people or things. 5. tv. to be E on
a television show.
6. tv. to be Q or
W at a party.
hostage ["has tIdZ] 1. n. someone
or something held by force, to be
released only when stated
demands are met.
2. the adj. use of
Q.
→
hold
someone
hostage
→ take
someone
hostage
hot ["hat] 1. adj. having a high tem-
perature; not cold or warm. (Adv:
hotly. Comp: hotter; sup: hottest.)
2. adj. [of food] very spicy, caus-
ing a burning feeling in the mouth.
(Adv: hotly. Comp: hotter; sup:
hottest.)
3. adj. very intense;
excited or angry. (Figurative on
Q. Adv: hotly. Comp: hotter; sup:
hottest.)
4. adj. currently popular.
(Informal. Comp: hotter; sup:
hottest.)

2. adv. every hour; once an
hour.
house 1. ["haUs] n., irreg. a build-
ing where a person or a family
lives; a home. (Plural: [
"haU z@z]
or [
"haU s@z].) 2. ["haUs] n. a
household; all the people who live
in Q. (No plural.)
3. ["haUs] n.,
irreg. a legislature; a legislative
body.
4. ["haUs] n., irreg. the part
of a theater where the audience
sits.
5. ["haUz] tv. to provide shel-
ter to someone or some creature.
→
bring the house down
→ eat
someone
out of house and
home
→ on the house
→ tree house
house pet ["haUs pEt] n. a dog, cat,
bird, fish, or other animal kept in
a house as a
pet.

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paid to clean someone’s house.
(Euphemistic.)
houseplant ["haUs plAnt] n. a
plant usually grown indoors.
housework ["haUs w#k] n. cook-
ing, cleaning, washing, and other
household tasks. (No plural.)
how [haU] 1. interrog. in what
way?; by what means?
2. interrog.
to what extent?; to what degree?
3. interrog. in what condition?
4. conj. the way in which; the
manner in which.
how many [haU "mEn i] interrog. in
what number(s)?
how much [haU "m^tS] interrog. in
what amount?
however [haU "Ev #] 1. adv. but;
nevertheless; in spite of some-
thing.
2. adv. no matter how. (Fol-
lowed by an adjective or adverb.)
3. conj. in whatever way; by what-
ever means.
howl ["haUl] 1. n. a long wail, as
with the cry of a wolf or the sound
of a high wind.
2. iv. to make Q.

2. adj.
of a notable extent; [of extent,
degree, or amount] notably large.
(Adv: hugely. Comp: huger; sup:
hugest.)
hum ["h^m] 1. n. a long, vibrating
sound, like a long “mmmm-
mmm”; a low murmur; a quiet
buzzing sound. (No plural.)
2. iv.
to make a long, vibrating sound,
like a long “mmmmmmmmm”; to
sing with one’s mouth closed.
3. tv. to sing musical notes with
one’s mouth closed, as in W.
human ["hju m@n] 1. n. a person; a
human being. 2. the adj. use of Q.
(Adv: humanly.)
3. adj. showing
feelings that people normally
show. (Adv: humanly.)
→
everything humanly possible
→ the milk of human kindness
human being ["hju m@n "bi IN] n. a
person; a human creature, espe-
cially considering special human
characteristics, such as intelli-
gence, kindness, sympathy, etc.
(The same as a

funny; amusing; having humor.
(Adv: humorously.)
hump ["h^mp] n. a large, rounded
bump or swelling.
→
over the hump
hunch ["h^ntS] n. a guess based on
how one feels.
hunch up to squeeze or pull the
parts of one’s body together.
hundred ["h^n dr@d] 1. n. the
number 100; the number between
99 and 101. (Additional forms as
with two hundred, three hundred,
four hundred, etc.)
2. n. 100 people
or things.
→
one in a hundred
hung ["h^N] 1. a past tense and past
participle of
hang. 2. adj. [of a
jury] unable to reach a decision;
[of a jury] not having a majority.
hunger ["h^N g#] 1. n. a general
lack of food. (No plural.)
2. n. the
feeling of a need for something.
(Figurative on Q. No plural.)
hunger for

