Used before nouns or noun phrases to show that a definite thing, person, or group of people or things is being referred to.. to by some as an unnecessary vio-lation of grammatical number
Trang 1showing poor taste R; offensive;
rude (Adv: tastelessly.)
tasty ["tes ti] adj full of flavor;
delicious (Adv: tastily Comp:
tastier; sup: tastiest.)
tatter ["tAt #] tv to tear a piece of
cloth; to fray something
→ in tatters
taught ["tOt] past tense and past
participle ofteach.
taunt ["tOnt] 1 tv to tease
some-one; to make fun of somesome-one; to
ridicule someone; to provoke
someone by saying something
unkind 2 n an unkind remark
that is made to tease or ridicule
someone
taut ["tOt] adj pulled tight; having
no slack; stretched (Adv: tautly.
Comp: tauter; sup: tautest.)
→ run a taut ship
tax ["tAks] 1 n money charged by
a government to pay for the cost of
the government and its services
2 tv to make someone pay Q.
3 tv to charge Q on something;
to burden something with Q
4 tv to burden someone or
thing; to place a strain on
some-one or something (Figurative on
E.)
→ income tax
tax bracket ["tAks brAk @t] n one
of a series of federal income-tax
rates and the levels of income
associated with that rate
tax return ["tAks rI t#n] n a form,
filled out by someone required to
pay taxes, showing the amount of
tax that is owed
taxi ["tAk si] 1 n a cab, a taxicab.
(Short for taxicab.) 2 iv [for an airplane] to move on the ground
taxicab ["tAk si kAb] n a car that,
along with its driver, can be hired for short trips (Can be shortened
to taxior cab.)
tea ["ti] 1 n the leaves of a bush
grown in Asia that are dried and then soaked in boiling water to make a refreshing drink (Plural only for types and instances.) 2 n
a drink made from Q (No
plu-ral.) 3 n a drink, like W, made by
soaking dried herbs or other plants in boiling water (No plu-ral.)
→ not someone’scup of tea
teach ["titS] 1 tv., irreg to provide
instruction in a particular subject (Past tense and past participle: taught.) 2 tv., irreg to instruct someone in how to do something
3 iv., irreg to work as a teacher.
teach one’s grandmother to suck eggs to try to tell or show
some-one more knowledgeable or expe-rienced than oneself how to do something
teacher ["titS #] n someone who
teaches people something; some-one who instructs people in a sub-ject
→ be the teacher’s pet
team ["tim] 1 n a group of players
who form one side in a game or
sport 2 n a group of people who work together 3 n two or more
animals that work together to pull
a vehicle or piece of farming equipment
team up against someone or
something to join with someone tasty
626
Trang 2else against someone or
some-thing
team up (with someone) to join
with one or more persons; to
col-laborate with two or more
per-sons
teammate ["tim met] n a member
of a team that one is a part of;
another person on one’s team
teamwork ["tim w#k] n the action
of working together as a team
(No plural.)
teapot ["ti pat] n a container with
a handle and a spout, used to hold
and pour tea
→ atempest in a teapot
tear 1 ["tIr] n a drop of liquid that
falls from one’s eye when one
cries 2 ["tEr] n a rip; a place in a
piece of cloth or paper that is
ripped 3 ["tEr] tv., irreg to make
a hole or a rip in something,
espe-cially by pulling it; to pull
some-thing into pieces (Past tense: tore;
past participle: torn.) 4 ["tEr] iv.,
irreg to be ripped apart 5 ["tEr]
iv., irreg to move somewhere very
quickly 6 ["tIr] iv to cry; to begin
to cry; to have tears form in one’s
eyes (Past tense and past
partici-ple: teared ["tird].)
