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.
1- brume → they vanished into the haze near the horizon → the sun smouldered through a thin summer haze.
2- nuage → he smiled at him through a haze of smoke and steaming coffee → a haze of cigarette smoke.
>> hazy = brumeux, vague → a warm, hazy summer → she had only a hazy idea of Britain's prison problems.
1- donner un coup de pied → he kicked me → he kicked the ball hard.
2- ruer → that old mare kicks like a mule.
3- to get a kick out of sth = se régaler de qch → they loved argument, and got a kick out of court proceedings.
4- to do sth for kicks = faire qch parce qu'on aime les émotions fortes → I guess she does all these dangerous sports for kicks.
1- pousser → he dragged her out to the door and shoved her into the street → she shoved as hard as she could.
2- to shove sb out of the way : écarter qn en le poussant
3- fourrer → We'll shove an extra paragraph in here → he shoved a cloth in my hand. Il m'a fourré un torchon dans la main.
4- to give sb/sth a shove : pousser qn/qch → the car won't start. Can you give it a shove ?
1- enchevêtrement → a tangle of wires : un enchevêtrement de câbles
2- to be/get in a tangle [string, wires, hair] être emmêlé/s'emmêler → I've got my shoelaces in a bit of a tangle ; her hair tends to tangle
3- to be/get o.s. in a tangle : être en pleine confusion, être un sac de nœuds → we had got ourselves in a tangle (nous étions en pleine confusion) ; my tax affairs were in a complete tangle (mes affaires fiscales étaient un véritable sac de nœuds).
◊ to be tangled up [wires, string, sheets] = être emmêlé(e). to get tangled up = s'emmêler.
1- mélange → a blend of spices
2- mélanger → to blend all the ingredients together → a band that blends jazz, folk and classical music
3- to blend together = se confondre → paint the walls and ceilings the same colour so they blend together.
1- réprimande, reproche → he had received a stern rebuke from his superiors ...
2- réprimander → to rebuke sb for sth = reprocher qch à qn. Ex: she often rebuked David for his authoritarian attitude to his clients.
→ to rebuke sb for doing sth = reprocher à qn d'avoir fait qch. Ex: he rebuked foreign governments for trying to force change through their aid policies.
guerre. Ex : their experience of modern warfare was very small.
→ chemical warfare : guerre chimique
→ biological warfare : guerre biologique
→ psychological warfare : guerre psychologique
1- lancer, jeter. Ex: she screwed the paper into a ball and tossed it into the fire ; he tossed Bill a can of beer.
2- ballotter Ex: as the plane was tossed up and down, the pilot tried to stabilise it ; the sea tossed the small boat like a cork.
3- to toss a salad : tourner une salade
4- to toss pancakes : faire sauter des crêpes
5- to toss a coin : jouer à pile ou face (= to flip a coin)→ we tossed a coin to decide who would go out and buy the buns.
1- [hands, feet, legs] pendre → He sat on the wall, his legs dangling → huge earrings dangled from her ears.
2- faire balancer → he dangled the keys in front of me.
3- (fig) faire miroiter → the prospect of an exciting buy is dangled before the media → to dangle a carrot in front of sb (=tendre la carotte à qn) → the club has dangled a £400,000 carrot in front of Darlington.
promenade → leisurely stroll can be more beneficial than a marathon run → to go for a stroll se promener → they strolled along the beach. stroller = poussette
1- se débarrasser de → they ate food discarded by the soldiers → read the guidelines before discarding the box.
2- abandonner (fig.), renoncer à → they should discard the present system entirely.
1- claquer. Ex: to slam the door ; the door slammed
2- =throw → to slam sb/sth against the wall = jeter qn/qch contre le mur
3- éreinter, démolir (fig.). Ex: the new proposals have been slammed by all the opposition parties.
4- to slam into sth = s'écraser contre qch. Ex: the plane slammed into the building.
[prices, rates, costs] monter en flèche → Production has dropped while prices and unemployment have skyrocketed ; Skyrocketing gas prices make fuel efficiency a key concern of consumers and manufacturers.
1- marmotter, marmonner. Ex: he mumbled a few words of apology ; her grandmother mumbled constantly in her sleep ...
2- marmottement, marmonnement. Ex: he could hear the low mumble of Navarro's voice.
1- prendre d'assaut → They decided to storm the building.
2- to storm in : entrer en trombe
to storm out : sortir en trombe → after the argument, he stormed out of the house.
1 (=leap) bond m , saut m
2- ressort → One day they would get a real sofa, with springs.
3- source → a mountain spring.
4 (=leap) bondir → the panther crouched, ready to spring : la panthère se tapit, prête à bondir
→ to spring to one's feet :se lever d'un bond → he sprang to his feet : il se leva d'un bond
→ to spring to attention se mettre au garde-à-vous ; the guard sprang to attention : le garde se mit au garde-à-vous.
→ to spring into action passer à l'action
→ to spring into life se mettre en marche brusquement
→ to spring open s'ouvrir brusquement
5- (=stem) to spring from = provenir de → these problems spring from different causes.
1- piqûre → She felt a prick on her neck.
2- (=penis) bite
3- (=worthless person) connard → He's such a prick.
>> to prick o.s. on sth se piquer avec qch → I've just pricked myself on a thorn → to prick one's finger → I've pricked my finger → she had just pricked her finger with the needle.
1-(=nonsense) conneries → What a load of crap!
2- nul → Their new album is really crap
3- to have a crap = to crap = chier → Someone had crapped on the doorstep.