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

The Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms

.pdf
Скачиваний:
793
Добавлен:
10.08.2013
Размер:
3.87 Mб
Скачать

daze, stagger, amaze, stun, stupefy, nonplus, strike, Colloq floor: I was quite overpowered by the grandeur of the house.

overpowering

adj. overwhelming, irresistible, powerful, telling, compelling, unendurable, unbearable, oppressive: They presented an overpowering argument against the use of asbestos as an insulator.

overrate v. overvalue, make too much of, exaggerate the worth or value of, attach too much importance to, overprize, assess too highly: They insist that his value to the company is overrated and that

he should be dismissed.

overreact v. exaggerate, make much ado about nothing, make too much of (something), make a mountain out of a molehill, lose all or

one's sense of proportion, blow (up) out of (all) proportion: I'd say that she overreacted by leaving him because he forgot her birthday.

overriding

adj. dominant, dominating, predominant, predominating, compelling, prevailing, primary, prime, most important, overruling, overwhelming, paramount, preponderant, principal, cardinal, main, chief: His overriding reason for buying the larger dictionary was that it made a better doorstop.

overrun v. invade, defeat, attack, ravage, destroy, overwhelm, conquer, harry, vandalize, plunder, maraud, scourge, despoil, sack,

strip, pillage, storm, Colloq blitz: Within a week the armies had overrun the country and captured the capital city.

overseas adv. abroad: Did you serve overseas during the war?

oversee v. direct, manage, watch (over), keep an eye on, administer, superintend, run, supervise, operate, manipulate, handle, control: We employed Gertrude to oversee our offices in Frankfurt.

overseer n. superintendent, supervisor, manager, foreman, forewoman, superior, Colloq boss, chief, super, Brit gaffer, US straw boss, (head or chief) honcho: Simon is too hard a taskmaster to be overseer of that sensitive operation.

overshadow

v. 1 dominate, outshine, eclipse, dwarf, diminish, minimize, put in or throw into or leave the shade, steal the limelight

from, tower over or above, excel: The Crown, overshadowed by the great barons, turned for aid to the Church. 2 spoil, blight, ruin, mar, take (all) the pleasure from, put a damper on, take

the edge off, impair, take the enjoyment out of: The news from the east overshadowed everyone's spirits at the party.

oversight n. 1 omission, inadvertence, neglect, laxity, laxness, fault, failure, dereliction, error, mistake, blunder, carelessness, heedlessness: It was owing to an oversight by a clerk that the flight booking was not made. 2 supervision, superintendence, surveillance, management, direction, guidance, administration; charge, care, custody, keeping, hands, protection, auspices: The matter of expenses must be left to the oversight of the committee established to deal with such things.

overstate v. exaggerate, magnify, hyperbolize, embroider, overstress, colour, make (too) much of, overdraw, overemphasize, stretch, enlarge, inflate, blow up: They might have overstated the problem by asking for a 24-hour police guard.

overstep v. exceed, transcend, surpass, go beyond: Again Hortense has overstepped the bounds of propriety by inviting herself to the reception.

overt adj. apparent, evident, plain, clear, obvious, manifest, clear-cut, unconcealed, patent, open, visible, observable, public: Moving the troops to the border may be considered an act of overt hostility.

overtake v. 1 catch (up with or to), reach, draw level or even with, overhaul, gain on or upon, move by or past, pass, leave behind, outstrip, outdistance: The express train overtakes the local one at Amersham. 2 come upon, seize, catch (unprepared), befall, strike, hit, overwhelm: The weaknesses of old age overtook the actress before she could finish writing her memoirs.

overthrow v. 1 defeat, beat, rout, conquer, overpower, master, bring down, depose, oust, overwhelm, unseat, unhorse, topple,

overturn, dethrone, thrash, worst, best: The new leader was overthrown by the partisans in two weeks. Cotswold Rangers overthrew Kent United in last night's match at Hurley.

