用法学习: 1. 分蛋糕: Rachel: You think I trust you with it?! No! We're gonna split it! You take half and I take half! Chandler: Well that's not fair, you've already had some 已经吃了一点了! Rachel: What? Oh, well then y'know what? I think Monica would be very interested to know that you called her cheesecake dry and mealy ( [ˈmiːli] mealy fruit or vegetables are soft and feel rough, dry, and unpleasant in your mouth. Food that is dry and powdery can be described as mealy. ...the mealy stodge of pulse, grain and potato dishes. a mealy apple. vocabulary: Mealy things contain or resemble flour or any other grain that's been ground into a powdery substance (i.e., meal). Good cornbread is moist and cake-like, instead of dry and mealy. You'll usually find the adjective mealy describing food that doesn't taste great, whether it's an undercooked, mealy sauce or an overripe 弄过头了, mealy apple. In both of these examples, the food tastes dry and bland, and has a crumbly feeling on the tongue. Other mealy things might look like meal, like a mealy sandbox or the mealy bark of a tree. The Old English source of mealy is melu, "meal or flour." ). Chandler: What do we use to split it? 2. play fast and loose I. (idiomatic) To ignore proper behavior or social conventions, especially when it suits one's purpose. I cannot say that there were any outright lies in the editorial, but it does play fast and loose with 不严谨 the truth. II. (idiomatic) 不认真的. 不按规矩办事的. To be recklessly inaccurate, inappropriate, or otherwise ignoring guidelines and conventions. to treat something or someone without enough care: Like many movie-makers, he plays fast and loose with the facts to tell his own version of the story. III. (idiomatic) To act in a tricky, inconstant way, saying one thing and doing another. If you say that someone is playing fast and loose, you are expressing disapproval of them for behaving in a deceitful, immoral, or irresponsible way. There have been people who have played fast and loose with the rules. circumference [sə(r)ˈkʌmf(ə)rəns] (圆) 周长 countable/uncountable the distance measured around the edge of a circle or a round object or area. a circle with a circumference of 2cm. The island is 50 miles in circumference. a. countable usually singularthe edge of a circle or a round object or area. The lamps threw deep shadows beyond the circumference of the pit. diameter [daɪˈæmɪtə(r)] 直径. a straight line that crosses a circle through the centre, or the length of this line a pipe with a 4-inch diameter. in diameter: The dome is ten feet in diameter. 边 edge or side: Perimeter (长方形)周长 [pəˈrɪmɪtə(r)] ( parameter [pəˈræmɪtə(r)] ) I. the outer edge of an enclosed area of ground such as a field or airport. II. maths the total length of the sides of a shape such as a square or rectangle. The perimeter of an area of land is the whole of its outer edge or boundary. ...the perimeter of the airport. Officers dressed in riot gear are surrounding the perimeter fence. 3. railroad [ˈreɪlˌrəʊd] 催促, 逼迫, 强逼, 强迫, 迫使( harangue, jawbone, shoehorn, strong-arm 胁迫, compel, pester, badger, nag, force the issue, put/tighten/turn the screws on someone, corral into doing sth 驱赶着去做, dragoon into doing sth 说服去做 )( jawbone 强势压人, 仗势欺人, 强迫 To talk persistently in an attempt to persuade somebody to cooperate. to try to persuade or bring pressure to bear (on) by virtue of one's high office or position, esp in urging compliance with official policy. He could either charm, jawbone or bully almost any foreign leader into capitulating to his will, and often pursued goals more attuned to his own agenda than what many of his senior advisers considered the national interest. harangue v. [həˈræŋ] 咆哮 (bluster 雷霆震怒) to speak to someone in a loud angry way for a long time, in order to criticize them or to try to change their opinion. If someone harangues you, they try to persuade you to accept their opinions or ideas in a forceful way. An argument ensued, with various band members joining in and haranguing Simpson and his girlfriend for over two hours. noun. an occasion when someone is angry and shouts at or criticizes another person. A harangue is a long, forceful speech that someone makes to try and persuade other people to accept their opinions. vocabulary: A harangue is more than a speech, louder than a discussion, and nastier than a lecture. It is a verbal attack that doesn't let up, delivered as a verb or received as a noun. Either way, it's pretty unpleasant. barrage [bəˈrɑʒ] 疯狂攻击, 炮轰, 雨点似的攻击, 连珠炮似的攻击 verb. if you are barraged by criticisms, complaints, or questions,
you have to deal with a large number of them at the same time. If you
are barraged by people or things, you have to deal with a great number
of people or things you would rather avoid. Tech CEO seen on camera barraging Asian family with racist rant has resigned. Doctors
are complaining about being barraged by drug-company salesmen. He was
barraged with calls from friends who were furious at the indiscreet
disclosures. barrage [bəˈrɑʒ] noun. I. countable
an attack during which an army continuously fires guns, drops bombs
etc. for a long time. A barrage is continuous firing on an area with
large guns and tanks. The
artillery barrage on the city centre was the heaviest since the
ceasefire. The two fighters were driven off by a barrage of
anti-aircraft fire. II. singular a lot of criticisms,
complaints, or questions directed at one person. A barrage of something
such as criticism or complaints is a large number of them directed at
someone, often in an aggressive way. He was faced with a barrage of 一连串的 angry questions from the floor. barrage of: a barrage of abuse. barrage [ˈbɑrɪdʒ] 大坝 countable
a wall built across a river in order to control the level of the water.
