3.0 C

3.1 cab...
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cab n. taxi, taxi-cub, Obsolete (horse-drawn) hackney, hansom
(cab); Old-fashioned US hack: A cab picked me up and dropped me
at the hotel.


cabal n. 1 intrigue, plot, conspiracy, scheme: The cabal against
Washington found supporters exclusively in the north. 2 junta or
junto, clique, set, coterie, faction, band, league; unit, party,
caucus, club; ring, gang: A cabal of artists was formed.


--v. 3 intrigue, plot, conspire, connive, machinate: The
barons began to sow dissension and to cabal against his
succession.

cabaret n. 1 nightclub, club, nightspot: The ever-popular entertainer
Mimi opened at the Golden Palm cabaret last night. 2 floor show,
show, entertainment, amusement: The dinner was poor, but the
cabaret was marvellous.

cabin n. 1 hut, shack, cottage, cot, shanty; bungalow, lodge, chalet;
Scots bothy: The old trapper lives in a cabin in the forest.
You are welcome to come skiing with us and stay in our cabin. 2
stateroom, compartment, berth: We had a cabin on the starboard
side.


cabinet n. 1 cupboard, bureau, chifferobe, commode, chiffonier, chest
(of drawers), chest-on-chest, tallboy, US highboy, lowboy: The
aspirin is in the medicine cabinet. Our china cabinet is,
unfortunately, not a genuine Chippendale. 2 council, ministry,
committee, advisors, senate: At the age of thirty, he became
the youngest member of the cabinet.

cable n. 1 wire, line, rope, hawser, chain, mooring, strand, guy:
The cable broke and we were set adrift. 2 telegram, wire,
cablegram, radiogram, US Mailgram: Send a cable to Jones about
the meeting.

--v. 3 telegraph, wire; radio: Cable Jones to come at once.


cache n. 1 hiding-place, hole, vault, repository: There was a small
cache concealed by the panelling in the library. 2 store,
hoard, supply, reserve, nest egg, stockpile, Colloq US and
Canadian stash: The wise hunter keeps a cache of supplies
buried along his route.

--v. 3 hide, store, conceal, squirrel away, secrete, bury,
Colloq stash (away): I cached the money in a biscuit tin.


cachet n. 1 stamp, feature, distinguishing mark, identification: The
cachet of good taste is simplicity of design. 2 distinction,
prominence, importance, prestige, dignity: Her new job doesn't
pay much, but it has a certain cachet.


cadaver n. corpse, (dead) body, remains, Slang stiff: The medical
students and doctors once paid to have cadavers exhumed for
anatomical study.

cadence n. measure, beat, rhythm, tempo, accent, pulse, metre, lilt,
swing: The snare drum marked the cadence for the marching band.

caf‚ n. coffee-house, coffee bar, coffee-shop, bistro, snack bar,
brasserie; tearoom, lunch-room, restaurant, eating-house,
canteen; cafeteria, US diner, Colloq eatery; Slang Brit caff, US
greasy spoon: We stopped at a caf‚ for refreshment.

cage n. 1 crate, enclosure, pen, pound, coop, hutch: He keeps rooks
in a cage.


--v. 2 Also, cage up or in. confine, enclose, pen, impound,
shut up, or in, coop (up), imprison; restrict, restrain, hem in:
They keep the kitten caged like a wild animal. I don't like to
stay caged up in my office all day.

cajole v. wheedle, coax, beguile, jolly (along), cosy along, seduce,
inveigle, persuade, Colloq soft-soap, butter (up), stroke,
sweet-talk: Robert's wife always has to cajole him to go and
visit her mother.

cajolery n. wheedling, coaxing, blandishment, beguilement, jollying,
persuasion, seduction, inveigling, inveiglement, Colloq soft
soap, buttering-up, sweet talk: She uses cajolery rather than
threats to get what she wants.

cake n. 1 pastry, bun, Brit gateau: Right now, I should like to
have a glass of milk and a piece of chocolate cake. 2 piece,
chunk, bar, block, cube, lump, loaf, slab: Barbara gave me a
cake of fancy perfumed soap for my birthday.

--v. 3 harden, solidify, thicken, congeal, dry, coagulate,
encrust, consolidate: You can see where the paint has caked.


calamitous
adj. distressful, dire, tragic, disastrous, destructive, awful,
devastating, fatal, deadly, pernicious, cataclysmic,
catastrophic, ruinous, dreadful, terrible: They seemed unaware
of the calamitous consequences of what they were doing to the
environment.

calamity n. 1 disaster, destruction, ruin, catastrophe, cataclysm,
devastation, tragedy, misadventure, mischance, mishap: Calamity
befell the town when it was engulfed in a landslide. 2
distress, affliction, trouble, hardship, misery, tragedy,
misfortune, adversity, reverse, ruin, ruination, desolation,
wretchedness: So full is the world of calamity that every
source of pleasure is polluted.


calculate v. compute, reckon, add up, assess, evaluate, count, figure
(out), estimate, gauge, determine, ascertain, work out: Bradley
was able to calculate the velocity of light. They calculated
where the sun would come up at the equinox and built their

temple accordingly.

calculated
adj. 1 arranged, designed, planned, prepared, adjusted,
adapted, fit, fitted, intended, suited: The coach was
calculated to carry six regular passengers. 2 deliberate,
purposeful, intentional, premeditated, planned: The so-called
accident was really a calculated attempt to kill me.


calculating
adj. shrewd, conniving, crafty, sly, scheming, designing,
Machiavellian, manipulative, canny, contriving: She is a
calculating woman, who knows what she wants and manoeuvres
people to help her get it.


calculation
n. 1 computation, reckoning, counting, estimation, figuring,
determining: We needn't number them one by one, for the total
can be arrived at by calculation. 2 answer, product, result,
figure, count, estimate, amount: This calculation is wrong, so
please do it again. 3 estimate, forecast, expectation,
prediction, deliberation; circumspection, cautiousness,
wariness, caution, prudence, forethought, discretion: His
attack was not the inspiration of courage but the result of
calculation.

calculator
n. computer, adding machine; abacus: According to my
calculator, the answer should be 7.1592.


calendar n. 1 appointment book, schedule, slate, Brit diary, US
date-book, US law docket: I have next week's lunch date in my
calendar. 2 almanac, chronology, chronicle, annal(s): The
ecclesiastical calendar lists today as St David's Day.


calibrate v. adjust, graduate; standardize: This balance has been
dropped on the floor, and you'll have to calibrate it again.

calibre n. 1 diameter, size, bore, gauge: You need a .38 calibre
bullet to fit a .38 calibre pistol. 2 merit, ability, talent,
capability, competence, capacity, quality, strength, stature:
They should be playing against a team of their own calibre. 3
degree, measure, stamp, quality: I doubt that you will find

anyone of equal calibre to Julia in artistic sensibility.

call v. 1 shout, cry (out), hail, yell, roar, bellow, call out,
Colloq holler: I heard someone calling my name. 2 name,
designate, denote, denominate, term, style, nickname, label,
title, entitle, tag, identify, dub, christen, baptize: My real
name is Angus, but they call me Scotty. A person from Glasgow is
called a Glaswegian. 3 call up, telephone, phone, ring (up),
dial, Colloq buzz: As it's her birthday, I must call my mother
in Australia. Don't call us, we'll call you. 4 summon, invite,
assemble, convoke, convene, bid, gather, collect, muster, rally:
From the minaret, the muezzin was calling the faithful to
prayer. Many are called but few are chosen. 5 visit, attend;
call in; call on: My great aunt Frederica came to call last
Sunday. 6 awake, awaken, wake up, rouse, Colloq Brit knock up:
Please call me at six. 7 call down. a appeal to, invoke,
petition, request, entreat, supplicate: He called down the
wrath of God on the Philistines. b reprimand, chastise,
castigate, upbraid, scold, reprove, rebuke: He was called down
for having left the house after curfew. 8 call for. a demand,
request, ask for, order, require, claim: The people in room 429
have called for clean towels. The problem calls for your urgent
attention. b pick up, fetch, come for, get, accompany, Colloq
collect: I'll call for you at seven o'clock. 9 call forth.
summon, invoke, draw on or upon, evoke; elicit, inspire: Susan
called forth all her courage and faced her accusers. He failed
to call forth much enthusiasm in his listeners. 10 call on or
upon. a request of, entreat, ask, address; apostrophize: The
teacher called on me today to recite Hamlet's soliloquy. b
supplicate, apostrophize, appeal to: He called on ’olus, god of
the winds, for a fair breeze to carry his ship home. c visit:
The vicar called on us when we first moved in. 11 call off.
cancel; discontinue; postpone: The picnic has been called off
because of rain. 12 call up. a summon, enlist, recruit,
conscript, US draft: Father was called up as soon as war was
declared. b call, telephone, phone, ring (up): Call me up
sometime.

--n. 13 shout, cry, yell, whoop, Colloq holler: I'll be out in
the garden, so give me a call if you want me. 14 summons,
invitation, bidding, notice, notification, order, request,
demand, command; telephone call, phone call, Brit ring; Colloq
tinkle: She received a call to report at once for duty. 15

reason, justification, cause, need, occasion, right, excuse;
requirement: You have no call to be abusive, regardless of what
you think about him. 16 on call. ready, on duty, standing by, on
stand-by, awaiting orders: They had to remain on call from
midnight till eight o'clock. 17 within call. within earshot or
hearing or (easy) reach: Please stay within call in case I need
you.

calling n. vocation, occupation, profession, business, trade,
employment, work, line, job, m‚tier, pursuit, career, area,
province, (area of) expertise, Brit speciality or US specialty,
Colloq racket: He found his calling as a veterinary surgeon
very satisfying.


callous adj. hardened, thick-skinned, unfeeling, uncaring, insensible,
insensitive, hard, hard-hearted, tough, hardbitten, cold,
cold-hearted, heartless, indifferent, unsympathetic, apathetic,
Colloq hard-boiled, hard-nosed: It was callous of Gerry to go
off to the snooker club right after the funeral.


callow adj. inexperienced, immature, juvenile, na‹ve, green,
guileless, unsophisticated, innocent, raw, unfledged, untried,
Colloq (still) wet behind the ears: It was a mistake to let a
callow youth take out the boat alone.


calm n. 1 quiet, stillness, tranquillity, serenity, hush, peace,
peacefulness: A storm raged outside, but in the harbour was a
breathless calm. 2 calmness, composure, placidity, placidness,
peace, repose, sang-froid, coolness, self-control, equanimity,
self-possession: The calm exhibited by the passengers during
the hijacking was admirable.

--adj. 3 quiet, still, tranquil, serene, peaceful, balmy,
halcyon, mild, undisturbed, unagitated, placid, pacific;
motionless, smooth, even; windless: The sea is never calm in
the same sense as a mountain lake. 4 composed, cool,
cool-headed, self-controlled, impassive, dispassionate, unmoved,
unruffled, serene, tranquil, sedate, staid, stoical, Colloq
together: She remained calm while the others panicked.


--v. 5 Also, calm down. quiet, quieten, still, soothe, hush,
lull, pacify; mollify, appease, placate, become or make quiet or
pacified or less agitated, Colloq cool off or down: The

arbitrator did his best to calm the two litigants by suggesting
a compromise. After everyone had calmed down, the speaker
continued.


camouflage
n. 1 disguise, concealment, cover-up, cover, guise, cloak,
mask, screen, blind, (false) front, show, fa‡ade, pretence,
trickery, deception; protective colouring or coloration,
Technical apatetic or aposematic or cryptic colouring or
coloration: Camouflage prevented the enemy from seeing our
tanks.

--v. 2 disguise, cloak, mask, cover (up), hide, conceal,
screen, veil; misrepresent, falsify: We camouflaged our
movements by fastening twigs and leaves to our helmets.

campฐ n. 1 camping-ground, camp-ground, bivouac, encampment,
camp-site; settlement; camping-site, Brit caravan site: The
name 'Chester' derives from Latin castrum, meaning 'camp', for
the city was originally the site of a Roman camp. Is there a
camp where we can stay overnight? 2 faction, set, coterie,
clique, group, party, body: On this issue, the politicians are
divided into two camps.


--v. 3 encamp, pitch camp, tent: Our family likes to go
camping in the mountains during the summer. 4 lodge, bivouac,
settle: The platoon camped by the river. 5 camp out. Slang
crash: Mind if I camp out in your pad tonight?


camp adj. 1 outr‚, outrageous, exaggerated, artless, affected,
inartistic, extravagant, artificial, Dadaistic, theatrical,
mannered, flamboyant, showy, ostentatious, effeminate, Colloq
campy: Some of the kitsch produced in the 1930s was the epitome
of camp. His manner is a bit too camp for my taste.


--v. 2 exaggerate, show off, strut, flaunt, flounce, prance,
posture, Colloq ham: Clarence just loves to camp it up whenever
there are women around.


campaign n. 1 operation(s), manoeuvre(s), crusade, action; drive,
offensive, push, effort; struggle: Napoleon's Russian campaign
ended in disaster. Our next sales campaign will be aimed at
teenagers. 2 competition, contest, rivalry, race: Presidential

campaigns last for more than a year.

--v. 3 run, electioneer, compete, Brit stand; US and Canadian
stump; Colloq throw or toss one's hat in the ring: Next week
the Labour candidate will campaign in Yorkshire.

cancel v. 1 void, annul, invalidate, nullify, quash; revoke, rescind,
redeem, repeal, abolish, retract, withdraw, recall, repudiate,
abrogate, countermand, deny: The bonds have been cancelled and
are worthless. She cancelled the incorrect cheque. 2 delete,
obliterate, cross or strike or blot out, dele, rub out, erase,
expunge, efface, eradicate, quash, deracinate; eliminate, do
away with: I was forced to cancel the chapter of my book that
dealt with M.I.5 activities. 3 Sometimes, cancel out.
neutralize, nullify, counterbalance, countervail, compensate
(for), make up for, offset, counteract: His later kindnesses
cancel his previous injustices.

cancellation
n. 1 cancelling, annulment, nullification, rescinding, voiding,
rescission, revocation, abolition, abandonment, withdrawal,
abrogation; repeal: We found a hotel room in the end because of
a late cancellation. 2 invalidation, revocation, abolition,
discontinuance, termination, suppression: If you fail to pay
the premium, the policy is subject to cancellation. 3
elimination, abolition; stoppage, cessation: Owing to the
storm, some trains are subject to cancellation.

candid adj. 1 frank, open, plain, sincere, ingenuous, straight,
straightforward, truthful, forthright, direct, unequivocal,
plain-spoken, plain-speaking, outspoken, honest, artless, blunt,
guileless, open-hearted, above-board, undeceitful, undeceiving,
undeliberative, uncalculating, uncalculated, unpremeditated,
uncontrived , Colloq upfront: Henry offered a very candid
account of his feelings. Let us be candid and speak our minds. 2
just, impartial, objective, fair, equitable, unbiased,
unprejudiced, even-handed; unbigoted: The speaker expressed a
candid view of all of the proposals. 3 unposed, informal,
impromptu: Here is a candid photo of the two of us in Rome.


candidate n. aspirant, seeker, office-seeker, runner, nominee; applicant,
entrant; prospect, possibility: There are quite a few
candidates for the post.


candour n. 1 openness, frankness, ingenuousness, simplicity, na‹vety,
outspokenness, unreservedness, forthrightness, honesty,
sincerity, directness, straightforwardness, unequivocalness: I
admire her candour, but the truth sometimes hurts. 2
impartiality, fairness, justice, objectivity, open-mindedness:
In criticism candour is as rare as bigotry is frequent.

candy n. sweet(s), bon-bon(s), sweetmeat(s), confectionery: Eating
candy can be bad for your teeth.

cannibal n. anthropophagite, man-eater: They were said to have been
captured by cannibals living in remote regions.


cant n. 1 hypocrisy, insincerity, sham, pretence, humbug,
sanctimony, sanctimoniousness, lip-service, affectedness,
pretension: He wasn't really enthusiastic - all that talk was
just cant. 2 jargon, shop, shop-talk, argot, vernacular, slang,
dialect, patois, Creole, pidgin, gobbledegook or gobbledygook,
Colloq lingo: The criminals use a cant not understood by those
outside their fraternity.

cantankerous
adj. ill-natured, quarrelsome, perverse, cross, choleric,
cross-grained, crabby, curmudgeonly, crusty, grumpy, surly,
irascible, snappish, bad-tempered, ill-tempered, bearish,
bilious, peevish, testy, irritable, touchy, disagreeable,
tetchy, contrary, Colloq crotchety, grouchy, US cranky: Simon
used to be so friendly, but he's become a cantankerous old
codger.

canvass v. 1 solicit, electioneer, campaign, poll, US and Canadian
stump: The candidates will be canvassing in farming areas next
week. 2 survey, poll, study, analyse, examine, investigate,
interview, question: The statisticians are not satisfied that
enough women were canvassed to provide an accurate sample.

--n. 3 solicitation, campaign: The party's canvass of rural
areas for new supporters was not very successful. 4 survey,
study, investigation, poll, examination, tally: A canvass of
editors shows they have a conservative view of the language.

canyon n. gorge, ravine, gully or gulley, pass, defile, Brit dialect

gill or ghyll, US and Canadian coul‚e, gulch; US gap, arroyo:
The canyon created by the river is more than a thousand feet
deep.


cap n. 1 hat, head covering: The plumber took off his cap and
scratched his head. 2 lid, top, cover: Screw the cap on tight.
3 cap in hand. humbly, meekly, servilely, submissively,
subserviently, docilely, respectfully: He went cap in hand to
ask for a pay rise.


--v. 4 surpass, outdo, outstrip, better, beat, exceed, top,
excel: Betty capped her earlier triumphs by winning the
semifinals. 5 cover, protect: As it's begun to rain, you'd
best cap the camera lens.


capability
n. ability, power, potential, capacity, means, faculty,
wherewithal; talent, proficiency, aptitude, adeptness, skill,
competence: Deirdre has the capability to be first in her form.


capable adj. 1 able, competent, efficient, proficient, qualified,
talented, gifted, skilled, skilful, accomplished, apt, adept,
clever, effective, effectual; expert, masterly, masterful:
Halliwell is quite capable of speaking for himself. He is a
capable violinist, but scarcely a virtuoso. 2 capable of.
disposed to, inclined to, predisposed to: Though violent, he is
not capable of murder.

capacity n. 1 volume, content, size, dimensions; room, space: What is
the capacity of this bottle in litres? The car is of sufficient
capacity to hold only four adults. 2 potential, ability,
capability, competence, intelligence, wit, brain(s), talent,
aptitude, acumen, understanding, sense, judgement, perspicacity,
perceptiveness, perception, mother wit, intellect, genius,
skill, gift, faculty, power, potential, Colloq chiefly US right
stuff, the goods: They don't yet have the capacity to absorb
advanced theory. 3 position, condition, character, place, post,
role, job, office, duty, responsibility, province, sphere,
function; Law competency, qualification: She has every right to
sign cheques in her capacity as director.

capeฐ n. headland, promontory, peninsula, neck, point, Archaic ness:
We sailed round the cape and made for the harbour.


cape n. mantle, shawl, stole, cloak: His black cape reached to the
floor.


caper n. 1 skip, leap, spring, frolic, hop, gambol, frisk, curvet,
gambado: He can dance, though he does not cut capers. 2
escapade, stunt, mischief, prank, high jinks, US crime,
burglary, robbery, Colloq shenanigan, dido, lark, Slang US and
Canadian job: The capers we used to get up to after lights-out
in the dormitory!

--v. 3 skip, hop, frolic, leap, jump, frisk, romp, gambol,
prance, cavort, curvet: She capered about like a lamb in a
meadow.


capital n. 1 head, top, crown, cap: The column was surmounted by a
finely carved capital. 2 seat (of government): Winnipeg is the
capital of Manitoba. 3 money, assets, funds, finance(s), cash,
wherewithal; wealth, means, property, resources, savings,
principal: My capital is invested in land at the moment. 4
majuscule, upper case, large letter, initial, Colloq cap: The
chapter titles should be set in capitals.

--adj. 5 chief, main, major, important, cardinal, central,
principal, prime, primary, paramount, pre-eminent, foremost,
leading: Our capital responsibility is to ensure the
passengers' safety. 6 first-class, first-rate, excellent,
superior, matchless, peerless, choice, select, outstanding,
fine, superb, splendid, marvellous, extraordinary, Colloq
smashing, great, super, Brit brill, Old-fashioned topping,
top-hole, ripping, ripsnorting: Eating out tonight was a
capital idea.

capitulate
v. 1 surrender, yield, give up, submit, succumb: Want of
provisions quickly obliged the fortress to capitulate. 2
acquiesce, concede, relent, give in, yield: He begged so
piteously that the king finally capitulated and allowed him to
live.


capricious
adj. whimsical, erratic, flighty, fickle, mercurial, unsteady,
variable, unstable, wayward, unpredictable, undependable,

changeable, impulsive, crotchety, quirky, unreliable,
inconstant, fanciful, wanton: His decisions are capricious and
not based on sound judgement. The weather in March is
capricious: as Mark Twain said, if you don't like it, just wait
five minutes.

capsize v. upset, overturn, turn turtle or upside down, tip (over),
keel over, invert: When the wind capsized the boat, we lost all
our gear overboard.


captivate v. enthral or US enthrall, enslave, fascinate, hypnotize,
entrance, beguile, charm, enamour, enchant, bewitch, enrapture,
dazzle, infatuate, attract, allure, seduce, win: Her beauty
captivated film-goers everywhere.


captive n. 1 prisoner, convict, hostage, detainee, internee; slave,
bondman or bondsman, bondservant: The captives were kept in a
wretched hole.


--adj. 2 imprisoned, incarcerated, confined, caged, locked up,
under lock and key: Captive animals lose their free spirit.

captivity n. confinement, imprisonment, internment, detention, custody,
incarceration, restraint; bondage, slavery, thraldom or US also
thralldom, enslavement, servitude; Archaic durance: Some wild
creatures do not survive in captivity. Entire populations of
conquered territories were taken into captivity in ancient
times.


capture n. 1 seizure, taking, catching, arrest, apprehension, Slang
pinch, collar: They celebrated the capture of the Spanish
galleon. The State has offered a reward for the capture of the
bank robbers.


--v. 2 seize, take, catch, lay or take hold of, grab,
apprehend, arrest, Slang pinch, collar, nab, Brit nick:
Eventually, they captured the thief on the roof.

car n. 1 (motor) vehicle, motor car, automobile, passenger car,
Old-fashioned or slang motor; Chiefly US auto; Colloq jalopy,
heap, pile, crate, machine, buggy, transport; Slang wheels:
Borrow a car and drive down for the weekend. 2 (railway)
carriage: The body was found in a sleeping car of the Orient

Express.

card n. 1 playing-card, Slang pasteboard: The winning card was the
ten of diamonds. 2 calling-card, visiting-card, carte de
visite, business card: Visitors used to leave their cards on
the silver tray at the front door. 3 greetings card, Christmas
card, birthday card, anniversary card, condolence card, Easter
card, New Year card: I sent Jacquelyn a card for her birthday
last year. 4 postcard, US postal card: Drop me a card when you
get there, just so I'll know you're all right. 5 index card,
file card: The names and addresses of our members, formerly
held on cards, are now stored in the computer. 6 membership
card; press card; union card: I showed my card at the door and
they let me in without any problem. 7 dance-card: She told me
that her dance-card was full - and was likely to be for the next
ten years. 8 US car-card, window-card, show-card: At the cost
of a card on the New York buses, we'd never get our money back.
9 credit card; bank card: You may pay by card or cheque. They
won't accept your cheque without a card. 10 identity or
identification card, I.D. (card): The police asked to see my
card. 11 joker, prankster, practical joker, wag, humorist,
comedian, funny man: That Oscar - he's quite a card, isn't he?
12 on or esp. US in the cards. destined, fated, slated, in the
offing; likely, probable, possible, liable: I doubt that a
change of government is on the cards for some time to come. 13
play one's cards right, well, badly, etc. act, behave, take
action; plan, use strategy: If Francis plays his cards right,
he may be made head of department when Mark leaves. 14 put or
lay one's cards on the table or show one's cards. act openly,
reveal all, be forthright, be direct, be open, be honest, be
unsecretive, Colloq come clean: I'm going to put my cards on
the table, and let you know all my plans.

cardinal adj. important, chief, key, special, main, central, principal,
prime, primary, essential, necessary, fundamental; supreme,
paramount, highest, first, foremost, leading, pre-eminent: The
cardinal virtues are justice, prudence, temperance, and
fortitude, to which some writers add faith, hope, and charity.


care n. 1 anxiety, worry, trouble, anguish, disquiet, distress,
grief, sorrow, dolour, sadness, suffering, misery, woe,
tribulation: His haggard look reflected a life of care. 2
concern, regard, vigilance, mindfulness, heed, solicitude;

heedfulness, attention, pains, carefulness, meticulousness,
punctiliousness; caution, circumspection: The essence of
public-spiritedness is care for the common good. He looks after
his moustache and beard with great care. Open with care. 3
responsibility, charge, protection, guardianship, custody,
keeping, safe keeping; control, direction, supervision: The
child has been released into our care. 4 take care of. look
after, attend to, be responsible for, take charge of, take
responsibility for; tend, nurse: You should take care of your
money. Does she have enough experience to take care of someone
who is ill?

--v. 5 be concerned, trouble oneself, feel interest, worry,
fret, trouble, Brit mind: Do you care whether Arnold gets the
job he wants? I don't care who you are, you can't come in here!
6 care for. a look after, tend, attend (to), watch over,
protect, take care of, provide for; nurse: He cared for his
ailing parents for about twenty years. b like, fancy, be
attracted to, be fond of, love, be keen on, be enamoured of:
Jennifer admitted last night how much she cares for David.

careen v. heel over, keel over; US loosely career, sway, tip, pitch,
veer, swerve, lurch: We hauled out the boat, careened her, and
proceeded to caulk her seams.


career n. 1 employment, occupation, calling, vocation, pursuit,
(life's) work, job, business, livelihood; profession, trade,
craft, m‚tier: She has made a career out of helping others. He
is undecided whether to pursue a career in accountancy.


--v. 2 speed, race, rush, dash, fly, tear, hurtle, bolt, shoot,
Colloq zoom: A bicycle came careering around the corner and
knocked him down.


carefree adj. nonchalant, easy, easygoing, insouciant, light-hearted,
blithe, happy-go-lucky, breezy, airy; blas‚, indifferent,
unconcerned, unworried, trouble-free, worry-free, contented,
happy: Till he graduated from university, he had lived an
entirely carefree life.


careful adj. 1 cautious, wary, circumspect, chary, prudent, watchful,
aware, alert, vigilant: These days one cannot be too careful
about walking in the city at night. 2 meticulous, painstaking,

attentive, punctilious, (well-)organized, systematic, precise,
fastidious, thorough, scrupulous, conscientious, particular,
finicky, finical, fussy: The police conducted a careful search
for weapons.


careless adj. 1 unconcerned, untroubled, unworried, casual, indifferent,
heedless, thoughtless, inconsiderate, uncaring, devil-may-care,
irresponsible, cursory, lackadaisical, perfunctory: No one
could approve of the careless way he treats his family. 2
inattentive, negligent, thoughtless, absent-minded, neglectful,
remiss; unobservant, unthinking, imprudent, unmindful,
incautious, unwary, reckless, slapdash, rash: Many of the
errors come from being careless. 3 inaccurate, imprecise,
inexact, incorrect, wrong, error-ridden, erroneous, Colloq
sloppy: You won't get a good mark for such a careless paper. 4
unstudied, ingenuous, artless, casual, nonchalant: I dislike
his careless way of dressing, but it does show some style.

caress n. 1 pat, stroke, fondling, blandishment; cuddle, embrace, hug;
nuzzle, kiss: He submitted willingly to her caresses.

--v. 2 touch, pat, pet, fondle, stroke; cuddle, embrace, hug;
nuzzle, kiss: The kitten approached warily and Isabella
caressed it.


cargo n. shipment, consignment, shipload, truckload, wagon-load,
load, trainload, US carload; freight, goods, merchandise: The
cargo of rifles was delivered to the warehouse. The ship was
lost with all its cargo.


caricature
n. 1 cartoon, parody, burlesque, lampoon, satire, pasquinade,
Colloq take-off, spoof, Brit send-up: The cartoon in the
newspaper showed a caricature of the Prime Minister.


--v. 2 parody, satirize, lampoon, burlesque, ridicule, mock,
distort, Colloq take off, Brit send up: Hogarth caricatured
Churchill in the form of a bear.


carnage n. slaughter, butchery, massacre, blood bath, holocaust,
killing, Shoah, Churban or Hurban: The battle was fought with
much carnage on both sides.

carnal adj. fleshly, sensual, animal, bodily, lustful, voluptuous,
libidinous, lecherous, concupiscent, sexual, erotic, lascivious,
licentious, lewd, prurient: She is intent on satisfying her
carnal desires.


carouse v. 1 make merry, revel, Colloq party, pub-crawl, make whoopee,
go on a bender or tear or binge or toot, paint the town red,
binge, booze: After the cup final, we all caroused till the wee
hours.


--n. 2 revel, spree, fling, wassail, carousal, drunk,
bacchanal, Colloq binge, bender, booze, boozer, Brit knees-up,
US tear, toot: They go on a carouse on Burns Night every year,
then need a day to sleep it off.


carp v. find fault, criticize, cavil, complain, nag, pick at, pick
on, bully, bullyrag or ballyrag, Colloq knock, pick holes (in),
gripe, Brit whinge: She said that she would leave him if he
kept on carping at her about her cooking.


carriage n. 1 (railway) coach, US car: We moved our belongings into the
next carriage. 2 bearing, mien, air, manner, deportment,
conduct, demeanour, attitude, posture, stance, presence,
behaviour, comportment: His upright carriage immediately
identified him as a military man. 3 freight, freightage,
transportation, cartage, shipping; postage: Carriage is free
within mainland Britain.

carrier n. 1 bearer, porter; transporter, drayman, shipper, haulier or
US hauler; carter: The company we use as a carrier is
expensive. 2 transmitter, Immunology vector, US Typhoid Mary:
She couldn't have caught the disease directly, only through some
carrier.


carry v. 1 transport, convey, bear, lug, drag, cart, move, Colloq
tote, Slang US schlep: He shouldn't carry such heavy packages
at his age. 2 conduct, convey, lead, take, transport, transfer,
transmit: This cable carries the power to the town. 3 drive,
impel, conduct, convey, take, move: He travelled aimlessly,
wherever the wind carried his ship. 4 support, maintain,
finance: I had a wife and four children and was unable to carry
my brother's family as well. 5 bear, hold up, uphold, maintain:
Despite her troubles, she carried her head high. 6 win, take,

sweep, capture, gain, secure: She carried the election easily.
7 stock, sell, offer; display: We don't carry purple shoes in
this shop, Madam. 8 broadcast, disseminate, offer, release;
communicate, present, read, report, announce; give: The news is
carried on this station every night at nine. 9 carry away.
transport, excite, enrapture, delight: He was quite carried
away by her attentions. 10 carry off. a win, gain, capture,
secure: She managed to carry off the first prize for the third
year running. b abscond with, kidnap, take, purloin, Colloq
Brit pinch, nick: I'm afraid that some of your chickens have
been carried off by a fox. c accomplish, perform, effect, do,
succeed, handle or manage successfully, bring off, carry out:
We carried off the raid without loss of a single man. d kill,
be or cause the death of, cause to die: He was carried off by
yellow fever in his eightieth year. 11 carry on. a continue,
proceed, go on, persist, keep on or at, persevere: Don't stop -
just carry on with what you were doing. b manage, conduct,
operate: Despite the fire, we are carrying on our business as
usual. c misbehave, Colloq act up, fool around, Brit play up:
The children are carrying on so, I can't get any work done. 12
carry out or through. perform, effect, implement, complete,
execute, accomplish, continue, conclude: Henry is carrying out
his father's wishes according to the terms of his will.


cart n. 1 handcart, pushcart, trolley, barrow, wagon or Brit also
waggon: You'll need a cart to carry all these things to the
car.

