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Poverty, to be picturesque, should be rural. Suburban misery is as hideous as it is pitiable. start learning
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a picturesque place is pretty and interesting in an old-fashioned way It was a quiet fishing village with a picturesque harbour.
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when a place or your state of mind is peaceful, quiet and serene, without any commotion or tumult, it is tranquil. start learning
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pleasantly calm, quiet, and peaceful We stayed in a small, tranquil village.
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If a place is bustling, it is full of busy activity: This used to be a bustling town but a lot of people have moved away over recent years. The house, usually bustling with activity, was strangely silent. start learning
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a bustling place is very busy The flower market was bustling with shoppers.
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making a splendid appearance or show; of exceptional beauty, size, etc.: a magnificent cathedral; magnificent scenery. start learning
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very good or beautiful, and very impressive The twelve-mile coastline has magnificent scenery.
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of or in time long past, especially before the end of the Western Roman Empire AD 476: ancient history. start learning
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belonging to a time long ago in history, especially thousands of years ago The ancient Egyptians built the Pyramids.
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without inhabitants: a deserted village; a deserted farmhouse. start learning
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empty and quiet because no people are there The streets were deserted.
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Run-down buildings or areas are in very bad condition: a run-down building/cemetery start learning
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a building or area that is run-down is in very bad condition Something needs to be done about the run-down inner city areas.
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start learning
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an unspoilt place is beautiful because it has not changed for a long time and does not have a lot of new buildings The countryside in the area is completely unspoilt.
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Wisdom often exists under a shabby coat. start learning
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shabby clothes, places, or objects are untidy and in bad condition because they have been used for a long time Hugh’s old jacket was torn and shabby.
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in a state of disrepair or ruin as a result of age or neglect. start learning
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a dilapidated building, vehicle etc is old and in very bad condition They bought a dilapidated old manor house.
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extremely beautiful or attractive start learning
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extremely attractive or beautiful You look absolutely stunning in that dress. a stunning view over the bay of Saint Tropez.
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extremely exciting, beautiful, or surprising start learning
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very impressive, exciting, or surprising The view from my bedroom window was absolutely breathtaking.
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Having no residents; not inhabited. start learning
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an uninhabited place does not have anyone living there The island was uninhabited.
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The definition of a cave is a hollow place, particularly one inside the earth. start learning
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a large natural hole in the side of a cliff or hill, or under the ground, made into a place to live Our ancestors possibly lived in these cave houses.
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the impression of a fingertip on any surface; also: an ink impression of the lines upon the fingertip taken for the purpose of identification start learning
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a mark made by the pattern of lines at the end of a person’s finger, which is used by the police to find out who has committed a crime His fingerprints were all over the gun.
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a large soft ball of white or pink sugar in the form of thin threads, usually sold on a stick and eaten at fairs and musement parks start learning
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a type of sweet food made from sticky threads of pink sugar wound around a stick He bought some candy-floss at the fair.
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shelter or protection from danger, trouble, etc. start learning
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shelter or protection from someone or something During the frequent air-raids, people took refuge in their cellars.
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a supernatural, incorporeal being, especially one inhabiting a place, object, etc., or having a particular character start learning
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a creature without a physical body that some people believe exists, such as an angel or a dead person, who has returned to this world and has strange or magical powers
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unable to leave the surface of the earth: The space shuttle remained earthbound because of a technical fault. start learning
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unable to move away from the surface of the Earth Humans thought they were earthbound until the aeroplane was invented.
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one of a set of long pieces of wood or metal used to support a building so that it is above the ground or above water start learning
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a set of poles that support a building above the ground or above water He lives in a house built on stilts in the heart of the jungle. The houses are built on stilts to protect them from the annual floods.
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Any material that does not allow electric current to pass through it. like the protective coating on wires: plastic, rubber. start learning
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a material or object which does not allow electricity, heat, or sound to pass through it Wood is an excellent insulator.
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early in the history of the world or of humankind. start learning
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belonging to a simple way of life that existed in the past and does not have modern industries and machines The village buildings were quite primitive.
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a building or place of shelter to live in; place of residence; abode; home. start learning
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a house, apartment etc where people live The two buildings form one large, comfortable dwelling.
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To embellish or decorate someone or something with some kind of decoration. We always adorn our tree with lights, ornaments, and tinsel on Christmas Eve. start learning
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to decorate something with (something) The church walls were adorned with religious paintings.
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a small ornamental figure of pottery, metal, plastic, etc.; statuette. start learning
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a small model of a person or animal, used as a decoration The shelves were covered in figurines of the Virgin Mary.
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a member of a people that travels from place to place to find fresh pasture for its animals and has no permanent home. start learning
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a member of a tribe that travels from place to place instead of living in one place all the time, usually in order to find grass for their animals The herdsmen were nomads who did not stay in one place for long.
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chill (of weather, conditions in a room, or parts of the body) cold start learning
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chilly weather or places are cold enough to make you feel uncomfortable The bathroom’s a bit chilly.
