EASIER ENGLISH BASIC DICTIONARY 8 doc

NOTE: flops – flopping – flopped flour flour /flaυə/ noun wheat grain crushed to powder, used for making food such as bread or cakes flourish flourish / flrʃ/ verb 1.. flung flung /flŋ/

flour 130 fond

your body relaxed 쑗 She got back from

the sales and flopped down on the sofa.

2. to be unsuccessful 쑗 The play was a

big hit on Broadway but it flopped in

London (NOTE: flops – flopping –

flopped)

flour

flour /flaυə/ noun wheat grain crushed to

powder, used for making food such as

bread or cakes

flourish

flourish / flrʃ/ verb 1 to grow well; to

be successful 쑗 Palms flourish in hot

countries 2 to wave something in the

air 쑗 She came in with a big smile,

flour-ishing a cheque.

flow

flow /fləυ/ verb to move along smoothly

쑗 The river flows into the sea 쑗 Traffic

on the motorway is flowing smoothly 쐽

noun the movement of things such as

liquid or air, or of people 쑗 She tried to

stop the flow of blood with a tight

band-age 쑗 There was a steady flow of

visi-tors to the exhibition.

flower

flower /flaυə/ noun the colourful part of

a plant, which attracts insects and

pro-duces fruit or seeds 쑗 a plant with

bright yellow flowers 왍 in flower

cov-ered with flowers 쑗 Go to Japan when

the cherry trees are in flower 쐽 verb to

produce flowers 쑗 a plant which flowers

in early summer 쑗 The cherry trees

flowered very late this year.

flown

flown / fləυn/ past participle of fly

flu

flu /

bad cold, often with a high temperature

fluid

drink plenty of fluids in hot weather.

flung

flung /flŋ/ past tense and past participle

of fling

fly

fly /fla/ noun a small insect with wings

which eats food and spreads diseases 쑗

He tried to kill the fly with a newspaper.

쑗 Cover the food to protect it from flies.

쐽 verb 1 to move through the air using

wings 쑗 When the cat came into the

garden, the birds flew away 쑗 Some

birds fly to Africa for the winter 2 to

travel in a plane 쑗 I’m flying to China

next week 쑗 He flies across the Atlantic

twice a month 3 to be quick 쑗 I must fly

if I want to get home by 6 o’clock.

(NOTE: flies – flying – flew /

flown /fləυn/) 앳 time flies time passes

quickly 쑗 His daughter is already two – how time flies!

flying

flying /flaŋ/ adjective flying in the air

쑗 flying ants 쐽noun the act of

travel-ling in a plane 쑗 He has a fear of flying.

foam

foam /fəυm/ noun a mass of small

bub-bles 쑗 This soap makes a large amount

of foam.

fog

fog /fɒ'/ noun a thick mist made up of many tiny drops of water

fold

fold /fəυld/ noun a piece of something such as cloth or skin which hangs down

loosely 쑗 She wanted the surgeon to re-move the folds of skin under her chin 쐽

verb to bend something such as a piece

of paper so that one part is on top of the

other 쑗 Fold the piece of paper in half.

쑗 He folded the newspaper and put it into his briefcase.

folder

folder /fəυldə/ noun an envelope made

of thin card or plastic and used for hold-ing papers

folk

folk /fəυk/ noun people (NOTE: Folk takes a plural verb The plural form

folks is also used.)

follow

follow / fɒləυ/ verb 1 to come after or

behind someone or something 쑗 What letter follows B in the alphabet? 쑗 The

dog followed me all the way home 2 to

walk or drive behind someone, e.g in

order to see where they are going 쑗 I had the impression I was being

fol-lowed 3 to do what someone tells you

to do 쑗 She followed the instructions on the tin of paint 쑗 He made the cake fol-lowing a recipe in the newspaper 앳

fol-low suit to do what someone else does

쑗 She jumped into the pool and every-one else followed suit.

follower

follower /fɒləυə/ noun a supporter

following

following /fɒləυŋ/ adjective which

comes next 쑗 They arrived on Friday and the following day she became ill 쑗

Look at the following picture 쐽 prepo-sition after 쑗 Following his death, his son sold the family house.

fond

fond /fɒnd/ adjective liking someone or

something 쑗 I’m fond of my sister’s children 쑗 Michael’s very fond of play-ing golf.

fondly 131 forehead

fondly

fondly /fɒndli/ adverb in a way which

shows you are fond of someone or

something

food

This hotel is famous for its good food 쑗

Do you like German food?

foolish

foolish /

of intelligence or good judgment 쑗 That

was a rather foolish thing to do 쑗 I felt

rather foolish.