--v. 2 carry, convey, move, lug, drag, tote, transport, bring,
haul, Colloq US schlep: Why do you cart that heavy bag
everywhere you go?

carte blanche
n. licence, permission, sanction, free rein, authority,
discretion: She was given carte blanche to spend the money any
way she wished.

carve v. 1 hew, cut, sculpt, sculpture, shape, chisel, model,
fashion, engrave, incise, grave, whittle, chip: The bust is
carved out of solid marble. 2 Often, carve up or out. divide
(up), cut (up), subdivide, apportion, parcel out, allot,
partition: The gang-leaders carved up the territory, and the
killings stopped for a while.


caseฐ n. 1 instance, example, event, occurrence; happening, occasion,
circumstance, state, situation: In a recent case a farmer was
attacked by a man-eating tiger. Holmes is investigating a case
of a missing necklace. 2 action, suit, lawsuit, dispute; cause:
I lost my case. 3 patient, invalid, victim: Four new cases
were admitted to the hospital yesterday. 4 specimen, instance,
example: Howard is an odd case, isn't he? 5 in any case. in
any event, come what may, at all events, anyhow, anyway: In any
case, your decision won't affect me. 6 in case. a lest, for
fear that: He was worried in case his wife found out where he
had been. b if, in the event that, if it happens or proves or
turns out that, if it should happen or prove or turn out that:
In case you were thinking of leaving, remember that we have your
car keys. 7 in case of. in the event of; for fear of: In case
of fire, you must use the staircase. We insured the house in
case of fire. 8 the case. the fact, the actuality, the truth,
the reality, what really happened or took place: She said he
was drunk, but that's not the case.


case n. 1 box, container, carton, crate; chest, holder, receptacle;
trunk, suitcase, casket: Please order two cases of paper for
the copying machine. The cosmetics came in a fitted case lined
in velvet. 2 covering, cover, protection, casing, envelope,
wrapper: The engraving was on the inside of the watch-case. The
book came in a case of fine calfskin.

--v. 3 encase, box, crate, pack, package, containerize: The
computer arrived, completely cased in rigid foam.


cash n. 1 money, currency, bills, notes, banknotes, change, hard
cash or money, specie, coin of the realm, legal tender, Slang
moolah, dough, bread, loot, spondulicks or spondulix, Brit
lolly, ready, readies, US scratch, gelt, mazuma: The shop
accepts only cash, no charge cards.

--v. 2 Also, cash in. change, sell, liquidate, exchange;
realize: She cashed some bonds to pay off the overdraft.


casket n. 1 chest, box, container, case, coffer, receptacle: She
keeps her jewels in a leather casket on the dressing-table. 2
coffin; sarcophagus: After the funeral, the pallbearers carried
the casket from the church.


cast n. 1 throw, toss, pitch, shy, lob, thrust, chuck: In his next
cast, the bowler lightly struck the jack. 2 dramatis personae,
actors and actresses, players, performers, troupe, company: We
invited the cast to a party after the show. 3 form, shape,
mould; formation, formulation, arrangement: She can appreciate
the turn of the phrase, the happy cast and flow of the sentence.
4 model, casting, mould; stamp, type: The Ming vase was copied
from a cast. There are not many men of the cast of Crocker. 5
twist, turn, irregularity, warp; squint: The mare had a cast in
her gallop. The pirate had a cast in his left eye. 6 turn,
inclination, bent, hint, touch; tinge, tint, colouring: He has
a melancholy cast of mind.


--v. 7 throw, toss, pitch, fling, sling, hurl, dash, send,
Colloq chuck, shy: She tore off the gold necklace and cast it
into the lake. 8 assign, delegate, appoint, designate, name,
nominate, choose, pick, select: He has cast me as the villain
in his little drama. 9 form, mould, found: The king's
death-mask, cast in plaster, was on the floor of the tomb. 10
cast about for. search for, look for, seek: He was casting
about for an excuse to avoid going to the Fordyces' for dinner.
11 cast aside. reject, discard, cast or throw away or out, get
rid of: The expensive toys had been cast aside and the children
were playing with the boxes and wrappings. 12 cast away. maroon,
shipwreck: Jim O'Shea was cast away upon an Indian isle. 13
cast off. throw off, shed, doff: One's upbringing cannot be
cast off like an old overcoat. 14 cast out. expel, drive out,
throw out, evict, eject, oust, exile, remove, cast aside: She
was cast out of the house by her mother, who had married a
biker.

castaway n. reject, cast-off, outcast, pariah, exile: She always looked
after the moral well-being of the castaways of society.


caste n. (social) class, rank, order, level, stratum, standing,
position, station, status, estate: The women of her caste
practised suttee.


castigate v. chastise, punish, correct, penalize, discipline, rebuke,
reprimand, read (someone) the riot act, keelhaul, chasten,
criticize, Colloq tell off, dress down, Chiefly Brit tick off,
Brit carpet, haul over the coals, US and Canadian chew out, rake

over the coals, put or call on or on to the carpet: They were
castigated in the press for their extravagant lifestyle.

castle n. 1 fortress, stronghold, citadel: The king moved to Windsor
Castle during the winter. 2 mansion, palace, manor-house, hall,
chƒteau: Mr Mooney lives alone in his castle and has nothing to
do with his neighbours.

casual adj. 1 accidental, chance, random, fortuitous, unexpected,
unforeseen, unpremeditated, unplanned, unforeseeable,
unpredictable, serendipitous: It was only a casual remark, but
it was taken very seriously. We interviewed casual passers-by.
2 uncertain, unsure, haphazard, occasional, random, irregular,
unsystematic, sporadic, erratic: The budget includes provision
for both certain and casual revenues. 3 indifferent,
nonchalant, offhand, insouciant, apathetic, cool, unconcerned,
uninterested, pococurante, dispassionate, blas‚, relaxed,
lackadaisical: He may seem casual, but he is genuinely
concerned about the patients. 4 informal; lounge: Dinner dress
is not required: you may come in casual clothes. 5 offhand,
happy-go-lucky, natural, easy, easygoing, devil-may-care,
unconcerned, relaxed, d‚gag‚, unconstrained: Phil is quite
casual about losing money at roulette.


casualty n. 1 disaster, catastrophe, calamity, accident, mischance,
misadventure, mishap: The company insures against casualties at
sea. 2 a victim, fatality, Colloq statistic: I'm afraid that
Jeff was a casualty of last year's cut in personnel. She was
only one of thousands of casualties of the earthquake. b
Usually, casualties. Chiefly military wounded, injured,
missing, missing in action, dead, fatalities, US MIA(s), body
count: The casualties were mounting.

catastrophe
n. 1 disaster, calamity, cataclysm: The eruption of Vesuvius
was one of the major catastrophes in recorded history. 2
misfortune, bad luck, shock, blow, tragedy, disaster; mishap,
mischance, misadventure, accident, fiasco, failure: Cook
reported a catastrophe with the layer cake.


catch v. 1 capture, seize, apprehend, take or get (hold of), grab,
grip, grasp, take captive, hold, arrest, take prisoner, Colloq
nab, pinch, collar, Brit nick: The police caught him when he

returned to the scene of the crime. 2 trap, ensnare, entrap,
snare, net, bag, hook, round up, corral: We caught three trout
this morning. I caught all the horses that had broken through
the fence. 3 take, get on or on to, board: You can catch the
London train at Aylesbury. 4 surprise, discover, find: They
fired him after catching him with his hand in the till. 5 be
seized or taken hold of by or with, come down with, be afflicted
by or with, contract, get, suffer from: You'll catch a cold if
you don't wear a hat. 6 strike, hit, deliver, fetch, box: She
caught him a great blow on the ear and he went down. 7 tangle,
become entangled or stuck or trapped or hooked: His foot caught
in the stirrup when he fell, and he was dragged along. 8
restrain, stop, check, curb: She caught herself before telling
the police where the thief was hiding. 9 intercept, grab, seize,
snatch: He caught the ball before it touched the ground. 10
understand, see, comprehend, grasp, apprehend, fathom, perceive,
discern, follow, take in, gather, Colloq figure out, get, catch
on (to), get the drift (of), Brit twig: I didn't quite catch
what you said - please can you repeat it? 11 captivate, charm,
bewitch, enchant, fascinate, seduce, attract, entice, allure:
She knows how to use her charms to catch a man. 12 attract,
draw: A very slight movement caught my eye. 13 catch on. a
understand, grasp, see (through), comprehend, get (it), Brit
twig: I didn't catch on to what she planned to do it till it
was too late. The joke's on you and you still don't catch on, do
you? b take hold, succeed, become popular or fashionable: Do
you think the hula hoop will catch on again? 14 catch up. a
absorb, involve, enthrall, immerse: He was completely caught up
in the plot of the new novel. b reach, overtake, overhaul: I
finally caught up with her as she neared the house.

--n. 15 capture, take, bag, prize, trophy: The catch of the
day was a 20-pound pike. 16 acquisition; conquest: She was
considered quite a catch. 17 clasp, hook, pin, clip, fastening,
fastener: The catch on the necklace opened and pearls spilt all
over the floor. 18 trick, disadvantage, hitch, snag, fly in the
ointment, catch-22, trap, problem, drawback , Colloq US hooker:
The first book is free, but the catch is that you have to buy
four more at the regular price.


catching adj. 1 contagious, infectious, transmissible, transmittable,
communicable: The doctor said that what I have is not catching.
2 attractive, captivating, fascinating, enchanting, bewitching,

entrancing, winning, enticing, alluring, fetching: The strange
object in the shop window was most catching to the eye of a
passer-by.


categorical
adj. direct, explicit, express, unconditional, firm, positive,
unreserved, unrestricted, absolute, outright, downright,
unequivocal, unambiguous, specific; emphatic, unqualified,
authoritative, dogmatic, Technical apodeictic or apodictic: His
denial was clear and categorical.

categorize
v. classify, class, sort, organize, assort, rank, order,
section, departmentalize, group, arrange: Should plankton be
categorized under zoology or botany?

category n. class, classification, type, sort, kind, variety, group,
grouping, listing, rank, ranking, list, grade, department,
division, section, sector, area, sphere; head, heading: Into
which category would you put the partially disabled?

cater v. 1 provision, victual; purvey, provide: We cater exclusively
for housebound gourmets. 2 cater for or to. indulge, humour,
serve, dance attendance on, pamper, baby, coddle, minister to,
spoil, mollycoddle, cosset, pander to: She caters for him night
and day. Our music group caters for all levels of ability.

catholic adj. universal, general, inclusive, all-inclusive, broad, wide,
comprehensive, widespread, all-embracing, eclectic, liberal:
Her musical tastes are catholic - they range from Bach to Berry
(Chuck, that is).

cattle n. livestock, stock, beef; cows, bulls, bullocks, steers,
bovines, oxen: He spent 20 years as a cowboy, herding cattle in
Texas.

cause n. 1 origin, occasion, source, root, genesis, agent, prime
mover, well-spring: The cause of the train crash is not yet
known. 2 originator, creator, producer, agent, agency: His
indecision was the cause of many of our problems. 3 ground or
grounds, justification, reason, basis, call, motive: You have
no cause to be dissatisfied. 4 case, matter, issue, concern;
movement, undertaking; ideal, belief: We appealed the miners'

cause to the high court.

--v. 5 make, induce: What causes hot air to rise? 6 effect,
bring on or about, give rise to, result in, produce, create,
precipitate, occasion, lead to, induce, generate, provoke,
promote; engender; motivate, compel: Overeating causes
indigestion.

caustic adj. 1 burning, corrosive, destructive, mordant, astringent:
Sulphuric acid is the caustic agent that eats away the metal. 2
sarcastic, biting, acrimonious, sharp, bitter, biting, sardonic,
cutting, trenchant, critical, scathing, acid, harsh, pungent,
virulent: His caustic remarks do not earn him many friends.


caution n. 1 warning, admonition, admonishment, caveat, monition,
advice, counsel, injunction: A word of caution is needed before
you go ahead. 2 wariness, prudence, care, vigilance,
forethought, heed, watchfulness, alertness, circumspection,
discretion: Drivers should exercise extra caution in bad
weather.

--v. 3 warn, admonish, forewarn, tip (off); advise, counsel:
Some employees had to be cautioned about arriving on time.


cautious adj. wary, heedful, careful, prudent, circumspect, watchful,
vigilant, alert, circumspect, discreet, guarded: They were very
cautious about letting their children go out on their own.

cave n. 1 cavern, grotto, hollow, hole, cavity, den: In the cave
were prehistoric wall paintings.

--v. 2 cave in. a collapse, break down, give way, subside,
fall in or inwards: The earthquake caused the walls of the
house to cave in. b yield, submit, give way; surrender; Colloq
buckle, knuckle under: After eight hours of questioning, he
caved in and told them everything.

cavil n. 1 quibble, complaint: There is a minor cavil at the wording
of the statutes.


--v. 2 carp, quibble, split hairs, complain, find fault,
censure, criticize, dispute, object, demur, Colloq nit-pick:
They cavilled at a mere misspelling.


cavity n. pit, hole, hollow, opening, crater, gap; space: The
limestone is marked with a pattern of cavities. Vowel sounds
resonate in the oral cavity.


cavort v. curvet, prance, caper, frisk, bound, gambol, romp, skip,
leap, jump, dance: Stop cavorting about and settle down.

3.2 cease...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



cease v. 1 stop, end, finish, leave off, terminate, halt,
discontinue, desist (from), break off (from), refrain (from):
Will that noise never cease?

--n. 2 without cease. ceaselessly, endlessly, unendingly,
incessantly, interminably, continuously, continually,
constantly, ad infinitum, infinitely, perpetually, forever,
eternally, everlastingly, non-stop, unremittingly: Sisyphus was
condemned to roll his burden uphill without cease.

cede v. yield, give way, give up, grant, give, surrender, deliver
up, turn or make or hand over, convey, transfer, relinquish,
abandon, renounce, abdicate: Let private concerns always cede
to the common good. The territory was ceded to our government in
1792.

celebrant n. officiant, official; priest: The celebrant at High Mass was
the archbishop.

celebrate v. 1 hold, perform, solemnize, ritualize, observe, keep,
honour, officiate at; sanctify, hallow, consecrate, dedicate:
The archbishop himself celebrated holy communion. 2 rejoice (in
or at), memorialize; have a party, revel, make merry, wassail,
Colloq party, paint the town red, whoop it up: The entire town
celebrated the opening of the bridge with a huge party. 3 extol,
praise, exalt, glorify, laud, eulogize, honour; lionize: She
was widely celebrated for her achievements. 4 publicize,
advertise, broadcast: The stones themselves would find a Voice,
To celebrate his Praise.

celebrated

adj. famous, renowned, well-known, famed, prominent, noted,
eminent, noteworthy, distinguished, illustrious, acclaimed:
Their son became a celebrated brain surgeon.


celebration
n. 1 observance, observation, performance, solemnization,
hallowing, sanctification, memorialization, commemoration: The
celebration of the Eucharist was delayed because the vicar had
been called to a sickbed. 2 praising, extolling, honouring: The
ceremony was a celebration of their achievements in space
exploration. 3 party, fˆte, gala, festivities, frolic, revelry,
merrymaking: The New Year's celebration is planned at Jill's
house this year.


celebrity n. 1 renown, fame, repute, reputation, prominence, eminence,
distinction, prestige, famousness, popularity, notability,
stardom; notoriety: Dr Johnson was not enriched in proportion
to his celebrity. 2 notable, dignitary, star, luminary, toast
of the town, personage, name, personality, superstar: The hotel
lobby was packed with celebrities from show business.

celestial adj. 1 heavenly, divine, spiritual, godly, paradisiac(al) or
paradisaic, sublime, empyrean, Elysian, ethereal, immortal,
supernatural: They worshipped Jupiter and other celestial
beings. 2 astronomical, astral: We studied celestial
navigation and how to use a sextant.

celibacy n. 1 bachelorhood, spinsterhood, singleness: People who say
they enjoy celibacy may simply have not met the right partner. 2
chastity, virginity, continence, (self-)restraint, abstinence,
purity: They have to take a vow of celibacy before entering the
priesthood.

celibate adj. 1 unmarried, single, unwed: Both brother and sister
remained celibate all their lives. 2 abstinent, abstemious,
continent, ascetic; virgin(al), pure, chaste, unsullied,
undefiled, virtuous, immaculate: He led the celibate life of a
monk for twenty years.


--n. 3 bachelor, spinster: She belonged to an order of female
celibates.

cell n. chamber, room, apartment, cubicle; stall: As a friar, he

lived in a small, plain cell for most of his life.

cellar n. basement, vault: She led me down to the cellar to show me
her wine collection.


cement n. 1 mortar, bond, glue, gum, paste, solder; adhesive: You'll
need a special kind of cement to stick metal to glass.

--v. 2 stick, glue, paste, solder, weld, braze, bond; join,
bind, combine, unite; cohere, hold, cling, adhere: First cement
the tiles to the wall. The ashes and cinders cement readily into
a compact mass.

central adj. 1 middle, medial, median; inner, inside: The central
reservation between the carriageways will be planted with
bushes. 2 main, principal, important, chief, key, leading,
dominant, prime, primary, pre-eminent, cardinal, significant,
essential: Odysseus is the central figure of the poem.


centre n. 1 middle, core, heart; nucleus, focal point, hub, pivot,
nave; mid-point: He stood in the centre of the road. We
journeyed to the centre of the earth. The tower is at the centre
of the market square. The amount to be paid was at the centre of
the controversy. Mark the centre of the line.


--v. 2 focus, converge, meet, concentrate, cluster: The
business of the meeting centred on the nomination of a
chairperson. All my hopes were centred on getting the job as
supervisor.


ceremonial
adj. 1 ritual, celebratory, commemorative: We followed the
ceremonial procession. 2 formal, solemn, stately, dignified;
ceremonious, august: The ceremonial robes of his office were
white. The ceremonial rites of passage involve many
participants.

--n. 3 rite, ritual, formality, ceremony, service, observance:
These are the ceremonials prescribed in the Anglican service.


ceremonious
adj. 1 ceremonial, formal, dignified, solemn, Colloq stuffy,
stiff, starchy: There are many ceremonious procedures involved

in a coronation. 2 courtly, courteous, polite, civil, correct,
proper, conventional, punctilious, careful: He entered the room
and made a ceremonious bow.


ceremony n. 1 rite, observance, solemnity, service, ceremonial, ritual,
formality, function; obsequies: I had to attend my
grandmother's funeral ceremony and was absent from school. 2
motions, formalities or formality, conventions or convention,
niceties, proprieties, form, protocol; lip-service, appearances,
pro formas, etiquette, decorum: Going through the ceremony is
all they want - they don't care what you believe. Please sign
even if only for ceremony's sake.

certain adj. 1 determined, set, fixed, predetermined, decided, settled,
firm, stable, invariable, established, standard, constant,
unchanging, steady, unfluctuating, non-fluctuating, traditional:
He agreed to pay a certain yearly rent. She met him there every
day at a certain time. 2 sure, unerring, definite, dependable,
trustworthy, unfailing, infallible, reliable, assured,
guaranteed: How do you know that the dividend is certain? 3
sure, inevitable, inescapable, destined, predestined,
ineluctable, inexorable, unavoidable, definite, firm;
unchanging, changeless, infallible, permanent, Colloq on the
cards, a sure thing, US in the cards: It is not always certain
that justice will triumph. Nothing is certain but death and
taxes. 4 indubitable, indisputable, undisputed, undoubted, sure,
doubtless, unequivocal, incontestable, undeniable,
incontrovertible, absolute, irrefutable, unquestionable,
unquestioned, unarguable, valid: It is certain only that we
exist, according to Descartes. 5 confident; assured, sure,
positive, definite: I am certain that she did not steal the
money. 6 specific, particular, definite; unnamed, unspecified,
non-specified, non-specific: He gave us certain information
which we now have reason to doubt.


certainty n. 1 fact, actuality, reality, truth, Colloq sure thing: I
would not advise you to neglect a certainty for something
doubtful. 2 assurance, self-assurance, definiteness,
confidence, conviction, faith, authoritativeness, positiveness,
certitude: The certainty with which he played the card showed
he expected it to be a winner. 3 for a certainty. assuredly,
definitely, certainly, surely, positively; undoubtedly,
indubitably, without (a) doubt, undeniably, unquestionably,

absolutely, Colloq for sure: I know for a certainty that I
cannot fly.

certify v. 1 confirm, attest (to), verify, testify (to), affirm, aver,
asseverate, corroborate, substantiate, endorse, guarantee,
warrant; swear (to), bear witness (to), vouchsafe, vouch (for):
I will certify the accuracy of the report. She certified that
she was the owner of the car. 2 declare, classify, establish,
confirm: The magistrate certified the man insane.


3.3 chafe...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



chafe v. 1 rub, warm (up), heat (up): I took the chill off my hands
by chafing them a bit. 2 rub, abrade, fret, gall, irritate,
make sore: The skin is very tender where it was chafed. 3
fume, rage, seethe; ruffle, vex, fret, irritate: I chafed in
impotent rage and exasperation at the ridiculous regulations.
To chafe and vex me is a part of her nature.

--n. 4 sore, abrasion, bruise, soreness, irritation: The
saddle caused a chafe on the inside of my thigh.


chaff n. 1 banter, raillery, ridicule, badinage, joking, teasing,
twitting, Colloq kidding, ragging, Chiefly US and Canadian
joshing: After the speech, he had to put up with a lot of
good-natured chaff from the audience.


--v. 2 banter, tease, twit, rail at, Colloq kid, rag, Chiefly
US and Canadian josh: When he was in the navy, his family
chaffed him for having a girl in every port.

chain n. 1 string, series, combination; sequence, succession, train,
course, set, concatenation: He owns a chain of bookshops.
Interruption of the food chain can cause serious ecological
consequences. A curious chain of circumstances led me to a small
hotel at Torquay in February. 2 restraint, check, trammel,
control, confinement, fetter, bond, manacle, shackle, gyve: The
family finally threw off the chains of poverty.

--v. 3 shackle, secure, fasten, bind, gyve; confine, fetter,
restrain, confine, restrict, tie, limit: Prometheus was chained

to a rock as punishment for having brought fire to man.
Marguerite felt chained after twenty years of marriage.

chair n. 1 seat, armchair, stool, bench, easy chair, rocking-chair:
He offered me a chair so I sat down. 2 throne, bench, position,
cathedra, authority; professorship, directorship: Sue has been
offered a chair on the board. 3 chairperson, chairman,
chairwoman, presiding officer, leader, moderator: The chair
ruled on the matter after due consideration.


--v. 4 preside, lead, govern, moderate, run, direct, manage,
oversee: Katherine will chair the meetings during the absence
of the president.


challenge v. 1 question, dispute, defy, object to, take exception to,
contest, doubt, call into doubt, call into or to question,
impugn: I challenge the validity of your accusation. 2 invite,
dare, summon, call out, provoke: The duke was challenged to a
duel. 3 brave, dare, confront, defy, contest: We could
challenge criticism with an easy confidence.

--n. 4 question, dispute, doubt: His opinions are open to
challenge. 5 invitation, dare, summons, provocation,
confrontation, defiance; ultimatum: An older opponent might not
have issued such a challenge. 6 problem, demand, stimulation,
trial, test: Are you sure that Mr Wilson will be able to meet
the challenge of the new position?

chamber n. 1 assembly, body, legislature, judicature, house, congress,
judiciary, senate, diet; consortium: She is entitled to sit in
the Upper Chamber. 2 meeting-hall, reception room, assembly
room: The council chamber was packed with people. 3
compartment, niche, nook, cavity: We hid the gold in a small
chamber in the cave. 4 room, apartment; bedroom, bedchamber:
On the first floor are the magnificent royal chambers.

champion n. 1 victor, winner, conqueror, title-holder, prizewinner,
titleist: She is the women's singles champion for the fourth
year in a row. 2 defender, guardian, protector, hero,
supporter, backer, protagonist, advocate: He acquired a
reputation as champion of the low-paid. 3 fighter, combatant,
hero, warrior, campaigner, veteran: A stouter champion never
handled a sword. The boar is often regarded as the champion

among beasts.

--v. 4 defend, protect, guard; support, back, stand up for,
fight for, maintain, sustain, uphold; espouse, forward, promote,
advocate: He has always championed the cause of the underdog.

chance n. 1 fortune, luck, fate: We met, as chance would have it, at
the supermarket. Life is but a game of chance for those who
cannot control their destiny. 2 opportunity, time, turn;
occasion: You have had your chance to return the money, now it
is too late. 3 Also, chances. likelihood, probability,
prospect, odds, certainty, predictability; conceivability,
possibility: Chances are that he'll be late. The chance of
winning the lottery is pretty remote. 4 Also, chances. risk,
speculation, gamble: You are taking a chance going out there
without a weapon. I'll take my chances. 5 by chance. a
accidentally, unintentionally, inadvertently: By chance the
witness saw him talking to the suspect. b perhaps, maybe,
possibly, conceivably: Have you by chance a match?


--adj. 6 casual, incidental, accidental, unintentional,
inadvertent; unplanned, unpremeditated, unexpected, unforeseen;
unlooked-for: The affair began with a chance meeting at a pub.


--v. 7 happen; occur, come to pass, take place, come about;
befall, betide: We chanced to see him jogging in the park. It
chanced that a passer-by called the police. 8 risk, hazard;
imperil, endanger, jeopardize, stake, bet, wager: Few would
chance severe penalties or jail by lying on a tax return. Don't
chance everything you've worked for!

change n. 1 substitution, replacement, exchange, interchange, switch:
You have five minutes for a change of costume. This sunny
weather is certainly a change for the better. 2 variation,
difference, switch, variety, novelty: We prefer to live where
there is a change of the seasons, not in the tropics. 3
variation, alteration, change-over, mutation, shift, modulation,
modification, transformation, metamorphosis, revolution: I
can't believe the change that has come over Betty since the
divorce. 4 coin(s), coppers, silver; (hard) cash: I need some
change for the coffee machine.

--v. 5 exchange, interchange, switch, trade; replace (with),

substitute, Colloq swap or swop: I won't be a minute, I just
want to change my shoes. I'd like to change this shirt for a
larger size. 6 modify, alter, modulate; mutate, transform,
metamorphose: Antoinette has changed since her marriage. I
never thought anyone would be able to make her change her mind.
7 fluctuate, shift, vary; vacillate: The temperature often
changes very rapidly here. 8 change to or into. turn into,
become, transform, mutate, transmute, convert, metamorphose:
The alchemists tried to change base metal into gold. Every
winter changes into spring - sooner or later.

changeable
adj. 1 variable, mutable, protean, inconstant, unstable,
unsettled, shifting, uncertain, irregular, uneven,
unpredictable, labile, capricious, erratic, fickle, unreliable,
undependable, mercurial, volatile: The weather has been
changeable for the past week. 2 alterable, modifiable,
transformable, convertible: Their meeting-places were
changeable and known only to them.


changeless
adj. 1 unchanging, unvaried, eternal, permanent, fixed, stable;
unchangeable, immutable, unalterable, inevitable, uniform: We
studied photographs of the changeless Martian landscape. The
fundamental truths of the Gospel are changeless. 2 abiding,
permanent, constant, perpetual, everlasting, steadfast,
unvarying, unchanging: Nothing could alter my changeless love
for you.


channel n. 1 watercourse, canal, waterway, ditch, aqueduct, sluice,
trench, trough, gutter, moat; river-bed, stream-bed: The
engineers dug a channel to drain the swamp. 2 strait, narrows,
neck: The English Channel connects the North Sea with the
Atlantic Ocean. 3 furrow, groove, flute: The channels cut into
this column are not straight. 4 course, means, way, approach,
avenue, medium, path, artery, conduit: We have to open a new
channel of communication with the terrorists.

--v. 5 direct, convey, pass, guide, lead, conduct: Their
grievances are being channelled through the information officer.

chant n. 1 song, psalm, hymn, canticle, plainsong, plainchant,
mantra, paean, dirge, monody, descant, carol; singsong: The war

chant of the natives, echoing over the water, struck fear into
their enemies.

--v. 2 sing, intone, descant, carol: The choir chanted the
verses of a lugubrious threnody.

chaos n. formlessness, disorder, confusion; pandemonium, bedlam,
turmoil, tumult; entropy: The universe arose out of chaos. If
you want to see chaos, look in any teenager's bedroom. There was
chaos as the bank closed its doors and ceased trading.

chaotic adj. 1 formless, shapeless, incoherent, disordered, disorderly,
disorganized, unorganized, unsystematic, unsystematized,
unmethodical, haphazard, irregular, helter-skelter, confused,
topsy-turvy, jumbled, higgledy-piggledy, Brit shambolic: The
present solar system is thought to have condensed from a chaotic
mass of nebulous matter. The rules may seem chaotic at first
sight. 2 tumultuous, noisy, clamorous, uproarious, wild,
riotous, frenzied, hectic, turbulent, unstuck: The press
conference became chaotic when the president announced his
resignation.

chap n. fellow, lad, man, boy, Colloq guy, geezer, customer, gink,
Brit bloke, Australian cove, US buddy, gazabo or gazebo;
Old-fashioned Brit (old) egg, (old) bean, (old) crumpet, (old)
boy; Slang US bozo: I went with some of the chaps from the
club.

character n. 1 brand, stamp, mark, symbol, monogram, insigne, badge,
emblem, sign, seal, label; letter, number, figure, type, sort,
arbitrary, peculiar, rune, hieroglyphic or hieroglyph: They
used to brand the character of a horse on the forehead of their
slaves. We shall need to obtain a set of Cyrillic characters if
we are going to print Russian texts. 2 characteristic, quality,
distinction, trait, feature, mark; sort, kind, type, nature,
description, attribute; idiosyncrasy, peculiarity: He now tried
to give the war the character of a crusade. It is the character
of some people to be curious. 3 morality, honesty, integrity,
respectability, rectitude, honour, courage, goodness: Everyone
agrees that she is a person of outstanding character. 4 person,
personage, personality, individual: Cobbett had more sagacity
and foresight than any other public character of his time. 5
role, part, personality, characterization, dramatis persona: He

played the character of Caesar. 6 eccentric, card, Colloq
oddball, nut, nutter, loony, bat, weirdo, nutcase, screwball,
crackpot, fruit cake, Australian and old-fashioned Brit cove:
She was regarded as quite a character because of her many
strange habits. 7 role, position, status, capacity: He assumes
the character of a Dutch uncle when he speaks to me. 8 in
character. fitting, proper, suitable, in keeping, typical,
normal, expected, characteristic: It is completely in character
for Len to criticize everything he encounters. 9 out of
character. untypical, atypical, uncharacteristic, abnormal,
unexpected, unfitting: It would be out of character for Janet
to refuse help to someone in need.

characteristic
adj. 1 typical, representative; emblematic, symbolic,
distinctive, idiosyncratic, symptomatic: How characteristic it
is of them to refuse to go to the dance! These subjects are
characteristic of the early Impressionists.


