Saturday, May 28, 2011

Engage

(i) Carry out or participate in an activity; be involved in: ‘They engaged in a discussion’ (ii) Consume all of one's attention or time: ‘Her interest in books engages her completely.’ (iii) Start in a job or pay to do a particular piece of work: ‘They engaged two new secretaries in the department.’(iv) Be/get engaged: ‘When did you get engaged?’ ‘We were engaged for almost a year before we got married.’

Engaged

(i)Be/get engaged to sb: ‘When we first met, she was already engaged to an airline pilot.’ (ii) Having one's attention, mind or energy occupied: ‘He is deeply engaged in conversation.’ (iii) Reserved in advance: ‘Three or four of these highway lanes must be engaged for passenger cars only’. (iv) (Of facilities such as telephones) unavailable for use by anyone else or indicating unavailability: ‘His telephone numbers are always engaged.’

Monday, May 23, 2011

Emergency

As noun = (i) A sudden unforeseen crisis (usually involving danger) that requires immediate action: ‘Always try to stay calm in an emergency.’ ‘She never knew what to do in an emergency.’(ii) A state in which martial law applies: ‘The president declared a state of emergency.’

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Elect

Elect = Select (someone) by a vote for an office or membership: ‘The committee has elected a new chairman.’

Choose = decide which one you want: ‘We choose Sri Lanka because we hadn’t been there before.’

Friday, May 20, 2011

Economics

(i)A branch of social science that deals with the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services and their management or the study of how money is earned, spent, and controlled within the country: ‘He is in his second year at oxford, studying economics.’ (ii) The financial aspect of something: ‘The economics of dairy farming.’

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Efficient

(i) Being effective without wasting time, effort or expense: ‘Efficient engines save petrol.’

(ii) Able to accomplish a purpose; functioning effectively ‘He is an efficient production manager.’

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Each other

Each other (reciprocal pronoun) has no plural form: ‘We've been writing letters to each other for the last two years.’ ‘We help each other through hard times.’

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Dust

Small dry particles: very small dry particles of a substance such as sand or coal, either in the form of a deposit or a cloud.

Dust is an uncountable noun: ‘The house hadn’t been lived in for a long time and the furniture was covered in dust.’

Monday, May 16, 2011

Drown

Drown (verb) = die by being under the water and unable to breathe: ‘Help him! He’s drowning!’ ‘The lifeguard got to him too late. He had already drowned.’

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Divorce

Get a divorce or get divorced = (the legal dissolution of a marriage or formally terminating a marriage): ‘It took my sister almost a year to get a divorce.’ ‘I had just turned ten when my parents got divorced.’

Be/get divorced (WITH‘d’): ‘It seems as if getting divorced has become a fashion now-a-days’

Divorce

Get a divorce or get divorced = (the legal dissolution of a marriage or formally terminating a marriage): ‘It took my sister almost a year to get a divorce.’ ‘I had just turned ten when my parents got divorced.’

Be/get divorced (WITH‘d’): ‘It seems as if getting divorced has become a fashion now-a-days’

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Disguise

Disguise: conceal or cover up the truth or actual character of by a deceptive form or appearance; mislead: ‘He is a master of disguise.’ ‘I disguise myself as a reporter to get into the building.’

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Discourage

(i) Try to prevent; show opposition to: ‘We should discourage female feticide.’ (ii) Try to persuade sb not to do sth: ‘Somehow, we have to discourage people from committing suicide.’ ‘He tried to discourage her going alone.’(iii) Deprive of courage or hope; take away hope from; cause to feel discouraged: ‘He was discouraged by repeated failure.’

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Different

(i) Unlike in nature, quality, form or degree; A is different from/to B: ‘Alex was different from all the other boys she knew.’ ‘This meeting was different from the earlier one.’ (ii) Marked by dissimilarity: ‘People are profoundly different.’

Different than is used in American English but is rarely used in British English.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Deter

Deter sb (from doing sth) = persuade them not to do it or try to prevent: ‘The common assumption is that imprisonment deters them from returning to a life crime.’ ‘Painting the metal will deter rust.’

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Destroy

Do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of: ‘The fire destroyed the house.’

When you mean ‘remove the pleasure of enjoyment from’, use spoil or ruin (= spoil completely): ‘The trip was spoilt by bad weather.’ ‘I’ve spent weeks planning this surprise party for Dad, and now you’ve ruined it by telling him.’

When you mean ‘make something less attractive, effective or useful’, use spoil or ruin (= spoil completely): ‘If you open the camera you’ll ruin the film.’

Friday, May 6, 2011

Desert

Desert = a large area of land, where there is usually nothing but sand (arid land with little or no vegetation): ‘The Sahara is the world’s largest hot desert’

Deserted = (i) empty and quiet, especially because the people who are usually there have all left: ‘At night, the city streets are deserted.’(ii) Leave or abandon (a person, place, etc.) without intending to return: ‘He deserted his wife.’

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Depart

(i) Depart from a place (= leave): ‘The shuttle service to Atlanta will depart from platform seven.’ ‘The next ferry will depart from the pier at 9.30 a.m.’ (ii) Remove oneself from an association with or participation in: ‘She wants to depart.’(iii) Deviate (usually followed by from): ‘His statement seems to depart from the party policy.’

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Defect

Defect (a fault, deficiency or imperfection) is a noun: ‘The test flight detected a number of defects in the navigation system.’

The adjective is defective: ‘Now-a-days defective software is quite unusual.’ ‘I returned the appliance because it was defective.’

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Death

(i) Death from a disease: ‘The increased number of deaths from malaria was causing concern.’ ‘In the United States, there were over 17,000 deaths from AIDS in 1991.’

(ii) End of life: ‘Her death came as a terrible shock.’ (iii) The permanent end of all life functions in an organism: ‘She died a painful death.’

Monday, May 2, 2011

Dead

Dead is an adjective and describes a state of non- living; deprived of life: ‘I can’t tell whether that plant is dead or alive.’ ‘The dead fishes were floating on the surface.’

Died is the past tense and past participle of die: ‘She died from heart attack.’ ‘He died on the way to hospital.’