se balader (=to go gallivanting) I can't go gallivanting like a youngster A girl's place is in the home, not gallivanting around and filling her head with nonsense.
se déchaîner Hundreds of fans went on the rampage after the match. se livrer à des saccages gangs of youths rampaged on the fringes of the demonstration They went rampaging through the town.
to whizz along = filer à toute vitesse to whizz past = passer à toute vitesse Ten minutes later, the rest of the cyclists whizzed past. whizz kid = petit prodige a financial whizz kid.
apprivoisé « They've got a tame hedgehog. » [story, style, match, film] fade « Some of today's political demonstrations look rather tame. » apprivoiser, dompter, dresser « The Amazons were the first to tame horses. »
dispute a feud between the prime minister and his chancellor a family feud to feud (with) = se disputer, se quereller their families had feuded since their daughters quarrelled two years ago. blood feud =vendetta
gémissement [+siren, engine] hurlement the whine of air-raid sirens pleurnicher, gémir The dog started to whine with impatience [siren, engine] hurler The engines whined
faussement effarouché, faussement timide séducteur a coy little smile. évasif to be coy over sth, to be coy about sth « The Chancellor was coy over the deal with the Prime Minister. »
enjambée, foulée he walked with long strides. démarche he had a purposeful stride = Il avait une démarche décidée. avancée a great stride has been taken towards our goal
fouet, cravache to whip = battre to whip the cream to crack the whip = to use one's authority to make someone work harder, usually by threatening or punishing them whiplash = coup du lapin
brettelles "belt and braces" = très prudent, qui garantit une sécurité maximum a belt-and-braces solution
accolades balanced braces bracing = vivifiant
[clothes] terne, morne Mary was wearing the same drab grey dress. [room, place] glauque his drab little office [life] monotone a way of escaping the tedium of their drab lives
randonnée We were out on a country ramble an hour's ramble through the woods to go for a ramble = faire une randonnée to ramble = to hike I was rambling over the hills of Yorkshire.
to ramble on = déblatérer she began rambling on about her childhood.
laisser perplexe The question has baffled experts for years his reaction baffled me
« » baffling = déroutant, troublant « the most baffling medical mystery. »