--n. 2 mark, trait, attribute, feature, quality, property,
peculiarity, idiosyncrasy, character, earmark: It is a
characteristic of bees to swarm.

characterize
v. delineate, describe, portray, depict, represent, define,
brand, label, mark, note, identify: She has consistently
characterized him as a buffoon. 'Virago' is the term that would
best characterize Felicity.


charade n. travesty, absurdity, mockery, farce, parody: He has made a
charade of what could have been a serious relationship.

charge n. 1 load, burden, weight, onus, impediment; care, concern,
obligation: She feared that she would become a charge on her
children. 2 price, fee, cost: What is the charge for
admission? 3 debt, debit, expense, assessment, liability: Any
charge against the estate of the deceased will be paid in full.
4 care, custody, protection, guardianship, wardship,
supervision, jurisdiction, control, responsibility, safe
keeping: We left the children in the charge of Nanny and Nanny
in charge of the children. 5 order, mandate, injunction,
precept, command, dictate, direction, instruction, demand,
exhortation: The judge's charge to the jury was to ignore the

evidence given by the caretaker. 6 accusation, imputation,
indictment, allegation: The charge is murder. The police
decided to drop the charges against him. 7 attack, onset,
action, assault, sally, raid, foray, sortie: At the signal the
cavalry began their charge.

--v. 8 fill, imbue, load, instil, pervade, permeate, saturate,
suffuse: The air was highly charged with a stench from the
kitchen. 9 burden, entrust, commission, assign; afflict, tax:
He was charged with the supervision of all the military schools.
10 command, order, bid, enjoin, exhort, urge, require, instruct,
direct: I charge you not to speak of this matter to anyone. 11
blame, censure, accuse; indict, cite, name; allege, assert: She
charged him with being a hypocrite. He has been charged with
assault. It is charged that she was present at the commission of
the crime. 12 bill, invoice, assess, debit: Please charge these
items to my account. Do not charge me for merchandise not
shipped. 13 ask, demand, claim, require, expect: How much do
they charge for asparagus at the supermarket? 14 attack,
assault, storm, assail, do battle (with): Four thousand
horsemen stood ready to charge the enemy.

charitable
adj. 1 generous, liberal, bountiful, munificent, unselfish,
open-handed, magnanimous, philanthropic, public-spirited,
unsparing, eleemosynary: Despite her income, Irena has always
been most charitable when it comes to worthwhile causes. 2
well-disposed, kindly, kind, beneficent, benevolent,
well-wishing, lenient, tolerant, forgiving, indulgent,
understanding, compassionate, humane, sympathetic, considerate,
well-meaning, good: They took a charitable view of the matter
and decided not to press charges.

charity n. 1 generosity, alms-giving, munificence, liberality,
open-handedness, magnanimity, beneficence, philanthropy,
unselfishness, humanity, humanitarianism, good will: Your
charity towards this hospital has been unequalled by any other
donor, Sir Keith. 2 leniency, big-heartedness,
large-heartedness, benevolence, magnanimity, indulgence,
considerateness, consideration, compassion, understanding,
sympathy, kind-heartedness: We are all urged to show charity
towards those who wrong us. 3 alms, donation, contribution,
largesse, Colloq Brit dole, US welfare, relief: I want the

opportunity to work, not the government's charity.

charm n. 1 amulet, talisman, fetish, rabbit's foot, good-luck piece:
She wears a charm to ward off evil spirits. 2 attractiveness,
appeal, fascination, allure, magnetism, desirability, elegance,
urbanity, sophistication, sophisticatedness, suavity, grace,
refinement, cultivatedness, cultivation, culture, polish; magic,
enchantment, spell, sorcery: To Diderot we go not for charm of
style but for a store of fertile ideas. To get ahead Colin
relies more on his charm than on his ability. 3 charms. beauty,
attractiveness, pulchritude, prettiness, handsomeness, appeal,
allure, magnetism, pull, draw: For all her charm, I would not
trust her one inch. 4 like a charm. successfully, perfectly,
miraculously, marvellously, extraordinarily, especially well:
His appeal to their egos worked like a charm.

--v. 5 influence, control, subdue, bind, put a spell on,
bewitch, enchant, seduce, hypnotize, mesmerize, enthral or US
enthrall, captivate, delight, fascinate, Literary enrapture: He
charmed them with some tale and they gave him their money. 6
overcome, subdue, calm, soothe, allay, assuage, hypnotize,
mesmerize: Music is said to have qualities capable of charming
savages.


charmed adj. 1 bewitched, spellbound, enchanted, magical: Apollonius
considered the use of charmed rings essential to quackery. 2
fortified, protected: He must lead a charmed life to have
survived all those battles. 3 pleased, delighted, enchanted,
happy: I am charmed to meet you at last, Madam President.


charmer n. enchanter, enchantress, sorcerer, sorceress, magician; vamp,
siren, Circe, Cleopatra, Lorelei, temptress, seductress;
seducer, Romeo, Valentino, Don Juan, Lothario, Casanova,
lady-killer, ladies' man; flatterer; smooth talker, Colloq
(big-time) operator, con artist or man, Old-fashioned smoothie,
wolf: Charlotte has run off with some charmer she met at a
party.

chart n. 1 sea-chart, map: According to the chart, we are fifty
miles west of the Lizard. 2 map, table, tabulation, graph,
diagram; blueprint: A weather chart appears on page 23. Here is
a chart of the highest-yielding unit trusts. She drew up a
genealogical chart of the descendants of Queen Victoria.


--v. 3 plot, plan, map (out), design: He charted a course of
action for the company. Have you charted the shortest route
between Gibraltar and Cyprus?


charter n. 1 document, contract, compact, agreement, covenant: This
year we again commemorate the signing of the United Nations
charter. 2 permit, permission, licence or US license, authority,
franchise, right, privilege, concession: He was given an
exclusive charter to export furs in 1679. 3 lease, contract:
We have the yacht under charter for the summer.

--v. 4 license, authorize, document, commission, approve,
certify, franchise, qualify; recognize: He is a chartered
accountant, she a chartered surveyor. 5 let, lease, rent, hire,
engage, contract: I chartered the sloop for three weeks.

chase n. 1 hunting, hunt, pursuit: Police dogs entered the chase and
the prisoner was finally caught. 2 run after, follow, pursue,
track, go (out) after; court, woo: The police were chasing a
man down the street. Stop chasing women and settle down. 3 chase
away, off, out, etc. rout, put to flight, hound; drive away,
off, out, etc.: I chased the cat away from the birdcage.


chaste adj. 1 pure, virginal, virgin, celibate, abstinent, continent,
virtuous, undefiled, stainless, unstained, unsullied,
unblemished, decent, clean, good, wholesome, moral: Only a
knight who was wholly chaste would find the Grail. 2 subdued,
severe, restrained, unadorned, austere, unembellished, simple,
pure, undecorated, clean: In some respects, modern architecture
emulates the chaste style of the ancient Egyptians.

chasten v. 1 discipline, correct, chastise, punish, castigate: He used
every means to chasten the unruly and disobedient. 2 moderate,
temper, subdue, curb, restrain, repress, tame, suppress: I am
not as sanguine as I was - time and experience have chastened
me.

chastise v. punish, beat, thrash, belabour or US belabor, spank, whip,
flog, scourge, birch, cane; discipline, chasten, correct,
censure, berate, scold: Pupils are not being chastised as in
the old days.

chastity n. purity, continence, virginity, maidenhood, maidenhead,
virtue, celibacy, abstinence, abstention, abstemiousness,
restraint, self-restraint, forbearance: She was a nun and had
taken a vow of chastity.


chat n. 1 conversation, colloquy, talk, small talk, gossip, palaver,
chit-chat, tˆte-…-tˆte, heart-to-heart, Colloq gab, Chiefly Brit
chin-wag, confab, Brit witter, natter, US and Canadian rap,
gabfest, bull session: We'd get together for a chat every now
and then.

--v. 2 converse, gossip, talk, chit-chat, Colloq gab, chew the
fat or the rag, jaw, Brit witter, natter; Slang US and Canadian
rap, bullshit: We were just chatting when I smelt something
burning. 3 Brit chat up. flirt or dally with, persuade, induce,
prevail upon, tempt, lure, entice, inveigle, seduce,
proposition: Rick chats up every girl he meets.

chatter v. 1 prattle, gabble, jabber, prate, patter, gibber, cackle,
jibber-jabber, Brit chaffer, Colloq gab, jaw, Brit natter,
witter, rabbit on or away, waffle: He just kept chattering on
about nothing. 2 clatter, rattle: It was so cold my teeth were
chattering.


--n. 3 prattle, prate, patter, gossip, cackle, jabbering,
chattering: I don't want to hear any more chatter in the
library.

cheap adj. 1 inexpensive, low-priced, bargain-priced, low-cost,
sale-priced, cut-price, reasonable; economy, budget(-priced):
He was chewing on a cheap cigar. Everything used to be a lot
cheaper when I was younger. 2 economical; reduced: Eggs are
cheaper by the dozen. 3 shoddy, base, shabby, tawdry, sleazy,
tatty, seedy; inferior, low-grade, poor, second-rate, trashy,
worthless, Brit twopenny or tuppenny; Colloq tacky, Brit tinpot,
Slang US two-bit, lousy, chintzy: Those cheap pictures ruin the
look of the place. 4 stingy, miserly, penurious, niggardly,
penny-pinching, cheese-paring, frugal, tight, tight-fisted,
Scrooge-like, skinflinty: That cheap brother of yours wouldn't
give even a penny to a beggar.

--adv. 5 inexpensively, cheaply, for a song, Brit for twopence
or tuppence: You can buy those cheap from any street vendor. 6

cheaply, easily, reasonably, for a song, Brit for twopence or
tuppence: She has sold cheap that which she holds most dear.

--n. 7 on the cheap. inexpensively, reasonably, cheaply, at or
below cost, for a song, Brit for twopence or tuppence; Slang for
peanuts: We buy these watches on the cheap and sell them to
tourists.

cheat n. 1 swindler, deceiver, impostor, fraud, faker, fake,
swindler, trickster, confidence man, con man, operator,
charlatan, mountebank, rogue, shark, Colloq phoney or US also
phony, US snake-oil artist: It is amazing how many cheats are
out there waiting to take advantage of you.


--v. 2 swindle, deceive, bilk, trick, con, take, fleece,
defraud, euchre, hoax, hoodwink, Colloq con, take in, rook,
flimflam, finagle, diddle, fiddle, move the goalposts,
bamboozle, take for a ride; Slang rip off: His own solicitor
cheated him out of his inheritance. If you paid ten pounds for
that painting, you were cheated.

check v. 1 stop, arrest, stay, halt, obstruct, block, limit; retard,
slow, brake, curb, hinder, hamper, impede, thwart: They are
trying to check the spread of the disease in West Africa. 2
restrain, control, repress, stay, inhibit, contain, curb,
restrict: The animal population is checked only by availability
of food. 3 authenticate, verify, confirm, substantiate,
validate, corroborate, check into, check out, check up on:
Please check his story to make sure he's not lying. 4 enquire
about or after or into, check into, check (up) on, examine,
investigate, inspect, make sure of, verify, monitor, test,
study, scrutinize: You'd best check the temperature in the
kiln. 5 correspond, coincide, agree, jibe, tally, conform,
check out, fit, mesh; compare: His alibi doesn't check with the
witness's statement. 6 check in. arrive, report: We check in
for work at 0800. 7 check in or into. register, sign in or on,
enrol, log in: We checked into the hotel. 8 check into.
investigate, check out, check up on, verify, check: The
detective checked into the backgrounds of all applicants. 9
check off. tick (off), mark, check: Check off the names in red.
10 check out. a depart, leave; go: He checked out of the hotel
and took a taxi to the airport. b investigate, research,
explore, enquire into, look into or at or over, scrutinize,

examine, inspect, probe, survey, check up on, check, check into,
check over: You had best check out her references before hiring
her. c pass, pass muster or scrutiny, meet approval, be
verified, check: According to our records, his story checks
out. d Slang cash in one's checks or chips, kick the bucket,
croak: Sam checked out last week - heart attack, I think. 11
check over or out. review, verify, authenticate, check: Please
check over my figures before I submit them to the accountant.
12 check up (on). a investigate, do research, probe, explore,
check: I don't know her name, but I'll check up and let you
know. b determine, discover, find out, look into, check: I
want you to check up on where they eat lunch.

--n. 13 stop, stopping, cease, surcease, hesitation, cessation,
stoppage, interruption, break, pause, balk or baulk,
discontinuity, discontinuation, discontinuance, suspension: The
visitors continued to arrive without check, far into the night.
14 restraint, repression, inhibition, limitation, curb,
restriction, control, constraint, hindrance, obstruction,
impediment, damper: He keeps a good check on the foreman. This
tax will serve as a check against free trade. 15 control, test,
inspection, examination, scrutiny, verification, substantiation,
authentication, confirmation, validation, corroboration: We do
a thorough check on the quality of every product. 16 US tick,
mark, dash, X: Place a check in the box alongside your choice.
17 token, receipt, counterfoil, stub; voucher, chit,
certificate: Don't lose your baggage check. 18 chip, counter:
Let's cash in our checks and go home. 19 Chiefly US bill, tab,
charge(s): In the U.S.A., people generally add 15 per cent to
the check for a tip.

cheeky adj. impudent, impertinent, insolent, audacious, disrespectful,
rude, uncivil, forward, brazen, pert, saucy: That cheeky little
brat told me to get lost!


cheer n. 1 disposition, frame of mind, spirit: They were of good
cheer, considering their predicament. 2 cheerfulness, gladness,
mirth, joy, gaiety, blitheness, happiness, buoyancy,
light-heartedness, merrymaking: There wasn't much cheer at the
pub when we learnt of what had befallen poor Grover. 3 comfort,
solace, encouragement, consolation: She brought in a little
breath of cheer from the outside world. 4 shout, cry, hurrah,
rah, huzzah, hurray or hooray: Three cheers for Penelope!


--v. 5 comfort, console, solace, encourage, inspirit, warm,
Colloq buck up: Your friendly note cheered me considerably. 6
gladden, enliven, cheer up, hearten, buoy up, brighten, elate,
brighten, uplift, lift up: Let thy heart cheer thee in the days
of thy youth. 7 applaud, shout, hurrah, clap, yell; Colloq Brit
and Australian and New Zealand barrack for: The crowd cheered
for five minutes when Mr Flews stood to speak.


cheerful adj. 1 joyous, glad, gladsome, blithesome, blithe, happy,
cheery, of good cheer, joyful, jolly, exuberant, jubilant,
gleeful, gay, light-hearted, merry: I am pleased to see that
Agatha is so cheerful. Why do you cry at weddings, which are
supposed to be such cheerful occasions? 2 cheering, gladdening,
animating, bright, enlivening, cheery, gay, buoyant,
invigorating: She has redecorated the bedroom in more cheerful
colours.

chequered adj. 1 chequer-board, checked; patchwork; plaid, tartan: You
cannot use a chequered tablecloth for a formal dinner. 2
variegated, diversified, alternating, variable, good and bad,
varying, fluctuating, up and down; uncertain: David Williams
had a rather chequered career in the army.


cherish v. 1 treasure, hold or keep dear, prize: I know that she
cherishes every moment you were together. 2 foster, tend,
cultivate, preserve, sustain, nurture, nourish, nurse, cosset:
For their sweetness gillyflowers are cherished in gardens. We
cherish little Edward and probably spoil him a bit too much.


chest n. 1 box, coffer, trunk, strongbox, caddy, casket, case: It
took four men to carry the chest outside, where we could open
it. Martha kept her jewels in a small chest on the dresser. 2
breast; thorax: The wrestler was pounding his chest and
shouting 'I am the greatest!'

chew v. 1 masticate, grind, munch; bite, gnaw: Make sure to chew
each mouthful thoroughly. The puppy chewed up my slipper. 2 chew
the fat or rag. gossip, palaver, chat, converse, talk, Slang US
and Canadian bullshit: We sat round the fire and chewed the fat
all evening. 3 chew out. scold, rebuke, reprimand: The
sergeant chewed out the recruit because his boots were dirty. 4
chew over. think about or on or over, consider, review, ponder,

ruminate on, meditate on or over: I'll chew over your proposal
and let you know.

chic adj. 1 stylish, fashionable, … la mode, modish, smart,
tasteful, elegant; sophisticated; Colloq trendy: Susanna was
always a chic dresser.

--n. 2 style, fashion, good taste, tastefulness, elegance,
stylishness, modishness: There is an air of chic about him that
repels many men but attracts many women.

chicanery n. trickery, sophistry, deception, quibbling, sharp practice,
cheating, deviousness, duplicity, pettifoggery, double-dealing,
artifice, skulduggery: They lost the case because of the
chicanery of their lawyers.

chief n. 1 head, leader, principal, superior, supervisor,
superintendent, manager, overseer, captain, master, ringleader,
chieftain, Dialect himself, Colloq boss, bossman, Brit governor,
gov., supremo, US man, kingpin, (head or chief) honcho, number
one, numero uno, headman, big White Chief, big Chief, Great
White Father, big Daddy, super; Slang big cheese, Brit gaffer,
Chiefly US Mr Big: You'd best ask the chief for permission to
fly to Rome.


--adj. 2 head, leading, ranking, superior, supreme, foremost,
premier, first, greatest, outstanding: Terry is your chief
competition for the singles trophy. 3 principal, most
important, essential, key, paramount, (first and) foremost,
primary, prime, main: The chief reason I came was to see you.
Here is a list of the chief crimes committed in the area last
year.

chiefly adv. mainly, in particular, especially, particularly, above
all, most of all, pre-eminently, principally, primarily, mostly,
predominantly, largely, by and large, on the whole, in the main,
generally, in general, usually, as a rule: Inflation affected
chiefly the price of food. The Anatomy of Melancholy consists
chiefly of quotations.


child n. 1 offspring, descendant, son or daughter, little one,
youngster, Formal progeny, issue, Colloq kid, nipper, Slang Brit
sprog: How many children do you have? 2 foetus, newborn,

neonate, infant, baby, babe, toddler, boy or girl, lad or lass,
stripling, youngster, youth, juvenile, adolescent, teenager,
young man or woman, young gentleman or lady, Chiefly Scots
laddie or lassie: No children were born in the village for five
years. These miscreants are mere children, who should not be
punished as adults.

childhood n. infancy, babyhood, boyhood or girlhood, youth, puberty,
minority, adolescence, teens: During her childhood the family
moved to Kent. She spent most of her childhood dreaming about
travelling to the moon.

childish adj. childlike, juvenile, puerile, infantile, babyish;
immature, inexperienced, na‹ve, undeveloped, underdeveloped,
retarded; silly, US sophomoric: They thought his reaction to
their criticism was childish and petulant.

childlike adj. youthful, young, innocent, trustful, ingenuous,
unsophisticated, na‹ve, trusting, credulous, open,
undissembling, unassuming, guileless, artless: There is a
childlike simplicity to some primitive paintings.

chill n. 1 coldness, cold, coolness, sharpness, nip: We put on our
jackets to ward off the chill of the evening. 2 cold, flu,
influenza, (la or the) grippe, ague, Technical coryza, Colloq
(the) sniffles, sneezles and wheezles: Take off those wet
clothes before you catch a chill. 3 coolness, iciness,
frigidity, aloofness; unfriendliness, hostility: Mrs Marlow
felt the chill in the stare of her husband's ex-wife.


--adj. 4 cold, cool, numbing, chilling, chilly, raw,
penetrating, icy, frigid, wintry, frosty, arctic, polar,
glacial: A chill easterly wind made me shiver. 5 shivering,
chilled (through), numb, numbed, numbing, benumbed: She kissed
me with a lip more chill than stone. 6 cold, cold-blooded,
aloof, indifferent, insensitive, unemotional, unsympathetic;
chilly: The prison commandant viewed the corpses with chill
detachment.


--v. 7 cool, freeze, refrigerate, ice: The fruit tastes better
if it has been chilled. 8 dampen, dispirit, depress, deject,
dishearten, distress: The news of mother's illness chilled us
all.


chilly adj. 1 cool, coldish, cold, frigid, nippy, frosty, icy, crisp,
chill: The weather has been quite chilly for May. 2 chill,
unenthusiastic, unresponsive, unreceptive, frosty, unwelcoming,
crisp, cool, cold, unfriendly, hostile; distant, aloof: The
suggestion that the charity fair be held in her garden met with
a chilly response from Lady Griffiths.

chime n. 1 bell, set of bells, carillon, ring, peal: Our church has
a full chime of eight bells. 2 ringing, peal, chiming, tolling,
tintinnabulation, clanging, ding-dong, striking; tinkle, jingle,
jangle: We could hear the chimes of Big Ben from our hotel
room.


--v. 3 ring, peal, toll, sound, tintinnabulate, clang, strike:
The clock chimed on the hour. 4 mark, denote, indicate,
announce: The carillon chimed the hour at noon. 5 chime in. a
join in, blend, harmonize: When singing this round, chime in at
the third bar. b interrupt, intercede, intrude, interfere,
break in, Colloq chip in; Slang butt in: I was about to speak
when he chimed in with some silly remark.

chink n. fissure, rift, crack, crevice, gap, opening, cleft, slit,
aperture, cranny: We could see daylight through a chink in the
fence.

chip n. 1 fragment, piece, shard or sherd, splinter, flake, sliver,
scrap, morsel, bit: A chip of slate rattled down off the roof.
2 counter, marker, token; plaque, US check: He put his chip on
number 14.

--v. 3 chisel, whittle, hew: He chipped away at the stone till
it fitted perfectly into the hole. 4 chip in. a contribute;
participate: All the neighbours chipped in to pay for the
street decorations. b interrupt, break in, intrude, interfere,
intercede, interpose, Colloq chime in: Clive chipped in with
his usual silly comment.

chirp v. 1 tweet, peep, twitter, chirrup, warble, trill, cheep,
chitter, chirr, pipe: I was awakened by the birds, chirping
away in the forest.

--n. 2 tweet, peep, twitter, chirrup, warble, trill, cheep,

chitter, chirr: The canary gave two chirps and jumped onto its
perch.

chisel v. 1 carve, cut, pare, groove, shape, engrave, grave: He was
chiselling the figure of an eagle out of the board. 2 cheat,
defraud, swindle, bilk, trick, fool, dupe, gull, Colloq
bamboozle: The gamblers chiselled him out of a week's wages.

chivalrous
adj. courtly, gracious, courteous, polite, gallant, noble,
knightly, gentlemanly, considerate, kind, charitable,
magnanimous: It was quite chivalrous of you to drive me home.

chivalry n. knight-errantry; honour, bravery, courage, courtesy,
politeness, courtliness, gallantry, nobility, virtuousness,
righteousness, justness, fairness, impartiality, equitableness:
All the noble sentiments blended together constitute chivalry.

choice n. 1 selection, election, preference, choosing, pick,
acceptance: I don't care for his choice of language. 2 option,
realm of possibilities; alternative, voice, determination: She
was given no choice in selecting her husband. 3 pick, ‚lite,
flower, best, select, cream, crŠme de la crŠme: The king's
guard is made up from the choice of the kingdom.


--adj. 4 select, exquisite, special, superior, prime,
high-quality, excellent, pre-eminent, best, prize, first-rate,
exceptional, preferred, desirable, ideal, rare, Colloq Brit
plummy: She has the choicest wines in her cellar. 5 selected,
select, hand-picked, well-chosen, fit, appropriate, fitting:
The eulogy was disposed of in a few choice words.

choke v. 1 suffocate, asphyxiate, smother, stifle, strangle,
throttle, garrotte or garrote or garotte, burke: He choked his
elderly victims, then stole their money. 2 stop, fill (up),
block (up), obstruct, congest, clog, dam (up), constrict: The
channel is completely choked with weeds. 3 Also, choke off.
smother, suppress, stifle, prohibit, frustrate, deny, obviate,
cut off, stop, put a stop to; dissuade, discourage: His
policies choked off any chance for innovation. 4 choke back or
down. suppress, repress, stifle, restrain: He choked back the
tears when he saw the gravestone.

choose v. select, elect, pick (out), determine, judge; decide, prefer,
opt, settle upon or on: She had the right to choose the course
that seemed the best to her. Given the options, I chose to stay.


choosy adj. selective, discriminating, discerning, fastidious, finicky
or finical, particular, fussy, demanding, exacting, difficult,
hard to please , Colloq picky: If you weren't so choosy, you
wouldn't have to pay so much.


chop v. 1 Also, chop away or down or off. cut, hack, hew, lop, crop,
cleave, sever: Chop away that underbrush. I tried to chop off
the end. Don't chop down that tree! 2 Also, chop up. mince;
dice, cube; hash: Chop up the parsley very fine before adding
it to the sauce.


--n. 3 cut, blow, stroke: With a quick chop of the axe, the
branch was severed.

christen v. 1 baptize, anoint: They are going to christen the baby next
week. 2 name, call, dub: The child was christened Madelaine.
The highest peak in Wales is christened Snowdon.

chronic adj. 1 long-lasting, long-standing, lingering, inveterate,
persistent, continuing, lasting, long-lived: The doctor said
that the condition, for which there is no cure, is chronic. 2
inveterate, persistent, dyed in the wool, confirmed, habitual,
hardened: Abby is a chronic liar.

chronicle n. 1 record, history, diary, chronology, account, narrative,
description, report, register, annal(s), archive: She has
written a chronicle of the events leading up to the War of
Jenkins' Ear.

--v. 2 record, register, list, enter, archive, document,
describe; tell, recount, narrate, report, relate, retail: In
the Iliad Homer chronicled the legends of the Trojan War.

chronology
n. account, record, calendar, almanac, journal, log; sequence:
Describe the chronology of events preceding your discovery of
the body.

chubby adj. podgy or US pudgy; stumpy, stubby, chunky, tubby, plump,

dumpy, thickset, heavy-set, heavy, ample, overweight: She was a
bit chubby when a teenager but became a professional model when
she was 21.


chuckle v. 1 laugh, chortle, crow, snigger, giggle, titter: Robin
always chuckled when the subject of embezzlement came up.

--n. 2 chuckling, laugh, chortle, crowing, giggle; laughter,
snigger, sniggering: It was hard to resist a chuckle when we
saw the looks on their faces.

chum n. 1 friend, comrade, companion; confidant(e), familiar;
fellow, colleague, Colloq pal, sidekick, Chiefly Brit and
Australian and New Zealand mate, Chiefly US and Canadian buddy:
I invited a chum of mine for the weekend.

--v. 2 Often, chum around. associate, Colloq pal (around):
Yes, we used to chum around together in the army. 3 chum up
with. ally (oneself) with, be friendly with, go with, associate
with, Colloq pal (up or about or around) with, US team up with:
Lionel chummed up with Ashley to go swimming.

chummy adj. friendly, sociable, intimate, close, thick, Colloq pally,
US palsy-walsy, buddy-buddy: You were very chummy with Peter
once, weren't you?

chute n. 1 waterfall, rapid: The canoe skimmed down the chute with
lightning speed. 2 slide, shaft, channel, ramp, runway, trough,
incline: The parcels come down this chute and you have to sort
them by postcode.

3.4 circle...
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circle n. 1 disc or chiefly US disk, ring, hoop, loop, band, wheel,
annulus, ringlet; cordon: Using a compass, he carefully drew a
circle. We formed a circle around the speaker. 2 set, coterie,
clique, class, division, group, crowd; society, fellowship,
fraternity, company: John and I don't move in the same circles.