A barrage is a structure that is built across a river to control the
level of the water. ...a hydro-electric tidal barrage. rage 咆哮, 大喊大叫, 怒吼 intransitive/transitive mainly literary to shout angrily at someone. If you rage about something, you speak or think very angrily about it. Monroe
was on the phone, raging about her mistreatment by the brothers.
Inside, Frannie was raging. 'I can't see it's any of your business,' he
raged. 'Don't lie to me!' she raged. I could hear one of the customers raging at him. shoehorn (nudge) If you shoehorn something into a tight place, you manage to get it in there even though it is difficult. to try to make something fit into a place that is too small or not suitable Their cars are shoehorned into tiny spaces. I was shoehorning myself into my skin-tight ball gown. a. To force (something) into (a tight space); to squeeze (something) into (a schedule, etc); to exert great effort to insert or include (something); to include (something) despite potent reasons not to. I shoehorned his dozen burgeoning bags into the backseat of my tiny car, and off we went. His staff want to shoehorn an extra stop into his already packed campaigning schedule. b. (transitive, figuratively) To force some current event into alignment with a some (usually unconnected) agenda, especially when it is fallacious. People claiming to be psychic may shoehorn an event into fulfillment of some vague past prediction. strong-arm 恫吓, 威吓, 强迫 adj. [disapproval] If you refer to someone's behaviour as strong-arm tactics or methods 威胁, 威逼利诱, you disapprove of it because it consists of using threats or force in order to achieve something. using force or threats to get what you want. strong-arm tactics. The money has been recovered without resorting to verbal abuse or strong-arm tactics. The paper is openly critical of the strong-arm president. If you refer to someone's behaviour as strong-arm tactics or methods 威慑, you disapprove of it because it consists of using threats or force in order to achieve something. The money has been recovered without resorting to verbal abuse or strong-arm tactics. The paper is openly critical of the strong-arm president. verb. to use force or threats to make someone do something I was strong-armed into going along. twist someone's arm I. to pull someone's arm behind their back and force it upwards in order to stop them escaping or to hurt them. II. informal to persuade someone to do something that they do not want to do. I wasn't going to come, but George twisted my arm. arm-twisting informal persuasion. behaviour in which you try to make someone do something by threats or by persuading them forcefully: The vote was won only as the result of much arm-twisting by the government. He only agreed to do the film after a lot of arm-twisting. arm-twist to subject to arm-twisting: The unions arm-twisted the government into negotiating by threatening widespread strikes. badger [ˈbædʒə(r)] = pester = nag noun. A badger is a wild animal which has a white head with two wide black stripes on it. Badgers live underground and usually come up to feed at night. verb. If you badger someone 烦某人, 打扰, you repeatedly tell them to do something or repeatedly ask them questions. She badgered her doctor time and again, pleading with him to do something. They kept phoning and writing, badgering me to go back. I had foolishly allowed myself to be badgered into volunteering. pester = badger = nag [disapproval] If you say that someone is pestering you, you mean that they keep asking you to do something, or keep talking to you, and you find this annoying. I thought she'd stop pestering me, but it only seemed to make her worse. I know he gets fed up with people pestering him for money....that creep who's been pestering you to go out with him. nudge (shoehorn) verb. 捅一下 If you nudge someone, you push them gently, usually with your elbow, in order to draw their attention to something. I nudged Stan and pointed again. 'Stop it,' he said, and nudged the boy lightly with his knee. She slipped her arm under his and gave him a nudge. II. If you nudge someone or something into a place or position, you gently push them there. Edna Swinson nudged him into the sitting room. The civil servant nudged him forward. McKinnon gave the wheel another slight nudge. dragoon [drəˈɡuːn] I. A dragoon was a soldier in old European armies. Dragoons usually fought on horseback. II. If someone dragoons you into doing something that you do not want to do, they persuade you to do it even though you try hard not to agree. ...the history professor who had dragooned me into taking the exam. Her husband had also been dragooned into the excursion. corral
[kəˈræl] (羊圈, 牛圈, 马圈) I. to move horses, cows, etc. into a corral. II. mainly
journalism to move people into a place and stop them from leaving it.
