General Vocabulary

Fool around- to behave in a silly way for fun.

Sentence- Why fool around with money, or taking teeth out, when I might not enjoy it as much?

To fuel-to make something increase or stronger.

Sentence- Lead is added to fuel to make car engines run more smoothly.

Go to great lengths to do something-put a great deal of effort to accomplish something.

Sentence- He went to great lengths to prove his point. She went to great lengths to assist her mate.

Glossy-smooth and shiny, so as to look real and attractive.

Sentence- This magazine is full of glossy advertisements for aftershave.

Get through- to successfully deal with a problem or overcome a difficulty.

Sentence- You’ll have to break the branches away to get through the thick forest.

Gratitude- the feeling of being thankful or grateful.

Sentence- As a token of our gratitude for all that you have done, we would like you to accept this small gift.

Generally speaking- used to describe a general feeling or opinion about something.

Sentence- Generally speaking, people did not move very far.

Get to grips with- to make an effort to handle or deal with something difficult.

Sentence- They were so keen to get to grips with the enemy that they disregarded much of the training in stealth and guile.

(To) get access to- to get the right to use something or enter a place.

Sentence- Howling Banshee Exarchs get access to a pair of Mirrorswords, a paired set of power weapons.

Viral- spread quickly and widely through the Internet.

Sentence- Pneumonia tends to be caused by streptococcal or viral infection.

To gain access to the internet/to access the internet- to have a chance to use the internet.

Sentence- I need a mobile phone which can gain access to the internet.

Go out of one’s way (to do something)-to make a special effort to do something.

Sentence- Host really went out of his way to make me feel special.

Grossly- extremely; excessively – used to describe something unpleasant or untrue.

Sentence- The welfare system is grossly inequitable and inefficient.

Genuine leather-real leather.

Sentence- Tom traded his genuine leather jacket for your mink coat.

High degree of- high level of.

Sentence- The journey round Cape Horn demanded a high degree of seamanship.

Highly credible- very trustful.

Sentence- The story he told me was highly credible.

To hinder- to make it difficult for somebody to do something or for something to happen.

Sentence- Landslides and bad weather are continuing to hinder the arrival of relief supplies to the area.

Humane- showing compassion, kindness, and sympathy towards others.

Sentence- Animals are now raised in more humane conditions.

Haunt- a place that a specified person or group of people frequently visit or where they spend a lot of time.

Sentence- These visions continued to haunt her for many years.

To hide one’s light under a bushel- if you hide your light under a bushel, you keep your talents or accomplishments hidden from other people.

Sentence- He has made some good computer programs, but he don’t tell much about it. He hides his light under a bushel.

Have yet to- if you have yet to do something, you have not done or completed it.

Sentence- They have yet to break the link with the trade unions.

Host country- a country hosting an event.

Sentence- It was like soccer’s World Cup host country handing over the television rights to the visiting nations.

Huge number of- an extremely large amount of something.

Sentence- This depends on a huge number of different receptor proteins, each tuned to a different sort of chemical stimulus.