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Chapter 4 The House
Chapter 4 The House
steep rock face
14 MOUNTAIN/CLIFF
the face of a mountain, cliff etc is a steep vertical surface or side
face of
He fell and died while attempting to climb the north face of Mont Blanc.
The cliff face was starting to crumble into the sea.
a sheer (=very steep) rock face
approach
1 MOVE TOWARDS to move towards or nearer to someone or something:
As I approached the house, I noticed a light on upstairs.
2 ASK [transitive] to ask someone for something, or ask them to do something, especially when you
are asking them for the first time or when you are not sure if they will do it
approach somebody for something Students should be able to approach teachers for advice.
approach somebody/something about (doing) something The charity approached several stores
about giving food aid.
3 FUTURE EVENT [intransitive and transitive] if an event or a particular time approaches, or you
approach it, it is coming nearer and will happen soon:
She was then approaching the end of her career.
4 DEAL WITH [transitive] to begin to deal with a situation or problem in a particular way or with a
particular attitude
approach a problem/task/matter etc It might be possible to approach the problem in a different
way.
5 ALMOST [intransitive and transitive] to be almost equal to something:
temperatures approaching 35ºC
steel
1 [uncountable] strong metal that can be shaped easily, consisting of iron and CARBON:
a steel bridge; stainless steel knives (=steel that does not change colour)
2 [uncountable] the industry that makes steel: Sheffield is a major steel town.
3 nerves of steel
the ability to be brave and calm in a dangerous or difficult situation
4 [countable] a thin bar of steel used for making knives sharp
cellar [countable]
1 a room under a house or other building, often used for storing things: a coal cellar
2 a store of wine belonging to a person, restaurant etc
basement [countable]
a room or area in a building that is under the level of the ground
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Chapter 4 The House
torch [countable]
1 British English a small electric lamp that you carry in your hand [= flashlight American English]
We shone our torches around the cavern.
2 a long stick with burning material at one end that produces light: the Olympic torch
3 carry a torch for somebody old-fashioned to secretly love and admire someone
torchlight [uncountable]
1 British English the light produced by an electric torch
2 the light produced by burning torches: a torchlight procession
creak [intransitive]
if something such as a door, wooden floor, old bed, or stair creaks, it makes a long high noise when
someone opens it, walks on it, sits on it etc:
The floorboards creaked as she walked across the room.
place verb
1 POSITION
[transitive always + adverb/preposition] to put something somewhere, especially with care
She poured the doctor a cup of tea and placed it on the table.
He carefully placed the folder back in his desk drawer
badage [countable]
a narrow piece of cloth that you tie around a wound or around a part of the body that has been
injured
living bandage [countable]
a BANDAGE made from skin cells, especially cells that have been taken and grown from the
PATIENT's own skin
overnight bag [countable]
a bag containing everything you need for a night away from home:
He packed an overnight bag and left.
sleeping bag [countable] a large warm bag that you sleep in, especially when camping
glow [intransitive]
1 to produce or REFLECT a soft steady light [= shine]: The bedside lamp glowed dimly.
The red tip of his cigarette was glowing in the dark.
2 if your face or body glows, it is pink or hot because you are healthy, have been doing exercise, or
are feeling a strong emotion
glow with She looked exceptionally well, glowing with health.
3 glow with pride/joy/pleasure etc
to look very happy because you feel proud etc: She gazed up at him, glowing with happiness.
4 if something glows with a quality or colour, it is attractive and has strong colours
glow with The interior of the house glowed with colour, warmth, and life.
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Chapter 4 The House
gleam, glint, glisten, glitter, glowAll these words mean 'to shine' but are used in slightly different
ways.
gleam is used especially of smooth clean surfaces that shine • She polished the car until it
gleamed. • gleaming white teeth
glint means to shine brightly with a small flash of light. It is used especially of shiny metals • Her
jewellery glinted in the sun.
glisten is used of wet or oily surfaces that shine • The wet streets glistened.
glitter means to shine brightly with many small flashes of light • the glittering frost
glow means to shine with a warm soft steady light. It is often used of things that give off heat • The
coal in the fireplace was still glowing.
crouch [intransitive]
1 also crouch down to lower your body close to the ground by bending your knees completely:
He crouched in the shadows near the doorway.
Paula crouched down and held her hands out to the fire.
2 to bend over something so that you are very near to it [↪ lean]
crouch over a young girl crouched over a book
—crouch noun [countable] She dropped to the ground in a crouch.
supper [uncountable and countable]
1 the meal that you have in the early evening [= dinner]:
Why don't you come over for supper on Friday?
2 British English the very light meal, for example a drink and a piece of cake, that you have just
before you go to bed
dinner
1 the main meal of the day, eaten in the middle of the day or the evening
to dinner Perhaps we should invite them to dinner.
for dinner We're having fish for dinner tonight.
school dinners British English (=meals provided in the middle of the day at school)
dinner money British English (=money children are given to pay for their meal at school)
Sunday/Christmas/Thanksgiving dinner (=a special meal eaten on Sunday, at Christmas, at
Thanksgiving etc)
2 [countable] a formal occasion when an evening meal is eaten, often to celebrate something:
the Club's annual dinner
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Chapter 4 The House
dinner, supper, tea, lunch
In Britain, the main meal of the day is dinner and it is usually eaten in the evening. Some people
call this meal supper, but to others supper is a very small meal that is eaten just before they go to
bed. Some people call this main evening meal tea, but to others tea is a small meal that is eaten in
the afternoon.Some people use dinner to refer to the meal they eat in the middle of the day, but if
you want to be clear that you are referring to this meal, use lunch
meals at different times of day: breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea British English, dinner, supper
a meal outside: picnic, barbecue also barbie informal, cookout American English
when you quickly eat a little food : snack, a bite to eat
a very big meal for a lot of people: banquet, feast
parts of a meal: starter British English, appetizer American English (the first course)
main course/entree especially AmE, side dish (eaten with the main course)
dessert also pudding sweet British English (sweet food eaten at the end of the meal)
gath‧er
1 COME TOGETHER to come together and form a group, or to make people do this: A crowd
gathered to watch the fight.
2 KNOW/THINK to believe that something is true because of what you have seen or heard
You two know each other, I gather.
gather (that) I gather you've had some problems with our sales department.
from what I can gather/as far as I can gather (=this is what I believe to be true)
She's his niece, from what I can gather.
3 COLLECT to get things from different places and put them together in one place:
The researcher's job is to gather information about people.
gather up/together Debbie gathered up the clothes.
4 gather speed/force/momentum etc to move faster, become stronger, get more support etc:
The cart gathered speed as it coasted down the hill.
5 gather dust
if something gathers dust, it is not being used: books just gathering dust on the shelf
engine [countable]
1 the part of a vehicle that produces power to make it move [↪ motor]
start/switch on an engine The engine won't start.
stop/turn off/switch off an engine He switched off the car's engine and waited. ;Is the engine
running smoothly?
diesel/petrol etc engine an old steam engine
2 a vehicle that pulls a railway train
3 [usually singular] formal something powerful that causes great changes in society
engine of change/growth etc The Marshall Plan was the engine of postwar economic growth.
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