III. to organize a group of people and persuade them to do something. We
were corralled into helping him. Citizens across China are being corralled into cinemas to watch a propaganda film extolling the Communist Party and Xi Jinping, as an intensifying personality cult around the 64-year-old leader hits the big screen. ) to force someone to do something that they do not really want to do. If you railroad someone into doing something, you make them do it although they do not really want to, by hurrying them and putting pressure on them. She is a very fine actor who has refused to be railroaded into rom-coms. He railroaded the reforms through. railroad someone into (doing) something: We were railroaded into accepting the deal. railroad something through 强行通过 if someone with power or influence railroads something through, they make someone else accept it, although they do not really want to They hope to railroad the treaty through before June. hookah = hooka [ˈhʊkə] = hubble-bubble, kalian, narghile, water pipe 水烟袋 = shisha a pipe for smoking marijuana, tobacco, etc, consisting of one or more long flexible stems connected to a container of water or other liquid through which smoke is drawn and cooled. What's the difference between shisha and hookah? Alternative smoking methods and devices such as the shisha and hookah have become increasingly popular, especially amongst teens and the youth, in recent years as people take them up for recreational use or as a less harmful alternative to the deadly, more expensive cigarette. Shisha is a term used to refer to the popular practice of smoking a tobacco substance through a bowl or pipe, known as a hookah. The two are often mixed up or presumed to be the same, and the terms are therefore used as if to mean the same thing. While the two are connected, however, shisha and hookah are actually two entirely different things altogether, and so referring to them in this way is in fact incorrect. So what exactly are the differences, and what does each term actually mean? The Hookah: 'Hookah' is the official name for the water pipe through which various substances can be smoked or vaporized. Before the user inhales the vapour or smoke, it passes through a water basin, one of the main features of the device which is typically made of glass. Though the hookah has only become widely used and well known in the Western world in the last few decades, it has been a common and popular practice in many other parts of the world as far back as the 16th century when it first came into fruition. It was initially developed in India and is subsequently most common in India as well as the Middle East, where it has become somewhat embedded in their culture and grown to be something of a tradition, rather than a mere hobby. In Arabic countries, the pipes themselves are often considered to be works of art, with intricate and well crafted designed hookahs being commonplace. It is also not uncommon for the instrument to be used in public or for it to be on offer in restaurants in places like Nepal and Egypt. In fact, it is so popular in the Middle East that a Shisha cafe culture has developed, with dedicated lounges for people to unwind. Now, people all over the world have picked up on it, with the hookah soaring in popularity across America, Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia. Shisha: Not to be confused with the hookah, which, as we have established, refers to the actual pipe itself, 'shisha' is the name for the tobacco used within it, generally fruit-flavoured. While it is undoubtedly the most popular substance to be smoked or vaped using a hookah, this isn't the only way in which it is smoked, with plenty of other 'shisha' based products available on the market, like e-cigarettes and pen containing it. Though this is the formal meaning of shisha, in popular culture it is widely accepted as a word that can also be used to describe the practice of smoking through the hookah, and so, despite them meaning two different things, the two words can, ultimately, be used interchangeably. 4. do a runner 跑路 逃跑 跑掉 (on a run, flee, barricade 隔离带, 道路的分隔带) to leave a place in order to avoid a difficult or unpleasant situation or to avoid paying for something: Her dad did a runner soon after she was born. They were arrested after doing a runner from an expensive restaurant. If someone does a runner, they leave a place in a hurry, for example in order to escape arrest or to avoid paying for something. At this point, the accountant did a runner–with all my bank statements, expenses and receipts. have a broad back 接受批评, 承担责任, 脸皮厚, 皮糙肉厚不怕被骂( thick-skinned 厚脸皮的, 脸皮厚的 Someone who is thick-skinned does not appear to be easily hurt by criticism: You do need to be thick-skinned to survive as a politician here. If you say that someone is thick-skinned, you mean that they are not easily upset by criticism or unpleasantness. He was thick-skinned enough to cope with her taunts.) I. the ability to take criticism, or accept responsibility. To be unaffected by criticism or judgment. Being the only artist in a family of doctors has taught me to have a broad back 心胸宽广, 宽宏大量, 能承受批评. II. To be able to help or counsel others without tiring. You've got to have a broad back to be a therapist, that's for sure! Friends: Ross: Oh what's the big deal?! I wasn't even invited to the ceremony, just the reception. And y'know what? If it makes you feel any better, Joan and I will just make an appearance and then, and then we'll-we'll leave early as a sign of protest 以示抗议, 以示不满. Monica: Joan? Ross: Yeah, Joan Tedeski my date. She's an assistant professor in the Linguistics department. Tall, very beautiful, and despite what some people say, not broad backed 宽腰乍背的, 虎背熊腰的! Monica: Wait a minute, you got Ross Gellar and guest?! I wasn't invited and you got "and guest?!" Joey: Uh-uh, excuse me, I do have to interrupt on Ross's behalf. I think the rule applies here y'know, since she has a chance to get on broad back… Ross: (interrupting) Not broad backed! Joey: Dude, I've seen her. She's like a billboard. Monica: Wait a minute, y'know, you're bringing me! Ross: What? I can't cancel on Joan! Monica: Why not?! Ross: Bec—Did you not hear me?! She's an assistant professor in the Linguistics department, okay? They're wild! Why do you want to come anyway? Monica: Because! She's my cousin. I mean, we grew up together! We're family y'know? Well that's important to me. 