--v. 3 encircle, circumambulate, go round or around, tour;
circumnavigate: For exercise, I circle the lake in the park

every morning. 4 encircle, surround, gird, enclose,
circumscribe: Twenty small diamonds circle each star sapphire.

circuit n. 1 compass, circumference, perimeter, periphery, girth,
border, boundary, edge, limit, ambit, margin, outline,
confine(s), bound, pale: The circuit of the area amounts to 72
miles. 2 round, tour, ambit, circle, orbit, course, lap: The
rider completed the circuit of the ranch, mending the fence as
he went.


circular adj. 1 round, disc-shaped or chiefly US disk-shaped, disc-like
or chiefly US disk-like, discoid; ring-shaped, ring-like,
annular: Notice the circular pattern of growth of this ivy. 2
roundabout, indirect, circuitous, tortuous, twisting, twisted,
anfractuous; periphrastic, circumlocutory; devious: We had to
take a circular route because the road was closed. Why can't she
say what she means instead of being so circular? 3 illogical,
inconsistent, redundant, fallacious, irrational, Formal
sophistic or sophistical: To say that you exist because you
think and that you think because you exist is an example of
circular reasoning.

circulate v. 1 move or go about or round or around, orbit, flow, course,
run, circle: The blood circulates from the heart through the
arteries and veins and back to the heart. 2 spread, distribute,
disseminate, issue, publish, air, announce, proclaim, make
known, noise abroad, bruit about, report, broadcast, reveal,
divulge, advertise, publicize, promulgate, put about, bring or
put out, pass out or round or around: He has been circulating
the story that his ex-wife cheated on her income tax. 3 spread,
go round or around, be bruited about, come out: A rumour has
been circulating about your behaviour at the office party.

circulation
n. 1 circuit, course, orbit, flow, flowing, motion: It was
Harvey who discovered the circulation of the blood. 2 spread,
spreading, dissemination, transmission, passage, distribution,
diffusion, publication, advertisement, announcement, issuance,
issuing, pronouncement, proclamation, promulgation, broadcast,
broadcasting: The state has again forbidden the free
circulation of information.

circumstance

n. 1 Often, circumstances. situation, condition(s), state (of
affairs); status, station, resources, income, finances: In the
circumstances, all leave is cancelled. Each person will be
helped according to the individual circumstance. 2 event,
incident, episode, occurrence, affair, happening, occasion: Any
unforeseen circumstance could set off a shooting war.

circumstantial
adj. 1 indirect, presumptive, evidential or evidentiary,
interpretive, deduced, presumed, presumptive, presumable,
implicative, implied, inferred, inferential: Some
circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a gun
in the suspect's house. 2 accidental, incidental, hearsay,
indirect, unimportant, adventitious, provisional, secondary,
unessential, non-essential, fortuitous, chance, extraneous:
Such circumstantial trivia have no bearing on the case. 3
detailed, particular, precise, explicit, specific: We cannot
believe that he invented so circumstantial a narrative.


citizen n. 1 voter; native; householder, resident, inhabitant, denizen,
dweller, freeman; Brit patrial, ratepayer; US taxpayer: All
citizens are entitled to certain rights. 2 city-dweller,
town-dweller, townsman, townswoman, villager, burgess, oppidan:
She considers herself a citizen of Oxford.


city n. metropolis, municipality, borough, burgh; conurbation,
megalopolis; Brit urban district; see, diocese, bishopric; New
Zealand urban area; Colloq town, US burg, big apple: We gave up
our flat in the city and moved to the country.


civil adj. 1 civilian, non-military, lay, laic, laical, secular:
There is a distinction between civil law and canon law. 2
domestic, internal; public: The economic conditions have led to
civil strife. 3 polite, courteous, respectful, well-mannered,
proper, civilized, cordial, formal, courtly, urbane, polished,
refined: They are civil enough, but I always have the feeling
they really despise tourists.

civility n. courtesy, politeness, respect, comity, urbanity, amiability,
consideration, courteousness, cordiality, propriety, tact,
diplomacy, politesse, protocol: Despite his rude behaviour at
her dinner-party, she treats him with great civility.

civilization
n. 1 culture, refinement, cultivation, enlightenment,
edification, sophistication, polish: The Romans brought
civilization to many peoples who had been quite barbarous. 2
culture, mores, custom(s): He has studied Egyptian civilization
all his life.

civilize v. 1 enlighten, refine, polish, edify, educate, acculturate:
Civilized people do not behave in such a boorish way. 2 tame,
domesticate; broaden, elevate, acculturate: The claim that they
civilized the Aborigines means only that they forced them to
conform to the White man's notion of civilization.

3.5 claim...
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claim n. 1 demand, assertion, request, requisition, petition,
application; requirement: As far as the land is concerned, his
claim has been denied. 2 right(s), call, title: What possible
claim could the Miss Dashwoods have on his generosity?

--v. 3 demand, seek, ask or call (for), exact, insist (on or
upon), require, command, be entitled to: She has every right to
claim a share in the estate. 4 declare, assert, allege, state,
put or set forth, affirm, contend, maintain: These measurements
lack the degree of accuracy claimed for them. She claims that
she was the first person to ring the police.


clammy adj. 1 moist, sticky, gummy, pasty, viscous, slimy: In the
swamp the police found a clammy pistol that they believe to be
the weapon. 2 moist, damp, humid, close, muggy, wet, misty,
foggy: It was the kind of clammy summer's day when your shirt
sticks to your back.


clamp n. 1 clasp, vice, brace, clip, fastener: Use a clamp to hold
the pieces together till the glue dries.

--v. 2 fasten (together), clip (together), bracket, make fast,
clasp: You should clamp the planks together and plane the edges
of both.

clan n. 1 tribe, family, dynasty, line, house: There had been a

feud of long standing between the two clans, which culminated in
the massacre of Glencoe. 2 fraternity, brotherhood, party, set,
clique, coterie, circle, crowd, group, fellowship, society,
faction, family, tribe; band, ring, gang: He regards social
scientists as a clan quite separate from other scientists.

clap v. 1 applaud; cheer, acclaim: Everyone clapped when the boxer
climbed into the ring. 2 slap, strike, pat: He clapped me on
the shoulder in the friendliest way. 3 put, place, slap, fling,
toss, cast , Colloq stick: He had no sooner set foot in the
town when he was clapped in jail. 4 impose, lay, apply: The
magistrate clapped a severe fine on me for speeding.

--n. 5 crack, slap, report, crash, bang, snap: There was a
loud clap of thunder, making the house shake.

clapper n. tongue: We attached a rope to the clapper of the bell.

clarify v. 1 elucidate, make clear, simplify, make plain, clear up,
explain, shed or throw light on or upon, illuminate, explicate:
She offered to clarify any points about which we had questions.
2 clear, purify, clean: The trout should be lightly basted with
clarified butter.


clarity n. 1 clearness, transparency, limpidity, pellucidity: The
clarity of the sea in the tropics is owing to a lack of
plankton. 2 lucidity, definition, definiteness, distinctness;
comprehensibility, understandability, intelligibility,
unambiguousness: One cannot argue with the clarity of her
explanation of Hegelianism.

clash n. 1 crash, clang, clank, clangour: The concerto ends with a
clash of cymbals. 2 collision, smash, (hostile) encounter,
conflict, engagement, fight, battle, disagreement, difference,
argument, dispute, altercation, quarrel, squabble: He has
witnessed many a clash between the prime minister and
parliament.

--v. 3 conflict, fight, battle, disagree, differ, argue,
dispute, quarrel, squabble, feud, wrangle, cross swords: My
brother and I always clash on the question of who should pay our
father's hospital bills. 4 conflict, disharmonize, jar, be at
odds or out of keeping: The pink of the blouse and the fuchsia

of the skirt clash badly.

clasp n. 1 fastener, fastening, hook, catch, clip, pin, brooch: The
ends were fastened together with a diamond clasp. 2 embrace,
hug, hold, grasp, grip: He held her tight in his clasp.

--v. 3 fasten, secure, close, hold, hook, clip, pin, clamp:
The robe was clasped by an emerald pin. 4 hold, embrace, take
hold of, hug, enclose, envelop: The beggar clasped my hand, his
eyes seeking mine in piteous supplication. 5 grab, grasp,
seize, clutch, grip: They clasped hands in friendship.

class n. 1 rank, grade, level, order, stratum; caste, lineage, birth,
pedigree, stock, extraction, descent: He was born in the l940s
into a family of the middle class. 2 category, division,
classification, group, genre, league, realm, domain; kind, sort,
type: As a dancer, she in a class by herself. 3 excellence,
merit, refinement, elegance, prestige, importance, taste,
discernment, distinction, bearing, presence, savoir faire,
savoir vivre, breeding: He may be a good drinking companion,
but he has no class whatsoever. 4 year, form, US grade: We
were in the same class at school.

--v. 5 classify, group, arrange, assort, type, categorize,
rank, grade, rate, order: They are classed as self-employed for
these purposes.

classic adj. 1 standard, leading, outstanding, prototypical,
definitive, model, ideal, archetypal, paradigmatic: His
military career is a classic example of what family connections
can achieve. 2 legendary, immortal, enduring, deathless,
ageless, timeless, undying, venerable, time-honoured;
outstanding, first-rate, superior, excellent, noteworthy,
notable, exemplary: By the time she was ten, she had read most
of the classic works of English literature. He collects classic
cars.

--n. 3 paragon, epitome, outstanding example, exemplar, model,
paradigm, prototype: When it comes to comedians, Ronnie is a
classic. 4 masterpiece, master-work: The Rolls-Royce Silver
Ghost is regarded as a classic by collectors.

classical adj. 1 standard, model, exemplary, traditional, established,

influential, authoritative, serious, weighty: Classical authors
are those who are regarded as being of good credit and authority
in the schools. Montaigne is the earliest classical writer in
the French language. 2 Greek, Latin, Roman: Architectural
styles of the 18th century harked back to Classical designs.

claw n. 1 talon, nail: The cat had scratched her badly with its
claws.


--v. 2 scratch, tear, scrape, rake, slash: She clawed at his
face to break his grip on her throat. 3 grapple, grab, catch,
scrape, scrabble: He tried to climb up the embankment, clawing
at the steep wall.


clean adj. 1 pure, undefiled, unsullied, unmixed, unadulterated,
uncontaminated, unpolluted, uninfected, unspoiled or unspoilt,
sanitary, disinfected; antiseptic, decontaminated, purified,
sterile: The laboratory reports that our well water is
absolutely clean. You must use a clean bandage. 2 unsoiled,
untainted, unstained; unsullied; cleansed, cleanly, (freshly)
laundered or washed, scrubbed; spotless, immaculate: She puts
on clean underwear every day in case she's involved in an
accident. 3 clean-cut, neat, simple, definite, uncomplicated,
smooth, even, straight, trim, tidy: The edges of the fracture
are clean and will mend quickly. 4 innocent, blameless,
inoffensive, respectable; decent, chaste, pure, honourable,
good, undefiled, virtuous, moral: The suspect was completely
clean - he was out of town at the time of the robbery. 5
non-radioactive: They say they've produced a clean bomb, but I
don't believe it. 6 unarmed, weaponless: Frisk that suspect
and make sure he's clean.

--adv. 7 completely, entirely, thoroughly, fully, totally,
wholly, altogether, quite, utterly, absolutely: Geoff's clean
out of his mind if he believes that. With one blow he cut the
orange clean through. 8 come clean. confess, acknowledge, make a
clean breast, admit, make a revelation, reveal, Colloq own up,
spill the beans; US dialect fess up; Slang sing: In the end he
saw that he was trapped and decided to come clean.


--v. 9 cleanse, wash, lave, (take a) shower, sponge, mop,
scrub, scour, sweep, dust, vacuum, polish, launder, dry-clean,
Brit hoover; tidy, neaten, do up, straighten up or out,

unclutter; Brit bath; US and Canadian bathe: When we cleaned
the urn, we could read the inscription. I have told Richard a
thousand times to clean his room. 10 clean out. a exhaust,
deplete: The gambler cleaned her out of every penny she had in
the world. b empty, leave bare, clear out, evacuate: We must
clean out the larder before it can be painted. 11 clean up. a
clean, cleanse, wash, (take a) shower, Brit bath; US take a
bath, bathe, wash up: Clean up, please, dinner is almost ready.
It took us a week to clean up the stables. b purge, purify,
disinfect, depollute, decontaminate, clear, sanitize: The
council has led the way towards cleaning up the wetlands of
chemical waste.

cleanse v. 1 clean, absterge, deterge, wash, scour, scrub: You need a
scrubbing brush to cleanse the tub. 2 purify, depurate; purge,
wash away, expiate: Each prayer repeated has a certain value in
cleansing away sin.

clear adj. 1 unclouded, cloudless, sunny, fair, sunlit, fine: On a
clear day, you can see the lighthouse several miles away. 2
transparent, limpid, crystalline; translucent, uncloudy,
unclouded, pellucid: The water was clear enough to see the
bottom. 3 bright, lustrous, shining, shiny, sparkling, Formal
nitid: We painted the bathroom a lovely clear blue. 4 bright,
fresh, unblemished, unscarred: She has a lovely clear
complexion. 5 distinct, sharp, well-defined, definite; legible,
readable; acute, vivid: The notes were written in a large clear
hand. 6 understandable, intelligible, perspicuous, lucid,
comprehensible, apprehensible, discernible, plain, obvious,
unambiguous, unequivocal, explicit, definite, unmistakable,
indisputable, undisputed, unquestionable, incontrovertible: He
has made himself very clear on that point. 7 distinct,
unclouded, unconfused, explicit, plain, definite, clear-cut,
palpable: I have a clear recollection of her words. 8 evident,
plain, obvious, patent, manifest, apparent: It became clear
that someone was trying to compromise her. 9 perceptive, acute,
sensitive, perspicacious, discerning, keen: It was only his
clear vision of the situation that saved us all. 10 certain,
sure, convinced, confident, positive, determined, definite,
assured: I am not clear that the subject was a good one. 11
pure, unwavering, well-defined, distinct, clarion, bell-like:
We heard father's clear voice calling from below. 12 pure,
guileless, unsophisticated, innocent, blameless, faultless; not

guilty: I still cannot look her in the eye with a clear
conscience. 13 unencumbered, free, net: In our first year we
made a clear profit of 25 per cent. 14 unlimited, unqualified,
unquestioned, unquestionable, absolute, complete, entire; pure,
sheer, perfect: You must allow three clear days for the ascent.
15 disengaged, disentangled, unentangled, free, freed, rid,
quit, loose, unencumbered, released: When the line is clear of
any obstruction, hoist sail and let's be off. 16 open,
unencumbered, free, unblocked, unobstructed, unimpeded, direct:
There is a clear view of the park from here.

--adv. 17 brightly, effulgently, radiantly, luminously,
lambently: The stars were shining clear in the night sky. 18
distinctly, clearly, starkly, perceptibly, discernibly,
understandably, prominently: When you see the reef, sing out
loud and clear. 19 completely, utterly, entirely, cleanly,
clean, wholly, totally: The thief got clear away in the
confusion.


--v. 20 clarify, cleanse, clean, purify: The chemical soon
cleared the water of all sediment. 21 exonerate, absolve,
acquit; excuse, forgive: He has been cleared of all charges and
released. 22 Also, clear up. explain, elucidate, explicate,
clarify, make plain or clear, disambiguate: We should be able
to clear up the mystery by this evening. 23 Also, clear up.
become fair or cloudless or sunny: I hope the weather clears in
time for the game. 24 open (up), free; unblock, unclog, unstop;
disencumber, dislodge: We were able to clear a path through the
jungle. He cleared his throat and began to speak. 25 empty:
Clear the land of trees before farming it. 26 Also, clear away
or out. remove, eliminate, take; cut away or down: Clear those
branches from the paths. 27 disburden, unburden, purge, free,
rid: He has cleared his conscience of any responsibility in the
matter. 28 leap or jump over, vault: She cleared the fence
easily. 29 Also, clear up. settle, discharge, pay, square,
defray, satisfy: The company has cleared all its debts. 30
clear off or out. leave, depart, decamp, go or run off, get out,
withdraw, Slang beat it, scram, Taboo Brit sod off, Chiefly
Australian shoot through, US and Canadian take a (run-out)
powder: I told them to clear off and stop bothering me. 31
clear up. a eliminate, remove, settle; clarify: I hope we can
clear up any misunderstanding between us. b tidy (up), neaten
(up), put or set in order, clear: I'll clear up after dinner.


--n. 32 in the clear. innocent, not guilty; exonerated,
forgiven, absolved; unburdened, disburdened, unencumbered, free:
The other chap confessed, leaving me in the clear.


clearance n. 1 space, gap, hole, interval, separation, room, margin,
leeway, allowance: You must allow a clearance of 2 millimetres.
2 approval, endorsement, authorization, consent; licence, leave,
permission: He cannot get security clearance with his prison
record.

clearly adv. 1 distinctly; starkly, plainly: With spectacles, I can
see everything more clearly. 2 evidently, apparently,
manifestly, obviously, certainly, definitely, positively,
unequivocally, unquestionably, incontestably, without doubt,
undoubtedly, indubitably, demonstrably, absolutely, utterly:
His statement is clearly untrue. 3 audibly, distinctly,
understandably: I wish she would speak more clearly.


cleave v. split, divide, cut, cut or chop or hew in two or asunder,
bisect, halve, separate, slit, rive: With a mighty blow the log
was cleaved cleanly in two.

clergyman n. 1 ecclesiastic, churchman, cleric, reverend, divine, man of
the cloth, holy man, priest, minister, chaplain, father, rabbi,
pastor, parson, rector, vicar, dean, canon, presbyter,
prebendary or prebend, deacon, sexton, sacristan, guru,
ayatollah, imam: In his black frock coat he looked like a
clergyman. 2 monk, friar, brother, monastic, religious: A
clergyman was responsible for his religious education. 3
preacher, gospeller, evangelist, revivalist, missionary,
sermonizer: She was moved by the clergyman's sermon.

clerical adj. 1 ecclesiastical, churchly, pastoral, sacerdotal,
priestly, hieratic, rabbinical, ministerial, monastic,
apostolic, prelatic, papal, pontifical, episcopal, canonical:
He was wearing his clerical vestments. 2 white-collar, office,
professional, secretarial, stenographic, accounting,
bookkeeping: He runs the shop and his wife has the clerical
responsibilities.

clever adj. 1 skilled, talented, skilful, adroit, dexterous, gifted,
agile, quick-witted, intelligent, perceptive, discerning, sharp,

sharp-witted, adept, able, Colloq brainy: She was very clever
at mathematics. 2 shrewd, cunning, guileful, canny, artful,
crafty, sly, wily, foxy: It was a clever move to sound out the
chairman before the meeting. 3 intelligent, wise, sage,
sagacious; ingenious, original, resourceful, Daedalian,
inventive, creative, smart, imaginative: It was very clever of
her to memorize the record-book for the competition. 4 deft,
adroit, nimble-fingered, dexterous, handy, skilful: The old
woman is clever with her hands.


clich‚ n. stereotype, bromide, trite saying, old saw or maxim, truism,
platitude, commonplace, banality, Colloq chestnut: The report
was full of clich‚s and convinced no one.


client n. customer, patron, shopper; patient: She opened a law
practice and already has a number of clients.

clientele n. clients, patrons, customers; custom, business, trade,
patronage, following: What sort of clientele do you expect to
attract?

cliff n. precipice, bluff, escarpment, scarp, crag, rock-face,
cuesta, scar or Scots scaur: The commandos are trained to scale
a 100-foot cliff.


climate n. 1 weather, Literary clime: We are retiring to the Maldives
because we like a sunny climate. 2 atmosphere, ambience or
ambiance, air; feeling, mood, aura, milieu, feel: In the
present climate of opinion, we'd best delay introducing the
bill.

climax n. 1 culmination, height, acme, apex, summit, zenith, apogee,
peak, high point, maximum, supreme moment: The war reached its
climax at the battle of Arbela. 2 turning-point, crisis,
crossroads: The climax of the play occurs in the third act. 3
orgasm: She told her psychiatrist that she had never reached a
climax with her husband.

--v. 4 culminate, peak, crest, come to a head: The week's
events climaxed with the presentation of the gold medal.

climb v. 1 Also, climb up. mount, ascend, go up, scale, shin (up),
clamber up, US shinny (up): In one of the games we had to climb

a greased pole. Two Japanese teams have climbed Mount Everest. 2
creep, trail, twine; grow: The ivy has climbed all over the
garden wall. 3 rise, arise, ascend, go up, mount; advance:
Watch the smoke climb into the sky. 4 climb along. creep, edge,
clamber, crawl, inch: The cat burglar climbed along the ledge
till he reached the window. 5 climb down. a descend, go down:
We shall need a rope to climb down from here. b Usually, climb
down from. retreat (from), withdraw (from), back away (from),
give up, abandon, renounce: He has climbed down from his
earlier position regarding women in the priesthood.

--n. 6 grade, incline, route, pitch; ascent; descent: It was a
steep climb to Camp Four.


clinch v. 1 secure, settle, confirm, determine, conclude, dispose of,
complete, wind up, finalize Colloq sew up: He clinched the
argument by resigning.

--n. 2 close quarters, hug, clasp, embrace; cuddle: The boxers
went into a clinch to regain their breath.

clincher n. finishing touch, pay-off, punch-line, coup de grƒce, final
or crowning blow: The point about saving costs proved to be a
clincher, and we were given the go-ahead.


cling v. 1 stick, adhere, attach, fasten, fix: The detectives found
that one of the victim's hairs had clung to the suspect's lapel.
2 favour, be or remain devoted or attached to, embrace, hang on
to, retain, keep, cherish: He still clung to his old-fashioned
notions of honour. 3 cling together or to one another. embrace,
hug, cleave to one another, clasp one another, clutch one
another, hold (fast) to one another, grasp one another: The
children clung together in the darkness.


clipฐ v. 1 clasp, fasten, fix, attach, hold, clinch; staple: Please
clip these papers together.

--n. 2 clasp, fastener: That clip isn't strong enough to hold
all these papers.


clip v. 1 trim (off), lop (off), cut (off), crop, bob, snip: The
barber clipped my hair short. Roger has clipped two seconds off
the record. 2 shorten, reduce, abbreviate, diminish, cut

(short): The film was clipped by fifteen minutes for
television. In her rapid-fire way of speaking, she clipped each
word. 3 strike, hit, punch, smack, box, cuff, whack, Colloq
wallop, clout; Slang sock: He was clipped on the jaw and
knocked out. 4 cheat, swindle, bilk, overcharge, Slang rook:
They clipped him out of a week's wages. She was clipped for a
ten per cent 'service fee'.

--n. 5 segment, interval, section, part, portion, extract,
cutting, excerpt, cutting, bit, snippet, scrap, fragment: We
were shown a film clip of the cheese-making process. 6 blow,
cuff, punch, hit, strike, smack, whack, box, Colloq wallop,
clout; Slang sock: She gave him a clip at the side of the head
and he went down. 7 pace, rate, speed: I was riding along at a
good clip when my horse shied and I was thrown off.

clique n. set, coterie, crowd, circle, group: There was the usual
clique from the Sales Department standing round the bar.


cloak n. 1 mantle, cape, robe, wrap, poncho; coat, overcoat: She
pulled her cloak around her in the chill night air. 2 mantle,
concealment, cover, screen, shroud, veil: He stole away under
the cloak of darkness.


--v. 3 conceal, hide, mask, screen, veil, shroud, cover up;
disguise: All of the spies' activities were cloaked in secrecy.

clod n. 1 lump, mass, gob, wad, hunk, chunk; piece of sod or turf;
Colloq glob: A clod of earth was stuck between the spikes of my
golf shoes. 2 idiot, fool, dolt, blockhead, simpleton, dunce,
dope, oaf, Neanderthal, lout, ass, boor, clown, ninny,
ninny-hammer, bumpkin, clodhopper, Slang vegetable, US and
Canadian jerk: He felt a bit of a clod standing there with no
idea which way to go.


clog v. hamper, encumber, impede; obstruct, choke (up), block,
congest, jam: The road was clogged with returning
holiday-makers. A piece of orange peel had clogged the sink
drain.


close v. 1 shut, close up, seal; close off, lock, padlock, secure,
fasten: I closed my eyes. Please close the door behind you. 2
make inaccessible, shut, Chiefly US place off limits: The

Bodleian Library will be closed for a week. 3 conclude, end,
finish, complete, bring to a close or end, terminate, climax,
Colloq wind up: A brilliant flourish closes the first movement
of the symphony. 4 conclude, sign, seal, make, settle, clinch,
agree, arrange, work out, establish: Union and management
closed a deal, and the strike was called off. 5 Also, close
down. discontinue, terminate, stop, suspend, shut down, go out
of business, cease operations, close (up), Colloq wind up, shut
up shop, put up the shutters: Competition from the supermarket
forced the greengrocer to close down. 6 Also, close off. seal,
make inaccessible, shut (off), obstruct, obturate: This wing of
the museum has been closed off temporarily. 7 close one's eyes
to. ignore, overlook, disregard: You have always closed your
eyes to his faults. 8 close up. a close, shut (up), lock up,
close (down): It's time to close up for the night. b close,
come or draw or bring together, unite, join; connect: We closed
up ranks and stood at attention.

--adj. 9 near; adjacent, proximate, proximal: He claims to
have had a close encounter with an extraterrestrial. There
certainly is a close resemblance between Kathy and her daughter.
10 closed, shut (up), fixed, fast, secure, tight: The hostages
spent a month in close confinement. 11 dense, compact, tight,
cramped, compressed, tiny, minuscule, minute: I could hardly
read the close writing on the matchbox. 12 stuffy, musty,
stale, fusty, confining, oppressive, airless, unventilated,
confined, stifling, suffocating: They locked me in a room that
was so close I could hardly breathe. 13 nearly equal or even,
close-matched, neck and neck, tight: It was a close race, but
Flanagan won by a hair. 14 careful, assiduous, precise,
detailed, concentrated, strict, rigorous, minute, searching,
attentive, alert, intent, intense, thorough, painstaking: Close
analysis has revealed that the handwriting is that of a
left-handed adult. 15 attached, intimate, devoted, familiar,
inseparable, close-knit, solid, confidential; fast; Colloq
thick, thick as thieves, pally, US and Canadian palsy-walsy,
buddy-buddy: They are a very close family. She and her father
are very close. 16 private, privy, secret, guarded, closely
guarded, confidential: Although it should have been a close
secret, the press managed to get hold of it. 17 secretive,
reticent, taciturn, reserved, close-mouthed, tight-lipped,
silent: She is very close about the whereabouts of her husband.
18 stingy, mean, miserly, niggardly, tight-fisted, close-fisted,

parsimonious, penurious, penny-pinching, cheese-paring,
Scrooge-like, skinflinty, Colloq near, Brit mingy: He's so
close he charges his own mother rent. 19 secluded, concealed,
shut up or away, hidden: The fugitives decided to lie close
till nightfall.

--adv. 20 near, in the neighbourhood (of), not far (from),
adjacent (to); alongside; at hand, nearby, close by: The murder
took place close to my house. I'm frightened, so please stay
close by. 21 close to or on or onto. nearly, almost, about,
practically, approximately, nigh unto, approaching: For close
to two thousand years the site lay untouched.

--n. 22 end, termination, conclusion, finish, completion,
cessation; culmination: By the close of trading, share prices
had risen again.

cloth n. 1 fabric, material, textile, Chiefly Brit stuff: The
curtains are made of cloth, not plastic. 2 the cloth. the
clergy, the (religious) ministry, the priesthood: He is a man
of the cloth.

clothe v. 1 dress, attire, garb, apparel, outfit, fit out or up,
accoutre or US also accouter, Brit kit out or up, Colloq tog up
or out: He earns barely enough to clothe and feed his family.
2 endow, invest, caparison, endue: They tried to clothe their
transactions with the raiment of honesty.

clothes n.pl. clothing, apparel, attire, wear, dress, garments,
raiment, wardrobe, outfit, ensemble, vestment(s), Old-fashioned
duds, Colloq togs, gear, get-up Slang glad rags, Brit clobber;
Slang US (set of) threads: Put on some old clothes and make
yourself comfortable.


clown n. 1 jester, fool, zany, comic, comedian, funny man: Of all
the performers at the circus, I like the clowns best. 2
buffoon, boor, rustic, yahoo, oaf, lout, clod, dolt, bumpkin,
clodhopper, provincial, peasant, yokel, Colloq lummox; Slang
chiefly US jerk; Old-fashioned galoot or galloot; Slang chiefly
US and Canadian hick: That's the kind of language we expect to
hear only from the most ignorant clowns.

--v. 3 Often, clown around or about. fool (around), play the

fool, horse around or about, caper, cut a caper or capers,
engage in high jinks or hijinks, US cut up, cut didos: Stop
clowning around with that hose and help water the garden.


club n. 1 cudgel, bat, bludgeon, mace, billy, truncheon, baton,
staff, stick; cosh, Chiefly US and Canadian blackjack: The blow
from the club required six stitches. 2 association, society,
organization, fraternity, sorority, fellowship, brotherhood,
sisterhood, federation, union, guild, lodge, alliance, league,
order, consortium, company: Our sailing club holds an annual
race. 3 clubhouse: The society's club is near Pall Mall. 4
nightclub, cabaret, Colloq nightspot: After the theatre, we
stopped at Oscar's club for a nightcap.


--v. 5 beat, cudgel, bludgeon, bat, belabour or US belabor;
lambaste, baste, thrash, trounce: The guerrillas caught the
traitor and clubbed him to death. 6 Often, club together. band
or join or league (together), team (up), join forces, combine,
ally, associate, confederate, cooperate: We clubbed together to
purchase the antique clock.

clue n. 1 hint, suspicion, trace, intimation, suggestion, inkling,
indication, pointer, lead, tip, tip-off, evidence, information,
advice; key, answer, indicator: There is no clue pointing to
anyone in particular. Any clue to the solution of the mystery
disappeared in the fire.

--v. 2 clue someone in or Brit also up. hint, suggest, imply,
intimate, inform, advise, indicate: She clued us in as to who
might have sent the letter.

clump n. 1 lump, mass, clod, chunk, hunk, wad, gob, Colloq glob: As
the soup cooled, clumps of fat formed on its surface. 2 bunch,
cluster; thicket, copse; wood, Chiefly Brit spinney: The deer
disappeared into a clump of trees. That clump will provide good
cover for us.

--v. 3 lump, mass, heap, collect, gather, bunch, pile: She
wore her hair clumped on top her head.


clumsy adj. awkward, ungainly, unwieldy, ungraceful, gawky, maladroit,
unhandy, unskilful, inept, bungling, bumbling, cloddish,
ox-like, bovine, uncoordinated, lubberly, oafish; gauche, Colloq

butter-fingered, ham-fisted, ham-handed, cack-handed: He made a
clumsy attempt to put the key in the lock. She gave a clumsy
excuse for being in the bank after hours.


cluster n. 1 collection, bunch, clutch, tuft, bundle: Notice that
cluster of flowers near the top of the plant. 2 collection,
bunch, group, knot, body, band, company, gathering, crowd,
assembly, congregation, throng, flock, assemblage, swarm: A
cluster of well-wishers stood talking with the minister.


--v. 3 collect, bunch, group, band, gather, crowd, congregate,
throng, assemble, accumulate, mass, aggregate: A number of
people clustered round the new sculpture. Why do these flowers
cluster at this tree?


clutch v. 1 seize, snatch, grab, grasp, take or lay hold of; hold; US
snag: She clutched feebly to the rope before losing her grip
and plunging into the abyss below. He clutched the child to his
bosom.


--n. 2 clutches. a grasp at, hold; embrace: We watched as the
gazelle deftly eluded the cheetah's clutches. b influence,
control, power, domination, dominance, possession: He fell into
the clutches of the Triads.


clutter n. 1 mess, litter, jumble; mishmash, olla podrida, confusion,
hash, gallimaufry, hotchpotch or US also hodgepodge, muddle,
farrago, medley: I must insist that you clear up the clutter in
your room at once. That philosophy is a clutter of competing
ideas. 2 confusion, tangle, chaos, disarray: The town was a
clutter of narrow, crooked, dark, and dirty lanes.

--v. 3 Often, clutter up. mess up, litter, strew, make a
shambles of: Please don't clutter up my desk with newspaper
cuttings.

3.6 coach...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



coach n. 1 carriage, bus, omnibus, motor coach: The sightseeing
coach broke down near Exeter. 2 tutor, trainer, instructor,
teacher, mentor, Brit crammer: Her voice coach says she's not

yet ready for grand opera.

