affluent

Affluent having a lot of money or owning a lot of things; rich ffluent nations/neighbourhoods

affluence What we are seeing increasingly is a society of private affluence and public squalor.

I noticed there seemed to be a lot of big Mercedes cars overtaking and assumed they ewere very popular with the affluent.

a piercing criticism/question/remark, etc.

a criticism/question/remark, etc. which is unpleasant or uncomfortable because it is strong or it makes you think about or discuss something which you would prefer not to She hadn't really meant to lie, but their piercing questions had forced her to.

piercing eyes/look/gaze/glance, etc. used to describe when a person looks very carefully at someone or something, especially when they are trying to discover something, often making people feel uncomfortable Sherlock Holmes gave him a piercing glance. figurative He looked straight at me with his piercing blue eyes. At the word ..he took his eye off the road for a split second to give me a piercing look with his cold blue eyes.

perk an advantage or extra thing, such as money or goods, which you are given because of your job A company car and a mobile phone are some of the perks that come with the job. an advantage Having such easy access to some of the best cinema and theatre is one of the perks of living in Sydney.

perk up to improve or become more exciting Share prices perked up slightly before the close of trading.

perk sb up to become or cause someone to become happier, more energetic or active She perked up as soon as I mentioned that Charles was coming to dinner. He perked up at the news. Would you like a cup of coffee? It might perk you up a bit.

budding beginning to develop or show signs of future success in a particular area While still at school she was clearly a budding genius.

bud to produce buds The unusually cold winter has caused many plants to bud late this year. in bud covered with buds nip sth in the bud to stop something before it has an opportunity to become established Many serious illnesses can be nipped in the bud if they are detected early enough. It's important to nip this kind of bullying in the bud.

bosom friend/buddy/pal a friend that you like a lot and have a very close relationship with buddy up to become friends with someone He quickly buddied up with Jan's husband.

devise to invent a plan, system, object, etc., usually cleverly or using imagination He's good at devising language games that you can play with students in class. The cartoon characters Snoopy and Charlie Brown were devised by Charles M. Schultz.

tame to make a wild animal tame; to control something dangerous or powerful He'll need to tame his temper if he wants to succeed.

(especially of animals) not wild or dangerous, either naturally or because of training or long involvement with humans After a few months' contact the monkeys become very tame.

not interesting or exciting It was a tame film in comparison to some that she's made.

alluring attractive or exciting I didn't find the prospect of a house with no electricity very alluring. She was wearing a most alluring dress at Sam's dinner party. alluringly She stood inthe doorway to her bedroom, striking a deliberate and alluring pose as she placed one hand on her left hip and one raised on the door frame, assuring that he noticed how slender and tanned her legs were.

roll in to arrive in great numbers or amounts Once our business gets started, the money will be rolling in.

roll by If an amount of time rolls by, it passes The years rolled by, and I didn't see her again until she was married with two children.

roll up to arrive at a particular place or event, usually late They rolled up at the party two hours late and rather drunk.

roll sth up to fold something around itself to make the shape of a ball, or to fold cloth around itself to make a piece of clothing shorter Could you roll up that string for me? I rolled up my sleeves and began to wash the dishes.

roll sth out to make a new product, service or system available for the first time The government plans to roll out a series of tax cuts over the next few years.

If you roll your mouse over a word, its definition will appear.

be on a roll to be having a successful or lucky period Pippa won five games in a row and it was obvious she was on a roll.

be ready to roll to be going to start soon The new TV series from the West Wing team is ready to roll. to be going to leave soon Give me a call when you're ready to roll and I'll meet you outside.

skew to cause something to be not straight or exact; to twist or distort The company's results for this year are skewed because not all our customers have paid their bills.

latent present but needing particular conditions to become active, obvious or completely developed We're trying to bring out the latent artistic talents that many people possess without realising it.

disarm to make someone like you, especially when they had not expected to His frankness completely disarmed her. disarming He displayed a disarming honesty by telling them about his father's bankruptcy

allay If you allay a strong emotion felt by someone, such as fear or worry, you cause them to feel it less or to feel calm again The government is trying to allay public fears/concern about the spread of the disease.

to the core in every part He's a Conservative to the core to an extreme degree I was shocked to the core.

tally

tally /ˈtæl.i/ to match or agree with something else Our figures don't tally - you've made it twenty pounds more than me. Your plan doesn't tally with mine. the two stories don'ttally

noun a record or count of a number of things Will you keep a tally of the number of customers going in and out?

tally (sth) up phrasal verb to calculate something If the game's over I'll tally up.

abysmal /əˈbɪz.məl/ very bad abysmal performance, abysmal working conditions The food was abysmal. The standard of the students' work is abysmal. an abysmally poor book

Very profound; limitless: abysmal misery. (to a great extent; immeasurable) (extending deeply into something)

tip to give someone who has provided you with a service an extra amount of money to thank them The taxi driver was so rude to her that she didn't tip him. They tipped the waiter £5.

