Plural only for types and instances.. plow something in to work some-thing into the soil by plowing.. to work doing one’s job, especially at one’s trade.. Plural only for types and inst
Trang 1play up to someone to flatter
someone; to try to gain influence
with someone
play (up)on something 1 to make
music on a musical instrument
2 to exploit
something—includ-ing a word—for some purpose; to
develop something for some
pur-pose
play with fire to take a big risk.
played out (Informal.) 1
ex-hausted 2 no longer of interest
or influence
player ["ple #] 1 n someone who
plays a game or sport 2 n
some-one who plays a particular musical
instrument 3 n something that
plays a recording (Compare this
with recorder E.)
→ cassette player
playful ["ple fUl] 1 adj liking to
play; full of fun (Adv: playfully.)
2 adj funny; humorous; not
seri-ous (Adv: playfully.)
playground ["ple graUnd] 1 n an
outdoor place for children to play
2 the adj use of Q.
plaything ["ple TIN] n a toy;
some-thing that is played with
plea ["pli] 1 n a request; an appeal.
2 n a statement in court in which
one declares that one is guilty or
innocent
plead ["plid] 1 tv., irreg to declare
in court that one is guilty or not
guilty before the trial actually
begins (Past tense and past
par-ticiple: pleaded or pled.) 2 tv.,
irreg to claim something as an
excuse (The object can be a clause
with that U Past tense and past
participle: pleaded or pled.)
plead for something to beg for
something; to ask for something
pleasant ["plEz @nt] 1 adj [of
something] bringing or causing enjoyment and pleasure (Adv:
pleasantly.) 2 adj [of someone]
friendly and nice (Adv: pleas-antly.)
please ["pliz] 1 adv a word used to
make requests or commands more
polite 2 tv to cause someone to
be happy or satisfied
→ aim to please
please yourself and suit your-self to do what one wishes.
(Informal.)
pleasure ["plEZ #] n a feeling of
happiness because of something that one likes; enjoyment; a pleas-ing feelpleas-ing or emotion (Plural only for types and instances.)
pled ["plEd] a past tense and past
participle ofplead
pledge ["plEdZ] 1 n a promise; a
vow; a statement that one will do
something 2 tv to promise
something (The object can be a clause with that U.)
pledge to do something to vow or
promise to do something
plentiful ["plEn tI fUl] adj having
enough or more than enough;
ample (Adv: plentifully.)
plenty ["plEn ti] 1 n a full supply;
more than enough (No plural.)
2 adj enough; almost too much.
(Not prenominal.)
→ There are plenty of other fish in the sea.
plenty of something lots of
some-thing; an abundance of somesome-thing; enough of something
play up to someone
436
Trang 2pliers ["plaI #z] n a tool with
rough jaws, used to grasp objects
(Usually treated as plural Number
is expressed with pair(s) of pliers.
Also countable.)
plot ["plat] 1 n the story of a
movie, book, opera, television
show, play, etc 2 n a secret plan
to do something wrong or illegal
3 n a small garden or part of a
garden; a small area of land 4 iv.
to plan in secret 5 iv to make
plans to do something, especially
secretly 6 tv to plan in secret to
do something 7 tv to determine
the position of something on a
map, chart, or graph
→ brew a plot
plot something out to map
some-thing out; to outline a plan for
something
The plot thickens a phrase said
when things are becoming more
complicated or interesting
plotter ["plat #] n a machine that
marks points, lines, or curves on a
graph
plow ["plaU] 1 n a farm tool made
of a heavy metal blade used to
break up and turn over soil 2 n a
large, curved blade in front of a
vehicle that is used to move snow
off a road or path 3 n a vehicle
equipped with W 4 iv to use Q.
