NTC''''s Pocket Dictionary of Words and Phrases part 32 ppt

[for a creature] to curl up somewhere; to bring one’s arms and legs close to the body, as if to keep warm.. to make a long, vibrating sound, like a long “mmmmmmmmm”; to sing with one’s m

people or things 5 tv to be E on

a television show 6 tv to be Q or

W at a party

hostage ["has tIdZ] 1 n someone

or something held by force, to be

released only when stated

demands are met 2 the adj use of

Q

→ hold someonehostage

→ take someonehostage

hot ["hat] 1 adj having a high

tem-perature; not cold or warm (Adv:

hotly Comp: hotter; sup: hottest.)

2 adj [of food] very spicy,

caus-ing a burncaus-ing feelcaus-ing in the mouth

(Adv: hotly Comp: hotter; sup:

hottest.) 3 adj very intense;

excited or angry (Figurative on

Q Adv: hotly Comp: hotter; sup:

hottest.) 4 adj currently popular.

(Informal Comp: hotter; sup:

hottest.)

→ piping hot

→ sell like hot cakes

→ strike while the iron is hot

hot on something enthusiastic

about something; very much

inter-ested in something;

knowledge-able about something (Informal.)

hot under the collar very angry.

hotel [ho "tEl] n a building where

people can rent a place to stay

while away from home on

busi-ness or vacation

hour ["aU #] 1 n a unit of time

measurement equal to 60 minutes

or ¹⁄₂₄ of a day 2 n a period of

time set aside for some activity

3 n the distance that can be

trav-eled in Q

→ at the eleventh hour

→ keep late hours

→ office hours

→ on the hour

hourly ["aU # li] 1 adj happening

every hour; happening once an

hour 2 adv every hour; once an

hour

house 1 ["haUs] n., irreg a

build-ing where a person or a family lives; a home (Plural: ["haU z@z]

or ["haU s@z].) 2 ["haUs] n a

household; all the people who live

in Q (No plural.) 3 ["haUs] n.,

irreg a legislature; a legislative

body 4 ["haUs] n., irreg the part

of a theater where the audience

sits 5 ["haUz] tv to provide

shel-ter to someone or some creature

→ bring the house down

→ eat someoneout of house and home

→ on the house

→ tree house

house pet ["haUs pEt] n a dog, cat,

bird, fish, or other animal kept in

a house as a pet.

housebreak ["haUs brek] tv., irreg.

to train a pet not to defecate or urinate in the house, or in the case

of a cat, outside its special place (Past tense: housebroke; past par-ticiple: housebroken.)

housebroke ["haUs brok] past

tense ofhousebreak

housebroken ["haUs brok @n] past

participle ofhousebreak

household ["haUs hold] 1 n the

group of people who live in a

house or apartment 2 adj found

in Q; associated with Q

housekeeper ["haUs kip #] 1 n.

someone who is paid to manage

household chores 2 n someone

who manages the cleaning in a hotel, resort, hospital, or large building 3 n a person who is hostage

276

paid to clean someone’s house.

(Euphemistic.)

houseplant ["haUs plAnt] n a

plant usually grown indoors

housework ["haUs w#k] n

cook-ing, cleancook-ing, washcook-ing, and other

household tasks (No plural.)

how [haU] 1 interrog in what

way?; by what means? 2 interrog.

to what extent?; to what degree?

3 interrog in what condition?

4 conj the way in which; the

manner in which

how many [haU "mEn i] interrog in

what number(s)?

how much [haU "m^tS] interrog in

what amount?

however [haU "Ev #] 1 adv but;

nevertheless; in spite of

some-thing 2 adv no matter how

(Fol-lowed by an adjective or adverb.)

