sought ["sOt] past tense and past participle ofseek.. a past tense and past participle ofspit.. sped ["spEd] past tense and past participle ofspeed.. Past tense and past participle: sped
Trang 1soggy ["sOg i] adj moist; wet;
soaked (Adv: soggily Comp:
sog-gier; sup: soggiest.)
soil ["soIl] 1 n the ground; the top
layer of dirt that plants grow in
(Plural only for types and
instances.) 2 tv to make
some-thing dirty
soil one’s diaper(s) [for a baby] to
excrete waste into its diaper
soil one’s hands Go to get one’s
hands dirty.
soiled ["soIld] adj dirtied; made
dirty
sold ["sold] past tense and past
par-ticiple ofsell.
sold out [of a product] completely
sold with no more items
remain-ing; [of a store] having no more of
a particular product
soldier ["sol dZ#] n someone who
serves or fights in an army,
espe-cially one who is not an officer
sole ["sol] 1 adj only; [the] only
[one] (Adv: solely.) 2 n the
tom surface of the foot; the
bot-tom part of a shoe, boot, or other
piece of footwear 3 n., irreg a
flat, edible fish (Plural: sole.) 4 n.
the edible flesh of E (No plural.)
5 tv to put a new sole as in W on
a shoe or boot
solid ["sal Id] 1 n something that
is hard and does not allow its
shape to be changed easily;
some-thing that is not a liquid and not a
gas 2 adj not liquid or gas;
hav-ing a shape that does not change
on its own to fit a container (Adv:
solidly.) 3 adj not hollow; having
an inside that is full of something
(Adv: solidly.) 4 adj [of a period
of time] continuous and not
inter-rupted (Adv: solidly Before or
after a noun.) 5 adj sturdy; well
made; dependable; able to be relied on; strong; not likely to break, collapse, or fail (Adv:
solidly.)
solids n food that is solid W and
not liquid (Treated as plural.)
solo ["so lo] 1 n a musical piece
performed by one person; a piece
of music written primarily for one singer or one instrument (Plural
ends in -s.) 2 adj done alone; done without help 3 adv without help; alone 4 iv to perform by
oneself; to do something by one-self
solution [s@ "lu S@n] 1 n an
answer to a problem or question; a
way to fix a problem 2 n a liquid
that has a solid or gas dissolved in it; a mixture of a liquid and a solid
or gas that has been dissolved in the liquid
solve ["sOlv] tv to find the answer
to a question or a problem
some ["s^m] 1 adj [of a person or
creature] unnamed or unknown
2 adj a few; more than one, but
not many (Use anyin negative
statements or questions.) 3 adj.
[of something] excellent, exciting,
or extreme (Informal Always
stressed.) 4 n a number of people
or things; a few people or things, but less than many (No plural.)
somebody ["s^m bad i] 1 pron.
some person; someone; a certain unnamed person (Compare this with anybody.) 2 n a famous or important person rather than just soggy
576
Trang 2nobody (Compare this with
any-body.)
someday ["s^m de] adv at some
time in the future
somehow ["s^m haU] adv in some
way; in some manner; in a way
that is not yet known
someone ["s^m w@n] pron
some-body; some person; a person; a
certain unnamed person
(Com-pare this with anyone.)
someone of note a person who is
famous
someone’s affections someone’s
expressions of love or caring
someone’s attentions someone’s
caring or attention that indicates a
romantic interest
someone’s next of kin someone’s
closest living relative or relatives
someone’s travels n [someone’s]
journeys or visits to other places,
especially over a long period of
time
someone’s treat n someone’s act of
kindness in paying for someone
else’s meal or entertainment
someplace ["s^m ples] adv
some-where; at, in, or to someplace.
(Informal Somewhere is preferred
by some people Compare this
with anyplace.)
something ["s^m TIN] 1 pron.
some thing; a certain thing that is
not known or named (Compare
this with anything.) 2 n a thing
that is more than nothing
(Com-pare this with anything.No
plu-ral.) 3 adv somewhat; in some
way (E.g., look something alike.)
something is the case something is
so; a condition is true; something
is an actual event or state
sometime ["s^m taIm] adv at
some point in time that is not known or stated
sometimes adv now and then;
occasionally; from time to time
somewhat ["s^m W@t] adj rather;
slightly; to some degree; kind of
somewhere ["s^m WEr] adv at, in,
or to someplace (Compare this with anywhere.)
