Past tense and past participle: spread.. to force liq-uid through the air in a stream; to cause liquid to stream through the air.. to hit some-thing or make somesome-thing flat by brin
Trang 1sports car ["sports kar] n a kind
of expensive, stylish, small car,
which can go very fast
sportsman ["sports m@n] n., irreg.
a man who participates in sports
events or various outdoor
activi-ties (Plural: sportsmen.)
sportsmen ["sports m@n] plural of
sportsman.
sporty ["spor ti] adj stylish; in
fashion (Adv: sportily Comp:
sportier; sup: sportiest.)
spot ["spat] 1 n a part (typically
round) of a surface that is a
differ-ent color from the rest of the
sur-face 2 n a mark, as might be left
by blood, paint, food, etc.; a dirty
mark 3 n a specific location; a
place; a position 4 tv to
recog-nize someone or something; to
happen to see someone or
some-thing
→ have a soft spot in one’sheart
for someone or something
→ hit the spot
→ in a (tight) spot
→ on the spot
→ rooted to the spot
spotless ["spat l@s] adj totally
clean; without spots (Adv:
spot-lessly.)
spotlight ["spat laIt] 1 n a spot or
disk of strong, bright light 2 n a
lamp that produces a circle of
strong, bright light 3 n
some-thing that is the focus of public
attention 4 tv to place someone
or something in the focus of
atten-tion
→ steal the spotlight
spouse ["spaUs] n a husband; a
wife
spout ["spaUt] 1 n the opening of
something from which a liquid comes out 2 tv to push out something, especially a liquid; to force a liquid out, especially through a narrow pipe or tube
3 iv to flow into, out of, from,
through, down, or onto someone
or something
sprain ["spren] 1 tv to twist a joint
in the body in a way that causes injury or pain 2 n a joint that has been twisted in a way that causes injury or pain
sprang ["sprAN] past tense of
spring.
spray ["spre] 1 tv to direct a
stream of small drops of liquid onto a surface 2 tv to coat a sur-face with a stream of small drops
of liquid 3 n liquid that is pushed through the air in small drops, especially under pressure
spread ["sprEd] 1 iv., irreg to
move outward; to become longer, wider, or broader; to extend to a larger or to the largest area possi-ble; to expand (Past tense and
past participle: spread.) 2 iv., irreg to be passed on to many
people 3 tv., irreg to pass along
something to many people 4 tv.,
irreg to stretch something out; to
cause something to become longer, wider, or broader 5 tv.,
irreg to apply something onto
something else by moving it around, making an even layer
spread it on thick Go to lay it on
thick.
spread like wildfire to spread
rapidly and without control sports car
586
Trang 2spread oneself too thin to do so
many things that one can do none
of them well; to spread one’s
efforts or attention too widely
spread out to separate and
distrib-ute over a wide area
spread something on(to
some-thing) to distribute a coating of
something onto something
spread something out to open,
unfold, or lay something over a
wider area
spree ["spri] 1 n a session of wild
drinking, spending, or partying
2 n a period of activity and
action
spring ["sprIN] 1 n the season of
the year between winter and
sum-mer 2 n a natural source of
water from the ground; a place
where water comes out of the
earth 3 n a metal coil; a metal
object that is wound in the shape
of a coil 4 iv., irreg to jump; to
leap (Past tense: sprangor sprung;
past participle: sprung.) 5 iv.,
irreg [for E] to fail and lose its
elastic property 6 the adj use of
Q
→ no spring chicken
spring up to appear or develop
suddenly; to sprout, as with a
seedling
sprout ["spraUt] 1 iv [for a plant]
to bud; [for a plant] to start
grow-ing leaves, flowers, or buds; [for a
plant] to grow from a seed 2 tv.
to grow something, such as a leaf
or branch 3 n new growth; a
new bud, leaf, flower, or stem
spruce ["sprus] 1 n a type of pine tree having short needles 2 n the
wood of Q (No plural.)
spruce someone or something up
1 to tidy up and groom someone
or something 2 to refurbish or
renew someone or something
spruce up to make oneself or a
place neat or clean
sprung ["spr^N] Past participle of
spring; a past tense of spring.
spun ["sp^n] past tense and past
participle ofspin.
spur ["sp#] 1 n a sharp object
worn on the heel of a boot, used to make a horse that one is riding go
faster 2 n a highway or railroad
track that branches from the main
one 3 tv to poke a horse with Q.
