invite someone over for some-thing to bid or request someone to come to one’s house for some-thing, such as a meal, party, chat, cards, etc.. to keep some-one or something separate from
Trang 1→ have a vested interest in something
→ in someone’s(own) (best)
interests
→ in the interest(s) of something
→ of interest (to someone)
→ pique someone’sinterest
interesting ["In tr@s tIN] adj
caus-ing interest or curiosity; worthy of
interest; keeping someone’s
inter-est (Adv: interestingly.)
interestingly ["In tr@s tIN li] 1 adv.
in a way that causes or keeps
someone’s interest 2 adv.
strangely; curiously
interfere [In t# "fIr] iv to get
involved [with something that is
private or restricted]
interfere with someone or
some-thing to create an interruption; to
disturb someone; to disturb the
operation of something
interference [In t# "fIr @ns] 1 n.
interfering; serving as a problem;
getting involved and making
one-self a bother (No plural.) 2 n an
electronic disturbance that
pre-vents the clear reception of a radio
or television signal (No plural.)
interim n the time in between
events; the meantime; the
mean-while; an interval
→ in the interim (between things)
interior [In "tIr i #] 1 n a part or
surface that is within something; a
part or surface that is inside of
something 2 n the area within
something; the space that is inside
something 3 the adj use of Q or
W
interj an abbreviation of
interjec-tion.
interjection [In t# "dZEk S@n] n a
word, expression, or phrase that is
used to express something with force or emotion (Abbreviated
interj here.)
intermediate [In t# "mid i It] adj.
between two stages, levels, sizes,
weights, etc (Adv: intermediately.)
intermission [In t# "mI S@n] n a
pause between the parts of a play, movie, opera, or other perform-ance
international [In t# "nAS @ n@l]
1 adj of or about two or more
countries; between two countries; among three or more countries
(Adv: internationally.) 2 adj.
global; in all nations (Adv: inter-nationally.)
Internet ["In t# nEt] n a digital
system of high-speed global com-munication and data transfer (No plural Not a proper noun, but usually capitalized Can be short-ened to Net.)
interrog an abbreviation of inter-rogative.
interrogative [In t@ "rag @ tIv] n a
word or expression used to ask a question (Who, what, when, where, why,and howare the most common interrogatives.
Abbrevi-ated interrog here.)
interrupt [In t@ "r^pt] 1 iv to
break into a conversation; to start talking while someone else is talk-ing 2 tv to stop the flow or
movement of something; to stop something temporarily
interruption [In t@ "r^p S@n] 1 n.
interrupting; stopping and inter-fering in a conversation or an activity 2 n a break in the flow of
something
interesting
296
Trang 2intersection [In t# "sEk S@n] 1 n a
junction of two or more roads,
streets, highways, etc.; a place
where roads or streets come
together or cross 2 n the point at
which two or more things join
interval ["In t# v@l] 1 n a period
of time between two events 2 n.
the distance between two points in
a series of points 3 n the
dis-tance between two musical tones
→ at regular intervals
intervene in something to get
involved in something
interview ["In t# vju] 1 n a
meet-ing between an employer and a job
seeker, where the employer asks
questions of the job seeker 2 n a
meeting where a reporter asks
questions of someone 3 tv to ask
questions of someone, possibly
about employment; to make direct
inquiries of someone 4 tv to ask
questions of someone for a
televi-sion or radio program, a
newspa-per or magazine article, etc
intestine [In "tEs tIn] n the tube or
channel between the stomach and
the rectum (Often plural with the
same meaning.)
into ["In tu] 1 prep to the inner
part of something; to the interior
of something 2 prep up against
someone or something 3 prep.
interested in something
(Infor-mal.)
in(to) a jam in(to) a difficult
situa-tion
into being into existence.
into someone’s clutches in(to) the
control of someone who has
power or authority over someone else
intransitive verb [In "trAn s@ tIv
"v#b] n a verb not taking a direct
object (Abbreviated iv here.)