(somewhere) in the neighbor-hood of something approximately
a particular measurement
son ["s^n] n someone’s male child;
the male child of a parent (Also used as a term of address by an older person to any boy or young man.)
song ["sON] 1 n a story or words
that are set to music; words that
are sung 2 n singing; the art,
practice, or action of singing (No
plural.) 3 n the musical noise
that birds make
→ buy somethingfor a song
→ folk song
→ go into one’ssong and dance about something
→ swan song
songbird ["sON b#d] n any
com-mon bird with a characteristic song
soon ["sun] adv in a short period of
time; before long; shortly (Comp:
sooner; sup: soonest.)
→ as soon as
→ (as) soon as possible
→ so soon
soothe ["suD] 1 tv to calm
some-one or something; to comfort
soothe
577
Trang 3someone or something; to ease
pain or discomfort 2 iv to be a
comfort; to be a relief
soothing ["suD IN] adj comforting;
calming; relieving (Adv:
sooth-ingly.)
soprano [s@ "prAn o] 1 n
some-one, usually a woman, who sings
the highest musical notes (Plural
ends in -s.) 2 the adj use of Q.
the soprano n the musical part
written for sopranoQ; the notes
usually sung by sopranoQ (No
plural Treated as singular.)
sorcerer ["sors @ r#] n a male
magician who contacts evil spirits
sorcery ["sor s@ ri] n magic
prac-ticed with the help of evil spirits
(No plural.)
sore ["sor] 1 adj in a state of
hurt-ing; painful; aching (Adv: sorely.
Comp: sorer; sup: sorest.) 2 n a
painful infection or injury on the
skin
sorrow ["sar o] 1 n sadness; grief.
2 n a cause of sadness, grief, or
misfortune
→ drown one’ssorrows
→ share someone’ssorrow
sorry ["sar i] 1 adj expressing an
apology (Not prenominal Comp:
sorrier; sup: sorriest.) 2 adj sad;
feeling pity; wishing that
some-thing had happened differently
(Not prenominal Comp: sorrier;
sup: sorriest.) 3 adj regretful;
wishing that one had acted
differ-ently (Not prenominal Comp:
sorrier; sup: sorriest.) 4 adj not
adequate or acceptable (Only
prenominal Comp: sorrier; sup:
sorriest.)
sort ["sort] 1 n a kind; a category;
a group of similar persons, things,
or qualities 2 tv to put things in
a particular order; to arrange things by category; to separate things by category
sort something out 1 to sort
some-thing; to arrange according to class
or category 2 to study a problem
and figure it out
sought ["sOt] past tense and past
participle ofseek.
soul ["sol] 1 n the part of a human
that is said to be separate from the body (and that some religions believe never dies); the part of the body that controls emotion and
thought; the spirit 2 n a person;
a human being 3 n the force or
spirit that gives something depth
or meaning (Figurative on Q.)
→ every living soul
→ keep body and soul together
→ not tell a soul
→ with all one’sheart and soul
sound ["saUnd] 1 n a property of
vibrating air that can stimulate the ears and be heard (No plural.)
2 n a noise; vibrations that stim-ulate the ears 3 n a narrow
chan-nel of water that connects two
larger bodies of water 4 tv to
cause something to make a noise;
to cause something to be heard
5 iv to make a characteristic noise 6 iv to be heard in a cer-tain way 7 adj [of sleep] deep (Adv: soundly.) 8 adj healthy; not
damaged or injured; in good
con-dition 9 adj strong; sturdy; safe.
(Adv: soundly Comp: sounder;
sup: soundest.) 10 adj sane;
logi-cal; reasonable; well reasoned; using good sense or judgment soothing
578
Trang 4(Adv: soundly Comp: sounder;
sup: soundest.)
→ let out a sound
→ safe and sound
sound like something to seem like
something
sound off to call out one’s name or
one’s number in a sequence
sound off (about something) to
complain loudly about something;
to make a fuss over something
soup ["sup] n a liquid food that is
made by boiling meat, fish,
vegeta-bles, or other foods (Plural only
for types and instances.)