→ on the spur of the moment
spy ["spaI] 1 n someone whose job
is to secretly watch other people, organizations, or governments in
order to learn information 2 tv.
to see something; to discover something by sight; to secretly watch other people, organizations,
or governments in order to learn information
squad ["skwad] n a group of
peo-ple who work together or who have been trained together for a job; a group of 11 soldiers and a leader who work together
square ["skwEr] 1 n a shape made
with four sides that are the same
length and four right angles 2 n.
a four-sided area in a city sur-rounded by streets or buildings
3 n an L-shaped or T-shaped
tool, used for drawing and
meas-uring right angles 4 n a number
square
587
Trang 3that is the product of a number
multiplied by itself 5 adj shaped
like Q (Adv: squarely.) 6 adj.
forming a right angle; forming a
90-degree angle (Adv: squarely.)
7 adj [of an area] roughly equal
in size and shape to Q that has
sides of the requested or
demanded length (Follows the
measurement of length.) 8 adj
[of an area shaped like Q] having
four sides of a certain length (A
square inch is the area measured
by a square that is one inch long
and one inch wide Adv: squarely.)
9 adj having no debts; having
set-tled all debts 10 tv to multiply a
number by itself 11 tv to make
something Y
square deal a fair and honest
transaction; fair treatment
(Infor-mal.)
square meal n a meal that is
com-plete and balanced
a square peg in a round hole a
misfit; someone who does not
seem to belong in a situation
square up to someone or
thing to face someone or
some-thing bravely; to tackle someone
or something
square up with someone to pay
someone what one owes; to pay
one’s share of something to
some-one (Informal.)
squash something down to crush
something down; to pack
some-thing down
squat ["skwat] 1 iv to crouch; to
rest, sitting with one’s feet on the
ground and one’s legs bent under
one’s body 2 adj shorter or
thicker than normal or expected
(Adv: squatly Comp: squatter; sup: squattest.)
squawk ["skwOk] 1 n a loud,
harsh noise, especially one made
by a bird 2 iv to make a loud,
harsh noise
squeak ["skwik] 1 n a short, soft, high-pitched noise 2 iv to make
a short, soft, high-pitched noise
squeak by (someone or something)
1 to manage just to squeeze past someone or something 2 to
man-age just to get past a barrier repre-sented by a person or thing, such
as a teacher or an examination
squeak something through to
manage just to get something accepted or approved
squeak through (something) 1 to
manage just to squeeze through an
opening 2 to manage just to get
past a barrier, such as an examina-tion or interview
squeal ["skwil] 1 n a loud, shrill noise or cry 2 iv to make Q squeeze ["skwiz] 1 tv to press something with force 2 tv to
force the liquid from something
by pressing it
squeeze someone or something up
to press people or things close together
squeeze (themselves) up [for
peo-ple] to press themselves closely together
squint ["skwInt] 1 tv to close one’s
eyes almost all the way when
look-ing at someone or somethlook-ing 2 iv.
to have one’s eyes almost closed because the light is so bright square deal
588
Trang 4squirm ["skw#m] iv to move
around uncomfortably; to writhe
squirm out (of something) 1 to
crawl or wiggle out of something
2 to escape doing something; to
escape the responsibility for
hav-ing done somethhav-ing
squirrel ["skw# @l] n a rodent that
lives in trees and has a large, bushy
tail
squirt ["skw#t] 1 tv to force
liq-uid through the air in a stream; to
cause liquid to stream through the
air 2 tv to hit someone or
some-thing with a stream of liquid 3 n.