→ blink back one’stears
→ break out in tears
→ break (out) into tears
→ shed crocodile tears
tear away (from someone or
something) to leave someone or
something, running or moving
very fast
tear down something to race down
something very fast
tear off (from someone or thing) to leave someone or
some-thing in a great hurry
tear one’s hair (out) to be anxious,
frustrated, or angry
tear (oneself) away (from some-one or something) to force some-oneself
to leave someone or something
tear out (of someplace) to leave a
place in a great hurry
tear someone or something down
to criticize someone or something without mercy
tear someone up to cause someone
to grieve greatly
tear something away (from one or something) 1 to peel
thing from someone or
some-thing 2 to snatch something
away from someone or something
tear something down to raze or
demolish something; to destroy something such as a building
tear something off ((of ) someone
or something) to peel or rip
some-thing off someone or somesome-thing
tear something out (of something)
to remove something from some-thing by ripping or tearing
teardrop ["tIr drap] n one tear;
one drop of liquid that falls from one’s eye
tease ["tiz] 1 tv to taunt someone;
to make fun of someone 2 tv to
flirt with someone, especially with
sexual hints 3 tv to separate
strands of hair; to comb strands of
hair apart 4 iv to taunt [someone
or something]; to annoy on
pur-pose 5 n someone who flirts
with someone else as in W
tease
627
Trang 3technician [tEk "nI S@n] n
some-one who works in the field of
industrial or mechanical sciences;
someone who works in a
labora-tory, performing tests
technique [tEk "nik] 1 n a special
method of doing something 2 n.
the skill involved in creating or
performing art; the way that art is
performed, displayed, or
exhib-ited—showing the artist’s skill
(No plural.)
technology [tEk "nal @ dZi] n the
science and study of the
mechani-cal and industrial sciences (Plural
only for types and instances.)
teen ["tin] 1 n a teenager 2 the
adj use of Q.
teenage ["tin edZ] adj of, for, or
about teenagers; of the ages from
13 through 19
teenager ["tin edZ #] n someone
whose age is between 13 and 19
teens n the numbers 13–19 or
10–19 (When referring to age, it
refers to the period of someone’s
life from the age of 13 through the
age of 19.)
teeth ["tiT] plural oftooth.
→ armed to the teeth
→ (as) scarce as hens’ teeth
→ by the skin of one’steeth
→ fly in the teeth of someone or
something
→ get one’steeth into something
→ gnash one’steeth
→ grit one’steeth
→ lie through one’steeth
→ no skin off someone’steeth
→ pull someone’s or something’steeth
→ put some teeth into something
→ scarcer than hens’ teeth
→ set someone’steeth on edge
→ sink one’steeth into something
teething troubles 1 a baby’s
dif-ficulties and pain experienced during the growth of its first set of teeth 2 difficulties and problems experienced in the early stages of a project, activity, etc
telegram ["tEl @ grAm] n a
mes-sage sent by telegraph
telegraph ["tEl @ grAf] 1 n a
machine that sends messages in electrical code over electrical wires 2 tv to send a message by
using Q (E.g., telegraphed his
response.) 3 tv to send [a
mes-sage] to someone by Q (E.g., tele-graphed John with his response.)
telephone ["tEl @ fon] 1 n a device
that transmits sound by convert-ing it into electrical signals; a phone 2 tv to call someone by
using Q 3 iv to make a call with
Q
→ cell(ular) telephone
telephone call ["tEl @ fon "kOl] n a
message or a conversation using the telephone; an instance of someone contacting someone by telephone (Can be shortened to callor phone call.)
telescope ["tEl @ skop] 1 n a
device that makes distant objects, especially objects that are in the sky, look larger so that one can see them better 2 iv to become shorter or longer by having one part slide over another as with Q
3 tv to make something shorter
or longer by sliding one part of it over another
television ["tel @ vIZ @n] 1 n the
transmission of an electronic sig-nal containing sounds and images (No plural Can be shortened to technician
628
Trang 4TV.) 2 n the business of
produc-ing Q or the programs that are
transmitted on Q (No plural
Can be shortened to TV.) 3 n an
electronic device that converts
electronic signals into sounds and
images (Short for television set.)
4 the adj use of Q, W, or E.
television set ["Tel @ vIZ @n "sEt] n.
an electronic device that turns a
television signal into images and
sound (Can be shortened to
tele-visionor TV.)
tell ["tEl] 1 tv., irreg to express
something in words (Past tense
and past participle: told.) 2 tv.,
irreg to inform someone [of
something] 3 tv., irreg to signal
information [to someone] 4 tv.,
irreg to reveal a secret 5 iv., irreg.
to reveal [a secret] 6 iv., irreg to
try to make trouble for a person by
saying (to an authority) what that
person has done
→ not tell a soul
tell its own story and tell its
own tale [for the state of
some-thing] to indicate clearly what has
happened
tell its own tale Go to tell its own
story.
tell one to one’s face to tell
(some-thing) to someone directly
tell someone where to get off to
rebuke someone; to put one in
one’s place
tell tales out of school to tell
secrets or spread rumors
teller ["tEl #] n someone who
works at a bank, receiving and
giv-ing out money
temper ["tEm p#] 1 n mood; the
condition of one’s mind, especially
in regard to anger (No plural.)