关于broad-backed 解释: When a woman is built more like a man 体型像男人 (big, wide shoulders, carries excess weight in her back, small hips and legs, shaped more like an upside triangle), she is sometimes considered to be 'broad backed'. Doesn't necessarily mean that the woman is overweight, it might just mean that her weight is distributed more like a man instead of having a more womanly, curvy shape. When a woman "is built more like a man" and "her weight is distributed more like a man," she probably weighs a lot like a man, meaning heavier than your average woman. Not necessarily fat, I'll grant you, but harder on the furniture. And all of this is said in the context of Monica being fat when she was younger. vacuous [ˈvakjʊəs] 愚蠢的, 缺魂的, 弱智的 [disapproval] having or showing a lack of thought or intelligence; mindless. If you describe a person or their comments as vacuous, you are critical of them because they lack intelligent thought or ideas. Models are not always as vacuous as they are made out to be. ...the usual vacuous comments by some faceless commentator. "a vacuous smile". vocabulary: Reserved for the harmlessly stupid and truly meaningless, vacuous is a smart-sounding way to describe something dumb. Celebrity gossip and reality TV are usually pretty vacuous, even if they're fun. If someone smiles at you in a way that seems fake or empty, you could describe the smile as vacuous 假笑的. An example of a vacuous comment would be a politician promising to make things better without explaining how. If something is vacuous 空洞, 空虚的, 没有实质的, 没有本事的, it's like a vacuum — hollow, empty, devoid of substance. muddy the waters If someone or something muddies the waters, they cause a situation or issue to seem less clear and less easy to understand. to make a situation more confused and less easy to understand or deal with They keep on muddying the waters by raising other political issues. 5. squander [ˈskwɒndə(r)] 挥霍(乱花, 乱用) If you squander money, resources, or opportunities, you waste them. if you squander something such as money, time, or an opportunity, you do not use it in a sensible way Hooker didn't squander his money on flashy cars or other vices. He had squandered his chances to win. posture [ˈpɒstʃə(r)] 做做样子的, 装腔作势, 装样子, 装模作样 verb. [formal, disapproval] You can say that someone is posturing when you disapprove of their behaviour because you think they are trying to give a particular impression in order to deceive people. to do things only because you want people to notice you, admire you, or be afraid of you. She says the President may just be posturing. noun. countable an attitude, or the way that someone behaves towards other people. Both sides adopted aggressive postures in the most recent negotiations. 6. dilate [dai'leit di-] 瞳孔放大 (dilated pupil) vb I. (Medicine) to expand or cause to expand; make or become wider or larger. the pupil of the eye dilates in the dark. II. (intr; often foll by on or upon) to speak or write at length; expand or enlarge. dilate on something Fig. to speak or write in great detail on some subject. I am sure you do not wish me to dilate further on this matter. If you do not see my point, I would be pleased to dilate on this matter further. constrict [kən'strikt] 瞳孔缩小 (constricted pupil) I. To make smaller or narrower by binding or squeezing. If a part of your body, especially your throat, is constricted or if it constricts, something causes it to become narrower. Severe migraine can be treated with a drug which constricts 收缩 the blood vessels. My throat constricted 锁紧, 锁喉, so that I had to concentrate on breathing. His throat began to feel swollen and constricted. The pain is produced by constriction of the blood vessels 血管收缩. II. To squeeze or compress. III. To restrict the scope or freedom of; cramp. If something constricts you, it limits your actions so that you cannot do what you want to do. She objects to the tests the Government's advisers have devised because they constrict her teaching style. Many of the women I spoke to left because they felt constricted 受到约束的, 被拘束的. I find the office environment too rigid and constricting. The bill is filled with constricting 限制人的, 约束人的 amendments. Her anxiety increased, leading to a constriction of her normal activities. lives constricted by poverty. 例句: The clips showed children choking干呕 and vomiting, while adults writhed in agony痛苦的蜷在一起, 蜷缩起来. "There were some symptoms like numbing of the body, constricted pupils 瞳孔缩小 of the eye, foam coming out of the mouth, paleness of faces 脸色苍白, shortness of breath," he rebel spokesman said. writhe [raið] 痛苦的扭动翻滚, 打滚. I. To twist, as in pain, struggle, or embarrassment. II. To move with a twisting or contorted motion. III. To suffer acutely. writhe under something I. Lit. to squirm with pain from being beaten with something. The sailor writhed under the sting of the lash. The child writhed under the pain of his spanking. II. Fig. to suffer under a mental burden. I writhed under her constant verbal assault and finally left the room. Why do I have to writhe under her insults? writhe with something I. and writhe in something [for someone or an animal] to squirm because of something, such as pain. Carl writhed with pain and began to cry. He was writhing in pain when the paramedics arrived. II. [for something] to support or contain something that is writhing. The pit was writhing with snakes and other horrid things. The floor of the basement was writhing in spiders and crawly things.
