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overage charge [AN EXTRA AMOUNT OF MONEY] With overage charges, she has had cell phone bills of $140 a month. If energy costs increase, tenants have to pay overage charges to cover the difference between the current rate and the rate when they signed their lease. start learning
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an extra amount of money that you have to pay for using more of something than was expected or agreed:
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She had to leave the youth team when the coaches discovered she was overage. start learning
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older than a particular age and therefore no longer allowed to do or have particular things:
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overage [MORE THAN WANTED OR NEEDED] We have at least 1,000 unsold units and insufficient warehouse facilities to store the overage. The fund showed an overage of several thousand pounds at the end of the quarter. start learning
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an amount of something that is more than the amount wanted or needed:
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reverse-charge (US collect) We made a reverse-charge call to the New York office. start learning
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used to describe a phone call which is paid for by the person who receives it:
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sales charge [STOCK MARKET] Thousands of people taking out pensions have been hit by crippling sales charges. start learning
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an additional amount of money that you pay when you buy shares, insurance, or other financial products from a broker:
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The bomb attack dealt a crippling blow to tourism in the country. crippling debts start learning
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causing serious injuries or harm
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Economic sanctions have crippled the country’s economy. start learning
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to make something much less effective; damage:
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front end noun (FRONT PART) The back end of a car actually has more effect on drag than the front end. start learning
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the part of an object, place, or animal that is furthest from the back:
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front end noun (FIRST PART) We need a different kind of decision making at the front end of the process. Poor harvests may be the front end of climate change. start learning
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the first part of a process, series of events, or period of time:
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front end noun (COMPUTING) It is important to know how the back end and front end of computers interact with each other. Nokia chose Razorfish to design the front end of its first website. start learning
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the parts of a computer, piece of software, or website that are seen and directly used by the user:
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front-end [CHARGE FOR INVESTORS] This loan contains no front-end sales charges. start learning
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used to describe a charge that investors pay at the time when they put money into some types of investment:
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Pick the chair up instead of dragging it behind you! start learning
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to move something heavy by pulling it along the ground:
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She had to drag her kids away from the toys. start learning
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To drag someone away/out is to persuade someone to leave or do something when the person does not want to do it
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She's always dragging sex into the conversation. start learning
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If you drag a subject into a conversation, etc., you begin to talk about it even if it is not connected with what you are talking about:
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drag [PULL NETS OR HOOKS] They found the man's body after dragging the canal. start learning
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to pull nets or hooks (= curved wires) along the bottom of a river or lake in order to find something:
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start learning
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If you drag and drop something on a computer screen, you move it from one area to another using the mouse.
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The first half of the movie was interesting but the second half dragged (on). start learning
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If something such as a film or performance drags, it seems to go slowly because it is boring:
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drag noun (BORING THING) informal Filling in forms is such a drag! start learning
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something that is not convenient and is boring or unpleasant:
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drag noun (PULL - PHYSICS) Engineers are always looking for ways to minimize drag when they design new aircraft. start learning
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the force that acts against the forward movement of something that is passing through a gas or a liquid:
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Taking a deep drag of/on his cigarette he closed his eyes and sighed. start learning
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the action of taking in air through a cigarette:
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drag noun (CLOTHES) informal start learning
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the activity of dressing in clothes of the opposite sex, especially of a man dressing in women's clothes, often for humorous entertainment:
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They should make a decision now instead of dragging out the discussion. start learning
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If you drag out an event, you cause it to continue for longer than is necessary or convenient:
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drag noun [SLOWS PROGRESS] Keeping a large staff is a drag on our income.; High energy prices will continue to be a drag on the economy. start learning
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something or someone that slows progress or development, or that makes success less likely:
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drag [BECOME LOWER OR LESS], verb Sales have been dragging this month. Jewellery exports will be dragged by weak consumer confidence caused by world economic turmoil. start learning
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to become lower or less, or to make something do this:
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main drag US informal [ROAD] There's a great little restaurant just off the main drag. start learning
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the largest or most important road in a town: a town’s most important street, where most of the businesses are
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Look, I don't want to get into a knock-down-drag-out fight with you over this, so let's forget it. start learning
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a knock-down-drag-out fight or argument is very serious and continues for a long time:
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start learning
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a device that takes you to higher ground when you are skiing and involves you holding on to a moving bar while your skis stay flat against the ground
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drag sb's name through the mire/mud start learning
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to damage someone's reputation by saying extremely insulting things about them
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start learning
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an area of deep, wet, sticky earth
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mire noun (BAD SITUATION) literary We must not be drawn into the mire of civil war. start learning
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an unpleasant situation that is difficult to escape:
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I suspect the management is dragging its heels on this issue. start learning
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to do something slowly or not start it because you do not want to do it:
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drag sth down [DECREASE OR GET WORSE] The company said earnings have been dragged down by high start-up costs. start learning
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to make something decrease or get worse:
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drag sb away - informal [MAKE SOMEONE TO LEAVE A PLACE] I'm ready to go home now, but I don't want to drag you away if you're enjoying yourself. I'll bring Tom, if I can drag him away from the TV. start learning
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to make someone leave a place or stop doing what they are doing so that they can go somewhere else or do something else:
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drag sb down [FEEL UNHAPPY] All that stress at work had begun to drag him down. start learning
