Plural only for types and instances.. → brush past someone or something → in times past → skip past someone or something past tense ["pAst "tEns] n.. Plural only for types and instances.
Trang 1one’s hair along a line, especially
when combing it into two sides
7 iv to divide or separate, making
an opening
→ take someone’spart
part and parcel an essential part;
something that is unavoidably
included as part of something else
part of speech ["part @v "spitS] n.
one of the classes or divisions of
words that reflect grammatical
usage, such as noun, verb,
adjec-tive, etc
part someone’s hair to come very
close to someone
partial to someone or something
favoring or preferring someone or
something
participate (in something) [par
"tIs @ pet ] to be one of a group
of people or things doing or
involved in something
participation [par tIs @ "pe S@n] n.
joining in and doing something
with other people (No plural.)
participle ["part @ sIp @l] n either
the present participle (the -ing
form) or the past participle.
particle ["part I k@l] 1 n a small
piece of something 2 n a kind of
short, basic word or a part of a
word—such as a conjunction,
article, or preposition—that
affects the meaning of another
word 3 n a basic unit of matter,
such as a proton, neutron, or
elec-tron
particular [par "tIk j@ l#] 1 adj.
specific; distinct [from others]
(Adv: particularly.) 2 adj.
unusual; noticeable; worth
notic-ing (Adv: particularly.) 3 adj.
hard to please (Adv: particularly.)
the particulars of something
spe-cific details about something
partner ["part n#] 1 n someone
with whom one shares a business; one of the owners of a business
2 n someone who shares an
activity with someone else
part-time ["part "taIm] 1 adj for
only part of the time and not
full-time 2 adv [working] only part
of the workweek; not as full-time
party ["par ti] 1 n a social
gather-ing of people; a gathergather-ing of
peo-ple who are having fun 2 n a
group of people who are together
for a specific reason 3 n a group
of people united with a common goal or with common ideas, espe-cially in politics 4 n a person
5 the adj use of Q or E 6 iv to
celebrate; to have fun with other people (Informal.)
→ life of the party
→ theresponsible party
the party line the official ideas and
attitudes that are adopted by the leaders of a particular group and that the other members are expected to accept
Theparty’s over a phrase said
when a happy or fortunate time has come to an end (Informal.)
pass ["pAs] 1 tv to reach someone
or something and go beyond 2 tv.
to succeed in a [school] course or examination; to have a medical examination where no problems are discovered 3 tv to use up a period of time [doing something];
to occupy a period of time [doing something] 4 tv to approve or part and parcel
416
Trang 2agree to something, such as a
motion, law, or regulation, by
means of a vote 5 tv to hand
something over to someone; to
give something to someone 6 tv.
to throw a ball to someone in a
game 7 iv to reach and go
beyond 8 iv to meet the
require-ments for successfully completing
a [school] course 9 iv [for a
motion or law] to be approved by
means of a vote 10 iv [for time]
to progress or proceed 11 n a
ticket or document showing that
one is allowed to go somewhere
12 n the transfer of a ball or
something similar in various
sports 13 n a narrow road or
pathway, especially through
mountains
→ come to pass
→ let somethingpass
→ mention somethingin passing
→ ships that pass in the night
pass away to die (Euphemistic.)
pass on to die (Euphemistic.)
pass on (to someone or something)
to leave the person or thing being
dealt with and move on to another
person or thing
pass out to faint; to become
unconscious
pass over (someone or something)
1 to skip over someone or
some-thing; to fail to select someone or
something 2 to pass above
some-one or something
pass someone or something up
1 to fail to select someone or
something 2 to travel past
some-one or something
pass something along (to
someone) 1 to give or hand
something to someone 2 to relay
some information to someone
pass something back (to someone)
to return something by hand to someone
pass something down (to someone) and pass something
on (to someone) 1 to send
some-thing down a line of people to someone (Each person hands it to the next.) 2 to will something to someone
pass something on (to someone)
Go to pass somethingdown (to some-one).
pass something out (to someone)
to distribute something to some-one
pass something over (to someone)
to send something to someone far-ther down in a line of people (Each person hands it to the next.)
pass the buck to pass the blame
for something to someone else; to give the responsibility for some-thing to someone else
pass the hat to attempt to collect
money for some charitable proj-ect
passable ["pAs @ b@l] 1 adj able to
be crossed or passed through; able
to be traveled over 2 adj [a
motion or proposition] likely to
get enough votes to pass 3 adj.
only adequate; fair; okay (Adv:
passably.)
passage ["pAs IdZ] 1 n a path or hallway 2 n the progress or
movement of time (No plural.)
