EASIER ENGLISH BASIC DICTIONARY 1 pot

EASIER ENGLISH BASIC DICTIONARY SECOND EDITION... EASIER ENGLISH BASIC DICTIONARY SECOND EDITION General editor P.H... This dictionary contains the most frequently used words in English

EASIER ENGLISH BASIC DICTIONARY SECOND EDITION

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EASIER ENGLISH BASIC

DICTIONARY

SECOND EDITION

General editor

P.H Collin

A BLOOMSBURY REFERENCE BOOK

www.bloomsbury.com

Second edition published 2004

First published in Great Britain 2001

© Copyright P.H Collin, F Collin, S.M.H Collin 2001 This edition © Copyright Bloomsbury Publishing 2004

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

38 Soho Square London W1D 3HB All rights reserved No part of this publication may

be reproduced in any form or by any means without the

permission of the publishers

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 0 7475 6644 5

Text processing and computer typesetting by Bloomsbury Publishing

Printed and bound in Italy by Legoprint

All papers used by Bloomsbury Publishing are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in well-managed forests The manufacturing processes conform to the

environmental regulations of the country of origin eISBN-13: 978-1-4081-0202-2

GENERAL EDITOR

P H Collin

Editorial Contributors

Penelope Hands, Howard Sargeant

Text Production and Proofreading

Katy McAdam, Joel Adams, Daisy Jackson, Sarah Lusznat

This dictionary contains the most frequently used words in English and provides the basic vocabulary needed for everyday communication by anyone starting to learn the language It is especially useful for elementary and pre-intermediate students of all ages and would be suitable for those working towards an elementary level English examination such as KET or PET

Each word is individually defined, and no words, not even adverbs, are given with-out a definition Examples are included for many words to provide patterns for the user’s own production of English sentences

Each word, including compound words and phrasal verbs, has its own easy-to-find main entry in bold type Each word has a pronunciation in the International Phonetic Alphabet Common phrases and idioms associated with the main term are shown in bold type and separately defined within the entry

The meanings of the main common senses of each word are given clearly and sim-ply, using a limited and easily understood vocabulary Meanings are grouped together by their part of speech

Extra help is offered in Notes at the end of some entries These include warnings about words which can confused with each other, unusual inflected forms and regularly collocating prepositions The major differences in US and British spelling are noted

A useful companion to this dictionary is Easier English Basic Synonyms which

compares and contrasts words with similar meanings, showing the similarities and differences in usage

쒁 a definition of the word will be found at the place indicated

쏡 extra information will be found at the place indicated

Pronunciation

The following symbols have been used to show the pronunciation of the main words in the dictionary

Stress has been indicated by a main stress mark (
) and a secondary stress mark ( ) Note that these are only guides, as the stress of the word changes according to its position in the sentence

a

a 1 /e/, A noun the first letter of the

alpha-bet, followed by B 쑗 Do you mean

‘de-pendant’ spelt with an ‘a’ or

‘depend-ent’ with an ‘e’? 앳 from A to Z

com-pletely, all the way through

a

a 2 /ə, e/, an /ən, n/ article 1 one 쑗 an

enormous hole 쑗 a useful guidebook 쑗

She’s bought a new car 쑗 I want a cup

of tea 쑗 We had to wait an hour for the

bus (NOTE: an is used before words

beginning with a, e, i, o, u and with h if

the h is not pronounced: an apple or

an hour a is used before words

begin-ning with all other letters and also

be-fore u where u is pronounced /

useful guidebook) 2 for each or to each

쑗 Apples cost £1.50 a kilo 쑗 The car

was travelling at 50 kilometres an hour.

쑗 He earns £100 a day.

abandon

abandon /əbndən/ verb 1 to leave

someone or something in an unkind way

쑗 The dog had been abandoned by its

owner 2 to give up or stop doing

some-thing 쑗 The company has decided to

abandon the project 쑗 We abandoned

the idea of setting up a London office.

abbreviation

abbreviation /ə eʃ(ə)n/ noun a

short form of a word

ability

ability /əblti/ noun 1 a natural

tenden-cy to do something well 쑗 I admire his

ability to stay calm in difficult

situa-tions 쑗 We can develop their natural

abilities (NOTE: The plural is abilities.)

