If you want to say that a group of people or an organization is badly organized and not very respectable, you can

describe it as a ragtag group or organization. (INFORMAL)

We started out with a little rag-tag team of 30 people.

Streamers are long rolls of coloured paper used for decorating rooms at parties. A chunky person is broad and heavy. A chunky object is large and thick.

The soprano was a chunky girl from California. ...a chunky sweater. ...chunky jewellery.

If you drop by, you visit someone informally.

She and Danny will drop by later... He dropped by my office this morning.

If you mull something over, you think about it for a long time before deciding what to do.

McLaren had been mulling over an idea to make a movie... I'll leave you alone here so you can mull it over.

= consider
raise hell - take strong and forceful action, as to object or express discontent; "She raised hell when she found out that she wold not be hired again" make a stink, raise a stink object - express or raise an objection or protest or criticism or express dissent; "She never objected to the amount of work her boss charged her with"; "When asked to drive the truck, she objected that she did not have a driver's license"

If you coat something with a substance or in a substance, you cover it with a thin layer of the substance.

Coat the fish with seasoned flour.

A layer of a material or substance is a quantity or piece of it that covers a surface or that is between two other things.

A fresh layer of snow covered the street... Arrange all the vegetables except the potatoes in layers. Her mother tried every approach to draw her out.

If you draw someone out, you make them feel less nervous and more willing to talk.

If people huddle in a group, they gather together to discuss something quietly or secretly.

Off to one side, Sticht, Macomber, Jordan, and Kreps huddled to discuss something...

If something or someone whines, they make a long, high-pitched noise, especially one which sounds sad or unpleasant.

He could hear her dog barking and whining in the background... The engines whined.

Whine is also a noun.

...the whine of air-raid sirens.

2 If you say that someone is whining, you mean that they are complaining in an annoying way about something unimportant.

They come to me to whine about their troubles. ...children who whine that they are bored... `Why can't you tell me?' I whined...

I should have felt a gooey, sentimental sadness, perhaps

A mattress is the large, flat object which is put on a bed to make it comfortable to sleep on. If a process stalls, or if someone or something stalls it, the process stops but may continue at a later time.

The Social Democratic Party has vowed to try to stall the bill until the current session ends. ...but the peace process stalled... Negotiations remained stalled yesterday in New York.
2 If you stall, you try to avoid doing something until later.

Some parties have accused the governor of stalling... Thomas had spent all week stalling over his decision.

3 If you stall someone, you prevent them from doing something until a later time.

Shop manager Brian Steel stalled the man until the police arrived.

If a vehicle stalls or if you accidentally stall it, the engine stops suddenly.

The engine stalled... Your foot falls off the pedal and you stall the car.

5 A stall is a large table on which you put goods that you want to sell, or information that you want to give people.

...market stalls selling local fruits.

6 The stalls in a theatre or concert hall are the seats on the ground floor directly in front of the stage. (mainly BRIT; in AM, use orchestra) 7 A stall is a small enclosed area in a room which is used for a particular purpose, for example a shower. (AM; in BRIT, usually use cubicle)

Faucet- robinet If you haul something which is heavy or difficult to move, you move it using a lot of effort.

A crane had to be used to haul the car out of the stream... She hauled up her bedroom window and leaned out.

2 If someone is hauled before a court or someone in authority, they are made to appear before them because they are accused of having done something wrong.

He was hauled before the managing director and fired.

4 If you say that a task or a journey is a long haul, you mean that it takes a long time and a lot of effort.

Revitalising the Romanian economy will be a long haul. see also long-haul

If you stand up for someone or something, you defend them and make your feelings or opinions very clear.

They stood up for what they believed to be right...

= stick up for

If you heed someone's advice or warning, you pay attention to it and do what they suggest. (FORMAL)

But few at the conference in London last week heeded his warning... Her short spiky hair is damp with sweat.

Something that is spiky has one or more sharp points. If you pick up the threads of an activity, you start it again after an interruption. If you pick up the threads of your life, you become more active again after a period of failure or bad luck.

Many women have been able to pick up the threads of their former career. She tried to blow a gray strand of hair from her eyes. ...high fences, topped by strands of barbed-wire...

A strand of something such as hair, wire, or thread is a single thin piece of it.

2 A strand of a plan or theory is a part of it.

= element 3 If you are stranded, you are prevented from leaving a place, for example because of bad weather.

There had been two strands to his tactics... He's trying to bring together various strands of radical philosophic thought.

The climbers had been stranded by a storm...