3 conj in whatever way; by

what-ever means

howl ["haUl] 1 n a long wail, as

with the cry of a wolf or the sound

of a high wind 2 iv to make Q.

huddle ["h^d l] 1 n a group of

people crowded together 2 n [in

football] a group of players close

together, planning the next play

3 iv [for a number of people] to

stand closely together in a small

space, especially to keep warm

4 iv [for a creature] to curl up

somewhere; to bring one’s arms

and legs close to the body, as if to

keep warm

huddle (up) (together) to bunch

up together

hue ["hju] n color; a variety, shade,

or intensity of a color

hue and cry a loud public protest

or opposition

huff and puff to breath very hard;

to pant as one exerts effort

hug ["h^g] 1 n an act of holding

someone or something in one’s arms in a friendly or loving way

2 tv to hold someone as in Q.

3 tv to stay close to a curb,

rail-ing, wall, or some other object as one moves along

huge ["hjudZ] 1 adj [of size] very

large or enormous (Adv: hugely.

Comp: huger; sup: hugest.) 2 adj.

of a notable extent; [of extent, degree, or amount] notably large

(Adv: hugely Comp: huger; sup: hugest.)

hum ["h^m] 1 n a long, vibrating

sound, like a long “mmmm-mmm”; a low murmur; a quiet buzzing sound (No plural.) 2 iv

to make a long, vibrating sound, like a long “mmmmmmmmm”; to sing with one’s mouth closed

3 tv to sing musical notes with

one’s mouth closed, as in W

human ["hju m@n] 1 n a person; a

human being 2 the adj use of Q (Adv: humanly.) 3 adj showing

feelings that people normally

show (Adv: humanly.)

→ everything humanly possible

→ themilk of human kindness

human being ["hju m@n "bi IN] n a

person; a human creature, espe-cially considering special human characteristics, such as intelli-gence, kindness, sympathy, etc (The same as a human.)

human race n all humans as a

group of people (No plural.)

human race

277

humble ["h^m b@l] 1 adj aware of

one’s faults; modest (Adv: humbly.

Comp: humbler; sup: humblest.)

2 adj simple; lowly; not elegant.

(Adv: humbly Comp: humbler;

sup: humblest.) 3 tv to lower the

position of someone; to cause

someone to become Q

→ eat humble pie

humid ["hju mId] adj [of weather]

damp; [of air] containing much

moisture (Adv: humidly.)

humor ["hju m#] 1 n the quality

of being funny (No plural.) 2 tv.

to tolerate someone who behaves

oddly; to accept someone who has

strange whims or desires

→ sense of humor

humorous ["hju m@ r@s] adj.

funny; amusing; having humor

(Adv: humorously.)

hump ["h^mp] n a large, rounded

bump or swelling

→ over the hump

hunch ["h^ntS] n a guess based on

how one feels

hunch up to squeeze or pull the

parts of one’s body together

hundred ["h^n dr@d] 1 n the

number 100; the number between

99 and 101 (Additional forms as

with two hundred, three hundred,

four hundred, etc.) 2 n 100 people

or things

→ one in a hundred

hung ["h^N] 1 a past tense and past

participle ofhang 2 adj [of a

jury] unable to reach a decision;

[of a jury] not having a majority

hunger ["h^N g#] 1 n a general

lack of food (No plural.) 2 n the

feeling of a need for something (Figurative on Q No plural.)

hunger for something to have a

strong desire for something

hungry ["h^N gri] adj wanting

food; lacking food; having an

empty stomach (Adv: hungrily Comp: hungrier; sup: hungriest.)

