Cambridge Dictionary

2022-06-16 20:00:02 Rant and rave, phrase.

Definition: Shout and complain angrily and at length.

Examples:

1. Stop ranting and raving for a minute and start being honest with yourself.
2. I began to rant and rave angrily, in a loud voice.
3. ‘You can't rant and rave; you can't scream and put people in shock, though I have worked with directors who do that and it's pretty scary,’ Garry says.
4. I could rant and rave about it but that wouldn't make a difference.
5. Only this afternoon did I rant and rave about these designs.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
@cambridge_dic Open / Comment

2022-06-16 16:00:02 Triturate, verb.

/ˈtrɪtjʊreɪt/

Definition (with object • technical): Grind to a fine powder.

Examples:

1. Insoluble materials were triturated with lactose.
2. Some triturated powders can be prepared in a lapidary tumbler, using steel balls to do the grinding.
3. After 6-7 days at 28°, mosquitoes were triturated in undiluted fetal bovine serum at a concentration of 35 mosquitoes/ml serum.
4. Anthracinum, which is prepared by triturating the dried puss from anthrax, is a very effective prophylactic against anthrax.
5. The supernatants were removed and the pellets triturated with 700 l of PBS / 10% FBS.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
@cambridge_dic Open / Comment

2022-06-16 09:00:02 Saw II (2005)

It was the police and the press who coined the nickname Jigsaw. Open / Comment

2022-06-16 09:00:02 Coin, verb.

/kɔɪn/

Definition (with object): Invent (a new word or phrase)

Examples:

1. He coined the term ‘desktop publishing’
2. Known for his penchant for coining apt words and phrases, Tukey is credited with inventing the word bit (binary digit) in 1946, and he was responsible for the first use of several terms in mathematical statistics.
3. I'd like to recommend The Word Spy, a fascinating website that collects recently coined words and phrases from the media.
4. Visionary and inventor Buckminster Fuller coined the phrase ‘Think global, act local’.
5. A new word was coined to describe such individuals: ‘cybersquatters.’
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
@cambridge_dic Open / Comment

2022-06-15 20:00:02 What makes someone tick, phrase.

Definition (informal): What motivates someone.

Examples:

1. People are curious to know what makes British men tick.
2. We're good at finding out about people, what makes them tick, what they are interested in, what they have bees in their bonnets about - a key networking skill.
3. I'd like the opportunity to find out a bit what they were like as people, what makes them tick, and, you know, enjoy their company.
4. No one really knows how these people think, what makes them tick, and which of the five contenders stirs their blood.
5. I get a thrill when I can get into the male psyche and learn about what makes them tick.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
@cambridge_dic Open / Comment

2022-06-15 16:00:05 Flageolet, noun.

Definition: (also French flageolet) a very small wind instrument resembling a recorder but with four finger holes on top and two thumb holes below.

Examples:

1. Diagrams relating fingering to notes have occasionally been used for such wind instruments as the recorder, flageolet, oboe, and clarinet in instrumental tutors since the 16th century.
2. After making a demo in his London flat on a stereo tape-deck, he hawked his melding of many instruments (glockenspiel, farfisa organ, flageolet etc) around record companies.
3. Dozens of patients, mostly dressed in black, marched through the streets following a draped coffin while musicians played a dirge on a flageolet and melodion.
4. His power over his instrument is surprising; the tones he draws from it might be thought those of the sweetest flageolet and hautboy, and sometimes of the human voice.
5. Here all is atwitter with prominent flageolet and flutes.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
@cambridge_dic Open / Comment

2022-06-15 09:00:03 Blood Diamond (2006)

We must remember that these stones... comprise only a small percentage of the legitimate diamond industry... whose trade is crucial to the economies of many emerging nations. Open / Comment

2022-06-15 09:00:03 Comprise, verb.

/kəmˈprʌɪz/

Definition (with object): Consist of; be made up of.

Examples:

1. The country comprises twenty states.
2. The new board will comprise twelve members, including four worker directors.
3. The trust was to comprise five people including his chartered accountant.
4. The remainder of the unit comprises warehouse accommodation and includes a roller shutter door.
5. The cover comprises a lid and a raised rim which is recessed from the outer edge of the lid.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
@cambridge_dic Open / Comment

2022-06-14 20:00:01 Make common cause, phrase.

Definition: Unite in order to achieve a shared aim.

Examples:

1. Nationalist movements made common cause with the reformers.
2. Let the humanists make common cause with them to achieve freedom.
3. Today, I'd like to offer a few thoughts on what these developments have meant for your colleagues in public broadcasting, and share some ideas about how our institutions might make common cause in the future.
4. As a hunter-gatherer nation, Australia could play a further role in world affairs by making common cause without a hunter-gatherer peoples, all of whom are taking a terrible hammering.
5. On certain foreign policy issues, Switzerland and Bulgaria have a track record of making common cause.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
@cambridge_dic Open / Comment

2022-06-14 16:00:06 Vexillology, noun.

/ˌvɛksɪˈlɒlədʒi/

Definition (mass noun): The study of flags.

Examples:

1. It is the Internet's largest site devoted to vexillology (the study of flags).
2. Jack also enjoys vexillology and can signal Bible passages from memory in fluent semaphore.
3. For those interested in vexillology, there is an interesting website dealing with this topic for the former South Vietnam here.
4. I learned most of what I know about vexillology from Whitney, who is a good personal friend and mentor.
5. See how you fare with this quiz on vexillology (the study of flags and flag-related matters).
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
@cambridge_dic Open / Comment