→ (as) easy as duck soup
→ (as) thick as pea soup
→ everything from soup to nuts
sour ["saU #] 1 adj tasting like an
acid; having a taste like lemons;
not sweet, salty, or bitter (Adv:
sourly Comp: sourer; sup: sourest.)
2 adj [of milk] spoiled (Adv:
sourly Comp: sourer; sup: sourest.)
3 adj unpleasant; disagreeable.
(Adv: sourly Comp: sourer; sup:
sourest.) 4 iv [for milk] to
become W
→ hit a sour note
→ strike a sour note
source ["sors] n the origin of
something; the place where
some-thing comes from
south ["saUT] 1 n the direction to
the right of someone or something
facing east (No plural.) 2 n the
part of a region, country, or planet
located toward Q (No plural
Capitalized when referring to a
region of the United States.) 3
adj to Q; toward Q; facing Q,
located in W 4 adj coming from
Q, especially used to describe wind 5 adv toward Q
south pole ["saUT "pol] 1 n the
point in the Antarctic that is as far south as it is possible to go 2 n the actual location of Q (Capital-ized.)
southeast [saUT "ist] 1 n the
direction halfway between south and east (No plural.) 2 n an area
in the southeastern part of a region or country (Capitalized when referring to a region of the United States.) 3 adj located in the W; toward Q; facing Q
4 adj from Q, especially describ-ing wind 5 adv toward Q southeastern [saUT "is t#n] adj in
the southeast; toward the south-east; facing the southeast
southern ["s^D #n] 1 adj in the
south; toward the south; facing south 2 adj from the southQ,
especially describing wind 3 adj.
concerning the society and culture
of the American South (Often capitalized.)
southerner ["s^D # n#] n
some-one who lives in the southern part
of a country, especially someone from the southern United States (Sometimes capitalized.)
southwest [saUT "wEst] 1 n the
direction halfway between south and west (No plural.) 2 n the southwestern part of a region or a country (No plural Capitalized when referring to a region of the United States.) 3 adj located in
Q; toward Q; facing Q 4 adj.
from Q, especially describing wind 5 adv toward Q
southwest
579
Trang 5southwestern [saUT "wEs t#n] adj.
in the southwest; toward the
southwest; facing the southwest
souvenir [su v@ "nIr] n something
that reminds one of someplace,
someone, or one’s travels; a
keep-sake
sow 1 ["so] tv., irreg to drop or
toss seed on the ground; to plant
crops by scattering seed on the
ground (Past participle: sownor
sowed.) 2 ["so] iv., irreg to plant
[crops] by scattering seed on the
ground 3 ["saU] n a female pig.
→ make a silk purse out of a sow’s
ear
sow one’s wild oats to do wild and
foolish things in one’s youth
sown ["son] a past participle of
sow.
space ["spes] 1 n every location in
existence in the universe (No
plu-ral.) 2 n outer space; every place
past the air surrounding the earth
(No plural.) 3 n a place or area
that has length, width, and depth;
a place where there is room for
someone or something to be (No
plural.) 4 n a blank line or empty
box on a piece of paper where
something is to be written 5 n an
empty place between two words in
a written or printed line 6 tv to
place things with distance
between them
→ outer space
spacecraft and spaceship ["spes
krAft, "spes SIp] n., irreg a rocket
or vehicle that travels in space
(Plural: spacecraft and spaceships.)
spaceship Go to spacecraft.
spade ["sped] 1 n a tool, similar
to a small shovel, used for digging
2 n the black symbol (4) found
on playing cards; one of the four
suits found on playing cards 3 tv.
to dig something with Q
→ call a spade a spade
spaghetti [sp@ "gEt i] n long, thin,
(often dried) sticks made of a flour and water mixture, which are boiled and then eaten as food; long sticks of pasta (No plural.)
spare ["spEr] 1 adj surplus; extra; free; not needed 2 adj extra;
saved in case of emergency; reserved for emergency use; kept
for emergency use 3 n
some-thing that is extra and not
imme-diately needed 4 n an extra tire
that is kept in a vehicle in case a
tire loses its air 5 tv not to
per-mit someone to undergo
punish-ment or execution 6 tv to be able
to give time, money, or energy
→ have somethingto spare
→ in one’sspare time
→ not a moment to spare
→ without a moment to spare
spare someone something to
exempt someone from having to listen to or experience something
sparrow ["spEr o] n a common,
small, brown bird
sparse ["spars] adj scattered; not
having many people or things in a certain area; not dense; having a very small amount of people or
things in an area (Adv: sparsely Comp: sparser; sup: sparsest.)
