Добавил:
Опубликованный материал нарушает ваши авторские права? Сообщите нам.
Вуз: Предмет: Файл:

Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms

.pdf
Скачиваний:
297
Добавлен:
10.08.2013
Размер:
3.79 Mб
Скачать

photographs. 4 crude, rough, clumsy, awkward, unskilful, unskilled, artless, inartistic, imperfect, unpolished, inaccurate, gauche, bumbling, raw, inelegant, makeshift, homespun, primitive, misshapen, ill-formed, unfinished, rough-hewn, simple, basic, bare: The replica on view in the local museum is only a rude approximation of the original.

rudimentary

adj. 1 basic, essential, elementary, fundamental, rudimental, primary, introductory, abecedarian, formative, first, initial, elemental, primal, seminal: The purpose of the course is provide students with a rudimentary knowledge of computer programming. 2 crude, coarse, unshaped, unfinished, imperfect, primitive, undeveloped, vestigial, embryonic, primordial, immature: These fish, which spend their lives in darkness, have only a rudimentary organ for an eye.

rudiments n.pl. basics, elements, essentials, fundamentals, first principles: She learnt the rudiments of musical composition from the maestro himself.

ruffle n. 1 trimming, flounce, frill, ruff, peplum, flare, smocking, ruche, ruching, gather, gathering: Doesn't that ruffle at the back of the skirt make it look a bit old-fashioned? 2 ripple, wavelet, disturbance, flurry, bustle, stir, perturbation, wrinkle: The news of the divorce caused a slight ruffle at court.

--v. 3 agitate, disconcert, confuse, discompose, discomfit, upset, disturb, stir up, perturb, unsettle, disorient, unnerve, fluster, affect, bother, intimidate, unstring, put out, vex, trouble, worry, Colloq rattle, throw, shake up, Chiefly US and

Canadian discombobulate, voodoo, hex, psych out, Slang chiefly US and Canadian get (someone) all shook up, spook: She was ruffled by questions concerning her relationship with the deceased. 4 disarrange, dishevel, disorder, rumple, mix up, tousle, tangle, disorder, Colloq mess or muss (up): His unpleasant attitude ruffled quite a few feathers in the department.

rugged adj. 1 rough, uneven, broken, stony, rocky, irregular, bumpy, pitted, jagged, ragged: The horses picked their way slowly across the rugged terrain. 2 tough, rough, severe, hard, harsh,

 

difficult, arduous, Spartan, rigorous, onerous, stern,

 

demanding, burdensome: It is amazing how that small band of

 

pioneers withstood the rugged life in the untamed West. 3 hardy,

 

durable, strong, sturdy, hale, robust, tough, vigorous, hard,

 

rough-and-ready, stalwart; independent, individualistic,

 

self-reliant, self-confident, self-sufficient, bold: WANTED:

 

Five rugged pioneering types to join an expedition to the source

 

of the Amazon river. 4 rude, uncouth, uncultured, uncivilized,

 

unrefined, unpolished, crude, ungraceful, churlish: I admit

 

that Charlie's manners are a bit rugged, but he's one of the

 

best men we have.

ruin

n. 1 downfall, destruction, devastation, havoc, breakdown,

 

breakup, d‚bƒcle, collapse, fall, disintegration, ruination,

 

dissolution, wiping out, failure, decay, undoing, end; conquest,

 

defeat, overthrow; bankruptcy, liquidation, failure: Alexander

 

was responsible for the ruin of the Persian empire.

 

Overwhelming debts spelt Theo's financial ruin. 2 degradation,

 

dishonour, debasement, defilement, corruption, vitiation,

 

seduction, degrading, dishonouring, debasing, defiling,

 

corrupting, vitiating, seducing; deflowering, defloration: Who

 

was the libertine who brought about the ruin of Lord Harecombe's

 

daughter? 3 nemesis, curse, end, bane, curse: That boy will be

 

my ruin! 4 gin, mother's ruin, blue ruin, Slang rot-gut: After

 

eating, we sat down and polished off a bottle of mother's ruin.

