Words 14 Flashcards
(15 cards)
havoc
noun [ U ]
UK /ˈhæv.ək/ US /ˈhæv.ək/
confusion and lack of order, especially causing damage or trouble:
The storm wreaked (= caused) havoc (hasara yol açmak) in the garden, uprooting trees and blowing a fence down.
Changes in the climate have wreaked/wrought havoc with the region’s usual weather pattern.
Unsurprisingly, a combination of heroin abuse and living on the streets can really wreak havoc on a person’s health.
With respect to, in some respects
With respect to (or in respect to): About.
In some respects: In some ways.
With respect to your request for a raise, I’m afraid no one is getting one this year. This year is, in some respects, the worst year we’ve ever had.
With a grain of salt
To take something (a statement, claim, etc.) with a grain of salt is to maintain a small amount of skepticism.
The origin of this expression is related to an old belief that a small amount of salt could help protect against poison.
Take the consultant’s advice with a grain of salt—the software he’s recommending is produced by a company that is also a client of his.
The very idea (or the very notion, etc.)
This expression is used to express a strong contrast.
The author conjures up a drifting yet haunting word picture that challenges one’s very notion of what constitutes a story. (This means that the author’s strange “word picture” story goes against the most basic things that you think must be true about stories.)
conjure sth up
— phrasal verb with conjure verb [ I or T ]
UK /ˈkʌn.dʒər/ US /ˈkʌn.dʒɚ/
(THINK OF)
to make a picture or idea appear in someone’s mind:
For some people, the word “England” may still conjure up images of pretty gardens and tea parties.
Vanguard and avant-garde
The avant-garde (French for in front of the guard) were the leading soldiers at the front of an army. Vanguard is derived from avant-garde and means the same thing.
Metaphorically, the avant-garde (noun or adjective) or vanguard (noun) are innovators, those at the forefront of any movement or those “ahead of their time.” Sometimes, the avant-garde seems a little crazy or scary at first.
a group of people who lead the development of new ideas, or a leading position in the development of something:
***“He is in the vanguard of economic reform.”
***“While Google has won the search engine wars, in 1994, Yahoo was on the vanguard of search technology.”
She arrived at the mixer in a dress that was a little avant-garde for the otherwise conservative Yale Club—she would have looked more appropriate at an art gallery or Lady Gaga concert.
trappings
noun [ plural ]
UK /ˈtræp.ɪŋz/ US /ˈtræp.ɪŋz/
all the things that are part of or typical of a particular job, situation, or event:
He enjoyed the trappings of power, such as a chauffeur-driven car and bodyguards.
Mr. and Mrs. Seguro moved to the U.S. because they wanted a better education for their children. The children, however, were soon decked out in the trappings of American teenage life—cell phones, iPods, and fashionable clothes—with little care for studying.
Stem from
Grow out of, be caused by. This is related to the idea of a plant’s stem (kök).
The psychologist believed that his neurosis stemmed from events in his childhood.
Her problems stem from her difficult childhood.
Their disagreement stemmed from a misunderstanding.
Save
But or except.
As a verb, of course, save means keep safe, store up, set aside. But as a preposition or conjunction, save can be used as follows:
All of the divisions of the company are profitable save the movie-rental division. (This means that the movie-rental division was not profitable.)
He would have been elected president, save for the scandal that derailed his campaign at the last minute. (Here, save means except.)
Ridden (Adjective)
Dominated, burdened, or afflicted by (adjective).
In the phrase disease-ridden slum, it’s pretty obvious that the meaning is bad, but actually, adding -ridden to anything makes the meaning bad.
If someone said an equality-ridden society, that person is actually against equality!
Ridden can also be used alone, as in The neighborhood was ridden with crime.
press for something
— phrasal verb with press verb
US /pres/
to work hard to win support for a plan so that it will succeed:
He will press for stricter pollution controls.
Argue in favor of. Think o f pushing people towards what you want them to do.
The advocates pressed for greater regulation of child-care providers.
Outside of the home
Working outside of the home means having a regular job, such as in an office.
However, working out of your home is actually working at home. If that’s hard to understand, think of the expression living out of your car, which actually means living in your car—the idea is that you leave the car to go “out” but return back to the car as your base, just as someone who works out of their home leaves the home to go to meetings, for example, but uses the home as a central point.
The study compared incomes of women who had worked outside of the home to incomes of women who worked out of their homes as freelancers or owners of small businesses.
en masse
adverb
UK /ˌɒ̃ ˈmæs/ US /ˌɑ̃ː ˈmæs/
If a group of people do something en masse, they do it together and at the same time:
The shop’s 85 workers have resigned en masse.
The protesters marched en masse to the palace.
untenable
adjective formal
UK /ʌnˈten.ə.bəl/ US /ʌnˈten.ə.bəl/
An untenable situation cannot continue as it is:
If three people in four no longer support the government, isn’t this an untenable situation?
underpin
verb [ T ]
UK /ˌʌn.dəˈpɪn/ US /ˌʌn.dɚˈpɪn/
-nn-
to give support, strength, or a basic structure to something:
He presented data to underpin his argument.
Her argument was underpinned with the results of several recent studies.
trajectory
noun [ C ] PHYSICS, MILITARY specialized
UK /trəˈdʒek.tər.i/ US /trəˈdʒek.tɚ.i/
the curved path that an object follows after it has been thrown or shot into the air:
the trajectory of a bullet/missile
be on an upward/downward trajectory
to be getting higher or lower:
The government is now claiming that inflation is on a downward trajectory.