--v. 3 tutor, train, instruct, guide, direct, drill, prepare,
prompt, school, exercise, Brit cram: Her lawyers have coached
her in what to say in court.

coagulate v. congeal, gel, jell, clot, curdle, set: The white of the egg
had coagulated, but the yolk was still runny.


coarse adj. 1 rough, uneven, scratchy, prickly, bristly; crude,
rough-hewn, unfinished, unrefined: He has a three-day coarse
growth of beard. The surface on the furniture is still too
coarse. 2 rude, boorish, loutish, crude, ill-mannered,
unpolished, rough, uncouth, impolite, uncivil, unrefined:
Nigel's behaviour is coarse, and he spits when he talks. 3
rude, indecent, improper, indelicate, obscene, lewd, vulgar,
gross, smutty, dirty, filthy, foul, offensive, lascivious,
ribald, bawdy; foul-mouthed: Don't use that kind of coarse
language with me. 4 inferior, low-quality, second-rate, shoddy,
tawdry, trashy; kitschy: That shop stocks only the coarsest
merchandise.

coast n. 1 seaside, seashore, shore, sea-coast, strand, beach,
littoral, coastline, seaboard: Be careful of rocks if you sail
near the coast.

--v. 2 glide, skim, slide, sail: The children coasted down the
hill on the toboggan.


coat n. 1 overcoat, greatcoat; jacket, anorak, parka, Brit cagoule,
Colloq Brit cag: Put on your coat, it's cold out. 2 coating,
layer, covering, overlay; film: Two coats of paint ought to be
enough. There was a coat of dust on everything.


--v. 3 cover, paint, spread: We coated the floor with three
layers of varnish.

coax v. persuade, urge, wheedle, cajole, beguile, charm, inveigle,
jolly, manipulate: She coaxed me into spending a weekend with
her at Blackpool.

cocky adj. overconfident, arrogant, haughty, conceited,
self-important, egotistical, proud, vain, prideful, cocksure,

saucy, cheeky, brash: Since she won the beauty contest, Claire
has been entirely too cocky.

coddle v. pamper, baby, cosset, mollycoddle, indulge, humour, spoil,
Brit cocker: Give him a cold bath and don't coddle him so much.

code n. 1 law(s), regulation(s), rule(s), jurisprudence, jus
canonicum 'canon law', jus civile 'civil law', jus divinum
'divine law', jus gentium 'universal law', jus naturale 'natural
law', corpus juris, pandect, lex non scripta 'common law,
unwritten law', lex scripta 'statute law': In the present code
there is no statute that forbids keeping a pet gnu. 2 cipher or
cypher, cryptogram: Our agents send all their messages in code.
3 system, practice(s), convention(s), standard(s), criterion
(criteria), principle(s), rule(s), maxim(s), custom(s),
pattern(s), structure, tradition(s), organization, protocol,
orthodoxy: Our code of behaviour is completely foreign to the
islanders.


--v. 4 encode, encipher or encypher, encrypt: It took an hour
to code the information.

coffin n. casket, pall, (pine) box; sarcophagus: The coffin was
slowly lowered into the grave.


cog n. 1 tooth, gear-tooth, sprocket, ratchet: Stripping the gears
means breaking the cogs off them. 2 underling, pawn,
subordinate, nonentity, zero, cipher or cypher, nothing, nobody,
small fry: He's only a small cog in the organization - we're
after the big wheel himself.

cognizance
n. knowledge, awareness, knowledge, perception, notice,
consciousness, mindfulness: They ran the gambling den with the
full cognizance of the police.

coherent adj. 1 consistent, orderly, organized, well-organized, logical,
rational, reasonable, well-ordered: The MP set forth a coherent
argument against an excise tax. 2 understandable, sensible,
comprehensible, intelligible, articulate, lucid, clear: He was
so frightened and hysterical that he was unable to tell a
coherent story.

cohort n. 1 troop, squad, squadron, platoon, brigade, unit, cadre,
wing, legion, detachment, contingent: Ten select Roman cohorts
were sent against the Mitanni. 2 company, band, group, faction,
set, body, corps: She was a member of a small cohort of
suffragettes. 3 companion, confederate, accomplice, associate,
fellow, comrade, friend, confrŠre: Gerald then arrived with a
few of his cohorts.

coil v. 1 wind, twist, coil, snake, wrap, enwrap, spiral, Nautical
fake or flake (down): The rope is coiled round a capstan.

--n. 2 winding(s), circle(s), loop, whorl, spiral, helix,
twist: His foot caught in the coil of rope and he was carried
overboard.


coin n. 1 specie, money, currency; change, cash, silver: I have
only a few coins in my pocket. As he had no notes he had to pay
in coin.


--v. 2 mint, stamp: The US government has stopped coining
silver dollars. 3 invent, create, conceive, originate, start,
make up, fabricate, frame, concoct, think or dream up: James
Joyce coined the word 'quark'. 4 coin it in or US only coin
money. earn or make money, become wealthy, enrich oneself,
Colloq rake it in: Those rock stars really coin it in from
their record sales.

coincide v. fall or come or go together, line up, co-occur, correspond,
synchronize, match, tally, agree, (be in) accord, equal, jibe:
This year, Easter and Passover coincide. The southern boundary
coincides with the Thames.

coincidence
n. 1 co-occurrence, simultaneity, correspondence, concurrence,
consistency, contemporaneity, synchronism, synchrony,
coextension, coevality, coinstantaneity: The coincidence of
twelve by the clock with noon by the sundial is exact only four
times in the year. 2 congruence, matching, jibing, agreement,
concord, accord, harmony, accordance, conformity, congruity,
consonance, concomitance: Fortunately there was a coincidence
of views on the main issues. 3 chance occurrence, fluke,
chance, accident, luck, fortuity, fortuitousness, US and
Canadian happenstance: By sheer coincidence, I met my next-door

neighbour on the train from Glasgow.

coincidental
adj. chance, lucky or unlucky, fortuitous, accidental,
unexpected, unpredicted, unpredictable, unforeseen: It was
entirely coincidental that we were on the same train.

cold adj. 1 chill, chilly, frosty, icy, keen, nippy, freezing,
frigid, ice-cold, stone-cold, bitter, bitter-cold, raw, biting,
biting-cold, numbing, gelid; wintry, hibernal, brumal; arctic,
glacial, polar, hyperborean or hyperboreal, Siberian: It was so
cold that the canal had completely frozen over. 2 chilly,
chilled; unheated, heatless: The room is cold; we'd better put
the heating on. 3 indifferent, apathetic, chilly, chilling,
cool, icy, dispassionate, unsympathetic, aloof, unresponsive,
spiritless, frigid, unfriendly, uncordial, lukewarm, frigid;
cold-blooded, insensitive, uncaring, unemotional,
undemonstrative, reserved, unmoved, spiritless, callous, remote,
distant, standoffish, unapproachable, stony-hearted,
emotionless, unfeeling, cold-hearted: My ideas received rather
a cold reception. Because she had offended him, he was quite
cold to her. 4 depressing, cheerless, chilling, gloomy,
dispiriting, deadening, disheartening, bleak, dismal,
discouraging: The sweat stood out on his brow in cold
apprehension. 5 unmoving, stale, trite, stereotyped; dead: The
coldest word was once a glowing new metaphor. 6 weak, faint,
stale, old, dead: The trail of the tiger had grown cold. 7
unprepared, unready: She hadn't studied and went into the exam
cold. 8 Often, getting cold. far, distant, remote, off the
track: As I searched for the weapon, I felt I was getting cold
the further I went from the kitchen.

--n. 9 coldness, frigidity, iciness: Last winter, the cold
killed off many of our shrubs. 10 head or chest or common cold,
influenza, ague, (la or the) grippe, Technical coryza, gravedo,
Colloq sniffles, the flu, bug, sneezles and wheezles: I caught
a cold waiting for you in the rain.

--adv. 11 completely, thoroughly, entirely, absolutely,
unhesitatingly, promptly, immediately, unreservedly, abruptly:
His application to join the police was turned down cold.

cold-blooded

adj. 1 Technical poikilothermic or poikilothermal: Reptiles
are cold-blooded. 2 unexcited, unemotional, cool,
unimpassioned, unfeeling, callous, thick-skinned, insensitive,
heartless, uncaring, stony, steely, stony-hearted, cold-hearted,
imperturbable, unmoved, indifferent, unresponsive,
unsympathetic, apathetic, dispassionate: The murder appeared to
be the act of a cold-blooded killer. 3 cruel, brutal, savage,
inhuman, barbarous, vicious, barbaric, merciless, pitiless,
ruthless: They were victims of a cold-blooded policy of
repatriation.

cold-hearted
adj. insensitive, unsympathetic, apathetic, indifferent,
unfeeling, uncaring, callous, thick-skinned, cold, cool, frigid,
hard-hearted, heartless, unkind, thoughtless, unthoughtful,
uncharitable, ruthless, pitiless, unmerciful, cruel, merciless,
mean: Putting that kitten out on a snowy night is the most
cold-hearted thing you ever did.


collaborate
v. cooperate, join (forces), work together, team up: We
collaborated in writing both the lyrics and music.

collapse v. 1 fall (down or in or apart), crumple, cave in, deflate,
crumble, tumble down, break down, go: When he opened the valve,
the balloon collapsed. Hundreds of buildings collapsed in the
earthquake. 2 fail, (come to an) end, fall through, peter out,
disintegrate, dissolve, fall flat, founder, come to naught or
nought, break up or down; decline, diminish; disappear,
evaporate, go up in smoke, go bankrupt, go under, Brit go to the
wall, Colloq fizzle out: After the imprisonment of their
leader, the entire movement collapsed. Owing to the recession,
many businesses collapsed. 3 pass out, faint, drop, Colloq keel
over; Old-fashioned or literary swoon: He collapsed on-stage
and they took him to his dressing-room. 4 break down
(mentally), have a (nervous) breakdown, go to pieces, come or
fall apart , Colloq crack up, US also crack: She finally
collapsed from overwork and is now in a sanatorium.


--n. 5 cave-in, breakdown: The collapse of the house was
attributed to termites. 6 failure, downfall, ruin;
disappearance, disintegration, dissolution, bankruptcy: Will he
be able to survive the collapse of his financial empire? 7

(mental) breakdown, prostration, Colloq crack-up: He suffered a
mental collapse when his family was killed in a car crash.

colleague n. team-mate, fellow-worker, co-worker; associate, comrade,
ally, confrŠre, mate, consociate, Chiefly Brit and Australian
mate, US buddy: I have asked some of my colleagues from the
office to join us for dinner.

collect v. 1 gather (together), get or bring or come or together,
amass, accumulate, assemble, compile, pile up, heap up, rack up;
convene, congregate, converge, rally, meet: A crowd had
collected outside the mayor's home. They were collecting
evidence for their case. 2 summon (up), draw (up), muster,
gather (up), concentrate: She collected all her courage to ask
for an increase in salary.

collected adj. calm, serene, controlled, cool, sedate, composed,
nonchalant, poised, unruffled, unperturbed, at ease,
comfortable, tranquil, unexcited; imperturbable; confident:
Considering what she's just gone through, Tanya seems quite
collected.

collection
n. 1 collecting, gathering, solicitation, garnering, gleaning,
accumulation, amassment, aggregation, Colloq Brit whip-round:
The collection of donations in this neighbourhood is going well.
2 accumulation, hoard, store, assemblage, omnium gatherum;
anthology, chrestomathy: Would you like to come up to see my
collection of etchings? They have published some very
interesting collections.

collector n. gatherer, accumulator; connoisseur, art-lover: The rent
collector is coming tomorrow. We are collectors of paintings by
unknown artists.


collide v. 1 crash, strike or dash together: The cars collided at the
bridge. 2 collide with. crash into, smash into, run into, bump
into, smack into: The car collided with the bus at the
crossing.


collision n. smash-up, smash, crash, wreck, pile-up, Colloq Brit prang;
US crack-up: There has been a major collision on the Tring
road.


colossal adj. 1 huge, vast, enormous, gigantic, giant, mammoth, massive,
gargantuan, Cyclopean, Brobdingnagian, immense, monumental,
titanic, Herculean, elephantine, jumbo: Mystery surrounds the
exact methods used in moving the colossal stones used in the
pyramids. 2 spectacular, stupendous, wonderful, awe-inspiring,
staggering, extraordinary, incredible, overwhelming,
unbelievable: The old Hollywood extravaganzas were described by
press agents as 'colossal'. I think you have made a colossal
mistake in failing to hire Cynthia.

colour n. 1 hue, tint, tincture, shade, tone, cast, tinge,
pigmentation; pigment, dye: The colours of the curtains don't
match the wall. 2 colours. a flag, ensign, standard, pennant,
banner, burgee: The sloop hoisted the British colours. b
device, badge, emblem, insigne or pl insignia, symbol(s),
identification; identity, appearance, face; loyalties: The
investigators found he'd been operating under false colours.
She has shown her true colours at last.


--v. 3 tint, dye, stain, paint, crayon, tincture, tinge;
pigment: These sections will stand out better if you colour
them red. 4 influence, affect, distort, falsify, taint, warp,
twist, slant, pervert, bias: Jealousy colours his opinion of
his supervisor. 5 blush, redden, flush: After their affair,
she visibly coloured whenever they met. 6 falsify, distort,
misrepresent, disguise, mask, conceal: He feigns confusion when
he wishes to colour his true feelings.


colourless
adj. 1 pale, pallid, blanched, white; wan, ashen, sallow,
waxen, sickly, washed out: You could see from his colourless
complexion that he had not been outside for months. 2 dull,
drab, uninteresting, vacuous, vapid, lifeless, boring, tedious,
spiritless, dry, dry-as-dust, dreary, characterless, insipid,
bland, namby-pamby, lacklustre, uninspiring, uninspired: She
has led a colourless life. Few people have so colourless a
personality as he.


combat n. 1 fight, encounter, engagement, duel, battle, conflict, war,
warfare; skirmish: The two men were locked in single combat. 2
struggle, contest, strife, controversy, dispute, quarrel,
disagreement, altercation, vendetta, feud: There was endless

combat between father and son. 3 opposition, difference,
confrontation: The combat between good and evil can never end.
4 action, fighting, battle, war: He was in combat on three
occasions. Have you seen any combat?


--v. 5 fight, (do) battle, war, clash, contend, duel, joust,
wrestle, come to blows, spar, grapple (with): The soldiers are
combating hand to hand in the trenches. 6 fight, struggle or
strive against, contest, oppose, defy, enter the lists against,
withstand: There was broad support for measures to combat crime
and pollution.

combination
n. 1 union, conjunction, mixture, mix, grouping, set, array:
They always serve the same combination of foods. 2 association,
alliance, coalition, union, federation, confederation, combine,
syndication, syndicate, consortium, trust, bloc, cartel, party,
society, organization, league, cabal, conspiracy, clique;
claque: When they get together they form an unbeatable
combination. 3 mixture, amalgam, compound, compounding, mix,
alloy, conglomerate, conglomeration, aggregate, aggregation,
amalgamation, blend, emulsion, suspension, colloid, solution,
composition, Technical parasynthesis, parathesis; mosaic,
patchwork: From a combination of ingredients the witch made a
slimy love potion. A combination of every colour of the rainbow
covered the walls.

combine v. 1 unite, unify, join, connect, relate, link, conjoin, band,
ally, associate, integrate, merge, pool: Combine forces, and
we'll win. 2 blend, mix, amalgamate, mingle, consolidate,
compound, incorporate, put together: Combine the water, butter,
and salt in a saucepan. 3 blend, fuse, synthesize, bind, bond,
compound, unite, coalesce, come together, commingle, mingle:
When heated, the silver combines with the chlorine.


come v. 1 approach, advance, (draw) near, move, Archaic or literary
draw nigh: The car came towards us. She has come to me for
comforting words. Winter is coming. 2 arrive, appear, make or
put in an appearance, Colloq blow in, report (in), turn or show
up, check in, sign in, clock on or in, roll in: Winter has
come. When Cora comes, we'll ask her. 3 enter: Come into the
light, where I can see you. 4 come about. a occur, happen,
take place, come up; befall, Loosely transpire: I cannot

imagine how this state of affairs came about. b Nautical tack,
go about: After the marker, come about and hoist the spinnaker.
5 come across. a find, discover, encounter, meet (up or up
with), run across or into, happen or chance upon or on, hit or
light on or upon, stumble upon or on, Colloq bump into: I came
across some information about Charles. b pay (up), settle;
yield, give up, submit: Frank owes me money but refuses to come
across. c be communicated or understandable, penetrate, sink
in: I am not sure that my points came across. 6 come along.
fare, do, progress, move along: How is William coming along at
his new school? 7 come apart. disintegrate, crumble, fall or
fly to pieces, separate, break (apart or up or down): The
carburettor came apart in my hands. 8 come at. attack, assault,
charge, rush (at), fly at, descend upon or on, Colloq go or make
for: She came at me waving her umbrella. 9 come by. a
acquire, obtain, get, procure, secure, find, take or get
possession of, get or lay hold of, get or lay or put (one's)
hands or US also fingers on; be given: The tax inspector
wondered how she came by such valuable property. b win, earn,
attain; be awarded: I came by that trophy fair and square. 10
come clean. See clean, 8, above. 11 come down on or upon.
pounce on or upon, rebuke, criticize, revile, reprimand, bear
down on, blame: Mother really came down on us when she
discovered who had taken the pie. 12 come down with. succumb to,
contract, catch, be stricken or afflicted with, acquire: He's
come down with pneumonia. 13 come in. a win, succeed; Colloq
finish (in the money): My horse came in. b be, prove, turn out
or prove to be: Knowing someone on the council can come in
handy. c finish, end up, arrive: Donald came in first in the
backstroke. d enter: Don't come in, I'm dressing. 14 come
off. a occur, happen, come to pass, take place , Loosely
transpire: I doubt that the performance will ever come off. b
emerge, result as: We came off the winners in Saturday's game.
15 come out. a be revealed, become public or known or common
knowledge, get about or around, get or leak out, emerge: The
story has come out that he tried to bribe the inspector. b be
published or issued or produced or distributed, be shown, be in
print, premiŠre: The new edition of the dictionary has just
come out. c end, conclude, turn out, terminate, finish: How
did the chess match come out? 16 come over. a go over,
communicate, come across, be communicated, succeed, be received:
How did my speech come over? b affect, influence, possess: I
can't imagine what's come over Louis. c visit, drop or stop by

or in: Quentin and his wife came over for dinner last night.
17 come through. a recover (from), recuperate (from), get well
or better: He came through his operation with flying colours.
b conclude or end (up) or finish or wind up successfully or
satisfactorily, succeed, arrive, not fail or disappoint: I knew
he'd come through. 18 come to. a amount to, add up to, total,
aggregate: My bill came to more than I had with me. b regain
or recover consciousness, awake(n), revive, wake up, come
(a)round: When I came to, I was on the floor with a terrific
headache. c regard, concern, relate to, be a question of,
involve, be relevant to, be involved: When it comes to real
ale, Mario is the expert. 19 come up. a arise, surface,
present itself, be brought up, be broached, come about, turn up,
rise, Colloq crop up: The question of religion never came up.
b grow, thrive, appear: None of my tulips came up this year. c
rise, arise: The moon came up just as the sun was setting.

comedian n. humorist, comic, wit, wag, jokesmith; clown, buffoon, funny
man, funster, jester, fool, zany, merry andrew: The new
comedian at the variety show is very funny.

comely adj. good-looking, pretty, bonny, lovely, fair, beautiful,
handsome, attractive, appealing, wholesome, winsome, buxom: She
is a comely woman who has had no shortage of suitors.


come-on n. lure, attraction, enticement, inducement, temptation, bait;
loss-leader: The free glassware is a come-on to buy a tankful
of petrol.


comfort v. 1 console, solace, soothe, assuage, reassure, relieve,
hearten, cheer, gladden: It might comfort you to know that
Roderick has recovered completely. He comforted her when the
pain became unbearable.


--n. 2 consolation, solace, relief, cheer: I derived some
comfort from knowing that my attacker had been caught. 3 ease,
luxury, security, abundance, plenty, opulence: Cordelia lived
out her days in comfort after inheriting a fortune from her
aunt.


comfortable
adj. 1 at ease, easy, tranquil, serene, relaxed, contented,
untroubled, undisturbed: After the operation, the nurses did

everything they could to make me comfortable. 2 well off,
carefree, insouciant, contented, satisfied; self-satisfied,
complacent, smug: They don't have a lot of money, but they're
comfortable enough. 3 likeable, easy, congenial, amiable,
cordial, warm, pleasant, agreeable, enjoyable, relaxing: Daphne
is a very comfortable sort of person to be with. 4 suitable,
acceptable, adequate, satisfactory, reasonable: The radio was
on very loud, so I turned down the volume to a more comfortable
level.


comic adj. 1 funny, droll, comical, humorous, hilarious,
side-splitting, mirthful, jocose, jocular, witty, waggish,
clever, facetious, amusing: Barry's comic routines have made
him a popular performer for years.


--n. 2 See comedian.

command v. 1 order, direct, bid, enjoin, charge, request, require,
demand, instruct; say, prescribe, decree: What the Queen
commands must be done. 2 control, dominate, have or maintain or
wield authority or control or sway or influence over, hold sway
over; lead, rule, govern, have under one's thumb, call the tune;
head (up): Whoever commands the sea commands the town. He
commanded a battalion during the war. 3 master, draw upon or on,
control, summon: The work required all the skill the sculptor
could command. 4 attract, earn; exact, compel, demand: Gunga
Din's bravery commanded the respect of the entire regiment. 5
dominate, control, overlook, look down on; have, enjoy, possess:
The tower commands a view of the entire valley.


--n. 6 order, direction, behest, mandate, charge, bidding,
instruction: Your wish is my command. 7 control, authority,
power, sovereignty, dominion, regulation, direction, management,
government, oversight, leadership, charge, sway, stewardship,
jurisdiction: The unit is under the command of the colonel. 8
mastery, control, (thorough) grasp or knowledge: He has a good
command of three languages.

commemorate
v. memorialize, remember, celebrate, observe, dedicate,
consecrate, solemnize, sanctify, hallow, reverence, revere,
honour, venerate, pay tribute or homage to, salute; immortalize:
We are here to commemorate deeds of valour and the men who

performed them.

commence v. 1 begin, enter upon, start, initiate, launch, embark on or
upon: Tomorrow morning, we commence the ascent of Mont Blanc.
2 begin, start, open: The ceremonies are about to commence. 3
begin, start, initiate, launch, inaugurate, establish: We
commenced operations at this plant last year.

comment n. 1 remark, reference, animadversion, note, annotation,
criticism, exposition, explanation, expansion, elucidation,
clarification, footnote: The author's comments on his sources
appear in the appendix. 2 commentary, opinion, remark, view,
observation, reaction: The judge's comments are not for
publication.


--v. 3 remark, observe, opine, say: He commented that he knew
nothing about the minister's private life. 4 comment on or
about. discuss, talk about, remark on; reveal, expose: She
declined to comment on what had happened the previous night.


commerce n. trade, business, mercantilism, marketing, merchandising,
traffic, trafficking: All commerce consists in the exchange of
commodities of equal value. My husband is in commerce.


commit v. 1 entrust, consign, transfer, assign, delegate, hand over,
deliver, give; allot, pledge, allocate: They committed the
goods to traders with strong distribution facilities. 2
sentence, send (away), confine, shut up, intern, put away,
imprison, incarcerate: The judge committed her to prison. You
can be committed for such behaviour. 3 perpetrate, do, perform,
carry out: They committed murder for money. 4 commit oneself.
pledge, promise, covenant, agree, assure, swear, give one's
word, vow, vouchsafe, engage, undertake, guarantee, bind
oneself: He committed himself to buying the company after
seeing the books.

committee n. council, board, cabinet, panel, body, commission: They have
set up a committee to oversee park planning.


common adj. 1 ordinary, everyday, commonplace, prosaic, usual,
familiar, customary, prevalent, frequent, run-of-the-mill,
general, normal, standard, conventional, regular, routine,
stock, average, proverbial; plain, simple, garden-variety,

common or garden, workaday, undistinguished, unexceptional:
Intermarriage is a common occurrence among the members of the
sect. We planted a common variety of carrot. 2 mutual,
reciprocal, joint, shared: Our common heritage must be
protected. 3 low-class, ordinary, plain, simple, plebeian,
bourgeois, proletarian, run-of-the-mill, vulgar, unrefined:
Kings avoid dealing with the common people. 4 inferior,
low-grade, mean, cheap, base: He was smoking a cigar of the
commonest type. 5 public, general, community, communal,
collective, non-private, universal; well-known: The contents of
the library are the common property of everyone. Their romance
is common knowledge in the village. 6 trite, stale, hackneyed,
worn out, banal, tired, overused, stereotyped, clich‚d,
stereotypical: The term 'yuppie' has become too common to have
much impact any longer.

communicate
v. 1 make known, impart, confer, transmit, transfer, hand on or
down, share, pass on or along, send on, spread; tell, divulge,
disclose, reveal, announce, transmit, promulgate, proffer,
tender, offer, convey, deliver, present, give, yield, supply:
Moral qualities are sometimes thought to be communicated by
descent. I communicated to them the information that I had
about the missiles. 2 Also, communicate with. be in
communication (with), converse (with), talk (with), chat (with);
correspond (with); associate (with), be in contact or touch
(with), reach: Donald and I haven't communicated in years.
Instead of communicating with him by telephone, she did so via
personal notices in the newspaper. 3 get or put across, make
understandable; get through to, reach, be of one mind, be in
tune, relate, be in or en rapport, make oneself understood ,
Slang be or vibrate on the same frequency or wavelength: He has
difficulty in communicating his ideas to his students. We might
talk, but are we communicating?


compact adj. 1 packed, compacted, closely-knit, condensed,
concentrated, consolidated, compressed; dense, solid, firm,
thick: The sesame seeds are mixed with honey and pressed into a
compact block. 2 tight, small, snug, little: The table folds up
into a compact unit for storage. 3 condensed, terse, laconic,
close, pithy, succinct, concise, brief, compendious, laconic,
epigrammatic, aphoristic: The information is given in a compact
form with many abbreviations and symbols.


companion n. 1 fellow, associate, comrade, colleague, confrŠre, Colloq
chiefly Brit and Australian mate, US and Canadian buddy: For
ten years they had been constant companions. 2 vade-mecum,
manual, handbook, guide, reference book, enchiridion: They
publish a pocket companion listing the month's events. 3
escort, chaperon(e), attendant, (in Spain, Portugal) duenna:
Aunt Dinah is too old to be alone, so we have engaged a
companion for her.


companionship
n. fellowship, camaraderie, comradeship, company, society,
amity, friendship, fraternity: I often enjoy the companionship
of an older person.


company n. 1 companionship, society, fellowship; attendance, presence;
associates, friends, companions, comrades: It was a stormy
night, and I was only too glad to have his company. A man is
known by the company he keeps. 2 assemblage, party, band, group,
retinue, entourage, suite, train, coterie, ensemble, troop,
followers, following, flock; circle, assembly, gathering,
convention, body, crowd, throng, Theatre troupe, cast, players,
actors, performers: The king arrived with his company at the
gate of the city. The speaker addressed the assembled company.
The company leaves today for a month on the road. 3 guest(s);
visitor(s), caller(s): Are you having company for dinner
tonight? 4 firm, business, house, concern, institution,
establishment, enterprise; proprietorship, partnership,
corporation, Brit public limited company, plc, Australian and
New Zealand and South African private limited company, Pty: The
company was founded in 1867.

compare v. 1 liken, associate, make (an) analogy (with), refer,
analogize: How can you compare your collection to mine? 2
compare with. resemble, be or look like, be on a par with, be in
a class or the same class with, correspond, match, parallel,
approach, approximate, bear or merit comparison (with); rival,
compete with or against, be a match for: Your paintings compare
well with Picasso's. The new recordings don't begin to compare
with the old ones. 3 contrast, measure against, weigh,
juxtapose, set side by side, relate, correlate: We need to
compare the results of the two surveys.

comparison
n. 1 contrasting, contrast, juxtaposing, juxtaposition,
balancing, balance, weighing: His comparison of the candidates
is prejudiced. 2 match, similarity, resemblance, likeness,
comparability, relation, relationship, commensurability,
kinship, point of agreement or correspondence: There is no
comparison between a racing car and a family car.

compartment
n. division, section, partition, part, space, chamber, bay,
alcove, cell, pigeon-hole, locker, cubby-hole, niche, cubicle,
slot: Each specimen is in its own separate compartment.

compensate
v. 1 recompense, make up (for), make restitution or reparation,
offset, make good, indemnify, repay, reimburse, redress,
requite; expiate, atone, make amends (for): The company
compensated us for the loss of the car. Arriving at school early
today, Gerard, does not compensate for having been late
yesterday. 2 balance, counterpoise, counterbalance, equalize,
neutralize, even (up), square, offset: Deduct six ounces to
compensate for the weight of the container. 3 pay, remunerate,
reward, repay, recompense: Two pounds does not compensate me
adequately for an hour's work.


compensatory
adj. compensative, remunerative, restitutive or restitutory,
expiatory, reparative or reparatory, piacular: His huge
donation to the church was a compensatory offering for his past
sins.

compete v. contend, vie, struggle, strive, conflict, joust, fence;
fight, battle, clash, collide: They are competing to see who
will become chairman of the company. These two designs compete
with one another for the viewer's attention.

competent adj. 1 adequate, suitable, sufficient, satisfactory,
acceptable, all right, Colloq OK or okay: Colquhon will make a
competent bureau chief. 2 qualified, fit, capable, proficient,
able, prepared: Do you really think that fellow Johnson
competent to write a dictionary?

competition

n. 1 rivalry, contention, striving, struggle: The competition
for newspaper circulation becomes keener every day. 2 contest,
match, meet, game, tournament, event; championship: We entered
the competition as underdogs. 3 See competitor.


competitor
n. rival, opponent, competition, opposition, adversary;
antagonist, contestant, contender: Our main competitor has just
announced a new product.


compile v. collect, put together, gather, accumulate, assemble, amass,
collate, organize, order, systematize; anthologize, compose: He
has compiled a large butterfly collection. Every year she
compiles a volume of the best stories.


complain v. grumble, moan, groan, wail, grouse, carp (at), whimper, cry,
lament, bemoan, Colloq gripe, squawk, grouch, Brit whinge, Slang
bitch, beef, US kick: What are you complaining about now?


complaint n. grumble, grievance, grouse, Colloq gripe, squawk , Slang
beef, US kick: I have no complaints about my treatment while I
was in hospital.

complement
v. 1 completion, perfection, confirmation, finishing touch,
consummation: The grand tour was considered the necessary
complement of an English education in the 18th century. 2 crew,
team, company, band, outfit; quota, allowance, quorum: The
regiment's full complement was attained by selecting from among
the recruits.