possible place for someone or
something.
hunt
someone or something
down
1. to chase and catch someone or
something.
2. to locate someone
or something.
hunt
someone or something
out to
find someone or something even if
concealed.
hunt
someone or something
up to
seek someone or something.
hunt through
something
to search
through the contents of some-
thing; to search among things.
hunter ["h^n t#] n. someone who
hunts; someone who searches for
and kills animals for food or sport.
humble
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something immediately or as fast
as possible.
hurry off Go to hurry away.
hurry on Go to hurry up.
hurry
someone or something
in(to
something
) to make someone or
something go into something fast.
hurry
someone or something
up to
make someone or something go or
work faster.
hurry up and hurry on to move
faster.
hurt ["h#t] 1. n. pain of the body or
emotions; an ache. (Plural only for
types and instances.)
2. tv., irreg.
to injure a part of the body; to
harm one’s mental processes or
emotional well-being. (Past tense
and past participle: hurt.)
3. tv.,
irreg. to have a bad effect on some-
one or something; to be bad for
someone or something.
4. tv.,

stop talking.
husky ["h^s ki] 1. adj. [of a voice]
low sounding as if the speaker has
a sore throat. (Adv: huskily. Comp:
huskier; sup: huskiest.)
2. adj. big
and strong; muscular. (Adv:
huskily. Comp: huskier; sup: huski-
est.)
3. n. a kind of dog that pulls
sleds in the far north.
hut ["h^t] n. a small shelter; a hum-
ble dwelling.
hutch ["h^tS] 1. n. a cage for rabbits
or other small animals.
2. n. a
cupboard or cabinet with shelves.
hyena [haI "i n@] n. a wild, doglike
animal of Africa that eats meat
and has a loud cry that sounds like
laughter.
hyena
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hymn ["hIm] n. a religious song of
praise meant to be sung by wor-
shipers.
hype ["haIp] 1. n. an extreme
amount of publicity; exaggerated

me.)
ice ["aIs] 1. n. frozen water. (No
plural. Number is expressed with
piece(s) or cube(s) of ice.)
2. tv. to
cover a cake with icing or frosting.
(See also
icing.)
→
break the ice
→ on thin ice
→ put
something
on ice
→ skate on thin ice
ice cream ["aIs "krim] 1. n. a fro-
zen dessert or snack food made
from cream or milk and some
kind of fruit or other flavoring.
(No plural.)
2. the adj. use of Q.
(Hyphenated.)
ice cube ["aIs kjub] n. a small cube
of ice, used to make drinks and
liquids cold.
ice over [for water] to freeze and
develop a covering of ice.
ice skate ["aI(s) sket] 1. n. a boot
with a thin blade on the bottom
that allows one to glide on top of

duced by the mind; a mental pic-
ture.
3. n. a suggestion; a plan.
→
flirt with the idea of
doing
something
ideal [aI "dil] adj. perfect; perfectly
suitable. (Adv: ideally.)
the
ideal n. the best example of
something; the perfect type. (No
plural. Treated as singular.)
ideals n. high moral standards;
strong moral beliefs.
identical [aI "dEn tI k@l] adj. equal;
exactly alike. (Adv: identically
[
Ik li].)
identical to
someone or something
exactly the same as someone or
something.
identification [aI dEn t@ f@ "ke
S@n
] 1. n. identifying someone or
something; the condition of being
identified. (Plural only for types
and instances.)
2. n. some kind of

the separate words that make up
the phrase.
2. n. a mode of expres-
sion or design.
idiot ["Id i @t] n. a foolish person; a
stupid person.
idle
something
away to waste one’s
time in idleness; to waste a period
of time, such as an afternoon, eve-
ning, or one’s life.
if ["If] 1. conj. in the event [that
something is the case]; on the con-
dition [that something is the case].
2. conj. whether. (Often intro-
duces an indirect question.)
3. conj. although; even though.
if not otherwise; if that does not
happen; if that is not the case; if
that is not so.
if so if that is the case; if that is so;
if that happens.
if worst comes to worst in the
worst possible situation; if things
really get bad.
ignorant ["Ig n@ r@nt] 1. adj. with-
out knowledge; without informa-
tion; uninformed. (Adv: ignor-
antly.)