3 n the approval of a law or
motion, usually by a vote (No
plu-ral.) 4 n a short section of a piece
passage
417
Trang 3of music, a speech, or a written
work
passbook ["pAs bUk] n a book for
keeping track of one’s savings
account in a bank
passenger ["pAs @n dZ#] n
some-one who is riding in a vehicle but
is not driving it
passion ["pAS @n] 1 n strong
romantic and sexual feeling
(Plural only for types and
instances.) 2 n a very strong
interest in something
passive ["pAs Iv] 1 adj not
resist-ing; not active; letting others take
charge or control a situation (The
opposite ofactive Adv: passively.)
2 adj of or about a grammatical
state where the verb acts on the
subject of the sentence (The
opposite ofactive Adv: passively.)
3 n a verb phrase that is W.
passport ["pAs port] n a
docu-ment shaped like a small book,
showing what country one is a
cit-izen of (It is needed to enter
cer-tain countries.)
apassport to something
some-thing that allows somesome-thing good
to happen; something that allows
entrance to something else
password ["pAs w#d] n a secret
word, phrase, or set of symbols
that allows someone access to
something
past ["pAst] 1 n a time that has
gone by; things that have
hap-pened; history (No plural.) 2 adj.
most recent; occurring in the time
just before this time 3 adj
occur-ring or completed at some
previ-ous time 4 the adj use of Q.
5 adv by; toward or alongside
someone or something and then
beyond 6 prep farther [in space,
time, ability, or quality] than someone or something; beyond [in space, time, ability, or quality] someone or something
→ brush past someone or something
→ in times past
→ skip past someone or something
past tense ["pAst "tEns] n the
tense of a verb or auxiliary verb that indicates an event or a state that has existed at a previous time
pasta ["pas t@] n a food prepared
by mixing flour, water, and some-times egg to make a dough or paste, and then shaping it into dif-ferent forms; noodles (Plural only for types and instances.)
paste ["pest] 1 n a soft mixture
that is easily spread (Plural only
for types and instances.) 2 n a
soft mixture that causes objects to stick together (Plural only for types and instances.) 3 tv to cause something to stick to some-thing else with W
paste something up 1 to repair something with paste 2 to
assemble a complicated page of material by pasting the parts together
pastime ["pAs taIm] n an activity
that one enjoys; an enjoyable activity that is done to pass the time
pastor ["pAs t#] n a minister in a
Christian church
pastry ["pe stri] 1 n rich dough
that is made with flour and butter
or fat and is baked (Plural only for types and instances.) 2 n baked passbook
418
Trang 4foods, typically sweet, usually
made with Q (Plural only for
types and instances Number is
expressed with piece(s) of pastry.)
3 n a piece or item of W; a sweet
roll, small cake, or other
sweet-ened, baked food, often with fruit
or with a sweet coating or filling
pasture ["pAs tS#] n a field of
grass, especially one where
ani-mals eat
→ put someone or somethingout to
pasture
pat ["pAt] 1 n a gentle tap,
espe-cially with the palm of one’s hand
2 tv to touch or tap someone or
something gently a few times,
especially with the palm of the
hand 3 adj perfectly, as if
rehearsed or from memory (Adv:
patly.)
→ have somethingdown pat
patch ["pAtS] 1 n a piece of cloth
or other material used to repair a
hole or a tear or to cover
some-thing 2 n a small area of land
3 n a small area on a surface
that is different from the area
around it
patch something together (with
something) to use something to
repair something hastily or
tem-porarily
patch something up to repair
something in a hurry; to make
something temporarily serviceable
again
patent ["pAt nt] 1 n the exclusive
right, registered with the
govern-ment, to benefit from the
owner-ship of a process or invention
2 tv to seek and gain Q on
some-thing
path ["pAT] 1 n., irreg a track or
trail along the earth (Plural:
["pADz] or ["pATs].) 2 n., irreg.
the route someone or something takes to achieve a result (Figura-tive on Q.)
