→ easy come, easy go → from the word go go about one’s business to mind one’s business; to move elsewhere and mind one’s own business; to focus on one’s own tasks.. go with something to
Trang 1global ["glob @l] adj of or about the
whole world; worldwide (Adv:
globally.)
globe ["glob] 1 n a ball; a sphere.
2 n a ball or sphere with a map of
the world on it 3 n the earth; the
world
gloom ["glum] n the feeling of
sad-ness and dullsad-ness (No plural.)
glorify ["glor @ faI] 1 tv to honor
or worship someone; to praise
someone or something 2 tv to
exaggerate the importance of
someone or something
glorious ["glor i @s] adj beautiful;
splendid; wonderful (Adv:
glori-ously.)
glory ["glor i] 1 n praise and
honor (No plural.) 2 n
some-thing of great beauty or wonder
glossary ["glOs @ ri] n a list of
words and their definitions, as
used within a particular book or
article
glove ["gl^v] n one of a pair of
fit-ted coverings for the hand,
typi-cally made of fabric or leather and
having individual “pockets” for
each finger and thumb
→ fit like a glove
→ hand in glove (with someone)
→ handle someonewith kid gloves
glow ["glo] 1 iv to shine; to give
off a weak light 2 iv to be very
hot; to be so hot as to be red,
yel-low, or white with heat 3 iv to be
very excited with emotion or
energy 4 iv to show a healthy
appearance; to have bright red
cheeks 5 n a weak light.
→ feel a glow of something
glue ["glu] 1 n a thick, sticky
liq-uid that is used to make some-thing stick to somesome-thing else; an adhesive (Plural only for types and instances.) 2 tv to stick something to something else using Q
glum ["gl^m] adj sad;
disap-pointed (Adv: glumly Comp: glummer; sup: glummest.)
glut ["gl^t] 1 n too much of some-thing 2 tv to supply someone or
something with too much of something
glutton ["gl^t n] n someone who
eats or drinks too much
a glutton for punishment
some-one who seems to like doing or seeking out difficult, unpleasant,
or badly paid tasks
gnash one’s teeth to slash and
chop with the teeth
gnat ["nAt] n a small fly that bites.
gnaw (away) at someone to worry
someone; to create constant anxi-ety in someone
gnaw (away) at someone or
thing to chew at someone or some-thing
gnaw on something to chew on
something (Usually said of an animal.)
go ["go] 1 iv., irreg to move from
one place to another; [for time] to
progress or pass 2 tv., irreg to
practice or perform certain sports activities, such as running, swim-ming, canoeing, fencing, jogging, skiing, walking, or other activities expressed with words ending in
-ing (Past tense: went;past par-ticiple: gone The third-person global
236
Trang 2singular present tense is goes.)
3 iv., irreg to leave 4 iv., irreg to
reach a certain time or place; to
extend to a certain time or place
5 iv., irreg to work; to function.
6 iv., irreg to become 7 iv., irreg.
to become worn-out; to weaken
8 iv., irreg to belong in a certain
place 9 iv., irreg [for the
activi-ties in a period of time] to unfold
in some way, good or bad 10 iv.,
irreg to progress through a series
of words or musical notes
→ easy come, easy go
→ from the word go
go about one’s business to mind
one’s business; to move elsewhere
and mind one’s own business; to
focus on one’s own tasks
go after someone or something
1 to pursue someone or
thing 2 to charge or attack
some-one or some creature
go against someone or something
to turn against someone or
some-thing; to oppose someone or
something
go against the grain to go against
one’s natural inclination; to be
contrary to one’s nature (Refers to
the lay of the grain of wood
Against the grain = perpendicular
to the direction of the grain.)
go along for the ride to
accom-pany (someone) for the pleasure of
riding along; to accompany
some-one for no special reason (Also
with come.)
go along with someone or
some-thing to agree with someone or
agree to something
go and never darken one’s door again to go away and not come
back
go (a)round in circles to keep
going over the same ideas or repeating the same actions, often resulting in confusion and without reaching a satisfactory decision or conclusion
go around someone to avoid
deal-ing with someone (Figurative.)
