange, to state
• stabilire le condizioni di pagamento, di un accordo - to state the terms of payment, of an agreement
• stabilì di partire subito - he decided to leave at once - (assegnare) to assign, to allot
• stabilirono due case in dote alla ragazza - they allotted the girl two houses as a dowry - (mar.) to set (sails)
• stabilire le vele - to set the sails
strapazzare
1.1 (= maltrattare) to maltreat, to ill-treat, to mistreat, to mishandle; (= surclassare) to maul, to thrash, to trounce; (culin) to scramble
• strapazzare la servitù - to ill-treat the servants
• la polizia ha strapazzato i due dimostranti - the police manhandled the two demonstrators
• la nostra squadra è stata strapazzata ieri - our team was mauled yesterday
1.2 (= criticare aspramente) to maul, to tear to shreds; (= rimproverare duramente) to tell off, to scold
• i critici hanno strapazzato il suo ultimo romanzo - the critics tore his latest novel to shreds
2 (= sciupare) to misuse, to spoil, to treat badly, to not take care of
• strapazzare i vestiti - to spoil one’s clothes
• non strapazzare così i miei libri! - don’t treat my books so badly!
• strapazzare un’automobile - to treat a car badly
3 (= affaticare) to overwork
• non devi strapazzare così i tuoi dipendenti - you must not overwork your staff like that
• strapazzare un cavallo - to overwork a horse
• strapazzarsi gli occhi - to strain one’s eyes
- (interpretare male) to botch, to bungle, to make a mess of (sth)
• strapazzare una commedia - to make a mess of a play
• strapazzare un pezzo di musica - to play a piece of music badly
• strapazzare uno scrittore - to misinterpret a writer
strizzare
to squeeze, to press, (anche fig) to wring out; (= centrifugare) to spin, to spin-dry
• strizzare un’arancia - to squeeze/to press an orange
• strizzare un foruncolo - to squeeze/to press a spot
• strizzare l’occhio - to wink (at)
• strizzare un panno bagnato - to wring a wet cloth
• strizza strizza - all in all, in conclusion
sventolare / sventolarsi
sventolare
1 (= muovere al vento) to wave, to brandish, to flourish
• sventolare il fazzoletto in segno di saluto - to wave one’s handkerchief (in greeting)
• il pubblico sventolava bandierine multicolori - the crowd waved multicoloured pennants
• mi sventolò la lettera sotto il naso - he flourished the letter under my nose
2 (= fare vento a) to fan; (= arieggiare) to air
• sventolare il fuoco - to fan the fire
• sventolare il grano - to winnow grain
• la sventolò con un giornale - he fanned her with a newspaper
sventolarsi
1 to fan oneself
• sventolarsi con un giornale - to fan oneself with a newspaper
(= muoversi per il vento) to whip, to flutter, to wave, to fly
• le bandiere sventolavano al vento - flags were fluttering in the wind
• aprì il balcone e la tenda cominciò a sventolarsi - he opened the French window and the curtain began to flap
• il bucato sventolava sul terrazzo - the washing flapped on the terrace
timbrare
1 to stamp, to rubber-stamp, to postmark
• timbrare un documento - to rubber-stamp a document
• timbrare una lettera - to postmark a letter
2 (in entrata o uscita dal posto di lavoro) to clock
• timbrare il cartellino in entrata - to clock in
• timbrare il cartellino in uscita - to clock out
abbuffarsi
(= rimpinzarsi) to stuff oneself, to gorge oneself
• si abbuffò di dolci - she stuffed herself with cakes
accartocciare / accartocciarsi
accartocciare
to crumple up, to screw up, to scrunch up
• accartocciare un pezzo di carta - to crumple up a piece of paper
accartocciarsi
1 (= ripiegarsi) to curl (up)
• le foglie si erano accartocciate - the leaves had curled up
2 (= raggomitolarsi) to curl (up), to curl (oneself) into a ball
• il gatto si accartocciò nella poltrona - the cat curled up in the armchair
adibire
to destine (for), to adapt (to/as) • adibire un palazzo a uffici - to adapt a building as office premises
aggirare / aggirarsi
aggirare
1.1 (= girare intorno) to skirt, to skate around, to pass by
• aggirare un’isola - to skirt an island
1.2 to encircle, to ring, to surround
• aggirare sull’ala mil - to outflank
1.3 (leggi, regolamenti, problemi, ecc) to get around, to get round, to circumvent, to skirt, to bypass
• aggirare la normativa - to circumvent the rules
• aggirare un ostacolo - to get round/to skirt an obstacle
• riuscirono ad aggirare la legge - they managed to get round the law
1.4 (= doppiare) to round
• aggirammo il capo e vedemmo la nave - we rounded the cape and saw the ship
2 (= raggirare) to cheat, to con, to deceive, to trick
aggirarsi
1 (= gironzolare) to hang around, to wander, to prowl (around), to lurk
• aggirarsi nei paraggi - to wander around in the vicinity
• l’uomo fu visto aggirarsi attorno alla casa - the man was seen lurking around outside the house