a short stream of liquid that is sent
through the air
stab ["stAb] 1 tv to thrust a
pointed object into someone or
something 2 n a thrust of a
pointed object 3 n a sharp,
painful feeling
stab someone in the back to
betray someone
stabilize ["steb @ laIz] 1 tv to
make something steady; to fix
something in place; to keep
some-thing from moving or changing
2 iv to become steady; to be fixed
in place
stable ["steb @l] 1 adj unlikely to
fall, move, or shake; steady; firm
(Adv: stably.) 2 adj not likely to
change; constant; permanent
(Adv: stably.) 3 n a building
where horses are kept
stack ["stAk] 1 n an orderly pile of
something; a neat pile of
some-thing 2 tv to place things in a
neat, orderly pile; to arrange
things into a neat, orderly pile
stack something up to make a stack
of some things
stack up [for something] to
accu-mulate, as in stacks (Often used
in reference to vehicular traffic.)
stadium ["sted i @m] n a playing
field surrounded by rows of seats for spectators
staff ["stAf] 1 n the workers who
operate and manage an organiza-tion (Plural but treat as singular.)
2 n a large, heavy stick used for support; a large cane 3 tv to
pro-vide something with enough workers so that a job can be done
properly 4 tv [for workers] to
provide services for a task
stage ["stedZ] 1 n a period of
development; one part of a
pro-cess 2 n the floor, usually raised,
in a theater where performers
per-form 3 tv to produce a play at a theater; to put on a play 4 tv to
plan and do something that attracts public attention
→ at this stage (of the game)
the stage n theater; the business of
producing and acting in live the-ater (No plural Treated as singu-lar.)
stain ["sten] 1 tv to change or add
to the color of something; to make something dirty by changing its
color 2 tv to coat a wooden
sur-face with a liquid that gives it a
color 3 tv to color tissue or an
organism so it can be observed or
identified 4 iv [for a substance]
to have the ability to change the color of something permanently
5 n a mark, spot, or flaw 6 n a
liquid that is used to give color to
stain
589
Trang 5wood (Plural only for types and
instances.)
stair ["stEr] n a step or series of
steps that go from one level to
another (Usually plural.)
staircase ["stEr kes] n a set of
stairs that allows one to go from
one level of a building to another;
a stairway
stairway ["stEr we] n a set of stairs
that allow one to go from one level
of a building to another; a
stair-case
stake ["stek] n a pointed piece of
wood or plastic that is driven into
the ground
→ burn someoneat the stake
→ pull up stakes
stake someone out (on someone)
to assign someone to watch
some-one or to spy on somesome-one
stake something off to mark out
the boundaries of an area of land
with stakes
stakes n the amount of money bet
in a game; the amount of risk
involved in some activity (Treated
as plural, but not countable.)
stale ["stel] adj no longer fresh.
(Adv: stalely Comp: staler; sup:
stalest.)
stalk ["stOk] 1 n the main stem of
a plant, which is connected to the
roots, and from which leaves grow
2 tv to pursue or approach an
animal or a person without being
seen or heard
stalk in(to someplace) to stride
into a place, perhaps indignantly
stalk out of someplace to stride
out of a place indignantly
stall ["stOl] 1 n a small, enclosed space 2 n a space within a barn
or stable for one animal, especially
a horse 3 n a booth in a market,
or in a building with an open wall
in front, where products are sold
4 iv [for a vehicle] to stop because of engine trouble 5 iv to
wait a while so that one has more time; to evade something by tak-ing extra time
stall someone or something off to
cause someone or something to wait; to hold someone or some-thing off; to postpone the action of someone or something
stammer something out to manage
to say something, but only one word at a time
stamp ["stAmp] 1 n a square of
paper issued by the government that must be attached to certain documents to make them official
or to indicate that a fee or tax has been paid, especially as used for postage 2 n a tool that prints a design (a picture or words) onto a surface 3 n the design that is
printed onto a surface by W 4 tv.
