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.