foot

foot / fυt/ noun 1 the part at the end of

your leg on which you stand 쑗 She has

very small feet 쑗 Watch out, you trod on

my foot! 왍 on foot walking 쑗 They

com-pleted the rest of the journey on foot 2.

the bottom part; the end 쑗 There is a

door at the foot of the stairs 쑗 There are

traffic lights at the foot of the hill 쑗

Sign the document at the foot of the

page 3 a unit of measurement equal to

about 30 centimetres 쑗 The table is four

foot or four feet long 쑗 She’s almost six

foot tall 쑗 I’m five foot seven (5’ 7") 쒁

inch (NOTE: The plural is feet As a

measurement foot often has no plural

form: six foot tall; three foot wide With

numbers foot is also often written with

the symbol ’ a 6’ ladder; he is 5’ 6: say

‘he’s five foot six’.)

football

football /

played between two teams of eleven

players with a round ball which can be

kicked or headed, but not carried 쑗 They

went to a football match 쑗 The children

were playing football in the street 쑗

Let’s have a game of football 쑗 He

spends all his time watching football on

TV 쑗 He’s got a new pair of football

boots 2 a ball used for kicking; the ball

used in the various games of football 쑗

They were kicking a football around in

the street.

footballer

footballer /

who plays football

footprint

footprint /fυtprnt/ noun a mark left by

someone’s foot on the ground 쑗 They

followed the footprints in the snow to

the cave.

footstep

footstep /fυtstep/ noun a sound made

by a foot touching the ground 쑗 We

heard soft footsteps along the corridor.

for

for /

purpose or use of something 쑗 This plastic bag is for the apples 쑗 What’s

that key for? 2 showing the occasion on

which or the reason why something is

given 쑗 What did you get for your birth-day? 쑗 What did you win for coming

first? 3 showing the person who

re-ceives something 쑗 There was no mail for you this morning 쑗 I’m making a

cup of tea for my mother 4 showing

how long something takes 쑗 He has gone to France for two days 쑗 We’ve

been waiting here for hours 5 showing

distance 쑗 You can see for miles from the top of the hill 쑗 The motorway goes for kilometres without any service

sta-tions 6 showing where someone or

something is going 쑗 Is this the plane for Edinburgh? 쑗 When is the next bus

for Oxford Circus? 7 in the place of

someone 쑗 Can you write this letter for me?

forbid

forbid /fəbd/ verb to tell someone that

they are not allowed to do something 쑗

The staff are forbidden to use the front entrance (NOTE: forbids – forbidding

– forbade /fəbd/ – forbidden /fə

bd(ə)n/)

force

The force of the wind blew tiles off the roof 쑗 The police had to use force to

re-strain the crowd 2 an organised group

of people 쑗 He served in the police force for twenty years 쐽verb to make

someone do something 쑗 He was forced

to stop smoking 쑗 You can’t force me to

go if I don’t want to.

forecast

forecast /

think will happen in the future 쑗 His forecast of sales turned out to be com-pletely accurate 쐽 verb to say what will

happen in the future 쑗 They are fore-casting storms for the south coast 쑗

They forecast a rise in the number of tourists (NOTE: forecasts –

forecast-ing – forecast)

foreground

foreground /

a picture which seems nearest the front

forehead

forehead /

front of the head above the eyes and be-low the line of the hair

foreign 132 fortune

foreign

foreign /fɒrn/ adjective not from your

own country 쑗 There are lots of foreign

medical students at our college.

foreigner

foreigner /fɒrnə/ noun a person who

does not come from the same country as

you

forest

forest /fɒrst/ noun a large area covered

with trees 쑗 The country is covered with

thick forests 쑗 In dry weather there’s a

danger of forest fires 쑗 In winter bears

come out of the forest to search for food.

forever

forever / evə/, for ever /fər evə/

adverb 1 always in the future 쑗 I will

love you forever 2 a very long time 쑗 It

took us forever to get to the hotel.

forget

forget /fə'et/ verb 1 not to remember 쑗

He’s forgotten the name of the

restau-rant 쑗 I’ve forgotten how to play chess.

쑗 She forgot all about her doctor’s

ap-pointment 2 to leave something behind

쑗 When he left the office he forgot his

car keys (NOTE: forgets – forgetting –

forgot /fə'ɒt/ – has forgotten /fə

'ɒtən/)

forgive

forgive /fə'v/ verb to stop being angry

with someone 쑗 Don’t worry about it –

I forgive you! 쑗 Will she ever forgive me

for forgetting her birthday? (NOTE:

for-gives – forgiving – forgave /fə'ev/

– has forgiven)

forgot

forgot /fə'ɒt/ past tense of forget

forgotten

forgotten /fə'ɒt(ə)n/ past participle of

forget

fork

fork /

at one end and several sharp points at

the other, used for picking up food and

putting it in your mouth 쑗 Don’t try to

eat Chinese food with a knife and fork.

