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fertile adjective (LAND); opposite - barren or infertile The ploughed earth looked rich and dark and fertile. start learning
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Fertile land can produce a large number of good quality crops.
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fertile adjective (PEOPLE/ANIMALS/PLANTS); opposite - barren or infertile People get less fertile as they get older. start learning
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Fertile animals or plants are able to produce (a lot of) young or fruit:
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start learning
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A fertile seed or egg is able to develop into a new plant or animal.
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fertile adjective (IMAGINATION); opposite - barren or infertile She became very depressed during the barren years when she was unable to paint. start learning
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Someone who has a fertile imagination has an active mind and is able to produce a lot of new and original ideas.
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barren [UNABLE TO PRODUCE PLANTS OR FRUIT]; barrenness - noun We drove through a barren, rocky landscape. start learning
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unable to produce plants or fruit:
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infertile [PERSON, ANIMAL, PLANT] It has been estimated that one in eight couples is infertile. start learning
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An infertile person, animal, or plant cannot have babies, produce young, or produce new plants:
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infertile [LAND]; infertility - noun Poor farmers have little choice but to try to grow food in this infertile soil. start learning
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Infertile land or soil is not good enough for plants or crops to grow well there:
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start learning
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a special building or part of a hospital where people go to get medical treatment or advice when they are unable to produce children
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a region in Western Asia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, important to the growth of human civilization
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the moon was a slender crescent start learning
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A crescent moon is the moon when more than half the side you can see is dark. the curved sickle shape of the waxing or waning moon.
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a three-mile crescent of golden sand start learning
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(something with) a curved shape that has two narrow pointed ends, like the moon when it is less than half of a circle: a thing that has has the shape of a single curve, especially one that is broad in the center and tapers to a point at each end.
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crescent [HOUSES OR ROAD] They live at 15 Park Crescent. start learning
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a row of houses or a road built in a curve:
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start learning
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an international organization in Muslim countries that takes care of people who are suffering because of war, hunger, disease, or other problems
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By the late 70s the band's popularity was beginning to wane. start learning
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to become weaker in strength or influence:
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wane [MOON]; opposite - wax start learning
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(of the moon) have a progressively smaller part of its visible surface illuminated, so that it appears to decrease in size.
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on the wane [BECOMING LESS STRONG] There are signs that support for the group is on the wane. start learning
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becoming less strong, powerful, popular, etc.:
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I cut the log into slabs without removing the outside wane start learning
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the amount by which a plank or log is beveled or falls short of a squared shape
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When the sea or tide ebbs, it moves away from the coast and falls to a lower level. the tide when it is moving away from the coast: - We'll sail on the ebb.
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He could feel his strength ebbing (away). start learning
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If a physical or emotional feeling ebbs, it becomes less strong or disappears:
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at a low ebb [BAD OR WEAK STATE] Consumer confidence is currently at a low ebb. I was recently divorced and feeling at a very low ebb. start learning
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You have to accept the ebb and flow of love in a relationship. start learning
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the way in which the level of something regularly becomes higher or lower in a situation: a frequently changing situation:
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start learning
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a tool with a short handle and a curved blade, used for cutting grass and grain crops a short-handled farming tool with a semicircular blade, used for cutting grain, lopping, or trimming.
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scythe [KOSA], verb - kosić start learning
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a tool with a long, sharp, curved blade and a long handle held in two hands, used especially to cut long grass to cut something using a scythe
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scythe [KOSIC LUDZI COS TAKIEGO] The racing car left the track at 120 mph and scythed through the crowd of spectators, killing ten. start learning
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to move very quickly through a group of people or things:
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start learning
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a symbol of Communism that was based on tools used by workers in factories and on farms
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lop [CUT A PIECE FROM STH] We’ve got to lop off the lower branches of this tree.; fig. The city council lopped thousands of dollars from the budget. start learning
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to cut a piece from something with a single quick action: cut off (a branch, limb, or other protrusion) from the main body of a tree.
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lop sth off - informal [REDUCE A PRICE OR TIME] He lopped eight seconds off the record. start learning
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to reduce a price or the amount of time taken to do something by a particular amount:
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limb noun (OF PERSON/ANIMAL) start learning
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an arm or leg of a person or animal:
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a large branch of a tree:
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They can see themselves going out on a limb, voting for a very controversial energy bill. start learning
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If someone goes out on a limb, they do something they strongly believe in even though it is risky or extreme, and is likely to fail or be criticized by other people.
