celebrate 51 certainly
ed the kitchen ceiling. ć The bedroom
has a very low ceiling.
celebrate
celebrate /selbret/
verb
to have a par-
ty, or do special things because some-
thing good has happened, or because of
something that happened at a particular
time in the past
ć Our team won, so
we’re all going out to celebrate.
ć They
celebrated their wedding anniversary
with their children.
celebration
celebration /sel

breʃ(ə)n/
noun
1. a
party or festival
ć We had my birthday
celebration in the local pub.
ć After our
team won, the celebrations went on late
into the night.
2. the activity of celebrat-
ing something
ć a time of celebration ˽

used in building, which is mixed with
water and dries hard
ć He was mixing
cement to make a path round the house.
cemetery
cemetery /semət(ə)ri/
noun
an area of
ground where the bodies of dead people
are buried
(NOTE: The plural is ceme-
teries.)
cent
cent /sent/
noun US
a small coin of
which there are 100 in a dollar
(NOTE:
Do not confuse with sent, scent. Cent
is usually written c in prices: 25c, but
not when a dollar price is mentioned:
$1.25.)
center
center /sentə/
noun
,
verb
US spelling
of
centre

1. to put something in the middle ć
Make sure you centre the title on the
page.
2. to concentrate on something ć
Our report centres on some aspects of
the sales team.
century
century /sentʃəri/
noun
one hundred
years
(NOTE: The plural is centuries.
The number of a century is always one
more than the date number, so the pe-
riod from 1900 to 1999 is the 20th cen-
tury, and the period starting in the year
2000 is the 21st century.)
cereal
cereal /səriəl/
noun
1. a food made
from wheat or similar plants and eaten
for breakfast
ć How much milk do you
want on your cereal?
(NOTE: Do not
confuse with serial.) 2.
a grain crop
such as wheat or corn
ceremony

them.
ȣ to make certain that to do
something in order that something else
will definitely happen
ć He put the
money in his safe to make certain that
no one could steal it.
certainly
certainly /st(ə)nli/
adverb
1. of
course
(
after a question or order
) ć
Can you give me a lift to the station? –
Certainly.
ć Tell him to write to me im-
mediately. – Certainly, sir.
ć Give me a
kiss. – Certainly not!
2. definitely ć She
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certificate 52 championship
certainly impressed the judges. ć He
certainly knows how to score goals.

attach with a chain
ć I chained my bike
to the fence.
chair
chair /tʃeə/
noun
1. a piece of furniture
with a back, which you can sit on
ć He
pulled up a chair and started to write.
ć
These chairs are very hard. 2. the per-
son who is in charge of a meeting
ć
Please address all your comments to the
chair.
˽ in the chair the position of con-
trolling what happens at a meeting
ć
Mrs Smith was in the chair for our first
meeting.
í
verb
to be the person con-
trolling what happens at a meeting
ć
The meeting was chaired by Mrs Smith.
chairman
chairman /tʃeəmən/
noun

ć He wrote
the dates up on the board in coloured
chalk.
chalkboard
chalkboard /tʃɔkbɔd/
noun
a dark
board which you can write on with
chalk, especially on the wall of a class-
room
(NOTE: Now often preferred to
‘blackboard’.)
challenge
challenge /tʃlnd/
noun
1. a diffi-
cult test of someone’s skill or strength
ć
It’s a difficult job, but I enjoy the chal-
lenge.
˽ to pose a challenge to some-
one to be extremely difficult to do
ć
Getting the piano up the stairs will pose
a challenge to the helpers.
2. an invita-
tion to something such as a fight or com-
petition
ć Our team accepted the chal-
lenge to play another game.

1.
unable to do a particular activity easily,
especially because of physical or mental
disadvantages
2. not having a particular
quality
(
humorous
) ć a scientifically
challenged (=not accurate according to
science) account of the new cancer
treatment
champion
champion /tʃmpiən/
noun
1. the best
one in a particular competition
ć a
champion swimmer
ć He’s the world
champion in the 100 metres.
ć Their
dog was champion two years running.
2. a person who strongly supports some-
thing or someone
ć a champion of free
city centre transport
í
verb
to support

waiting for a chance like this for a long
time.
ć The trip was a good chance for
us to meet old friends.
˽ a or the chance
to do something an opportunity to do
something
ć I wish I’d had the chance
to visit South Africa.
3. luck or accident
ć The satisfactory outcome owed more
to chance than to good planning.
ć It
was pure chance that we met at the sta-
tion.
ȣ by chance in a way that was not
planned or expected
ć It was quite by
chance that we were travelling on the
same bus.
ȣ by any chance perhaps ć
Have you by any chance seen my glass-
es?
change
change /tʃend/
verb
1. to become dif-
ferent, or make something different
ć
She’s changed so much since I last saw

