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38 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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plantation |
a large area of land in a hot country, where crops such as tea, cotton, and sugarare grown |
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prosperity |
when people have money and everything that is needed for a good life |
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cavern |
a large cave The bats leave the caverns at sunset each day to feed on night-flying insects. |
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distort |
to change the appearance, sound, or shape of something so that it is strange or unclear Tall buildings can distort radio signals. to report something in a way that is not completely true or correct His account was badly distorted by the press. |
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contribute |
to give money, help, ideas etc to something that a lot of other people are also involved in to help to make something happen → contributory Stress is a contributing factor in many illnesses. Alcohol contributes to 100,000 deaths a year in the US. |
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established |
already in use or existing for a long period of time Competition from established businesses can be formidable. well-established teaching methods |
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plateau |
a large area of flat land that is higher than the land around it 2 a period during which the level of something does not change, especially after a period when it was increasing Inflation rates have reached a plateau. |
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expose |
to show something that is usually covered or hidden He lifted his T-shirt to expose a jagged scar across his chest. expose something to something Potatoes turn green when exposed to light. |
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craft |
a job or activity in which you make things with your hands, and that you usually need skill to do → handicraft traditional rural crafts |
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craftsmanship |
very detailed work that has been done using a lot of skill, so that the result is beautiful. The carving is a superb piece of craftsmanship. |
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mundane |
ordinary andnot interesting or exciting SYN boring Initially, the work was pretty mundane. The mundane task of setting the table can be fun on holidays. Most of the law cases he deals with are pretty mundane. |
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secrete |
if a part of an animal or plant secretes a liquid substance, it produces it The toad’s skin secretes a deadly poison. They had secreted $120 million in a Swiss bank account. |
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predator |
an animal that kills and eats other animals → prey |
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predation |
when an animal kills and eats another animal Under natural conditions some bands die out due to severe drought, disease, or increased predation. |
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iridescent |
showing colours that seem to change in different lights an iridescent silk suit |
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warehouses |
a large building for storing large quantities of goods |
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impurity |
a substance of a low quality that is contained in or mixed with something else, making it less pure All natural minerals contain impurities. |
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furnace |
a large container for a very hot fire, used to produce power, heat, or liquid metal |
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crater |
a round hole in the ground made by something that has fallen on it or by anexplosion craters on the Moon’s surface The meteor left a crater over five miles wide. |
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tenet |
a principle or belief, especially one that is part of a larger system of beliefs central/basic/fundamental etc tenet one of the basic tenets of democracy This was a central tenet of the bureaucratic model. |
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spew |
to flow out of something quickly in large quantities, or to make something flow out in this way Factory chimneys spewed fumes out into the sky informal / to vomit to say a lot of bad or negative things very quickly Groups like these use the Internet to spew racial hatred. |
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incubate |
if a bird incubates its eggs, or if the eggs incubate, they are kept warm until they hatch (=the birds inside are born) |
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scavenge |
if an animal scavenges, it eats anything that it can find Pigs scavenged among the rubbish. if someone scavenges, they search through things that other people do not want, for food or useful objects. There are people who live in the dump and scavenge garbage for a living. |
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jumble |
a lot of different things mixed together in an untidy way, without any order jumble of a jumble of old toys Day to day, a jumble of hopes and fears pour upon us. |
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astute |
able to understand situations or behaviour very well and very quickly, especially so that you can get an advantage for yourself SYN clever an astute politician They would think me, if not a genius, then at least astute. |
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analogy |
something that seems similar between two situations, processes etcanalogy with/to/between analogies between human and animal behaviour |
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tantamount to |
be tantamount to something if an action, suggestion, plan etc is tantamount to something bad, it has the same effect or is almost as bad To leave a dog home alone is tantamount to cruelty. Journalists argued that the law was tantamount to censorship. The corollary is that acquiring an addiction is tantamount to relieving oneself ofpersonal responsibility. |
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impulse |
a sudden strong desire to do something without thinking about whether it is a sensible thing to do SYN urge a sudden impulse to laugh |
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herds of / herd |
a large group of people, typically with a shared characteristic: I dodged herds of joggers and cyclists. a large group of animals |
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artisan |
someone who does skilled work, making things with their hands SYN craftsman |
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fluctuate |
if a price or amount fluctuates, it keeps changing and becoming higher and lower SYN vary fluctuate between Prices were volatile, fluctuating between $20 and $40. The car industry's annual production fluctuates between 5.1 million and 9.2 millionvehicles. |
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continuum |
a scale of related things on which each one is only slightly different from the one before The Creole language is really various dialects arranged on a continuum. |
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dye |
a substance you use to change the colour of yourclothes, hair etc hair dye |
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acorns |
the nut of the oak tree |
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sprawl |
to lie or sit with your arms or legs stretched out in a lazy or careless way. He sprawled out on the sofa. if buildings sprawl, they spread out over a wide area in an untidy and unattractive way The town seemed to sprawl for miles. |
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concrete |
definite and specific → abstract the lack of any concrete evidence I can illustrate this point with a concrete example. People talked a lot but made few concrete proposals. |
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malleable |
something that is malleable is easy to press or pull into a new shape malleable steel formal someone who is malleable can be easily influenced or changed by other people a malleable child |
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trail |
to pull something behind you, especially along the ground, or to be pulled in this way |