쑗 It’s polite to use a fork to eat cake –

don’t use your fingers 쐽 verb to

be-come two parts 쑗 The railway line forks

at Crewe and one branch goes to the

coast.

form

form /

with spaces, in which you are asked to

write information such as your name

and address ? Could you please fill in

this form with your details? 2 a state or

condition 쑗 Their team wasn’t in top

form and lost 왍 in good form in a good

mood; well 쑗 She’s in good form today.

3. a class, usually in a secondary school

쑗 She’s in the third form 쐽 verb 1 to sit

or stand with others so as to make a

par-ticular shape 쑗 The children formed a circle 쑗 Form a queue here, please 2.

왍 formed of made of 쑗 The team is formed of ex-students.

formal

formal /

cording to certain rules 쑗 The formal opening ceremony was performed by

the mayor 2 serious in style; suitable

for special or official occasions 쑗 ‘Good afternoon’ is a formal way of saying

‘Hello’ in the afternoon.

formally

formally /

rules; done or spoken in a serious way

formation

formation / meʃ(ə)n/ noun the act

of forming something 쑗 The formation

of ice occurs at temperatures below ze-ro.

former

former /

person’s or a thing’s job or position at an

earlier time 쑗 a former army officer 쑗

The former champion came last in the race.

formerly

formerly /

time 쑗 He was formerly head of our de-partment.

fort

fort /

which can be defended against enemy

attacks 쑗 The soldiers rode out of the fort 쑗 He was posted to a fort in the desert.

forth

forth /

fortieth

fortieth /

the number 40 in a series 쑗 her fortieth birthday 쑗 He came fortieth and last in the race 쑗 It’s her fortieth birthday to-morrow.

fortnight

fortnight /

(NOTE: not used in US English)

fortunate

fortunate /

better things happen to you than happen

to other people 쑗 You are very fortunate

to have such a lovely family.

fortunately

fortunately /

good luck 쑗 Fortunately, he had remem-bered to take an umbrella 쑗 He was late getting to the airport, but

fortunate-ly the flight had been delayed.

fortune

fortune /

amount of money 쑗 He won a fortune

on the lottery 쑗 She made a fortune on

forty 133 fracture

the stock market 쑗 She left her fortune

to her three children 2. what will

hap-pen in the future 쑗 She claims to be able

to tell your fortune using cards.

forty

forty (years old) 쑗 He has more than

forty pairs of shoes 왍 forties the

num-bers between 40 and 49

forward

She was always very forward as a child.

쐽 adverb 1 in the direction that

some-one or something is facing 쑗 She bent

forward to hear what he had to say 쑗

He took two steps forward 쑗 The

po-liceman made a sign with his hand and

the cars began to go forward 2 towards

the future 쑗 We need to do some forward

planning 왍 to look forward to

some-thing to think happily about somesome-thing

which is going to happen 쑗 I’m looking

forward to my holidays 쑗 He isn’t

look-ing forward to his exams 쑗 I’m looking

forward to seeing her again 쐽 noun a

player in a team whose job is to attack

the other side 쑗 The England defence

came under attack from the other team’s

forwards.

forwards

forwards /

rection that someone or something is

facing 쑗 She bent forwards to hear what

he had to say 쑗 He took two steps

for-wards 쑗 The policeman made a sign

with his hand and the cars began to go

forwards.

fossil

fossil /fɒs(ə)l/ noun the mark of an

ani-mal or plant left in a rock, formed over

millions of years

fought

fought /

ple of fight

foul

foul / faυl/ adjective 1 smelling or tasting

unpleasant 쑗 A foul-smelling drain ran

down the centre of the street 2 very

un-pleasant 쑗 What foul weather we’re

having! 쑗 The boss has been in a foul

temper all day 쐽 noun an action which

is against the rules of a game 쑗 The

ref-eree gave a free kick for a foul on the

goalkeeper 쑗 Look at the action replay

to see if it really was a foul (NOTE: Do

not confuse with fowl.) 쐽verb to do

something to another player which is

against the rules of a game 쑗 He was

fouled inside the penalty box so the ref gave a penalty.