introduce [In tr@ "dus] tv to
estab-lish something; to bring some-thing into use; to make somesome-thing known or familiar to someone
introduce someone (to someone)
to present someone to someone else when they meet for the first time
introduce someone to something
to show someone something for the first time
introduction [In tr@ "d^k S@n] 1 n.
an instance of presenting one
per-son to another perper-son 2 n
mak-ing the availability of somethmak-ing
known to people 3 n the part of
a book, chapter, or lecture that comes at the beginning and explains its purpose 4 n the basic
and important information about
a subject
intrude (up)on someone or some-thing to encroach on someone or something or on matters that con-cern only someone or something
intrusion [In "tru Z@n] 1 n
enter-ing into a situation where one is not wanted; a visit that is not wel-come 2 n breaking into a house
or other building
invasion [In "ve Z@n] 1 n a mili-tary attack 2 n the attack and
spread of something bad or dan-gerous (Figurative on Q.)
an invasion of privacy an
intru-sion that results in the loss of someone’s privacy
invasion of privacy
297
Trang 3invent [In "vEnt] 1 tv to create
something that has never been
made before 2 tv to make up a
story, an excuse, or a lie
(Figura-tive on Q.)
invention [In "vEn S@n] 1 n the
creation of a new device; the
pro-duction of a new machine or a
new process (No plural.) 2 n a
new device; something that has
been created for the first time
inventor [In "vEn t#] n someone
who inventsQ something;
some-one who has invented something
inventory ["In v@n tor i] 1 n goods
and supplies on hand or stored in a
warehouse; stock waiting to be
sold (No plural form.) 2 n a list
showing the number of each item
that has been packed, received,
shipped, etc
→ take inventory
invest in someone or something to
put resources into someone or
something in hopes of increasing
the value of the person or thing
invest someone with something to
endow someone with something,
such as power or privilege
invest ( someone’s) time in
some-thing to put one’s time, effort, or
energy into a project
invest ( something in someone or
something to give something such
as money or guidance to someone
or something
investment [In "vEst m@nt] n.
money that is assigned to a
proj-ect, stocks, a bank account, etc.,
with the hope and expectation of
profit
investor [In "vEs t#] n someone
who puts money into an invest-ment
invitation [In vI "te S@n] n a
writ-ten, printed, or spoken statement asking someone to attend an event
or to do something
invite someone in(to someplace)
to bid or request someone to enter
a place
invite someone out to ask someone
out on a date
invite someone over (for some-thing) to bid or request someone
to come to one’s house for some-thing, such as a meal, party, chat, cards, etc
invoice ["In voIs] 1 n a bill; a
doc-ument showing how much money
is owed for goods or services 2 tv.
to present someone or a business firm with Q
irk ["#k] tv to annoy, upset, or
irri-tate someone
iron ["aI#n] 1 n an element that is
a common metal, used to make
steel (No plural.) 2 n a small
device with a flat metal bottom, heated and used to press the wrin-kles out of cloth 3 adj made from Q 4 tv to smooth the
wrinkles out of clothes with W
→ have too many irons in the fire
→ strike while the iron is hot
iron something out 1 to use an
iron to make cloth flat or smooth
2 to ease a problem; to smooth
out a problem (Figurative Here
problem is synonymous with wrinkle.)
irony ["aI r@ ni] 1 n using words in
a funny or sarcastic way to create a invent
298
Trang 4meaning opposite from their
com-bined literal meaning in a funny or
sarcastic way (No plural.) 2 n an
event that has the opposite result
of what was planned or expected
irradiate [I "red i et] tv to treat
something with radiation; to treat
food with radiation to keep it
from spoiling
irreg an abbreviation ofirregular
R
irregular [Ir "rEg j@ l#] 1 adj not
regular; oddly shaped; uneven
(Adv: irregularly.) 2 adj
happen-ing at differhappen-ing intervals of time;
not happening regularly (Adv:
irregularly.) 3 adj different from
what is normal, and therefore
unacceptable (Euphemistic.)