go (a)round the bend 1 to travel
around a turn or a curve; to make
a turn or a curve 2 to go crazy; to
lose one’s mind
go at it hammer and tongs Go to
fight someone or somethinghammer and tongs.
go at it tooth and nail Go to fight
someone or somethinghammer and tongs.
go away to leave (Often a
com-mand.)
go away empty-handed to depart
with nothing
go away with someone or some-thing 1 to leave in the company of someone or something 2 to take
someone, some creature, or a group away with one
go back to return to the place of
origin
go back on one’s word to break a
promise that one has made
go back on something to reverse
one’s position on something, espe-cially one’s word or a promise
go behind someone’s back 1 to
move behind someone; to locate
oneself at someone’s back 2 to do
go behind someone’s back
237
Trang 3something that is kept a secret
from someone (Figurative.)
go below to go beneath the main
deck of a ship (Nautical.)
go by (someplace) Go to drop by
(someplace).
go crazy to become crazy,
disori-ented, or frustrated
go down 1 to sink below a normal
or expected level or height 2 to
descend to a lower measurement
3 to be swallowed 4 to fall or
drop down, as when struck or
injured
go down in history to be
remem-bered as historically important
go Dutch to share the cost of a
meal or some other event
go for an amount [for something]
to sell for or be sold at a certain
price
go in for something to enjoy doing
something; to be fond of
some-thing
go in one ear and out the other
[for something] to be heard and
then forgotten
go in with someone (on
some-thing) to join efforts with someone
on a project; to pool financial
resources with someone to buy
something
go into a nosedive and take a
nosedive 1 [for an airplane] to
dive suddenly toward the ground,
nose first 2 [for one’s health or
one’s emotional or financial
situa-tion] to decline rapidly
go into a number [for a number] to
divide into another number
go into a tailspin 1 [for an
air-plane] to lose control and spin to
the earth, nose first 2 [for
some-one] to become disoriented or panicked; [for someone’s life] to fall apart
go into detail to give all the
details; to present and discuss the details
go into hiding to conceal oneself
in a hidden place for a period of time
go into one’s song and dance about something to start giving
one’s usual or typical explanations
or excuses about something
go in((to) something) to enter
something; to penetrate some-thing
go like clockwork to progress
with regularity and dependability
go off 1 [for an explosive device]
to explode 2 [for a
sound-creat-ing device] to make its noise
3 [for an event] to happen or take
place
go off (by oneself) to go into
seclu-sion; to isolate oneself
go off on a tangent suddenly to
go in another direction; suddenly
to change one’s line of thought, course of action, etc (A reference
to geometry The plural is go off on tangents.)
go off the deep end and jump off the deep end to become
deeply involved (with someone or something) before one is ready; to follow one’s emotions into a diffi-cult situation (Refers to going into
a swimming pool at the deep end.)
go below
238
Trang 4go off with someone to go away
with someone
go on 1 to continue 2 to hush up;
to stop acting silly (Always a
com-mand No tenses.) 3 to happen.
go on a fishing expedition to
attempt to discover information
go on a rampage to have a
ram-page
go on (and on) about someone or
something to talk endlessly about
someone or something
go on at someone to yell at and
criticize someone
go (on) before (someone) 1 to
precede someone 2 to die before
someone (Euphemism.)
go out 1 to leave one’s house 2 to
become extinguished
go out for someone or something
to leave in order to bring back
someone or something
go out (for something) to try out
for a sports team
go (out) on strike [for a group of
people] to quit working at their
jobs until certain demands are
met
go out with someone to go on a
date with someone; to date
some-one on a regular basis
go over someone’s head [for the
intellectual content of something]
to be too difficult for someone to
understand (As if it flew over
one’s head rather than entering
into one’s store of knowledge.)
go over something with a
fine-tooth comb and search
some-thing with a fine-tooth comb to
search through something very carefully
go over with a bang [for
some-thing] to be funny or entertaining (Refers chiefly to jokes or stage performances.)