→ (as) hungry as a bear

hungry for someone or something

desiring someone or something

hunk ["h^Nk] n a large, solid

amount of something

hunt ["h^nt] 1 tv to search for and

kill animals for food or for sport

2 iv to search for and kill animals

as in Q

hunt for someone or something to

search for someone or something

hunt high and low for someone

or something and search high and low for someone or

some-thing to look carefully in every possible place for someone or something

hunt someone or something down

1 to chase and catch someone or something 2 to locate someone

or something

hunt someone or something out to

find someone or something even if concealed

hunt someone or something up to

seek someone or something

hunt through something to search

through the contents of some-thing; to search among things

hunter ["h^n t#] n someone who

hunts; someone who searches for and kills animals for food or sport humble

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hurl ["h#l] 1 tv to throw someone

or something with force 2 tv to

shout something negative, such as

an insult or bad words

hurl an insult (at someone) to

direct an insult at someone; to say

something insulting directly to

someone

hurl someone or something down

to throw or push someone or

something downward to the

ground

hurry ["h# i] 1 iv to move quickly

or briskly 2 tv to cause someone

or something to move quickly or

briskly 3 n a rush; an effort to be

fast or faster

hurry away and hurry off to leave

in a hurry

hurry back (to someone or

some-thing) to return to someone or

something immediately or as fast

as possible

hurry off Go to hurry away.

hurry on Go to hurry up.

hurry someone or something in(to

something) to make someone or

something go into something fast

hurry someone or something up to

make someone or something go or

work faster

hurry up and hurry on to move

faster

hurt ["h#t] 1 n pain of the body or

emotions; an ache (Plural only for

types and instances.) 2 tv., irreg.

to injure a part of the body; to

harm one’s mental processes or

emotional well-being (Past tense

and past participle: hurt.) 3 tv.,

irreg to have a bad effect on

some-one or something; to be bad for someone or something 4 tv.,

irreg to cause pain in something;

to give someone pain 5 iv., irreg.

to feel pain

→ cry before one is hurt

husband ["h^z b@nd] n a married

man; the man that a woman is married to

hush ["h^S] 1 n silence; quiet; calm (No plural.) 2 tv to cause

someone or something to be calm

and quiet 3 iv to become calm

and quiet

hush money money paid as a bribe

to persuade someone to remain silent and not reveal certain infor-mation

hush someone or something up to

make someone or something be quiet

hush something up to keep

some-thing from public knowledge

hush up to be quiet; to get quiet; to

stop talking

husky ["h^s ki] 1 adj [of a voice]

low sounding as if the speaker has

a sore throat (Adv: huskily Comp: huskier; sup: huskiest.) 2 adj big

and strong; muscular (Adv:

huskily Comp: huskier; sup: huski-est.) 3 n a kind of dog that pulls

sleds in the far north

hut ["h^t] n a small shelter; a

hum-ble dwelling

hutch ["h^tS] 1 n a cage for rabbits

or other small animals 2 n a

cupboard or cabinet with shelves

hyena [haI "i n@] n a wild, doglike

animal of Africa that eats meat and has a loud cry that sounds like laughter

hyena

279

hymn ["hIm] n a religious song of

praise meant to be sung by

wor-shipers

hype ["haIp] 1 n an extreme

amount of publicity; exaggerated

praise used for publicity (No

plu-ral.) 2 tv to provide Q for

some-one or something

hyphen ["haI f@n] n the mark of

punctuation (-) (It is placed

between the parts of some

com-pound words, between the words

in certain phrases, or between syl-lables where a word has been split between two lines of print.)

hypnotism ["hIp n@ tIz @m] 1 n.

hypnotizing people as a method of exploring and influencing the mind (No plural.) 2 n the pro-cess of hypnotizing someone (No plural.)

hypnotize ["hIp n@ taIz] tv to place

someone in a sleeplike condition hymn

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I ["aI] pron the first-person singular

pronoun—in writing, it refers to

the writer, and in speaking, it

refers to the speaker (Used as the

subject of a sentence or a clause

Compare this with me.)

ice ["aIs] 1 n frozen water (No

plural Number is expressed with

piece(s) or cube(s) of ice.) 2 tv to

cover a cake with icing or frosting

(See also icing.)

