Miscellaneous Vocabulary (P) MCQs

To be trapped by an opponent, in a position one can't easily escape from.

Narrowly; barely.

The appeal of nature in the raw.

The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted during an industrial or domestic process; a measure of how that process contributes toward global warming.

Someone who is skilful at playing or manipulating cards, or one who makes a living by cheating at cards.

Euphemism for being bankrupt or in debt.

Having free rein to choose whatever course of action you want.

Disclose a secret.

In a superior or advantageous position.

To be caught in the act of committing a misdemeanour, with the evidence there for all to see.

The proverb has a literal meaning although the 'weakest link' referred to is figurative and usually applies to a person or technical feature rather than a link of an actual chain.

A form of sofa with a backrest at one end only.

Act submissively and apologetically, especially in admitting an error.

A display of confidence in a particular outcome.

Conveying an untrue version of events by leaving out the important facts.

The whole thing.

Old, especially of horses or people.

An unpredictable person or thing, liable to cause damage if not kept in check by others.

Completely mad.

A literary genre in which magical features and storylines appear and are accepted as everyday reality.

The most important issue.

The 'offer' being 'do as I say or I'll kill you'.

Carry on with what you are doing - it will give me an excuse to behave badly.

To state a fact in a way that allows no doubt.

Many small amounts accumulate to make a large amount.

Literal meaning, alluding to the variety in qualities of humankind.

Have many more happy days, especially birthdays.

May you experience much upheaval and trouble in your life.

The real thing - not a substitute.

I'm to blame.

A wave effect formed when crowds in stadia rise up and down from their seats in succession.

With might and main is 'with all of one's strength'.

Great things may come from small beginnings.

An irrelevant argument.

The condition of having a body weight high enough to pose a severe risk to health.

Said in reply to someone who has reported doing something that is considered to be obviously foolish.

A feast day that falls on the same day of the week each year but which has a date which varies.

People of energetic demeanour, who initiate change and influence events.

Whatever one does in one's life is one's own responsibility and cannot be changed.

Keep quiet - say nothing.

Literal meaning.

Excellent - the highest quality.

Affectionate term for a friend.

To display one's opinions and beliefs.

Childish and weakly sentimental.

Literal meaning (it means exactly what it says)

Literal meaning, but usually used for comic effect.

The slogan of the John Lewis Partnership from the 1920s.

A refusal to accept a proposition - equivalent to 'nothing doing'.

Without restrictions or rules.

Human beings do not thrive when isolated from others.

A 'nosy parker, sometimes spelled nosey parker', is a person of an overly inquisitive or prying nature.

Stupid.

Worthless.

'No points' - the lowest possible score awarded to performers in the Eurovision Song Contest.

This is the rebuke levelled at the disciples of Christ, when seeming to doubt his divinity.

God's body.

Okay.

An old man, especially one who is eccentric, curmudgeonly or grotesque.

Old-fashioned; hackneyed.

To be in luck; in a prosperous happy state.

On the quiet.

'On the wagon' - abstaining from alcohol.

Let us try again one more time.

A performer or act, usually a singer or band, who has just one popular success.

A final drink taken just before leaving on a journey.

A time when criticism or other negative actions may be expected, with no mercy shown.

Given the sack, i.e. asked to leave your job (see 'get the sack').

Saved from great danger.

Very pleased.

Take one's chance as to what meal one is served when accepting another's hospitality.

Time in which individual attention is given to an otherwise neglected child or partner.

Very pleased.

Take one's chance as to what meal one is served when accepting another's hospitality.

Time in which individual attention is given to an otherwise neglected child or partner.

Very pleased.

Take one's chance as to what meal one is served when accepting another's hospitality.

Time in which individual attention is given to an otherwise neglected child or partner.

Very pleased.

Take one's chance as to what meal one is served when accepting another's hospitality.

Time in which individual attention is given to an otherwise neglected child or partner.

Take one's chance as to what meal one is served when accepting another's hospitality.

Time in which individual attention is given to an otherwise neglected child or partner.

Odd or unusual.

Take one's chance as to what meal one is served when accepting another's hospitality.

Time in which individual attention is given to an otherwise neglected child or partner.

Odd or unusual.

Time in which individual attention is given to an otherwise neglected child or partner.

Odd or unusual.

Interfere with or spoil the business of a tradesman or showman.

Time in which individual attention is given to an otherwise neglected child or partner.

Odd or unusual.

Interfere with or spoil the business of a tradesman or showman.

Time in which individual attention is given to an otherwise neglected child or partner.

Odd or unusual.

Interfere with or spoil the business of a tradesman or showman.

Time in which individual attention is given to an otherwise neglected child or partner.

Odd or unusual.

Interfere with or spoil the business of a tradesman or showman.

A reference to the sometimes violent natural world, in which predatory animals unsentimentally cover their teeth and claws with the blood of their prey as they kill and devour them.

In earlier times a church festival or saint's day; more recently, any special day.

A thing which has neither rhyme nor reason makes no sense, from either a poetic or logical standpoint.

Verse from a nursery rhyme.

Bring something to an end.

Separating something from usual judgement and guaranteeing its protection, especially the funds of a project.

Horse dung.

Aggressively argumentative, and sometimes violent, behaviour indulged in by drivers when annoyed by other road users' actions.