go overboard 1 to fall off or out
of a boat or ship 2 to do too
much; to be extravagant
go the distance to do the whole
amount; to play the entire game;
to run the whole race
go the extra mile to try harder to
please someone or to get the task done correctly; to do more than one is required to do to reach a goal
go the limit to do or have as much
as possible
go through to be approved; to pass
examination; to be ratified
go through channels to proceed
by consulting the proper persons
or offices
go through someone to consult
someone as a necessary step in doing something
go through something 1 to search through something 2 to use up all of something rapidly 3 [for
something] to pass through an
opening 4 to pass through vari-ous stages or processes 5 to work
through something, such as an
explanation or story 6 to experi-ence or endure something 7 to
rehearse something; to practice something for performance
go through the motions to make
a feeble effort to do something; to
do something insincerely
go through the motions
239
Trang 5go through the roof to go very
high; to reach a very high degree
(of something)
go to bat for someone to support
or help someone (From the use of
a substitute batter in baseball.)
go to bed to go to where one’s bed
is, get into it, and go to sleep
go to Davy Jones’s locker to go
to the bottom of the sea (Thought
of as a nautical expression.)
go to pot and go to the dogs to
go to ruin; to become ruined; to
deteriorate
go to rack and ruin and go to
wrack and ruin to become
ruined (The words rack and wrack
mean “wreckage” and are found
only in this expression.)
go to seed Go to run to seed.
go to someone’s head to make
someone conceited; to make
someone overly proud
go to the bathroom to use the
toi-let; to urinate; to defecate
go to the dogs Go to go to pot.
go to the lavatory to go
some-where and use a toilet
go to the toilet to use the toilet.
go to the wall to fail or be defeated
after being pushed to the extreme
go to town to work hard or fast.
(Also used literally.)
go to wrack and ruin Go to go to
rack and ruin.
go under 1 to sink beneath the
surface of the water 2 [for
some-thing] to fail 3 to become
uncon-scious from anesthesia
go up in flames and go up in smoke to burn up; to be
con-sumed in flames
go up in smoke Go to go up in
flames.
go with something to match
thing; to look good with some-thing
go without (someone) to manage
without a particular type of per-son
go without (something) to manage
without something
goal ["gol] 1 n an aim; a purpose;
a result that one would like to achieve from doing something
2 n [in sports] a place where
players try to send a ball in order
to score points 3 n [in sports] an
instance of sending a ball through
or past W, and the points earned
by doing this 4 n the finish line; the end point of a race
goalie ["go li] n a goalkeeper (A
shortening ofgoalkeeper.)
goalkeeper ["gol kip #] n [in
sports] the player whose position
is in front of the team’s goal and who tries to prevent players on the other team from scoring
goat ["got] n an animal with horns,
similar to a sheep
→ separate the sheep from the goats
god ["gad] 1 n a male spiritual
being who is worshiped (Com-pare this with goddess.) 2 n someone or something admired as
Q 3 n [in religions such as
Christianity, Islam, and Judaism] the one spiritual being that is wor-shiped as the creator and ruler of
go through the roof
240
Trang 6everything (Capitalized No
plu-ral.)
→ anact of God
goddess ["gad @s] n a female
spiri-tual being who is worshiped
goes ["goz] the third-person
singu-lar, present tense ofgo.
→ as far as it goes
goggles ["gOg @lz] n a pair of
pro-tective lenses that are worn during
swimming, skiing, biking, and
other activities (Treated as plural
Number is expressed with pair(s)
of goggles.)
going to do something planning to
do something; intending or
mean-ing to do somethmean-ing (A form of
the future tense in English.)
gold ["gold] 1 n a chemical
ele-ment that is a soft, yellow metal, is
very valuable, and is the standard
for money in many countries (No
plural.) 2 n coins or jewelry
made of Q (No plural.) 3 n a
deep yellow color (Plural only for
types and instances.) 4 adj made
of Q 5 adj deep yellow in color.