4 adj [of the form of a noun,
verb, adjective, or adverb] not
regular in the way it changes form,
such as with the plural, past tense,
comparative, or superlative
(Abbreviated irreg here Adv:
irregularly.)
irritate ["Ir I tet] 1 tv to cause a
part of the body to become red or
swollen 2 tv to bother or annoy
someone or something
irritation [Ir I "te S@n] 1 n a
bother; something that irritates
2 n the condition of being sore or
itchy; soreness or tenderness of
skin or other body tissues (Plural
only for types and instances.)
is [Iz] iv a form ofbe, used in the
present tense of the third-person
singular, that is, with he, she, it,
and singular nouns (Reduced to ’s
in contractions.)
island ["aI l@nd] 1 n a piece of
land surrounded by water and
smaller than a continent 2 n.
something that is completely sur-rounded by something else (Figu-rative on Q.)
→ desert island
isle ["aIl] n an island.
isn’t ["Iz @nt] cont is not.
isolate ["aI s@ let] tv to keep
some-one or something separate from other people or things; to separate someone or something from other people or things
isolation [aI s@ "le S@n] n the state
of being isolated; keeping some-one or something away from other people or things (No plural.)
issue ["I Su] 1 n one of a set of
publications that are available
reg-ularly 2 n the number of stamps
or magazines printed at one time
3 n a topic; the topic being dis-cussed; a concern 4 tv to assign
something to someone; to supply
something to someone 5 tv to
speak or utter a command; to deliver or publish a written com-mand or order 6 tv to publish a
magazine, bulletin, newsletter, or newspaper
issue a call for something to make
an invitation or request for some-thing
it [It] 1 pron a form referring to
something that is not human; a form referring to a plant, an ani-mal, or something that is not liv-ing (However, itis sometimes used to refer to a baby or a small child See also itsand itself The plural is they.) 2 pron a form
used as the subject of a sentence
it
299
Trang 5where there is no real actor or
doer (Usually with the verb be,
but with others also.) 3 n the
player who must find or chase
everyone else in various children’s
games
itch ["ItS] 1 n a feeling on the skin
that makes one want to scratch
2 iv [for the skin] to have Q.
→ have an itch for something
→ have an itching palm
→ have an itch to do something
itchy ["ItS i] adj with the feeling of
itching; constantly itching
(Comp: itchier; sup: itchiest.)
→ have an itchy palm
it’d ["It Id] 1 cont it would 2 cont.
it had, where hadis an auxiliary
item ["aI t@m] n one thing that is
part of a list or a series; a unit; a
piece of information; a piece of
news
it’ll ["It @l] cont it will.
it’s ["Its] 1 cont it is (Compare
this with its.) 2 cont it has (This
hasis an auxiliary Compare this
with its.)
its ["Its] pron the possessive form
ofit; belonging to it (Compare this with it’s.)
itself [It "sElf] 1 pron the reflexive
form ofit 2 pron an emphatic
form ofit (Follows the nominal that is being emphasized.)
→ blow itself out
→ burn (itself) out
→ by itself
→ anend in itself
→ lend oneself or itselfto something
→ speaks for itself
iv an abbreviation ofintransitive verb
I’ve ["aIv] cont I have (This have is
an auxiliary.)
ivory ["aI vri] 1 n the hard, white
substance of which an elephant’s
tusk is made (No plural.) 2 n the color of Q 3 the adj use of Q or
W
→ live in an ivory tower
ivy ["aIv i] n a plant that holds onto
walls, trees, etc., and climbs as it grows (Plural only for types and instances.)
itch
300
Trang 6jack ["dZAk] 1 n a device used to
lift heavy things off the ground,
especially to push up a car wheel
in order to change a tire 2 n [in a
deck of playing cards] a card that
has a picture of a young man on it
and is signified by the letter J.
jack something up to push
some-thing up with a jack.