→ break the ice

→ on thin ice

→ put somethingon ice

→ skate on thin ice

ice cream ["aIs "krim] 1 n a

fro-zen dessert or snack food made

from cream or milk and some

kind of fruit or other flavoring

(No plural.) 2 the adj use of Q

(Hyphenated.)

ice cube ["aIs kjub] n a small cube

of ice, used to make drinks and

liquids cold

ice over [for water] to freeze and

develop a covering of ice

ice skate ["aI(s) sket] 1 n a boot

with a thin blade on the bottom

that allows one to glide on top of

ice 2 iv to glide across ice while

wearing a pair of Q

(Hyphen-ated Can be shortened to skate.)

ice something down to cool

some-thing with ice

ice up to become icy.

iceberg ["aIs b#g] n an enormous

piece of ice floating in the sea

icicle ["aIs sI k@l] n a pointed spike

of ice that hangs from something

such as a tree branch

icing ["aI sIN] n cake frosting; a

sweet coating for cakes, cookies, and other desserts (No plural.)

icy ["aI si] 1 adj covered with or

made of ice (Adv: icily Comp:

icier; sup: iciest.) 2 adj very cold;

freezing cold (Adv: icily Comp: icier; sup: iciest.)

I’d ["aId] 1 cont I would 2 cont I

had (Where hadis an auxiliary.)

idea [aI "di @] 1 n a thought

pro-duced by the mind; an opinion

2 n a picture of something

pro-duced by the mind; a mental

pic-ture 3 n a suggestion; a plan.

→ flirt with the idea of doing something

ideal [aI "dil] adj perfect; perfectly

suitable (Adv: ideally.)

the ideal n the best example of

something; the perfect type (No plural Treated as singular.)

ideals n high moral standards;

strong moral beliefs

identical [aI "dEn tI k@l] adj equal;

exactly alike (Adv: identically

[ Ik li].)

identical to someone or something

exactly the same as someone or something

identification [aI dEn t@ f@ "ke

S@n] 1 n identifying someone or something; the condition of being identified (Plural only for types and instances.) 2 n some kind of document that identifies someone; something that proves who some-one is (No plural.)

identify [aI "dEn t@ faI] 1 tv to

state who or what someone or

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something is; to allow the

identifi-cation of someone or something

2 tv to reveal someone’s identity.

identify someone or something

with someone or something to

associate people and things, in any

combination

identity [aI "dEn t@ ti] n who or

what a certain person or thing is

(No plural form.)

→ acase of mistaken identity

idiom ["Id i @m] 1 n a phrase

whose meaning is different from

the combined literal meanings of

the separate words that make up

the phrase 2 n a mode of

expres-sion or design

idiot ["Id i @t] n a foolish person; a

stupid person

idle something away to waste one’s

time in idleness; to waste a period

of time, such as an afternoon,

eve-ning, or one’s life

if ["If] 1 conj in the event [that

something is the case]; on the

con-dition [that something is the case]

2 conj whether (Often

intro-duces an indirect question.)

3 conj although; even though.

if not otherwise; if that does not

happen; if that is not the case; if

that is not so

if so if that is the case; if that is so;

if that happens

if worst comes to worst in the

worst possible situation; if things

really get bad

ignorant ["Ig n@ r@nt] 1 adj

with-out knowledge; withwith-out

informa-tion; uninformed (Adv:

ignor-antly.) 2 adj caused by a lack of

knowledge; resulting from a lack

of knowledge (Adv: ignorantly.)

→ play ignorant

ignore [Ig "nor] tv to pay no

atten-tion to someone or something

I’ll ["aIl] cont I will.

ill ["Il] 1 adj sick; not well; not healthy 2 adv badly (Before a

participle or certain adjectives

Usually hyphenated.) 3 n harm.

(No plural.)