→ beat a path to someone’sdoor
→ lead someonedown the garden path
the path of least resistance See
theline of least resistance.
pathway ["pAT we] n a path Q or W
patience ["pe S@ns] n the quality
of being patient and not becoming anxious or annoyed (No plural.)
→ run out of patience
→ try someone’spatience
patient ["pe S@nt] 1 adj able to
wait for something to happen without complaining or becoming anxious or annoyed (Adv:
patiently.) 2 n someone who is
getting medical help from a doc-tor, nurse, or hospital
patio ["pAt i o] n a paved surface
connected to one’s house where one can relax, gather with others, barbecue food, etc (From
Span-ish Plural ends in -s.)
patrol [p@ "trol] 1 tv to watch over
an area by walking or driving
around 2 iv to watch over [an
area] by walking or driving
around 3 n people who watch
over an area as in Q
→ on patrol
→ (out) on patrol
patronize ["pe tr@ naIz] 1 tv to be
a regular customer of a store, restaurant, hotel, or other busi-ness 2 tv to act as if one is supe-rior to someone else
patronize
419
Trang 5patter ["pAt #] 1 n a series of
quick tapping sounds (No plural.)
2 iv [for falling rain] to make
quick tapping sounds as it strikes
something
pattern ["pAt #n] 1 n a design; an
arrangement of shapes and colors,
especially one that is repeated
2 n a repeated element in a series
of events 3 n a printed or drawn
outline of the parts of a garment
or something that is to be built
patty ["pAt i] n a thin, flat disk of
ground or mashed food, especially
one formed of ground meat
pause ["pOz] 1 n a brief delay; a
moment in which someone or
something stops talking, moving,
or working 2 iv to stop for a
moment; to stop moving or
talk-ing for a moment
pave ["pev] tv to build or cover a
road, street, driveway, highway,
etc., with cement, concrete, or
some other hard surface
pavement ["pev m@nt] n a flat
sur-face of concrete, cement, or some
other hard material covering an
area, especially covering a street or
sidewalk (No plural.)
→ pound the pavement
paw ["pO] 1 n the foot of a clawed
animal 2 tv to handle someone
or something with hands or Q
pay ["pe] 1 tv., irreg to give money
(to someone) in exchange for a
product or a service or to settle a
debt (E.g., to pay twelve dollars.
Past tense and past participle:
paid.) 2 tv., irreg to give someone
an amount of money in exchange
for a product or service or to settle
a debt (E.g., to pay someone.)
3 tv., irreg to settle a bill or a debt 4 tv., irreg [for something]
to yield a certain amount of
money or a certain benefit 5 n.
wages; salary; the amount of money that one earns from a job (No plural Treated as singular.)
6 adj requiring money in order to
be used
→ rob Peter to pay Paul
→ There will be the devil to pay.
pay a call on someone to visit
someone
pay a visit to someone or
some-thing Go to pay (someone or something)
a visit.
pay an arm and a leg (for some-thing) and pay through the nose (for something) to pay too
much money for something
pay (for something) to transfer
money in exchange for a product
or service
pay for something to be punished
for something
pay homage to someone to praise,
respect, and honor someone
pay off to yield profits; to result in
benefits
pay one’s debt (to society) to
serve a sentence for a crime, usu-ally in prison
pay one’s dues to have earned one’s
right to something through hard work or suffering
pay one’s last respects to attend
the wake or funeral of someone; to approach the coffin containing someone in a final act of respect
pay someone back 1 to return
money that was borrowed from a
person 2 to get even with
some-patter
420
Trang 6one [for doing something]
(Figu-rative.)