ć We want to change some travel-
ler’s cheques.
í
noun
1. an occasion on
which something is changed
ć There
was a sudden change of plan.
ć We’ve
seen a lot of changes over the years.
2.
something different ć We usually go on
holiday in summer, but this year we’re
taking a winter holiday for a change.
ć
A change of scenery will do you good. ć
A glass of water is a nice change after
all that coffee.
3. money in coins ć I
need some change for the parking meter.
ć Have you got change for a £5 note? 4.
money which you get back when you
have given more than the correct price
ć
So that’s £1.50 change from £5. ć The
shopkeeper gave me the wrong change.
channel
channel /tʃn(ə)l/
noun
1. a frequency

a state of confusion
ć There was total chaos when the elec-
tricity failed.
chap
chap /tʃp/
noun
a man (
informal
) ć
He’s a really nice chap. ć I bought it
from a chap at work.
chapel
chapel /tʃp(ə)l/
noun
1. a room used
as a church, e.g. in a hospital or airport
2. a part of a large church ć the west
chapel of the cathedral
ć The west
chapel of the cathedral is dedicated to
St Teresa.
chapter
chapter /tʃptə/
noun
a division of a
book
ć The first chapter is rather slow,
but after that the story gets exciting.
ć
Don’t tell me how it finishes – I’m only

ć
The shape is characteristic of this type
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charge 54 cheat
of flower. (NOTE: something is charac-
teristic of something)
í
noun
a typical
feature
ć The two cars have very similar
characteristics.
charge
charge /tʃɑd/
noun
1. money which
you have to pay
ć There is no charge for
delivery.
ć We make a small charge for
rental.
2. a claim by the police that
someone has done something wrong
ć
He was in prison on a charge of trying
to shoot a neighbour.

es, run as fast as you can for the gate!
4.
to run quickly and without care ć The
children charged into the kitchen.
5. to
put electricity into a battery
ć You can
charge your phone battery overnight.
ȣ
in charge of something in control of
something
ć Who’s in charge here? ć
He was put in charge of the sales de-
partment.
ȣ to take charge of some-
thing
to start to be responsible for
something
ć She took charge of the
class while the teacher was out of the
room.
charity
charity /tʃrt/
noun
an organisation
which collects money to help the poor
or to support some cause
ć a medical
charity
(NOTE: The plural is charities.)

a legal document
giving rights or privileges to a public or-
ganisation, a group of people, or a town
ć a shoppers’ charter ć The university
received its charter in 1846.
í
verb
to
hire an aircraft, bus or boat for a partic-
ular trip
ć We chartered a boat for a day
trip to the island.
chase
chase /tʃes/
verb
1. to go after someone
in order to try to catch him or her
ć The
postman was chased by a dog.
ć They
chased the burglars down the street.
2.
to find out how work is progressing in
order to try to speed it up
ć We are try-
ing to chase the accounts department
for your cheque.
ć I will chase up your
order with the production department.
í

not costing a lot
of money
ć I want to buy a cheap radio.
ć Why do you go by bus? – Because it’s
cheaper than the train.
ć Buses are the
cheapest way to travel.
í
adverb
at a
low price
ć I bought them cheap in the
local market.
cheaply
cheaply /tʃipli/
adverb
1. without
spending much money
ć cheaply made
furniture
ć You can live quite cheaply if
you don’t go out to eat in restaurants.
2.
at a low price ć They were selling the
last few bottles cheaply.
cheat
cheat /tʃit/
verb
to act unfairly in order
to be successful

verb
1. to make sure ć I’d better check
with the office if there are any messages
for me.
ć Did you lock the door? – I’ll
go and check.
2. to examine something
to see if it is satisfactory
ć You mus t
have your car checked every 10,000
miles.
ȣ in check under control
check in
phrasal verb
1. (
at a hotel
) to
arrive at a hotel and sign for a room
ć
He checked in at 12.15. ć We checked
into our hotel and then went on a tour of
the town.
2. (
at an airport
) to give in
your ticket to show you are ready to take
the flight
ć Please check in two hours
before your departure time.
check out

