cut the crap!

a rude way of telling someone to stop saying things that are not true or not
important:
Just cut the crap and tell me what you really want from me.

speak when you're spoken to!

said to a child to tell the child not to speak if no one speaks to them first.

buttonhole
to stop someone and make them listen to you:
Greg buttonholed me about sales figures when I came out of the meeting.

interject
to say something while another person is speaking:
"That's absolutely ridiculous!" Mary interjected.

slap sb down
to stop someone from talking or making suggestions, often in an unpleasant way:
I tried to suggest ways in which the plans could be improved, but he slapped me
down.

heckle
to interrupt a public speech or performance with loud, unfriendly statements or
questions:
A few angry locals started heckling (the speaker).

interpose (PUT BETWEEN)

to put yourself or something between two things, people, or groups, especially in
order to stop them doing something:
The teacher interposed herself between the two snarling boys.

intersperse
to mix one thing in with another in a way that is not regular:
The documentary intersperses graphical animations with film clips of the actual
event.
Her handwritten notes were interspersed throughout the text

blend in/blend into sth

to look or seem the same as surrounding people or things and therefore not be
easily noticeable:
We tried to blend into the crowd.

let sth into sth

to put something into a flat surface so that it does not stick out:
A skylight had been let into the roof.

zip sth/sb up
to fasten a piece of clothing by using its zip, or to help someone close the zip on
a piece of clothing they are wearing:
Could you zip me up, please?

intermingle
to become mixed together:
The flavours intermingle to produce a very unusual taste.

inset
something positioned within a larger object:
The map has an inset (= small extra map) in the top corner that shows the city
centre in more detail.
interpolate
to interrupt someone by saying something

be riddled with sth

If a plan or system, etc. is riddled with bad features, such as mistakes, it is
full of them:
This article is riddled with errors.

punctuate (REPEAT)
to happen or cause something to happen repeatedly while something else is
happening; to interrupt something repeatedly:
The president spoke at length in a speech punctuated by applause.
He chatted freely, punctuating his remarks as often as possible with the
interviewer's first name.

squash (MAKE FLAT) to crush something into a flat shape:

He accidentally sat on her hat and squashed it.

My sandwiches had got squashed at the bottom of my bag.
She'd sat on her orange and squashed it.
The fruit had got squashed under the weight of all the other food.

congested
Congested roads and towns have too much traffic and movement is made difficult.
If you are or your nose is congested, you cannot breathe through your nose because
it is blocked, usually during an infection.

whiffy
smelling unpleasant:
He hadn't showered for a couple of days and was starting to get whiffy.

corny
(especially of jokes, films, stories, etc.) showing no new ideas or too often
repeated, and therefore not funny or interesting:
I couldn't watch the whole movie - it was just too corny.

Musty, fusty, mildewy, stuffy , funky (rancio, mohoso)

fuddy-duddy , hoary, musty, corny( viejo como un anciano)

spill your guts

to tell someone all about yourself, especially your problems:
Why do people take part in these shows and spill their guts on camera in front of a
studio audience?

profess
to state something, sometimes in a way that is not sincere:
She professes not to be interested in money.
I don't profess to know all the details about the case.

acquaint sb/yourself with sth

to make someone or yourself familiar with something:
Take time to acquaint yourself with the rules.

grippy( engripado, que padece de gripe)

come to grips with( atacar, enfrentarse con)

declaim
to express something with strong feeling, especially in a loud voice or with
forceful language:
"The end of the world is at hand!" the poster declaimed.

gripped- tight ( ajustado fuertemente, prensado,sujetado)

crouch
to bend your knees and lower yourself so that you are close to the ground and
leaning forward slightly:
She saw him coming and crouched (down) behind a bush.

gripping( absorbente, aferrador,emocionante)

grippingly ( fascinantemente) gripy ( que causa muchos retorcijones)

declaim
to express something with strong feeling, especially in a loud voice or with
forceful language:
"The end of the world is at hand!" the poster declaimed.