pay (someone or something) a visit
and pay a visit to someone or
something to visit someone or
something
pay someone respect to honor
someone; to have and show
respect for someone
pay something down 1 to make a
deposit of money on a purchase
2 to reduce a bill by paying part
of it, usually periodically
pay something in(to something) to
pay an amount of money into an
account
pay something off to pay the total
amount of a bill; to settle an
account by paying the total sum
pay something out to unravel or
unwind wire or rope as it is
needed
pay something out (for someone or
something) to disburse money for
something or something
pay something out (to someone) to
pay money to someone
pay something up to pay all of
whatever is due; to complete all
the payments on something
pay through the nose (for
some-thing) Go to pay an arm and a leg
(for something).
pay to do something to be
benefi-cial to do something; to be
prof-itable
payday ["pe de] n the day on which
a company pays its workers
payment ["pe m@nt] 1 n
transfer-ring money [to someone] (Plural
only for types and instances.) 2 n.
an amount of money paid or to be paid; something that is paid [to someone or something]
payroll ["pe rol] n the list of a
company’s employees and their salaries
pea ["pi] 1 n a small, round, green
vegetable that grows in a pod on a
vinelike plant 2 n the plant that
Q grows on (No singular in this sense Number is expressed with
pea plant(s).)
→ (as) thick as pea soup
peace ["pis] 1 n a condition where
there is no war or fighting; a time when there is order and harmony (No plural.) 2 n silence; freedom from anxiety (No plural.)
→ at peace
→ hold one’speace
→ leave someonein peace
→ rest in peace
peaceful ["pis fUl] 1 adj without
war or fighting; not at war;
orderly (Adv: peacefully.) 2 adj.
happy and calm; free from
anxi-ety (Adv: peacefully.)
peach ["pitS] 1 n a soft, sweet,
juicy, round fruit with a fuzzy skin, yellow-orange pulp, and a large pit in the middle 2 adj made with Q; tasting like Q
peacock ["pi kak] 1 n a large male
peafowl having a large, beautifully
colored tail that fans out 2 n any
peafowl
→ (as) proud as a peacock
peafowl ["pi faUl] n., irreg a large
bird from Southeast Asia, the males of which have large, showy
tails (Plural: peafowl or peafowls.)
peahen ["pi hEn] n a female
peafowl
peahen
421
Trang 7peak ["pik] 1 n the top of
some-thing, especially a mountain; the
highest point of something 2 n.
the maximum amount of effort or
accomplishment 3 iv to form or
rise to Q 4 iv to reach W.
peal ["pil] 1 n the [loud], ringing
sound that bells make 2 n a long,
loud sound, such as with laughter
3 iv to ring loudly; to sound
loudly
peal out [for bells or voices] to
sound forth musically
peanut ["pi n@t] 1 n a plant with
seed pods that grow underground
2 n the nutmeat of Q; the
nut-meat and shell of Q
peanut butter ["pi n@t b@t #] 1 n.
an edible paste made from crushed
peanuts (No plural.) 2 adj made
with Q (Hyphenated.)
pear ["per] n a yellow, brown, or
green fruit that is rounded at the
bottom and narrower toward the
top
pearl ["p#l] n a hard, white, round
substance formed inside an oyster,
usually used in jewelry
→ cast (one’s) pearls before swine
pebble ["pEb @l] n a small stone.
pecan [pI "kan] 1 n a tall tree
native to the southern United
States and Mexico 2 n the edible
part of Q; the nutmeat and shell
of Q 3 n the wood of Q (Plural
only for types and instances.)
4 adj made with W 5 adj made
from E
pedal ["pEd l] 1 n a device that
controls something and is
oper-ated with the feet 2 tv to ride a
bicycle 3 iv to ride [a bicycle]
somewhere
pedestal ["pEd @ st@l] n a base that
supports a statue, vase, column, etc
peek ["pik] 1 n a quick, sly look; a
quick look at something that one is
not supposed to look at 2 iv to
look quickly at something that one
is not supposed to look at
peek in (on someone or something) to glance quickly into
a place to see someone or some-thing
peel ["pil] 1 n the outer skin of
certain fruits and vegetables (No plural See also peeling.) 2 tv to remove Q 3 tv to remove an
outer layer from something
(Fig-urative on W.) 4 iv [for an outer
layer] to come off
peel something off from something
Go to peel somethingoff ((of) some-thing).