to mark an object with W, usually
to make it official or to make an acknowledgment that a fee has been paid or that requirements have been met 5 tv to put Q on
an envelope 6 tv to hit
some-thing or make somesome-thing flat by bringing down one’s foot on it with force 7 iv to walk heavily somewhere; to walk with heavy steps
stampede [stAm "pid] 1 n a
sud-den rush of frightened horses or cattle 2 n a sudden rush of stair
590
Trang 6excited, angry, or impatient
peo-ple (Figurative on Q.) 3 iv to
rush as part of a large crowd of
people or creatures 4 tv to cause
Q or W
stampede out of someplace [for a
crowd of people or creatures] to
move rapidly out of a place, as if
in panic
stand ["stAnd] 1 iv., irreg to be in
a normal or typical vertical
posi-tion (Past tense and past
partici-ple: stood.) 2 iv., irreg to be a
particular height when in a
verti-cal position on one’s feet 3 iv.,
irreg to be in a particular location.
4 iv., irreg [for a law] to remain
in force 5 tv., irreg to move
someone or something to a
verti-cal position 6 tv., irreg to
with-stand something; to endure
something; to put up with
some-thing 7 n the position one takes
on an issue 8 n a base, frame, or
piece of furniture that supports
something 9 n the place where a
witness sits in a court of law
(Short for witness stand.)
→ make someone’shair stand on end
→ more than onecan stand
→ not have a leg to stand on
→ take the stand
→ witness stand
stand around to wait around,
standing; to loiter
stand aside 1 to step aside; to get
out of the way 2 to withdraw and
ignore something; to remain
pas-sive while something happens
stand back (from someone or
something) to stand or move well
away and to the rear of someone
or something
stand by to wait in a state of
readi-ness
stand corrected to admit that one
has been wrong
stand down to step down,
particu-larly from the witness stand in a courtroom
stand in (for someone) to
repre-sent someone; to substitute for someone
stand on one’s own two feet to
be independent and self-sufficient, rather than being supported by someone else
stand one’s ground and hold one’s ground to defend and
demand one’s rights; to resist an attack
stand out a mile Go to stick out a
mile.
stand out (from someone or some-thing) to be prominent when
com-pared to someone or something
stand up 1 to arise from a sitting
or reclining position 2 to be in a standing position 3 to wear well;
to remain sound and intact 4 [for
a statement] to remain believable (Figurative.)
stand up against someone or
something to challenge or confront someone or something
stand up and be counted to state
one’s support (for someone or something)
standard ["stAn d#d] 1 n
some-thing against which somesome-thing else is tested or measured; some-thing that is the basis of a
compar-ison 2 n a degree of quality or excellence 3 adj ordinary;
con-standard
591
Trang 7forming to a certain degree or
amount; normal (Adv:
standardly.) 4 adj correct and
acceptable according to the formal
rules of a language (Adv:
stan-dardly.)
standby ["stAnd baI] 1 n an extra
thing or person, nearby and ready
(Plural: standbys.) 2 n a person
traveling on standby (Plural:
standbys.) 3 adv traveling when
one is not able to reserve a seat and
must travel as W
→ on standby
a standing joke a subject that
reg-ularly and over a period of time
causes amusement whenever it is
mentioned
standstill ["stAnd "stIl] n a
com-plete stop; a condition in which
nothing is moving (No plural
form.)
→ come to a standstill
stank ["stANk] a past tense ofstink.
staple ["step @l] 1 n a small, thin,
U-shaped piece of wire that
tens papers together, or that
fas-tens things to a surface 2 n any
one of the most basic foods 3 tv.
to fasten papers together or to
attach something to something
else with Q
stapler ["step l#] n a machine that
drives staples through paper or
into objects
star ["star] 1 n a large object in
space, such as the sun, that creates
its own heat and light 2 n a
celebrity; a famous entertainer
3 n a figure that has five or more
points that radiate from a center
point 4 n E used as a mark of a
degree of quality 5 tv [for a
movie, play, or television show] to feature a particular performer
6 iv [for a performer] to appear
as a major performer in a movie,
play, or television show 7 adj.