2 n an angry mood; the potential
of being angry (No plural.) 3 tv.
to soften something; to lessen the force or impact of something; to make something more moderate
→ hold one’stemper
→ keep one’stemper
→ lose one’stemper
temper tantrum ["tEm p# "tAn
tr@m] n a burst of anger; a display
of temper like that of a child (Can
be shortened to tantrum.)
temperature ["tEm p# @ tS#] 1 n.
the degree of how cold or hot
something is 2 n the degree of
the heat of one’s blood, especially when it is above average; a fever
→ run a temperature
tempest ["tEmp @st] n a violent
storm
a tempest in a teapot an uproar
about practically nothing
temple ["tEm p@l] 1 n a building
used for worship and ceremonies
2 n a Jewish house of worship.
3 n the flat part on the side of the
head between the eye and the ear and above the cheekbone
temporary ["tEm p@ rEr i] adj for a
limited time; not permanent
(Adv: temporarily [tEm p@ "rEr @
li].)
tempt ["tEmpt] tv to arouse
some-one’s desire; to make someone want something
temptation [tEmp "te S@n] 1 n.
desire; an instance of being
tempted (No plural.) 2 n
some-one or something that tempts a person
temptation
629
Trang 5tempted (to do something) ["tEmp
tId] wanting to do something,
especially something that one
should not do
ten ["tEn] 1 10 Go to four 2 n a
$10 bill
tend ["tEnd] tv to take care of
something
tend to do something to be likely to
do something; to be inclined to do
something
tend to someone or something to
mind someone or something; to
take care of someone or
some-thing
tendency ["tEn d@n si] n the
likeli-hood that someone or something
will do something naturally
tender ["tEn d#] 1 adj soft; not
tough; easy to chew (Adv:
ten-derly.) 2 adj sore; sore when
touched; painful (Adv: tenderly.)
3 adj kind; gentle; showing love
or affection (Adv: tenderly.) 4 tv.
to offer something formally or
legally, such as to offer money in
payment of a debt
→ legal tender
tennis ["tEn Is] n a sport played by
two people or two pairs of people
who use rackets to hit a small ball
from one side of the playing area,
over a net, to the other side of the
playing area (No plural.)
tense ["tEns] 1 adj taut; not loose;
not relaxed (Adv: tensely Comp:
tenser; sup: tensest.) 2 adj
nerv-ous; not relaxed (Adv: tensely.
Comp: tenser; sup: tensest.) 3 tv.
to tighten something, such as a
muscle; to stiffen something; to
make something taut 4 n a
qual-ity of a verb that indicates the time that the action or state it expresses takes place
→ past tense
→ present tense
tense up (for something) to
become rigid or firm; to become anxious and ready for something (Both literal and figurative uses.)
tension ["tEn S@n] 1 n the degree
of tightness of something that is stretched (Plural only for types and instances.) 2 n an anxious or nervous feeling; hidden anxiety or anger
tent ["tEnt] n a temporary shelter
made of fabric supported by poles and ropes
→ pitch a tent
tenth ["tEntT] 10th Go to fourth.
term ["t#m] 1 n the length of time
that something lasts; a particular
period of time 2 n a division of a
school year; a quarter or semester
3 n an expression used in a
par-ticular field; a word
→ come to terms with someone or something
→ acontradiction in terms
→ in terms of something
terminal ["t# m@ n@l] 1 adj
hap-pening at the end of something; at
the end; last (Adv: terminally.)