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start learning
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isolated, esp because of unpopular opinions having an opinion that is different from most people's and is unpopular:
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plank noun (FLAT PIECE), verb - make, provide, or cover with planks. oak/concrete planks a plank of wood We used a plank to cross the ditch.; They walked across the creaky, wooden-plank floor of the old house. start learning
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a long, narrow, flat piece of wood or similar material, of the type used for making floors: a long, thin, flat piece of timber, used especially in building and flooring.
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Educational reform was one of the main planks of their election campaign. The party's policy is based on five central planks. start learning
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an important principle on which the activities of a group, especially a political group, are based:
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Planks are very good for strengthening your core. start learning
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an exercise in which you hold your body straight and parallel to the floor while resting on your toes and hands or elbows:
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To be forced to accept the consequences of something.; to suffer punishment at the hand of someone; The expenses scandal gave several ministers no option but to walk the plank. start learning
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to be forced to leave your job because of something bad you have done: on the image of pirates making their blindfolded captives die by walking off the end of a plank jutting out over the open sea
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jut [STICK OUT]; jutting adj. The pier juts (out) into the lake. He jutted his chin/jaw (out) defiantly.; He had a large head and jutting jaw. start learning
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to (cause to) stick out, especially above or past the edge or surface of something:
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defy [REFUSE TO OBEY]; defiant adj.; defiantly - adverb A few workers have defied the majority decision and gone into work despite the strike. The fact that aircraft don't fall out of the sky always seems to me to defy (= act against) the law of gravity.; start learning
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to refuse to obey a person, decision, law, situation, etc.: to refuse to obey or to do something in the usual or expected way: He defied the odds (= did what no one expected) and won the race for mayor.; When I said she might fail, she replied defiantly, “No, I won’t!”
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defy belief/description/explanation The chaos at the airport defies description. start learning
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to be extreme or very strange and therefore impossible to believe, describe, or explain:
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defy sb to do sth [TELL TO DO STH IMPOSSIBLE] I defy you to tell where I've painted over the scratch on my car. start learning
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to tell someone to do something that you think will be impossible:
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A forest fire raging in southern California is defying (= is not changed by) all attempts to control it. start learning
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adverb - in a way that proudly refuses to obey authority: - A group of prisoners stood on the roof, defiantly waving banners. They defiantly refused to identify themselves in court.
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defy [NOT WILLING TO ACCEPT CRITICISM] He defiantly denies having done anything wrong. She defiantly declared her innocence and claimed that prosecutors are trying to destroy her. start learning
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in a way that shows you are not willing to accept criticism or disapproval:
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The door creaked on its hinges. I heard the floorboards creak as he crept closer. start learning
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When a door, floorboard, etc. creaks, it makes a long low sound when it moves or is moved: He heard a prison cell door creak open and slam shut.
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We had to take the front door off its hinges to get our new sofa into the house. start learning
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a piece of metal that fastens the edge of a door, window, lid, etc. to something else and allows it to open or close:
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hinged - adj. [HAVING HINGES] I opened a hinged tin box used for storing candles. start learning
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having one or more hinges The enclosure includes a hinged, locking front door.
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hinge on/upon something [DEPEND ON STH] The case hinges on the evidence of a single eyewitness. start learning
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If one thing hinges on another, the first thing depends on the second thing or is very influenced by it:
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hinge on/upon something [STORY OR SITUATION] The film's plot hinges on a case of mistaken identity. start learning
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If a story or situation hinges on an idea or subject, it develops from that idea or that is the most important subject in it:
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enclosure noun (SEPARATE AREA) an enclosure for the horses start learning
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an area surrounded by a fence or other structure in order to be kept separate from other areas: verb - the act of putting fences around land:
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You will find two enclosures with this letter – a check and a photograph. start learning
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a document or object placed in an envelope together with a letter.
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The classroom provides fertile ground for collaborative learning. start learning
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a situation or place that produces good results or a lot of ideas:
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plough sth back/in [PLANT] start learning
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to dig the roots and other remaining parts of a crop into the soil to make the soil more healthy
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plough sth back in/plough sth back into sth [BUSINESS] Profits are being ploughed back into the company to allow expansion. start learning
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to spend the money that a business has earned on improving that business:
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plough sth into sth - BUSINESS They ploughed all their savings into their daughter's business. start learning
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to invest money (= give money hoping to get more back) in a business, especially to help make it successful or to make more money: The commercial arm of the company last year ploughed £30m into a waterfront office project on the Clyde.
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