堆, 坨 lump (固体没有固定形状的), piece, chunk, block, mass, wedge, wad, dollop, slab, nugget, wodge (British, informal), gobbet: a large solid piece of wood, stone, etc. a block of ice. a thick hunk of bread. lump: a small solid mass without definite shape a lump of wood. wad [wɑd] 沓, 叠: A wad of something such as paper or cloth is a tight bundle or ball of it. ..a wad of banknotes. ...a wad of cotton soaked in cleaning fluid. dollop [ˈdɒləp] A dollop of soft or sticky food is a large spoonful of it. ...a dollop of cream. mass [mæs] I. a large quantity or number. We need to turn this mass of evidence into a coherent argument. There's a mass of competing anti-virus programs you can choose from. Masses of people attended the meeting. II. countable a lump or amount of a substance that does not have a clear or definite shape. The vegetables had turned into a sticky mass at the bottom of the pan. All that was left of the car was a mass of twisted metal. a mass of dark cloud. III. a large crowd of people. A mass of people followed the procession. a seething mass (=moving in all directions): a seething mass of protesters. the masses 大众 plural ordinary people who are not rich or famous. This word usually shows that you think ordinary people are not important or intelligent. It is entertainment that will appeal to the masses. bundle I. A bundle of things is a number of them that are tied together or wrapped in a cloth or bag so that they can be carried or stored. She produced a bundle of notes and proceeded to count out one hundred and ninety-five pounds. He gathered the bundles of clothing into his arms. I have about 20 year's magazines tied up in bundles. II. You can refer to a tiny baby as a bundle. III. If you describe someone as, for example, a bundle of fun, you are emphasizing that they are full of fun. If you describe someone as a bundle of nerves, you are emphasizing that they are very nervous. I remember Mickey as a bundle of fun, great to have around. Life at high school wasn't a bundle of laughs, either. He confessed to having been a bundle of nerves. IV. If you refer to a bundle of things, you are emphasizing that there is a wide range of them. The profession offers a bundle of benefits, not least of which is extensive training. verb. I. If someone is bundled somewhere, someone pushes them there in a rough and hurried way. He was bundled into a car and driven 50 miles to a police station. He was bundled in and arrested as soon as he was airborne. II. To bundle software 绑在一起, 捆绑销售 means to sell it together with a computer, or with other hardware or software, as part of a set. It's cheaper to buy software bundled with a PC than separately. cost a bundle If you say that something costs a bundle, or costs someone a bundle, you are emphasizing that it is expensive. [informal, emphasis] You can have it, but it'll cost you a bundle. bundle off If someone is bundled off somewhere, they are sent there or taken there in a hurry. The pair were then bundled off to a neighbour's house by waiting police. We want to bundle them off to bed quickly. bundle up I. If you bundle up a mass of things, you make them into a bundle by gathering or tying them together. Francis bundled up her clothes again into their small sack. Her mother had bundled all her clothes up and burnt them. II. If you bundle up, you dress in a lot of warm clothes, usually because the weather is very cold. If you bundle someone up, you dress them in a lot of warm clothes. After the coffee we bundled up and walked down to the river. The next morning, Franklin and Eleanor bundled up the baby and carried him to New York. I spent much of my time bundled up in sweaters in an effort to keep warm.
skimpy VS scant VS meagre VS thrifty: skimp on If you skimp on something, you use less time, money, or material for it
than you really need, so that the result is not good enough. Many families must skimp on their food and other necessities just to meet the monthly rent. a. to not use or provide enough of something. The dessert was good but they had skimped on the chocolate sauce. b. to not spend enough money on something. Don't skimp on grass seed – it's worth paying more for the better varieties. skimpy I. skimpy clothes 短小的. 瘦小的 fit very tightly and do not cover very much of someone's body. This word often shows that you do not approve of clothes like this. Something that is skimpy is too small in size or quantity. ...skimpy underwear. They suffered long hours, unsafe working conditions and skimpy pay. a skimpy black dress. II. less than necessary, or less than you would like. Her knowledge of art was skimpy. vocabulary: When something is skimpy, there's not quite enough of it. A skimpy lunch 不够吃的, 量少的 won't fill you up, and a skimpy sweater won't cover you up. The adjective skimpy is good for describing meager or inadequate things, like a skimpy amount of firewood 不够用的 that only burns for an hour, or a skimpy 量不足的, 量小的, 小气的, 不足的 serving of ice cream. Skimpy probably comes from the verb scrimp, "be thrifty," which