5 tv to cut into land, making
rows for planting crops, with Q
6 tv to clear a road or path of
snow with W
→ put one’shand to the plow
plow something back into
some-thing to put somesome-thing, such as a
profit, back into an investment
plow something in to work
some-thing into the soil by plowing
plow something under (something)
to push something under the sur-face of the soil or of water
plow through something to work
through something laboriously
pluck ["pl^k] 1 tv to remove the
feathers from a bird; to remove hairs from the body of a person or
an animal 2 tv to clean a bird of
its feathers 3 tv to pull
some-thing from someplace
pluck something off ((of ) someone
or something) to pick something
off someone or something
pluck something out (of some-thing) to snatch something out of
something
pluck up someone’s courage to
bolster someone’s, including one’s own, courage
plug ["pl^g] 1 n a small device for
closing a hole, drain, or other
opening 2 n the connector that
is pushed into an electric recepta-cle (Short for electric plug.) 3 n.
a statement made while speaking
on television or radio that encour-ages people to buy something or
do something 4 tv to mention a product and to encourage people
to buy it
→ electric plug
plug away (at someone or some-thing) to keep working at someone
or something
plug something in(to something) to
connect something to something else, usually by connecting wires together with a plug and socket plug something in(to something)
437
Trang 3plug something up to fill up a hole;
to block a hole or opening
plum ["pl^m] 1 n a fruit with a
smooth skin and a soft, sweet,
juicy pulp with a large pit 2 n a
deep purple color 3 adj deep
purple in color
plumber ["pl^m #] n someone
who is trained to install and repair
sewer pipes, water pipes, and
fix-tures such as sinks, toilets,
bath-tubs, and drains
plumbing ["pl^m IN] 1 n the work
that a plumber does (No plural.)
2 n water pipes, sewer pipes, gas
pipes, and related fixtures (No
plural.)
plume ["plum] 1 n a feather,
espe-cially a bright, colorful one 2 n.
something that looks like a feather,
especially a cloud of smoke or a jet
of water
plump ["pl^mp] adj a little fat or
swollen
plump something up to pat or
shake something like a pillow into
a fuller shape
plunge ["pl^ndZ] 1 n a dive; a
jump into water 2 iv to dive into
a liquid
plunge in(to something) to dive or
rush into something; to immerse
oneself in something
plunge something in(to someone
or something) to drive or stab
something into someone or
some-thing
plural ["pl# @l] 1 n a form of a
word that refers to more than one
thing or person 2 the adj use of
Q
plus ["pl^s] 1 prep in addition to
someone or something; added to someone or something (Symbol-ized by ().) 2 conj and also
3 adj above zero; [marking a
number] greater than zero (Sym-bolized as ().) 4 n an advan-tage; an extra
ply ["plaI] 1 n a layer of
some-thing (Hyphenated after a
num-ber.) 2 tv to work doing one’s job,
especially at one’s trade
plywood ["plaI wUd] n a wooden
panel made of several thin sheets
of wood that are glued together (No plural.)
pocket ["pak It] 1 n a small cloth
bag that is sewn into clothing and
is used to hold things, such as a wallet or keys 2 n a small amount of something that is sepa-rated from other amounts of it; an isolated amount of something
3 adj small enough to fit in Q; meant to be put in Q 4 tv to put something in one’s Q 5 tv to
steal something by putting it in one’s Q
→ have someonein one’spocket
→ Money burns a hole in someone’s pocket.
pod ["pad] n a long, soft, narrow
shell that holds the seeds of cer-tain plants, such as peas and beans
poem ["po @m] n a piece of writing
in a form that sometimes rhymes and often has a rhythm, usually expressing feelings, emotions, or imagination
poet ["po It] n someone who writes
poetry
plug something up
438
Trang 4poetic [po "Et Ik] 1 adj [of
thoughts] expressed as a poem
(Adv: poetically [ Ik li].) 2 the
adj form ofpoetry
poetic justice the appropriate but
chance receiving of rewards or
punishments by those deserving
them
poetry ["po @ tri] 1 n a poem;
poems; a collection of poems (No
plural Treated as singular.) 2 n.
the art of writing poems (No
plu-ral.)