most outstanding; most excellent; best
→ get stars in one’seyes
→ see stars
→ thank one’slucky stars
starch ["startS] 1 n a white food
substance that is part of potatoes, rice, and other grains (Plural only
for types and instances.) 2 n a
substance used to stiffen cloth (Plural only for types and
instances.) 3 n a food that con-tains Q 4 tv to stiffen fabric or
clothing by coating it with or soaking it in W
stare ["stEr] n a long, direct look at
someone or something with one’s eyes wide open
stare (at someone or something) to
look directly at someone or some-thing with one’s eyes wide open, as though in fear, shock, surprise, wonder, or stupidity
stare someone down to pressure
someone to capitulate, back down,
or yield by staring
stare someone in the face [for
something] to be very obvious to someone; [for something] to be very easy for someone to see or understand (Informal.)
start ["start] 1 n the beginning
point of something; the time or place where something begins
2 n a shock that may bump, jerk,
or jolt the body 3 tv to begin a
process; to begin doing some-thing; to cause something to oper-standby
592
Trang 8ate, work, or move 4 tv to
origi-nate something 5 iv to begin a
movement; to begin a journey; to
begin a process; to begin at the
lower limit of something 6 iv to
move or jerk suddenly, as though
one were surprised or scared; to be
startled
→ from start to finish
→ get off to a flying start
→ off to a running start
start from scratch to start from
the beginning; to start from
noth-ing
start off to begin; to set out on a
journey
start off (by doing something) to
begin a process by doing a
partic-ular thing first
start off (on something) 1 to
begin a series or sequence 2 to
begin a journey
start (off ) with a clean slate to
start out again; to ignore the past
and start over again
start out to begin.
start out as something to begin
one’s career as something
start over to begin again.
start someone off (on something)
to cause someone to begin on a
task or job
start something up to start
some-thing, such as an engine or a
motor
start up to begin; to begin running,
as with an engine
startle ["start @l] tv to cause
some-one to move or jump suddenly
because of fear or surprise
starvation [star "ve S@n] n
suffer-ing and possibly death caused by not having food (No plural.)
starve ["starv] 1 iv to die because
of a lack of food; to die because
one does not or cannot eat 2 tv.
to cause someone or some creature
to die of hunger
starving ["star vIN] 1 adj very hungry 2 adj dying from a lack
of food
stash ["stAS] tv to hide something
somewhere secretly for future use
state ["stet] 1 n the condition that someone or something is in 2 n.
the government of a country (No
plural.) 3 n a division of
govern-ment within a country or a
repub-lic 4 the adj use of W 5 the adj use of E 6 tv to express
some-thing; to say something (The object can be a clause with that U.)
state trooper ["stet "tru p#] n a
state police officer (Can be short-ened to trooper.)
statement ["stet m@nt] 1 n
some-thing that is said; somesome-thing that
is stated 2 n a list showing the
status of an account during a period of time
stateroom ["stet rum] n a private
cabin on a ship or train
static ["stAt Ik] 1 n the buzzing
noise made when a radio or televi-sion station is not tuned in prop-erly or when there is electronic
interference (No plural.) 2 adj.
[of electricity] not flowing in an electrical current; tiny electric sparks as found indoors in cold,
dry weather 3 adj not changing;
static
593
Trang 9stable; steady (Adv: statically
[ Ik li].)
station ["ste S@n] 1 n the building
or platform where a train or bus
stops to let people on and off 2 n
a building where workers in a
par-ticular service work 3 n the
spe-cific location where a worker is
assigned to work 4 n the
build-ing or offices from which a
televi-sion or radio broadcast is
transmitted 5 tv to place
some-one at a location for work; to
assign someone to a location for
work
→ (as) busy as Grand Central
Station
stationary ["ste S@ nEr i] adj.
remaining in place; not moving;
standing still (Compare this with
stationery.)
stationery ["ste S@ nEr i] n writing
paper; writing supplies, including
paper, pen, ink, envelopes, etc
(No plural Compare this with
sta-tionary.)
