12 - Sounds and hearing

Question 1

burst out (laughing, crying etc)

Answer 1

to suddenly start laughing, crying etc, often loudly
e.g.
Everyone burst out laughing.
2) to suddenly say something in a forceful way
e.g.
‘I don’t believe it!’ she burst out angrily.

Question 2

cheer (v)

Answer 2

1) to shout as a way of showing happiness, praise, approval, or support of someone or something
OPP: boo
e.g.
Everybody cheered when the firemen arrived.
The audience was shouting and cheering.
The spectators cheered him wildly.

2) to make someone feel more hopeful when they are worried
By late afternoon there came news that cheered them all.
Government policy towards higher education contains little to cheer university students.

—cheering adjective
cheering news

Question 3

boo (v)

Answer 3

to shout ‘boo’ to show that you do not like a person, performance, idea etc
Some of the audience started booing.

Question 4

irritating

Answer 4

an irritating habit, situation etc keeps annoying you
He’s the most irritating man I’ve ever met.
He was smiling in a way I found very irritating.

Question 5

in tears

Answer 5

crying
e.g.
I can’t stand the sound of a child in tears.

in floods of tears
crying a lot
She came downstairs in floods of tears.

Question 6

catch a cold (or catch so’s cold)

Answer 6

Sitting next to so who is sneezing makes me worry I will be the next person to catch their cold.

Question 7

whisper (v)

Answer 7

1) to speak or say something very quietly, using your breath rather than your voice
You don’t have to whisper, no one can hear us.
2) to say or suggest something privately or secretly
whisper that
Staff were whispering that the company was about to go out of business.

Question 8

whisper (n)

Answer 8

1) a very quiet voice you make using your breath and no sound
in a whisper
‘Where are we going?’ he asked in a whisper.
2) rumor

Question 9

sigh

Answer 9

to breathe in and out making a long sound, especially because you are bored, disappointed, tired etc
‘Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now, ’ she sighed.
Frankie stared out of the window and sighed deeply.

Question 10

sigh for sth

Answer 10

to be sad because you are thinking about a pleasant time in the past
Emilia sighed for her lost youth.

Question 11

crash (n)

Answer 11

an accident in which a vehicle violently hits something else
plane/car/rail crash
Forty-one people were killed in a plane crash.
a fatal crash (=one in which someone is killed)
crash between/with
She was involved in a head-on crash with a motorbike (=in which the front of one vehicle directly hits the front of another).

Question 12

slam

Answer 12

1) if a door, gate etc slams, or if someone slams it, it shuts with a loud noise SYN bang
We heard a car door slam.
He slammed the door shut.

2) to put something on or against a surface with a fast violent movement
slam something down/against/onto
Henry slammed the phone down angrily.

3) to criticize someone or something strongly – used especially in newspapers SYN slate
Local media slammed plans to build a prison in the area.
slam somebody for something
The council was slammed for its unfair selection procedure.

Question 13

footsteps

Answer 13

the sound each step makes when someone is walking
He heard someone’s footsteps in the hall.

Question 14

(breath) a sigh or relief

Question 15

horn

Answer 15

the thing in a vehicle that you use to make a loud sound as a signal or warning
sound/toot/honk/blow your horn (=make a noise with your horn)

Question 16

crash (v)

Answer 16

to have an accident in a car, plane etc by violently hitting something else
The jet crashed after take-off.
crash into/onto etc
The plane crashed into a mountain.
crash a car/bus/plane etc
He was drunk when he crashed the car.

Question 17

follow in somebody’s footsteps

Answer 17

to do the same job or to work or live in the same way as someone else before you, especially someone in your family
He is a doctor and expects his son to follow in his footsteps.