point ["poInt] 1 n the sharp end of
something 2 n the main idea of
something; the purpose of
some-thing 3 n one idea, argument, or
statement in a series of ideas,
arguments, or statements 4 n a
certain position in space or
moment in time; a certain degree
or position of something 5 n [in
geometry] the place where two
lines cross each other 6 n a dot; a
decimal point 7 n a feature, trait,
or ability of someone or
some-thing 8 n a unit of scoring in a
game 9 n a helpful hint; a piece
of advice 10 tv to aim someone
at someone or something; to direct
someone to someone or
some-thing 11 iv to indicate the
loca-tion of someone or something by
directing one’s finger toward the
location 12 iv to be facing in a
certain direction
→ case in point
→ come to the point
→ decimal point
→ exclamation point
→ get to the point
→ have a low boiling point
→ jumping-off point
→ miss the point
→ no point in doing something
point of view a way of thinking
about something; [someone’s] viewpoint; an attitude or expres-sion of self-interest
point someone or something out to
identify someone or something in
a group; to select someone or something from a group
point the finger at someone to
blame someone; to identify some-one as the guilty person
poised for something ready for
something; in the right position and waiting for something
poised to do something ready to do
something; in the right position to
do something
poison ["poI z@n] 1 n a substance
that can injure or kill a living crea-ture, especially if eaten, drunk, breathed in, or absorbed through the skin (Plural only for types and instances.) 2 tv to kill or harm someone or something with Q
3 tv to put Q in something,
espe-cially food, in order to kill or harm someone or something
4 tv to have a harmful effect on
someone or something; to corrupt someone or something (Figura-tive on W.)
poke ["pok] 1 n a push with one’s
finger, fist, or elbow, or with a
blunt object 2 tv to push
some-one or something with some-one’s fin-ger, fist, or elbow, or with a blunt object
poke a hole in something and poke a hole through something
to make a hole by pushing some-thing through somesome-thing poke a hole in something
439
Trang 5poke a hole through something
Go to poke a hole in something.
poke fun (at someone) to make
fun of someone; to ridicule
some-one
poke one’s nose in(to something)
and stick one’s nose in(to
some-thing) to interfere with something;
to be nosy about something
poke out (of something) to stick
out of something; to extend out of
something
poke something in(to something)
to stick or cram something into
something
poker ["pok #] 1 n a long, narrow
metal rod that is used to move logs
or coal in a fire 2 n a card game
where players win by having cards
with the highest value (No
plu-ral.)
polar ["po l#] adj of or about the
areas near the north or south pole
pole ["pol] 1 n a long, thin, solid
tube of wood, steel, plastic, or
other material 2 n one of the two
places where the imaginary axis on
which a planet spins meets the
surface of the planet—at the north
and south ends of the planet 3 n
either side of a magnet; either end
of a magnet; one of the two
strongest points of a magnet that
either pulls or pushes metal
objects
→ be poles apart
→ north pole
→ south pole
police [p@ "lis] 1 tv to patrol an
area; to control, regulate, or
pro-tect an area 2 tv to regulate or
control people, their behavior, or
their actions
thepolice n people who have the
authority to maintain law and order by arresting people who break the law (No plural Treated
as plural, but not countable Num-ber is expressed with police offi-cer(s).)
police officer [p@ "lis O f@ s#] n a
member of a police department; a policeman; a policewoman
policeman [p@ "lis m@n] n., irreg a
police officer; a male member of a police force (Plural: policemenor police officers.)
policemen [p@ "lis m@n] plural of
policeman
policewoman [p@ "lis wUm @n] n.,
irreg a female police officer; a
female member of a police force (Plural: policewomenor police officers.)
policewomen [p@ "lis wIm @n]
plu-ral ofpolicewoman.
policy ["pal @ si] n a plan of action
used by management or govern-ment; a regulation
→ insurance policy
polish ["pal IS] 1 n a substance
that is used to make something shiny (Plural only for types and instances.) 2 tv to make a surface shiny or glossy, especially by
rub-bing it 3 tv to improve
some-thing; to make something better or perfect; to refine something (Fig-urative on W.)