jacket ["dZAk It] 1 n a light coat;
the light coat that is part of a suit
2 n a covering for a book or a
sound recording
→ life jacket
jack-of-all-trades someone who
can do several different jobs
instead of specializing in one
jail ["dZel] 1 n a building where
criminals are locked up or where
people are locked up while waiting
for a trial 2 tv to put someone in
Q; to order someone to spend
time in Q
jam ["dZAm] 1 n a sweet food
made by boiling fruit and sugar
until it is thick (Plural only for
types and instances.) 2 tv to
cause something to become stuck;
to force something to fit
some-place 3 iv to become stuck; to be
unable to work properly because
something is stuck; to be unable to
move because something is stuck
→ in(to) a jam
→ traffic jam
janitor ["dZAn I t#] n someone
who cleans and takes care of a
building
January ["dZAn ju Er I] Go to
month.
jar ["dZar] 1 n a container with a
wide, circular top, usually made of glass or clay, and usually without handles 2 n the contents of Q.
3 tv to hit (lightly) or shake
someone or something
jaw ["dZO] 1 n the upper or lower
bones that form the mouth and
support the teeth 2 n one of the
two parts of a device that holds something tight, such as a vise or pliers
jawbone ["dZO bon] n the upper or
especially, the lower bones that form the mouth and support the teeth
jazz ["dZAz] 1 n a style of music
characterized by its rhythms, har-mony, and the creative ways its players work together while it is being played (No plural.) 2 the
adj use of Q.
jazz something up to make
some-thing more exciting or livelier
jealous ["dZEl @s] adj not liking
anyone who, one believes, might try to take away one’s things or the
people one loves (Adv: jealously.)
jealousy ["dZEl @ si] n the
condi-tion of being jealous; not liking someone who has something one wants (No plural.)
jeans ["dZinz] n a pair of cloth
pants, often dark blue, made of sturdy material (Treated as plural
Number is expressed by pair(s) of jeans.)
jelly ["dZEl i] 1 n a soft food that is
made by boiling fruit juice and sugar together and is often spread
on bread (Plural only for types
301
J
Copyright 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc
Trang 7and instances.) 2 adj made with
Q
jeopardy ["dZEp # di] phr a state of
risk or hazard
→ in jeopardy
jerk ["dZ#k] 1 n a sudden push or
pull of the muscles; a movement
made when something starts or
stops quickly 2 tv to push or pull
someone or something suddenly
3 iv to move with Q; make a
movement like Q
jerk something away (from
one or something) to grab
some-thing away or pull somesome-thing back
from someone or some creature
jerk something off ((of ) someone
or something) to grab something
off someone or something
jerk something out (of someone or
something) to pull something out
of someone or something, quickly
jerk something up 1 to pull
some-thing up quickly 2 to lift up
something, such as ears, quickly
jet ["dZEt] 1 n a stream of air,
water, steam, or another fluid that
is shot out from a small opening at
high pressure 2 n an airplane
that moves at high speed using
engines similar to a rocket (Short
for jet plane.) 3 iv [for water,
steam, or another fluid] to form a
stream by being forced out of a
small opening under pressure
4 iv to travel by W 5 tv to cause
water, steam, or another fluid to
form a stream by forcing it out of
a small opening under pressure
jet engine ["dZEt "En dZ@n] n an
engine powered by jet propulsion.
jet plane ["dZEt "plen] n a
high-speed plane; a plane that has one
or more jet engines (Can be shortened to jet.)
jet propulsion ["dZEt pr@ "p^l S@n]
n a means of pushing something
forward by forcing a jet out of the back (No plural.)
jet-black ["dZEt "blAk] adj deep,
shiny black in color
jewel ["dZu @l] n a gem; a valuable
stone; a piece of jewelry
jeweler ["dZu (@) l#] n someone
who deals in watches, valuable gems, and precious metals
jewelry ["dZu (@)l ri] n objects
usu-ally made of valuable metals or stones, such as rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and pins (No plural Treated as singular
Num-ber is expressed with piece(s) of jewelry.)