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If an unpleasant situation drags someone down, it makes them feel unhappy or ill:
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drag sb into sth [FORCE SOMEONE TO BE INVOLVED] Don't drag me into your argument! It has nothing to do with me. start learning
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to force someone to become involved in an unpleasant or difficult situation:
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drag sth out of sb [FORCE SOMEONE TO SAY STH] You never tell me how you feel - I always have to drag it out of you. start learning
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to force someone to say something, especially when they do not want to:
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start learning
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a large container, especially outside a house, for storing coal
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bunker noun (GOLF) (US sand trap) start learning
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in golf, a hollow area of ground filled with sand, that is difficult to hit a ball out of
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haul/drag sb over the coals He was hauled over the coals for coming in late for work. start learning
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to speak angrily to someone because they have done something you disapprove of:
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start learning
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a container with a handle in which coal is kept inside a house
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A crab scuttled away under a rock as we passed. The children scuttled off as soon as the headteacher appeared. start learning
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to move quickly, with small, short steps, especially in order to escape:
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scuttle verb (SINK A SHIP) start learning
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to intentionally sink a ship, especially your own, in order to prevent it from being taken by an enemy to intentionally sink a ship by opening a hole in the bottom or sides
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Angry workers scuttled all hope of quick agreement on a new contract. start learning
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to give up a plan or activity, or spoil a possibility for success:
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scupper verb (SINK A SHIP) (US scuttle) start learning
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to sink your own ship on purpose
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Arriving late for the interview scuppered my chances of getting the job. start learning
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to cause something such as a plan or an opportunity to fail:
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anthracite (also hard coal) start learning
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a very hard type of coal that burns slowly and produces a lot of heat with very little smoke and a small flame
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carry/take coals to Newcastle Exporting pine to Scandinavia seems like carrying coals to Newcastle. start learning
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to supply something to a place or person that already has a lot of that particular thing:
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start learning
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a small European wild mammal, similar to a weasel with a bushy (= thick) tail
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start learning
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a small mammal with reddish-brown fur and a long body that can kill other small animals such as mice and birds for food
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start learning
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something that someone says either to avoid answering a question clearly or to make someone believe something that is not true
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weasel out (of something) - informal [ESCAPE RESPONSIBILITY] My roommate always tries to weasel out of doing the dishes.; Although they had signed the contract they tried to weasel out of the deal later. start learning
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to escape responsibility for something: to avoid doing something that you have agreed to do, especially by being dishonest:
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haul/drag sb over the coals He was hauled over the coals for coming in late for work. start learning
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to speak angrily to someone because they have done something you disapprove of:
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They hauled the boat out of the water.; They use these trucks to haul freight. start learning
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to pull something heavy or transport something over long distances:
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The police hauled him off to jail in front of his whole family. start learning
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to take something or someone somewhere, especially by force: She was arrested, fingerprinted, and hauled before a judge. If you even mention my name in public, I’ll haul you right into court!
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haul noun (ILLEGAL AMOUNT) a haul of arms/drugs; Police say it is the largest haul of stolen art in years. start learning
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an amount of something that was obtained illegally, esp. after it has been taken by the authorities:
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haul [ALL THE THINGS SOMEONE BUYS] start learning
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all the things someone buys on an occasion when they go shopping:
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Fishermen have been complaining of poor hauls all year. start learning
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the amount of fish caught:
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From there it was a long haul/only a short haul back to our camp. start learning
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a journey, often a difficult one:
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short-haul flights It’s a long haul to Minnesota. start learning
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a distance over which something is transported:
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haul - verb [TRANSPORT GOODS] In 2006, shippers on the Great Lakes hauled 110 million tons of cargo. start learning
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to transport goods over a long distance by truck, train, or ship:
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haul; also - haul uu [MAKE SOMEONE GO TO A PERSON OF AUTHORITY] haul sb (up) before/in front of sb/sth The EU gave the government two months to come up with a good case or be hauled up before the European Court of Justice. start learning
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to make someone go to a person in authority to answer questions about something they have done:
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She was lounging on the beach. start learning
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to stand or sit in a relaxed way:
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lounge suit UK old-fashioned start learning
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a man's suit worn for work or on quite formal occasions during the day
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30 people have filed suit against the company. start learning
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to take a problem or complaint to a court of law for a decision
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a dark blue suit and pants with gray pinstripes start learning
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a narrow line of a light color in the design of a cloth, or the cloth itself with such parallel lines:
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libel [STH THAT MAKES FALSE STATEMENTS] The whole story was a vicious libel. start learning
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a piece of writing that says bad, false, and harmful things about a person, or the legal claim you make when you accuse someone in court of writing such things about you: libel suit/lawsuit: They filed a libel lawsuit against the person responsible for the web posting.
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litigate [DISAGREEMENT IN COURT] start learning
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to ask for a disagreement to be discussed in a court of law so that a judgment can be made that must be accepted by both sides in the argument
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slander [FALSE SPOKEN STATEMENT] She regarded his comment as a slander on her good reputation. start learning
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a false spoken statement about someone that damages their reputation, or the making of such a statement: Where is the line between slander and free speech?
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an op-ed article/column/page start learning
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used to describe a piece of writing that expresses a personal opinion and is usually printed in a newspaper opposite the page on which the editorial is printed:
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