to cause something to make a quick set of short noises.. to make a rattling noise inside some-thing.. the distance that someone or some-thing is able to stretch or extend; the range or c
Trang 1rapidity [r@ "pId @ ti] n quickness;
speed (No plural.)
rapids n the part of a river where
the water moves very fast and is
very active (Treated as plural.)
rapture ["rAp tS#] n a feeling or
expression of complete joy or
delight (No plural.)
rare ["rEr] 1 adj not common; not
often found, seen, or done (Adv:
rarely Comp: rarer; sup: rarest.)
2 adj [of meat] cooked only a
lit-tle (Comp: rarer; sup: rarest.)
rarin’ to go extremely eager to act
or do something (Informal.)
rash ["rAS] 1 n a disease or
condi-tion of the skin, making it red,
itchy, and bumpy 2 adj not
thinking about something
care-fully or long enough; done without
careful thought (Adv: rashly.
Comp: rasher; sup: rashest.)
raspberry ["rAz bEr i] 1 n a small,
sweet, usually red or purple fruit
that grows on a bush, and the bush
itself 2 adj made or flavored
with Q
rat ["rAt] 1 n a small rodent with a
long tail 2 n someone who is
mean, worthless, not honest, or
not loyal (Figurative on Q.)
rat race a fierce struggle for
suc-cess, especially in one’s career or
business
rate ["ret] 1 n the relation of an
amount to another amount, such
as speed in relation to time 2 n a
price [for each unit of something]
3 tv to assign a value or rank to
someone or something 4 tv to
deserve something; to be worthy
of something
rather ["rAD #] 1 adv instead; on the contrary 2 adv to an extent;
to a degree; too; very; quite
→ would rather do something
ratify ["rAt @ faI] tv to approve
something officially; to make something be valid officially
rational ["rAS @ n@l] 1 adj using
the mind or the brain; sensible;
reasonable; logical (Adv: ration-ally.) 2 adj able to use sense or
reason; aware (Adv: rationally.)
rationale [rAS @ "nAl] n a reason;
the reason for doing something; reasoning or explanation (No plu-ral.)
rattle ["rAt @l] 1 n a noise-making
device, usually a toy for babies, consisting of a small container with bits of hard matter inside
2 n the noise made when a
num-ber of small things tap against
something, as with Q 3 iv to
make a quick set of short noises
4 tv to cause something to make
a quick set of short noises
rattle around in something 1 to
make a rattling noise inside
some-thing 2 to ride about in a vehicle that rattles 3 to live in a place
that is much too big (Figurative.)
rattle something off to recite
some-thing with ease; to recite a list quickly and easily
rattlesnake ["rAt @l snek] n a
ven-omous snake with hard rings of skin on its tail that make a rattling sound when it shakes its tail
rave about someone or something
["rev ] to praise or curse some-one or something in a very excited rapidity
476
Trang 2or wild way; to praise someone or
something
ravished with delight made very
happy or delighted; filled with
happiness or delight
raw ["rO] 1 adj not cooked.
(Comp: rawer; sup: rawest.) 2 adj.
[of something that has been]
rubbed until sore; having a layer of
skin rubbed off (Adv: rawly.
Comp: rawer; sup: rawest.)
ray ["re] n a beam of something
that comes from a source,
espe-cially a beam of light, heat, or
radiation
raze ["rez] tv to tear down a
build-ing completely
razor ["re z#] 1 n a tool that holds
a sharp blade that is used to shave
whiskers or hair 2 the adj use of
Q
reach ["ritS] 1 tv to arrive at
some-place; to get to someplace 2 tv to
get hold of someone by some
means of communication; to
con-tact someone 3 tv to stretch out
to a certain place in space or time;
to extend to a certain place in
space or time 4 tv to affect or
influence someone; to make
some-one else understand something
5 tv to total a certain amount.