(ONE SIDE HIGHER) tip the scales at to weigh The baby tipped the scales at 3.75 kgs. If you put too many books on one end of the shelf, it'll tip up. Don't tip your chair back like that, you'll fall.

overbroad vicarious

repository a place where things are stored and can be found // a person who has, or a book that contains, a lot of information or detailed knowledge She's a repository of knowledge about our family history.

cull sth from sth to collect ideas or information from various places Here are a few facts and figures I've culled from the week's papers. General ledger is central repository of the accounting information of anorganization in which the summaries of all financialtransactions (culled from subsidiary ledgers) during anaccounting period are recorded.

overtake to go past something by being a greater amount or degree Our US sales have now overtaken our sales in Europe. We'd planned to hold a meeting tomorrow, but events have overtaken us(= things have changed). to come from behind another vehicle or a person and move in front of them to come from behind another vehicle or a person and move in front of them Always check your rear view mirror before you overtake (another car).

reverse

reverse to (cause something to) go backwards, or to change the direction, order, position, result, etc. of something to its opposite She reversed the car into the parking space. The new manager hoped to reverse the decline in the company's fortunes.Now that you have a job and I don't, our situations are reversed. Zero-based budgeting is a technique of planning and decision-making which reverses the working process of traditional incremental budgeting.

sanction approval or permission, especially formal or legal They tried to get official sanction for the scheme.

Trade/economic sanctions will only be lifted (= stopped) when the aggressor nation withdraws its troops.

to formally give permission for something The government was reluctant to sanction intervention in the crisis.

grab to take hold of something or someone suddenly and roughly He grabbed (hold of) his child's arm to stop her from running into the road. We'd better get there early, or someone else will grab the best seats. grab at sth/sb to try to get hold of someone or something quickly, with your hand

dab to touch something with quick light touches, or to put a substance on something with quick light touches She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. She dabbed a little perfume behind her ears.

smack to hit someone or something forcefully with the flat inside part of your hand, producing a short loud noise, especially as a way of punishing a child I never smack my children.

adverb (EXACTLY) exactly in a place She lives smack in the middle of London.

smack of sth If something smacks of an unpleasant quality, it seems to have that quality The whole affair smacks of mismanagement and incompetence.

smack your lips to close and open your mouth loudly to express a strong wish to eat something you like a lot

get sth into your (thick) skull to understand something with difficulty Has he got the truth into his thick skull yet?

eye-opener something that surprises you and teaches you new facts about life, people, etc Living in another country can be a real eye-opener.

delude to make someone believe something that is not true; to deceive He's deluding himself if he thinks he's going to be promoted this year.

abrupt describes something that is sudden and unexpected, and often unpleasant an abrupt change/movement Our conversation came to an abrupt end when George burst into the room. The road ended in an abrupt (= sudden and very steep) slope down to the sea. He is sometimes very abrupt with clients.

A drowning man will clutch at a straw said about someone who is in a very difficult situation, and who will take any available opportunity to improve it clutch/grasp at straws She offered to take a pay cut to keep her job, but she was just clutching at straws. clutch at sth to try very hard to hold something Feeling herself fall, she clutched at a branch.

the backbone of sth the most important part of something, providing support for everything else Farming and cattle-raising are the backbone of the country's economy.

juggle We all watched in amazement as he juggled with three flaming torches.

juggle to change results or information recorded as numbers so that a situation seems to be better that it really is It won't matter if we juggle the figures - no one will know.

juggle to succeed in arranging your life so that you have time to involve yourself in two or more different activities or groups of people Many parents find it hard to juggle children and a career.

mimic to copy the way in which a particular person usually speaks and moves, usually in order to make people laugh She was mimicking the various people in our office.

express yourself to communicate what you think or feel, by speaking or writing, or in some other way Children often express themselves in painting.

express clearly and intentionally stated The lawyer argued that the accused had gone to the victim's house with the express purpose of killing her.

express US to send something somewhere very quickly Your order will be expressed to you within 24 hours.

express using a service which does something faster than usual Send this parcel express.

There's no rest for the wicked. said when you must continue with your work or other activity although you are very tired

the rest is history everything which happened since then is well known

give it a rest said when you want someone to stop talking about or doing something that is annoying you Oh, give it a rest, can't you?

for the rest used when you have already mentioned the important parts of something and you now want to mention the other less important parts The salary in my new job is great, but (as) for the rest, I'm not impressed.

rest on your laurels to be satisfied with your achievements and not to make an effort to do anything else Just because you've got your degree doesn't mean you can rest on your laurels.

rest easy (also rest assured) used to tell someone not to worry and that you are in control of the situation "Rest assured, Mrs. Cooper" said the police officer. "We will find your son for you."

set/put sb's mind at rest/ease to stop someone from worrying about something Chris phoned to say they'd arrived safely, so that really put my mind at rest

lay sth to rest to end a worry or fear I hope what he said has laid your fears to rest.

A change is as good as a rest. You can get as much good from changing the work you do as from having a rest.

rest with sb/sth to depend on someone or something Our hopes rest with you.

rest on/upon sb/sth to depend on someone or something Our success rests on an increase in sales.

rest with sb If a responsibility or decision rests with someone, they are responsible for it The authority to call an emergency meeting rests with the president.

rest up to relax in order to have strength for something Why don't you take a nap to rest up for the party?

rest We must talk to the council about the problem - the matter cannot be allowed to rest here (= further action must be taken).

round sth up to increase a number to the nearest whole or simple number

round sth/sb up to find and bring together a group of animals or people I'll just go and round up Andrew and Patrick for the meeting. I can hardly go out on the streets and round them up for this purpose.