huge queues at the checkouts.
cheek
cheek /tʃik/
noun
1. the part of the face
on each side of the nose and below the
eye
ć a baby with red cheeks 2. rude-
ness
ć He had the cheek to ask for more
money.
ć I didn’t like his cheek. (NOTE:
no plural in this sense)
cheekily
cheekily /tʃikli/
adverb
in a rude way
cheeky
cheeky /tʃiki/
adjective
rude (NOTE:
cheekier – cheekiest)
cheer
cheer /tʃə/
noun
a shout of praise or en-
couragement
ć When he scored the goal
a great cheer went up.
cheer up

noun
a substance
which is formed by reactions between
chemicals
ć rows of glass bottles con-
taining chemicals
ć Chemicals are
widely used in farming and medicine.
í
adjective
relating to chemistry ć If you
add acid it sets off a chemical reaction.
chemist
chemist /kemst/
noun
1. a person who
prepares and sells medicines
ć Ask the
chemist to give you something for the
pain.
2. a scientist who studies chemical
substances
chemistry
chemistry /kemstri/
noun
the science
of chemical substances and their reac-
tions
ć She’s studying chemistry at uni-
versity.

noun
1. the top front part of
the body, where the heart and lungs are
ć If you have pains in your chest or if
you have chest pains, you ought to see a
doctor.
ć The doctor listened to the pa-
tient’s chest.
ć She was rushed to hospi-
tal with chest wounds.
ć He has a 48-
inch chest.
2. a measurement around the
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chew 56 choice
top part of the body just under the arms
ć What’s his chest size or measure-
ment?
3. a piece of furniture, like a large
box
chew
chew /tʃu/
verb
to use your teeth to
make something soft, usually so that
you can swallow it

;
a slice of chicken
)
chief
chief /tʃif/
adjective
most important ć
He’s our chief adviser. ć What is the
chief cause of accidents in the home?
í
noun
1. the person in control of a group
of people or a business
ć He’s been
made the new chief of the finance de-
partment.
2. the leader of a specific
group of people who share a culture and
social system
chiefly
chiefly /tʃifli/
adverb
mainly ć The
town is famous chiefly for its cathedral.
child
child /tʃald/
noun
1. a young boy or girl
ć There was no TV when my mother was
a child.

2. coldness ć
The sun came up and soon cleared away
the morning chill.
3. an atmosphere of
gloom
ć The death of the bride’s father
cast a chill over the wedding.
í
verb
to
cool
ć He asked for a glass of chilled
orange juice.
˽ chilled to the bone very
cold
(
informal
) ć They were chilled to
the bone when they came back from
their walk over the moors.
chilly
chilly /tʃli/
adjective
quite cold (NOTE:
chillier – chilliest)
chimney
chimney /tʃmni/
noun
a tall brick tube
for taking smoke away from a fire

ć a pack-
et of potato or corn chips
3. a small
piece of something hard, such as wood
or stone
ć Chips of wood flew all over
the studio as he was carving the statue.
4. a small piece of silicon able to store
data, used in a computer
í
verb
to break
a small piece off something hard
ć He
banged the cup down on the plate and
chipped it.
(NOTE: chips – chipping –
chipped)
ȣ to have a chip on your
shoulder
to feel constantly annoyed
because you feel you have lost an ad-
vantage
ć He’s got a chip on his shoul-
der because his brother has a better job
than he has.
chocolate
chocolate /tʃɒklət/
noun
1. a sweet

something
ć You must give customers
time to make their choice.
3. a range of
things to choose from
ć The store has a
huge choice of furniture.
˽ I hadn’t any
choice, I had no choice there was noth-
ing else I could do
í
adjective
(
of food
)
specially selected ć choice meat ć
choice peaches
choir
choir /kwaə/
noun
a group of people
who sing together
ć He sings in the
school choir.
choke
choke /tʃəυk/
verb
1. to stop breathing
properly because something such as a
piece of food is blocking the throat

several good candidates to choose from.
ć You must give customers plenty of
time to choose.
2. to decide to do one
thing when there are several things you
could do
ć In the end, they chose to go
to the cinema.
ı choice (NOTE: choos-
es – choosing – chose /
tʃəυz/ – has
chosen /
tʃəυz(ə)n/)
chop
chop /tʃɒp/
noun
a piece of meat with a
bone attached
ć We had lamb chops for
dinner.
í
verb
1. to cut something
roughly into small pieces with a knife or
other sharp tool
ć He spent the after-
noon chopping wood for the fire.
2. ˽ to
chop and change to do one thing, then
another