Polish ["po lIS] adj of or about
Poland; describing a person born
in Poland
polish something off to eat,
con-sume, exhaust, or complete all of something
poke a hole through something
440
Trang 6polish something up to rub
some-thing until it shines
polite [p@ "laIt] adj courteous;
hav-ing good behavior; havhav-ing good
manners; doing things in a helpful
and kind way (Adv: politely.)
political [p@ "lI tI k@l] adj of or
about politics, politicians, or
gov-ernment (Adv: politically [ Ik
li].)
politician [pal @ "tI S@n] n a person
whose business is politics,
espe-cially someone holding or seeking
a government office
politics ["pal @ tIks] 1 n the
busi-ness or operation of government;
the study of the management of
government (Treated as singular
or plural, but not countable.) 2 n
someone’s beliefs about political
issues (Treated as singular or
plu-ral, but not countable.)
poll ["pol] 1 n a survey that
deter-mines the popular opinion about
an issue 2 tv to ask someone
questions as part of a survey
pollen ["pal @n] n a yellow powder
made by flowers that is part of the
process of making seeds (Plural
only for types and instances.)
polls n the places where people
vote (Treated as plural.)
pollute [p@ "lut] 1 tv to cause
something to become dirty or
impure 2 iv to make something
dirty or impure
pompous ["pamp @s] adj arrogant;
too formal; too grand (Adv:
pompously.)
pond ["pand] n a small body of
water; a body of water smaller
than a lake
→ abig frog in a small pond
ponder ["pan d#] 1 iv to think carefully; to consider 2 tv to
think about something carefully;
to consider something
ponder (up)on something to think
on something; to consider some-thing
ponderous ["pan d# @s] adj slow
and awkward, especially because
of being large or heavy (Adv: pon-derously.)
pony ["pon i] n a small horse ponytail ["pon i tel] n a bunch of
hair pulled toward the back of the head and tied
poodle ["pud l] n a kind of dog
that has very curly fur
pool ["pul] 1 n a puddle of water
or other liquid 2 n a game played
with a number of hard balls on a felt-covered table having six pock-ets and raised sides 3 tv to put money or things together for com-mon use
→ swimming pool
poor ["por] 1 adj not rich; having
very little money; not owning
many things (Comp: poorer; sup: poorest.) 2 adj below a certain
level of quality; inferior in
opera-tion or funcopera-tion (Adv: poorly Comp: poorer; sup: poorest.) 3 adj.
worthy of pity or sympathy
→ (as) poor as a church mouse
→ in poor taste
the poor n people who are poorQ (No plural Treated as plural, but not countable.)
pop ["pap] 1 n a quick, loud noise, like an explosion 2 n father.
(Informal Also a term of address
pop
441
Trang 7Capitalized when written as a
proper noun.) 3 n popular music.
(No plural.) 4 n.soda pop
(Infor-mal No plural.) 5 adj popular;
well liked; favored 6 iv to make a
sound as in Q; [for something
with air in it] to burst suddenly
7 tv to cause something to make
Q; to cause something with air in
it to burst suddenly
→ soda pop
pop out (of something) to jump
out of something; to burst out of
something
pop something in(to something) to
fit, snap, or press something into
place in something
pop something on((to) something)
to snap something onto
some-thing
pop something out (of something)
to release something from
some-thing so that it jumps or bursts
out, possibly with a popping
sound
pop the question to ask someone
to marry one
pop up (someplace) to appear
sud-denly and unexpectedly
some-place
popcorn ["pap korn] 1 n seeds of
various kinds of corn that explode
into a soft, white, fluffy mass
when heated (Plural only for
types and instances.) 2 n
exploded and puffed-up kernels of
Q eaten as food (No plural
Treated as singular.)
poplar ["pap l#] 1 n a kind of tall,
thin tree that grows quickly 2 n.
wood from Q (Plural only for
types and instances.) 3 adj made
from W
poppy ["pap i] n a flowering herb
with large red blossoms
popular ["pap j@ l#] adj liked by
many people; favored by many
people; well liked (Adv: popu-larly.)