 

5 hag, witch, crone, beldam; dotard, (old) fogy or fogey,

 

fossil, fuddy-duddy, antique, Brit OAP (= 'old-age pensioner'),

 

Chiefly US retiree, Colloq (old) geezer, wreck, Slang dodo:

 

It's hard to understand what those two old ruins see in each

 

other. 6 ruins. debris, wreckage, fragments, rubble, remains:

 

He stood among the ruins of the burnt-out house wondering what

 

to do next. She was trying to piece together the ruins of her

 

disastrous marriage.

 

--v. 7 destroy, devastate, demolish, annihilate, dissolve, wipe

 

out, undo, overthrow, lay waste, raze, shatter, wreck, crush,

 

flatten, wreak havoc (up)on, reduce to nothing or naught,

 

pulverize, smash, bring to ruin: The bomb ruined the entire

 

centre of the city. 8 spoil, disfigure, damage, botch, mess up,

 

make a mess of, mar, uglify: The county office building

 

completely ruins the Aylesbury skyline. 9 spoil, destroy,

 

wreck, nullify, damage, harm, hurt, impair, poison, Slang louse

 

up, screw up, put the kibosh on, US bollix up, Taboo slang

chiefly Brit make a balls-up of: I think that your behaviour at the office party may just have ruined your prospects for promotion. 10 bankrupt, pauperize, impoverish, reduce to penury or poverty or destitution or indigence: Paying off the loan virtually ruined me. 11 violate, deflower, ravish, seduce, lead astray, dishonour, defile, corrupt, debase, defile: She claimed that it was the local squire who ruined her, despite evidence to the contrary.

ruinous adj. disastrous, destructive, catastrophic, calamitous, deleterious, pernicious, crippling, cataclysmic, baleful, fatal, toxic, poisonous, noxious, harmful, injurious, nasty, Archaic

 

baneful: Smoking can be ruinous to your health. Who was behind

 

the ruinous decision to move the factory to the north-east?

rule

n. 1 regulation, order, law, ordinance, ruling, decree, ukase,

 

statute, principle, direction, guide, guideline, precept: We go

 

by the Golden Rule here, Jim, 'Do unto others before they do

 

unto you'. 2 dominion, authority, control, sovereignty, sway,

 

command, ascendancy, direction, oversight, supervision, mastery:

 

How could such a despised monarch maintain rule over a people

 

for so long? 3 fact, standard, customs, practice, form, routine,

 

convention, policy, way things are: Honesty and integrity among

 

our students are the rule rather than the exception. 4 as a

 

rule. generally, usually, normally, customarily, for the most

 

part, mostly, ordinarily, mainly, in the main, chiefly, on the

 

whole, commonly, more often than not: As a rule, we require

 

payment in advance.

 

--v. 5 Sometimes, rule over. reign (over), govern, be in

 

control or charge or command (of or over), be in power (over),

 

hold sway (over), wield the sceptre, wear the crown, run;

 

prevail, hold sway, dominate, predominate, control: The hand

 

that rocks the cradle rules the world. Supposedly, the majority

 

rules in a democracy. 6 direct, guide, manage, control, lead,

 

head (up), preside (over), superintend, oversee, supervise,

 

regulate, govern, run: The company is ruled by a committee made

 

up of employees and directors. 7 decide, judge, hand down a

 

judgement or decision, decree, deem, resolve, settle, determine,

 

find, declare, pronounce: The referee ruled that Jones had

 

committed a foul. 8 rule out. ban, bar, prohibit, exclude,

 

eliminate, forbid, preclude, proscribe, negate, dismiss,

 

disregard, bypass, ignore, overlook: The programme committee

ruled out Birmingham as the site of next year's conference.

rummage v. 1 search, hunt, comb, scour, scrabble, look through, sift through, turn inside out or upside down, examine, Colloq scrounge: We rummaged about in four dustbins before finding the discarded receipt.