--n. 2 defeat, rout, conquest, deposing, ousting, unseating, toppling, overturn, overturning, downfall, end, ruin, fall, collapse, destruction, suppression, quashing, crushing, subjugation, US ouster: The overthrow of the military regime was followed by weeks of rioting and looting.

overtone n. undertone, connotation, hint, suggestion, innuendo, insinuation, intimation, indication, implication: Do I detect overtones of regret now that you are finally leaving?

overture n. Often, overtures. approach, advance, offer, proposal, proposition, tender: While they were winning, they rejected all peace overtures.

overturn v. 1 turn over, knock down or over, tip over, capsize, up-end, upset, turn turtle, turn upside down, turn topsy-turvy, invert:

The tanks overturned when they tried to drive past the huge concrete barriers. On his first day as a waiter, he overturned the soup in a guest's lap. 2 bring down, overthrow, throw over, upset, depose, unthrone, unseat, oust, eject: The dictatorship was overturned and the country returned to being a democratic republic.

--n. 3 overturning, overthrow, unseating, ousting, toppling, fall, destruction, ruin, defeat, US ouster: Could the overturn of the present regime be effected without force of arms?

overwhelm v. 1 overpower, overcome, overtax, devastate, stagger, crush, defeat, destroy, subdue, suppress, quash, quell, conquer, beat, bring down, prostrate, weigh down, oppress: Overwhelmed by grief, she dissolved into tears. 2 inundate, overcome, engulf, submerge, flood (over); deluge, swamp, bury, immerse: A feeling of terror suddenly overwhelmed me as I watched my safety rope fray and break. In only a few hours the rising waters had completely overwhelmed the house. 3 overcome, stagger, astound, astonish, dumbfound or dumfound, shock, stun, bewilder, confuse, confound, nonplus, surprise, take aback, Colloq bowl over, knock off one's feet or pins, blow one's mind, discombobulate, Brit

knock for six: We were overwhelmed by the friendly reception

that awaited our return.

overwhelming

adj. 1 overpowering, uncontrollable, irresistible, devastating, unendurable, unbearable, crushing, burdensome, formidable: He had an overwhelming sense of shame for what he had said. 2 awesome, awe-inspiring, stupefying, astounding, astonishing, staggering, bewildering, mind-shattering, prodigious, mind-boggling, Colloq mind-blowing: When I first went to live in London, I found its sheer size totally overwhelming.

overwork v. 1 overexert, overstrain, overburden, oppress, overtax, overload, overuse: We were so overworked that the quality had to suffer. 2 slave (away), burn the midnight oil, lucubrate:

She insisted on overworking in order to get the project finished on time.

--n. 3 overexertion, overstrain, strain: I was ready to drop from overwork.

overwrought

adj. 1 tense, nervous, jittery, jumpy, fidgety, touchy, in a dither or twitter, all a-twitter, overexcited, on edge, over-stimulated, frantic, frenetic, distracted, Brit strung up, US strung out, Colloq (all) worked up, edgy, in a tizzy, wound up, uptight: They were quite overwrought worrying about the children's safety. 2 overworked, ornate, elaborate, baroque, rococo, florid, flowery, fussy, ostentatious, busy, gaudy, garish: Some of the Victorian houses were characterized by overwrought gingerbread decoration. A few of his poems are overwrought and difficult to digest.

15.19 owe...

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

owe

v. 1 be in debt to, be indebted to, be beholden to: It must be

 

a good feeling not to owe anyone any money at all. 2 owing to.

 

because of, on account of, thanks to; through, as a result of,

 

resulting from, Colloq due to: Owing to my schedule, I cannot

 

stay the night. The higher tides are owing to the positions of

 

the sun and moon.

owner n. possessor, holder; proprietor, proprietress: The papers have been returned to their rightful owner. Who is the owner of the property?

16.0 P =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

16.1 pace...

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

pace

n. 1 step, stride: Please walk forward two paces. 2 rate (of

 

speed), tempo, speed, velocity, Colloq clip: We were proceeding

 

at a pace of five miles per hour.