peel something off ((of ) some-thing) and peel something off from something to remove the
outside surface layer from some-thing
peeling ["pi lIN] n a part of
some-thing, especially fruits and vegeta-bles, that has been peeled off (Often plural.)
peep ["pip] 1 n a high noise, such
as that made by a baby chicken or
other birds 2 iv to have a quick
look at something, especially in
secret; a peek 3 iv to make a
noise, as with Q
→ have a peep
→ take a peep peak
422
Trang 8peer in(to something) to stare into
something; to look deep into
something
peer out at someone or something
to stare out at someone or
some-thing
peeve ["piv] n something that
irri-tates or annoys someone
→ one’spet peeve
peg ["pEg] 1 n a thick wooden or
plastic pin used to hold objects
together 2 tv to attach
some-thing to somesome-thing with Q
→ have someonepegged as something
→ asquare peg in a round hole
peg someone as something and
have someone pegged as
some-thing to think of someone in a
cer-tain way
pelican ["pEl I k@n] n a bird that
lives on or near the water and that
has a bill with a large scoop on the
lower part
pellet ["pEl It] n a hard, small ball
of something, such as ice, wax,
dirt, or metal
pelt down (on someone or
some-thing) [for something] to fall
down on someone or something
pen ["pEn] 1 n a thin writing
instrument that uses ink 2 n a
confined area where certain
ani-mals are kept 3 tv to write
some-thing, usually with Q
pen someone or something in
(someplace) to confine someone
or some creature in a pen
pen someone or something up to
confine someone or something to
a pen
penalty ["pEn @l ti] n a punishment
for breaking a rule or law
pencil ["pEn s@l] 1 n a thin writing
instrument with a pointed core made of a soft black material
2 tv to write something with Q.
→ in pencil
pencil sharpener ["pEn s@l "Sar p@
n#] n a machine or device that sharpens things, usually pencils
pencil someone or something in to
write something or someone’s name on a list with a pencil (Implies that the writing is not final.)
penny ["pEn i] n a cent; ¹⁄₁₀₀ of a
dollar in the United States and various other nations
→ cost a pretty penny
pension ["pEn S@n] n money that is
paid to a former employee, from retirement until death, or some other period of time, to replace a salary
penthouse ["pEnt haUs] n., irreg a
special apartment on the top floor
of a building (Plural: [ haU z@z].)
people ["pip @l] 1 n persons (No
plural Treated as a plural Used as
a plural ofperson.) 2 n a specific
group of Q; a race or ethnic group
of Q (Singular or plural with the same meaning.)
→ narrow somethingdown (to people
or things)
→ split people up
pep ["pEp] n energy; vigor (No
plural.)
pepper ["pEp #] 1 n a vegetable,
often green or red, that is mostly hollow and often very hot and spicy 2 n the dried berries of various plants, usually ground, used to season food (Usually
pepper
423
Trang 9black in the United States and
white in Europe Plural only for
types and instances.) 3 tv to
sprinkle W on food as a seasoning
4 tv [for many tiny things] to
strike something lightly
peppy ["pEp i] adj full of energy;
active; excited (Adv: peppily.
Comp: peppier; sup: peppiest.)
per head Go to ahead.
perceive [p# "siv] tv to be aware of
someone or something with one’s
mind; to be aware of someone or
something through one’s senses
percent [p# "sEnt] n a
one-hun-dredth part (No plural Usually
expressed with a number ranging
from 0 through 100 Also
expressed as (%).)
percentage [p# "sEn tIdZ] n a part
that is less than the whole amount
perch ["p#tS] 1 n a branch or rod
that a bird grasps with its feet
when it is at rest 2 n a place to sit
that is high off the floor or
ground; a high ledge (Figurative
on Q.) 3 n., irreg any one of
sev-eral species of edible fish (Plural:
perch, except when referring to a
number of species.) 4 iv to sit on
top of something; to stand on top
of something, as does a bird
perfect 1 ["p# fIkt] adj being the
best; completely correct; without
flaws (Adv: perfectly.) 2 ["p#
fIkt] adj exactly suitable; exactly
what is needed (Adv: perfectly.)