왍 I’ll do it to the best of my ability I’ll

do it as well as I can 2 the fact of being

clever 쑗 suitable for different levels of

ability (NOTE: no plural)

able

able /eb(ə)l/ adjective 1 왍 to be able to

do something to be capable of

thing or have the chance to do

some-thing 쑗 They weren’t able to find the

house 쑗 Will you be able to come to the

meeting? 2 good at doing something, or

good at doing many things 쑗 She’s a

very able manager 쑗 There are special activities for able children.

about

about /əbaυt/ preposition 1 referring to

something 쑗 He told me all about his

operation 쑗 What do you want to speak

to the doctor about? 2 왍 to be about to

do something to be going to do

some-thing very soon 쑗 We were about to go

home when you arrived 3 not exactly 쑗

I’ve been waiting for about four hours.

쑗 She’s only about fifteen years old 앳

how about? 1. what do you think

about? 쑗 We can’t find a new

chairper-son for the club – What about Sarah? 2.

would you like a cup of tea? 앳 while

you’re about it at the same time as the

thing you are doing 쑗 While you’re

about it, can you post this letter?

above

above /əbv/ preposition 1 higher than

쑗 The plane was flying above the

clouds 쑗 The temperature in the street was above 30 degrees 쑗 At prices

above £20, nobody will buy it 2 older

than 쑗 If you are above 18, you have to

pay the full fare 3 louder than 쑗 I

couldn’t hear the telephone above the noise of the drills.

abroad

abroad /ə

country 쑗 They’ve gone abroad on

holi-day 쑗 I lived abroad for three years.

absence

absence /bsəns/ noun the fact of

be-ing away from a place 쑗 She did not

ex-plain her absence from the meeting 쑗 The former president was sentenced in his absence 왍 in the absence of

be-cause someone or something is not there

쑗 In the absence of the chairman, his

deputy took over 쑗 In the absence of any official support, we had to raise our own funds.

absent

absent /bsənt/ adjective not there 쑗

Ten of the staff are absent with flu.

absolute

absolute / plete or total

absolutely 2 accompany

absolutely

absolutely adverb 1 /

pletely 쑗 I am absolutely sure I left the

keys in my coat pocket 2 /bsə

yes, of course 쑗 Did you build it

your-self? – Absolutely!

absorb

absorb /əb

something such as a liquid 쑗 The water

should be absorbed by the paper 쑗 Salt

absorbs moisture from the air 2. to

re-duce a shock 쑗 The car’s springs are

supposed to absorb any shock from the

road surface.

absurd

absurd /əb

unreasonable or impossible to believe 쑗

It’s absurd to expect you will win the

lot-tery if you only buy one ticket.

abuse

The people being arrested shouted

abuse at the police 2 very bad

treat-ment 쑗 the sexual abuse of children 쑗

She suffered physical abuse in prison.

(NOTE: [all senses] no plural)

abuse

abuse 2 /ə

one very badly, usually physically or

sexually 쑗 She had been abused as a

child 2 to make the wrong use of

some-thing 쑗 He abused his position as

fi-nance director 3 to say rude things

about someone 쑗 The crowd noisily

abused the group of politicians as they

entered the building.

academic

academic /kədemk/ adjective 1

re-lating to study at a university 쑗

Mem-bers of the academic staff received a

let-ter from the principal 2. only in theory,

not in practice 쑗 It is only of academic

interest 쐽noun a university teacher 쑗

All her friends are academics.

accelerate

accelerate /əkseləret/ verb to go

fast-er 쑗 Don’t accelerate when you get to

traffic lights.

accent

accent /ksənt/ noun 1 a particular

way of pronouncing something 쑗 He

speaks with an American accent 2 the

stronger or louder part of a word or

sen-tence 쑗 In the word ‘letter’ the accent is

on the first syllable 3 a mark over a

let-ter showing a particular way of

pro-nouncing it 쑗 Café has an accent on the

‘e’.

accept

accept /əksept/ verb 1 to take and keep

a present 쑗 We hope you will accept this

little gift 2 to say ‘yes’ or to agree to

something 쑗 She accepted the offer of a job in Australia 쑗 I invited her to come with us and she accepted (NOTE: Do not

confuse with except.)

acceptable

acceptable /əkseptəb(ə)l/ adjective good enough to be accepted, although

not particularly good 쑗 Fighting in the

street is not acceptable behaviour 쑗 Smoking is becoming less socially ac-ceptable 쑗 A small gift of flowers would

be very acceptable 쑗 The offer is not acceptable to the vendor.

access

access /kses/ noun a way of reaching

a place 쑗 The concert hall has access

for wheelchairs 쑗 At present there is no access to the site 왍 to have access to

something to be able to reach a place,

meet a person, or obtain something 쑗

I’ll have access to the studio day and night 쑗 The company has access to

substantial funds 쐽verb to get

infor-mation from a computer 쑗 She tried to

access the address list.