found

found /faυnd/ verb to establish

some-thing; to begin something 쑗 The busi-ness was founded in 1900 쐽 past tense

and past participle of find

foundation

foundation /faυndeʃ(ə)n/ noun 1 the

act of establishing something or of

set-ting something up 쑗 Ever since its foun-dation in 1892, the company has been a

great success 2 a charitable

organisa-tion which provides money for certain

projects 쑗 a foundation for educational research

fountain

fountain /faυntn/ noun an object or a structure with a pump which makes a stream of water come out, usually found

in a street or a large garden

four

has four corners 쑗 He’s four (years old) 쑗 I have an appointment with the doctor at four (o’clock).

fourteen

fourteen / 

쑗 There are fourteen houses in our street 쑗 He’s fourteen (years old) next week.

fourteenth

fourteenth / 

relating to the number 14 in a series 쑗

She came fourteenth in the race 쑗 The fourteenth of July or July the fourteenth (July 14th) 쑗 It was her fourteenth birthday yesterday.

fourth

the fourth of October or October the fourth (October 4th) 쑗 This is the fourth time he’s had to go to hospital this year.

쑗 It’s her fourth birthday tomorrow 쐽

number 14 in a series 쑗 I’ve had so many letters – this is the fourteenth.

fox

fox /fɒks/ noun a wild animal with red-dish fur and a long thick tail (NOTE: The

plural is foxes.)

fraction

fraction / frkʃən/ noun 1 (in

mathe-matics) a unit that is less than a whole

number 쑗 0.25 and 0.5 are ¼ and ½

ex-pressed as fractions 2 a small part of

something 쑗 Only a fraction of the sto-len money was ever found.

fracture

fracture /frktʃə/ noun a break,

espe-cially in a bone 쑗 The X-ray showed up the fracture clearly 쐽verb to break a

bone 쑗 He fractured his leg in the

acci-fragile 134 fridge

dent 쑗 They put her fractured leg in

plaster.

fragile

fragile /frd"al/ adjective made from

materials that are easily broken 쑗 Be

careful when you’re packing these

plates – they’re very fragile.

fragment

fragment /fr'mənt/ noun a small

piece 쑗 When digging on the site of the

house they found fragments of very old

glass.

frail

frail /frel/ adjective physically weak,

es-pecially because of age 쑗 His

grand-mother is now rather frail.

frame

frame /frem/ noun a border around

something such as a pair of glasses, a

picture, a mirror or a window 쑗 He has

glasses with gold frames 쑗 I think the

frame is worth more than the painting.

쐽 verb to put a frame round a picture 쑗

The photograph has been framed in red.

free

free /

money 쑗 Send in four tokens from

cere-al boxes and you can get a free toy 쑗 I

got a free ticket for the exhibition 2 not

busy; available 쑗 Will you be free next

Tuesday? 쑗 There is a table free in the

corner of the restaurant 쑗 Do you have

any free time next week? 3 able to do

what you want; not forced to do

any-thing 쑗 He’s free to do what he wants 4.

not in prison or a cage 쑗 After six years

in prison he’s a free man again 왍 to set

someone or something free to allow

someone to leave prison, or to let an

an-imal out of a cage 쑗 The young birds

were raised in the zoo and then set free

in the wild 쐽 verb to release someone

who is trapped 쑗 It took the fire service

some time to free the passengers in the

bus (NOTE: frees – freeing – freed)

freedom

freedom /

being free, rather than being forced to

stay somewhere or being in prison 쑗

She felt a sense of freedom being in the

country after working all week in the

city 쑗 His lawyer pleaded for his

cli-ent’s freedom 2 the state of being

al-lowed to do what you want 쑗 They are

trying to restrict our freedom of

move-ment.

freeze

freeze /

come solid because of the cold 쑗 The

winter was mild, and for the first time

ever the river did not freeze over 쑗 It’s

so cold that the lake has frozen solid 2.

to make food very cold so that it does

not decay 쑗 We froze the raspberries we

picked this morning 3. to become very

cold 쑗 The forecast is that it will freeze tonight 쑗 Put a hat on or you’ll freeze!