jiggle ["dZIg @l] 1 tv to move
someone or something up and
down or from side to side 2 iv to
move up and down or from side to side
jingle ["dZIN g@l] 1 n the ringing
noise of metal objects gently hit-ting together; the noise of a small bell being struck 2 n a tune or song used in advertising 3 tv to
make ringing noises by hitting
metal objects together 4 iv [for
metal objects] to make noises when struck together; [for a small bell] to make a noise when shaken
job ["dZab] 1 n a career; an occu-pation; regular employment 2 n.
a task; a duty; a responsibility; a
piece of work 3 n the
perform-ance or result of one’s work jeopardy
302
Trang 8→ fall down on the job
job lot a mixed collection of
vary-ing quality (Informal.)
jockey for position to try to push
or work one’s way into an
advanta-geous position at the expense of
others
jockey someone or something into
position to manage to get
some-one or something into a chosen
position
jog ["dZOg] 1 n a slow, gentle run
usually done for exercise; a
[human] trot 2 n a bend to the
right or the left; something that
causes a line not to be straight
3 iv to exercise by running
slowly
jog someone’s memory to
stimu-late someone’s memory to recall
something
jogger ["dZOg #] n someone who
exercises by jogging
Johnny-come-lately someone
who joins in (something) after it is
already under way
Johnny-on-the-spot someone
who is in the right place at the
right time
join ["dZoIn] 1 iv to come
together; to connect; to unite
2 tv to connect someone or
something to someone or
some-thing else; to unite people or
things into a single unit 3 tv to
enroll in a club, class, the military,
or some other organization; to
become a member of an
organiza-tion
join hands [for people] to hold
hands so that each person is
hold-ing the hands of two other people;
[for two people] to hold each other’s hands
Join the club! an expression
indi-cating that the person spoken to is
in the same, or a similar, unfortu-nate state as the speaker (Infor-mal.)
join the fray and jump into the fray to join the fight or argument join up to become part of some
organization
join ((up) with someone or
some-thing) to bring oneself into
associ-ation with someone or something
joint ["dZoInt] 1 n a place where
two things, especially bones, join
2 adj (Adv: jointly.) done or
owned together; joined; united
→ put someone’snose out of joint
joke ["dZok] 1 n something said or
done to make people laugh, espe-cially a short story told to make people laugh 2 tv to say
some-thing in a teasing or playful man-ner; to say something that is meant
to be funny (The object is a clause with that U.) 3 iv to tell Q; to
kid or tease [someone]; to say or
do things that are meant to be funny
→ all joking aside
→ crack a joke
→ no joke
→ play a joke on someone
→ astanding joke
jolt someone out of something to
startle someone out of a period of relaxation or distraction
jot something down to make a note
of something
journal ["dZ# nl] 1 n a diary; a
book where one writes down one’s feelings, thoughts, or activities
journal
303
Trang 92 n a magazine, periodical, or
scholarly publication
journey ["dZ#n i] 1 n a trip; a
voy-age 2 iv to travel.
joy ["dZoI] 1 n extreme pleasure or
happiness (No plural.) 2 n.
someone or something that causes
extreme pleasure or happiness
→ burst with joy
→ leap for joy
joyful ["dZoI f@l] 1 adj [of
some-one] full of joy; extremely happy;
very glad (Adv: joyfully.) 2 adj.
[for something] causing joy;
caus-ing extreme happiness
joyous ["dZoI @s] adj full of joy;
extremely happy; very glad (Adv:
joyously.)
judge ["dZ^dZ] 1 n an official who
hears and settles cases in a court of
law and who presides over trials
2 n someone who helps decide
the winner of a contest or
compe-tition 3 tv to hear and settle a
case in a court of law; to preside
over a trial in a court of law 4 tv.
to help decide the winner of a
con-test or competition 5 tv to state
an opinion about someone or
something; to evaluate someone or
something 6 tv to estimate
something; to make a guess that
something will happen (The
object is a clause with that U.)
