repère, point de repère → « The tower is a landmark visible for miles → Big Ben is one of London's most famous landmarks. » to be a landmark = faire date / époque → « The discovery of penicillin was a landmark in medicine. » (cf: milestone) qui fait jurisprudence → « The payout is believed to be a landmark case because it breaks the established principle that... → the landmark decision that prompted US deregulation. »
austere, désolé, morne → « We then passed through a much starker landscape. » [choix] douloureux. « UK companies face a stark choice if they are to stay competitive. » to issue a stark warning = lancer un sévère avertissement. « He issued a stark warning to Washington and other Western Capitals. » stark naked = complètement nu →« He came out of the bathroom stark naked. »
défaut
→ This study has serious flaws
→ The main flaw in his character is his short temper design flaw = défaut de conception → A design flaw with the aircraft caused the crash.
chanceler, balancer, tanguer. « He didn't fall, but swayed a little. » influencer. Do not be swayed by glamorous advertisements. emprise → to hold sway = exercer son emprise → to be under the sway of sb/sth = être sous l'emprise de qn/qch.
défoncé, bourré : « Parker's habit was to cause him to miss gigs and to be fired for being high. » to be high on sth = être sous l'emprise de qch, être défoncé à qch. to get high = se défoncer → smoking cannabis to get high to get high on crack = se défoncer au crack.
siffler → « the locomotive stood immobile, steam hissing out of its vents → the snake hissed → the audience hissed at the play. » feuler (chat)→ « my cat hissed when I stepped on its tail. » grésiller → « droplets of fat hissed in the flames. Des gouttelettes de graisse grésillaient dans les flammes. » sifflement, grésillement → « the CD banished for ever all the hisses and crackles that had plagued disc recordings until then. Le CD a banni à jamais tous les grésillements et craquements qui étaient jusqu'alors la plaie des enregistrements musicaux. »
vigne téléphone arabe => I heard it on the grapevine : je l'ai appris par le téléphone arabe. » When Wynton Marsalis began to pick up gigs around New York City in 1978, the grapevine began to buzz. Two years later he was rewarded with the opportunity to join the Jazz Messengers. »
bouquet « a bunch of flowers » a bunch of keys : un trousseau de clés [+bananas] régime a bunch of grapes : une grappe de raisin [+people] groupe → « We were a pretty inexperienced bunch of people. → They're a great bunch : c'est une chouette équipe. the best of the bunch : le or la meilleur(e) de la bande. » bunches = couettes → « She had her hair tied in bunches. »
poursuivre avec acharnement → the newspapers hounded him → to be hounded by the press = être harcelé par la presse chien de meute the hounds = la meute
coup sec → after a couple of yanks, the rope came free. to give sth a yank tirer d'un coup sec sur qch [+rope, cord] tirer d'un coup sec → to yank an emergency cord. to yank sth open : ouvrir qch d'un coup sec → she yanked open the drawer = elle ouvrit le tiroir d'un coup sec.
(for money, power) : avidité, cupidité → all the hatred and violence, greed and selfishness in the world → It was a crime motivated by pure greed. greed for sth : avidité de qch, soif de qch → his greed for knowledge and experience → an insatiable greed for personal power and glory gourmandise → I wasn't really hungry, it was just pure greed that made me eat it.
tanière, antre repaire → a drinking den : un repaire d'ivrognes → illegal drinking dens a den of sth (vice, debauchery) : un lieu de qch → his flat became a den of debauchery → « a den of greed »
premier plan → in the foreground au premier plan → this is another worry that has come to the foreground in recent years. to put sth in the foreground (=make a priority) mettre qch en avant → issues that were placed in the foreground
tentative « his first endeavours in the field were wedding films. » effort « the benefits of investment in scientific endeavour. »
> human endeavour = effort humain « a marvel of engineering and human endeavour. » to endeavour to do sth = tenter de faire qch, s'efforcer de faire qch « he endeavoured to adopt a positive attitude. »
1 [ashes, rubble] être encore chaud → the ruins are still smouldering.
2 [hatred, resentment] ne pas être éteint → his hatred for his brother still smoulders after twenty years.
1- picotement, frisson → a tingle of excitement = un frisson d'excitation
2- frissonner (d'excitation) → hours after he had kissed her, she was still tingling → fans who tingle with anticipation as they await the arrival of the teams
atmosphère → he says he loves the city and the vibe here.
>> to get good vibes from sb = ressentir des ondes positives avec qn
>> to feel the vibes ressentir les ondes positives → I could feel the vibes and it gave me a tingle.
1- brillant → her glossy brown hair → lipstick with a glossy finish
2- glossy magazine : magazine de luxe → all the glossy magazines carried pictures of the Royal Wedding.
bourgeon → early summer, just before the buds open
=> budding = bourgeonnant, naissant → she looked up through the budding trees → Russia's budding democracy
lurking in the bushes outside. rôder → I dared not open the door for fear of the photographers lurking outside. planer (fig.)→ this threat always lurks somewhere in the background. menacer → fascism is always lurking somewhere.
1- complètement → the house was comprehensively rebuilt → the government has comprehensively rejected the UN resolution
2- à plate couture → England were comprehensively beaten by South Africa. L'Afrique du Sud a battu l'Angleterre à plate couture.
1- remonter → to wind up the clockwork mouse
=> remonter une fenêtre → he started winding the window up.
2- [+company] fermer → They wound up the company last year.
3- terminer, clôturer → could we wind up this meeting as quickly as possible?
4- to wind up doing sth = finir par faire qch → I wound up walking all the way home → she'll wind up losing that bag if she doesn't look after it.
5- to wind up in jail se retrouver en prison → you'll wind up in jail if you carry on like this.
attacher his hands were bound behind the post the tape which was used to bind the files unir it is the threat of persecution that binds them together.
obliger the treaty binds them to respect their neighbour's independence to be legally bound to do sth.
to be in a bind : être dans le pétrin
to be in a double bind : être dans une impasse
1- étouffer → Philip choked on his drink → he choked on a fishbone.
2- étrangler → a woman was found choked to death
3- boucher, obstruer → a canal choked with old tyres and dead dogs → the centre of the city was choked with cars.
4- starter → the car is on full choke and it still won't start.