(Comp: golder; sup: goldest.)
→ (as) good as gold
→ have a heart of gold
→ worth its weight in gold
golden ["gol d@n] 1 adj made
from gold; yellowish as if made
from gold 2 adj [of
anniver-saries] the fiftieth
→ kill the goose that laid the
golden egg
golden rule ["gol d@n "rul] n the
principle that one should treat
other people the way one would
like to be treated (From the
Bible.)
goldfish ["gold fIS] n., irreg a kind
of small fish, typically orange or gold, commonly kept as a pet
(Plural: goldfish.)
golf ["gOlf] 1 n a game played on a
large area of land, where players use a club to hit a small ball into a hole, using as few strokes as possi-ble (No plural.) 2 iv to play Q
golf club ["gOlf kl@b] n a long,
metal mallet used in the game of golf (Can be shortened to club.)
gone ["gOn] Past participle ofgo.
good ["gUd] 1 adj., irreg having
positive qualities; satisfactory; suitable; not negative (Adv: well Comp: better;sup: best.) 2 adj.,
irreg having proper morals;
moral; not evil 3 adj., irreg.
enjoyable; pleasant; satisfying
(Adv: well Comp: better;sup: best.) 4 adj., irreg complete; thor-ough; full (Adv: well Comp: bet-ter;sup: best) 5 adj., irreg skillful; talented; able to do some-thing right (Adv: well Comp: bet-ter;sup: best) 6 adj., irreg properly behaved; obedient (Comp: better;sup: best.) 7 adj ripe; edible; not spoiled; not
rot-ten 8 n excellence; virtue;
good-ness (No plural.)
→ (as) good as done
→ (as) good as gold
→ do someonea good turn
→ do someone’sheart good
→ for the good of someone or something
→ give a good account of oneself
→ give as good as onegets
→ have a good head on one’s shoulders
→ in good condition
→ in good shape
→ in the picture of (good) health
good
241
Trang 7→ kiss somethinggood-bye
→ look good on paper
→ make good money
→ put in a good word (for someone)
→ throw good money after bad
→ too good to be true
→ turn somethingto good account
→ Your guess is as good as mine.
the good old days back in an
ear-lier time that everyone remembers
as a better time, even if it really
wasn’t
good to go all ready to go; all
checked and pronounced ready to
go
good-bye [gUd "baI] 1 interj.
farewell, as said when someone
leaves 2 adj of or about leaving;
of or about a departure
goods n items for sale; products
that are made to be sold (Treated
as plural, but not countable.)
→ sell someonea bill of goods
goose ["gus] n., irreg a bird having
a long neck and similar to a large
duck (Plural: geese.)
→ cook someone’sgoose
→ get goose bumps
→ get goose pimples
→ kill the goose that laid the
golden egg
→ wild-goose chase
gorilla [g@ "rIl @] n the largest kind
of ape
gospel ["gas p@l] n one of the first
four books of the New Testament
of the Bible (Capitalized.)
the gospel truth [of truth]
unde-niable
gossip ["gas @p] 1 n talk about
other people, which may or may
not be true; rumors about other
people (No plural.) 2 n someone
who often talks about other people
and other people’s private lives
3 iv to talk about other people
and their private lives; to spread rumors about other people
got ["gat] past tense and a past
par-ticiple ofget.
gotten ["gat n] a past participle of
get.
→ ill-gotten gains
gourmet [gor "me] 1 n someone
who enjoys fine foods and wine
2 adj [of food and drink]
pro-duced according to the highest cooking standards
govern ["g^v #n] 1 iv to rule [over
someone or something]; to be the
leader of a group of people 2 tv.
to rule or lead a group of people
3 tv to guide, control, or regulate
something
government ["g^v #n m@nt] 1 n.
the system of rule over a country
and its people (No plural.) 2 n.
the political organization ruling in
a particular area 3 the adj use of
Q or W (Also governmental.)
governor ["g^v # n#] 1 n the title
of the executive officer of each
state of the United States 2 n.
someone who governs or rules
cer-tain organizations 3 n a device
that controls the speed of a car or other vehicle, either keeping it at a constant speed or not allowing it
to go over a certain speed
gown ["gaUn] 1 n a formal dress for a woman 2 n a nightgown.
