se serrer les coudes they would be far better off, emotionally, if they all pulled together. In times of crisis, we all need to pull together. to pull o.s. together = se ressaisir She made an effort to pull herself together before going into the room.
malédiction they believe that there is a curse fallen on their village to call down / to put a curse on = maudire quelqu'un the town is under a curse = la ville est sous le coup d'une malédiction
faire gicler (liquide), faire jaillir squirt some oil on the hinges = mettez quelques gouttes d'huile sur les gonds. they were squirting each other with water = they were squirting water at each other he squirted some soda water into his whisky. giclée, jet [of mustard, ketchup, etc] péj.: minus, avorton, mioche
accueillir placer -> the children were fostered (out) at an early age les enfants foster child = enfant masculin placé dans une famille d'accueil foster home = famille d'accueil foster mother/father = mère/père de la famille d'accueil
[hill, road] raide, abrupt, escarpé it's a steep climb to the village ; the plane went into a steep dive = l'avion se mit à piquer du nez [increase, fall] fort a steep drop in share prices = une forte chute du prix des actions [unreasonable] it's a bit steep asking us to do all that work by Friday! = c'est un peu fort or un peu raide de nous demander de faire tout ce travail pour vendredi to steep = (faire) tremper, macérer, mariner fig.: I want to steep myself in the atmosphere of the place.
lire attentivement, examiner, consulter « We perused the company's financial statements for the past five years. »« She found the information while she was perusing a copy of Life magazine. »
malheur, infortune The woes of economic reform: poverty and income inequality. a tale of woe = une histoire triste « a tale of woe with a happy ending » a cry of woe un = cri de détresse hélas woe is me! = pauvre de moi!
couture your coat is falling apart at the seams = votre manteau se découd. my suitcase is bursting at the seams = ma valise est pleine à craquer joint, soudure fig.: their marriage falling apart at the seams = leur mariage craque
bouclier, écran protecteur he used his left hand as a shield against the reflecting sunlight = il se servit de sa main gauche pour protéger ses yeux de la lumière du soleil. trophée our school won the sports shield last year. to shield = protéger a parasol to shield her from the sun.
[concept, idea, word] désuet in 2015 information will only come in video, and text and images will become some quaint, outdated media, like engravings are now. quaint old 50s phrases. the Seventies disco craze now seems impossibly quaint and dated. pittoresque quaint little shops and arcade restaurants.
bassin « we've got a pond in our garden. » étang « ponds attract migrating birds. » a duck pond = une mare aux canards lily pond = mare aux nénuphars the pond = l'Atlantique
[behaviour] farfelu [sexually] vicieux, pervers he likes kinky sex = il a des goûts sexuels un peu spéciaux olé olé kinky rubber underwear = des dessous olé olé en latex [rope, cable] entortillé, emmêlé [hair] crépu, frisé