was originally an adjective meaning "scant or meager." scant 极少的 I. You use scant to indicate that there is very little of something or not as much of something as there should be. She began to berate the police for paying scant attention to the theft from her car. ...forces that have shown scant respect for Red Cross markings or U.N. flags. There is scant evidence of strong economic growth to come. scant regard 零关心, 不关心, 很少关心: Peter had shown scant regard for her feelings. scant attention: Jen paid scant attention to their conversation. II. If you describe an amount as scant, you are emphasizing that it is small. A scant 小小的 fifteen minutes earlier they had been safe at home. This hole was a scant .23 inches in diameter. In fact, Richard Savage had known Edward Bellamy a scant five hours. vocabulary: Scant is an adjective that means "a tiny amount," like your scant attendance at practice this week that results in being benched from the big game. Scant is also a verb, that means "to supply sparingly" — don't scant with (go chintzy, cheap out on) 小气, 给少, 少给, 吝啬 the brownies, or I will keep asking for more. Scant also means "to deal with inadequately or carelessly." When you scant the reports on homelessness, they are so superficial on data that they don't reflect the real problem. Scant comes from the Old Norse word skamt, meaning "short, brief." meagre = meager [ˈmiːɡə(r)] 一小份的 adj If you describe an amount or quantity of something as meagre, you are critical of it because it is very small or not enough. smaller or less than you want or need. a meagre food supply. The bank's staff were already angered by a meagre 3.1% pay rise. Their food supply is meager. Meager means small and often applies to portions. Your mother may only allow you a meager serving of chocolate cake, and you may need to eat a meager serving of veggies in order to deserve that dessert. Meager doesn't mean adequate — it means not enough. People with a limited supply of food may try to subsist on meager portions. People who make a meager amount of money probably have a hard time making rent. Meager and emaciated both derive from the Old French maigre. If you can remember that you will look emaciated if your diet is meager, you'll use the word correctly. thrifty [ˈθrɪfti] 花钱谨慎的, 货比三家的 adj careful about how you spend money so that you do not waste any. If you say that someone is thrifty, you are praising them for saving money, not buying unnecessary things, and not wasting things. My mother taught me to be thrifty. ...thrifty shoppers. vocabulary: Being thrifty means being careful of your money and how you spend it. Think twice before you spend, but if you must shop, hitting the sales and using coupons are good ways to be thrifty. Note the similarity between the adjective thrifty and the verb thrive, and you'll realize that being careful with your money might be an important survival tactic. Everyone worries about having enough — look at how thrift shops have become important sources of clothing and other goods for many people, allowing them to buy without spending a fortune. Being thrifty is a solid virtue, as suggested by the old German proverb, "Prudent men woo thrifty women." 小气, 吝啬, 不舍得花钱, 图省钱 (skimp on/ skimpy, cheap out on, be chintzy on, scant with sth): cheap out on 省钱, 买便宜货 (intr, adverb) US and Canadian informal
to take the cheapest option; try to do something as cheaply as
possible. To reduce costs on a project or product to an unreasonable
degree; to cut corners. Usage notes: While the verb cheapen is generally more common than cheap, this phrasal verb is an exception. chintzy [tʃɪnsi] 扣门的 (cheapskate) I. Something that is chintzy is decorated or covered with chintz. ...chintzy armchairs. covered or decorated with chintz a range of chintzy fabrics. II. 俗气 俗艳 艳丽 [mainly US, disapproval] If you describe something as chintzy, you mean that it is showy and looks cheap. too colourful and in poor taste. I find their house a bit too chintzy. a chintzy rose-patterned sofa ...a chintzy table lamp. III. [US, informal, disapproval]
You can describe someone as chintzy if they are mean and seem to spend
very little money compared with other people. not willing to spend
money: Don't be so chintzy 别小气 - the whole evening will only cost you ten bucks. I knew I couldn't afford one of their fabled handbags on my chintzy budget. IV. cheap and badly. made chintzy furniture. cheapskate [disapproval] 小气鬼, 吝啬鬼 If you say that someone is a cheapskate, you think that they are mean and do not like spending money. Tell your husband not to be a cheapskate. ...cheapskate employers. fabled [ˈfeɪb(ə)ld]
I. famous because of being extremely good, beautiful, or interesting.
If you describe a person or thing as fabled, especially someone or
something remarkable, you mean that they are well known because they are
often talked about or a lot of stories are told about them. You cannot go home without visiting the fabled art collections of the Prado. ...the fabled city of Troy. II. not real or true.