→ (as) sober as a judge
judgment ["dZ^dZ m@nt] 1 n the
ability to make the proper
deci-sions; the ability to judge (No
plu-ral.) 2 n the result of judging; the
decision made by a judge or a jury
3 n an opinion (No plural.)
juggle ["dZ^g @l] 1 tv to keep three
or more objects moving through
the air by catching and throwing them in a circle 2 tv to deal with
several things at the same time
3 iv to toss objects in the air as in
Q
juice ["dZus] n the liquid part of
fruit, vegetables, or meat (Plural only for types and instances.)
→ stew in one’sown juice
July [dZ@ "laI] Go to month.
jumbo ["dZ^m bo] adj extra large;
larger than regular
jump ["dZ^mp] 1 iv to leap up; to
spring up; to push off the ground
with one’s legs 2 iv to move
sud-denly, as if surprised or scared
3 iv to go up sharply; to increase
sharply; to rise sharply (Figurative
on Q.) 4 tv to start a car by
con-necting its battery to another car’s
battery 5 n a leap off the ground;
a leap off the ground and over, through, or across something
6 n a sudden rise; an increase.
(Figurative on T.)
→ get the jump on someone
jump in((to) something) to leap
into something, such as water, a bed, a problem, etc
jump into the fray Go to join the fray.
jump off ((of ) something) to leap
off something
jump off the deep end Go to go off the deep end.
jump off the deep end (over someone or something) to get
deeply involved with someone or something (Often refers to romantic involvement.)
jump on the bandwagon Go to
get on the bandwagon.
journey
304
Trang 10jump out of one’s skin to react
strongly to a shock or surprise
jump out of something to leap
from something
jump over something to leap over
or across something
jump the gun to start before the
starting signal
jump the track 1 [for something]
to fall or jump off its rails or
guides (Usually said about a
train.) 2 to change suddenly from
one thing, thought, plan, or
activ-ity to another
jump to conclusions to move too
quickly to a conclusion; to form a
conclusion from too little
evi-dence (Idiomatic.)
jump up (on someone or
thing) to leap upward onto
some-one or something
jumping-off point a point or place
from which to begin a venture
junction ["dZ^Nk S@n] n a place
where two or more things come
together, especially the place
where roads or train tracks come
together or cross
June ["dZun] Go to month.
jungle ["dZ^N g@l] n a tropical
for-est of thick, lush plant growth,
usually near the equator
junior ["dZun j#] 1 n someone
who is younger or who has a lower
rank or position than someone
else 2 n a student in the third
year of high school (11th grade)
or the third year of college 3 adj.
of or about someone who is
younger or who has a lower rank
or position 4 adj of or about the
third year of high school or col-lege (Prenominal only.)
junk ["dZ^Nk] 1 n things that are
worthless; things that should be
thrown away (No plural.) 2 tv to
throw something away
jury ["dZ# i] 1 n a group of people
who listen to evidence at a trial in
a court of law and make a decision about the truth of the facts of the case 2 the adj use of Q just ["dZ^st] 1 adj fair; not biased;
honest; right; in accordance with
the law (Adv: justly.) 2 adj as
someone deserves; appropriate
(Adv: justly.) 3 adv only 4 adv barely; by a small amount 5 adv.
exactly [the right amount and no more]
→ get one’sjust deserts
→ get one’sjust reward(s)
→ stop (just) short (of something)
Just a minute! Wait only a short
time!; Wait a short period of time!
just so 1 in perfect order; neat and tidy 2 Just so! Precisely right!;
Quite right!
just what the doctor ordered
exactly what is required, especially for health or comfort
justice ["dZ^s tIs] 1 n the quality
or condition of being just; fairness, especially in a court of law (No plural.) 2 n the administration of
law; the practice of law within the
court system (No plural.) 3 n a
judge (Also a title and term of address.)
→ atravesty of justice
→ miscarriage of justice
→ poetic justice
justice
305