3 n a type of loose ceremonial
covering or robe such as is worn at graduation ceremonies
grab ["grAb] 1 tv to seize and hold
someone or something; to snatch good old days
242
Trang 8someone or something; to take
something rudely 2 tv to get and
bring something; to fetch
some-thing (Informal.) 3 n an act of
seizing as in Q
grab a bite (to eat) to get
some-thing to eat; to get food that can
be eaten quickly
grab on(to someone or something)
to grasp someone or something; to
hold on to someone or something
grace ["gres] 1 n elegance,
smoothness, or attractiveness of
form or motion (No plural.) 2 n.
calm and tolerant elegance (No
plural.) 3 n favor; mercy;
favor-able regard (No plural.) 4 n a
prayer said before eating (No
plu-ral.) 5 tv to make something
more beautiful or elegant; to add
beauty or elegance to something
→ fall from grace
→ say grace
grace someone or something with
one’s presence to honor someone
or something with one’s presence
graced with something made
ele-gant by means of some ornament
or decoration
grade ["gred] 1 n a level in school
corresponding to a year of study
2 n a mark, given to a student for
a class, test, paper, or assignment,
that shows how well or how poorly
the student did 3 n a degree of
quality 4 n the slope of a road,
roof, terrace, etc 5 tv to give W
for the work of a student
grade someone or something down
to lower the ranking, rating, or
score of someone or something
graduate 1 ["grA dZu @t] n
some-one who has completed high
school, college, or university
2 ["grA dZu et] tv to depart from
a school, college, or university with a degree
graduate from something to earn
and receive a degree from an edu-cational institution
graduation [grA dZu "e S@n] 1 n.
the ceremony where students become graduates Q 2 n one of
a series of marks on something showing the units of measure-ment
grain ["gren] 1 n grass or cereal
plants grown for their edible seeds (Plural only for types and instances.) 2 n seeds of Q (Plural only for types and
instances.) 3 n an individual seed
of Q 4 n a tiny particle of some-thing, such as sand or salt 5 n a
very small unit of weight, equal to
about 64.8 milligrams 6 n the
pattern or direction of the fibers
of wood (Plural only for types and instances.)
→ go against the grain
→ take somethingwith a grain of salt
a grain of truth even the smallest
amount of truth
gram ["grAm] n the basic unit for
measuring weight in the metric system, equal to ¹⁄₁₀₀₀ of a kilo-gram or about ¹⁄₂₈ of an ounce
grammar ["grAm #] 1 n a system
of rules and principles in a lan-guage that determines how sen-tences are formed; the study of sentence structure and the rela-tionships between words within sentences (Plural only for types and instances.) 2 n a statement of the rules of a language that
grammar
243
Trang 9accounts for how sentences are
formed, especially the description
of what the standard form of the
language is like 3 n following the
rules of W in the use of written
and spoken language (No plural.)
grammar school ["grAm # "skul]
n a school at the elementary level.
grand ["grAnd] 1 adj impressive;
magnificent (Adv: grandly Comp:
grander; sup: grandest.) 2 n a
thousand dollars (Slang No
plu-ral.)
→ (as) busy as Grand Central
Station
grand total ["grAnd "tot @l] n the
complete total; the final total
grandchild ["grAn(d) tSaIld] n.,
irreg a child of one’s child.
(Plural: grandchildren.)
grandchildren ["grAn(d) tSIl dr@n]
plural ofgrandchild.
granddad ["grAn dAd] n
grandfa-ther; the father of one’s mother or
father (Also a term of address
Capitalized when written as a
proper noun.)
granddaughter ["grAn dOt #] n.
the daughter of one’s son or
daughter
grandfather ["grAn(d) fa D#] n.
the father of one’s mother or
father (Also a term of address
Capitalized when written as a
proper noun.)
grandma ["grAm ma] n
grand-mother; the mother of one’s
mother or father (Also a term of
address Capitalized when written
as a proper noun.)
grandmother ["grAn(d) m@D #] n.
the mother of one’s mother or
father (Also a term of address Capitalized when written as a proper noun.)
