tenue she bought a new outfit for the wedding. sport outfit = tenue de sport to outfit [+room, building] = équiper I outfitted an attic bedroom as a studio.
coup de veine The discovery was something of a fluke by fluke = par un coup de chance extraordinaire By sheer fluke, one of the shipowner's employees was in the city.
faille, lacune (dans une loi) a loophole in the law a legal loophole = un vide juridique to close a loophole = combler une lacune It's time we closed the loophole which allows criminals to gain easy access to lethal weapons.
to con = arnaquer, escroquer she's been conned. to con sb into doing sth = tromper qn pour lui faire faire qch to con sb out of sth = soutirer qch à qn he goes around conning people out of their money. He conned investors out of up to $1000 each.
con man = conman = escroc A few years ago she was the victim of a con man.
être sujet(te) à qch he is prone to indigestion after rich restaurant meals. He was prone to depression. être enclin(e) à qch males are more prone to violence être susceptible de people with fair skin are more prone to develop skin cancer.
error-prone : source d'erreur
[boat, cork] flotter Something white was bobbing in the water. to bob up and down (in water) = danser, sautiller to bob about (in the air) = se balancer Huge balloons bobbed about in the sky above. to bob up = remonter brusquement à la surface Suddenly an object bobbed up from below the surface.
être à la hauteur (fig.) I have to watch my staff all the time to keep them up to the mark. The efforts of the security services have not been quite up to the mark.
ortie. « Nettles have a bad reputation. They sting and they're invasive. » to grasp the nettle = se jeter à l'eau, prendre le taureau par les cornes. « I hope the government grasps the nettle and comes up with a valid, long-term solution. »
écouter ce qui se dit The housemaid eavesdropped from behind the kitchen door = La servante écoutait ce qui se disait de derrière la porte de la cuisine.
to eavesdrop on sb = écouter qn (de façon indiscrète).