tattle
to secretly tell someone in authority, especially a teacher, that someone else has
done something bad, often in order to cause trouble:
Did you tattle on us to the teacher?

foul-language ( lenguaje sucio) foul-mouthed, evil-speaking ( mal hablado)

foul-tasting: having a very unpleasant taste

My mouth is caked with foul-tasting crud.

foul-smelling
having a very unpleasant smell
foul-smelling food that had been in the fridge too long

take a leaf out of sb's book

to copy something that someone else does because it will bring you advantages:
Maybe I should take a leaf out of Rick's book and start coming in early every
morning.

crow(TALK PROUDLY)to talk in a proud and annoying way about something you have

done:

He's always crowing about his latest triumph.

crow ( cry)
When a cock (= anadult male chicken)crows, it makes a very long and loud sharpcry:

We were woken at dawn by acock crowing repeatedly.

When a baby crows, it makes sudden cries of happiness.

roof sth in/over
to put a roof over aplace or area:

The council has decided to roof over the open-air swimming pool.

anticipate:to imagine or expect that something will happen:
We've tried to anticipate the most likely problems, but it's impossible to be
prepared for every eventuality.

We thought the concert in the park would be popular but we didn't anticipate so
many people turning up.

anticipate: to take action in preparation for something that you think will happen:
It's always best to anticipate a problem before it arises.

turn/go crimson
If you go/turn crimson: your face becomes red because you are very embarrassed or
angry:
She turned crimson with embarrassment.

ruminate (THINK)
to think carefully and for a long period about something:
She ruminated for weeks about whether to tell him or not.

scuff
to make a rough mark on a smooth surface, especially on a shoe or floor:
Please wear trainers in the gym, to avoid scuffing the floor.
If you scuff your feet (= pull your shoes along the ground as you walk) like that,
you'll ruin your shoes.

scuff
a rough mark made on a smooth surface, especially on a shoe or floor:
They wear soft overshoes to protect the floor from scuffs.
Do you have anything for getting rid of scuff marks on shoes?

chew the cud

to think slowly and carefully about something:
He sat for a moment chewing the cud before he spoke.

foreclose (TAKE POSSESSION)

to take back property that was bought with borrowed money because the money was not
being paid back as formally agreed:

the bank is threatening to foreclose on the family's house.

foredoomed
(especially of planned activities) going to fail, or extremely unlucky from the
beginning:
The whole project seemed foredoomed to failure from the start.

mischance
bad luck or an unlucky event:
If by some mischance our attempt fails, we'll try again next year.

happenstance
chance or a chance situation, especially one producing a good result:
By (a strange) happenstance they were both in Paris at the same time.

be bad luck on sb
to be a bad thing that happened to someone by chance:
It was bad luck on Alex that he was ill on his birthday.

smooth (MAKE FLAT)

to move your hands across something in order to make it flat:
He straightened his tie nervously and smoothed (down) his hair.

smooth adjective (NOT SINCERE)

very polite, confident, and able to persuade people, but in a way that is not
sincere:
In job interviews, the successful candidates tend to be the smooth talkers who know
exactly how to make the right impression.

smooth (TASTING PLEASANT)

having a pleasant flavour that is not sour or bitter:
This coffee is incredibly smooth and rich

rubdown; an act of cleaning and smoothing something, or of drying a person or

animal:
a cold shower and a rubdown with a towel

smooth sth out

to reduce the difficulties or changes in a process or situation:

add salt to sth

If you add salt to a subject or conversation, you make it more interesting:
You can be sure she'll always add salt to the conversation!

smooth sth away

to remove the difficulties from something:
My mother was always there to smooth away my fears.

smooth over : to cover the surface of something with a liquid or soft substance,
using gentle rubbing movements:
Pour some oil into the palm of your hand and then smooth it over your arms and
neck.

allotment (GROUND)
a small piece of ground in or just outside a town that a person rents for growing
vegetables, fruits, or flowers

roughen
to (cause something to) become less smooth or make or become rough:
I roughened the edges and glued them together.