emaciated VS emancipated VS emasculate VS emanate: emaciated [ɪˈmeɪsieɪtɪd] 瘦脱相, 羸弱的, 瘦骨嶙峋的 瘦小枯干的 adj. A person or animal that is emaciated is extremely thin and weak because of illness or lack of food. ...horrific television pictures of emaciated prisoners. vocabulary: Someone who is dangerously skinny and skeletal-looking can be described as emaciated. It's probably how you'd start to look after a few weeks in the wilderness with only berries and bugs for dinner. The adjective emaciated evolved from the Latin emaciatus, meaning to "make lean, waste away." An emaciated person or animal isn't just thin. They're bony, gaunt, and most likely undernourished, often from illness. So if an emaciated stray cat shows up on your doorstep, give it a bowl of milk and maybe pay a visit to the vet. emancipated [ɪˈmænsɪˌpeɪtɪd] 不受管束的, 不受束缚的, 摆脱束缚的 adj. If you describe someone as emancipated, you mean that they behave in a less restricted way than is traditional in their society. free and allowed to have the same rights as other people. If people are emancipated, they are freed from unpleasant or unfair social, political, or legal restrictions. Catholics were emancipated in 1792. That war preserved the Union and emancipated the slaves. ...the newly emancipated state摆脱控制的....the emancipation of women. She is an emancipated woman. a. an emancipated woman 被解放了的. 不受传统礼教束缚的 is not limited by traditional ideas about what women can do. Emancipation of minors 解除关系 is a legal mechanism by which a child before attaining the age of majority (sometimes called a minor) is freed from control by their parents or guardians, and the parents or guardians are freed from any and all responsibility toward the child. Children before that age are normally considered legally incompetent to enter into contracts and to handle their own affairs. Emancipation overrides that presumption and allows emancipated children legally to make certain decisions on their own behalf. emasculate [ɪˈmæskjʊleɪt] 削弱, 阉割 I. to reduce the power or effectiveness of something. If someone or something is emasculated, they have been made weak and ineffective. Left-wing dissidents have been emasculated and marginalised. The company tried to emasculate the unions. The local media are emasculated by censorship. ...the emasculation of fundamental freedoms. He has closed opposition newspapers and emasculated the courts. II. to make a man feel weaker and less male. If a man is emasculated, he loses his male role, identity, or qualities. Tosh was known to be a man who feared no-one, yet he was clearly emasculated by the situation. emanate [ˈeməneɪt] I. intransitive to come from a particular place. emanate from: If something emanates from somewhere, it comes from there. The heady aroma of wood fires emanated from the stove. ...reports emanating from America. She could hear raised voices emanating from her parents' room. Wonderful smells emanated from the kitchen. II. intransitive/transitive if you emanate a lot of a quality or feeling, or if it emanates from you, you show it without expressing it in words. A sense of joy emanated from him 散发着, 油然而生, 散发出来, 溢于言表. If a quality emanates from you, or if you emanate a quality, you give people a strong sense that you have that quality. Intelligence and cunning emanated from him. He emanates sympathy.
How wrong US has been: Despite ample warning, the U.S. squandered 白白浪费, 挥霍, 不珍惜 every possible opportunity to control the coronavirus. And despite its considerable advantages—immense resources, biomedical might, scientific expertise—it floundered ( flounder [ˈflaʊndər] I. 不知所措. 不知如何应对. 迷惘. 迷茫, 不知道该咋办 to feel confused and not know what to say or do next. If you say that someone is floundering, you are criticizing them for not making decisions or for not knowing what to say or do. The president is floundering, trying to get his campaign jump-started. I know that you're floundering around, trying to grasp at any straw. Maureen floundered, trying to think of a response. II. 乱扑通. 乱抓. 乱扑腾. to move with great difficulty and in an uncontrolled way. If you flounder in water or mud, you move in an uncontrolled way, trying not to sink. Three men were floundering about in the water. The horses were floundering in the deep snow. III. to experience difficulties and be likely to fail. If something is floundering, it has many problems and may soon fail completely. What a pity that his career was left to flounder. The economy was floundering. The country's economy is floundering and the future is uncertain. flout 无视, 不管 [flaʊt] (flaunt [flɔːnt] 炫耀) openly disregard (a rule, law, or convention). If you flout something such as a law, an order, or an accepted way of behaving, you deliberately do not obey it or follow it. ...illegal campers who persist in flouting the law. Building regulations have been habitually flouted. "the advertising code is being flouted". if you've got it, flaunt it used for saying that you should be proud of your success, beauty, money etc and not hide it. ). A sluggish response by a government denuded of expertise ( denuded [dɪˈnjuːdɪd] something that is denuded has had the thing that normally covers it removed. denude to remove the covering of something The meadow has been denuded by drought. a. To denude an area means to destroy the plants in it. Mining would pollute the lake and denude 毁灭 the forest. Many hillsides had been denuded of trees. b. To denude someone or something of a particular thing means to take it away from them. The Embassy is now denuded of all foreign and local staff. In such areas we see villages denuded of young people. ) allowed the coronavirus to gain a foothold 站稳脚跟. Chronic underfunding of public health neutered the nation's ability ( neuter I. to perform an operation on an animal's sexual organs so that it cannot have babies. You can also say that you spay a female animal or castrate a male animal. II. mainly journalism to make someone or something less effective or powerful. To neuter an organization, group, or person 阉割 means to make them powerless and ineffective. [mainly British, journalism] ...the Government's 'hidden agenda' to neuter local authorities. Their air force had been neutered before the work began. noun. 