--v. 3 complete, perfect, round out or off, set off, top off;
flesh out: The setting was complemented by a huge floral
arrangement. His argument was complemented by evidence from rare
documents. 4 supplement, enhance, add to: These are facts that
complement but do not contradict her story.

complete adj. 1 entire, whole, intact, uncut, unbroken, undivided,
unabridged, full, undiminished, unabated, unreduced: The
complete works of Dickens are available in paperback. They
performed the complete opera, a six-hour marathon. 2 finished,
ended, concluded, over, done, accomplished, terminated; settled,
executed, performed: The company's figures are not yet

complete. When will your building plan be complete? 3 entire,
total, thorough, absolute, utter, unqualified, unmixed,
unalloyed, pure, unmitigated, rank: I attribute the disaster to
a complete breakdown of communication, together with the
complete incompetence of the site manager. 4 perfect,
consummate, exemplary, ideal, model, superior, superlative,
superb, faultless, flawless: Her dissertation is a work of
complete scholarship.


--v. 5 conclude, finish, end, bring to an end, accomplish,
achieve, do, Colloq wrap up; finalize: He stopped after
completing ten ciruits of the track. Have you completed the
prospectus? 6 round out, round off, perfect; crown, culminate:
The unit was completed by the addition of five platoons. A
golden cupola completed the top of the dome.

completely
adv. 1 entirely, fully, quite, wholly, totally, altogether, in
toto, thoroughly, perfectly, exactly, precisely, down to the
ground, from start to finish, from beginning to end, from A to
Z, from the word go, in full; lock, stock, and barrel; hook,
line, and sinker; heart and soul; root and branch; en masse:
The currency does not completely represent the wealth of the
country. 2 unqualifiedly, unconditionally, thoroughly, utterly,
totally, absolutely, quite, altogether, unreservedly: He's
completely mad if he thinks that thing will fly. 3 clearly,
expressly, explicitly, unambiguously, entirely, fully, totally,
wholly, altogether, unequivocally, truly, categorically, flatly:
I am completely in agreement with your policy.


completion
n. 1 conclusion, end, close, termination, fulfilment,
culmination, realization, accomplishment, finish: The
completion of the building phase is scheduled for next July. 2
finishing, finalization, wind-up, finishing-off, completing:
The completion of the house is scheduled for next October.

complexity
n. 1 complication, convolution: We are finding it difficult to
understand the complexities of the agreement. 2 intricacy,
involvement, complicatedness; inscrutability: The complexity of
her theory makes it difficult to interpret.

complicate
v. 1 mix up, entangle, snarl, tangle, confound, muddle,
confuse: You only complicate matters by bringing up the
question of religion in a discussion of money. 2 make
complicated or complex, make involved or intricate, make a
shambles or mess or muddle of, mess up, Colloq screw up: The
phenomena of tides and currents greatly complicate coastwise
navigation.


complicated
adj. involved, intricate, complex, compound, elaborate; ornate,
Byzantine, Daedalian, tangled, knotty, confused, labyrinthine:
In birds the eye is a more complicated organ than in our own
species. His plan is too complicated to understand.


complication
n. 1 complexity, involvement, intricacy, convolution: The
complications of the diagram make it almost impossible to
understand. 2 difficulty, problem, predicament, dilemma,
obstacle, obstruction, snag, drawback: Asking for more money
might create complications.

compliment
n. 1 praise, homage, commendation, honour, tribute, flattery,
bouquet, favour: The greatest compliment given to my work has
been its success. 2 Usually, compliments. respects, regards,
good or best wishes, felicitations, salutations, greetings: I
stopped by to pay my compliments to your mother.


--v. 3 honour, praise, pay homage or tribute to, commend, laud,
congratulate, felicitate; flatter: She came backstage to
compliment me on my performance.

complimentary
adj. 1 laudatory, commendatory, encomiastic, panegyrical,
eulogistic, congratulatory, flattering: The duke was most
complimentary about my sculpture. 2 free, gratis, on the house:
The shoehorn is complimentary when you buy a pair of shoes.


comply v. agree, obey, conform, consent, acquiesce, concur, submit,
yield, accede; accord: They require your signature and I hope
you'll comply.

compose v. 1 constitute, form, make (up), be a constituent or
ingredient or component or element of, be a part of: Clouds are
composed of countless particles of water. 2 write, create,
imagine, think up, originate, frame, formulate, make (up),
author, devise; contrive; set to music, arrange: He composed
the poem while travelling on the Flying Scotsman. That symphony
was composed in 1873. 3 be composed of. consist of or in,
comprise, be formed or made (up) of, be constituted of: The new
government is composed of a coalition of three parties. 4
compose oneself. calm (down), quiet or quieten (down), pacify,
control oneself, get control of or over oneself: They stopped
crying and composed themselves.

composition
n. 1 theme, essay, article, paper, story: The teacher required
each of us to write a thousand-word composition every week. 2
combination, make-up, structure, form, assembly, set-up,
organization, layout, arrangement, configuration, shaping;
balance, harmony, proportion, placement, placing, construction:
Notice the composition of the various elements in this painting.
3 combination, aggregate, mixture, compound, compounding, mix,
formulation, formula, composite, amalgam, alloy, m‚lange,
medley: The medication was a composition of several odd
ingredients. 4 creation, origination, formulation, fashioning:
The composition of the opera was begun in 1837. 5 make-up,
constitution: What goes into the composition of brass?

compound v. 1 put together, combine, mix, concoct, compose, make (up),
formulate, blend: They compound curry powder from different
spices. 2 blend, merge, coalesce, combine, unite, fuse or US
also fuze, come or go together: Sometimes two words compound to
form one, as in 'ingrown', 'outgrow', and 'uptake'. 3 aggravate,
intensify, exacerbate, heighten, augment, add to, worsen,
increase; enhance, multiply: Demanding your money back now will
only compound the problem.

--adj. 4 intricate, complex, involved, complicated; composite,
multiple, multiform, multifaceted, Technical parasynthetic,
parathetic: The compound eye of the fly / Lets it see far
better than I. A compound sentence is composed of two or more
clauses joined by one or more coordinating conjunctions, express
or understood.

--n. 5 composite, blend, synthesis, combination, consolidation,
Technical parasynthesis, parathesis; mixture, amalgam, alloy,
merging, merger, mix: Table salt is a compound of the metallic
element sodium and the gaseous element chlorine. 'Slithy' is a
compound of 'slimy' and 'writhe'.

comprehend
v. understand, see, grasp, conceive, take in, apprehend,
realize, fathom, perceive, discern, absorb, assimilate,
appreciate: Do you comprehend how serious the matter has
become?

comprehensive
adj. inclusive, encompassing, thorough, extensive, full,
exhaustive, complete, sweeping, wide, broad, encyclopedic or
encyclopaedic: We hope to give comprehensive coverage to all
aspects of the subject in our new book.

compulsive
adj. compelling, obsessive, coercive, urgent, forceful,
overwhelming, constrained: She is such a compulsive workaholic
that she double-checks everything done by her staff.

compunction
n. 1 remorse, contrition, regret, uneasiness of mind, pang or
pricking of conscience, self-reproach: He has no compunction
about hurting your feelings. 2 hesitation, reluctance, reserve,
disinclination, qualm, misgiving, unwillingness, fear: She has
no compunction about speaking her mind.


compute v. calculate, reckon, figure (out), work out, determine,
ascertain, estimate: My accountant computed my income tax for
this year and told me that I was entitled to a refund.


comrade n. colleague, associate, friend, companion, chum, crony,
confrŠre, Colloq pal, chum, Chiefly Brit and Australian mate,
Australian cobber, US buddy: None of my comrades from the old
regiment attended the reunion this year.


conceal v. 1 hide, secrete, bury, cover, disguise, camouflage: Packets
of a white powdery substance were concealed inside each doll. 2
keep secret or hidden, keep quiet about, disguise, not reveal;
dissemble: He concealed his true identity even from his wife.


concede v. 1 admit, allow, grant, acknowledge, confess, own (up or to
or up to), accept: I conceded that I had no business in the
bank after closing. 2 grant, yield, surrender, cede, give up,
submit, resign, relinquish, abandon, waive: In chess, upon the
loss of a queen, many players will concede. She has conceded
any right to the estate of her uncle.

conceit n. 1 vanity, pride, egotism, self-esteem, self-admiration,
self-love, narcissism, vainglory, amour propre; arrogance: His
conceit is matched only by his incompetence. 2 fancy, whim,
caprice: Some have a conceit their drink tastes better / In an
outlandish cup than their own. 3 elaborate figure (of speech),
affectation, strained or far-fetched metaphor: A conceit would
be calling the waves 'nodding hearse-plumes'.

conceited adj. vain, egotistical, self-centred, egocentric,
self-admiring, narcissistic, prideful, proud, arrogant,
self-involved, self-important, self-satisfied, smug, complacent,
vainglorious, snobbish, Colloq stuck-up; Slang snotty: That
conceited ass really thinks the world of himself.

conceive v. 1 have, bear, beget, sire, father, give birth to; become
pregnant (with): After the twins, they conceived three boys. 2
formulate, devise, plan, contrive, create, plot, hatch, develop,
evolve, fabricate, think or make up, form, frame, design: He
conceived a scheme for swindling that poor woman out of her life
savings. 3 think (up), imagine, speculate (on), perceive, see,
understand, realize, comprehend, envision, envisage, conjure up,
dream up, hypothesize, postulate, posit, suggest, suppose: I
cannot conceive of any reason why she shouldn't be allowed to
take part.

concentrate
v. 1 focus, direct, centre, centralize, converge, consolidate:
The council concentrated its efforts on refurbishing the
schools. 2 condense, reduce, distil, intensify, refine,
strengthen: The sap of the sugar maple is concentrated by
boiling. 3 gather, collect, congregate, draw or bring together,
crowd, cluster, group: Much of the population is concentrated
around the large cities. 4 think, focus one's thoughts or
attention, apply oneself: I cannot concentrate with the radio
on.


conception
n. 1 birth, beginning, genesis, inception, commencement,
emergence, start, inauguration, initiation, launch, launching,
origin, origination, formation, formulation, introduction: We
were excited to be in at the conception of the scheme. 2 idea,
notion, inkling, clue, concept; id‚e re‡u; understanding,
knowledge, appreciation, comprehension: He has no conception of
what is involved in maintaining a yacht. 3 design, plan,
scheme, proposal, outline: Transporting a building from another
site instead of constructing one was a bold conception.

concern v. 1 refer or relate to, have relation or reference to, be
about, pertain or appertain to, be pertinent or relevant to,
regard, apply to, be connected or involved with, bear on, be
germane to, be connected with, involve, apply to, touch (on):
The matter concerns your inheritance, Cosgrove. 2 affect, have
(a) bearing or (an) influence on, involve, touch; interest, be
of importance or interest to: This war concerns us all. 3
worry, trouble, disturb, bother, perturb, unsettle, upset,
distress: He doesn't let anything concern him.

--n. 4 business, affair, problem; responsibility, duty, charge,
task, involvement, Colloq thing; Slang bag, shtick: What she
does is no concern of yours. The safety of the passengers is his
concern. 5 interest, regard, consideration, care, thought,
awareness, attention: You should show more concern for those
less fortunate than you. 6 anxiety, worry, solicitude,
apprehension, distress, apprehensiveness, uneasiness, malaise,
disquiet, disquietude: It's only a cold, and no cause for
concern. 7 business, firm, company, house, establishment,
enterprise, organization: The business is being sold as a going
concern. 8 matter, affair, issue: The preservation of wildlife
is an international concern.


concerned adj. 1 involved, responsible, interested, active; caring,
solicitous: The best governments are run by a concerned
citizenry. 2 troubled, vexed, anxious, worried, distressed,
uneasy, perturbed, bothered, upset, disturbed: They were not at
all concerned about the state of my health.

concerning
prep. about, regarding, relative or relating to, referring to,

with or in reference to, as regards, in or with regard to, with
an eye to, with respect to, respecting, apropos (of), as to or
for, in the matter of, on the subject of, re, Formal anent:
Concerning your recent application, please phone this office.


concise adj. brief, terse, laconic, compact, direct, succinct,
epigrammatic, cogent, pithy, compendious, summary, epigrammatic,
trenchant, compressed, condensed, short; shortened, abridged,
curtailed, abbreviated: He gave a concise summary of the
findings. This is a concise edition of the dictionary.

concrete adj. real, actual, literal, realistic, authentic, valid,
genuine, bona fide, reliable; specific, particular, definite,
definitive, clear-cut, material, physical, tangible,
substantial: Have you any concrete evidence for the existence
of UFOs?

condemn v. 1 censure, blame, criticize, remonstrate with or against,
denounce, disparage, reproach, rebuke, reprove, scold,
reprimand, upbraid: The council was condemned for failing to
provide adequate health care. 2 convict, find guilty; sentence,
doom: The judge condemned them to twenty years imprisonment. 3
Usually, condemned. doomed, damned, destined, fated, ordained,
foreordained; consigned: He has been condemned to wander
forever.

condescend
v. stoop, deign, lower or humble or demean oneself, come down
off one's high horse: She wouldn't condescend to talk to the
stable-boy directly.

condescending
adj. patronizing, belittling, disdainful, contemptuous,
pompous, overbearing, high-handed, imperious, snobbish, haughty,
Colloq snooty, Brit toffee-nosed; Slang snotty: He thinks he's
better than everyone, and I can't stand his condescending
manner.

condition n. 1 state; circumstance(s), shape: What condition is the
house in? My bank account is in a poor condition. 2
stipulation, proviso, demand, requirement, term, qualification,
contingency, requisite, prerequisite: The terrorists have
announced their conditions for releasing the hostages. 3 working

order, fitness, shape, form, fettle; health: He's in good
condition, but his car isn't. 4 conditions. circumstances;
quarters; environment: The ship's crew live in very crowded
conditions.


--v. 5 ready, get or make ready, prepare, equip, outfit, fit
(out or up), adapt, modify: The mechanics are conditioning the
plane for high-altitude flights. 6 train, educate, teach;
brainwash; influence, mould, persuade: The children were
conditioned to avoid talking to strangers. 7 accustom, inure,
adapt, acclimate, acclimatize: At this training base, we
condition the commandos to all kinds of hardships.

conduct n. 1 behaviour, actions, demeanour, manners, deportment,
comportment, attitude: Such conduct will not be tolerated in
this school. 2 guidance, direction, management, supervision,
leadership, administration, government, running, handling,
control, command, regulation, operation: Had the conduct of the
war been left up to him, we should have lost.


--v. 3 guide, direct, supervise, manage, carry on, run,
control, administer, regulate, operate: They conduct a
remarkably successful business. 4 lead, guide, escort, show (in
or out), usher: We were conducted through the gallery by the
curator herself. 5 channel, carry, transmit, convey; direct:
Electrical power is conducted by the cable. 6 conduct oneself.
behave, act, demean, deport, comport, acquit: For a
six-year-old, he conducted himself very well.


confer v. 1 converse, consult, deliberate, talk (over), discuss, take
counsel: I shall have to confer with my colleagues on that
matter. 2 When transitive, confer on. give, grant, present,
award; bestow (on): The prizes will be conferred after the
dinner. He was bewildered by the honours conferred on him.


conference
n. meeting, convention, symposium, congress, seminar, forum,
colloquium; discussion, talk, colloquy, US bull session: In
1988, the conference was held in Budapest.


confess v. disclose, acknowledge, admit, own (up or to or up to),
declare, avow, make a clean breast (of); reveal, divulge,
confirm, concede, affirm, aver, testify; disbosom oneself,

Colloq come clean: She confessed her part in the swindle.
Confronted with the evidence, he confessed.

confidence
n. 1 trust, reliance, faith; belief: Your parents have a great
deal of confidence in you. 2 assurance, self-confidence,
self-assurance, self-reliance, poise, aplomb, coolness;
conviction, certitude, boldness, courage, nerve: We admire the
confidence she shows in her daring plan. 3 in confidence. in
secrecy, in privacy, privately, confidentially, intimately,
Colloq on the q.t. or Q.T.: I am telling you this in
confidence.

confident adj. 1 secure, sure, certain, assured, positive, convinced: I
feel confident that we shall get the contract. 2
self-confident, self-assured, self-possessed, reliant,
self-reliant, dauntless, bold, cool, cocksure, fearless,
courageous, Colloq cocky: He strode into the room with a
confident air.


confidential
adj. private, secret, intimate; classified; Colloq hush-hush:
These confidential papers must never be out of your possession.


confirm v. 1 ratify, sanction, authorize, endorse, support, sustain,
approve, uphold, back up, validate, verify, recognize;
authenticate, accredit: By-laws shall not take effect unless
confirmed by the local authority. 2 establish, settle, affirm,
ensure, clinch, substantiate, guarantee, bind, seal: The king
thereby confirmed his control over the islands. 3 strengthen,
encourage, fortify, reinforce, corroborate, substantiate,
buttress, prove: Later events confirmed his opinion.

confiscate
v. appropriate, seize, impound, sequester, sequestrate,
expropriate, take (away), commandeer: The police confiscated my
car to use as evidence.

conflict n. 1 fight, battle, combat, engagement, struggle, war, fray,
fracas, affray, brawl, Donnybrook: Gurkha troops entered the
conflict. 2 dispute, argument, controversy, wrangle,
contention, disagreement, altercation, feud, quarrel, row;
squabble, tiff, Colloq spat: The counsellor was unable to

resolve the conflict between the sisters regarding the will. 3
clash, antagonism, difference, opposition, disagreement,
variance, discord: There is a basic conflict between the
interests of labour and of management.


--v. 4 clash, disagree, differ, be incompatible or at odds or
at variance, be in opposition (to): The plans conflict on only
one point.


conform v. 1 comply (with), follow, observe, obey, respect, abide by,
adapt or adjust (to): We agree to conform to the rules of the
club. 2 accord (with), agree (with), concur (with), coincide
(with), correspond (with), harmonize (with), square (with),
match, tally (with), fit (in with), be consistent (with), be in
accord or in accordance (with): Their behaviour did not conform
with what is expected in such circles. The two plans do not
conform.

confuse v. 1 disconcert, perplex, puzzle, bewilder, mystify, baffle,
bemuse, befuddle, discomfit, confound, fluster, flummox, upset,
disorient, embarrass, abash, shame, dismay, Colloq rattle,
throw, Chiefly US discombobulate , US and Canadian buffalo: She
was completely confused by his offer to help. 2 disorder,
confound, disorganize, throw into disarray, muddle, mix up,
snarl (up), ensnarl, tangle (up), entangle, botch, Colloq mess
up, make a mess of, screw up, Brit make a balls-up of, US ball
up: He has done more to confuse the situation than to clear it
up. 3 mix up, confound, muddle, jumble, snarl (up), ensnarl;
blur: The identities of the children were confused at birth.


confused adj. 1 mixed up, jumbled, disordered, disorganized, disorderly,
muddled, muddle-headed, snarled (up), messy, baffling,
confusing, mystifying, puzzling, perplexing; contradictory,
ambiguous, misleading, inconsistent, mixed up, botched (up) ,
Colloq higgledy-piggledy: The accountants have provided a
confused set of figures. 2 bewildered, perplexed, puzzled,
baffled, (be)fuddled, mystified, disoriented, discomposed, at
sea, flummoxed, dazed, muddled, bemused, mixed up, nonplussed,
disconcerted, abashed, put off, put out, disturbed, flustered,
ill at ease, upset, at sixes and sevens, at a loss, Rare
metagrobolized, Colloq screwed-up, muzzy, out of it, not with
it, Chiefly US discombobulated, fouled up; Slang (all) balled
up, Brit (all) bollocksed or ballocksed (up), US (all) bollixed

(up), US and Canadian snafu: I have never seen anyone so
confused about a simple question of astrophysics. 3 jumbled,
mixed up, muddled, disorderly, confusing, messy, disorganized,
topsy-turvy; miscellaneous, motley, Brit shambolic: The books
lay in a confused heap on the floor.

confusion n. 1 disorder, mix-up, mess, jumble, muddle, disarray,
disarrangement, chaos, shambles: The files are in complete
confusion. 2 tumult, commotion, disorder, turmoil, pandemonium,
bedlam, chaos: Untold confusion resulted from sounding the
alarm. 3 mix-up, confounding; ambiguity, ambiguousness,
misunderstanding, contradiction, inconsistency: There is often
some confusion between the name of a thing and the thing itself.
4 mixing, combining, mixing up, intermingling: The removal firm
is responsible for the confusion of your books with mine. 5
assortment, mixture, pot-pourri, gallimaufry, hotchpotch or US
and Canadian also hodgepodge: A confusion of products lines the
shelves. 6 embarrassment, discomfiture, mortification,
abashment, shamefacedness, chagrin: He felt terrible confusion
when confronted with the evidence.

congested adj. (over)crowded, blocked (up), jammed, crammed, plugged,
stopped or stuffed (up), choked: The police are trying to deal
with traffic at congested intersections.


congratulate
v. felicitate, compliment: Her friends congratulated her on
winning the award.


congratulations
interjection. Felicitations!, Best wishes!, Well done!, Many
happy returns!, Colloq Nice going!, Good show!: Heartiest
congratulations! You've come in first!


connect v. 1 join or link or tie (together), unite: An old road
connects the two towns. 2 associate, affiliate, link, relate,
league, tie (in): The police connected him with the break-in.
The institute is connected with a pharmaceuticals company. 3
fasten, bind, unite, tie, link, join, attach, couple, put
together, secure, fit, fix, affix, stick, anchor, lock; rivet,
weld, braze, solder, screw, nail, stitch, sew, pin, hook,
staple, tack, glue, cement, fuse, seal, buckle, strap, bolt,
lash, chain, moor: Connect the parts to the frame.


connection
n. 1 uniting, joining, linking, connecting, coupling; union,
bond, joint, link: The US constitution forbids a formal
connection between Church and State. The connection between the
fittings has broken. 2 link, tie, (inter)relation(ship),
interplay, bearing, reference, relevance, appropriateness,
correlation, tie-in; coherence, consistency, association: Your
answer had no connection with the question. 3 Often,
connections. contact, ally, acquaintance, friend (at court);
influence, Colloq pull; Slang US drag: With their connections,
they can get away with anything. 4 connections. relatives,
relations, family, kin, kith and kin: They have connections in
Australia.


conquer v. 1 overcome, vanquish, beat, defeat, subdue, crush,
subjugate: The Moors conquered most of Spain. 2 capture,
seize, win, gain, acquire, obtain; occupy, annex, overrun: They
conquered the territory by force of arms. 3 overcome, triumph
or prevail over, beat, surmount, master, win out (over): He has
finally conquered the habit of biting his fingernails.

conquest n. 1 vanquishment, subjugation, defeat, domination, subjection:
Hernando Cort‚s is famous for his conquest of Mexico. 2
victory, triumph, mastery, win: He is credited with the
conquest of a number of diseases by means of this drug.

conscience
n. morality, morals, judgement, fairness, sense of right and
wrong, ethics, honour, standards, principles, scruples: In such
matters, your conscience must be your guide.

conscientious
adj. 1 scrupulous, principled, fair, moral, ethical, strict,
righteous, right-minded, upstanding, upright, honourable, just,
responsible, high-minded; incorruptible: Fetherby is a
conscientious arbitrator. 2 cautious, careful, scrupulous,
exacting, meticulous, punctilious, painstaking, diligent,
particular, rigorous, thorough: A conscientious effort was made
to restore the painting to its original condition. 3 prudent,
discreet, politic, careful, circumspect, heedful, attentive,
serious: Fred is conscientious about keeping secrets.

conscious adj. 1 aware, awake, alert: I was conscious of an eerie
presence. The victim of the attack is now conscious. 2
deliberate, intentional, purposive, purposeful, wilful, studied:
Lydia has been making a conscious effort to be friendlier to me.


consent v. 1 agree, comply, concur, accede, acquiesce, concede, yield,
submit, cede, conform, give in: He asked for payment in advance
and I consented. 2 consent to. permit, allow, agree to, give in
to, approve, authorize: Richard's parents consented to his
going on the outing.

--n. 3 approval, assent, permission, sanction, authorization,
imprimatur, seal of approval, Colloq OK, okay, go-ahead: Have
Richard's parents given their consent? 4 agreement, acceptance,
acquiescence, compliance, approval, concurrence: Taxes cannot
be raised without the consent of Parliament.

consequently
adv. so, therefore, as a result or consequence, accordingly,
ergo, hence, thus: He was found guilty and, consequently,
sentenced to death.

conservation
n. preservation, protection, safe keeping, maintenance, upkeep,
management, safeguarding; husbandry, economy: The conservation
of natural resources must be a priority.

conservative
adj. 1 reactionary, right, right-wing, rightist, Tory: In his
conservative view, no change is ever for the better. 2
cautious, careful, prudent, moderate, temperate,
middle-of-the-road, sober, stable; unprogressive, orthodox,
traditional, conformist, hidebound, conventional, standard,
fundamentalist, true-blue, dyed in the wool: The conservative
approach would be to study the problem before making a change.
The conservative members voted against electing certain members
to the club.

--n. 3 reactionary, rightist, right-winger, Tory,
fundamentalist; moderate, middle-of-the-roader: He's a
conservative and favours a classical education.

conserve v. 1 keep, preserve, hold on to, save, spare, reserve:

Conserve your energy for later, when we get near the top. 2
preserve, maintain, keep up, take care of: These buildings
should be conserved for later generations.


consider v. 1 think about or over, take into or under consideration,
deliberate (over or about), contemplate (on or over), weigh,
ponder, mull over, cogitate on, meditate (on or upon or over),
reflect (on or upon), ruminate (on or over), chew over, study,
examine: The council will consider your proposal. 2 heed,
mark, take into account or consideration, reckon with, bear in
mind, note, observe, make allowance for; esteem, respect, have
regard for: Consider your mother's feelings in the matter. 3
regard, look upon; judge, deem, take to be, think, believe,
gauge, rate, estimate, reckon: Consider yourself under arrest.
I don't consider Simon the best person for the job.

considerable
adj. 1 sizeable, substantial, large, big, great; appreciable,
respectable, noticeable, largish, biggish, goodly, decent, fair,
Colloq tidy: A considerable crowd were gathered outside. 2
important, worthy, of consequence, of distinction,
distinguished, illustrious, noteworthy, notable, remarkable,
estimable, influential, respectable: Some of the most
considerable citizens were banished.


considerate
adj. thoughtful, kind, kindly, kind-hearted, good-hearted,
helpful, friendly, neighbourly, gracious, obliging,
accommodating, charitable, generous, unselfish; sympathetic,
compassionate, sensitive; attentive; solicitous: It was very
considerate of you to offer your car.

consideration
n. 1 regard, concern, attentiveness, solicitude,
thoughtfulness, compassion, kindness, kindliness,
kind-heartedness, considerateness, respect, caring, care: Out
of consideration for your father, you should complete your
studies. 2 reward, compensation, remuneration, fee, payment,
recompense, emolument, tip, gratuity, pourboire, baksheesh or
backsheesh; honorarium: The boy will look after your luggage
for a small consideration, madam. 3 thought, deliberation,
reflection, contemplation, rumination, cogitation, study,
examination: After some consideration, we have decided that we

will finance the project.

considering
prep. in view of, in (the) light of, bearing in mind, making
allowance for, taking into consideration or account, looking at,
all in all, all things or everything considered, inasmuch as,
insomuch as: Considering your background, I doubt that you are
qualified.


consistent
adj. 1 agreeing, in agreement, in harmony, in keeping,
harmonious, in concordance, conforming, in conformance,
accordant, compatible, in accord or accordance, consonant: Her
story is not consistent with the facts. 2 dependable, regular,
predictable, undeviating, steady, steadfast, unchanging,
uniform, unswerving, constant: His behaviour, even under
pressure, has been quite consistent.

consistently
adv. 1 steadily, constantly, regularly, uniformly, daily, day
by day: Her piano technique is improving consistently. 2
dependably, unswervingly, staunchly, devotedly, firmly,
resolutely, faithfully, uniformly, unfailingly: The courts have
consistently upheld her claim to custody of the children.


console v. comfort, soothe, calm, assuage, solace, cheer (up): Ivan
made an effort to console the grieving widow.

conspicuous
adj. 1 obvious, clear, evident, plain, palpable, perceptible,
patent, prominent, apparent, clear-cut, unquestionable,
incontestable, incontrovertible: The sultan played a
conspicuous role in the kidnapping of the envoy. 2 obvious,
unmistakable, prominent, outstanding, noticeable, impressive,
vivid, obtrusive; striking, showy, garish, gaudy, loud, tawdry,
blatant, lurid, vulgar, flashy, ostentatious: The silhouette of
the castle was conspicuous against the sky. Fingal was again
conspicuous, this time in a green wig and bowler. 3 notable,
noteworthy, exceptional, outstanding, eminent, unusual, marked,
extraordinary, remarkable, distinguished, impressive, awesome,
awe-inspiring, glorious: The medal is awarded for conspicuous
bravery.

conspiracy
n. plot, scheme, stratagem, intrigue, collusion, cabal,
connivance, foul play, dirty work: He suspected them of a
conspiracy to defraud their clients.


constable n. policeman, policewoman, (police) officer, US patrolman,
Colloq cop, copper , Brit bobby; Slang flatfoot, fuzz: A
constable was standing on the corner, and we asked him the way.


constant adj. 1 resolute, immovable, steadfast, firm, dependable,
unshakeable or unshakable, determined, unswerving, undeviating,
persevering, unwearying, unwearied, untiring, indefatigable,
tireless, unflagging, unwavering, unfailing, unfaltering,
persistent; loyal, true, tried and true, devoted, staunch,
trusty, faithful: He was her constant companion during her
troubles. 2 incessant, unceasing, ceaseless, perpetual,
persistent, uninterrupted, steady, regular, invariable,
unremitting, unvarying, relentless, unrelenting, continuous,
continual; unending, endless, never-ending, non-stop, perennial,
eternal, everlasting, Literary sempiternal: The constant pain
almost made me cry out. Their constant bickering is getting on
my nerves. 3 unchanging, unchanged, invariable, unvarying,
fixed, uniform, unalterable, immutable, changeless, persistent:
The numbers might change, but the ratio is constant.


construct v. 1 build, erect, make, put together, frame, set up, put up,
assemble: We constructed a summer-house in the garden. 2
fabricate, devise, create, forge, invent, formulate, compose,
shape, set up, fashion: He has constructed a complex argument
to support his theory.

constructive
adj. 1 helpful, useful, practicable, advantageous, practical,
productive, beneficial, positive: She provided much
constructive advice on how to design the factory. 2 virtual,
inferential, implicit, inferred, derived, deduced: As it turned
out, the shareholders were the constructive victims of the
fraud.


consult v. 1 Often, consult with. confer (with), discuss (with),
deliberate (with), talk over (with), inquire or enquire of, seek
advice from, ask (of), question, interrogate, take counsel (with
or of): I shall have to consult a doctor about my headaches.