6 iv to extend all the way 7 n the
distance that someone or
some-thing is able to stretch or extend;
the range or capacity of someone
or something
reach a compromise to achieve a
compromise; to make a
compro-mise
reach an agreement to achieve an
agreement; to make an agreement
reach an impasse to progress to
the point that a barrier stops fur-ther progress
reach back (in)to something to
extend back into a particular period in time
reach down to extend downward reach first base (with someone or something) Go to get to first base (with someone or something).
reach for someone or something to
move or stretch to touch or get something
reach in(to something) to stick
one’s hand into something to grasp something
reach out 1 to extend one’s grasp outward 2 to enlarge one’s circle
of friends and experiences
reach out (after someone or something) to extend one’s grasp
to someone or something
reach out into something to
extend one’s grasp out into some-thing, such as the darkness
reach out to someone 1 to offer someone a helping hand 2 to
seek someone’s help and support
react [ri "Akt] 1 iv to show a
response [to something]; to make
a response [to someone or some-thing] 2 iv [for a chemical] to do something when it touches another substance; [for two chem-icals] to do something when they are brought together
reaction [ri "Ak S@n] 1 n a
response to someone or some-thing; an action that is done in response to someone or some-thing; a feeling that is felt in
reaction
477
Trang 3response to someone or
some-thing 2 n the result of a chemical
touching another substance; the
result when two chemicals are
brought together
→ gut reaction
read 1 ["rid] tv., irreg to
under-stand what is meant by written
words; to get meaning from
writ-ten words (Past writ-tense and past
participle: read ["rEd].) 2 ["rid]
tv., irreg to say written words out
loud 3 ["rid] iv., irreg to be able
to understand writing and
print-ing 4 ["rid] iv., irreg to say
writ-ten words aloud
read between the lines to infer
something (from something else);
to try to understand what is meant
by something that is not written
clearly or openly
read someone like a book to
understand someone very well
read someone out (for something)
to chastise someone verbally for
doing something wrong
read someone out of something to
make a case for the removal of
someone from something
read someone the riot act to give
someone a severe scolding
read something back (to someone)
to read back some information to
the person who has just given it
read something in((to) something)
to make inferences as one reads
something; to imagine that
addi-tional messages, ideas, or biases
are present in something that one
is reading
read something off to read aloud a
list
read something over to read
some-thing, concentrating on form as well as content
read through something to look
through some reading material
read up (on someone or something) to study about
some-one or something by reading
readily ["rEd @ li] 1 adv without
difficulty or problems; easily
2 adv without delay or doubt;
eagerly
readiness ["rEd i n@s] n the state of
being ready; the state of being pre-pared (No plural.)
reading ["rid IN] 1 n something
written that is meant to be read
2 n a measurement shown on a
meter or other similar device
3 the adj use of Q or W readjust [ri @ "dZ^st] tv to adjust
something again; to put something back where it belongs
readjust to someone or something
to get used to someone or some-thing again
readjustment [ri @ "dZ^st m@nt]
1 n the process of getting used to something again (No plural.) 2 n.
an act of readjusting something; a movement or change that is made when putting something back where it belongs
ready ["rEd i] 1 adj [of something]
able to be used right now (Comp:
readier; sup: readiest.) 2 tv to
pre-pare something for use
ready to do something [of someone
or some creature] prepared and eager to do something
read
478
Trang 4real ["ril] 1 adj existing; actual;
true (Adv: really.) 2 adj genuine;
not fake (Adv: really.) 3 adv.
really; very; extremely
(Collo-quial.)
real estate ["ril @ stet] 1 n land,
with all the buildings on it (No
plural.) 2 n the business of
deal-ing in Q (No plural.) 3 the adj.
use of Q or W (Hyphenated
before a nominal.)
realism ["ri @ lIz @m] n the point of
view concerned with reality in life
and art (No plural.)
realistic [ri @ "lIs tIk] 1 adj.
appearing or seeming to be real or
authentic (Adv: realistically [ Ik
li].) 2 adj accepting life as it
really is; practical (Adv:
realisti-cally [ Ik li].)
reality [ri "Al @ ti] n everything
that is real; something that is real;
that which exists (Plural only for
types and instances.)