 

--v. 3 walk, stride, tread; traverse: Alistair paced up and

 

down nervously, waiting for word from the surgeon. 4 measure,

 

gauge or gage, judge, rate, estimate, determine, reckon, figure,

 

compute: I was trying to pace myself to conserve some energy

 

for a sprint finish.

pack

n. 1 parcel, package, packet, bundle, bale, backpack, knapsack,

 

rucksack, haversack, kitbag, kit, duffle or duffel bag: The

 

stranger hoisted his pack onto his shoulder and loped off. 2

 

load, lot, bunch, multitude, heap, pile, accumulation, mass,

 

amassment, mess, barrel, peck: She told the jury a pack of

 

lies. 3 group, collection, assembly, assemblage, congregation,

 

gathering, crowd, number, throng, horde, mass, crew, gang, body,

 

lots, loads, band, company, party, set, flock, herd, drove, mob,

 

swarm, bevy, covey, circle, coterie, clique: A huge pack of

 

people were waiting at the stage door for the star to emerge. 4

 

deck: We ought to have two packs of cards for bridge.

 

--v. 5 Often, pack in or into. package, bale, bundle, compact,

 

crowd, cram, jam, fill, stuff, squeeze, ram, press, wedge, tamp:

 

They packed us into the train like sardines. I packed as much as

 

I could into the short time I had left. 6 pack it in. stop,

 

cease, end, finish, quit, wind up, terminate, give up, call it a

 

day, Colloq chuck: Edward finally packed it in because they

 

were giving him too much trouble. 7 pack off. dismiss, send off

 

or away, bundle off or out, hustle off or out or away, get rid

of, drive off or away, order off or away or out, send (someone) about his or her business: At the beginning of the war, Sally's mother packed her off to America to stay with her aunt. 8 pack up. a get or gather together, put away, store: Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile. b quit, stop, break down, fail, give out, stall, die, give up the ghost, Colloq conk out, have had it: After three days crossing the desert, the engine finally packed up.

package n. 1 packet, parcel, box, container, case, carton, bundle: I am donating a package of clothing to the relief fund. 2 combination, unit, package deal: Included in the package from the car dealer are several luxury features.

--v. 3 wrap, pack, containerize, carton, case, encase, enclose, include; combine, unite, coupled, incorporate: More and more merchandise comes packaged in plastic these days. A special sponge is packaged with the cleaning liquid.

packed adj. filled, full, loaded, crowded, stuffed, jammed, crammed, brim-full, chock-a-block, chock-full, jam-packed, overloaded, overflowing, loaded or filled to the gunwales, up to there, bursting, groaning, swollen, replete, Colloq wall-to-wall: The gallery was packed with the soprano's relatives, who cheered every note. The publicity for the show promised a packed programme of mirth and merriment.

packet n. 1 package, parcel, pack, batch: We found a packet of your

 

old love-letters in a trunk in the lumber room. 2 loads, lot(s),

 

great deal, fortune, mint, Colloq bundle, pretty penny, pile(s),

 

tidy sum, king's ransom, Brit bomb: He lost a packet on that

 

property when they built a sewage plant alongside it.

pact

n. agreement, treaty, bargain, alliance, contract, compact,

 

concord, covenant, concordat, entente, understanding,

 

arrangement, deal: The companies entered into an illegal pact

 

not to compete in the same markets.

pad

n. 1 cushion, pillow, wad, wadding, stuffing, padding, filling,

 

filler: Wrap a soft cotton pad over the wound to protect it. 2

 

writing-pad, note-pad, memo pad, block (of paper), jotter, US

 

filler: You'd best take a pad with you to make notes at the

 

lecture. 3 flat, apartment, room(s), home, place, quarters,

Colloq hang-out, Brit digs or diggings, Slang US flop: A few friends are crashing at my pad while they're in town.