中性词汇. In some languages, a neuter noun, pronoun, or adjective has a different form from a masculine or feminine one, or behaves in a different way. ) to prevent the pathogen's spread. A bloated, inefficient health-care system left hospitals ill-prepared for the ensuing wave of sickness. Racist policies that have endured since the days of colonization and slavery left Indigenous and Black Americans especially vulnerable to COVID‑19. The decades-long process of shredding the nation's social safety net forced millions of essential workers in low-paying jobs to risk their life for their livelihood. The same social-media platforms that sowed partisanship and misinformation during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Africa and the 2016 U.S. election became vectors ( vector 载体 I. someone who carries and transmits a disease Even if you're a healthy 30 year old, you don't want to be a vector for the coronavirus. II. A vector is an insect or other organism that causes a disease by carrying a germ or parasite from one person or animal to another. III. A vector is a variable quantity, such as force, that has size and direction. ) for conspiracy theories during the 2020 pandemic. The U.S. has little excuse for its inattention. In recent decades, epidemics of SARS, MERS, Ebola, H1N1 flu, Zika, and monkeypox showed the havoc that new and reemergent pathogens could wreak. Health experts, business leaders, and even middle schoolers ran simulated exercises to game out the spread of new diseases. In 2018, I wrote an article for The Atlantic arguing that the U.S. was not ready for a pandemic, and sounded warnings about the fragility of the nation's health-care system and the slow process of creating a vaccine. But the COVID‑19 debacle has also touched—and implicated—nearly every other facet of American society: its shortsighted 短视的 leadership, its disregard for expertise, its racial inequities, its social-media culture, and its fealty ([ˈfiːəlti] loyalty that someone promised to a king or queen in the past. In former times, if someone swore fealty to their ruler, they promised to be loyal to him or her. ) to a dangerous strain of individualism. SARS‑CoV‑2 is something of an anti-Goldilocks ( used before another noun to describe a situation where something is at the ideal, most effective or advantageous point within a range of conditions. Astronomers sometimes call such planets Goldilocks planets, because their conditions are just right for the evolution of life. a Goldilocks economy. This clever use of the proper noun Goldilocks is of course inspired by the 19th century children's story 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears', one of the most well-known fairy tales in the English language. The story tells of a little girl named Goldilocks who finds a house inhabited by three bears, each of whom have particular preferences for the softness of their beds, temperature of food, etc. After checking out the options when the bears aren't at home, Goldilocks rejects the two extremes and declares one of each of the three items to be 'just right' for her. The Goldilocks principle 刚刚好的, 恰好的, 不多不少的 is named by analogy to the children's story "The Three Bears", in which a little girl named Goldilocks tastes three different bowls of porridge and finds that she prefers porridge that is neither too hot nor too cold, but has just the right temperature. The concept of "just the right amount" is easily understood and applied to a wide range of disciplines, including developmental psychology, biology, astronomy, economics and engineering. ) virus: just bad enough in every way. Its symptoms can be severe enough to kill millions but are often mild enough to allow infections to move undetected through a population. It spreads quickly enough to overload hospitals, but slowly enough that statistics don't spike until too late. These traits 特性 made the virus harder to control, but they also softened the pandemic's punch. SARS‑CoV‑2 is neither as lethal as some other coronaviruses, such as SARS and MERS, nor as contagious as measles. Deadlier pathogens almost certainly exist. Wild animals harbor an estimated 40,000 unknown viruses, a quarter of which could potentially jump into humans. How will the U.S. fare 表现如何 when "we can't even deal with a starter pandemic?," Zeynep Tufekci, a sociologist at the University of North Carolina and an Atlantic contributing writer, asked me. Despite its epochal effects, COVID‑19 is merely a harbinger of worse plagues to come ( harbinger [ˈhɑ:(r)bɪndʒə(r)] 征兆, 预兆, 凶兆 a sign that something will happen soon, often something bad. forewarning, herald, omen, premonition, sign, signal, prophet. Something that is a harbinger of something else, especially something bad, is a sign that it is going to happen. The November air stung my cheeks, a harbinger of winter. a harbinger 报春 of spring. ). The U.S. cannot prepare for these inevitable crises if it returns to normal, as many of its people ache to do. Normal led to this. Normal was a world ever more prone to a pandemic but ever less ready for one. To avert another catastrophe, the U.S. needs to grapple with all the ways normal failed us. It needs a full accounting of 全面陈述 every recent misstep and foundational sin, every unattended weakness and unheeded warning, every festering wound and reopened scar. "There is no way to get spillover of everything to zero," Colin Carlson, an ecologist at Georgetown University, told me. Many conservationists jump on epidemics as opportunities to ban the wildlife trade or the eating of "bush meat 野味," an exoticized ( [ɪɡˈzɒtɪsaɪz] to treat or show unfamiliar places or people as being exotic or glamorous. There is a tendency to exoticize the cultures of other peoples.) term for "game," but few diseases have emerged through either route. The United States has correctly castigated ( castigate [ˈkæstɪɡeɪt] to criticize someone or something severely. He was castigated as a racist by his opponents. ) China for its duplicity and the WHO for its laxity—but the U.S. has also failed the international community.