→ fall ill

→ speak ill of someone

ill will ["Il "wIl] n angry feelings or

bad intentions (No plural Treated

as singular.)

ill-disposed to doing something

not friendly; not favorable; not well disposed

illegal [I "li g@l] adj not legal;

against the law (Adv: illegally.)

ill-gotten gains money or other

possessions acquired in a dishon-est or illegal fashion

illness ["Il n@s] 1 n a sickness; a disease 2 n a period of being

sick

ills n troubles.

illusion [I "lu Z@n] 1 n a vision of

something that is not really there;

a false image 2 n a false belief;

something that seems to be true but is not true

I’m ["aIm] cont I am.

image ["Im IdZ] 1 n that which is

seen in a mirror or similar surface

2 n a sculpture, painting, or

other form of art that represents someone or something; a picture

or photograph of someone or something 3 n a picture of something in one’s mind; a mental identify someone or something with someone or something

282

picture 4 n the opinion that

peo-ple have about a certain person or

thing; someone’s or something’s

reputation

imagery ["Im IdZ ri] n words,

music, or pictures that represent

or create images, often making

one think about situations or

feel-ings (No plural Treated as

singu-lar.)

imaginary [I "mAdZ @ nEr i] adj.

existing only in the mind; not real

(Adv: imaginarily [I mAdZ @ "nEr @

li].)

imagination [I mAdZ @ "ne S@n]

1 n the part of the mind that

produces thoughts and images

that are not real or not

experi-enced; the part of the mind that

imagines things (No plural.) 2 n

the ability to think of new and

interesting ideas; the ability to

imagine something (No plural.)

imagine [I "mAdZ In] 1 tv to think

of someone or something; to form

an image of someone or

some-thing in one’s mind (The object

can be a clause with that U.) 2 tv.

to think something; to believe

something; to suppose something;

to guess something (The object is

a clause with that U.)

imitate ["Im @ tet] 1 tv to attempt

to copy the style, behavior, or

suc-cess of someone whom one

admires or wants to be like 2 tv

to copy the behavior, speech, and

movement of someone for

amuse-ment

imitation [Im @ "te S@n] 1 n

copy-ing someone’s actions or deeds;

copying something (No plural.)

2 n a copy; a duplicate 3 n an

act of imitating someone or

some-thing 4 adj fake; artificial;

resembling something

immaculate [I "mAk j@ lIt] adj.

pure; absolutely clean; spotless

(Adv: immaculately.)

immaterial [Im @ "tIr i @l] adj not

relevant; having nothing to do

with something (Adv: immateri-ally.)

immediate [I "mid i It] 1 adj

hap-pening now; haphap-pening at once

(Adv: immediately.) 2 adj closest

to someone or something in space

or time; next to someone or

some-thing (Adv: immediately.)

immediate occupancy [of an

apartment or house] ready to be moved into at this moment

immemorial [Im m@ "mor i @l]

[since a time] so long ago that no one can remember the details, ori-gin, date, issues, etc

→ since time immemorial

immense [I "mEns] adj very large;

huge; enormous (Adv:

immensely.)

immerse oneself in something [I

"m#s ] to become deeply involved with something; to become absorbed in something

immerse someone or something in

something [I "m#s ] to put some-one or something into a liquid; to put someone or something under-water

immersion [I "m# Z@n] 1 n

plac-ing somethplac-ing under water or in a liquid (Plural only for types and instances.) 2 n being completely involved in something (Figurative

on Q No plural.)

immersion

283

immigrate ["Im @ gret] iv to come

into a new country to live

immodest [I "mad @st] 1 adj not

modest; revealing; shameless

(Adv: immodestly.) 2 adj not

modest about oneself; often

brag-ging (Adv: immodestly.)

immoral [I "mor @l] adj without

morals; not moral; breaking moral

rules (Adv: immorally.)

immortal [I "mor t@l] 1 adj

ever-lasting; lasting forever; never

dying; living forever (Adv:

immortally.) 2 adj continuing to

be remembered forever; never

for-gotten (Adv: immortally.)

immune (to something) [I "mjun

] 1 protected against a certain

disease, either naturally or

through medication 2 not in

danger of being affected by

some-thing; secure from the danger of

something

immunize someone against

some-thing to vaccinate someone against

some disease; to do a medical

pro-cedure that causes a resistance or

immunity to a disease to develop

in a person

impact 1 ["Im pAkt] n the crash of

objects striking one another with

force 2 ["Im pAkt] n the

influ-ence or effect of someone or

something (Figurative on Q.)