accident

accident /ksd(ə)nt/ noun 1 an

un-pleasant thing which happens and

caus-es damage or injury 쑗 He lost his leg in

an accident at work 쑗 She was involved

in a car accident and had to go to

hos-pital 2 something that happens

unex-pectedly 쑗 Their third baby was an

ac-cident 왍 by accident without being

planned or expected 쑗 He found the

missing papers by accident.

accidental

accidental /ksdent(ə)l/ adjective happening without being planned or

ex-pected 쑗 an accidental meeting 쑗

acci-dental damage 쑗 His death was not ac-cidental.

accidentally

accidentally /ksdent(ə)li/ adverb without being planned or expected

accommodation

accommodation /əkɒmədeʃ(ə)n/ noun a place to live or somewhere to

stay for a short time 쑗 Are you still

look-ing for accommodation? 쑗 Visitors have difficulty in finding hotel accommoda-tion during the summer (NOTE: In

Brit-ish EnglBrit-ish, accommodation has no

plural.)

accompany

accompany /əkmp(ə)ni/ verb 1 to

go with someone or something 쑗 She

accompanied me to the door 2 to play

a musical instrument while someone

accomplish 3 action

else plays another instrument or sings 쑗

She sang and was accompanied on the

piano by her father (NOTE:

accompa-nied by someone or something)

accomplish

accomplish /əkmplʃ/ verb to do

something successfully 쑗 You won’t

ac-complish anything by arguing.

according to

according to /ə

tion 1 as someone says or writes 쑗 The

washing machine was installed

accord-ing to the manufacturer’s instructions.

쑗 According to the police, the car was

going too fast 2 in agreement with

rules or a system 쑗 Everything went

ac-cording to plan or schedule 3 in

rela-tion to 쑗 The teachers have separated

the children into classes according to

their ages.

account

account /əkaυnt/ noun 1 same as

bank account 2.왍 I was worried on

her account I was afraid something

might happen to her 앳 on account of

because of, due to 쑗 The trains are late

on account of the fog 쑗 We don’t use the

car much on account of the price of

pet-rol 앳 take something into account

to consider something 쑗 We have to take

the weather into account 앳 on no

ac-count not at all

accurate

accurate /kjυrət/ adjective correct in

all details 쑗 Are the figures accurate? 쑗

We asked them to make an accurate

copy of the plan.

accurately

accurately /kjυrətli/ adverb

correct-ly 쑗 The weather forecast accurately

predicted the storm.

accuse

accuse /ə

one has done something wrong 쑗 The

police accused her of stealing the

mon-ey (NOTE: You accuse someone of a

crime or of doing something.)

achieve

achieve /ə

ing something after trying very hard 쑗

Have you achieved all your aims? 쑗 The

company has achieved great success in

the USA.

achievement

achievement /ə

something which has been done

suc-cessfully 쑗 She is very modest about her

achievements 쑗 Coming sixth was a

great achievement, since he had never

entered the competition before.

acid

acid /sd/ noun a chemical substance that is able to dissolve metals

acknowledge

acknowledge /əknɒld"/ verb 1 to

say that something has been received 쑗

She didn’t acknowledge receiving my

letter 2 to accept that something is true

쑗 She acknowledged that she had seen

me there.

acknowledgement

acknowledgement /əknɒld"mənt/ noun a letter or note sent to say that something has been received

acorn

acorn / tree

acquaintance

acquaintance /əkwentəns/ noun a

person you know slightly 쑗 She has

many acquaintances in the travel indus-try but no real friends.

acquire

acquire /əkwaə/ verb to become the

owner of something 쑗 She has acquired

a large collection of old books.

across

across /əkrɒs/ preposition 1 from one

side to the other 쑗 Don’t run across the

road without looking to see if there is

any traffic coming 2 on the other side

of 쑗 He saw her across the street 쐽 ad-verb from one side to the other 쑗 The

river is only twenty feet across 쑗 The stream is very narrow – you can easily jump across.

act

act /kt/ noun 1 something which is

done 쑗 He thanked her for the many

acts of kindness she had shown him over

the years 2 a part of a play or show 쑗

Act 2 of the play takes place in the

gar-den 3 a short performance 쑗 The show

includes acts by several young singers.

