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.

Inventory

take a personal inventory of what you know

in most cases, you must answer question in all of them

inference when you guess that something is true or form an opinion because of the information that you have They were warned to expect a heavy air attack and by inference many casualties His change of mind was recent and sudden, the inference being that someone had persuaded him.

adaptive having an ability to change to suit different conditions The first question you receive in a computer-adaptive section will be of average difficulty.

calibrated describes tools or other devices that are moved slightly or have marks for making accurate measurements calibrate calibration This is how the computer calibrate your ability level.

a tower of strength a person who gives you help and support when you are in a difficult situation Polly was a tower of strength to me when I was ill.

tower above/over sb/sth to be very tall in comparison with someone or something else Although he's only 12, David towers over his mother.

fondle to touch gently and in a loving way, or to touch in a sexual way He gently fondled the baby's feet. She accused him of fondling her (= touching her in a sexual way) in the back of a taxi.

seamlike adj:When it was in full xrxction, she leaned forward and gently swiped at the bulging seamlike underside of his x whith the soft and moist tip of her tongue.

at the seams entirely, completely There were so many people that the hall was bursting at the seams. Our relationship is coming/falling apart at the seams.

nuzzle to touch, rub or press something or someone gently and/or in a way that shows your love, especially with the head or nose, usually with small repeated movements My dog came and nuzzled my foot to try and cheer me up.

slope to be at an angle to the horizontal The path slopes up/down to the house. sloping The bedroom is in the roof so it's got a sloping ceiling.

tilt to (cause to) move into a sloping position He tilted his chair backwards and put his feet up on his desk. When she reached the smooth flesh at the top, she tilted her head slightly froward and nuzzled the very tip with her pursed lips, only pulling away after having teased the slit-like aperture's sensitive edge with feather strokes from the edge of her tongue.

(at) full speed/tilt/pelt as fast as possible He was driving at full speed down the motorway when it happened.

tilt at windmills to fight enemies who do not really exist

tilt the balance/scales

(also tip the balance/scales)

If something tilts the balance, it is the thing which causes a particular situation to happen or a particular decision to be made when other situations or decisions are possible This might just tilt the balance in the government's favour.

purse to bring your lips tightly together so that they form a rounded shape, usually as an expression of disapproval "I don't approve of that kind of language," she said, pursing her lips.

the public purse money from the government People should provide for their own retirement and not expect to be supported by the public purse.

the purse strings the spending of money by a family, company or country A recent survey showed that in 53% of families, women hold (=control) the purse strings.

You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's /saʊ/ ear. used to mean that you can't make something good out of something that is naturally bad

sow /soʊ/ to put seeds in or on the ground so that plants will grow Sow the seeds in pots. We'll sow this field with barley. to cause a bad emotion or condition to begin somewhere, which will grow or continue Now that you've sown doubts in my mind, I'll never be sure I can trust him.

As ye sow, so shall ye reap. used to mean that the way you behave in life will affect the treatment you will receive from others

sow your wild oats If a young man sows his wild oats, he has a period of his life when he does a lot of exciting things and has a lot of sexual relationships.

sow the seeds of sth to do something that will cause something to happen in the future He's sowing the seeds of his own downfall.

aperture a small and often narrow opening, especially one that allows light into a camera

slit to make a long straight narrow cut in something He slit open the envelope with a knife. She killed herself by slitting her wrists. She was wearing one of those skirts that's slit up the front.

have another/more than one string to your bow /bəʊ/ I enjoy my work, but I'd like to have another string to my bow in case I lose my job. to have another interest or skill which you can use if your main one cannot be used

bow to sb/sth /baʊ/ to do what someone else wants you to do, usually unwillingly Eventually the government was forced to bow to public pressure and reform the tax.

bow out /baʊ/ to leave a job or stop doing an activity, usually after a long time She'll be bowing out at the end of the month, after presenting the programme for eight years.

bow down to sb to agree to obey someone He expects me to bow down to him and do everything he tells me.

crouch to bend your knees and lower yourself so that you are close to the ground and leaning forward slightly She saw him coming and crouched (down) behind a bush.

pliable A pliable substance bends easily without breaking or cracking. A pliable person is easily influenced and controlled by other people He wanted a sweet, pliable, obedient wife.

slick operating or performing skilfully and effectively, without problems and without seeming to need effort Manilow gave the slick, polished performance that we've come to expect. skilful and effective but with no sincerity or value It's that sort of slick sales talk that I mistrust.

saliva /səˈlaɪ.və/ salivary gobble /ˈgɑː.bl ̩/to eat food too fast She gobbled her dinner (down/up). munch /mʌntʃ/ to eat something, especially noisily He was munching on an apple. We watched her munch her way through two packets of peanuts. slurp /slɝːp/ to drink a liquid noisily as a result of sucking air into the mouth at the same time as the liquid Do try not to slurp. I wish you wouldn't slurp your soup like that. He slurped down his coffee. Saliva filled her cheeks and bathed the wrinkled pouch with its hot slickness. She paused to take a slurp of tea. She sucked and gobbled and munched and slurped.

tremble When he came out of the water, he was trembling with cold. Her bottom lip trembled and tears welled up in her eyes. His voice started to tremble and I thought he was going to cry. tremble to think I tremble to think what will happen when he finds out.

loins the fruit of your loins (= your child/children) gird one's loins to prepare for action

clasp to hold someone or something firmly in your hands or arms He was clasping the vase tightly, terrified of dropping it. She clasped her son in her arms. She slid her lips from his pouch, moving them back up to clasp teh head of his prx with velvet firmness.

wobble to (cause something to) shake or move from side to side in a way that shows poor balance That bookcase wobbles whenever you put anything on it. Don't wobble the table, please, Dan. The company's shares wobbled with the news of a foreign takeover bid. He is breathing shallow, with a periodic sharp gasp, his kneels hrowing wobbly and his x on fire.