(NOTE: freezes – freezing – froze /frəυz/ – has frozen)

freezer

freezer /

ment like a large box, which is very cold inside, used for freezing food and keep-ing it frozen

freezing

freezing /

French

French /frentʃ/ adjective referring to France 쐽noun the language spoken in France

frequency

frequency /

number of times that something

hap-pens over a particular period of time 쑗

The government is becoming alarmed at the frequency of accidents in the con-struction industry (NOTE: no plural)

frequent

frequent /

ing or appearing often 쑗 He was a fre-quent visitor to the library 쑗 Skin can-cer is becoming more frequent 쑗 How frequent are the planes to Birmingham?

frequently

frequently /

쑗 The ferries don’t run as frequently in the winter 쑗 She could frequently be seen walking her dog in the park.

fresh

fresh / freʃ/ adjective 1 not used or not

dirty 쑗 I’ll get you a fresh towel 2.

made recently 쑗 a basket of fresh rolls 쑗

Let’s ask for a pot of fresh coffee 3 new

and different 쑗 The police produced

some fresh evidence 4 (of food) not in

a tin or frozen 쑗 Fresh fruit salad is bet-ter than tinned 쑗 Fresh vegetables are difficult to get in winter.

Friday

Friday /frade/ noun the fifth day of the week, the day between Thursday and

Saturday 쑗 We all had a meal together last Friday 쑗 We always go to the

cine-ma on Friday evenings 쑗 We normally have our meetings on Fridays 쑗 Friday

is a day of rest for Muslims 쑗 Today is Friday, June 20th.

fridge

fridge /frd"/ noun a kitchen machine for

keeping things cold 쑗 The fridge is

emp-fried 135 frozen

ty – we must buy some more food 쑗

Shall I put the milk back in the fridge?

fried

fried /frad/ past tense and past participle

of fry 쐽 adjective cooked in oil or fat

friend

friend /frend/ noun a person that you

know well and like 쑗 She’s my best

friend 쑗 We’re going on holiday with

some friends from work.

friendly

friendly /frendli/ adjective pleasant and

kind, wanting to make friends 쑗 Don’t

be frightened of the dog – he’s very

friendly 쑗 We’re not on friendly terms

with the people who live next door.

(NOTE: friendlier – friendliest)

friendship

friendship /frendʃp/ noun the state of

being friends 쑗 He formed several

last-ing friendships at school.

fries

fries /fraz/ 3rd person singular present

of fry

fright

fright /frat/ noun fear

frighten

frighten /frat(ə)n/ verb to make

some-one afraid 쑗 Take off that horrible mask

– you’ll frighten the children 쑗 The cat

has frightened all the birds away.

frightened

frightened /fratn(ə)d/ adjective afraid

쑗 The frightened children ran out of the

building.

frightening

frightening /frat(ə)nŋ/ adjective

making you feel afraid 쑗 a frightening

sound of footsteps in the corridor 쑗 He

had a frightening thought – what if no

one heard his cries for help?

frog

frog /frɒ'/ noun a small greenish-brown

animal with long legs, which jumps, and

lives both on land and in water 쑗 He

kept some tadpoles in a jar hoping they

would turn into frogs 쑗 Can you hear

the frogs croaking round the pond?

from

from / frəm, frɒm/ preposition 1 away

2. showing the place where something

starts or started 쑗 He comes from

Ger-many 쑗 The bees went from flower to

flower 쑗 We’ve had a letter from the

bank 쑗 He read the book from

begin-ning to end 쑗 Take three from four and

you get one 쑗 I took a book from the

pile on his desk 3 showing the time

when something starts or started 쑗 I’ll

be at home from 8 o’clock onwards 쑗

The hours of work are 9.30 to 5.30, from

Monday to Friday 쑗 From now on I’m

going to get up early 4 showing

dis-tance 쑗 It is not far from here to the

rail-way station 5. showing difference 쑗

Can you tell butter from margarine? 쑗

His job is totally different from mine 6.

showing a cause 쑗 He died from the in-juries he received in the accident 쑗 He suffers from angina 쑗 She suffers from coughs every winter.

front

front /frnt/ noun a part of something

which is furthest forward 쑗 The front of the house is on London Road 쑗 She spilt coffee down the front of her dress.

쐽 adjective which is in front 쑗 She sat

in the front seat, next to the driver 앳 in

front further forwards 쑗 Her mother sat

in the back seat and she sat in front 앳

in front of someone or something

before or further forwards than

some-thing 쑗 Don’t stand in front of the car –

it may start suddenly 쑗 There are six people in front of me in the queue 쑗 You can park your car in front of the shop.

front door

front door /

door to a house or building

frost

frost / frɒst/ noun 1 a white covering on

the ground that appears when the

tem-perature is below freezing 쑗 The garden

was white with frost 2 an occasion on

which the temperature outside is below

freezing 쑗 There was a hard frost last night 쑗 There’s a touch of frost in the air 쑗 A late frost can damage young plants.