→ in reality
realization [ri @l @ "ze S@n] n an
understanding that something
exists or has happened
realize ["ri @ laIz] 1 tv to
under-stand something; to be aware of
something (The object can be a
clause with that U.) 2 tv to make
something real; to cause
some-thing to exist
really ["ri (@) li] 1 adv actually;
truly; in reality 2 adv very;
com-pletely
reappear [ri @ "pIr] 1 iv to appear
again 2 iv to occur again.
rear ["rIr] 1 n the part of the body
one sits on (Euphemistic.) 2 adj.
in back; hind 3 tv to raise
off-spring 4 iv to rise up, especially
for a horse to stand on its back legs
→ at the rear of something
→ bring up the rear
→ in the rear
rear back 1 [for a horse] to pull
back onto its hind legs in an effort
to move backwards rapidly 2 [for
a person] to pull back and stand
up or sit up straighter
rear its ugly head [for something
unpleasant] to appear or become obvious after lying hidden
rear up 1 [for a horse] to lean back
on its hind legs and raise its front part up, assuming a threatening posture or avoiding something on the ground such as a snake 2 [for something, especially a problem]
to rise up suddenly (Figurative.)
rearrange [ri @ "rendZ] tv to
arrange something again or in a different way, especially to place people or things in a different order or in different positions with respect to each other
rearrangement [ri @ "rendZ m@nt]
n creating a new or different
arrangement; changing the way that people or things are ordered
or positioned with respect to each other (No plural.)
reason ["ri z@n] 1 n the power or
ability to think, understand, and form opinions and conclusions from facts (No plural.) 2 n a cause; a motive; an explanation; a
rationale 3 iv to think; to be able
to think; to use the power or abil-ity to think, understand, and form opinions and conclusions 4 tv to have an opinion or conclusion
reason
479
Trang 5based on Q (The object is a
clause with that U.)
reason something out to figure
something out; to plan a
reason-able course of action
reason with someone to persuade
someone by using reason; to argue
with someone by using reason
reasonable ["ri z@ n@ b@l] 1 adj.
sensible; making sense; according
to reason (Adv: reasonably.) 2.
adj not expensive; having an
acceptable cost (Adv: reasonably.)
reasoning ["ri z@ nIN] n the
pro-cess or ability of thinking and
forming conclusions from facts
and evidence (No plural.)
reassure [ri @ "SUr] tv to restore
someone’s courage or confidence
rebel 1 ["rEb @l] n someone who
fights or resists power, authority,
or government 2 [rI "bEl] to fight
or resist power, authority, or
gov-ernment
rebel against someone or
some-thing [rI "bEl ] to fight against a
person, power, laws, rules,
author-ity, or government
rebellion [rI "bEl j@n] n rebelling;
challenging authority (Plural only
for types and instances.)
rebirth [ri "b#T] n seeming to be
born again (No plural.)
rebound 1 ["ri baUnd] n the
return movement of something
that bounced off something 2 [rI
"baUnd] iv to bounce back after
hitting something 3 [rI "baUnd]
iv to recover (Figurative on W.)
rebuild [rI "bIld] tv., irreg to build
something again (Past tense and past participle: rebuilt.)
rebuilt [rI "bIlt] past tense and past
participle ofrebuild.
receipt [rI "sit] 1 n a state of
hav-ing been received (No plural.)
2 n a document that proves that
something has been received or paid for
→ in receipt of something
receipts n money that a business
receives from customers; money that is collected by a business or at
a performance (Treated as plural, but not countable.)
receive [rI "siv] 1 tv to get
some-thing; to take something that is
given 2 tv to accept someone as a
member of a group or organiza-tion; to welcome someone as a vis-itor
receiver [rI "siv #] 1 n someone
or something that receives
some-thing 2 n the part of a telephone
that one holds while one is talking
3 n a radio or television set;
something that receives broadcast signals
recent ["ri s@nt] adj happening
only a short time ago; having existed for only a short time; not
long ago (Adv: recently.)
→ in recent memory
receptacle [rI "sEp t@ k@l] 1 n a
container designed to receive
something 2 n a place to plug in
an electric cord (Short for electric receptacle.)
