mortgage /ˈmɔː.gɪdʒ/ /ˈmɔːr-/ noun [ C ]
an agreement which allows you to borrow money from a bank or similar organization, especially in order to buy a house or apartment, or the amount of money itself
They took out a £40 000 mortgage (= They borrowed £40 000) to buy the house.
a monthly mortgage payment
mortgage /ˈmɔː.gɪdʒ/ /ˈmɔːr-/ verb [ T ]
to borrow money to buy a house or apartment
The house was mortgaged up to the hilt (= The full value of the house had been borrowed) .
mortgagee /ˌmɔː.gɪˈdʒiː/ /ˌmɔːr-/ noun [ C ] specialized
a bank or similar organization which gives mortgages to people, especially so that they can buy a house or apartment
quagmire /ˈkwɒg.maɪə r / /ˈkwوg.maɪr/ noun [ C ]
1. an area of soft wet ground which you sink into if you try and walk on it
At the end of the match, the pitch was a real quagmire.
2. a difficult and dangerous situation
Since the coup, the country has sunk deeper into a quagmire of violence and lawlessness.
hiccup , hiccough /ˈhɪk.ʌp/ noun NOISE
1. [ C usually plural ] a loud noise made in the throat caused by a sudden uncontrollable tightening of a muscle just below the chest, usually happening repeatedly over a short period
2. the hiccups
a series of hiccups
I've got the hiccups.
an attack of the hiccups
aghast /əˈgɑːst/ /-ˈgوst/ adjective [ after verb ]
suddenly filled with strong feelings of shock and worry
He looked at her aghast.
agnostic /وgˈnɒs.tɪk/ /-ˈnɑː.stɪk/ noun [ C ]
someone who does not know, or believes that it is impossible to know, whether a god exists
Although he was raised a Catholic, he was an agnostic for most of his adult life.
Compare atheist
geyser /ˈgiː.zə r / /ˈgaɪ.zɚ/ noun [ C ]
geyser
1. a hole in the ground from which hot water and steam are sent out
2. UK especially in the past, a device which uses gas to provide a house with hot water
gnome /nəʊm/ /noʊm/ noun [ C ]
1. an imaginary, very small, old man with a beard and a pointed hat, in traditional children's stories
2. a model of a gnome used as a garden decoration
I don't think garden gnomes are in very good taste.
3. US a person who works by using their mind, but does not talk to, and is not known by, the public
The gnomes in the back room are putting the finishing touches to the new software.
4. the gnomes of Zurich literary
the powerful bankers (= people who own or control banks) from Switzerland who control a lot of money, much of it belonging to foreign governments
sovereign /ˈsɒv. ə r.ɪn/ /ˈsɑːv.rən/ noun [ C ] RULER
1. a king or queen, or the person with the highest power in a country
sovereign /ˈsɒv. ə r.ɪn/ /ˈsɑːv.rən/ noun [ C ] COIN
2. a British gold coin which was in use in Britain from 1817 to 1914 and was worth £1
sovereign /ˈsɒv. ə r.ɪn/ /ˈsɑːv.rən/ adjective GOVERNMENT
1. [ before noun ] having the highest power or being completely independent
Sovereign power is said to lie with the people in some countries, and with a ruler in others.
We must respect the rights of sovereign states/nations to conduct their own affairs.
sovereign /ˈsɒv. ə r.ɪn/ /ˈsɑːv.rən/ adjective EXCELLENT
2. sovereign remedy old-fashioned or formal
an extremely successful way of dealing with a problem
Love is a sovereign remedy for unhappiness.
nor /nɔː r / /nɔːr/ conjunction
1. used before the second or last of a set of negative possibilities, usually after 'neither'
We can neither change nor improve it.
Strangely, neither Carlo nor Juan saw what had happened.
2. mainly UK neither
"I've never been to Iceland." "Nor have I."
I can't be at the meeting and nor can Andrew.
clown /klaʊn/ noun [ C ]
clown
1. an entertainer who wears funny clothes, has a painted face, and makes people laugh by performing tricks and behaving in a silly way
2. someone who behaves in a silly way, often intentionally
goose /guːs/ noun plural geese BIRD
goose
1. [ C or U ] a large water bird similar to a duck but larger, or the meat from this bird
goose /guːs/ noun plural geese PERSON
2. [ C ] old-fashioned informal a silly person
goose /guːs/ verb [ T ] SQUEEZE
1. informal to squeeze or press someone's bottom
goose /guːs/ verb [ T ] MAKE ACTIVE
2. US informal to encourage or cause something or someone to be more active
furlough /ˈfɜː.ləʊ/ /ˈfɝː.loʊ/ noun [ C ] US
a period of time that a worker or a soldier is allowed to be absent, especially to return temporarily to their own town or country
furlough /ˈfɜː.ləʊ/ /ˈfɝː.loʊ/ verb [ T ] US
to allow or force someone to be absent temporarily from work
After safety concerns, the company furloughed all 4000 of it's employees.
knickers /ˈnɪk.əz/ /-ɚz/ plural noun
1. UK ( US panties ) a piece of underwear worn by women and girls covering the area between the waist and the tops of the legs
a pair of black cotton knickers
2. US for knickerbockers
get your knickers in a twist UK informal humorous
to become confused, worried or annoyed about something
Knickers! /ˈnɪk.əz/ /-ɚz/ exclamation UK slang humorous
used to express annoyance or disagreement with something someone has said
arm /ɑːm/ /ɑːrm/ noun WEAPONS
4. arms
weapons and equipment used to kill and injure people
They have been charged with supplying arms to the guerillas.
An arms cache was discovered in South Wales.
The minister has called on the terrorists to lay down their arms (= stop fighting) .
They are willing to take up arms (= prepare to fight) ( against the government) if they have to.
See picture arm
bronchial /ˈbrɒŋ.ki.əl/ /ˈbrɑːŋ-/ adjective
of or being the pipes that carry air from the windpipe (= tube in the throat) to the lungs
bronchial tubes
He had bronchial pneumonia as a child.
bronchiole /ˈbrɒŋ.ki.əʊl/ /ˈbrɑːŋ.ki.oʊl/ noun [ C ] specialized
in the lungs, one of the very small tubes that branch out from the bronchi (= two main tubes) and connect to the alveoli (= little air bags)
mould UK , US mold /məʊld/ /moʊld/ noun GREEN/GREY GROWTH
1. [ U ] a soft green or grey growth which develops on old food or on objects that have been left for too long in warm wet air
There was mould on the cheese.
mould UK , US mold /məʊld/ /moʊld/ noun SHAPE
2. [ C ] a hollow container with a particular shape into which soft or liquid substances are poured, so that when the substance becomes hard it takes the shape of the container
a cake/jelly mould
mould UK , US mold /məʊld/ /moʊld/ noun TYPE OF PERSON
3. [ S ] If someone is from or in a mould, they have the characteristics typical of a certain type of person
He's cast in a very different mould from his brother.
He's a player in the Becker mould.
mould UK , US mold /məʊld/ /moʊld/ verb
1. [ T ] to make a soft substance a particular shape
This plastic is going to be moulded into plates.
The children moulded little pots out of/from (= made them by shaping) clay.
2. [ T ] to try to change or influence someone
He kept trying to mould me into something he wanted me to be.
3. [ I usually + adverb or preposition ] to fit the body very closely
She was wearing an extremely tight costume which moulded to/round the contours of her body.