--n. 2 jumble, miscellanea, knick-knacks, odds and ends, hotchpotch or US also hodgepodge: May we borrow your car to collect items for the church rummage sale?

rumour n. 1 rumour, news, gossip, hearsay, information, scoop, tidings, chat, chit-chat, tittle-tattle, on dit; grapevine,

jungle telegraph, Colloq low-down, info, US and Canadian poop, Slang chiefly US nautical scuttlebutt: The rumour is that they are moving from Reading to Exeter. Rumour has it that you are not going with them.

--v. 2 bruit about, noise abroad, circulate, pass around, intimate, breathe, suggest, whisper, leak, reveal, make known, put about, say, report, tell: It has been rumoured that she is going to have his baby.

rumple v. Sometimes, rumple up. wrinkle, crumple, crush, crease, fold, crinkle, dishevel, ruffle, tousle, scrunch (up), pucker, muss

(up), mess (up): When she stood up, the back of her dress was all rumpled.

rumpus n. commotion, disturbance, fuss, confusion, uproar, tumult, to-do, ado, mayhem, bedlam, brouhaha, stir, pother, affray,

 

fracas, row, mˆl‚e or melee, rough-house, brawl: You have no

 

idea what a rumpus he created just because my dog went in his

 

garden.

run

v. 1 sprint, race, scamper, scurry, scud, dart, bolt, dash,

 

flit, tear (along), scoot, scuttle, zip, whiz or whizz, gallop,

 

jog, trot, lope; rush, hurry (up), hasten, scramble, hustle,

 

step lively, hop (to) it, step on it, put on some speed, Archaic

 

hie, Colloq get a move on, hoof it, leg it, hotfoot (it), stir

 

one's stumps, Brit hare, US step on the gas, hump (it), Slang

 

get cracking, US get the lead out (of one's pants or taboo ass),

 

Chiefly US get a wiggle on: If you run, you might catch her

 

before she gets on the train. 2 run away or off, flee, escape,

take flight, take to one's heels, bolt, decamp, make off, clear out, show a clean pair of heels, abscond, cut and run, (beat a (hasty)) retreat, retire, make a getaway, (make a) run for it, Colloq beat it, scram, skedaddle, take off, skip (out), take French leave, fly the coop, Slang head for the hills, Brit

scarper, do a bunk, US and Canadian take a (run-out) powder, lam out of (somewhere), take it or go on the lam, US vamoose: The minute the enemy appeared, the entire troop ran. Cavendish ran, hoping the police wouldn't catch him. 3 go, cover, pass over, sprint, race: He ran the mile in just under four minutes. 4 wander, rove, roam, meander, drift: Some farmers allow their animals to run free, rather than penning them up. 5 Often, run

for. compete (for), be a candidate (for), vie, struggle, contend, fight (for), stand (for): As she has already said she would not stand again, I doubt that she will run for re-election in the council elections. 6 pass, flow, pour, stream, flood, gush, spill, dribble, spurt, issue, move, trickle, seep,

discharge, cascade, spout: You can see where the rainwater has run down this crack in the roof and into the room below. 7 flow, diffuse: The colour ran when he washed his red underwear with some white shirts in very hot water. 8 melt, liquefy, dissolve, fuse: It was so hot that the icing on top of the cake began to melt and run down the sides. 9 keep, maintain, support, sustain, manage: It is very expensive to run a large house. 10 operate, manage, direct, supervise, oversee, conduct, superintend, control, handle, manipulate, head, carry on, lead, regulate,