spat ["spAt] 1 a past tense and past
participle ofspit 2 n an argu-ment; a quarrel; a disagreement
speak ["spik] 1 tv., irreg to say
something; to utter something; to express one’s thoughts in words southwestern
580
Trang 6(Past tense: spoke;past participle:
spoken.) 2 tv., irreg to use a
lan-guage; to know how to talk in a
language 3 iv., irreg to talk; to
say words
speak for themselves Go to
speaks for itself.
speak ill of someone to say
some-thing bad about someone
speak of the devil a phrase said
when someone whose name has
just been mentioned appears or is
heard from
speak out to speak loudly; to speak
to be heard
speak out (about someone or
something) to express oneself
about someone or something; to
tell what one knows about
some-one or something
speak out (against someone or
something) to speak negatively and
publicly about someone or
some-thing; to reveal something
nega-tive, in speech, about someone or
something
speak the same language [for
people] to have similar ideas,
tastes, etc
speak up to speak loudly.
speak up for someone or
some-thing to speak in favor of someone
or something; to come forward
and express favorable things about
someone or something
speak with a forked tongue to
tell lies; to try to deceive someone
speaker ["spik #] 1 n someone
who speaks; someone who makes
speeches; someone who speaks a
particular language 2 n the
Speaker of the U.S House of
Rep-resentatives; the presiding officer
in the U.S House of Representa-tives; the representative of the majority party in the House who has the most seniority (Capital-ized.) 3 n a device that repro-duces sound, as found in a stereo, television, computer, etc
speaks for itself and speak for themselves to have an obvious
meaning; not to need explaining;
to need no explanation
special ["spE S@l] 1 adj not
ordi-nary; not regular; set apart from other things, especially for a par-ticular purpose or reason (Adv:
specially.) 2 n something that is
set apart from other things, espe-cially for a particular purpose or reason; a unique offering 3 n the offering of something for sale at a price that is Q
specific [sp@ "sIf Ik] adj particular;
certain; definite; precise; exact
(Adv: specifically [ Ik li].)
specifics n the details and facts of
a matter (Treated as singular.)
spectacle ["spEk t@ k@l] n
some-thing to be viewed; somesome-thing to
be seen; a display; a scene
spectacles n eyeglasses. (Old-fashioned Treated as plural
Num-ber is expressed with pair(s) of spectacles.)
spectator ["spEk te t#] n someone
who watches something but does not take part in it
speculation [spEk j@ "le S@n] 1 n.
guessing; trying to determine something, especially without knowing all of the facts (Plural only for types and instances.) 2 n
speculation
581
Trang 7an investment in a risky business
venture
sped ["spEd] past tense and past
participle ofspeed.
speech ["spitS] 1 n the production
of words by talking (No plural.)
2 n a lecture; a formal talk to a
group of listeners
→ part of speech
speed ["spid] 1 iv., irreg to move
fast; to go fast, especially to go
faster than the legal limit (Past
tense and past participle: sped.)
2 tv., irreg to cause something to
go or move fast; to cause
some-thing to go or move faster 3 n.
the rate at which someone or
something moves or does
some-thing during a period of time
(Plural only for types and
instances.) 4 n rapid movement;
the quickness with which someone
or something moves (No plural.)
speed limit ["spid lIm @t] n the
legal maximum speed that a
vehi-cle is permitted to travel; the
fastest speed that a driver can
operate a vehicle under the law on
a particular road
speed someone or something up to
cause someone or something to
move faster
speed up to go faster.
speedboat ["spid bot] n a small
boat that has a powerful engine
that can be driven at high speeds,
especially for pleasure on lakes
and rivers
spell ["spEl] 1 tv., irreg to say or
write the letters of a word in the
right order (Past tense and past
participle: spelled or, less
fre-quently, spelt.) 2 tv., irreg [for
letters] to signify a word 3 iv.,
irreg to know how to say or write
the letters of many words; to be able to spell words as in Q
spelt ["spElt] a past tense and past
participle ofspell.