To take from one merely to give to another; to discharge one debt by incurring another.

An event that is disreputable or strange.

To 'run amok', which is sometimes spelled 'run amuck', is to behave in a wild or unruly manner.

Escape from injury; avoid harm, especially to one's body.

Without incurring payment: or escaping without punishment.

Be firm and resolute.

The full version of the acronym SWALK.

An elderly person; one who is past the age of retirement.

To be ignored or ostracised.

Separate the good from the bad.

All of it; the whole thing.

A lengthy, improbable and ultimately pointless story, often told in an attempt at humour.

One's legs, used as a means of transport.

A hopeful attempt.

To abscond, or depart quickly.

To make short work of - to give little consideration to.

Sleep very soundly.

Sleep well.

Sloane Rangers, or latterly just Sloanes or Sloanies are upper class and fashion-conscious but conventional young people, living in the more expensive parts of West London.

A scruffy or dirty person; one who washes rarely.

Betrayed or cheated.

A rogue or scamp.

A spelling contest.

To use a public lavatory.

Entirely new - fresh or unused.

Someone 'steals your thunder' when they use your ideas or inventions to their own advantage.

A narrow-minded or unprogressive person; one who lacks initiative.

A difficult situation.

Cruel and unfeeling.

A decoy bird, or a police informer, or criminal's look-out or decoy.

Be enthusiastic to free oneself from the restrictions that bar one's progress.

An acceptance of the unpredictable fortunes of existence, often spoken with an air of weary resignation.

A type of cuisine that combines both meat and seafood (especially lobster and steak), or restaurants that serve such cuisine.

Surfing (a.k.a.

Take control of a situation.

Carry off the honours.

Tease or make fun of.

Ronald Reagan; referring to his ability to get into politically 'dirty' areas but emerge with his reputation and popularity unscathed and with no 'mud' sticking.

The catchphrase on the banner shown at the end of Looney Tunes cartoons.

Originally meaning the central aperture of the eye.

Close interrogation.

A literal view of the subject of remarriage.

The people habitually suspected or arrested in response to a crime.

Literal meaning (it means exactly what it says)

The weather is cold.

Through all forms of obstacle that are put in one's way.

The span of a life.

This slogan was used by US President Clinton to publicize his plans for mandatory life sentences for those convicted of a third violent offence.

Make or take up a challenge, or demonstrate one's willingness to join an enterprise.

No one is so powerful that they can stop the march of time.

Attacking imaginary enemies.

Inoperative; broken.

Something that is 'toe-curlingly embarrassing' is discomforting enough as to make one squirm and curl one's toes in response.

Snobbish; supercilious; stuck-up.

In an ironic manner, not meant to be taken seriously.

At once.

Someone who can be relied on to provide support and comfort.

The ultimatum given by children who call on houses to solicit gifts at Halloween.

To knowingly refuse to acknowledge something which you know to be real.

Reverse the positions of adversaries.

All of the time - twenty four hours/day and seven days/week.

With most phrases it is the origin rather than the meaning that is in doubt.

Up the stairs.

Euphemism for pregnant.

Relax in a slothful and mindless manner.

The reverse of the previous statement, with the main items transposed.

A self-perpetuating process which returns to its starting point with no improvement from when it was begun.

'We have become a grandmother' was UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's statement to the press in 1989, on the birth of her first grandchild, Mark Thatcher's son Michael.

A threat of violence.

Be in charge.

I am plainly saying no, and I mean just that.

A computer screen display which appears onscreen as it will be seen when printed on paper.

A rhetorical question, suggesting that what is being spoken of is without fault.

Suit.

Send away or abandon.

Pertaining to the US white middle classes.

A prediction, usually expressed as a warning following someone's bad behaviour, that you may suffer future misfortune.

I am distressed; sad; grieved.

A colloquial greeting.

The choice that was given to the victims of highwaymen and other robbers.

You are unpopular.

A series of short straight lines, set at angles to one another and connected to form a continuous line, often forming a regular pattern, but not necessarily so.

A person who loves or collects books.

Sentimental longing for things that are past.

No amount of persuasion can make him take decision to resign his office for he has burnt his boats.

Someone who copies another person's work or action.

The procedures that will be followed to do something.

Common, easy to get and of little value.

A translation that is not totally accurate.

Much, a lot.

The skill to make plants grow.

Money paid illegally for favourable treatment.

A serious fight or argument.

A person who acts as if he or she knows everything.

An ambiguous compliment interpreted as offensive.

Someone who performs messenger services, an errand boy.

A long distance or trip.

Someone or something which is full of information.

A wrong or mistaken decision in a court of law.

A varied collection of people or things.

A job with regular and normal hours.

A person who makes a reservation for something and then neither comes nor cancels it.

A situation where there is no satisfactory solution.

An unfair treatment.

A car driver who uses more than his share of road.

An approximate estimate/guess.

Disinherited.

Get to the point - leaving out unnecessary preamble.

To wait upon someone in an overly assiduous or sycophantic manner.

Used to highlight and ridicule snobbish forms of behaviour or speech.

The good life, full of pleasure and indulgence.

Work undertaken for the pleasure of it or for the benefit of a loved one.

Play the fool, in a childish or careless manner.

To laugh coarsely or loudly, especially at the discomfort of others.

A figure or object of ridicule and laughter.