statue ["stA tSu] n a sculpture of
someone or an animal, made of
stone, clay, wood, plaster, etc
status ["stAt @s] n someone’s
posi-tion within society or business;
rank
status quo ["stAt @s "kwo] n the
way things are; the current state of
affairs (No plural Latin for “the
state in which.”)
stay ["ste] 1 iv to remain in a place
or position; to continue to be in a
place or position 2 iv to live in a
place for a while, especially as a
guest 3 iv to continue being in a
certain condition; to remain in a
certain condition 4 n a visit; a
period of time when one visits someplace or when one is a guest someplace; a period of time that one lives someplace
stay away (from someone or something) to avoid someone or
something
stay back (from something) to
keep one’s distance from someone
or something
stay on (after someone or some-thing) Go to linger on (after some-one or something).
stay out (of something) 1 to keep
out of something or someplace
2 to remain uninvolved in some
piece of business
stay put not to move; to stay where
one is (Informal.)
stay up (for something) to remain
awake and out of bed for some nighttime event
steady ["stEd i] 1 adj not changing
in condition, place, or position;
firm (Adv: steadily Comp:
stead-ier; sup: steadiest.) 2 adj moving
at an even, smooth pace; not mov-ing in jerks and bursts (Adv:
steadily Comp: steadier; sup:
steadiest.) 3 adj calm; not
excited; not upset (Adv: steadily Comp: steadier; sup: steadiest.)
4 tv to cause something to be
sta-ble and not changing
steak ["stek] n a slice or slab of a
particular meat or fish, eaten as food (A steakis beef unless stated otherwise.)
steal ["stil] 1 tv., irreg to take
something that does not belong to one without paying for it or with-out permission (Past tense: stole; station
594
Trang 10past participle: stolen.) 2 tv.,
irreg [in baseball] to reach the
next base before the pitcher
throws the ball to the batter
steal a base to advance from one
base to another in baseball
with-out the help of a hit or an error
steal a march (on someone) to get
some sort of an advantage over
someone without being noticed
steal away to sneak away quietly.
steal someone’s thunder to lessen
someone’s force or authority (Not
literal.)
steal the show Go to steal the
spotlight.
steal the spotlight and steal the
show to give the best
perfor-mance in a show, play, or some
other event
steam ["stim] 1 n the gas that
water is changed into when it is
boiled (No plural.) 2 adj
pow-ered by Q; containing or using Q
3 tv to cook something in Q.
4 tv to subject someone or
some-thing to Q or very hot water
vapor 5 iv to give off Q 6 iv.
[for food] to cook in Q
→ blow off steam
→ full steam ahead
→ let off steam
→ steaming (mad)
→ under one’sown steam
steam something off ((of )
thing) to loosen and remove
some-thing by an application of steam
steam something out (of
some-thing) to remove something from
something else, through an
appli-cation of steam
steam something up to cause
something to be covered with water vapor due to the presence of steam
steam up to become covered with
a film of steam or water vapor
steamer ["stim #] 1 n a ship that
is powered by a steam engine 2 n.
an enclosed pot or pan that uses steam to cook food
steaming (mad) very angry; very
mad; very upset
steel ["stil] 1 n a very hard
sub-stance made of iron, carbon, and other metals, used in constructing tools, machines, and buildings
(No plural.) 2 adj made of Q steep ["stip] 1 adj slanted at a
sharp angle, one that is almost straight up and down (Adv:
steeply Comp: steeper; sup:
steep-est.) 2 iv [for something, such as
tea] to soak in hot liquid for a
period of time 3 tv to soak
something in liquid; to immerse something
steeple ["stip @l] n a tower on the
roof of a church or other building, especially a tower that ends in a point
steer ["stIr] 1 tv to cause
some-thing to go in a certain direction;
to guide someone or something to
go in a certain direction 2 tv to
guide someone toward or away from a course of action
(Figura-tive on Q.) 3 iv to aim in a
cer-tain direction
steering wheel ["stIr IN wil] n the
wheel that a driver or pilot turns
to control the direction of a vehi-cle (Can be shortened to wheel.)
steering wheel
595