→ electric receptacle
reception [rI "sEp S@n] 1 n receiv-ing or welcomreceiv-ing someone 2 n.
the quality of broadcast signals reason something out
480
Trang 6that are received by a television
set, a radio, or other receiver (No
plural.) 3 n a party, gathering, or
celebration where people are
wel-comed
recess 1 ["ri sEs] n a period of
time during the school day when
the children are allowed to play,
usually outside 2 ["ri sEs] n a
period of time during the workday
when someone stops working for a
few minutes and takes a break; a
break W 3 ["ri sEs] n a space cut
or built into a wall; a space that is
set back from a wall 4 [rI "sEs] iv.
to take a break; to stop working
for a short time
recipe ["rEs @ pi] 1 n a set of
direc-tions for making something to eat
2 n a set of directions for
prepar-ing or causprepar-ing anythprepar-ing
(Figura-tive on Q.)
recipient [rI "sIp i @nt] n someone
who or something that receives
something
recital [rI "saIt @l] 1 n the telling
of a story; a verbal account of
something 2 n a concert or
formance, often by a single
per-former playing an instrument,
singing, or reading poetry
recite [rI "saIt] tv to verbally
deliver an answer in school; to
repeat something, such as a poem,
from memory
recite something chapter and
verse to give detailed
informa-tion; to quote something in great
detail, especially some source of
authority
reckless ["rEk l@s] adj careless; not
concerned about safety or danger
(Adv: recklessly.)
recklessness ["rEk l@s n@s] n.
being reckless; taking risks on pur-pose (No plural.)
reclaim [rI "klem] 1 tv to save or
reuse something that would
other-wise be thrown away 2 tv to
demand or claim the return of something that has been given away or taken away
recognition [rEk Ig "nIS @n] 1 n realization (No plural.) 2 n.
acknowledgment of the existence
of someone or something (No plural.) 3 n acknowledgment of service or excellence (No plural.)
recognizable ["rEk Ig naIz @ b@l]
adj in adequate amount or degree
to be noticed or identified (Adv:
recognizably.)
recognize ["rEk Ig naIz] 1 tv to
identify someone or something
2 tv to make an acknowledgment
that something exists (The object can be a clause with that U.) 3 tv.
to give someone the right to speak, especially at a meeting
recommend [rEk @ "mEnd] 1 tv to
suggest [making] a particular choice from a range of choices
2 tv to suggest a particular course
of action (The object can be a clause with that U.)
recommendation [rEk @ mEn "de
S@n] n a suggestion of which selection someone should choose from a range of choices; someone
or something that is recom-mended
recommendation
481
Trang 7reconcile oneself to something to
grow to feel comfortable with an
undesirable or challenging
situa-tion
reconsider [ri k@n "sId #] 1 tv to
consider something again; to think
about something again 2 iv to
consider again; to think about
again
record 1 ["rEk #d] n a written
account of facts or information
about someone or something
2 ["rEk #d] n a flat plastic disk
that has sound stored on it and is
played on a machine that makes
the recorded sounds able to be
heard 3 ["rEk #d] n the most
extreme example of something;
the highest, lowest, fastest,
slow-est, longslow-est, shortslow-est, or any other
extreme example of something
4 [rI "kord] tv to write down
information about someone or
something so that other people
will be able to read the
informa-tion 5 [rI "kord] tv to store sound
on audiotape or to store images on
film or videotape; to put a sound
or an image into a permanent
form
record something on something to
make a record of something on the
surface of something
recorded [rI "kor dId] 1 adj
writ-ten down; having information
about someone or something
writ-ten down; known 2 adj stored
on cassette, film, or videotape;
stored in a permanent form
recorder [rI "kor d#] 1 n someone
who writes down and stores
infor-mation 2 n a musical
instru-ment, consisting of a hollow tube
of wood that has holes down one side 3 n a machine that records sounds or images and usually is able to play the sounds and images back
→ break a record
→ cassette recorder
→ for the record
→ off the record
recording [rI "kor dIN] n a record;
music, speech, or other sound that has been recorded
recount 1 ["ri kaUnt] n another
counting; a second count; another count, especially in an election when the votes are counted for a second time because the first count is thought to be faulty 2 [ri
"kaUnt] tv to tell a story; to tell the story of something that happened
3 ["ri "kaUnt] tv to count
some-thing again
recount something to someone to
tell something to someone; to nar-rate a series of events, in order
recover [ri "k^v #] 1 iv to get
bet-ter afbet-ter a sickness or injury; to
return to good health 2 tv to get
something back that went away or was lost, stolen, or taken away
3 tv to reclaim something; to pull
out something useful from some-thing that is not useful
recovery [ri "k^v @ ri] 1 n the
pro-cess of getting something back that went away or was lost, stolen,
or taken; receiving someone or something that went away or was lost, stolen, or taken (No plural.)