2 to hover around/near, to approximate, to come close
• il prezzo si aggira attorno a un milione di dollari - the price is somewhere around $1m
aggradare
(used only in the third person) to like, to please
• fa’ come ti aggrada - do as you please
allestire
1 (= preparare) to prepare, to organize, to run up
• allestì un pranzo in quattro e quattr’otto - she ran up a meal in a moment
2 (negozi, navi, ecc) to fit out, to rig
• allestire un negozio - to fit out a shop
3 (= inscenare) to stage, to put on, to produce
• allestire una commedia - to put on a play
4 (= disporre) to lay out
annientare / annientarsi
annientare
1 (= annichilire) to annihilate, to obliterate, to pulverize, to wipe out, to blot out
• annientare l’opposizione - to annihilate the opposition
2 (= distruggere) to destroy, to wreck
• l’esplosione annientò due interi edifici - the explosion destroyed two entire buildings
3 (= sgominare) to thrash, to crush, to smash
• annientare una banda - to smash a gang
• annientare il nemico - to crush the enemy
• annientare un rivale - (coll) to wipe the floor with one’s rival
• riuscirono ad annientare la concorrenza - they managed to crush the competition
4 (teorie e simili) to demolish, to refute
• le prove schiaccianti annientarono la difesa - the inconfutable evidence demolished the defence case
annientarsi
(= umiliarsi) to abase oneself, to lower oneself
arrampicarsi
1 to climb, to climb up
• arrampicarsi con le mani e con i piedi - to clamber, to scramble, to swarm up
• arrampicarsi socialmente - to climb up the class ladder
• arrampicarsi su una scala - to climb (up) a ladder
• arrampicarsi sugli specchi - (fig) to clutch at straws
• il gatto si arrampicò su un albero - the cat climbed a tree
• il bambino tentò di arrampicarsi su una sedia - the child tried to clamber onto a chair
• la strada si arrampica ripidamente sulla montagna - the road climbs steeply up the mountain
2 (di piante) to creep (up), to climb
• abbiamo una pianta di edera che si arrampica sulle pareti della casa - we have an ivy climbing up the walls of our house
arrangiare / arrangiarsi
arrangiare
1.1 (= accomodare, anche fig) to patch (up), to arrange, to sort out, to settle
• arrangiò il tetto - he patched up the roof
• hanno arrangiato tutto da soli - they arranged everything by themselves
1.2 to beat up, to fix
• ti arrangio io! - I’ll see to you!, I’ll settle your hash!
• se mi capita fra le mani lo arrangio io! - if I get ahold of him I’ll wallop him good!
2.1 (fig) to knock up/together, to put together
• arrangiò una cena in pochi minuti - he knocked up supper in no time at all
2.2 (coll) to lift, to nick, to pinch
• il barbone arrangiò solo pochi spiccioli - the tramp only nicked a few coins
3 (= orchestrare) to arrange, to score
arrangiarsi
1 (= accordarsi) to come to an agreement
• si arrangiarono senza coinvolgere i legali - they came to an agreement without involving lawyers
2 (= tirare avanti) to get by, to manage, to struggle along
• arrangiarsi per la notte - to get by for the night
• si arrangia come può con lo stipendio del marito - she manages the best she can on her husband’s salary
3 to do odd jobs, to deal in this and that, to get by, to live by one’s wits
• tira avanti arrangiandosi - he struggles on doing odd jobs
• se non vuoi ascoltarmi, arrangiati! - if you don’t want to listen to me, do it your own way!
• si arrangia a fare la serva - she gets by working as a servant
• è tempo che ti arrangi da solo - it’s time you looked after yourself
arrovellarsi
1 to get worked up, to fret, to worry
• non arrovellarti per così poco - don’t get worked up over such a small matter
• arrovellarsi il cervello - to rack one’s brains
2 to struggle, to endeavor
• si arrovella da un’ora per risolvere il problema - he’s been struggling for an hour to solve the problem
assecondare
1 (= secondare) to humor
• assecondare qn servilmente - to bow and scrape to sb
• assecondalo, così forse se ne va - humor him, so maybe he’ll go away
2 (= appoggiare) to second, to favor
• asseconda sempre il presidente - he always seconds the chairman
3 (= indulgere) to indulge, to pander to
• assecondare i capricci di qn - to indulge sb’s whims
• assecondare ogni desiderio di qn - to pander to sb’s every wish
• è meglio non assecondare tutti i desideri dei bambini - it’s better not to indulge children all the time
4 (= seguire, spec sport) to follow through
• assecondare un colpo - to follow through (on a hit/stroke)
assillare
(= tormentare/perseguitare) to badger, to pester, to harass, to obsess, to besiege
• mi assilla con continue domande - he harasses me with endless questions
• era assillato da mille preoccupazioni sul futuro - he was obsessed with a thousand worries about his future
• non assillarlo! - don’t pester him!