take care of, look after, administer, be in charge of, coordinate: She must be a terrifically high achiever to run a huge international conglomerate like that! 11 operate, perform, function, work, tick, go: Even after all that abuse, the watch kept running and kept good time. 12 extend, stretch, reach; amount, add up, total up, come (up): The balance of payments deficit is running to twice last year's figure. His bill at the restaurant last night ran to more than œ200. 13 convey, transport, give (someone) a lift, drive, take, bring: Tom said

he would run me home in his new car. 14 bootleg, smuggle, deal or traffic in, Chiefly US and Canadian rustle: During Prohibition, his father ran whisky from Canada to the US. 15 be in effect or force, be effective, have force or effect: This

lease has another year to run. 16 incur, invite, encourage, attract, be subjected to: Aren't you running a risk asking Sheila to handle your money? 17 propel, drive; steer, guide, navigate: If you are inept enough to run a boat aground, at

least have the sense to do it at low tide. 18 unravel, come undone, Chiefly Brit ladder: My stocking ran just before I had to leave for the dance! 19 Sometimes, run off. print, offset, lithograph, reproduce, publish, display; imprint, position, place, locate, lay out: They are going to run his story in the next issue of The Londoner! We'll run the photographs of the fire alongside the article on page one. 20 run across. meet (up with), run into, come across, find, stumble on or upon, hit or chance or happen upon, Colloq bump into: Guess whom I ran across at Harrods yesterday. 21 run after. chase, pursue, go after, court, woo, Colloq set one's cap for: The City is filled with young men and women running after big money. Mick is running after this girl half his age, and he hasn't a clue that she's leading him on. 22 run along. go away, leave, Slang get lost: Sue wanted to get rid of Wayne and told him to run along. 23 run around. philander, be unfaithful, gallivant, Colloq sleep around, play the field: How does she cope with his constant

running around? 24 run around with. associate with, spend time with, dally with, consort with: Cynthia is running around with a bad crowd these days. 25 run away. See 2, above. 26 run down. a trace, track, hunt, stalk, follow, pursue, dog, shadow; find, locate, track down, discover: We ran down the suspect in an abandoned barn in Little Fakenham. b criticize, decry, defame, vilify, disparage, deprecate, depreciate, denigrate, Colloq knock, pan: If you keep running him down like that he'll develop an inferiority complex before he's seven. c weaken, tire, expire, play (itself) out, burn out, run out, fail, Colloq

peter out: Once the batteries have run down, we will no longer be able to transmit a distress-signal. d strike, hit, smash or crash or slam into, run over, knock over or down, collide with:

On the way home, he almost ran down a boy on a bicycle. 27 run in. arrest, take into custody, jail, apprehend, take or bring

in, Colloq pinch, nab, pull in, bust, collar, Brit nick: This is the third time this week that Minette has been run in for soliciting. 28 run into. See 20, above. 29 run off. a See 2, above. b duplicate, print, copy, turn out, produce, make,

manufacture, generate, Colloq do, churn out: How quickly can you run off 1000 copies of this brochure? 30 run out. a be exhausted, expire, terminate, (come or draw to a) close, end, cease: The time for renewing your subscription has run out. b finish, go, be exhausted, be used up, Colloq peter out: The

food had run out and we had no water when we were rescued. 31 run out of. use up, consume, eat up, exhaust, be out of: We've

run out of milk - can you nip down to the shop and get some? 32 run out on. desert, abandon, leave high and dry, forsake, leave in the lurch, leave holding the baby: Despite all his promises, Edgar ran out on her when she became pregnant. 33 run over. a See 26 (d), above. b scan, run through, go over, look over,

flip or leaf or thumb through, look at, skim (through), browse through, dip into, review: I promised Casey I would run over his article if I had the time. c overflow, spill (over), brim over, slosh over, pour over; extend, reach, spread over, stretch over; exceed, go beyond, overreach, overshoot, surpass, transcend: She accidentally let the bath run over, ruining the ceiling below. This article will run over onto the next page. McClelland always runs over the time allotted to his part of the proceedings. d rehearse, run through, repeat, practise, review, go over, study, learn, memorize: You'd best run over your speech again before the banquet. 34 run through. a pierce, stab, transfix, stick, spit: In the last scene, the hero runs

the villain through with his sword before succumbing to his own wounds. b squander, consume, use up, waste, fritter away, exhaust, deplete, spend, dissipate, throw away, Slang blow: It didn't take Hugh more than a year to run through his inheritance. c See 33 (b), above.