est or illegal fashion.
illness ["Il n@s] 1. n. a sickness; a
disease.
2. n. a period of being
sick.
ills n. troubles.
illusion [I "lu Z@n] 1. n. a vision of
something that is not really there;
a false image.
2. n. a false belief;
something that seems to be true
but is not true.
I’m ["aIm] cont. I am.
image ["Im IdZ] 1. n. that which is
seen in a mirror or similar surface.
2. n. a sculpture, painting, or
other form of art that represents
someone or something; a picture
or photograph of someone or
something.
3. n. a picture of
something in one’s mind; a mental
identify someone or something with someone or something
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picture. 4. n. the opinion that peo-
ple have about a certain person or
thing; someone’s or something’s
reputation.

to guess something. (The object is
a clause with
that U.)
imitate ["Im @ tet] 1. tv. to attempt
to copy the style, behavior, or suc-
cess of someone whom one
admires or wants to be like.
2. tv.
to copy the behavior, speech, and
movement of someone for amuse-
ment.
imitation [Im @ "te S@n] 1. n. copy-
ing someone’s actions or deeds;
copying something. (No plural.)
2. n. a copy; a duplicate. 3. n. an
act of imitating someone or some-
thing.
4. adj. fake; artificial;
resembling something.
immaculate [I "mAk j@ lIt] adj.
pure; absolutely clean; spotless.
(Adv: immaculately.)
immaterial [Im @ "tIr i @l] adj. not
relevant; having nothing to do
with something. (Adv: immateri-
ally.)
immediate [I "mid i It] 1. adj. hap-
pening now; happening at once.
(Adv: immediately.)
2. adj. closest

put someone or something under-
water.
immersion [I "m# Z@n] 1. n. plac-
ing something under water or in a
liquid. (Plural only for types and
instances.)
2. n. being completely
involved in something. (Figurative
on Q. No plural.)
immersion
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immigrate ["Im @ gret] iv. to come
into a new country to live.
immodest [I "mad @st] 1. adj. not
modest; revealing; shameless.
(Adv: immodestly.)
2. adj. not
modest about oneself; often brag-
ging. (Adv: immodestly.)
immoral [I "mor @l] adj. without
morals; not moral; breaking moral
rules. (Adv: immorally.)
immortal [I "mor t@l] 1. adj. ever-
lasting; lasting forever; never
dying; living forever. (Adv:
immortally.)
2. adj. continuing to
be remembered forever; never for-

3. [Im "pAkt] tv. to crash into
something.
→
upon impact
impasse ["Im pAs] n. a place where
movement or progress is blocked
by something; a deadlock. (No
plural form.)
→
reach an impasse
impatient [Im "pe S@nt] adj. not
patient; not able to wait for some-
one or something. (Adv: impa-
tiently.)
implant
something
in(to)
someone
or something
to embed something
into someone or something.
implicate
someone
in
something
to
say that someone is involved in
something.
imply [Im "plaI] tv. to suggest some-
thing; to indicate something with-

impose (up)on
someone
to make a
bothersome request of someone.
impress
someone
with
someone or
something
to awe someone with
someone or something.
impress
something
(up)on
some-
one
to make someone fully aware
of something.
immigrate
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imprint
something
into
something
Go to imprint
something
on(to)
some-

something
to
make something better.
improvise on
something
[for a
musician] to create a new piece of
music on an existing musical
theme.
impulse ["Im p@ls] 1. n. a short
burst of electrical energy.
2. n. the
sudden desire to do something; a
whim. (Figurative on Q.)
→
on impulse
impure [Im "pjUr] 1. adj. not pure;
dirty; mixed with other things.
(Adv: impurely.)
2. adj. not
morally pure. (Adv: impurely.)
in [In] 1. prep. inside something;
within something; surrounded by
something else.
2. prep. into some-
thing; entering into a space; going
through a boundary and to a posi-
tion that is surrounded by some-
thing else.
3. prep. at some point

in a pinch if absolutely necessary;
if there is no other alternative.
in a rut Go to (stuck) in a rut.
in a (tight) spot caught in a prob-
lem; in a difficult position.
in a tizzy an excited and confused
condition; a fuss.
in a vicious circle in a situation in
which the solution of one problem
leads to a second problem, and the
solution of the second problem
brings back the first problem, etc.
in a world of
one’s
own aloof;
detached; self-centered.
in addition (to
something
) addi-
tionally; further; moreover; as an
additional thing or person.
in advance [of something given,
paid, or provided] before it is due.
in agreement in harmony; agree-
ing.
in agreement
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