0505 Flashcards
(10 cards)
whiny
I wasn’t whiny and spoiled.
having a drawn-out, high-pitched, unpleasant sound.
“he speaks in a whiny, childish voice”
having a complaining tone.
“without wanting to sound whiny, it’s quite hard work”
arsenal
We celebrate Guy Fawkes Day in November, and every year my mom would buy us a ton of fireworks, like a mini-arsenal.
1 a large group of weapons that someone has
Britain’s nuclear arsenal
arsenal of
an arsenal of guns
2 a building where weapons are stored
3 the equipment, methods etc that someone can use to help them achieve something
a software package that’s now part of our arsenal
arsenal of
He has a whole arsenal of cameras.
rein in
My mom was forever trying to rein me in.
1 to start to control a situation more strictly
The government is reining in public expenditure.
2 to make a horse go more slowly by pulling on the reins
cunning
Where I had youth and energy on my side, she had cunning, and she figured out different ways to keep me in line.
1 someone who is cunning is clever and good at deceiving people in order to get what they want SYN crafty
a cunning opponent
► see thesaurus at intelligent
2 behaviour or actions that are cunning are clever but dishonest and unfair, and are used to get what you want
a cunning plan
3 a cunning object or piece of equipment is clever and unusual
a cunning little device for keeping out draughts
4 American English old-fashioned attractive
a cunning little dress
loophole
Our life turned into a courtroom drama with two lawyers constantly debating over loopholes and technicalities.
a small mistake in a law that makes it possible to avoid doing something that the law is supposed to make you do
legal/tax loophole
loophole in
a loophole in the law
technicality
2 [countable] a small detail in a law or a set of rules, especially one that forces you to make a decision that seems unfair
The case against him had to be dropped because of a legal technicality.
on a technicality
The proposal was rejected on a technicality (=because of a technicality).
sparring
That way she could make her points and there could be no verbal sparring back and forth.
spar1 /spɑː $ spɑːr/ verb (sparred, sparring) [intransitive]
1 to practise boxing with someone
spar with
He broke his nose while sparring with Vega.
2 to argue with someone but not in an unpleasant way
spar over
Senators are sparring over the health bill.
spar with
He’s been sparring with the security guards.
infraction
For major infractions, my mom went with ass-whooping.
an act of breaking a rule or law
whoop
whoop:
to shout loudly and happily
Hundreds of people ran past them, whooping joyously.
ass-whooping :
a sound beating. When he said that about my sister, I dealt him an ass whooping.
psychopath
What kind of psychopath are you? You just beat me!
someone who has a serious and permanent mental illness that makes them behave in a violent or criminal way → sociopath