2 adj resulting in death; causing
death; not able to be cured (Adv:
terminally.) 3 n a building that
passengers enter and leave from, especially at an airport, bus sta-tion, or train station 4 n some-thing that makes an electrical connection; the place where cur-rent enters or leaves a battery or a circuit 5 n a computer device consisting of a keyboard and a tempted (to do something)
630
Trang 6screen that displays the
informa-tion sent to and from a computer
termite ["t# maIt] n an insect,
similar to an ant, that eats wood,
causing great damage to wooden
objects and structures
terms 1 n requirements; details;
provisions 2 n charges; fees and
requirements
terrace ["tEr @s] 1 n a flat area
connected to or next to the side of
a house or apartment; a balcony or
patio 2 n a flat area of land that
has been cut into the side of a hill
or mountain
terrain [t@ "ren] n the physical
fea-tures of an area of land
terrible ["tEr @ b@l] adj awful;
hor-rible; extremely bad (Adv:
terri-bly.)
terribly ["tEr @ bli] 1 adv badly;
horribly; awfully 2 adv very;
extremely
terrier ["tEr i #] n one of a group of
breeds of small dogs, originally
bred to be used in hunting
terrific [t@ "rIf Ik] 1 adj great;
wonderful; super; excellent (Adv:
terrifically [ Ik li].) 2 adj.
extreme[ly bad] (Adv: terrifically
[ Ik li].)
terrify ["tEr @ faI] tv to scare
some-one or something greatly
territory ["tEr @ tor i] 1 n land;
area (No plural.) 2 n an area of
land controlled by a specific
gov-ernment, especially a government
that is far away 3 n an area of
land that is dominated by an
ani-mal or group of aniani-mals
terror ["tEr #] 1 n extreme fear.
(Plural only for types and
instances.) 2 n someone or
some-thing that causes extreme fear
terrorism ["tEr # Iz @m] n the use
of violence and terror to achieve political goals (No plural.)
terrorist ["tEr # Ist] n someone
who practices terrorism
test ["tEst] 1 n a series of
ques-tions or activities that determine someone’s knowledge or skill; a school examination 2 n an experiment; an action that is done
to see how something works 3 tv.
to determine someone’s knowl-edge or skill by evaluating answers
to questions or performance of activities 4 tv to subject some-thing to W in order to measure its condition or see how it works
→ theacid test
→ litmus test
→ put someoneto the test
test out (of something) to score
high enough on a special test that one does not need to take a partic-ular school course
test something out to try
some-thing out; to test somesome-thing to see
if it works
testimony ["tEs t@ mo ni] n the
statements of a witness, especially
in a court of law (Not usually plu-ral Treated as singular.)
text ["tEkst] 1 n the main words in
a book or article, not the pictures, tables, graphs, indexes, etc (No plural.) 2 n the words of a speech
in written form 3 n a book used
by students in school or college (Short for textbook.)
textbook ["tEkst bUk] 1 n a book,
designed for student use, that is used as a standard source of
infor-textbook
631
Trang 7mation about a specific subject.
(Can be shortened to text.) 2 adj
[of possible examples] the best
and most typical
texture ["tEks tS#] 1 n the
even-ness or smootheven-ness—or
uneven-ness or roughuneven-ness—of something
2 n the appearance of having Q,
such as with a design on paper or
in art
than ["DAn] conj as compared with
someone or something; in
com-parison with someone or
some-thing (Used before the second
item of a comparison.)
thank ["TANk] tv to show someone
gratitude by saying “thank you”;
to express gratitude for something
that has been given or done
thank one’s lucky stars to be
thankful for one’s luck
Thank you 1 interj a polite
expression that is used by the
receiver of an action or gift, along
with “yes” or “no” in response to a
question, or to show gratitude
2 n an expression of gratitude.
(See also thanks.) 3 the adj use of
Q (Hyphenated.)
thankful ["TANk fUl] adj grateful;
showing thanks; expressing
thanks (Adv: thankfully.)
thankful for small blessings
grateful for any benefits or
advan-tages one has, especially in a
gen-erally difficult situation
thanks 1 interj a polite expression
that is used by the receiver of an
action or gift, along with “yes” or
“no” in response to a question, or
to show gratitude (Less formal
than Thank you.) 2 n gratitude
(Treated as plural, but not counta-ble.)