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extravagantly bright or showy, typically so as to be tasteless. start learning
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clothes, colours etc that are gaudy are too bright and look cheap He was wearing a gaudy waistcoat.
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Naughty vs nice. Wants to be nice, is nice: Cancer, Virgo, Libra; wants to be naughty, is nice: Taurus, Pisces; wants to be nice, is naughty: Aries, Leo, Scorpio, Capricorn; wants to be naughty, is naughty: Gemini, Sagittarius, Aquarius. start learning
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a naughty child does not obey adults and behaves badly You’re a very naughty boy! Look what you’ve done!
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“There is nothing more gray, stultifying, or dreary than life lived inside the confines of a theory.” start learning
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dull and making you feel sad or bored It was a dreary winter’s day.
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dark or dim; deeply shaded. filled with or showing gloom; sad, dejected, or melancholy. start learning
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dark, especially in a way that makes you feel sad It was a gloomy room with one small window.
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If you describe a place as roomy, you mean that you like it because it is large inside and you can move around freely and comfortably. If you describe a piece of clothing as roomy, you mean that you like it because it is large and fits loosely. start learning
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a house, car etc that is roomy is large and has a lot of space inside it This car is roomy enough for a large family.
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humorous, comical; amusingly ridiculous: laughable start learning
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not serious, and tending to make people laugh Dave was a sweet man, very jokey about everything.
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small and cramped; shabby, dull; annoyingly slow start learning
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too small and not very pleasant or comfortable The whole family was crammed into two poky little rooms.
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Full of shade; shaded: found a cool, shady spot under some trees. start learning
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protected from the sun or producing shade It was nice and shady under the trees.
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Prepared or available for service, action, or progress: I am ready to work. The soup will be ready in a minute. The pupils are ready to learn to read. start learning
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If you are ready, you are prepared for what you are going to do When the doorbell rang he was ready and waiting
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Of or occurring during the day. A newspaper published every day or every weekday start learning
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happening or done every day There are daily flights to Miami.
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Open to or allowing in air; breezy or drafty: "the airy bungalows of the island start learning
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an airy room or building has plenty of fresh air because it is large or has a lot of windows All the hotel’s bedrooms are light and airy.
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having too many inhabitants for the available space or resources start learning
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if a place is overpopulated there are too many people living in it Most of our cities are overpopulated.
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A major city, especially the chief city of a country or region: Chicago, the metropolis of the Midwest. start learning
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a very large city that is the most important city in a country or area The city has become a huge, bustling metropolis.
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Charmingly odd, especially in an old-fashioned way start learning
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unusual and attractive, especially in an old-fashioned way We stayed in a quaint little village.
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Removed or remote from others; solitary: a secluded freelancer working in his basement. Screened from view; sequestered: a secluded cabin. start learning
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We sunbathed on a small secluded beach
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Of or relating to the stage, stage scenery, or theatrical representation: scenic design. Constituting or affording pleasing views of natural features: climbed a hill for a scenic panorama of the valley; a scenic drive along the crater rim. start learning
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surrounded by views of beautiful countryside This is a region of scenic beauty.
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causing or worthy of admiration or respect; amazing or magnificent start learning
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extremely impressive in a way that makes you feel great respect The pyramids at dawn were an awe-inspiring sight.
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To sit or lie with the body and limbs spread out awkwardly. To spread out in a straggling or disordered fashion: untidy tenements sprawling toward the river. start learning
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spreading over a wide area in an untidy or unattractive way Mexico is a sprawling city of more than 20 million inhabitants.
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So poorly constructed or kept up that disintegration is likely; rickety: a ramshackle cabin in the woods. start learning
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a ramshackle building or vehicle is in bad condition and in need of repair They lived in a ramshackle old cottage.
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An extremely successful and internationally famous fashion model. fashion model, manakin, mannequin, mannikin, manikin, model - a woman who wears clothes to display fashions; "she was too fat to be a mannequin" start learning
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a very famous fashion model One of the best-known supermodels of recent times was Naomi Campbell.
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miniskirt - a garment hanging from the waist; worn mainly by girls and women start learning
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Lots of young women wore miniskirts in the 1960s.
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indicating or recording lower than zero on some scale, esp. on the Fahrenheit scale. start learning
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below zero in temperature They lived and worked in sub-zero temperatures for months.
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To work or act together toward a common end or purpose. start learning
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to work with someone else to achieve something that you both want They agreed to co-operate with Brazil on a programme to protect the rain forests.
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a person who speaks two languages fluently. bilingualist, polyglot, linguist start learning
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able to speak two languages equally well, or written or spoken in two languages Louis is virtually bilingual in Dutch and German.
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To act on each other: "More than a dozen variable factors could interact, with their permutations running into the thousands" start learning
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if people interact with each other, they talk to each other, work together etc Lucy interacts well with other children in the class.