4. a law passed by Parliament 쑗 an act

to ban the sale of weapons 쐽 verb 1 to

do something 쑗 You will have to act

quickly if you want to stop the fire 쑗 She acted in a very responsible way 왍 to act

as someone or something to do the

work of someone or something 쑗 The

thick curtain acts as a screen to cut out

noise from the street 2 to behave in a

particular way 쑗 She’s been acting very

strangely 앳 to get your act together

to organise yourself properly 쑗 If they

don’t get their act together, they’ll miss their train.

action

action /kʃən/ noun 1 the fact of doing

something 쑗 We recommend swift

ac-active 4 address

tion to prevent the problem spreading 쑗

What action are you going to take to

prevent accidents? 왍 out of action not

working 쑗 The car has been out of

ac-tion for a week 2 something that is

done 쑗 They’ve shown their

commit-ment by their actions 3 a movecommit-ment 쑗

Avoid sudden actions that could alarm

the animals 4 the things that happen in

a performance such as a play or film 쑗

The action of the play takes place in a

flat in London 5 a case in a law court

where someone tries to get money from

someone else 쑗 to bring an action for

damages against someone

active

active /ktv/ adjective 1 involved in

an activity or activities, especially in an

energetic way 쑗 He didn’t play an

ac-tive part in the attack on the police

sta-tion 쑗 My grandmother is still very

ac-tive at the age of 88 2 (of a volcano)

exploding or likely to explode 쑗

Scien-tists think the volcano is no longer

ac-tive 3 the form of a verb which shows

that the subject is doing something

(NOTE: If you say ‘the car hit him’ the

verb is active, but in ‘he was hit by the

car’ it is passive.)

activity

activity /ktvti/ noun 1 the act or

fact of being active 2 something that

someone does to pass time pleasantly 쑗

Children are offered various holiday

ac-tivities – sailing, windsurfing and

wa-ter-skiing (NOTE: The plural in this

sense is activities.)

actor

actor /ktə/ noun a person who acts in

the theatre, in films or on TV

actress

actress /ktrəs/ noun a woman who

acts in the theatre, in films or on TV

(NOTE: Many women prefer to call

themselves actors rather than

actress-es.)

actual

actual /ktʃuəl/ adjective real 쑗 It

looks quite small but the actual height is

5 metres 쑗 Her actual words were much

stronger.

actually

actually /ktʃuəli/ adverb really 쑗 It

looks quite small, but actually it is over

5 metres high 쑗 He said he was ill, but

actually he wanted to go to the football

match.

ad

ad /d/ noun an advertisement (informal )

쑗 If you want to sell your car quickly,

put an ad in the paper.

adapt

adapt /ədpt/ verb 1 to change

some-thing to be suitable for a new situation 쑗

She adapted the story for TV 쑗 The car has been adapted for disabled drivers.

2. to change your behaviour to fit into a

new situation 쑗 We’ll all have to learn

to adapt to the new system.

adaptable

adaptable /ədptəb(ə)l/ adjective able to change or be changed easily to deal with new situations or uses

add

add /d/ verb 1 to make a total of

num-bers 쑗 If you add all these numbers

to-gether it should make fifty (NOTE:

Add-ing is usually shown by the sign + : 10 + 4 = 14.) 2. to join one thing to another

쑗 Interest is added to the account

monthly 쑗 Add two cupfuls of sugar 쑗 Put a teabag into the pot and add boil-ing water 쑗 By building the annexe, they have added thirty rooms to the

ho-tel 3 to say or to write something more

쑗 I have nothing to add to what I put in

my letter 쑗 She added that we still owed her some money for work she did last month.

add up phrasal verb to make a total 왍

the figures do not add up the total is

not correct

addition

addition /ədʃ(ə)n/ noun 1 someone or

something added to something else 쑗

the latest addition to the family 쑗 He showed us the additions to his collection

of paintings 2 the act of adding figures

to make a total 쑗 You don’t need a

cal-culator to do a simple addition 왍 in

ad-dition to as well as 쑗 There are twelve

registered letters to be sent in addition

to this parcel 앳 in addition as well 앳

in addition to as well as 쑗 There are

twelve registered letters to be sent in ad-dition to this parcel.

additional

additional /ədʃ(ə)nəl/ adjective in-cluded as well as what there is already

address

address /ədres/ noun 1 a set of details

of the number of a house, the name of a street and the town where someone lives

or works 쑗 What is the doctor’s

ad-dress? 쑗 Our address is: 1 Cambridge

Road, Teddington, Middlesex 2 the set

of letters, symbols and numbers that

absolute / plete or total

absolutely accompany

absolutely

absolutely... sign + : 10 + = 14 .) 2. to join one thing to another

쑗 Interest is added to the account

monthly 쑗 Add two cupfuls of sugar 쑗 Put a teabag into the pot and add... recommend swift