lotr

My left cheek is itching. I can't stand your cheek - you should control yourself. Your cheek has no boundaries!

The pop festival passed off peacefully, despite the fears of local residents.

How did you fare in your exams? Low-paid workers will fare badly/well under this government. The film fared very well. She fared north

Their ships could be seen 10 leagues away

Carter died in 1904 after an accident and Leno pined away and died six months later.

They were drinking some fancy drinks in the lounge. She was lounging on the beach.

He has devices to find his way around. She uses this device to cheat on her boyfriend. Metaphor is one of the literary devices. What kind of devices does the author use?

I fumbled with the lock. He fumbled in his pockets for some change. She fumbled around/about in her handbag, looking for her key. fumble sth in a discomfiture

She turned away to hide her discomfiture. To my discomfiture he began whistling loudly.

All of a sudden, the car veered off the road. Moments before crashing, the jet was seen veering sharply to the right.

I heard the rope swish through the air. The horses swished their tails to get rid of the flies hovering around them. a swish hotel

He left this place in 1966 to go down yonder.

Because of the timing, I'm sure the salary freeze is a deliberate contrivance, not a coincidence. I think the meeting happened more by contrivance than chance.

If they don't, we will run out of money before long.

She looked a bit dejected when they told her she didn't get the job. He wandered around in a state of utter dejection.

She has been for many years a doughty campaigner for women's rights.

I burrowed through the clothes in the drawer looking for a clean pair of socks. Suddenly shy, our young daughter burrowed her head into my shoulder. Rats had burrowed into the bank of the river.

One of the engines spluttered as if it was short of fuel. Don't pour water onto hot oil, or it will sputter. The sputter his car's engine is easily recognizable.

We have to thrust forward and capture the enemy base. He thrust through the crowd to get to her. There was a considerable thrust on this issue. I know he is right, but this thrust was uncalled for.

I could hear him tapping his fingers on the desk. I was tapping my feet (= hitting the floor gently with my feet) to the music. Someone tapped me on the shoulder

The cat's fur bristled and it arched its back. The best quality men's shaving brushes are made from badger bristle. The old woman had a few grey bristles sprouting from her chin. This cake bristles with raisins

I asked him to character "I love you". I want you to character yourself. Can you character this picture?

Don't finger it if you're not going to buy it! She took my hand and fingered the scar. Did you see that? He tried to finger my wallet! He fingered me to the cops.

to tear or break something violently. With one stroke of his sword, he rent his enemy's helmet in two.

He had a slow and ponderous manner. The ponderous reporting style makes the evening news dull viewing.

The parade was very well organized and passed without mishap. A series of mishaps led to the nuclear power plant blowing up. The fire broke out because of a mishap in the kitchen.

They leaned over the rails and peered down into the dizzying chasm below. There is still a vast economic chasm between developed and developing countries.

I find the patter of rain on the roof soothing. We could hear mice pattering about/around looking for food.

Katherine, your skirt's trailing in the mud! As the boat moved along, he trailed his hand in the water. The delegates trailed back into the conference room for the afternoon session.

The wildest imaginings fell altogether short of the actual dread and wonder of Moria.

In the harbour, the boats bobbed gently up and down on the water. I dropped the bottle into the water and watched it bob up to the surface a moment later.

After he was attacked, he managed to stagger to the phone and call for help. The company is staggering under a $15 million debt and will almost certainly collapse by the end of the year. He staggered all his colleagues by suddenly announcement

The traffic of the prisoner took place on time. We observed the online traffic at his house. He was arrested for arms traffic

The stream glinted in the moonlight. A large diamond glinted on her finger. She smiled at him, her eyes glinting with mischief.

Can you file these documents? This picture should be filed. The soldiers filed in the silence. She filed for a full child custody. She's filing her nails.

We want to ensure that help is at hand for all children suffering abuse.

The fire was started by a smouldering cigarette. The dispute is still smouldering, five years after the negotiations began.

The lack of rain has shrivelled the crops. You ought to pick that lettuce before it shrivels (up) and dies. Profits are shrivelling as the recession gets worse.

If we look at the novels that receive the greatest attention today, the most frowning and serious consideration from critics and the most coveted places on prize lists, we'll find powerful intellect, great themes, and psychological complexity.

He is dogged in his pursuit of his dreams. The campaigners' dogged persistence is finally paying off.

He crumpled up the letter and flung it into the fire. "And you can take your ring back too!" she cried, flinging it down on the table. She flung her arms around his neck. The door was flung open by the wind.

A policeman stood sentinel at the entrance. They stand as sentinels scrutinising concentrations of public and private power.

The room has a recess designed to hold bookshelves. Psychoanalysts aim to explore the deepest/innermost recesses of the mind. After lunch, the kids have recess

Auntie Ann put a huge wedge of cake on my plate. a wedge of cheese. Push a wedge under the door to keep it open while we're carrying the boxes in. Find something to wedge the window open with was standing waiting for a bus, wedged between two old ladies

Wallace was charged with causing an affray at a Southampton nightclub

We arrived home spent after our long journey.

He skewered the onion with a toothpick. He skewered the meat and put it on the barbecue

His suitcase was blocking the gangway. The performers enter the arena dramatically via the gangways. Visitors board the ship directly from shore via a long gangway. There were cries of "Gangway!" as someone who had fainted in the crowd was being carried.

In that disturbance, 10% of the boles were damaged and 15 months' equivalent of pine needle litter fell.

No one builds 14th-century Gothic stonework anymore, these thick, load-bearing masonry walls, arches, tracery.

Holding her painful back, she sat down gingerly on the bench.