2 n the return to someone’s or
something’s regular condition, especially the return of good health after sickness or injury or reconcile oneself to something
482
Trang 8the return of a good economy
after a bad period of time (No
plural.)
recreation [rEk ri "e S@n] n
amuse-ment; play; activities that are done
for pleasure, enjoyment, or fun
(No plural.)
recreational [rEk ri "e S@ n@l] adj.
of or about recreation (Adv:
recreationally.)
recruit [rI "krut] 1 tv to cause or
persuade someone to become a
new member of a group, or
organ-ization such as the military 2 n
someone who has just joined a
group or organization, especially
the military
recruit someone into something to
seek out and bring someone into
something
rectangle ["rEk tAN g@l] n a
four-sided figure with four right angles,
having opposite sides that are
par-allel and the same length
rectangular [rEk "tAN gj@ l#] adj.
shaped like a rectangle (Adv:
rec-tangularly.)
rectify ["rEk t@ faI] tv to make
something right; to correct
some-thing
rectum ["rEk t@m] n the end of the
lower intestine, through which
waste passes
recuperate from something to
recover from something; to be
cured or to heal after something
recur [ri "k#] iv to repeat; to
hap-pen again; to continue to haphap-pen
recycle [ri "saIk @l] 1 tv to change
glass, plastic, paper, or other
mate-rial into a form that can be used
again; to recover a resource; to
find a further use for something that might otherwise be wasted
2 tv to collect or set aside used
glass, plastic, paper, or other mate-rial so that it can be made into something useful 3 iv to collect and set aside [trash] as in W
recycled [ri "saIk @ld] adj made
from a substance that has already been used
red ["rEd] 1 n the color of blood
and the traffic signal that means stop (Plural only for types and instances.) 2 the adj use of Q
(Adv: redly Comp: redder; sup:
reddest.) 3 adj [of hair] copper
colored or rusty orange (Comp:
redder; sup: reddest.)
→ get the red-carpet treatment
→ give someonethe red-carpet treatment
→ in the red
→ one’sears are red
→ out of the red
→ paint the town red
→ roll out the red carpet for someone
red tape overly strict attention to
the wording and details of rules and regulations, especially by gov-ernment or public departments (From the color of the tape used
by government departments to tie
up bundles of documents.)
redbird ["rEd b#d] n any of various
birds having red feathers
redden ["rEd n] 1 iv to become red; to turn red 2 tv to cause
someone or something to become red; to cause someone or some-thing to turn red
reddish ["rEd IS] adj having some
of the qualities of the color red
(Adv: reddishly.)
reddish
483
Trang 9redeem [rI "dim] 1 tv to convert
something to cash, especially to
convert a coupon, token, ticket, or
other thing that is not money but
represents money 2 tv to do
something that restores other
peo-ple’s good opinion of oneself
(Takes a reflexive object.)
redeeming [rI "dim IN] adj making
up for other faults or problems
redevelop [ri dI "vEl @p] 1 tv to
develop something again 2 tv to
build in an area again; to
con-struct buildings in an area again
redhead ["rEd hEd] n someone
who has red hair
redid ["ri "dId] past tense ofredo
redirect [ri dI "rEkt] tv to direct or
send someone or something to a
different place; to send someone
or something in a different
direc-tion
redness ["rEd n@s] n being red; the
condition of having the color red
(No plural.)