populate ["pap j@ let] tv [for living
creatures] to occupy an area (Usually passive.)
population [pap j@ "le S@n] 1 n.
the living creatures of one kind
that live in a certain area 2 n the
number of people or creatures liv-ing in a certain place (No plural.)
porch ["portS] n a covered
struc-ture built in front of a house, usu-ally at a doorway
porcupine ["por kj@ paIn] n a large
rodent covered with sharp needles
or spines that it uses to defend itself
pore ["por] n a tiny opening in the
skin of plants and animals
pore over something to study
something closely; to look over something thoroughly
pork ["pork] n the meat of a pig,
eaten as food (No plural.)
porpoise ["por p@s] n a mammal
that lives in the sea, swimming in groups
port ["port] 1 n a city on an ocean,
sea, or lake that has a harbor where ships can be loaded and unloaded 2 n a harbor 3 adj
on, at, or toward the left side of a ship or aircraft when one is facing the front of the ship or aircraft pop out (of something)
442
Trang 8porter ["por t#] n someone who
carries luggage for other people,
especially at a hotel, airport, or
train station
portrait ["por trIt] n a painting,
especially of a person or a person’s
face
pose ["poz] 1 n a certain way that
someone sits or stands, especially
when one is getting one’s picture
taken or painted 2 iv to sit or
stand in a certain way when
some-one is taking or painting some-one’s
pic-ture 3 tv to place someone or
something, as in Q
→ strike a pose
pose a question to ask a question;
to imply the need for asking a
question
pose as someone or something to
pretend to be someone; to pretend
to have some role
posh ["paS] adj very lavish; elegant;
full of style (Adv: poshly Comp:
posher; sup: poshest.)
position [p@ "zI S@n] 1 n the place
where someone or something is or
where someone or something
belongs 2 n the way that
some-one or something is placed or
situ-ated 3 n a point of view; an
opinion; the way someone thinks
about a certain subject or issue
4 n a job 5 tv to put someone or
something in a certain place
→ jockey for position
→ jockey someone or somethinginto
position
possess [p@ "zEs] 1 tv to have
something; to own something
2 tv to influence someone or
something completely; [for
some-one or something, especially an
evil spirit or the devil] to control someone or something completely
possession [p@ "zE S@n] 1 n own-ership (No plural.) 2 n a
belong-ing; something that belongs to someone; something that is owned
by someone
possessive [p@ "zEs Iv] 1 adj
self-ish; unwilling to share (Adv:
pos-sessively.) 2 adj [of a word]
showing possession or belonging [to someone or something] (Adv:
possessively.) 3 n the form of a
word that shows possession
possible ["pas @ b@l] adj able to be
done; able to exist; able to happen; able to be true, but not necessarily
true (Adv: possibly.)
→ (as) soon as possible
→ everything humanly possible
post ["post] 1 n an upright, thick
length of wood, steel, or other
material 2 n a job; a position in a company or a government 3 tv.
to place a written notice where
people can see it 4 tv to mail
something; to send something by mail
→ from pillar to post
→ keep someoneposted
→ parcel post
post office ["post Of Is] n a
gov-ernment building where mail is taken, sorted, and sent to the proper addresses, and where other postal business can be taken care of
postage ["pos tIdZ] 1 n the cost of
sending something through the mail, usually paid for with stamps (No plural.) 2 n the stamp or stamps that are placed on some-thing that is mailed (No plural
postage
443
Trang 9Number is expressed with postage
stamp(s).)
postal ["pos t@l] adj of or about
mail or the post office
postcard ["post kard] n a card that
is thicker than paper, sometimes
has a picture on one side of it, and
is used to mail someone a short
letter, especially when one is
trav-eling
poster ["pos t#] n a large sheet of
thick paper carrying a message or
a picture
postmaster ["post mA st#] n.