--n. 35 sprint, dash, race, jog, trot: They go for a two-mile run every morning before breakfast. 36 trip, journey, visit, drive, expedition, trek, outing, excursion, jaunt, junket, sojourn, Colloq spin, joyride: He has to make a run over to Paris for the weekend, supposedly on business. 37 route, routine, circuit, passage, trip, cycle, round; beat: I was on the Murmansk run during the war. 38 period, spate, interval,

time, spell, stretch, course; engagement, booking, Colloq patch: Roger has had a run of bad luck and could use some help. The show had a long run on Broadway. 39 access, freedom, liberty: The children had the run of the house for a week while their parents were away. 40 return, satisfaction, reward, recompense, compensation, requital, expiation, atonement, repayment, remuneration: Although the odds are never in your favour, you get a good run for your money at Diamond Lil's Gambling Emporium. 41 series, sequence, stream, spate, string, succession, progression: Will attributed his poor showing at the tournament to a bad run of cards. 42 stream, brook, runnel, creek, rill, rivulet, Brit beck, Scots burn, US branch, kill:

There is a small run at the bottom of the hill. 43 demand,

call, request: Bouillon cubes seem to have enjoyed quite a run lately. 44 type, category, class, kind, sort: Mark seems to be a bit more refined than the usual run of guest at Lisa's

parties. 45 trail, track, piste, path, slope; way, runway: She skied down the north run in record time. 46 enclosure, yard, pen, compound, runway; paddock; pound: There is a good-sized

run at the kennel where we board the dogs when we go on holiday. 47 Music roulade, cadenza, arpeggio, riff: The soprano treated

us to a marvellous run in which each note was distinct and pure. 48 in the long run. eventually, finally, after all, ultimately,

in (due) time, in due course, in fine, in the end, at the end of the day, in the final analysis, all things considered, when all is said and done: Regardless of early troubles, things always seem to turn out all right in the long run in his plays. 49 on the run. a hastily, in haste, hurriedly, while under way, in a hurry, at speed, in a rush: It isn't supposed to be good for you to eat breakfast on the run every day. b on the loose,

fleeing, escaping, running, in flight, running (away), Slang US on the lam: He was on the run from the police and desperate to find Duncan. c running, retreating, on the move or the go:

They kept the enemy on the run for a week. 50 the runs. diarrhoea, dysentery, upset stomach, Jocular tummy rot, Delhi belly, Aztec hop, turista or tourista, Mexican foxtrot or

two-step or toothache, Montezuma's revenge, curse of Montezuma, Rangoon runs, Tokyo trots, Lambeth run(s): I came down with the runs when we got to Ankara.

run-around

n. evasive treatment; slip: Every time he applied for help he was given the run-around.

runaway n. 1 fugitive, escapee, refugee, deserter, truant, absconder: The lad is a notorious runaway who has escaped four times before.

--adj. 2 wild, uncontrolled, unchecked, rampant, renegade, unsuppressed; driverless, riderless, loose; escaped: Runaway inflation is ruining the economy of the country. The runaway horses were finally brought back. 3 easy, effortless, overwhelming, uncontested: The incumbent enjoyed a runaway victory in yesterday's election.

run-down adj. 1 wearied, exhausted, debilitated, weakened, worn out,

peaked, fatigued, enervated, tired, drained, spent, out of shape or condition, below par, in bad shape; unhealthy, sickly, ill:

He was found in a badly run-down condition, but was soon back on his feet. 2 ramshackle, dilapidated, tumbledown, decrepit,

rickety, broken-down: The family lives in a run-down cottage on the edge of the moor.