sleek back/down
to make something such as hair smooth, shiny, and flat:
Before going to the party, he sleeked back his hair with hair gel.

consecrate
to officially make something holy and able to be used for religious ceremonies:
The new cathedral was completed and consecrated in 2002.

cloistered (SEPARATE)
separated from and communicating little with the outside world:
These academics lead such a cloistered life/existence.

tick away/by
If time ticks away/by, it goes past:
With the final seconds ticking away, Milan scored a goal.

tick sb off (SPEAK SEVERELY)

to speak severely to and criticize someone who has done something wrong:
I had to tick him off for being late again.

tick sb off (ANNOY)to annoy someone:

It really ticks me off when she doesn't keep her promises.

Tick off : to put a mark beside an item in a list to show that you have dealt with
it:
That's one more action point that we can tick off.

Tick sth off: to name items in a list:

She ticked off six reasons for saying no.

conscript
to force someone by law to serve in one of the armed forces:
He was conscripted into the army at the age of 18.

clodhopper (PERSON)
a person who moves in an awkward way:
Look where you're going, you great clodhopper.

clodhopper (SHOE)
a heavy shoe:
You're not coming in the house in those great clodhoppers.

give sth/sb a wide berth

to avoid a person or place:
I tend to give the city centre a wide berth on Saturdays because it's so busy.

coarsen
to become rough or cause something to become rough
She grew stout, too, and unwieldy, and her skin coarsened from lack of care and
overeating.

tick along, tick over

If a business, job, or system is ticking over, it continues to work but makes
little progress:
I'll be able to keep things ticking over in the office until you get back.

function as sth/sb
to perform the purpose of a particular thing or the duties of a particular person:
We have a spare bedroom that also functions as a study.

rebuke
to speak angrily to someone because you disapprove of what they have said or done:
I was rebuked by my manager for being late.

time and tide wait for no man

said to emphasize that people cannot stop the passing of time, and therefore should
not delay doing things

all the time in the world

a large amount of time available:

The doctor made me feel as if she had all the time in the world to listen to my
problems.

put sth/sb in a pigeonhole

to form a very fixed, often wrong, opinion about what type of person or thing
someone or something is
tick (SOUND)
When a clock or watch ticks, it makes a sound every second:
The ticking of the clock kept her awake.

the sound of sth

how something seems to be, from what is said or written:
By/From the sound of it I don't think it was her fault

sound sb out
to discover informally what someone thinks or intends to do about a particular
thing, so that you can be prepared or take suitable action:
Perhaps you could sound the chairwoman out before the meeting, to see which way
she's going to vote?

at/on the stroke of sth

exactly at a particular time:
Fireworks started at the stroke of ten.

sound the alarm

to cause a noise to be made or say or shout a message to warn people about
something:
Quick, sound the alarm - there's a fire in the machine room!

what do you have to say for yourself?

used to ask someone to explain why they have done something bad:
Well, you've ruined my car - what have you got to say for yourself?

cross-question / cross-examine
to ask detailed questions of someone, especially a witness in a trial, in order to
discover if they have been telling the truth

feel sb/sth out

to try to get information from someone or from a situation without asking direct
questions:
Why don’t you feel them out to see if they’ll invite me over too?
I think they are trying to feel out what the new relationship should be.

sound off
to express your opinions forcefully, especially without being asked for them:
He's always sounding off about how he thinks the country should be run.

what makes sb tick

If you know what makes someone tick, you understand why that person behaves the way
he or she does.

tick
a mark (✓) that shows that something is correct or has been done:
Put a tick by/against the names of the people who have accepted the invitation.

crumple sth up
to crush a piece of paper until all of it is folded:
Sylvie crumpled up the letter and threw it in the bin.

consciousness-raising
the attempt to increase people's knowledge of and interest in social and political
matters
Sound: complete
How sound is her knowledge of the subject?