You can summer thousands of beasts in the glens, but you cannot winter them.

in her farewell speech, the departing governor got in some retaliatory girds at the media. The knights girded themselves for battle (= put on their swords and fighting clothes).

fans made of ostrich plumes. After the explosion, a plume of smoke could be seen in the sky for miles around. Geese are pluming their feathers in the garden. She plumed herself because of her wealth.

A man on his way to deposit $12,000 in a bank was waylaid by two men who snatched his bag.

Her face quickly lost its warm hue. All hues of political opinion were represented at the meeting.

The water eddied around in a whirlpool. But what is all this stuff that eddies in your head all the time? She watched the small groups of protesters eddy across the courtyard.

He spoke quietly, in halting English. He spoke haltingly about his experiences as a hostage.

For a man in danger of losing his job, he appeared fairly unruffled. unperturbed

After a long fallow period, the author has brought out a new book. Farmers are eligible for government support if they let a certain amount of land lie fallow.

Her eyes are like little slits. Make a small slit in each chicken breast and push in a piece of garlic. He slit open the envelope with a knife. She killed herself by slitting her wrists.

Look and pay attention to this day, for verily, I am a dead man

Stand on the bow and try to navigate us. They gave me a violin but there was no bow so I couldn't play. She tied her laces in a bow

prison/clerical/military garb

They shot (= travelled through) the rapids in a canoe.

The girls pick the flowers and twist them into circlets they put on their heads.

I saw a hart in the forest today

He is very busy, so he knows how to husband his time.

My horse was a draught animal. Do you want to drink bottled beer or draught one? Is the lager on draught or is it bottled?

The path to peace seems at last to be clear, although it may be a long and tortuous one.

When did any man ever hear of footpads so close?

to spy out from a distance" (as a watchman might). we couldn't descry the reasons for his sudden departure could just descry the ship coming over the horizon

He puckered his lips and kissed her. Her mouth puckered and I thought she was going to cry. puckered seams

He's seemed listless and a little depressed ever since he got his exam results. A lack of iron in the body can lead to listlessness and a lack of concentration.

He lay with his head against the maiden's heart, bound close to her by a tress of her long hair.

The soldiers received the nation's highest award for valor. Medal of Valor

the West Pavilion of Central General Hospital. a temporary structure, such as a large tent, especially used at public events or for shows

The company is currently trying to burnish its socially responsible image.

She thought she'd sink, but luckily she only stepped on a ford.

He lost the next page of his speech and floundered around/about for a few seconds. Although his business was a success, his marriage was floundering.

Frightened by the car horn, the horse bolted. Don't bolt your food like that - you'll get indigestion. Have you locked and bolted the door? He always sits bolt upright when he poses for photos.

confound it! An elderly man from Hull has confounded doctors by recovering after he was officially declared dead.

The strokes of the paddles were irregular. He destroyed his painting with just one brush stroke. Your strokes are making me blush.

So much has passed under my keel in one short year.

a stony/muddy/dry riverbed

All the rest are seen as fringe candidates, and none of them can beat him in race for presidency. Nobody should consider their health a fringe issue. Too bad you couldn't get the new Prada bag with the fringe

Caution! This solvent is highly flammable.

The travel agency accommodated me with an earlier flight. Learning to accommodate your duties is very important. It's hard to accommodate to changes.

The play revolves round the betrothal of a duke to a doctor's daughter. The ring had become a requisite element of betrothal.

an irrevocable decision. Think about it, don't take an irrevocable step. irreversible

The storm/wind/rain has started to abate. The fighting in the area shows no sign of abating. The fighting continued unabated throughout the night.

He gazed once more around the room, wherein were assembled his entire family.

There is a fine line between love and infatuation.

overt criticism overt racism He shows no overt signs of his unhappiness.

the sudden summertime tempest drove us off the golf course and into the clubhouse

all of his arrows were spent, and there was a hollow, long, nicely carved quiver, protruding from behind his back

Many of the tombs had been despoiled.

areas of marsh and fen The road to Ely leads out across the fens.

She was wearing multiple badges on her bag.

I distrust him after what he did last summer.

The company is currently trying to burnish its socially responsible image. The morning sun burnished the King's hair to a natural crown.

couldn't lay hold of the slippery shampoo bottle

the pressure of final exams is beginning to tell on the students in the dorm. detectives convinced the perpetrators in custody to tell on their associates

My sister's always meddling in other people's affairs. People shouldn't meddle with things they don't understand.

I'm knocking off in two hours, then we can go on a date. The seller knocked 200$ off the price, because the product was damaged. Is that the real thing or a knockoff?

A flock of birds was observing us from the rock shelf while we were climbing.

He weaved between the trees and disappeared in the forest. The boy weaved through/between/in and out of stationary traffic on a bicycle.

parched earth/fields/corn It was the height of summer and the land was parched and brown. I must get a drink - I'm absolutely parched!

Picking up speed, she closed the gap between them. Our cottage is in the gap.

For the first time in two days he felt a flicker of hope.

He was always leering at female members of staff. He was leering at her.

On our way home we came by a pub. He came by his lost respect. You can come by me any time you want.

She darted across the field to escape them. He darted a glance at her. His dart scared the cat. He caught her with a single dart.

It's pathetic to see 50-year-old rock stars prancing around on stage as if they were still teenagers. She pranced into the office and demanded to speak to the manager.

If not kept in check, it can take over your life. I do not see that they are being kept in check at all.

a shingle beach I love the noise of the waves on the shingle.

She walked up to the low dike, looked over it.

"I think you're missing the point," Sara said dryly.