--n. 3 run-through, synopsis, summary, survey, pr‚cis, r‚sum‚, (thumbnail) sketch, outline, rough idea, review, recapitulation, briefing; highlights, high points: Give me a quick run-down of what happened while I was gone.

run-in

n. disagreement, argument, dispute, altercation, quarrel,

confrontation, contretemps: We had a run-in with our neighbour

about playing his hi-fi too loud.

runner

n. 1 sprinter, racer, jogger, hurdler, miler: Gordon is one of

our best runners and ought to make the Olympic team. 2 messenger, courier, errand-boy, errand-girl, messenger-boy, messenger-girl, page, dispatch-bearer or despatch-bearer, dispatch-rider or despatch-rider, Colloq US gofer: The runner said that the package fell off his motor cycle and he lost it. 3 sucker, tendril, creeper, shoot, branch, stem: Tie these runners to the frame in order to train the vine. 4 blade: The runners on your skates need sharpening.

running n. 1 operation, management, direction: Who attends to the everyday running of the business while you are away? 2 competition, contest, meet, tournament, race, match; event, game: If he is found to take steroids, he'll be out of the running.

--adj. 3 continuous, on-going, continual, perpetual, sustained, constant, uninterrupted, ceaseless, unceasing: Where do they get the energy to keep up a running argument on the same silly subject?

runt n. dwarf, pygmy, midget: Save the runt of the litter for me.

run-through

n. 1 rehearsal, practice, trial, test: Let's have one more run-through before tomorrow's dress rehearsal. 2 See run-down, above.

rupture n. 1 break, rift, split, fissure, fracture, cleavage, bursting; breaking, splitting, break-up, breach, schism, disunity, breaking up, severance, division, separation: The rupture was

caused by the expansion of the water on freezing. There was no rupture in friendly relations between the families. 2 hernia:

He is to undergo surgery for a rupture.

 

--v. 3 break (up or apart), split, fracture, cleave, divide,

 

breach, separate; disrupt, part, sunder: The fabric of the

 

balloon ruptured, the gas escaped, and the basket plummeted

 

earthward.

rural

adj. 1 country, pastoral, sylvan, bucolic, rustic, Arcadian,

 

exurban; agricultural, agrarian, Literary georgic: They always

 

preferred rural life to life in the city. Constable painted

 

mainly rural scenes. He sells farm equipment, strictly a rural

 

business. 2 See rustic, 2, below.

ruse

n. trick, device, deception, manoeuvre or chiefly US maneuver,

 

dodge, pretence, pretext, subterfuge, stratagem, ploy, hoax,

 

wile, artifice, imposture: His feigned friendship was only a

 

ruse to get them to reveal their next move.

rush

v. 1 hurry (up), hasten, run, race, hustle, bustle, make haste,

 

dash, speed, scurry, scramble, scoot, jump, sprint, scamper,

 

scuttle, Colloq move (it), hotfoot (it), skedaddle, step on it,

 

make it snappy, US hightail (it), step on the gas , Slang get

 

moving, get cracking, get a wiggle on, go like a bat out of

 

hell, shake a leg: If you want the job, you'll have to rush to

 

send in your application. Don't rush - there's plenty for

 

everyone. 2 attack, assault, charge, storm, blitz: If we rush

 

them, we might take them by surprise.

 

--n. 3 hurry, haste, hustle, bustle, dash, speed, turmoil,

 

turbulence, flurry, commotion, ferment, pother, ado, to-do,

 

excitement, pell-mell, harum-scarum: What's the rush? 4 surge,

 

sensation, thrill, charge: I felt a rush of pleasure when I saw

 

her coming down the street.

 

--adj. 5 urgent, hurry-up, exigent, high-priority,

 

top-priority, emergency: This is a rush job that must be

 

completed today.