merry-go-round (FOR CHILDREN)

roundabout, us also carousel a large machine at a fair that turns round and has
wooden or plastic animals or vehicles on which children ride:
The girls wanted the merry-go-round to go faster.

roundabout a flat, round piece of equipment in play areas on which children sit or
stand and are pushed round and round

merry-go-round (SEVERAL ACTIVITIES)

a series of similar activities that can often seem boring:
With his first book came the endless merry-go-round of publicity and interviews.

soul-searching
deep and careful thought about your feelings, especially in relation to a moral
problem or decision:
After much soul-searching, he decided it was wrong to vote in the elections.

soulful (DEEP FEELINGS)

expressing deep feelings, often sadness:
a soulful performance/ballad
The dog looked at me with its big, soulful, brown eyes.

bear in on/ upon

If something is borne in on/upon someone, they are made to understand it:
Suddenly it was borne in on him that he was becoming too old to start a new career.

cognizant
understanding or realizing something:
We should be cognizant of the fact that every complaint is not a justified
complaint.

canvass (GET SUPPORT)

to try to get political support or votes, especially by visiting all the houses in
an area:
I've been out canvassing for the Labour Party every evening this week.

canvass (ASK)
to try to discover information or opinions by asking people:
The council has been canvassing local opinion/local people to get their thoughts on
the proposed housing development.

in your heart of hearts

in your most secret and true thoughts:
I didn't want to believe it, but in my heart of hearts I knew that it was true.

round off (SHAPE)

to make something that is pointed or sharp into a smooth, curved shape by rubbing
it:
He used a special machine to round off the corners of the old table.

abstain
to not do something you could do, esp. something that is unhealthy or gives you
pleasure:
Some families abstain from eating fried food.
gerrymandering
an occasion when someone in authority changes the borders of an area in order to
increase the number of people within that area who will vote for a particular party
or person:
The boundary changes were denounced as blatant gerrymandering.

nominate (SUGGEST)
to officially suggest someone for an election, job, position, or honour:
He's been nominated by the Green Party as their candidate in the next election.
Would you like to nominate anyone for/as director?

to say officially that a film, song, programme, etc. will be included in a

competition for a prize:
The film was nominated for an Academy Award.

nominate (CHOOSE)
to officially choose someone for a job or to do something:
She was nominated as the delegation's official interpreter.

inquiry (QUESTION)
(the process of asking) a question:
I've been making inquiries about/into the cost of a round-the-world ticket.
formal Inquiry into the matter is pointless - no one will tell you anything.

tingle
to have a feeling as if a lot of sharp points are being put quickly and lightly
into your body:
My fingers and toes are tingling with the cold.
There's a line in that poem that makes my spine tingle every time I read it.

When you tingle with an emotion, such as excitement or fear, you feel it very
strongly:
She tingled with fear as she entered the dark alleyway.

tingle
a feeling as if a lot of sharp points are being put quickly and lightly into your
body:
There's a slight tingle in my wrists.
She stroked his head, sending tingles down his spine.

inquire within
written on a notice on a building, meaning that information can be found inside:
Saturday staff needed - Inquire within.

tingly
causing a tingle:
The massage had left me with a pleasant tingly sensation.

shooting pains
sudden severe pains that move through the body:
I get shooting pains up my spine whenever I try to move.

racking
very bad and very painful:
a racking cough/headache/toothache

masochism
psychology the activity of getting sexual pleasure from being hurt or controlled by
another person.
a free-floating feeling is one that is general and does not have an obvious cause:
free-floating anxiety

since when
used angrily in speech to ask someone why they believe a situation to be different
from how it really is:
Since when do you have the right to tell me what to do?

tell me another one!

used to say that you do not believe what someone has told you:
"I worked all day yesterday." "Oh yeah, tell me another one!"

are my eyes deceiving me?

something you say when you cannot believe what you see:
Is that snow in May, or are my eyes deceiving me?