spend ["spEnd] 1 tv., irreg to pay
an amount of money for some-thing that one buys (Past tense and past participle: spent.) 2 tv.,
irreg to pass time; to use time or
energy; to consume energy
spendthrift ["spEnd TrIft] n
some-one who wastes msome-oney; somesome-one who spends too much money
spent ["spEnt] 1 past tense and
past participle ofspend 2 adj. exhausted
sphere ["sfir] 1 n a perfectly round object; a globe; a ball 2 n.
the area or domain where some-one or something has an influence
or an effect; the place or environ-ment in which someone or some-thing exists or acts
spherical ["sfEr I k@l] adj shaped
like a sphere (Adv: spherically
[ Ik li].)
spice ["spaIs] 1 n an herb or other
vegetable fiber or seed that tastes
or smells unique and is used to
give extra flavor to food 2 n.
something that adds excitement or flavor (Figurative on Q No
plu-ral.) 3 tv to season or flavor food
with Q
spice something up 1 to make some food more spicy 2 to make
something more interesting, lively,
or sexy (Figurative.) sped
582
Trang 8spicy ["spaIs i] 1 adj flavored with
spices; seasoned with spices;
hav-ing a sharp flavor (Adv: spicily.
Comp: spicier; sup: spiciest.)
2 adj somewhat vulgar; slightly
sexually oriented (Adv: spicily.
Comp: spicier; sup: spiciest.)
spider ["spaI d#] n a small
crea-ture with eight legs whose body
produces a silk thread that it uses
to make a web, which is then used
to trap insects, which it eats
spike ["spaIk] 1 n a large, thick,
metal nail that comes to a sharp
point 2 n a pointed metal or
plastic object on the bottom of a
shoe that gives the wearer extra
traction (Also called a cleat.) 3 n.
a sharp peak on a graph; an
increase that can be represented as
a peak on a graph
spill ["spIl] 1 tv., irreg to cause
something, especially a liquid, to
pour from a container by accident;
to cause something, especially a
liquid, to fall (Past tense and past
participle: spilled or, less
fre-quently, spilt.) 2 iv., irreg [for
something, especially a liquid] to
fall or be poured from a container
by accident 3 n something,
espe-cially a liquid, that has fallen or
been poured from a container by
accident 4 n a fall from
some-thing
→ cry over spilled milk
spill the beans Go to let the cat
out of the bag.
spilt ["spIlt] a past tense and past
participle ofspill.
spin ["spIn] 1 iv., irreg to turn
around in circles quickly (Past
tense and past participle: spun
Spinned is often heard.) 2 iv., irreg to rotate on an axis 3 iv.,
irreg [for one’s surroundings] to
seem to revolve 4 iv., irreg to
pull and twist, making thread or yarn from wool, cotton, or other fibers 5 tv., irreg to cause some-one or something to turn around
in circles quickly 6 tv., irreg to
pull and twist fibers into thread or
yarn 7 tv., irreg [for a spider] to make a web 8 tv., irreg to create a tale, story, or lie 9 n a short trip
in or on a vehicle
→ make someone’shead spin
→ put a spin on something
spin a yarn to tell a tale.
spin off [for something] to part
and fly away from something that
is spinning; [for something] to detach or break loose from some-thing
spinach ["spIn ItS] 1 n a leafy,
green vegetable (No plural.)
2 adj made of or with Q spine ["spaIn] 1 n the column of
bones and the nerves within it that are at the center of the back of humans and certain other animals
2 n any long, narrow, stiff thing
that provides support, such as the side of a cover of a book where the pages are attached (Figurative on Q.) 3 n a stiff, pointed growth as found on certain plants and ani-mals, providing protection
spire ["spaI#] n the top part of a
steeple; the top part of a structure
on top of a building that comes to
a point
spirit ["spIr It] 1 n the part of a
human that is separate from the body (and that some religions
spirit
583
Trang 9believe never dies); the part of the
body that controls emotion and
intellect; the soul 2 n a being
that does not have a body; a ghost
3 n the driving force of
some-thing; something that provides
energy or force to something; zeal
(Figurative on Q No plural.)
spirits n strong drink containing
alcohol
spit ["spIt] 1 iv., irreg to expel the
natural fluid from one’s mouth; to
push fluid out of one’s mouth
(Past tense and past participle: spit
or spat.) 2 tv., irreg to expel
something from one’s mouth; to
push something out of one’s
mouth 3 n fluid or mucus that
comes from someone’s mouth
(No plural.) 4 n a thin rod with a
sharp end that food is pushed onto
so that it can be roasted over a fire
spite ["spaIt] n a desire to annoy
someone else or get revenge;
mal-ice (No plural.)