frown

frown /fraυn/ verb to make lines in the skin on your forehead because you are

concentrating or worried 쑗 He frowned

as he tried to do the calculation 쐽 noun pulling your eyebrows together as a sign

that you are angry or worried 쑗 Take that frown off your face – everything’s going to be all right.

frown on phrasal verb to disapprove of

something 쑗 The teachers frown on singing in the corridors 쑗 The company frowns on people who bring food into the office.

froze

froze / frəυz/ past tense of freeze

frozen

frozen /frəυz(ə)n/ past participle of

freeze 쐽 adjective 1 very cold 쑗 Come

inside – you must be frozen out there 2.

at a temperature below freezing point 쑗

We went skating on the frozen lake.

fruit 136 funnel

fruit

fruit /

trees or plants, which is often eaten raw

and is usually sweet 쑗 You should eat

five pieces of fruit or vegetables every

day 쑗 He has six fruit trees in his

gar-den.

fry

fry /fra/ verb to cook something in oil or

fat 쑗 Fry the onions over a low heat so

that they don’t burn 쑗 Fry the eggs in

some fat (NOTE: fries /fraz/ – frying –

fried /frad/)

frying pan

frying pan /fraŋ pn/ noun an open

pan with low sides, used for frying

fuel

fuel /

gas, oil, petrol or wood which can be

burnt to give heat or power 쑗 What fuel

do you use to heat the house? 쑗 We ran

out of fuel on the motorway.

fulfil

fulfil /fυlfl/ verb to complete something

in a satisfactory way 쑗 He died before

he could fulfil his ambition to fly a

plane 쑗 We are so busy that we cannot

fulfil any more orders before Christmas.

(NOTE: fulfilling – fulfilled The US

spelling is fulfill.)

full

full / fυl/ adjective 1 with as much inside

as is possible 쑗 Is the box full? 쑗 The

bag is full of potatoes 쑗 We couldn’t get

on the first bus because it was full 쑗 All

the hotels were full 2 complete 쑗 You

must give the police full details of the

accident 쑗 Write your full name and

address at the top of the paper 쐽 adverb

completely 쑗 The story has never been

told in full.

full stop

full stop /fυl stɒp/ noun a punctuation

mark like a small dot, showing the end

of a sentence or an abbreviation

fully

fully /fυli/ adverb completely 쑗 He was

fully aware that he had made a mistake.

쑗 She still hasn’t fully recovered from

her accident 쑗 The hotel is fully booked

for the Christmas week 쑗 When fully

grown, an elephant can weigh several

tons.

fun

fun /fn/ noun enjoyment from an

activi-ty 쑗 Having to stay in bed on my

birth-day is not much fun 왍 to have fun to

en-joy yourself 쑗 We had a lot of fun on the

river 왍 for fun as a joke or for

enjoy-ment 쑗 She poured water down his neck

for fun 쑗 Just for fun, he drove the car

through town dressed as a gorilla 쑗

Why did you do that? – Just for the fun

of it! 앳 to make fun of someone, to

poke fun at someone to laugh at

someone 쑗 Don’t make fun of her – she’s trying her best 쑗 He poked fun at the Prime Minister.

function

function / fŋkʃən/ noun 1 a party, or a

gathering of people 쑗 We have two wed-ding functions in the main restaurant this weekend 쑗 The Prime Minister busy up with official functions all week.

2. the work done by someone or

some-thing 쑗 The function of a goalkeeper is

to stop the ball going into the net 쑗

What’s the function of that red switch?

쐽 verb to work 쑗 The computer is still functioning well after years of use.

fund

fund /fnd/ noun an amount of money

intended for a particular purpose 쑗 She contributes to a pension fund 쐽 verb to

provide money for a special purpose 쑗

We have asked the government to fund the building of the new library 쑗 The company is funding her manager’s course.

fundamental

fundamental /fndəment(ə)l/ adjec-tive basic; essential 쑗 The fundamental difference between us is that I apologise for my mistakes and you don’t 쑗 Good air quality is fundamental for children’s health.

funds

funds /fndz/ noun money which is

available for spending 쑗 He started a course at college and then ran out of funds 쑗 The company has the funds to set up the research programme 쑗 Funds are available to get the project off the ground.

funeral

funeral /

at which a dead person is buried or

cre-mated 쑗 The church was packed for her funeral 쑗 The funeral will take place on Friday morning.

fungus

fungus /fŋ'əs/ noun a plant which has

no green leaves or flowers and which lives on decaying matter or on other plants (NOTE: The plural is fungi /fŋ'a/.)

funnel

funnel /fn(ə)l/ noun a tube with a wide opening and a narrow tube, used when pouring liquids from one container into another

funny 137 future

funny

funny / fni/ adjective 1 making people

laugh 쑗 He made funny faces and all the

children laughed 쑗 That joke isn’t

fun-ny 2 strange 쑗 She’s been behaving in

a funny way recently 쑗 There’s a funny

smell in the bathroom (NOTE: funnier –

funniest)

fur

fur /

mal’s body 쑗 This type of cat has very

short fur 쑗 She was wearing a fur coat.