I'll eat my hat

used to say that you are sure something will not happen:
If she actually marries him I'll eat my hat.

revel in sth
to get great pleasure from a situation or an activity:
She's revelling in her newly found freedom.

bask in sth
to take pleasure from something that makes you feel good:
He basked in his moment of glory, holding the trophy up to the crowd.

be a great one for sth

to enjoy or do something a lot:
He's a great one for getting other people to do his work for him!

ride (on) a wave of sth

If you ride (on) a wave of a feeling, you get an advantage from it:
The new president is riding (on) a wave of popularity.

sound
(of sleep) deep and peaceful:
He was sound asleep within moments of getting into bed.

minute hand
the part on a clock or watch that points to the minutes and is longer than the hour
hand and thicker than the second hand.

hour hand
the part on a clock or watch that points to the hours. It is shorter than the
minute hand.

take precedence over ( tener prioridad por)

precedence
the condition of being dealt with before other things or of being considered more
important than other things:
Business people often think that fluency and communication take precedence over
grammar when speaking.

penultimate
second from the last:
It's the penultimate episode of the series tonight.

ride (on) a wave of sth

If you ride (on) a wave of a feeling, you get an advantage from it:
The new president is riding (on) a wave of popularity.

contingency
a future event or circumstance that is possible but cannot be predicted with
certainty.

basin (CONTAINER)
an open, round container shaped like a bowl with sloping sides, used for holding
food or liquid:
When you have broken the eggs into a basin, whisk them together lightly with a
fork.

advent
the fact of an event happening, an invention being made, or a person arriving:
Life was transformed by the advent of the steam engine.

casualty (INJURED)
a person injured or killed in a serious accident or war:
The train was derailed but there were no casualties, police said.
The rebels suffered heavy casualties.

puberty
the stage in people's lives when they develop from a child into an adult because of
changes in their body that make them able to have children:
At puberty, pubic hair develops and girls begin to menstruate.

wasp-waisted
(of a piece of clothing) very narrow at the waist:
a wasp-waisted jacket

elongate
to become or make something become longer, and often thinner:
The cells elongate as they take in water.

extendable
Something that is extendable can be made longer

engorged
If a part of the body is engorged, it has become swollen or filled with a liquid,
especially blood.

casualty (INJURED)
a person injured or killed in a serious accident or war:
The train was derailed but there were no casualties, police said.
The rebels suffered heavy casualties.

billow
to spread over a large area, or (especially of things made of cloth) to become
filled with air and appear to be larger:
Smoke billowed (out) from the burning building.

stall (ENGINE)
If an engine stalls, or if you stall it, it stops working suddenly and without you
intending it to happen:
A car may stall due to the driver braking too suddenly.
I stalled the car twice during my driving test but still managed to pass.

stall v(DELAY)
to delay taking action or avoid giving an answer in order to have more time to make
a decision or get an advantage:
She says she'll give me the money next week but I think she's just stalling (for
time).

If you stall a person, you delay them or prevent them from doing something for a
period of time:
I managed to stall him for a few days until I'd got enough money to pay back the
loan.

The thief broke into the office while his accomplice stalled off the security
guard.

stall (SHOP)
a large table or a small shop with an open front from which goods are sold in a
public place:
In the village market, the stalls are piled high with local vegetables.

pit of your stomach

the part of the body in which people say they feel fear or nervousness:
I got a sick feeling/a knot in the pit of my stomach when the news of the attack
was announced.

pit sb/sth against sb/sth

to cause one person, group, or thing to fight against or be in competition with
another:

motorway pile-up/ turnpike ( autopista)

indigent
having no money or anything else of value:
an indigent family

indigency/ poverty : the condition of being indigent.

indignant
angry because of something that is wrong or not fair:
She wrote an indignant letter to the paper complaining about the council's action.
He became very indignant when it was suggested he had made a mistake.

atelier
a room or building in which an artist works.

literacy
the ability to read and write:
She was actively involved in programs to increase adult literacy.