→ avote of thanks
Thanksgiving [TANks "gIv IN] n a
holiday celebrated in the United States and Canada as an expres-sion of individual and national gratitude (Thanksgivingis held on the fourth Thursday in November
in the United States.)
that ["DAt] 1 adj a form referring
to someone or something already mentioned or someone or some-thing of which both the speaker and hearer are aware (Prenominal only With plural nouns, use those.) 2 adj a form referring to someone or something further away or the furthest away from the speaker (Used in contrast with this Prenominal only With plural nouns, use those.) 3 pron a form standing for someone or thing already referred to or some-one or something of which both the speaker and hearer are aware (Plural: those.) 4 pron a form standing for someone or some-thing that is further away or the furthest away from the speaker (Used in contrast with this Plural: those.) 5 pron which (Used to connect sentences, clauses, and phrases with noun phrases Only
used with restrictive clauses See
which for an explanation Some-times means “when” or “where” if
it follows a noun phrase referring
to a time or place.) 6 pron who; whom (Used to connect sen-tences, phrases, or clauses with noun phrases Only where whoor whomwould be appropriate.)
7 pron a form used to connect a
texture
632
Trang 8verb with a clause that is the object
of the verb (Only certain verbs
use thatin this way This thatcan
be omitted.) 8 adv so; to such a
degree (E.g., [gesturing] he is that
big.)
That takes care of that That is
settled
that’s ["DAts] 1 cont that is.
2 cont that has, where hasis an
auxiliary
That’s the last straw and That’s
the straw that broke the
camel’s back That is the final
difficulty or problem that makes
the burden too great or that makes
the task too difficult, because
many problems or difficulties have
already preceded it
That’s the straw that broke the
camel’s back Go to That’s the
last straw.
That’s the ticket That is exactly
what is needed
thaw ["TO] 1 iv [for ice] to melt;
[for something frozen] to no
longer be frozen; [for the weather]
to be warm enough to melt ice or
snow 2 iv to become less formal;
to relax (Figurative on Q.) 3 tv.
to melt something; to cause
some-thing to no longer be frozen 4 n.
a condition in which the weather
has become warm enough to melt
ice or snow
thaw out to warm up after being
frozen
thaw someone or something out to
raise the temperature of someone
or something above freezing
the [D@, Di] 1 article a certain one;
certain ones (The definite article
Used before nouns or noun phrases to show that a definite thing, person, or group of people
or things is being referred to Pro-nounced ["Di] when emphasized or
before vowel sounds.) 2 article a
form showing a general category (Used before a noun that is used in
a general sense.) 3 article a form indicating the special or specific one, the one that is being talked about (Used before some names and titles.)
theater and theatre ["Ti @ t#]
1 n a building where movies are
shown or where plays are
per-formed (The spelling theatre is
used especially for buildings where plays are performed, and much less often for buildings where movies are shown.) 2 n the busi-ness of producing plays for the stage; the study of drama, perfor-mance, and acting (No plural.)
theft ["TEft] n stealing; taking
someone else’s property without permission (Plural only for types and instances.)
their ["DE#] 1 pron the possessive
form ofthey; belonging to people, animals, or things that have already been mentioned (Used only as a modifier before a noun.)
2 pron Q standing for his E;
belonging to a person who has already been mentioned (Used to refer to a preceding noun or pro-noun, the sexual reference of which is unimportant, indetermi-nate, undetermined, or irrelevant Adopted as a replacement for his
E by those who see his E as referring to males only Objected
their
633
Trang 9to by some as an unnecessary
vio-lation of grammatical number
when used for singular nouns.)
theirs pron the possessive form of
they; belonging to people, animals,
or things that have already been
mentioned
them ["DEm] 1 pron the objective
form ofthey (Used to refer to
people, animals, and things Used
after prepositions and as the
object of verbs.) 2 pron a form
standing for him W, referring to a
person already mentioned (Used
to refer to a noun or pronoun, the
sexual reference of which is
unim-portant, indeterminate,
undeter-mined, or irrelevant Adopted as a
replacement for him W by those
who see him W as referring to
males only Objected to by some as
an unnecessary violation of
gram-matical number when used for
singular nouns.)
theme ["Tim] 1 n a subject of a
speech or a text; a topic 2 n a
melody that is used to identify a
certain program, movie,
charac-ter, or emotion 3 n the main
melody of a piece of music 4 n a
visual or decorative concept that
connects several parts of
some-thing 5 adj of or about a piece of
music that is readily identified
with someone or something
themselves [DEm "sElvz] 1 pron.
the reflexive form ofthey, used
after a verb or a preposition when
the subject of the sentence refers
to the same people, animals, or
things that the pronoun refers to
2 pron the reflexive form ofthey
used after theyor a plural noun phrase as an intensifier
→ by themselves
→ speak for themselves
then ["DEn] 1 adv at that time.