쑗 Have you got any fur-lined boots?

(NOTE: Do not confuse with fir.)

furious

furious /fjυəriəs/ adjective very angry

furniture

furniture /

e.g a house or an office such as tables,

chairs, beds and cupboards 쑗 The

bur-glars stole all our office furniture 쑗 You

should cover up all the furniture before

you start painting the ceiling (NOTE: no

plural: some furniture; a lot of furniture;

a piece of furniture)

furry

furry /

further

further /

distance 쑗 Can you all move further

back – I can’t get you in the picture 쑗

The police station is quite close, but the

post office is further away 쑗 Edinburgh

is further from London than Newcastle.

쐽 adjective more 쑗 The bank needs

fur-ther information about your salary 쑗

Please send me further details of holi-days in Greece.

furthest

furthest /

or to the greatest distance 쑗 Some of the staff live quite close to the office – James lives furthest away 쑗 The furthest dis-tance I have ever flown is to Hong Kong.

fury

fury /fjυəri/ noun very strong anger 쑗

He shouted at us in fury.

fuse

fuse /

an electrical system which breaks if too much power tries to pass through it, so

preventing further damage 쑗 The plug has a 13-amp fuse 쑗 If the lights go out, the first thing to do is to check the fuses.

fuss

fuss /fs/ noun unnecessary excitement

or complaints 쑗 What’s all the fuss about?

future

future /

not yet happened 쑗 What are his plans for the future? 쑗 You never know what the future will bring 쑗 Can you imagine what London will be like in the future?

쐽 adjective which is coming; which has

not happened yet 쑗 They are spending all their time preparing for their future retirement 쑗 I try to save something each week for future expenses.

g

g /

alphabet, between F and H

gadget

gadget /'d"t/ noun a small useful

tool

gain

gain / 'en/ verb 1 to achieve something,

or get it with some work or effort 쑗 The

army gained control of the country 쑗

She gained some useful experience

working for a computer company 2 (of

a clock or watch) to move ahead of the

correct time 쑗 My watch gains five

min-utes a day 쐽 noun 1 an increase in

weight, quantity or size 쑗 There was no

gain in weight over three weeks 2

ben-efit or profit 쑗 He doesn’t do the job for

financial gain.

galaxy

galaxy /'ləksi/ noun an extremely

large group of stars 쑗 There are vast

numbers of galaxies in the universe.

(NOTE: The plural is galaxies.)

Galaxy, the

Galaxy, the /'ləksi/ noun the large

group of stars and planets that the Earth

forms part of

gale

gale /'el/ noun a very strong wind

gallery

gallery / 'ləri/ noun 1 왍 (art) gallery

a place where objects such as pictures

and sculptures are shown to the public

2. the highest rows of seats in a theatre

or cinema 쑗 We managed to get two

seats in the gallery (NOTE: The plural is

galleries.)

gallon

gallon /'lən/ noun a measure of

quan-tity of liquid, equal to 4.55 litres 쑗 The

car was empty and I had to put in seven

gallons of petrol.

gallop

gallop /'ləp/ verb to go fast,

especial-ly on horseback 쑗 The riders galloped

through the woods 쑗 He galloped

through his lecture 쐽 noun the fastest

running speed of a horse 쑗 The horse

went off at a gallop.

game

game / 'em/ noun 1 an activity in

which people compete with each other

using skill, strength or luck 쑗 She’s not

very good at games like chess 2 a

sin-gle match between two opponents or

two opposing teams 쑗 Everyone wanted

to watch the game of football 쑗 Do you want a game of snooker? 쑗 Our team

have won all their games this year 3 a

single session in an activity or sport

such as tennis or cards 쑗 She’s winning

by six games to three 4 wild animals

and birds such as deer, rabbits and pheasants, which are killed for sport or food 쐽plural noun Games a large

or-ganised sports competition 쑗 the Olym-pic Games

gang

gang / 'ŋ/ noun 1 a group of criminals

쑗 a drugs gang 2 a group of young

peo-ple who do things together, especially

one that causes trouble 쑗 Gangs of foot-ball fans wandered the streets after the

match 3 a group of workers 쑗 Gangs of men worked all night to repair the rail-way track.