3 [Im "pAkt] tv to crash into

something

→ upon impact

impasse ["Im pAs] n a place where

movement or progress is blocked

by something; a deadlock (No

plural form.)

→ reach an impasse

impatient [Im "pe S@nt] adj not

patient; not able to wait for

some-one or something (Adv: impa-tiently.)

implant something in(to) someone

or something to embed something into someone or something

implicate someone in something to

say that someone is involved in something

imply [Im "plaI] tv to suggest

some-thing; to indicate something with-out actually saying it (The object

is a clause with that U.)

impolite [Im p@ "laIt] adj rude; not

polite; not courteous (Adv: impo-litely.)

import 1 [Im "port] tv to bring in

(to one country) a product from a

foreign country 2 ["Im port] n a

product that is brought into one country from another country

importance [Im "port ns] 1 n the

condition of being important (No

plural.) 2 n the relative position

or rank of someone or something (No plural.)

important [Im "port nt] adj having

a great effect, value, or influence

(Adv: importantly.)

impose something (up)on

one to force something on some-one

impose (up)on someone to make a

bothersome request of someone

impress someone with someone or

something to awe someone with someone or something

impress something (up)on

some-one to make somesome-one fully aware

of something

immigrate

284

imprint something into something

Go to imprint somethingon(to)

some-thing

imprint something on(to)

some-thing 1 to print somesome-thing onto

something 2 and imprint

some-thing into somesome-thing to record

something firmly in the memory

of someone 3 and imprint

something into something to

make a permanent record of

something in an animal’s brain

imprison someone in something to

lock someone up in something

improve (up)on something to

make something better

improvise on something [for a

musician] to create a new piece of

music on an existing musical

theme

impulse ["Im p@ls] 1 n a short

burst of electrical energy 2 n the

sudden desire to do something; a

whim (Figurative on Q.)

→ on impulse

impure [Im "pjUr] 1 adj not pure;

dirty; mixed with other things

(Adv: impurely.) 2 adj not

morally pure (Adv: impurely.)

in [In] 1 prep inside something;

within something; surrounded by

something else 2 prep into

some-thing; entering into a space; going

through a boundary and to a

posi-tion that is surrounded by

some-thing else 3 prep at some point

during a certain time period

4 prep after a certain period of

time 5 prep with something or

using something, especially a

lan-guage or a way of writing or

expressing something 6 adv

inward; indoors; going into

some-thing; in a way that someone or something will be in a position that is surrounded by something else 7 adv at home; at one’s office; available

in a dead heat finishing a race at

exactly the same time; tied (Here,

dead means “exact” or “total.”)

in a flash quickly; immediately.

in a huff in an angry or offended

manner

in a little bit in a small amount of

time

in a mad rush in a hurry; in a busy

rush

in a nutshell [of news or

informa-tion] in a (figuratively) very small container like a nutshell;stated in just a few words

in a pinch if absolutely necessary;

if there is no other alternative

in a rut Go to (stuck) in a rut

in a (tight) spot caught in a

prob-lem; in a difficult position

in a tizzy an excited and confused

condition; a fuss

in a vicious circle in a situation in

which the solution of one problem leads to a second problem, and the solution of the second problem brings back the first problem, etc

in a world of one’s own aloof;

detached; self-centered

in addition (to something)

addi-tionally; further; moreover; as an additional thing or person

in advance [of something given,

paid, or provided] before it is due

in agreement in harmony;

agree-ing

in agreement

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