--v. 4 cushion, wad, stuff, fill; upholster: The chair seats

are padded with foam rubber, but the arms are bare. 5 Sometimes, pad out. expand, inflate, stretch, dilate, lengthen, protract, extend, blow up, flesh out, puff up, augment, spin out, amplify: He pads his weekly newspaper column with trivia in order to fill the space.

paddle n. 1 oar, sweep, scull: A 'crab' occurs when you catch the water with the paddle blade on the return stroke.

 

--v. 2 row, scull, oar: Deftly she paddled the canoe over to

 

the pier. 3 wade: The children were paddling at the water's

 

edge. 4 spank, paddywhack, thrash, beat, whip, flog: Dad

 

threatened to paddle me if he caught me playing hookey again.

paddy

n. rage, (fit of) temper, fit, tantrum, Colloq Brit paddywhack

 

or paddywack, wax: She was in a proper paddy when she found out

 

what you'd done.

pagan

n. 1 heathen, unbeliever, idolater, polytheist, infidel,

 

Gentile: He joined the religion of the pagans and worshipped

 

the golden calf.

 

--adj. 2 heathen, infidel, idolatrous, polytheistic,

 

heathenish, Gentile: Many churchmen condemned Renaissance

 

scholars for their interest in pagan and pre-Christian writers.

page°

n. 1 leaf, folio, side, sheet, verso or recto: On which page

 

does the index begin? 2 episode, phase, period, time, stage,

 

point, era, epoch, age, chapter: The early 1940s were among the

 

darkest pages in Britain's history.

 

--v. 3 paginate, folio, number: Roman numerals were used in

 

paging the preface to the book.

pageý

n. 1 attendant, page-boy, servant, errand-boy, messenger, Brit

 

foot-boy, US bellman, bellhop, Offensive used of an adult

 

bellboy: Please have a page deliver this message to Mr

 

Simmonds.

--v. 2 announce, summon (forth), send for or after, call, call for, call out: They are paging your wife now to give her your message.

pageant n. spectacle, display, grandeur, tableau, show, parade, procession, ceremony, formality, ritual, event, affair, extravaganza, presentation, gala: The children stage a medieval mystery play as a part of the annual Christmas pageant.

pageantry n. pomp, ceremony, display, magnificence, extravagance, panorama, showiness, show: The pageantry of the Oberammergau passion play should be experienced at least once.

pain

n. 1 hurt, suffering, discomfort, soreness, ache, aching, pang,

 

spasm, smarting, cramp: I feel the pain in my back from lifting

 

that box. 2 anguish, agony, affliction, distress, grief, woe,

 

suffering, misery, travail, wretchedness, despair, torment,

 

tribulation, trial, torture, dolour, discomposure, ordeal,

 

disquiet: No one who has not experienced it can imagine the

 

pain of losing a child. 3 irritation, vexation, annoyance,

 

bother, nuisance, pest, Colloq pain in the neck, headache, drag,

 

bore, Taboo slang pain in the Brit arse or US ass: What a pain

 

it is that you have forgotten your keys again! David can really

 

be a pain when he goes on about the book he's writing. 4 pains.

 

effort, trouble, exertion, toil, labour: She went to great

 

pains to make our stay comfortable.

 

--v. 5 hurt, distress, grieve, wound, injure; trouble, depress,

 

sadden, sorrow, cut to the quick: It pained us to learn of Mrs

 

McArthur's illness.

painful adj. 1 hurting, grievous, hurtful, sore, distressing, distressful, excruciating, torturous, agonizing, smarting, stinging, aching, achy, throbbing, burning, piercing, stabbing, sharp, tender, sensitive, raw, bitter, Formal nociceptive: The bullet caused a painful wound in the knee. Mother's arthritis can be quite painful at times. 2 vexing, vexatious, annoying, harassing, irritating, irksome, aggravating, galling, exasperating, unpleasant, afflictive, harrowing, worrisome, worrying, troubling, disquieting, disturbing, distressing: Fighting in the front lines was a painful experience for Rupert. 3 painstaking, laborious, careful, rigorous, arduous, assiduous, sedulous, diligent, earnest, conscientious, meticulous,

scrupulous, detailed, thorough, thoroughgoing, exacting, demanding: A great deal of painful research went into discovering the cause of yellow fever.