gap

gap /'p/ noun a space between two

things or in the middle of something 쑗

There’s a gap between the two planks 쑗

The sheep all rushed through the gap in the hedge.

gape

gape / 'ep/ verb 1 to open your mouth wide in surprise or shock 2 to be wide

open 쑗 The entrance to the cave gaped before us.

garage

garage /

building where you can keep a car 쑗 He put the car into the garage overnight 쑗

She drove the car out of the garage 쑗

Don’t forget to lock the garage door 쑗

The hotel has garage space for thirty

cars 2 a place where petrol is sold and

where cars are repaired or sold 쑗

Where’s the nearest garage? I need some petrol 쑗 I can’t drive you to the station – my car is in the garage for re-pair 쑗 You can hire cars from the ga-rage near the post office.

garbage

I don’t believe a word of what he said –

garden 139 generation

it’s just garbage (NOTE: no plural) 2.

(mainly US) household waste

garden

garden /

near a house, used for growing such

things as vegetables and flowers 쑗 We

grow all the vegetables we need in the

back garden 쑗 Your sister’s outside,

sit-ting in the garden.

gardener

gardener /

who looks after a garden either as a

hob-by or as a job

gardening

gardening /

ity of looking after a garden

garlic

garlic /

table with a strong smell, which can be

separated into sections and used to give

flavour to food

gas

gas / 's/ noun 1 a chemical substance

which has no form and which becomes

liquid if it is cooled 쑗 Air is made up of

several gases, mainly nitrogen and

oxy-gen 쑗 Rubbish gives off a type of gas

called methane as it rots 2 a chemical

substance which is burnt to make heat,

e.g for cooking

gasoline

gasoline /

made from petrol, used to drive a car

en-gine (NOTE: usually shortened to gas)

gasp

gasp /

breath 쑗 He gasped when he saw the

bill 쐽noun a sudden loud breath that

you take when you are surprised or in

pain 쑗 She gave a gasp when she saw

the face at the window.

gate

gate / 'et/ noun 1 a low outside door

made of bars of wood or metal 쑗 Shut

the gate – if you leave it open the sheep

will get out of the field 쑗 There is a

white gate leading into the garden 2 a

door which leads to an aircraft at an

air-port 쑗 Flight AZ270 is now boarding at

Gate 23.

gather

gather / 'ðə/ verb 1 to bring things or

people together 쑗 He gathered his

pa-pers together after the lecture 쑗 She

has been gathering information on the

history of the local school 2 (especially

of people) to come together in one

place, or be brought together by

some-one 쑗 Groups of people gathered

out-side the Parliament building 쑗 They

gathered together a team of experienced

people for the new project 3 to

under-stand from what someone has told you

쑗 I gather that his father is in hospital.

쑗 We gather he has left the office 4 to

pick plants, flowers or fruit 쑗 The chil-dren were gathering blackberries 쑗

The grape harvest has been gathered.

gave

gave / 'ev/ past tense of give

gay

gay / 'e/ adjective 1 attracted to people

of the same sex, or relating to people

like this 쑗 It’s a club where gay men and women meet 쑗 They met in a gay bar 2.

bright and lively (dated ) 쑗 The houses along the street are all painted in gay colours 쐽 noun a person who is

attract-ed to someone of the same sex 쑗 a club for gays

gaze

gaze /'ez/ verb to look steadily 쑗 She gazed into his eyes 쑗 He stood on the cliff, gazing out to sea 쐽 noun a steady

look 쑗 She refused to meet his gaze.

gear

gear / 'ə/ noun 1 equipment for a

partic-ular purpose 쑗 He took all his climbing gear with him 쑗 She was carrying her

painting gear in a rucksack 2 clothing

for a particular purpose 쑗 She was

putting on her tennis gear 3 a part of an

engine that makes it possible to change the amount of work the engine has to do

to turn the wheels

gene

gene /

cell which carries information about features that are passed from parent to child

general

general /d"en(ə)rəl/ adjective not spe-cific; covering a wide range of subjects

쑗 He had a good general education, but didn’t specialise in any particular field.

쐽 noun an army officer of high rank 쑗

He has only recently been promoted to general 앳 in general normally 쑗 In general, the weather is warmer in the south.

generally

generally /d"en(ə)rəli/ adverb usually

쑗 The office is generally closed between Christmas and the New Year.

generate

generate /d"enəret/ verb to produce

something such as power 쑗 We use wind

to generate electricity.

generation

generation /d"enəreʃ(ə)n/ noun 1.

the production of something such as

power 쑗 the generation of electricity