Literacy
is also a basic skill or knowledge of a subject:
computer literacy

steal sb's thunder

to do what someone else was going to do before they do it, especially if this takes
success or praise away from them:
Sandy stole my thunder when she announced that she was pregnant two days before I'd
planned to tell people about my pregnancy.
steal a march on sb
If you steal a march on someone, you get an advantage over that person by acting
before they do:
Our rival company managed to steal a march on us by bringing out their software
ahead of ours.

stealth
movement that is quiet and careful in order not to be seen or heard, or secret
action:
It would seem that some politicians would prefer to use financial stealth rather
than legislation to produce change.

stealthy,gingerly,wary ( cauteloso)
behaving, done, or made in a cautious and surreptitious manner, so as not to be
seen or heard.
stealthy footsteps

stealthily ( a hurtadillas)

prime: main or most important:

the prime suspect in a murder investigation

prime: of the best quality:

The hotel is in a prime location in the city centre.

index (MAKE LIST)

to prepare an index for a book or collection, or arrange it in an index:
The book contains a lot of information, but it's not very well indexed.

reassurance
words of advice and comfort intended to make someone feel less worried:
I felt I couldn't cope with the situation and was in desperate need of some
reassurance

rebadge
to sell an existing product using a new brand name or symbol:
Some foreign marketers are importing cheap products and rebadging them with exotic
Western brands.

rebarbative
unpleasant and unattractive:
Maths seems a rebarbative subject for literature.

reassess
to think again about something in order to decide if you should change the way you
feel about it or deal with it:
The customer services department is reassessing its procedures for handling
customer complaints.

blandishments
pleasant words or actions used in order to persuade someone to do something:
She was impervious to his blandishments.

reassure
to comfort someone and stop them from worrying:
I was nervous on my first day at college, but I was reassured to see some friendly
faces.
washer-dryer
a large electric machine for washing and drying clothes.

launderette
a place where you pay to use machines that wash and dry clothes

comradely
like a comrade:
He gave me a comradely slap on the back.

wrought iron
iron that can be bent into attractive shapes and used to make gates, furniture,
etc.:
wrought-iron gates

beat sb to a jelly
to hit someone repeatedly and forcefully:
They've threatened to beat him to a jelly if he doesn't repay the money}

shamble
to walk slowly and awkwardly, without lifting your feet correctly:
Sick patients shambled along the hospital corridors.
He was a strange, shambling figure.

slum: a very untidy or dirty place

This house would be an absolute slum if I wasn't here to clean it.

composite
something that is made of various different parts:
The main character in her latest novel is a composite of several public figures of
that era.

exertion (EFFORT) the use of a lot of mental or physical effort:

I get out of breath with any kind of physical exertion.

pinprick (PROBLEM)
something that is slightly annoying for a short time:
You have to ignore the pinpricks and just get on with the job.

pinprick (HOLE/PAIN)
a very small hole in something where a pin or needle has been pushed into it, or a
sudden pain where a pin or needle has been pushed into your skin:
There was a pinprick on his arm.

sheer off: to change direction suddenly

I thought the boats were going to collide, but one sheered off/away at the last
second.

worm-eaten
containing small holes that were made by the young of particular types of insect,
especially woodworm:
a worm-eaten table/beam

ring the changes (on)

to do something in a different way in order to make it more interesting:
Ring the changes on packed lunches using different types of bread and spicy
fillings.

configure
to arrange something or change the controls on a computer or other device so that
it can be used in a particular way:
Some software can be configured to prevent children from giving out their phone
numbers on the internet.

readjust
to change in order to fit a different situation, or to repair something slightly:
After living abroad for so long, he found it difficult to readjust to life at home.
The clock automatically readjusts when you enter a new time zone

jive (TALK)
to try to make someone believe something that is untrue:
Quit jiving me and just tell me where you were!

jive (TALK)
talk that has no meaning or is dishonest:
Don't believe a word he says, it's just a bunch of (= a lot of) jive!

interlude
a short period when a situation or activity is different from what comes before and
after it:
The musical interludes don't really fit in with the rest of the play.