the ability to understand or know something because of a feeling rather than by considering the facts | intuition,_,Intuition told her it was unwise to argue. |
knowledge gained over a long period of time through learning or experience | wisdom,_,We have benefited from the collected wisdom of many centuries. |
money that you receive as payment from the organization you work for, usually paid to you every month | salary,_,The average salary for a teacher is $39,000 a year. |
an advantage, improvement, or help that you get from something | benefit,_,I never had the benefit of a university education. |
when you stop working, usually because of your age | retirement,_,He became a keen golfer after his retirement from politics. |
to make the effort to do something | bother,_,He didn’t bother to answer the question. |
feeling that something is as good as it should be, or that something has happened in the way that you want | satisfied,_,They have plenty of satisfied customers. |
the ability to understand a situation only after it has happened | hindsight,_,With hindsight, I should have seen the warning signs. |
two people who are married or having a sexual or romantic relationship | couple,_,Many newly married couples cannot afford to buy their own homes. |
to plan carefully how something will happen | map out,_,Her own future had been mapped out for her by wealthy and adoring parents. |
someone whose job is to help other people be successful in their lives. A life coach helps his or her client to be clear about what they want to do in the future and helps them to make a plan that will allow them to achieve their aims. | life coach,_,She used the services of a life coach to turn her life around. |
to delay doing something or to arrange to do something at a later time or date, especially because there is a problem or you do not want to do it now | put off,_,The match has been put off until tomorrow because of bad weather. |
detailed and exact | specific,_,Mr Howarth gave us very specific instructions. |
able to be measured | measurable,_,In this business we don't have easily measurable goals. |
a drawing that uses a line or lines to show how two or more sets of measurements are related to each other | graph,_,Martin showed me a graph of their recent sales. |
able to be achieved | achievable,_,The targets are all quite achievable. |
something that you are trying to achieve, such as a total, an amount, or a time | target,_,The government may fail to meet its target of recycling 25% of domestic waste. |
someone’s character, especially the way they behave towards other people | personality,_,Unfortunately, the illness can lead to changes in personality. |
to reduce the number of things included in a range | narrow down,_,The police have narrowed down their list of suspects. |
to reach an agreement in which everyone involved accepts less than what they wanted at first | compromise,_,She admitted that she was unable to compromise. |
the planting and growing of plants and crops | cultivation,_,Terraces for rice cultivation covered the hillsides. |
to make a problem or subject easy to notice so that people pay attention to it | highlight,_,Your résumé should highlight your skills and achievements. |
a thing, place, activity etc that you get something from | source,_,Beans are a very good source of protein. |
to find a satisfactory way of dealing with a problem or difficulty | resolve,_,Barnet was desperate for money to resolve his financial problems. |
produced by combining different artificial substances, rather than being naturally produced | synthetic,_,I cannot wear synthetic materials. |
always wanting more and more of something | insatiable,_,He has an insatiable appetite for power. |
the final result of a meeting, discussion, war etc – used especially when no one knows what it will be until it actually happens | outcome,_,It was impossible to predict the outcome of the election. |
radical ideas are very new and different, and are against what most people think or believe | radical,_,He has put forward some very radical ideas. |
to gather crops from the fields | harvest,_,The farmers are in the fields harvesting the potato crop. |
a plant that grows in the sea | seaweed,_,She found some interesting small animals among the seaweed. |
more than enough in quantity | plentiful,_,The air is sweet, the land is good, timber is plentiful and the fishing is excellent. |
the way that a particular type of food feels in your mouth | texture,_,The advertisement is aimed primarily at children. |
to make you dislike something or not want to do something | put off,_,Don’t let the restaurant’s decor put you off – the food is really good. |
forming the greatest or most important part of something | staple,_,They live on a staple diet of rice and vegetables. |
to add something, especially to what you earn or eat, in order to increase it to an acceptable level | supplement,_,Kia supplements her regular salary by tutoring in the evenings. |
a small hard piece of something | granule,_,I prefer to have coffee made from fresh beans rather than using instant granules. |
to use time, energy, goods etc | consumes,_,A smaller vehicle will consume less fuel. |
if something is in the forefront, it is in a leading position in an important activity that is trying to achieve something or develop new ideas | forefront,_,The company has always been at the forefront of science and technology. |
to look after a person or animal until they are fully grown | reared,_,The birds have been successfully reared in captivity. |
a special type of cell in the body, that can divide in order to form other types of cells that have particular qualities or purposes | stem cells,_,Stem cell research is now attracting a lot of publicity. |
something that you think is true although you have no definite proof | assumption,_,My calculations were based on the assumption that house prices would remain steady. |
not having much experience of how complicated life is, so that you trust people too much and believe that good things will always happen | naïve,_,It would be naive to think that this could solve all the area’s problems straightaway. |
to admit something that you feel embarrassed about | confess,_,Marsha confessed that she didn’t really know how to work the computer. |
a person who disagrees with particular claims and statements, especially those that are generally thought to be true | sceptic,_,Sceptics argued that the rise in prices was temporary. |
not damaged or affected by something | resistant to,_,This is an infection that’s resistant to antibiotics. |
a long period of dry weather when there is not enough water for plants and animals to live | drought,_,The land had suffered a long period of drought. |
to cover a place with water, or to become covered with water | flood,_,The houses down by the river flood quite regularly. |
a small animal or insect that destroys crops or food supplies | pest,_,We need something to prevent the pests from damaging the crops. |
the amount of profits, crops etc that something produces | yield,_,The average milk yield per cow has doubled. |
to do something bad, extreme, or difficult because you cannot think of any other way to deal with a problem | resort to,_,Officials fear that extremists may resort to violence. |