3 ["p# fIkt] adj complete; total.
(Adv: perfectly.) 4 ["p# fIkt] n a
grammatical construction
show-ing a completed action or
condi-tion; a form of the verb that shows
that something was completed, is completed, or will be completed (In English, it consists of the past participle of the verb that follows
a form ofhave T No plural.)
5 [p# "fEkt] tv to make
some-thing without flaws as in Q
perfection [p# "fEk S@n] 1 n the
condition of being perfect (No
plural.) 2 n becoming perfect;
making something perfect (No plural.)
→ cook somethingto perfection
perform [p# "form] 1 tv to do something; to do an action 2 tv.
to present a play, sing a song, play
a piece of music, do a dance, etc., for an audience 3 iv to act, sing, dance, or play music, especially in
front of people 4 iv to function;
to do what is expected or has been assigned
performance [p# "for m@ns] 1 n.
a presentation of a play, a piece of
music, a song, a dance, etc 2 n.
the quality of performing or func-tioning; how well someone or something performs (Plural only for types and instances.)
performer [p# "for m#] n
some-one who performs, such as an actor, a singer, a musician, a dancer
perfume 1 ["p# fjum, p# "fjum]
n a mixture of pleasant-smelling
natural or artificial oils and alco-hol that is put on people’s skin (Plural only for types and instances.) 2 [p# "fjum] tv to place a pleasant-smelling sub-stance on someone; to add a pleas-ant-smelling substance to the air
in a room
peppy
424
Trang 10perhaps [p# "hAps] adv maybe;
possibly; maybe yes, maybe no
period ["pIr i @d] 1 n a
punctua-tion mark (.) used at the end of a
sentence or at the end of an
abbre-viation 2 n a certain length of
time, including certain times in
history 3 n a section or part of
certain games, such as basketball
4 n a division of the school day.
5 n the time during the month
when a woman menstruates
(Short for menstrual period.) 6.
adj [of art, architecture, crafts, or
literature] having to do with a
cer-tain time in history
→ menstrual period
perish ["pEr IS] 1 iv to die 2 iv.
[for something] to go away or fade
away
Perish the thought Do not even
consider thinking of something
(Literary.)
perjury ["p# dZ@ ri] n lying in
court after one has taken an oath
promising not to lie (No plural.)
perk up to be invigorated; to
become more active
permanent ["p# m@ n@nt] 1 adj.
intended or designed to last
for-ever or for a long time; not
tempo-rary (Adv: permanently.) 2 n a
type of hair treatment where the
hair is caused to stay in a
particu-lar arrangement for a long time
(From permanent wave.)
permission [p# "mI S@n] n
con-sent; agreement that something
may be done (No plural.)
permit 1 ["p# mIt] n an official
document that allows someone to
do something 2 [p# "mIt] tv to
allow someone to do something;
to let someone do something
→ weather permitting
permit someone out (of some-thing) to allow someone to go out
of something or someplace
persist [p# "sIst] 1 iv to continue
to do something; not to give up, even if the task is difficult or if one faces opposition 2 iv to con-tinue to exist
persist in doing something to
con-tinue doing something
persist with something to continue
the state of something; to extend
an action or state
person ["p# s@n] 1 n a human
being; a man, a woman, a boy, or a girl (Peopleis sometimes used as
the plural.) 2 n a grammar term,
used to show the relationship of the speaker or writer to the receiver of the message
→ every other person or thing
→ feel like a new person
→ in person
→ on one’sperson
personal ["p# s@n @l] 1 adj of or
about the private affairs of a par-ticular person; belonging to or used by a particular person (Adv:
personally.) 2 adj done by a
cer-tain person, instead of by someone
else (Adv: personally.)
→ take somethingpersonally
personality [p# s@ "nAl @ ti] 1 n.
aspects of one’s thinking and behavior that make one different from everyone else 2 n someone who is well known; a famous person
personality
425