You should consult with your lawyer. 2 refer to, look up, seek
information from: If in doubt, consult the dictionary.

consultant
n. 1 physician, doctor, specialist, expert: You ought to get
the opinion of another consultant. 2 adviser or advisor,
expert, counsellor or US counselor: Our financial consultant
tells us how to handle the company funds.


consume v. 1 devour, eat (up), gulp (down), swallow, drink (up), put
away, gobble (up); digest: When those teenagers come home, they
consume everything in sight. 2 use up, exhaust, deplete, drain,
expend, diminish, reduce: The new car has consumed all our
savings. 3 waste, occupy, squander, fritter away, dissipate,
absorb, lose, throw away, lavish, Slang blow: Too much of your
time has already been consumed by that problem. 4 destroy,
ruin, (lay) waste, demolish, wreck, gut, raze, Slang US and
Canadian total: Fire consumed the entire house. 5 overcome,
overwhelm, devastate, destroy, annihilate, ravage, (lay) waste,
wear out, ruin, eat up, devour, do in; preoccupy, obsess: He is
consumed by jealousy.

consummation
n. 1 completion, accomplishment, fulfilment, finish, end,
realization, attainment, achievement, success; completing,
accomplishing, fulfilling, finishing, ending, realizing,
attaining, achieving: Owning a Rolls Royce was the consummation
of her dreams. 2 acme, perfection, peak, culmination, finishing
touch, conclusion, grand finale, climax: The Nobel prize was
the consummation of an arduous life of research.

contact n. 1 junction, conjunction, connection: If the wires make
contact, the fuse will blow. 2 acquaintance, friend,
connection, Colloq US in: I have a contact on the board of
directors. 3 touch, communication, association: Are you still
in contact with Georgina?

--v. 4 get in touch with, communicate with, reach, get hold of;
phone, ring (up), telephone, speak to or with, write to,
correspond with: Try to contact the manager at his home.

contain v. 1 hold, have in it; bear, carry: The capsule contained a
deadly poison. 2 hold, have the capacity for, accommodate,

admit, carry; seat: This bottle contains no more than a quart.
The theatre can contain 200. 3 restrain, restrict, confine,
repress, control, hold back or in, curb, bridle, keep under
control, suppress, check, stifle: He could hardly contain
himself when he learnt he had passed the examination.

contaminate
v. defile, sully, pollute, corrupt, rot, stain, soil, taint,
infect, poison, foul, spoil, befoul; debase, adulterate,
vitiate: The river has been contaminated by effluent from a
nearby factory.

contemplate
v. 1 look or gaze at or on or upon, behold, view, survey,
observe, regard, eye; scan, scrutinize, inspect: I contemplated
the scene of the Grand Canal from my hotel room. 2 ruminate
(over), ponder (on or over), deliberate (over), muse (on or
over), meditate or reflect (on), think (about or over), mull
over, cogitate (over), turn over in one's mind, brood on or
over, chew on or over, consider, study, examine: She was
contemplating the events of the past night. Give me a moment to
contemplate. 3 plan, intend, think of or about, consider,
entertain the idea or notion of: After we broke up, I
contemplated emigrating to Australia.


contemporary
adj. 1 of the time, contemporaneous, coeval, coexistent,
concurrent, concomitant, parallel, synchronous, synchronic,
coincidental, coetaneous: We examined some of the documents
contemporary with his reign. 2 modern, current, present-day,
new, up to date, stylish, fashionable, modish, … la mode,
latest, in; novel, newfangled, Colloq trendy: She always keeps
up with contemporary fads in dress and make-up. I find much of
the contemporary metal-and-glass architecture rather boring.


contempt n. loathing, abhorrence, hatred, odium, hate; scorn, disdain,
contumely, disgust: She has nothing but contempt for cowards.

contemptible
adj. despicable, loathsome, detestable, scurvy, low, mean,
base, inferior, currish, wretched, vile, abject, ignominious,
unworthy, shabby, shameful: It was contemptible of you to give
away my secret.


contemptuous
adj. scornful, disdainful, sneering, derisive, insulting,
contumelious, insolent: The maestro was contemptuous of my
piano-playing.

contentฐ n. 1 capacity, volume, size, measure: The content of the
barrel is exactly 55 gallons. 2 Usually, contents. ingredients,
components, constituents; load: The bottle broke and its
contents spilt on the floor. 3 substance, subject-matter;
significance, purport, import, essence, text, theme, topic,
thesis: The book is amusing but its content is quite trivial.

content n. 1 pleasure, satisfaction, gratification, happiness,
contentment, contentedness, felicity, delight: He kept on
singing to his heart's content. 2 ease, comfort, tranquillity,
serenity, peace, peacefulness, contentedness: I have a feeling
of such content merely being with you.


--adj. 3 pleased, satisfied, happy, delighted, contented,
gratified, glad, cheerful; comfortable, fulfilled: I was quite
content to be home once more.

--v. 4 satisfy, please, gratify, soothe, cheer, gladden,
delight: It contented him to be near her.

contest n. 1 competition, match, tournament, championship, tourney,
meet, game, rivalry, trial: The contest was won by a woman from
Shropshire. 2 strife, controversy, dispute, contention, debate,
altercation, argument, velitation; conflict, struggle, fight,
battle, combat, war: The contest is between those for and those
against capital punishment.

--v. 3 contend, argue, dispute, debate; challenge, (call into)
question, oppose, counter, confute, object to, refute: David
has decided to contest his father's will.

contestant
n. contender, competitor, opponent, rival, adversary, entrant,
player, participant: The winner is the contestant from
Chearsley.

context n. structure, framework, environment, situation,

circumstance(s); ambience or ambiance, surround, surroundings,
frame (of reference), setting, background: It is often hard to
understand something taken out of its context.


continual adj. constant, incessant, perpetual, non-stop, persistent,
uninterrupted, regular, steady, unbroken, unceasing, ceaseless,
constant, eternal, unremitting, interminable, endless, unending;
Loosely continuous: She has this continual ringing in her ears.


continue v. 1 carry on, proceed (with), keep up or on or at, go on
(with), pursue, persist (in), persevere (in): Please continue
whatever it was you were doing. 2 endure, last, go on, persist,
be prolonged, remain: How long will the curfew continue? 3
maintain, keep (on), prolong, perpetuate, carry on (with),
persist in or with, sustain, extend: My mother continued her
career throughout my childhood. 4 resume, pick up, take up,
carry on (with): Allow me to continue my story and don't
interrupt again. 5 proceed, go (on), extend: The road
continues for about a mile, ending at the sea.


continuous
adj. 1 connected, unbroken, uninterrupted: The wall is
continuous except for one gate. 2 incessant, persistent,
perpetual, non-stop, unceasing, ceaseless, constant,
unremitting, interminable, endless, unending; Loosely continual:
A continuous stream of refugees passed through the camp.

contract n. 1 agreement, understanding, deal, bargain, arrangement,
pact, commitment, obligation, compact: We have just signed a
contract to supply office equipment to a new electronics
company.

--v. 2 engage, agree, promise, covenant, undertake: Our
company contracted to maintain the roads in this area. 3 catch,
acquire, get, come down with, develop, become infected with,
Brit go down with: Eunice contracted diphtheria. 4 diminish,
shrink, draw together, roll (oneself), narrow, squeeze,
constrict, compress, condense, decrease, reduce: When
disturbed, the animal contracts itself into a ball. 5 wrinkle,
knit, crease, corrugate, pucker: His brow contracted into a
frown.

contradict

v. 1 deny, gainsay, dispute, controvert, argue against; oppose:
He is very opinionated, and doesn't like to be contradicted. 2
contravene, belie, refute, disallow, forbid, disaffirm, counter,
abrogate, nullify, annul, reverse, counteract: The evidence
yields nothing that contradicts my argument.

contradictory
adj. inconsistent, paradoxical, incongruous, conflicting,
incompatible, discrepant; ambiguous, ambivalent: The witnesses'
descriptions of the robbers are contradictory.

contraption
n. contrivance, device, gadget, mechanism, apparatus, Colloq
widget, thingumabob or thingamabob, thingumajig or thingamajig,
thingummy, whatsit, doodah, thingy, US gizmo or gismo, Rube
Goldberg (invention), whatchamacallit, Colloq Brit gubbins:
People began to build all sorts of contraptions that they hoped
might fly.


contrary adj. 1 opposite, opposing, opposed, different, contradictory,
conflicting, antagonistic: Set aside enough time to hear the
contrary side of the argument. 2 antagonistic, perverse,
contrarious, hostile, unfriendly, inimical, cross-grained,
refractory, contumacious, self-willed, argumentative,
unaccommodating, antipathetic, Literary froward: He can
disagree, but why must he be so contrary? 3 adverse,
unfavourable, inauspicious, unlucky, unfortunate, unpropitious,
untoward, inopportune, bad, foul: We ran into contrary winds
and were delayed.


--n. 4 opposite, reverse: Her present position is the direct
contrary of the one she took yesterday.

--adv. 5 perversely, oppositely, contrariwise, contrarily, in
opposition to: The rat in the maze acted contrary to the
expected pattern.

contrast v. 1 juxtapose, oppose, compare, distinguish, differentiate,
discriminate, set or place against; set off: Contrast life in
the 18th century with life today. 2 conflict, differ or diverge
or deviate (from): The two styles contrast sharply. Australian
speech contrasts with that of Canada in many respects.

--n. 3 comparison; difference, distinction, disparity,
dissimilarity: The author emphasizes the contrasts between the
two economic policies.


contribute
v. 1 give, furnish, donate, bestow, grant, present, provide,
supply: He contributed three paintings by Longchamp to the
museum. They contributed generously to the restoration fund. 2
contribute to. add to, promote, advance, help, aid, support,
forward, have a hand in, play a part or role in: They believe
that poor parental supervision contributes to juvenile
delinquency.

control v. 1 command, dominate, direct, steer, pilot, hold sway over,
rule, exercise power or authority over, govern, manage, lead,
conduct, be in control (of), call the tune, guide, oversee,
supervise: Does she really control the future of the company?
2 check, hold back or in check, curb, repress, contain: Try to
control yourself. 3 suppress, put down, master, subdue,
restrain, curb, manage: They were totally unable to control the
unruly teenagers.

--n. 4 command, direction, power, authority, leadership,
management, guidance, supervision, oversight, charge; sway,
rule, jurisdiction: Turn control of the mission over to Mrs
Beale. The court is under the control of the State. 5 restraint,
check, curb, mastery, command, dominance, domination: You must
get better control over your emotions. 6 knob, button, dial,
handle, lever, switch; device, mechanism: This control opens
the door to the safe.

controversial
adj. 1 debatable, disputable, questionable, moot, doubtful,
unsettled: Who will run the department is a controversial
matter. 2 polemical, dialectic, litigious, factious: She has
studied the controversial writings of the 19th-century
feminists. 3 disputatious, argumentative, contentious;
provocative: Race relations have remained a controversial issue
for centuries.


controversy
n. 1 dispute, debate, contention, argument, argumentation,
disputation, wrangling, confrontation, questioning,

disagreement: The inquest went ahead without controversy. 2
argument, dispute, disagreement, quarrel; squabble, tiff, Colloq
spat: Controversy still rages over the theory of natural
selection.


convalesce
v. recover, improve, get better, recuperate: The doctor said I
needed only a week to convalesce after the operation.


convenient
n. 1 suitable, commodious, useful, helpful, handy, serviceable,
expedient, opportune, advantageous: The bus is quite convenient
for getting to and from the airport. 2 handy, nearby, within
(easy) reach, at one's fingertips, close at hand, available,
accessible; (at the) ready: There's a convenient post office
round the corner.

convention
n. 1 assembly, meeting, gathering, congregation, congress,
conference, symposium, council, conclave, diet, synod, seminar:
The annual convention of cat fanciers will take place in June.
2 rule, practice, custom, tradition, usage, formality,
conventionalism: According to convention, this year's
vice-president becomes president next year.


conventional
adj. customary, habitual, usual, normal, regular, standard,
orthodox, traditional, established, ordinary, everyday, common,
commonplace, accustomed, received, agreed; reactionary,
old-fashioned, stodgy, stuffy, old hat: Conventional methods of
teaching mathematics are being criticized.

converge v. come or go together, meet, join, unite, merge, coincide;
blend: The roads converge in the valley.


conversation
n. discussion, talk, chat, dialogue, colloquy, parley;
chit-chat, gossip, discourse, palaver, Colloq chiefly Brit
chin-wag: The conversation about the situation in the Middle
East ended abruptly. I want action, not conversation.

conversationalist
n. deipnosophist: It was a pleasure to have dinner with an

intelligent conversationalist for a change.

converse v. discuss, talk, speak, chat, parley, discourse, gossip,
chatter: The men were conversing about her over dinner.


convert v. 1 change, modify, alter, transform, transmute, mutate,
transfigure, transmogrify, remodel, remake, metamorphose: We
converted our rowing-boat into a sailing dinghy. 2 proselytize,
switch, change (over): To avoid the horrors of the Inquisition,
many Spanish Jews converted to Catholicism.

--n. 3 proselyte; neophyte, catechumen, disciple: Converts are
often the most passionate believers.


convict v. 1 find or prove guilty: She was convicted of theft.

--n. 2 prisoner, captive, Slang con, jailbird orBrit also
gaolbird, Brit lag: The rioting convicts burnt down two prison
buildings.


conviction
n. 1 proof of guilt: After his conviction, he was sentenced to
life imprisonment. 2 belief, opinion, view, persuasion,
position: It is her conviction that the painting is by Titian.
3 certainty, sureness, positiveness, confidence, assurance,
certitude: He doesn't have the courage to back up his
convictions.

convince v. win over, talk into, persuade, bring (a)round, sway: I have
at last convinced them of the need for more resources.

cool adj. 1 chilly, chill, chilling, cooling, unheated; chilled,
cold, refreshing, fresh: It's rather cool outside today. I'd
prefer some cool lemonade. 2 calm, serene, collected,
level-headed, quiet, unexcited, unemotional, undisturbed,
unexcitable, unruffled, unflappable, cool-headed, relaxed,
controlled, under control, self-possessed, self-controlled,
unperturbed, phlegmatic, composed, imperturbable: He remains
cool even in a crisis. 3 dispassionate, cold, cold-blooded,
emotionless, deliberate, cold-hearted, calculated, wilful,
premeditated, purposeful, purposive: It was clearly the cool
act of a professional criminal. 4 uninvolved, distant, remote,
aloof, detached, removed, uninterested, unconcerned,

unsympathetic, apathetic, cold, cold-hearted, cold-blooded: How
can you be so cool where human lives are concerned? 5 lukewarm,
distant, uncordial, unfriendly, unsociable, unapproachable,
standoffish, forbidding, unwelcoming, cold, frigid: After the
affair, she was distinctly cool towards him. 6 bold, audacious,
brazen, overconfident, presumptuous, shameless, unabashed,
impertinent, impudent, insolent: I cannot account for the cool
way he insulted his host.


--n. 7 coolness, chill, chilliness, Colloq coolth: I shall
have a sherry to ward off the cool of the evening. 8 aplomb,
poise, sedateness, control, self-control, composure, sang-froid:
He really lost his cool when she told him he was a lousy driver.


--v. 9 chill, refrigerate, ice: Cool the pudding before
serving. 10 diminish, reduce, lessen, abate, moderate: Her
interest quickly cooled when she discovered he was married.

cooperate v. 1 collaborate, work together, join, unite, interact, team
up, join forces, act jointly or in concert: If we cooperate,
the work will be done in half the time. 2 participate,
contribute, lend a hand, help, assist: You must learn to
cooperate and not just sit there.


cooperation
n. 1 collaboration, teamwork, interaction, synergism or
synergy: Only through cooperation will we be able to achieve
success. 2 support, help, aid, assistance, patronage, backing,
advocacy, favour, helping hand, friendship, blessing,
sponsorship, auspices, backup: We needed the cooperation of
people like you to mount the exhibition.

coordinate
v. 1 organize, classify, order, arrange, systemize,
systematize, codify, categorize, group, match (up), dispose,
rate, rank, grade: Coordinate the information before preparing
the report. 2 harmonize, correlate, unify, mesh, synchronize,
integrate, Colloq pull together: We must coordinate our efforts
for the best results.


--adj. 3 equivalent, parallel, correspondent, complementary,
correlative, equal, reciprocal, coordinating, coordinative,
Technical paratactic: The two systems are coordinate and

operate in parallel.

cope v. 1 manage, get along or by, make do, survive, subsist, come
through: Even with seven children to care for, she copes very
well. 2 cope with. be a match for, withstand, contend with or
against, handle, deal with, dispose of: I cannot cope with all
the work I have been given to do.

copy n. 1 reproduction, replica, facsimile, likeness, imitation,
double, twin, duplication, duplicate, transcript, replication,
carbon (copy), photocopy, print: She found a copy of the lost
manuscript. 2 example, sample, specimen: How many copies of
the book have been sold? 3 text, writing: The copy is ready;
we are waiting for the illustrations.


--v. 4 reproduce, duplicate, replicate, transcribe: Don't copy
others' work - they might be wrong. 5 imitate, mimic,
impersonate, emulate, ape, parrot, echo: Ted copies the rock
stars in every possible detail of their dress and behaviour.


cord n. string, line, twine; rope: Tie the cord around the parcel
twice.

cordial adj. friendly, warm, affable, amiable, kindly, genial,
gracious, welcoming, pleasant, good-natured, nice; courteous,
polite: After a cordial greeting at the door, the guests were
served champagne.

core n. 1 centre, heart, middle, nucleus, inside(s): Remove the
core of the apple first. 2 essence, marrow, heart, pith, gist,
quintessence, sum and substance: The core of the problem is her
refusal to consider any alternative.

--v. 3 pit, seed: The pie might have tasted better if you'd
cored the apples first.

corps n. body of men or women, troop, cadre, unit, detachment,
cohort, division, battalion, brigade, platoon, squad, column,
squadron: We delivered supplies to the medical corps.


corpse n. body, remains, cadaver, Slang stiff; (of an animal) carcass:
The corpses were buried in a mass grave.

correct v. 1 right, set or put right, amend, redress, rectify, remedy,
repair, fix; cure: A good mechanic will be able to correct the
faults in the engine. 2 scold, admonish, rebuke, reprimand,
berate, chide, reprove; censure, blame: You mustn't correct
people for their bad manners. 3 punish, chastise, chasten,
discipline, castigate: The boys were corrected for swearing at
the teacher. 4 reverse, offset, counteract, counterbalance,
neutralize, nullify, make up for, annul, cancel; adjust, change,
modify: Adding this fertilizer should correct the acid content
of the soil. 5 mark, grade: The exam papers haven't yet been
corrected.

--adj. 6 proper, decorous, decent, appropriate, suitable, fit,
right, meet, fitting, befitting, apt, de rigueur, comme il faut,
Old-fashioned Brit tickety-boo: I have found her behaviour
correct at all times. 7 conventional, established, set,
standard, normal, orthodox, approved, in order, de rigueur,
comme il faut, usual, natural, customary, traditional, done,
right, Old-fashioned Brit tickety-boo: Sending flowers to the
funeral parlour would be the correct thing to do. 8 accurate,
right, precise, exact, factual, valid, true, proper, fitting,
apt, suitable, appropriate; faultless, perfect, unimpeachable:
Joanna gave the correct answer.


correction
n. 1 improvement, emendation, rectification, redress, remedy,
reparation, amendment; corrigendum: With these corrections, the
work will be vastly better. 2 punishment, castigation,
chastisement: He resented her continual correction of him for
trivial things.

correspond
v. 1 agree, conform, tally, comply, accord, harmonize, be
congruous, match, coincide: The results of the surveys
correspond. 2 write, communicate, be in touch or contact: We
have been corresponding for years.

correspondent
n. newspaperman, newspaperwoman, pressman, presswoman,
journalist, reporter, stringer, newsman, newsperson: Here is a
report from our correspondent in Sydney.

corridor n. hall, hallway, passage, passageway: We met in the corridor

outside my room.

corrupt adj. 1 dishonest, untrustworthy, dishonourable, underhand(ed),
venal, Colloq crooked: He got off by bribing a corrupt judge.
2 debased, depraved, perverted, subverted, evil, wicked,
degenerate, degraded: The inhabitants practised a corrupt form
of Christianity.

--v. 3 debase, pervert, subvert, degrade, deprave, warp: A
funds manager could easily be corrupted by all that money. 4
adulterate, contaminate, pollute, taint, defile, infect, spoil,
poison: Drainage from the site has corrupted the purity of the
water. 5 bribe, suborn, buy (off): He thought he knew a juror
who might be corrupted.


cost n. 1 price, outlay, payment, charge, expense, expenditure,
rate, tariff: The gold strap will double the cost of the watch.
If the cost increases, the selling price must go up.


--v. 2 sell for, get, fetch, bring in, Colloq set (someone)
back: This would cost twice as much in London.

costume n. dress, clothing, attire, clothes, garb, apparel, raiment,
garments, outfit, vestment, livery, uniform, kit, Colloq gear,
togs, get-up; Slang rags, US threads: What kind of costume is
Celia wearing to the fancy-dress ball?

cosy adj. 1 comfortable, snug, warm, restful, secure, relaxing,
easy, US cozy, Colloq comfy: They bought a cosy little
rose-covered cottage in the Cotswolds. 2 convenient, expedient,
self-serving, underhand(ed): He has a cosy arrangement with the
planning board.

cot n. bed, crib; cradle, bunk: The baby is asleep in his cot.


cottage n. hut, shack, cabin, bungalow, shanty, Literary cot; US and
Canadian lodge, chalet: She's going to stay at our cottage for
a week.


couch n. 1 sofa, settee, settle, divan, love-seat, chaise (longue);
day-bed; tˆte-…-tˆte, vis-…-vis, siamoise; US Davenport: Come
and sit by me on the couch.

--v. 2 embed, frame, style, express, phrase: Her warning was
couched in friendly words.

council n. 1 assembly, meeting, conclave, conference, synod,
consistory, convention, congress, congregation, gathering,
convocation, US caucus: The council voted to ban nuclear arms.
2 board, ministry, directors, cabinet, panel, committee, body,
directorate, directory, caucus: She was elected to the council
last year.


counsel n. 1 advice, judgement, direction, opinion, guidance,
instruction, recommendation, exhortation, Technical par‘nesis:
Your counsel has always been wise in the past. 2 consultation,
discussion, deliberation, consideration: We took counsel with
the cabinet on the matter. 3 adviser or advisor, guide,
counsellor; lawyer, Brit barrister; US attorney: My counsel
suggests we settle out of court.

--v. 4 advise, recommend to, suggest to, instruct; guide: I
have counselled her to pursue the matter.

counsellor
n. adviser or advisor, counsel, lawyer, Brit counsellor-at-law,
barrister, US counselor, counselor-at-law, attorney: We have
retained Vestley and Stock as our counsellors.

count v. 1 count up or off, enumerate, number, calculate, add up,
total, reckon, compute, tally, figure up, quantify, Colloq
figure out: Maddie counted the number of pencils in the box. 2
include, consider, regard, deem, judge, look on or upon: You
can count me among those who favour the idea. 3 count on or
upon. rely on or upon, depend on or upon, be sure of, trust,
bank on, be confident of, Chiefly Brit or US dialect reckon on
or upon, Chiefly US figure on or upon: I knew I could count on
Moira to do the right thing.

counter n. 1 token, disc, chip, piece, marker: She placed three
counters on the number 14. 2 table, bar: We do not serve beer
at this counter.


counteract
v. counterbalance, neutralize, correct, annul, nullify, cancel,
oppose, mitigate: The coffee counteracted the effect of the

sleeping-pill.

counterfeit
adj. 1 forged, fake, fraudulent, imitation, bogus, spurious,
Colloq phoney or US also phony: The bank reported the
counterfeit money to the police. 2 make-believe, sham,
pretended, pretend, feigned, insincere, fake, faked, false,
artificial, meretricious, pseudo, factitious, synthetic, unreal,
simulated: You were warned about his counterfeit sincerity.


--n. 3 fake, imitation, forgery, reproduction, Colloq phoney or
US also phony: This is the original deed, that one is a
counterfeit.


--v. 4 forge, copy, reproduce, falsify, imitate; Slang hang
paper: He made a living counterfeiting passports. 5 feign,
pretend, simulate, put on, fake: The suspects have shown signs
of wealth that are difficult to counterfeit.


counterfeiter
n. Slang paper-hanger: The counterfeiter, who forged only
five-pound notes, was arrested today.

country n. 1 nation, state, power; territory, realm: How many
countries belong to the British Commonwealth? 2 (native) land,
homeland, fatherland, motherland, mother country: I would
gladly fight for my country. 3 countryside, rural area or
surroundings, provinces, hinterlands; mountains, woods,
wilderness, outback, Colloq sticks, US boondocks, boonies: We
are spending our holiday in the country.

couple n. 1 pair, duo, twosome; brace, span, yoke, team: They
certainly make a nice couple. 2 a couple of. a few, several, a
handful (of), one or two, three or four: I'll be with you in a
couple of minutes.

--v. 3 join, link, yoke, combine, unite, match up, connect:
The two carriages are easily coupled together.


courage n. bravery, valour, boldness, intrepidity, gallantry,
dauntlessness, daring, fearlessness, heroism, nerve, Colloq
grit, guts, pluck, spunk, US moxie, sand, Slang Brit bottle:
She had the courage to face the two of them alone.


courageous
adj. brave, valiant, valorous, bold, intrepid, gallant,
dauntless, daring, fearless, heroic, Colloq plucky: The
soldiers were very courageous and fought against tremendous
odds.

course n. 1 path, way, orbit, route, run, track, ambit, line, circuit,
passage: We continued on our course. The sun pursued its fiery
course across the heavens. 2 movement, progress, headway,
advance, progression; speed: The driver slackens his course at
the curves. 3 procedure, process, performance, routine,
conduct, order, practice, dispatch or despatch, execution: In
the course of her duties, she handles a great deal of money. 4
direction, tack: If we stay on this course we'll run aground.
5 class, lecture, seminar, programme: You should sign up for a
course in English grammar. 6 of course. naturally, surely,
certainly, positively, obviously, definitely, assuredly, by all
means; undoubtedly, indubitably, without (a) doubt, no doubt,
Colloq US sure: Of course I'll go to the theatre with you!

courteous adj. polite, well-mannered, well-behaved, gentlemanly,
ladylike, well-bred, polished, urbane, civilized, respectful,
civil, courtly, proper, decorous, tactful, considerate,
diplomatic: He might have been rude to you, but he was always
quite courteous to me.

courtesy n. politeness, elegance, courtliness, politesse, courteousness,
respect, respectfulness, good manners, formality, civility,
ceremony: I much appreciated the courtesy with which they
treated me.

cover v. 1 protect, shelter, shield, screen; guard, defend, command:
The guns covered the approaches to the town. 2 Also, cover up
or over. conceal, hide, bury, mask, shroud, obscure; dissemble;
enclose, envelop: I was unable to cover my embarrassment. Her
face was covered by the hood of the cloak. 3 overlie, spread
over, overspread, lie on, layer, coat, blanket: Oil covers the
surface of the lake. 4 wrap, swaddle: Mother covered us with
warm blankets. 5 dress, clothe, garb, attire, robe, sheathe:
She was covered in silk from neck to ankle. 6 extend or stretch
over, occupy, engulf, inundate, submerge: A lake has covered
the original site of Abu Simbel. 7 include, comprehend, provide

for, comprise, extend over, contain, embody, incorporate,
account for, take into account, take in, deal with: This report
covers our activities over the past year. 8 act, take
responsibility or charge, stand or sit in, substitute, take
over, run things, double: Go and get some coffee - I'll cover
for you. 9 traverse, complete, pass or travel over, travel,
cross: With frequent stops, we could not cover more than 50
miles a day. 10 compensate for, defray, be enough or sufficient
for, counter, offset, counterbalance, make up for, insure or
protect against: The policy covers losses of up to a million.

--n. 11 lid, top, cap, covering: I can't find the cover for
this pot. 12 binding, boards, wrapper, dust-jacket, jacket:
You can't tell a book by its cover. 13 Often, covers. blanket,
quilt, eiderdown, duvet, bedclothes, bedding, (bed) linen;
coverlet, counterpane; US comforter: I crept into bed and
pulled the covers over my head. 14 shelter, protection,
concealment, hiding-place, hide-out, retreat, refuge; hide, US
and Canadian blind; Colloq Brit hidey-hole: We tried to find
some sort of cover till the sun went down. 15 cloak, screen,
disguise, concealment, pretence, front, camouflage, smokescreen,
cover-up, mask, covering: His bluster and bullying were only a
cover for his cowardice.


coward n. poltroon, craven, dastard, sissy or cissy, baby, mouse,
milksop; Scaramouch or Scaramouche; Colloq chicken, Slang
yellow-belly; US and Canadian milquetoast: He's such a coward
that he's afraid of his own shadow.


cowardice n. cowardliness, chicken-heartedness, faint-heartedness,
timidity, timorousness, pusillanimity: Owing to the cowardice
of the lieutenant, the troop surrendered without a shot being
fired.


cowardly adj. timid, fearful, frightened, afraid, scared, faint-hearted,
timorous, chicken-hearted, chicken-livered, lily-livered,
white-livered, craven, namby-pamby, dastardly, pusillanimous,
vitelline, Slang yellow, yellow-bellied: The cowardly rascals
ran from the battle.


coy adj. shy, modest, diffident, demure, timid, bashful,
self-conscious, sheepish, timorous, unassuming, unpretentious;
reserved, self-effacing, retiring, evasive, reluctant,

recalcitrant: She was so coy she would disappear whenever we
had guests.

3.7 crack...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



crack n. 1 break, fracture, chink, crevice, rift, gap, flaw, split,
fissure, slit, cleft, split, check, rupture, breach: The crack
in the dam was caused by an earthquake. 2 snap, report, bang,
clap, shot: I ducked when I heard the crack of the rifle. 3
moment, instant, time, second: She gets up at the crack of
dawn.


--v. 4 snap: He cracks the whip and the horses start up. 5
break, fracture, rupture; shiver, shatter, smash: He fell
backwards on the pavement and cracked his skull. 6 fissure,
craze, crackle, US alligator: The heat of the sun caused the
paint to crack.


craft n. 1 skill, ability, artisanship, handiwork, ingenuity,
skilfulness, art, talent, dexterity, cleverness, mastery,
expertness, expertise, flair, genius , Colloq know-how:
Considerable craft is required to make that kind of jewellery.
2 deceit, guile, cunning, fraud, trickery, wiliness, foxiness,
artfulness, craftiness, duplicity: He exhibits that crooked
wisdom called craft. 3 trade, occupation, calling, vocation,
m‚tier; profession: He was a member of one of the medieval
craft guilds. 4 vessel, ship, boat; hovercraft; aircraft,
aeroplane, plane; spaceship, spacecraft, rocket: One day there
will be at least as many craft in space as there now are in the
air.