painfully adv. agonizingly, distressingly, disagreeably, unpleasantly, unfortunately, sadly, woefully, lamentably, ruefully, unhappily: I became painfully aware that much of the relief destined for the poor never reached them.

painkiller

n. anodyne, analgesic, anaesthetic, sedative, palliative: When he wrenched his back, the doctor gave him a painkiller so that he could walk.

painless adj. trouble-free, easy, simple, comfortable, effortless, Colloq easy as 1, 2, 3 or as ABC, easy as pie, a piece of cake, pushover, child's play, Slang cinch, no sweat: The procedure for assembling the bicycle is relatively painless.

painstaking

adj. See painful, 3, above.

paint n. 1 colour, tint, dye, colouring, pigment, stain: I bought the paint and brushes, and started work on the kitchen walls. 2 coating, coat, surface; enamel: The rust has come through the paint here and there. 3 make-up, cosmetics, maquillage, greasepaint, Colloq warpaint, face: Sheila is in her room putting on some paint before we go out.

--v. 4 depict, portray, picture, show, represent, delineate, render, draw, limn, characterize, describe: Whistler painted a portrait of my grandmother. Correspondents painted a very grim picture of the plight of the hostages. 5 coat, brush, apply,

cover, daub: The doctor painted the area with some medication that soothed the pain. 6 colour, tint, dye, stain, decorate: We are planning to paint the nursery pale blue. 7 paint the town red. make merry, carouse, revel, go on a spree, go out on the town, Colloq whoop it up, live it up, (go on a) pub-crawl, step

out, Slang make whoopee, go on a bender or drunk or binge, booze it up: Saturday nights a few of the boys would go out and paint the town red till the wee hours.

pair

n. 1 couple, twosome, two of a kind, set of two, matched set,

 

duo, dyad, twins, double, doublet; brace, span, yoke, team,

 

tandem: A pair of silver candelabra disappeared during the

 

party.

 

--v. 2 match (up), mate, pair off or up, team (up), put

 

together, partner, twin, double, join, unite, yoke; wed, marry,

 

join in wedlock or in holy matrimony: Pair these gloves for me,

 

would you? Husbands may not pair off with wives for the next

 

dance.

pal

n. 1 friend, consort, comrade, alter ego, crony, companion,

 

amigo, playmate, classmate, Colloq chum, sidekick, mate, Chiefly

 

US and Canadian buddy: Jim left a little while ago with a few

 

of his pals.

 

--v. 2 pal (up) with or about or US around (with). associate

 

(with), be or become friendly or friends (with), be or get or

 

become on friendly or intimate terms (with), go (around or

 

about) with, fraternize (with), consort (with), spend time

 

together or with, keep company (with), Colloq hang out or about

 

or around (with), knock about or around (with): Fiona and

 

Isabel palled up last year. Do you still pal about with Timothy?

palace n. mansion, castle, stately or palatial home or residence, manor (house), (country) estate, chƒteau, palazzo, villa: After the wedding, they went to the prince's palace and lived happily ever after.

palatial adj. luxurious, de luxe, magnificent, splendid, stately, sumptuous, opulent, majestic, magnificent, grand, elegant, palatine, Slang posh, ritzy, swanky, classy: After winning the pools, they moved into a palatial house in Belgravia.

palaver n. 1 nuisance, procedure, red tape, to-do, rigmarole or rigamarole, Colloq song and dance, bother, nonsense, business, carry-on, performance: He lost the certificates, so she now has to go through all the palaver of getting new ones. 2 chatter, babble, jabber, (empty or small) talk, blather or blether, gossip, prating, prattle, prattling, palavering, Brit natter, nattering, Scots clishmaclaver, Colloq jawing, hot air, Colloq Brit witter, wittering: There is so much palaver at the annual meeting that nothing important ever gets said. 3 parley, talk, conference, discussion, colloquy, conversation, confabulation,

Соседние файлы в предмете Английский язык