2 adv next; following; after that.
3 adv therefore; in that case; so theology [Ti "al @ dZi] n the study
and science of religion (Plural only for types and instances.)
theory ["TIr i] n knowledge of a
science or an art, as opposed to the actual practice of a science or
an art; the principles on which a science or an art are based (Plural only for types and instances.)
→ in theory
there ["DE#] 1 adv to or toward
that place; at that place; in that place; in that respect; at that point
in time; at that point during a pro-cess (Compare this with they’re and their.) 2 adv a form that begins a sentence or clause and is followed by a verb, which is then followed by the subject of the sen-tence (The verb is usually be—for
example, there is, there are—but it can also be go, come, stand, rest, or
another verb In questions, the
verb is placed before there.)
3 pron a particular place or
location
There are plenty of other fish in the sea There are many other
choices, especially regarding the choice of a mate or a date
There will be the devil to pay.
There will be lots of trouble
there’s ["DE#z] 1 cont there has,
where hasis an auxiliary 2 cont.
there is
theirs
634
Trang 10thermometer [T# "mam @ t#] n a
device that measures the
tempera-ture of someone or something
these ["Diz] plural ofthis.
they ["De] 1 pron the third-person
plural subject pronoun; the plural
ofhe, she,or it 2 pron the
third-person plural subject pronoun
used as a singular (Used to refer
to a preceding noun or pronoun,
the sexual reference of which is
unimportant, indeterminate,
undetermined, or irrelevant
Adopted as a replacement for he
W by those who see he W as
refer-ring to males only Objected to by
some as an unnecessary violation
of grammatical number when
used for singular nouns.) 3 pron
people in general; a group of
peo-ple
they’d ["Ded] 1 cont they would.
2 cont they had, where hadis an
auxiliary
they’ll ["Del] cont they will.
they’re ["DE#] cont they are.
(Compare this with there, their.)
they’ve ["Dev] cont they have,
where haveis an auxiliary
thick ["TIk] 1 adj not thin; having
a greater than average distance
between two opposite sides;
hav-ing a lot of space between two
opposite sides (E.g., a thick board.
Adv: thickly Comp: thicker; sup:
thickest.) 2 adj measuring a
cer-tain distance between two
oppo-site sides; having a certain depth
or width (E.g., two feet thick.
Comp: thicker No superlative.)
3 adj dense; with very little space
between things (Adv: thickly.
Comp: thicker; sup: thickest.)
4 adj not pouring easily, like glue
or molasses; being liquid but not
flowing easily (Adv: thickly Comp: thicker; sup: thickest.)
5 adj [of air] not clear; [of air]
full of water vapor, smoke, or fog
(Comp: thicker; sup: thickest.)
6 adj [of an accent or manner of
speaking] showing where the speaker is from
→ (as) thick as pea soup
→ (as) thick as thieves
→ get somethinginto someone’sthick head
→ get somethingthrough someone’s thick skull
→ lay it on thick
→ pour it on thick
→ spread it on thick
→ through thick and thin
thick and fast in large numbers or
amounts and at a rapid rate
thicken ["TIk @n] 1 tv to cause
something to become thicker
2 iv [for a liquid] to become
thicker
→ Theplot thickens.
thick-skinned not easily upset or
hurt; insensitive to offense
thief ["Tif] n., irreg someone who
steals things (Plural: thieves.)
thieves ["Tivz] plural ofthief.
→ (as) thick as thieves
thigh ["TaI] n [in humans and
many animals] the part of the leg between the hip and the knee
thin ["TIn] 1 adj not thick; having
less than the average distance between two opposite sides; hav-ing very little space between two
opposite sides (Adv: thinly Comp: thinner; sup: thinnest.) 2 adj not
fat; slender; slim; not having much
thin
635