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Having retired or withdrawn from employment or an occupation but continuing to work part-time or occasionally. ‘he was some semi-retired officer on a retainer’ start learning
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someone who is semi-retired continues to work, but not for as many hours as they used to, especially because they are getting older and want time to do other things I’m semi-retired, but I still do work when people offer it.
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The greatest use of life is to spend it on something that will outlast it. start learning
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to continue to exist or be effective for a longer time than something else A leather sofa will usually outlast a cloth one.
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Happening every two months. Happening twice a month; semimonthly. start learning
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appearing or happening every two months or twice each month He gets a bimonthly magazine on trains.
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marking a 200th anniversary start learning
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the day or year exactly 200 years after an important event 1991 was the bicentenary of Mozart’s death.
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A collaborating or joint author. start learning
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an author who writes with someone else as an equal or with less responsibility We were co-authors of the standard school textbook on chemistry.
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a relief pilot on an airplane start learning
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a pilot who shares the control of an aircraft with the main pilot My co-pilot took over for the landing.
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Capable of being interchanged: interchangeable items of clothing; interchangeable automotive parts. start learning
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things that are interchangeable can be used instead of each other These two words are almost interchangeable.
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Extending or taking place between or among continents: intercontinental exploration. Having the capability of traveling from one continent to another: an intercontinental ballistic missile; an intercontinental airline. start learning
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going from one continent to another, or happening between two continents An intercontinental flight between the USA and Europe has lost contact with air traffic control
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a minicar used as a taxicab taxi, taxicab, cab, hack - a car driven by a person whose job is to take passengers where they want to go in exchange for money start learning
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a taxi that you have to order by telephone, not one that you can stop in the street I’ve arranged for a minicab for 10 tomorrow morning.
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represent as less significant or important downplay, understate, minimize start learning
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to reduce something that is difficult, dangerous, or unpleasant to the smallest possible amount or degree The rail company is bringing in more trains in an effort to minimise disruption to travellers.
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Outsell yourself. to surpass (another) in an amount sold: a book that outsold all others of its kind. To outdo (another) in selling: a salesperson who outsold her colleagues. start learning
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to sell more goods or products than a competitor Australia now outsells the US in wines.
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To surpass (an opponent) in skill or technique or in scoring points. start learning
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to beat an opponent in a game by playing with more skill than they do Murray outplayed his opponent in the final.
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(of milk) having part of the cream removed, so it contains less animal fat and fewer calories than full cream milk start learning
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semi-skimmed milk has had some of the fat removed Can you get me a bottle of semi-skimmed milk, too, please?
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The semicolon is undoubtedly the dark horse of the punctuation family. Some people fear and avoid it, some use it incorrectly and others only know it as one half of a winky emoticon. start learning
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a punctuation mark used to separate different parts of a sentence or list Many people who have spoken and written English from birth have difficulty with semicolons.
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captions displayed at the bottom of a cinema or television screen that translate or transcribe the dialogue or narrative. "films in foreign languages with English subtitles" start learning
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the words printed over a film in a foreign language to translate what is being said by the actors Turn the volume up. The subtitles are too small. It’s a French film with English subtitles.
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an electric railway operating below the surface of the ground (usually in a city); "in Paris the subway system is called the `metro' and in London it is called the `tube' or the `underground'" metro, subway system, underground, tube start learning
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a path for people to walk under a road or railway Take the subway – it’s less dangerous than walking across the road.
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Supernatural forces and events and beings collectively; "She doesn't believe in the supernatural" start learning
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impossible to explain by natural causes, and therefore seeming to involve the powers of gods or magic She has supernatural powers that help her defeat her enemies.
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a state powerful enough to influence events throughout the world start learning
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a nation that has very great military and political power The USA and China are two of the world’s superpowers.
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pleasantness resulting from agreeable conditions start learning
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something that makes a place comfortable to live in The hotel is in the city centre, close to shops and local amenities.
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the basic structure or features of a system or organization start learning
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the basic systems and structures that a country or organisation needs in order to work properly, for example roads, railways, banks etc Some countries lack a suitable economic infrastructure.
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Traffic jam. To overfill or overcrowd: Trucks congested the tunnel. start learning
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the problem of too much traffic in a place Councillors are looking at ways to reduce traffic congestion in the town centre.
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the act of giving something up start learning
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the leaving of a building, car, boat etc by the people who owned or used it The fact that the building could no longer be used for its original purpose resulted in its abandonment.
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A fixed charge or tax for a privilege, especially for passage across a bridge or along a road. start learning
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the money you have to pay to use a particular road, bridge etc I avoid the motorways in France because I don’t want to pay the tolls.
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The act or process of regenerating or the state of being regenerated, especially: Biology Regrowth of lost or destroyed parts or organs. Spiritual or moral revival or rebirth. start learning
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the process of making something develop and grow strong again The Marshall Plan brought about the regeneration of the shattered Europe of 1947.
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