redo [ri "du] tv., irreg to do
some-thing again; to do somesome-thing over
(Past tense: redid;past participle:
redone.)
redone [ri "d^n] Past participle of
redo
redouble [ri "d^b @l] 1 tv to
dou-ble the amount of something; to
increase the amount of something
2 iv to double; to increase.
reduce [rI "dus] 1 tv to make
something smaller or less
impor-tant; to decrease something 2 iv.
to lose [weight]
reduced to something brought into
a certain poorer condition or state
reduction [rI "d^k S@n] 1 n
mak-ing somethmak-ing smaller; reducmak-ing
something 2 n the amount by
which something is made smaller
redundant [rI "d^n d@nt] adj.
extra; not needed; doing the same thing as someone or something
else (Adv: redundantly.)
redwood ["rEd wUd] 1 n a tall
evergreen tree, found in the west-ern United States, that lives to be very old 2 n the wood of Q (Plural only for types and
instances.) 3 the adj use of Q or
W
reed ["rid] 1 n a tall grasslike plant
with hollow stems that grows in
marshes and other wet places 2 n.
a thin piece of wood in the mouthpiece of woodwind instru-ments like clarinets, saxophones, and oboes or a similar metal piece
in harmonicas, accordions, and pipe organs 3 the adj use of Q
or W
reef ["rif] n a ridge of rocks, sand,
or coral that extends from the bot-tom of a sea or ocean to or almost
to the surface of the water
reek ["rik] iv to smell very bad reel ["ril] 1 n a round frame
around which string, thread, yarn, fishing line, film, audiotape, videotape, or other long materials are wound 2 iv to twist or turn,
as when struck by a powerful blow
reel something in to pull something
inward, toward oneself by using a reel Q
redeem
484
Trang 10reel something off to recite a list or
sequence of words, rapidly, from
memory
reel under something 1 to stagger
under the weight of something
2 to stagger because of a blow.
3 to suffer because of a burden.
(Figurative.)
reelect ["ri @ "lEkt] tv to elect
someone again
reelection [ri @ "lEk S@n] n the
election of someone to the same
position for another term
reestablish [ri @ "stAb lIS] tv to
establish something again
refer someone back to someone or
something to suggest that someone
go back to someone or something,
such as a source
refer someone to someone or
something [rI "f# ] to direct
someone to use someone or
some-thing for help or information; to
direct someone to go to someone
or something for help or
informa-tion
refer something back (to someone
or something) to send something
back to someone or a group for
action
refer to someone or something [rI
"f# ] 1 to use someone or
some-thing for help or information; to
go to someone or something for
help or information 2 to have to
do with someone or something; to
apply to someone or something; to
be related to someone or
some-thing
referee [rEf @ "ri] 1 n someone
who judges the playing of sports
events; an umpire 2 tv to judge
the playing of a sports event 3 iv.
to serve as Q
reference ["rEf (@) r@ns] 1 n words
that refer to something else; thing that has to do with some-thing else; somesome-thing that relates
to something else 2 n some-thing, such as a book, that is used for help or information; someone
or something that provides infor-mation about something 3 n a statement that someone writes about someone else for that other person’s use when applying for something; a statement about someone or someone’s character
refill a prescription to obtain or
sell a subsequent set of doses of a medicine upon a doctor’s orders
refine [rI "faIn] 1 tv to make something purer 2 tv to make
something more detailed, rational,
or effective
refined [rI "faInd] 1 adj made
purer; pure; having impure
sub-stances removed 2 adj elegant;
very proper and civilized (Adv:
refinedly.)
refinish [ri "fIn IS] tv to remove an
old paint or varnish finish and apply a new one
reflect [rI "flEkt] 1 tv to show an
image in the manner of a mirror
2 tv to throw back heat, light,
sound, or energy; to bounce back
heat, light, sound, or energy 3 tv.
[for something] to show or reveal
a personal characteristic of some-one
reflect off something to be
reflected away from something;
reflect off something
485