someone who is in charge of a
post office; the head of a post
office
posture ["pas tS#] 1 n the way
that one sits, stands, or moves; the
position of the body (Plural only
for types and instances.) 2 iv to
sit or stand in a certain way; to
strike a pose
pot ["pat] 1 n a large, deep, round
container, usually used to cook or
hold food or liquid 2 n a round
container that holds soil and a
flower or plant 3 n the contents
of Q or W 4 tv to put a plant in
soil in W
→ go to pot
the pot calling the kettle black
[an instance of] someone with a
fault accusing someone else of
having the same fault
potato [p@ "te to] 1 n a vegetable
root shaped like a large egg
(Plural ends in -es.) 2 n the plant
that produces Q (Plural ends in
-es.) 3 adj made of or with Q.
potato chip [p@ "te to tSIp]] n a
thin slice of potato, fried until it is
very crisp (Often plural Can be shortened to chip.)
potent ["pot nt] 1 adj powerful;
having a strong effect (Adv:
potently.) 2 adj [of a male] able
to copulate (Adv: potently.)
pottery ["pat @ ri] 1 n dishes,
bowls, vases, and other objects that are made from baked clay (No plural.) 2 n the craft or art of making objects out of clay and baking them so that the clay hard-ens (No plural.)
pouch ["paUtS] n a small bag that is
used to hold a small amount of something
poultry ["pol tri] n chickens,
ducks, geese, and other birds that are used as meat or for providing eggs for humans to eat (No plu-ral.)
pounce (up)on someone or
some-thing to spring or swoop upon someone or something; to seize someone or something
pound ["paUnd] 1 n a unit of
measure of weight, equal to 16 ounces or about 0.454 kilogram
2 n the basic unit of money in the
United Kingdom (Symbolized as
£.) 3 n a place where stray ani-mals are kept 4 tv to hit someone
or something very hard again and again; to beat something into a certain shape by hitting it very hard again and again 5 iv [for the heart or blood pressure] to beat very hard
pound a beat to walk a route.
(Usually said of a police patrol officer.)
postal
444
Trang 10pound away (at someone or
some-thing) to hammer or batter
con-stantly on someone or something
pound something down to
ham-mer, flatten, or batter something
pound something in(to someone)
Go to hammer somethingin(to
someone).
pound something in(to something)
Go to hammer somethingin(to
some-thing).
pound the pavement to walk
through the streets, looking for a
job
pour ["por] 1 iv to flow from a
place; to come out of a place
quickly and continuously 2 tv to
cause something to pour out of a
place quickly and continuously
pour cold water on something
and dash cold water on
some-thing; throw cold water on
something to discourage doing
something; to reduce enthusiasm
for something
pour it on thick Go to lay it on
thick.
pour money down the drain to
waste money
pour oil on troubled water to
calm things down
pour out (of something) [for
someone or something] to stream
or gush out of something or
some-place
pour something off ((of )
some-thing) to spill liquid off the top of
something
pouring rain very heavy rain.
poverty ["pav # ti] n the lack of
the necessities for life (No plural.)
powder ["paU d#] 1 n a substance
that consists of tiny particles (Plural only for types and instances.) 2 tv to cover or dust something with Q or a substance that has been crushed or ground into Q
→ sitting on a powder keg
power ["paU #] 1 n the ability to
do something; strength (Plural only for types and instances Typi-cally singular or plural with the same meaning.) 2 n the authority
to do something; control (Plural only for types and instances Sin-gular or plural with the same meaning.) 3 n the number of times that a number is multiplied
by itself 4 tv to supply energy to
a machine or other device that uses energy
power something up to start
some-thing, such as an engine
power up to start an engine.
powerful ["paU # fUl] adj having a
lot of power, energy, or force; full
of strength or influence (Adv:
powerfully.)
thepowers that be the people
who are in authority
practical ["prAk tI k@l] 1 adj
use-ful; able to be used; of or about actions and results, as opposed to
ideas or theories (Adv: practically
[ Ik li].) 2 adj sensible; having
common sense (Adv: practically
[ Ik li].)
practice ["prAk tIs] 1 n doing an
action many times so that one will
do it better and better (No plu-ral.) 2 n a custom; a tradition; the way something is usually done;
a habit 3 n the business of a
doc-practice
445