→ cut off one’snose to spite one’s
face
→ in spite of someone or something
→ out of spite
splash ["splAS] 1 iv [for liquid] to
scatter in many drops; [for liquid]
to fall and spread in waves 2 tv
to cause a liquid to scatter in many
drops or waves 3 n an instance
of a liquid scattering as in Q, and
the sound that goes with it
splatter ["splAt #] 1 iv to splash,
especially in a careless, clumsy, or
messy way 2 tv to splash a liquid,
especially in a careless, clumsy, or
messy way
spleen ["splin] n an organ in the
body, near the stomach, that filters
the blood and destroys old, used blood cells
→ vent one’sspleen on someone or something
splendid ["splEn dId] adj excellent;
very good; brilliant; wonderful;
super (Adv: splendidly.)
splice ["splaIs] 1 tv to fasten the
ends of two pieces of something together by weaving, taping, or
otherwise connecting them 2 n a
joint or connection that has been made by weaving, taping, or oth-erwise connecting the ends of two pieces of something
splint ["splInt] n a flat object that is
secured to a person’s finger, toe, or limb in order to give support or to keep a broken bone in place
splinter ["splIn t#] 1 n a sliver; a
thin, sharp broken-off piece of wood, glass, or some other
mate-rial 2 adj [of a group of people]
separated from a larger group of
people (Prenominal only.) 3 iv.
to separate from a larger object or group; to break into smaller pieces
or groups 4 tv to break
some-thing into Q
split ["splIt] 1 tv., irreg to separate
something into sections, layers, or groups; to divide something into sections, layers, or groups (Past
tense and past participle: split.)
2 tv., irreg to cut something along its length 3 tv., irreg to share
something among members of a group; to divide something among
members of a group 4 iv., irreg.
[for people or things] to separate into sections, layers, or groups
5 iv., irreg [for something] to
break or tear open along its length spirits
584
Trang 106 n the crack, cut, or break made
by breaking or cutting something,
as in W 7 n a separation within a
group 8 adj separated; divided;
cut from end to end
→ vote a split ticket
split off (from something) to
sepa-rate away from something; to
sever connection with and
sepa-rate from something
split people up to separate two or
more people
split someone or something up
(into something) to divide people
or things up into something, such
as groups
split something off ((of )
some-thing) to sever connection with
something and separate
split the difference to divide the
difference between two amounts
(with someone else)
spoil ["spoIl] 1 iv to become
rot-ten; to rot; to decay 2 tv to ruin
something; to destroy something;
to make something so that it can
no longer be used 3 tv to treat
someone too well; to raise a child
without discipline
spoke ["spok] past tense ofspeak.
spoken ["spok @n] Past participle of
speak.
sponge ["sp^ndZ] 1 n any of a
group of small animals that live in
the water, attach themselves to
underwater objects, and form a
soft, flexible skeleton 2 n the soft
skeleton of Q used for cleaning or
the absorption of liquids, or an
artificial substance having the
same qualities
→ throw in the sponge
sponge someone or something down to remove the [excess]
moisture from someone or some-thing
sponge something away to absorb,
wipe up, or wipe away something
sponsor ["span s#] 1 n someone
or an organization that supports and guides another person or
organization 2 n someone who
assumes responsibility for creating
or developing something 3 n a
business that advertises during a
radio or television program 4 tv.
to support someone or an organi-zation, usually with money, often for the sake of publicity
spool ["spul] n something that
thread, film, wire, etc., can be wound around
spoon ["spun] 1 n a utensil that is
made of a small, shallow oval bowl
at the end of a handle, used for serving food, stirring drinks, and
eating liquids and soft foods 2 tv.
to move something to a place with Q
→ born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth
spoon-feed someone to treat
someone with too much care or help; to teach someone with meth-ods that are too easy and do not stimulate the learner to independ-ent thinking
sport ["sport] 1 n competition and
physical activity as found in games and some outdoor activities (No
plural.) 2 n a particular game
involving physical activity and competition
a sporting chance a reasonably
good chance
sporting chance
585