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.
vif, entraînant, qui a du punch [clothes, look] élégant. Ex: « to be a snappy dresser » = être élégant, à la mode irritable, brusque « he was very snappy with me this morning. » « make it snappy! » = grouille-toi!, magne-toi!
repousser urgent action is necessary to ward off the threat of starvation. she may have put up a fight to try to ward off her assailant.
parer (risque), conjurer, éviter. Ex : Tanning cream may ward off skin cancer.