avanzare / avanzarsi
avanzare (intransitive)
1 (= andare/venire avanti) to advance, to move forward, to forge forward, to go forward, to come/to step forward; (= progredire) to progress, to advance, to make progress, to make headway; (di grado, qualifica, ecc) to move on, to move up; (= aumentare lentamente) to edge up; (in classifiche) to go up
• avanzare a piedi - to go forward on foot
• avanzare carponi/con le mani e con i piedi - to scramble, to clamber
• avanzare lungo/per - to follow, to go along
• avanzare nella conoscenza - to become more knowledgeable
• fare avanzare (pellicole e simili) - to wind forward
• avanzammo di qualche passo con circospezione - we stepped forward carefully
• avanzavamo a tentoni nell’oscurità - we groped our way in the dark
• avanzammo di un chilometro - we moved on one kilometre
• le vendite avanzano ogni giorno di più - sales are improving every day
• i corsi azionari avanzano lentamente - share prices are edging up
2 (mil) to push (into), to advance
3 (= sporgere) to jut out, to protrude, to stick out, to project form
- i rami avanzano un metro dalla recinzione - the branches jut out one metre over the fence
4.1 (essere d’avanzo) to be left over, remain
• è avanzato del pane da ieri - there is some bread left over from yesterday
• non m’avanza molto tempo - I haven’t (got) much time left
• basta e avanza -that’s more than enough
4.2 (Mathematics)
• sette diviso tre fa due e avanza uno - seven divided by three is two remainder one
avanzare (transitive)
1 (= spostare in avanti) to move forward, to put forward
• avanzare il fronte - to move the front forward
• avanzò un piede per saggiare la stabilità del pavimento - he put a foot out in front of him to test the firmness of the floor
2 (= proporre/suggerire) to propose, to put forward, to table, to canvass, to advance form
• avanzare domande/ipotesi - to put forward questions/conjectures
3.1 (= superare) to surpass, to outdo
• avanzare qn in bravura - to outshine sb
• avanzare qn in furbizia - to outdo sb in trickery
3.2 (= vincere) to beat, to defeat
• nel salto avanza tutti - in the highjump he beats all-comers
4 (= promuovere) to promote
• lo hanno avanzato a caporeparto - he’s been promoted to head of department
avanzarsi
1 (= farsi avanti) to move forward, to advance
• si avanzò furtivamente - he advanced stealthily
2 (= approssimarsi) to approach, to come, to draw on
• la fine dell’anno s’avanza - the end of the year is drawing on
balbettare
1 (= tartagliare) to stutter, to stammer; (= esitare nel parlare) to falter; (= farfugliare) to babble, to sputter
• balbettava a seguito del trauma - as a result of his injury, he was left with a stammer
• il teste balbettava durante l’interrogatorio - the witness stammered during the hearing
2 (di bambini) to babble
• il bambino cominciò a balbettare - the child started to babble
3 to stammer (out), to gabble, to babble
• balbettare un po’ di inglese - to have a smattering of English
• balbettò qualcosa di incomprensibile - he stammered something incomprehensible
biascicare
1 (= masticare rumorosamente) to champ, to chomp, to munch
• biascicare una gomma - to chew gum over
2 (fig) to mumble, to mutter
• biascicare parole - to mumble words
blaterare
to prattle, to babble, to chatter, to waffle
• la televisione continuava a blaterare - the television went on babbling away
• comari blateravano tra di loro - the gossips were chattering away together
to babble, to chatter about, to prattle about
• ma cosa state blaterando? - what are you prattling about?
• sta ancora blaterando i pregi della sua idea - he’s still going on about the merits of his idea
bofonchiare
to groan, to grumble, to grunt
• bofonchiava per la lunga attesa - he was grumbling about the long wait
to groan about, to grumble over, to grunt, to mutter, to mumble
• bofonchiò vaghe accuse - he muttered a few vague accusations
• bofonchiò qualcosa sull’ingiustizia del mondo - he mumbled something about the injustice in the world
brancolare
1 (= andare a tentoni) to grope, to feel one’s way
• andò brancolando fino in cucina - she groped her way to the kitchen
• brancolare nel buio - to grope in the dark (also fig)
2 (= agire con incertezza) to fumble, to grope, to hesitate, to waver
• brancolano ancora alla ricerca di una soluzione - they are still groping for a solution
• sto brancolando, non so che soluzione prendere - I’m hesitating, I don’t know which solution to choose