--v. 5 make, fashion, fabricate: She crafted the figures out
of solid wood.

crafty adj. artful, cunning, clever, shrewd, foxy, canny, wily, sly,
scheming, calculating, designing, plotting, tricky, sneaky,
deceitful, shifty, dodgy, guileful, insidious, double-dealing,
two-faced, duplicitous, treacherous: That crafty beggar has
made off with my life's savings.

crag n. cliff, bluff, tor, peak, rock, escarpment, scarp, precipice,

US palisade: Soaring above us was a huge crag that we still had
to climb.

cram v. 1 pack, stuff, overstuff, overcrowd, jam, fill: The car was
crammed to the top with suitcases. 2 study, burn the midnight
oil, Literary lucubrate, Colloq grind, Brit swot: Bob can't go
out because he's cramming for an exam.

cramped adj. tight, crowded, incommodious, uncomfortable, close: The
tiny cabin was too cramped to hold all of us at once.

crank n. 1 eccentric, character, oddity, Colloq nut; Slang Brit
nutter, nutcase: Pay no attention to Jason, he's just a crank.
2 monomaniac, zealot, fanatic: The restaurant is patronized
mainly by health-food cranks.

cranky adj. 1 eccentric, odd, weird, strange, queer, peculiar, quirky,
capricious, whimsical: He's a cranky old bird who hardly goes
out at all. 2 testy, grouchy, crabby, short-tempered, surly,
irascible, waspish, churlish, gruff, curmudgeonly, cantankerous,
choleric, snappish, petulant, peevish, contentious, querulous,
irritable, splenetic, Colloq crotchety: He's always cranky
before breakfast.


cranny n. chink, crevice, crack, fissure, check, fracture, break,
furrow, split, cleft: Flowers grew from the crannies in the
ancient wall.

crash v. 1 fall, topple: The vase crashed onto the stone floor. 2
force, drive, run, smash: He crashed the car into a wall. 3
bang, boom, explode: The thunder crashed all around us.

--n. 4 boom, bang, smash, explosion, blast: We heard a great
crash as the building collapsed. 5 disaster, collapse, failure:
The stock-market crash has had a devastating effect.

crawl v. 1 creep, worm, wriggle, wiggle, squirm; edge: A spider is
crawling on your collar. 2 inch, creep, drag: For a solid hour
the cars just crawled along at a snail's pace. 3 cower, cringe,
grovel, toady, fawn: Don't worry, he'll soon come crawling,
begging you to take him back. 4 teem, abound, swarm, be overrun
or swamped: The scene of the crime crawled with police.

craze n. fad, fashion, trend, enthusiasm, rage, mania, thing,
obsession; last word, dernier cri: The craze for printed
T-shirts goes on and on.


crazy adj. 1 mad, insane, demented, deranged, unbalanced, unhinged,
lunatic, non compos mentis, daft, certifiable, mental, touched
(in the head), out of one's mind or head, mad as a March hare or
hatter, maddened, crazed, Colloq barmy or balmy, cuckoo,
cracked, crackers, crack-brained, dotty, daffy, dippy, gaga,
goofy, crackpot, loony, off one's rocker, have a screw loose,
screwy, batty, bats, bats in the belfry, Brit barmy (in the
crumpet), potty, bonkers, round the bend or twist, off one's
chump, doolally, US off one's trolley, out of one's gourd,
screwball, nuts, nutty (as a fruit cake); Slang bananas, US out
to lunch, meshuga, flaky, flaked-out, (plumb) loco: His wife
thinks he's crazy to want to walk around the world. 2 silly,
absurd, foolish, nonsensical, inane, ridiculous, preposterous,
laughable, risible, ludicrous, asinine, stupid, moronic,
imbecile or imbecilic, idiotic, feeble-minded, hare-brained,
Colloq crackpot: Someone came up with a crazy idea of a square
tennis ball to slow down the game. 3 impractical, impracticable,
unworkable, unsound, pointless, imprudent, rash, reckless,
ill-considered: Columbus' plan to sail round the world was
thought to be crazy at the time. 4 enthusiastic, eager, avid,
zealous, keen, excited: I'm really crazy about windsurfing. 5
infatuated, keen on or about, wild, mad, Colloq dotty, US nuts,
nutty; Slang US ape: Marjorie, I'm absolutely crazy about you.

create v. 1 make, produce, form, bring into being, originate,
conceive; sire, father: The question remains whether God
created Man or vice versa. 2 engender, beget, spawn, generate,
invent, imagine, think up, frame, forge, fashion, fabricate,
manufacture, develop, design, contrive, devise, produce, dream
up, initiate: Here is where they create many of the most
successful television advertisements.

creation n. 1 beginning, origin, birth, start, inception, genesis,
making, formation: The creation of the lake began with the
damming of the stream. 2 the world, the universe, the cosmos:
He was the most wicked man in the history of all creation.

creative adj. imaginative, inventive, originative, artistic, original,
ingenious, resourceful: A truly creative artist seldom lacks

for inspiration.

creator n. 1 originator, author, initiator, founder, father, inventor,
architect, designer, framer, maker, prime mover: The creator of
this painting must have been a genius. 2 God, Supreme Being,
the Deity: Some day you will have to answer to your Creator for
your sins.

creature n. 1 being, organism, entity, living thing: The hound had the
saddest face I have ever seen on any creature. 2 creature
comforts. (physical or bodily or material or mundane or
superficial or non-spiritual) luxuries: He has the money to
enjoy all the creature comforts.


credit n. 1 belief, faith, trust, credence: I don't give much credit
to what they say. 2 creditation, acknowledgement or
acknowledgment, attribution, ascription: Credit for inventing
the telegraph goes to Guglielmo Marconi. 3 trust, confidence,
faithfulness, reliability, trustworthiness, honesty, probity,
dependability; solvency: Her credit rating at the bank is
excellent. 4 honour, commendation, praise, tribute, acclaim,
esteem, recognition, merit: The team's victory in the finals
has brought credit to the school.


--v. 5 believe, trust, hold accountable, put or place one's
faith or confidence in, have faith or confidence in, rely on,
accept, depend on or upon: If you credit the Bible, the world
was created in six days. 6 ascribe, acknowledge, attribute,
assign; impute: The goal was credited to Barnes.


creed n. tenet, dogma, doctrine, credo, teaching, principles, belief,
set of beliefs: She adheres to the creed of the Golden Rule.

creek n. 1 Brit inlet, bay, cove, harbour: Overnight we moored in a
little creek, sheltered from the sea. 2 US and Canadian stream,
streamlet, brook, rivulet, rill, runnel, run, burn: We used to
fish in the creek behind the house.

creep v. 1 crawl, slither, inch, squirm, wriggle, wiggle: A tiny
lizard was creeping up the wall. 2 crawl, drag: The hours
creep by slowly when you have nothing to do. 3 steal, sneak;
slink, skulk, tiptoe, Colloq pussyfoot: The thief must have
crept in through the kitchen window. Someone is creeping about

out there in the dark.

crescent n. 1 demi-lune, semi-lune, lune, lunette: The moon's crescent
hung low in the western sky.


--adj. 2 crescent-shaped, demi-lune, semi-lune, biconcave,
concavo-concave: For chopping, the chef uses a crescent blade
that just fits into a curved wooden bowl.


crest n. 1 top, summit, pinnacle, peak, head, ridge: The surfers
rode in on the crest of a wave. 2 seal, device, figure, badge,
emblem, insigne, symbol, design: The school crest shows an
inkpot and a scroll.


--v. 3 top, crown, surmount, cap: The ancient walls were
crested with ivy. 4 culminate, reach, top, US top out: The
flood-waters crested at nine feet.

crevasse n. gorge, chasm, abyss, ravine, fissure, crack, furrow: One of
the climbers fell into a crevasse in the glacier.

crevice n. crack, fissure, chink, cleft, cranny, groove, furrow, break,
split, rift: Water ran down the crevices in the rocks.


crew n. group, company, band, troupe, party, gang, team, corps,
body: We shall need a crew of twenty for tomorrow's job.

crime n. offence, violation, misdeed, wrong; felony, misdemeanour;
lawlessness: The number of crimes of violence is increasing.


criminal adj. 1 illegal, unlawful, illicit, lawless, dishonest, Colloq
crooked: Arson is a criminal act. We have to weed out the
criminal element. 2 wicked, evil, bad, wrong, corrupt, vile,
black, immoral, amoral, sinful, villainous, iniquitous,
flagitious, depraved; disgraceful, reprehensible: The way they
treat their children is absolutely criminal.

--n. 3 felon, convict, lawbreaker, outlaw, culprit, offender,
miscreant, malefactor, wrongdoer, villain, scoundrel, knave,
blackguard; gangster, Mafioso, desperado, racketeer; hoodlum,
thug, hooligan, tough, ruffian, terrorist, Colloq roughneck, bad
guy, black hat, bad hat, baddie or baddy, crook; Slang hood, US
mobster: He was arrested for consorting with known criminals.


cringe v. 1 cower, wince, flinch, quail, recoil, blench, tremble,
quiver, quake or shake in one's boots or shoes, shrink: That
dirty little coward cringed even when they called his name. 2
defer, kowtow, grovel, crawl, fawn, boot-lick, US apple-polish;
Slang kiss someone's arse or US and Canadian ass, Taboo slang
brown-nose: The man cringed before the magistrate, his eyes
downcast, tugging his forelock.


cripple n. 1 amputee, paralytic: He has been a cripple since the
accident.

--v. 2 disable, lame, incapacitate, handicap, maim; impair,
damage, weaken, debilitate, emasculate, enervate: She was
crippled when a child. The dictator's power was crippled by the
revolt.

crippled adj. 1 disabled, lame, handicapped, incapacitated; weakened,
weak, debilitated: He takes care of his crippled mother. The
crippled party platform succumbed to attack from the far left. 2
damaged, immobilized, inoperative: The crew stayed with the
crippled vessel.

crisis n. 1 turning-point, critical time or moment: She has passed
the crisis and will be better tomorrow. 2 disaster, emergency,
calamity, catastrophe, danger: The storm has created a crisis
and the residents are being evacuated.

crisp adj. 1 brittle, crunchy, friable, breakable, crumbly,
frangible: Keep the biscuits crisp in this special jar. 2
curly, crispy, crinkly, frizzy, frizzled: His hair is brown and
crisp, just like his father's. 3 US chip: I'll bet you can't
eat just one potato crisp.


critical adj. 1 carping, fault-finding, censorious, disparaging,
depreciatory or depreciative, depreciating, deprecatory or
deprecative, deprecating, judgemental: The article was highly
critical of the council. 2 crucial, important, essential,
basic, key, decisive, pivotal, vital, momentous: The meeting at
the bank will be critical for us. 3 grave, serious, dangerous,
uncertain, perilous, severe, touch-and-go, ticklish, sensitive,
touchy, Colloq parlous: His illness has reached the critical
stage.


criticism n. 1 judgement, evaluation, appraisal, analysis, assessment,
estimation, valuation: Their criticism was generally
favourable. 2 censure, disapproval, condemnation,
disparagement: I was very upset by her criticism of my
behaviour. 3 critique, review, commentary: My sister writes
the theatre criticisms for the local paper.

criticize v. 1 judge, evaluate, value, assess, appraise, estimate;
discuss, analyse: He criticizes books for the quarterly. 2
censure, find fault (with), carp (at), cavil (at), condemn,
attack, denounce, disapprove (of), put down, impugn, blast,
lambaste, Colloq pan, knock, Brit slate: His book was
criticized because of its poor scholarship. Why must he
constantly criticize, even when there's nothing wrong?

crooked adj. 1 criminal, dishonest, illegal, unlawful, illicit, wrong,
perverse, Slang Brit bent: Selling a stolen painting is
crooked. 2 bent, bowed, askew, awry, deformed, distorted,
contorted, lopsided, twisted, misshapen, disfigured, warped,
gnarled: Because of the constant west wind, the trees are all
crooked.

cross n. 1 crucifix, rood: In ancient times, it was common to
execute certain criminals by nailing them to a cross. 2 hybrid,
cross-breed, mongrel; blend, combination: This fruit is a cross
between a plum and a pear.

--v. 3 cross off or out. strike out, erase, cancel, rub out,
delete, wipe out: After that remark, I'm crossing you off my
list. 4 meet, intersect, join: The roads cross further on. 5
cross over, go across, pass over, span, traverse: The bridge
crosses the river here.


--adj. 6 peevish, irritated, annoyed, piqued, irritable, testy,
snappish, irascible, surly, choleric, splenetic, grouchy,
huffish or huffy, pettish, cranky, grumpy, touchy, moody,
fractious, vexed, curmudgeonly, petulant, waspish, querulous,
cantankerous, crusty, short-tempered, on a short fuse, Colloq
crotchety, Slang Brit shirty: He's cross because he has a
headache. 7 annoyed, irritated, angry, irate, furious: I was
very cross that you took the car without permission.

crouch v. bend (down), squat (down), hunker down, stoop (down): If
you crouch down, no one will see you in the bushes.

crowd n. 1 throng, multitude, horde, swarm, mass, press, flood, mob,
flock, pack: A huge crowd descended on the village square. 2
company, set, circle, lot, bunch, group, coterie, clique,
claque, faction: She doesn't associate with our crowd any
longer.


--v. 3 throng, swarm, herd, pour, pile, press, cluster, gather,
get together, flood, flock, assemble, congregate: People
crowded into the stadium. 4 push, press, drive, shove, thrust,
force, load, pack, cram, jam, corral: The police crowded the
hooligans into vans. 5 compress, squeeze, pack, jam, cram,
collect; stuff: We were so crowded in the cabin we could hardly
breathe.

crown n. 1 coronet, diadem, wreath, fillet, circlet, tiara: The
princess wore a golden crown set with jewels. 2 sovereignty,
rule, dominion, authority, government, realm, rulership,
jurisdiction: They discovered many lands and annexed them to
the Crown. 3 monarch, ruler, sovereign, potentate; king, queen,
emperor, empress, His or Her Majesty, His or Her Highness: The
Crown has very little real power these days.


--v. 4 enthrone, Colloq US coronate: He was crowned on the
death of his father. 5 cap, top, surmount, culminate, climax,
consummate, fulfil, reward: All her years of practising the
violin were finally crowned with success.


crucial adj. critical, decisive, pivotal, vital, momentous, major,
important, essential: It is crucial that you press the right
button.


crude adj. 1 unrefined, raw, natural, original, unprocessed: Those
are the prices of crude oil, not the petrol used in cars. 2
rough, unpolished, rudimentary, immature, undeveloped,
primitive, unrefined, unfinished: At this stage, she has only a
crude idea of the design. 3 rough, coarse, rude, unrefined,
uncouth, crass, gross, rustic, uncivil: Don't you despise his
crude manners? 4 blunt, brusque, unsophisticated,
inconsiderate, tasteless, indelicate, offensive, improper,
vulgar: How crude of him to ask her how long since her husband

had 'croaked'!

cruel adj. 1 merciless, pitiless, hard-hearted, harsh, stony-hearted,
heartless, unsparing, callous, beastly, cold-blooded, ruthless,
unkind, hard: It was cruel of you to refuse to help. 2
ferocious, inhuman, barbaric, barbarous, brutal, savage,
bloodthirsty, vicious, sadistic, fiendish, diabolical, hellish,
atrocious, Neronian or Neronic or Neroic: His captors subjected
him to the cruellest tortures.


cruise v. 1 sail, coast, travel, journey, voyage; yacht: We cruise in
the Caribbean during the winter.

--n. 2 sail, voyage, journey, boat or yachting trip: I took a
three-day cruise around the Isle of Wight.

crumb n. fragment, morsel, bite, scrap, particle, shred, snippet,
sliver, bit, speck, scintilla, mote, molecule, atom: There
isn't a crumb of food in the house.


crumble v. disintegrate, fragment, break apart, break up, shiver, come
to pieces: Acid rain has caused the stone fa‡ade to crumble. In
the face of the attack, his resolve crumbled.


crumple v. wrinkle, crush, crease, rumple, mangle, crinkle: Your
jacket is all crumpled.

crunch v. 1 chew, bite, crush, grind, munch: He crunched the nuts
between his teeth.


--n. 2 moment of truth, decision time, crisis, critical moment,
showdown, crux, juncture: You can count on me when it comes to
the crunch.


crusade n. 1 campaign, expedition, holy war; jihad or jehad: He joined
the crusade against the Saracens.

--v. 2 campaign, war, battle; take up a cause, lobby, fight:
She is crusading for equal rights for women.


crush n. 1 break, smash, crunch, pulverize, shiver, splinter, pound,
grind: The vandals crushed the statue to bits with hammers. 2
crumple, wrinkle, crease, crinkle, rumple, mangle: The shirts

came back crushed from the laundry. 3 squash, pulp, mash,
squeeze, compress, press: The machine crushes the oranges and
extracts the juice. 4 overcome, defeat, conquer, vanquish,
beat, thrash; subdue, put down, quash, quell, overwhelm,
squelch, suppress, repress: The title-holder crushed the
challenger. The junta crushed the uprising without bloodshed. 5
abash, embarrass, shame, mortify, depress, devastate, humiliate,
disgrace: She was really crushed when he refused to see her.


--n. 6 press, pressure, crowd: When the fire alarm sounded, I
was almost caught in the crush of the people trying to escape.

cry v. 1 weep, sob, wail, keen, bawl, shed tears: Paul cried when
they took his mother away. 2 whimper, snivel, pule, mewl,
whine, moan, groan, fret, Colloq turn on the waterworks, Brit
grizzle: Don't cry over spilt milk. 3 cry out for. demand,
need, call for, beg for, plead for: Her hair is so untidy it
cries out for trimming. Wanton murder cries out for vengeance.


--n. 4 scream, shriek, wail, howl, yowl: I heard the mournful
cries of those being tortured. 5 shout, whoop, yell, howl:
Uttering blood-curdling cries, the rebels attacked. 6 call,
sound, note: The noise was the cry of the lesser grebe to its
mate. 7 war cry, battle-cry, slogan, watchword: 'Down with the
king!' was the cry used to rally the rabble. 8 a far cry. a
long way, quite a distance, remote, distant, not, not quite,
very different (from): This report is a far cry from what I had
expected.


crypt n. tomb, vault, mausoleum, sepulchre, grave, catacomb; cellar,
basement: He is buried in the crypt of St Paul's.

cryptic adj. 1 secret, occult, mystical, hidden, esoteric, mystic,
cabbalistic: The sarcophagus was covered with cryptic symbols.
2 obscure, mysterious, unclear, nebulous, vague, inscrutable,
recondite, arcane, enigmatic, puzzling: I cannot make head or
tail of her cryptic remarks.

3.8 cuddle...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



cuddle v. 1 snuggle up (to), nestle or huddle (against): She cuddled

the baby closer to her. 2 caress, embrace, fondle, hug, pet,
bill and coo, make love (to), Colloq neck, smooch, Australian
and New Zealand smoodge or smooge, Slang US make out (with),
watch the submarine races: The couple were cuddling in the back
seat.

--n. 3 hug, embrace, snuggle: Give us a cuddle, Janie.

cue n. 1 prompt, hint, reminder, signal, sign: Give her the cue to
start singing.

--v. 2 signal, prompt, remind: She was cueing me to begin, but
I'd lost my voice.


culprit n. 1 accused, prisoner: How does the culprit plead? 2
offender, criminal, malefactor, wrongdoer: They caught the
culprit red-handed.

cultivate v. 1 till, plough, farm, work: These lands have been
cultivated since time immemorial. 2 grow, raise, tend, produce:
What crops can be cultivated in this climate? 3 develop,
promote, further, encourage, foster, advance: She's been
cultivating a friendship with her boss. 4 woo, make advances
to, ingratiate oneself with, court, pay court to, curry favour
with, Colloq work on, Slang suck up to, butter up, US shine up
to; Taboo slang brown-nose: He is cultivating Trevor only
because he wants something from him.

cultivated
adj. sophisticated, cultured, educated, refined, elegant,
soign‚(e), civilized, polished, aristocratic, urbane, suave,
cosmopolitan: She prefers to go out with cultivated older men.

culture n. 1 cultivation, refinement, sophistication, urbanity,
suavity, elegance, (good) breeding, background, erudition,
education, enlightenment, learning, taste, discrimination,
savoir faire, savoir vivre, discernment: She is a lady of
considerable culture as well as beauty. 2 civilization, mores,
customs, lifestyle, way of life, (sense of) values: In their
culture, biting someone is a sign of love and respect.

curb n. 1 check, restraint, control: You should put a curb on your
tongue.


--v. 2 check, restrain, bridle, control, contain, repress,
subdue, suppress: Try to curb your exuberance.


cure n. 1 course of treatment, therapy, remedy, medication,
medicament, medicine, drug, prescription; cure-all, nostrum,
panacea: The doctor said there was no cure for her illness.

--v. 2 heal, mend, restore to health or working order, remedy,
rectify, correct, repair, fix: What can't be cured must be
endured. 3 smoke, pickle, dry, salt, preserve, corn, marinate:
That cured ox tongue is simply delicious!

curiosity n. 1 inquisitiveness, interest: His insatiable curiosity next
led him to study astronomy. 2 snooping, prying, peeping,
intrusiveness, meddlesomeness, interference, Colloq nosiness,
Nosy Parkerism: Curiosity killed the cat. 3 curio, oddity,
rarity, conversation piece, objet de virtu or vertu, objet
d'art, found object; bric-…-brac or bric-a-brac, knick-knack,
bauble, trinket, gewgaw: The shop sells curiosities, like
goblets made from ostrich eggs. In those days, every house had
a curiosity cabinet.

curious adj. 1 inquisitive, inquiring, interested: I am curious to
know what you were doing in there all night. 2 snooping,
prying, intrusive, meddlesome, interfering, Colloq nosy: Our
neighbours are entirely too curious about our activities. 3
odd, peculiar, eccentric, strange, outr‚, queer, unusual,
outrageous, offbeat, weird, bizarre, unconventional, freakish,
exotic, singular, out of the ordinary, extraordinary, erratic,
pixilated, quaint, outlandish, grotesque, aberrant, abnormal,
singular, irregular, deviant, deviate, Colloq kinky, nuts,
nutty; Slang Brit barmy: How do you explain Frieda's curious
behaviour?


current adj. 1 contemporary, ongoing, present, contemporaneous,
simultaneous, coeval: The current issue of the magazine came
out last week. 2 prevalent, prevailing, common, popular,
accepted, known, widespread, reported, in circulation, going
round or around, bruited about, widely known, in the air,
present-day: The current theories reject those of a decade ago.
3 fashionable, stylish, … la mode, modish, in vogue, latest, up
to date, Colloq trendy: The current trend is towards shorter

skirts. 4 US up to date, in the know, informed, advised, in
touch, aware, posted, au courant, au fait, on the qui vive: The
Financial Journal keeps me current on stock prices.


--n. 5 stream, flow, undercurrent: The canoe was caught in the
current and carried away. 6 course, progress, tendency, tenor,
drift, trend, inclination, mainstream: The current of public
opinion is turning in favour of policies that are more
environmentally responsible.


curse n. 1 malediction, imprecation, denunciation, damnation,
execration, oath: He heaped curses on all those who opposed
him. 2 evil, bane, misfortune, affliction, torment, harm,
scourge, cross to bear: The curse of our generation is that so
few of us deeply believe anything. 3 profanity, oath, blasphemy,
obscenity, bad language, dirty word, swear-word, curse-word: A
stream of curses issued from the bathroom when Joe cut himself
shaving.


--v. 4 damn, execrate, blast, denounce, anathematize,
excommunicate: He was cursed by the priests and forbidden ever
to enter a temple again. 5 swear at, blaspheme at: The muleteer
was cursing his team. 6 burden, saddle, weigh down, handicap:
She was cursed with bad eyesight and had to wear thick glasses.


cursory adj. superficial, hasty, hurried, passing, quick, slapdash,
perfunctory, rapid, summary: She gave the note a cursory glance
and threw it away.


curt adj. abrupt, short, terse, brief, laconic, concise; blunt,
gruff, harsh, brusque, unceremonious, snappish, crusty, rude:
His answer was a curt 'No', without any explanation.

curtail v. shorten, abbreviate, cut short, abridge, diminish, reduce,
cut, cut back, cut down: Both our working week and our salaries
were curtailed.

cushion n. 1 pillow, bolster, pad: The women of the harem sat on
cushions on the floor.


--v. 2 soften, absorb, mitigate, reduce, buffer, insulate,
mollify, lessen: They offered me a month's paid holiday to help
cushion the blow of being transferred.


custody n. 1 care, custodianship, safe keeping, protection, charge,
guardianship, keeping: She was granted custody of the children.
2 imprisonment, detention, incarceration, confinement: The
police took three troublemakers into custody.

custom n. 1 practice, habit, usage, fashion, way, wont, tradition,
routine, convention, form: According to custom, the warriors of
the tribe paint their bodies. 2 customs. toll, duty, impost,
tax, excise, levy, dues, tariff: He was assigned to collect
customs and port duties. 3 patronage, support, business, trade:
The new butcher needs as much custom as possible.

--adv. 4 specially, especially, expressly, exclusively,
particularly; to order: All her clothes are custom-made.

customary adj. 1 usual, normal, conventional, routine, everyday, common,
commonplace, ordinary: Is it customary for them to eat lunch on
the premises? 2 accustomed, habitual, regular, traditional,
wonted: I took the customary way home.

customer n. 1 client, patron, buyer, purchaser; consumer: Mrs Morris is
one of our regular customers. 2 chap, fellow, character,
person, guy, Colloq Brit bloke: She would never go out with an
ugly customer like that.

cut v. 1 gash, slash, slit; open: I cut my finger on the glass. 2
slice, cut off, carve: Please cut me a thick piece of steak. 3
Often, cut up. hurt, wound, pain, upset, grieve, distress,
aggrieve, slight, insult, offend, affront: I was really all cut
up by her nasty remarks. 4 trim, snip, lop, clip, crop,
shorten, shear, chop off; mow; dock: The barber has cut too
much off the sides. 5 abbreviate, shorten, crop, condense,
abridge, edit, cut back, reduce, cut down; epitomize, abstract,
digest, summarize, curtail: Cut this script to make it fit into
the allotted time. 6 dilute, thin, water (down), weaken;
degrade, adulterate: They cut the rum with water to make grog.
7 avoid, fail to attend, eschew: Cynthia cut classes three days
this week. 8 lower, reduce, lessen, cut back (on), cut down
(on), slash, diminish, decrease, retrench (on), curtail: We
shall have to cut expenses if the company is to survive. 9
conclude, settle, agree: Once the deal was cut, there was no
going back on it. 10 prepare, draw, write, sign: We'll have

accounting cut your cheque and send it at once. 11 cut back. a
See 5, above. b See 8, above. 12 Often, cut dead. snub,
slight, spurn, shun, ignore, give the cold shoulder (to):
Cornelia had the gall to cut Jason dead at his own party. 13
cut down. a fell, chop or hew down: Don't cut down that tree!
b kill, cut off, murder, assassinate: He was cut down in his
prime. 14 cut in. interrupt, intrude, interfere, Colloq butt
in: Please don't cut in on our conversation. 15 cut off. a
cleave, sever, chop or lop or hack off: Cut the branch off near
the trunk. b intercept, interrupt, discontinue, end, stop,
terminate, break off: There was a click and our phone
conversation was cut off. c separate, sever, split, estrange:
He's been cut off from the family for years. d disinherit,
disown, reject: She was cut off with a shilling. 16 cut out.
a delete, remove, excise, strike or cross out, edit out, omit,
cut, kill, Technical dele: The publishers made me cut out parts
of the book that they were advised might be libellous. b
extract, excise, remove, resect: My appendix was cut out years
ago. c stop, cease, desist (from), quit: Whenever it rains the
engine cuts out. Cut out the clowning around. d suit, equip,
fit: I don't think Cyril's cut out to be a lumberjack. e plan,
prepare, ready, organize, destine: He certainly has his work
cut out for him! 17 cut up. a chop (up), dice, cube, mince,
cut, divide (up), carve (up): Cut the celery up very small. b
misbehave: The football supporters began to cut up rough. 18
cut up rough. get angry, lose one's temper, show resentment:
The driver began to cut up rough when I refused to pay.

--n. 19 gash, slash, incision, nick, wound: I got a nasty cut
from that razor. 20 share, portion, percentage, piece,
dividend, commission: Blatchley gets a cut on every car we
sell. 21 reduction, cut-back, curtailment, decrease: The
government's cuts in spending affect us all. 22 deletion,
excision, omission: The author refuses to approve the cuts in
the script. 23 affront, insult, offence, slight, snub, dig,
jibe, slap in the face, cold shoulder: The unkindest cut was
the accusation of cheating. 24 engraving, plate: This cut is
too badly worn for use now. 25 artwork, picture, illustration,
plate, drawing, line cut, line engraving, half-tone: The book
has 300 cuts and only 20 pages of text.

--adj. 26 separated, detached, severed: I prefer cut flowers
to a plant. 27 abridged, abbreviated, cut-down, shortened,

edited, curtailed: The magazine published a cut version of the
novel. 28 reduced, diminished, lowered, discounted: This shop
sells everything at cut prices. 29 cut and dried. a clear-cut,
settled, arranged, decided, predetermined, prearranged:
Unfortunately, the solution to this problem is not cut and
dried. b stale, unoriginal, trite, hackneyed, old; dull,
boring: His suggestions for improvement are always cut and
dried. c manufactured, automatic, unchanging, unchanged: Mr
Mackay will again present his old cut and dried plan.


cute adj. 1 pretty, attractive, adorable, dainty, lovely, beautiful,
Colloq US cunning: There were a lot of cute children at the
beauty competition. 2 clever, shrewd, ingenious, adroit,
crafty, cunning: It was very cute of him to suggest his brother
for the job.

cutthroat n. 1 murderer, pirate, killer, thug, hatchet man, gunman,
assassin, Slang US gunsel, torpedo, hit man: Those streets are
frequented by thieves and cutthroats.


--adj. 2 merciless, ruthless, unmerciful, unprincipled,
relentless, pitiless, brutal, cold-blooded, cold-hearted: Her
cutthroat tactics call for dismissing all executives. 3
murderous, homicidal, lethal, deadly, barbaric, fierce, cruel,
barbarous, savage, inhuman, brutal, brutish, violent, ferocious,
bloodthirsty, sanguinary, bloody, feral, vicious, truculent: He
was once a member of a gang of cutthroat hoodlums.

cutting adj. 1 severe, biting, chill, cold, icy, frigid, freezing, raw,
piercing, penetrating: A cutting wind seemed to go right
through me. 2 sarcastic, sardonic, bitter, scornful, sneering,
acid, scathing, acerb(ic), wounding, stern, harsh, caustic,
mordant, acrimonious, contemptuous; malevolent, malicious,
invidious, vicious, venomous: Her cutting remarks completely
devastated me.

--n. 3 scion, slip, clipping: Mrs Galloway allowed me to take
a cutting from her rose bush.


3.9 cycle
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

cycle n. 1 round, rotation, circle, course; series, sequence, run,
succession, pattern: We must learn to break the continuous
cycles of war and peace.


--v. 2 recur, return, rotate, recycle, circle: The water from
the fountain is cycled back to the reservoir.