→ teach one’sgrandmother to suck eggs
grandpa ["grAm pa] n
grandfa-ther; the father of one’s mother or father (Also a term of address Capitalized when written as a proper noun.)
grandparent ["grAn(d) pEr @nt] n.
a grandmother or a grandfather; the parent of one’s parent (The plural usually refers to one or more pairs consisting of a grand-motherand a grandfather.)
grandson ["grAn(d) s@n] n the son
of one’s child
grant ["grAnt] 1 n money that is
given by a government or a private
agency for a worthy purpose 2 tv.
to give something formally to
someone 3 tv to give permission
for something to someone; to give someone permission for thing 4 tv to concede that some-thing is true; to admit to someone that something is true (The object
is a clause with that U.)
→ take someone or somethingfor granted
grape ["grep] 1 n a red, green, or
purple fruit that grows in bunches
on vines 2 adj made of or
fla-vored with Q
graph ["grAf] 1 n a drawing that
shows the difference between two
or more amounts or the changes in amounts through time 2 tv to place information on Q; to make Q
grammar school
244
Trang 10grass ["grAs] n a plant with thin
blades instead of leaves (Plural
only for types and instances.)
→ let grass grow under one’sfeet
grate on someone(’s nerves) to
annoy someone; to bother
some-one
gratitude ["grAt @ tud] n the
qual-ity of being thankful; a feeling or
expression of thanks (No plural.)
grave ["grev] 1 n the place where
someone is buried; a burial site
2 n the actual hole that someone
is buried in 3 adj very serious;
dire (Adv: gravely.)
→ carry a secret to the grave
→ dig one’sown grave
→ take a secret to one’sgrave
→ turn over in one’sgrave
the grave n death (No plural.
Treated as singular.)
gravel ["grAv @l] n crushed rock;
pebbles about the size of peas
(Plural only for types and
instances.)
graveyard ["grev jard] n a
ceme-tery; a place where dead people are
buried
gravity ["grAv @ ti] 1 n the force
that pulls things toward the center
of planets, stars, moons, etc.; the
force that pulls things toward the
center of the earth (No plural.)
2 n seriousness; importance (No
plural.)
→ law of gravity
gravy ["gre vi] 1 n the juice that
drips from meat when it cooks
(Plural only for types and
instances.) 2 n a sauce made
from Q, often thickened with
flour or something similar (Plural
only for types and instances.)
→ ride the gravy train
gray ["gre] 1 n the color made
when white is mixed with black (Plural only for types and instances.) 2 n the color gray as
in Q, when found in the hair (No
plural.) 3 adj (Adv: grayly Comp: grayer; sup: grayest.) 4 iv [for
hair] to become E; [for someone]
to develop W
agray area an area of a subject,
etc., that is difficult to put into a particular category, as it is not clearly defined and may have con-nections or associations with more than one category
gray matter intelligence; brains;
power of thought
graze on something 1 [for
ani-mals] to browse or forage in a
par-ticular location 2 [for animals]
to browse or forage, eating some-thing in particular
grease 1 ["gris] n melted animal
fat or any similarly oily substance
(No plural.) 2 ["gris, "griz] tv to
coat something with Q
great ["gret] 1 adj large in size or
importance (Adv: greatly Comp:
greater; sup: greatest.) 2 adj good;
very good (Adv: greatly Comp:
greater; sup: greatest.) 3 interj.
Super!; Wonderful! (Sometimes used sarcastically.)
→ make a great show of something
→ set great store by someone or something
a great deal much; a lot.
greatly ["gret li] adv very much greed ["grid] n a strong desire for
money, possessions, or power (No plural.)
greed
245