The plural is choruses.) 2.
a group of
people who sing together
ć All the
members of the chorus were on the
stage.
chose
chose /tʃəυz/ past tense of choose
chosen
chosen /tʃəυz(ə)n/ past participle of
choose
Christian
Christian /krstʃən/
adjective
relating
to the religion based on the teachings of
Jesus Christ
í
noun
a person who be-
lieves in the teachings of Jesus Christ
and in Christianity
Christmas
Christmas /krsməs/
noun
a Christian
festival on December 25th, celebrated
as the birthday of Jesus Christ, when
presents are given
church

round shape
ć He drew a circle on the
blackboard.
2. anything forming a
round shape
ć The children sat in a cir-
cle round the teacher.
ć The soldiers
formed a circle round the prisoner.
3. a
group of people or a society
ć She went
to live abroad and lost contact with her
old circle of friends.
ć He moves in the
highest government circles.
4. a row of
seats above the stalls in a theatre
ć We
got tickets for the upper circle.
í
verb
to
make circular movements
ć Large birds
were circling above the dead animals.
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noun
a doc-
ument with one or just a few pages sent
to a number of people to inform them
about something
circulate
circulate /skjυlet/
verb
1. to send
something round to various people
ć
They circulated a new list of prices to all
their customers.
2. to move round ć
Blood circulates round the body. ć
Waiters circulated round the room car-
rying trays of drinks.
3.
vi
to talk to dif-
ferent people at a party
ć Let’s talk later
– I’ve got to circulate.
circulation
circulation /skjυ

leʃ(ə)n/
noun
1.
the act of circulating ć The circulation

a good job under these circumstances.
ć In different circumstances, I’d have
been willing to stay longer.
˽ due to cir-
cumstances beyond someone’s con-
trol because of something which some-
one has no power to change
ć The show
had to be cancelled due to circumstanc-
es beyond our control.
citizen
citizen /stz(ə)n/
noun
a person who
comes from a particular country or has
the same right to live there as someone
who was born there
ć All Australian cit-
izens have a duty to vote.
ć He was born
in Germany, but is now a British citizen.
city
city /st/
noun
a large town ć busy city
streets
ć Traffic is a problem in big cit-
ies.
˽ the city centre the central part of
a town

verb
to state, but
without any proof
ć He claims he never
received the letter.
ć She claims that the
car belongs to her.
clap
clap /klp/
verb
to beat your hands to-
gether to show you are pleased
ć At the
end of her speech the audience stood up
and clapped.
ć He clapped his hands
together in delight.
(NOTE: claps –
clapping – clapped)
class
class /klɑs/
noun
1. a group of children
or adults who go to school or college to-
gether
ć There are 30 children in my
son’s class.
2. a lesson ć What did you
learn in your history class today?
3.

í
adjective
1. (
of
a style
) elegant and traditional ć The
classic little black dress is always in
fashion.
ć The style of the new hotel
building is classic, simple and elegant.
2. based on Ancient Greek or Roman ar-
chitecture
3. typical ć It was a classic
example of his inability to take deci-
sions.
classical
classical /klsk(ə)l/
adjective
1. ele-
gant and based on the Ancient Greek or
Roman style
ć a classical eighteenth
century villa
2. referring to Ancient
Greece and Rome
ć classical Greek lit-
erature
3. referring to traditional serious
music
ć a concert of classical music

payments will not be due until next year.
claw
claw /klɔ/
noun
a nail on the foot of an
animal or bird
ć The dog dug a hole
with its claws.
clay
clay /kle/
noun
thick heavy soil ć The
soil in our garden has a lot of clay in it.
clean
clean /klin/
adjective
1. not dirty ć
Wipe your glasses with a clean handker-
chief.
ć The bedrooms must be spotless-
ly clean.
ć Tell the waitress these cups
aren’t clean.
2. not used ć Take a clean
sheet of paper.
ć The maid forgot to put
clean towels in the bathroom.
í
verb
to

dry-cleaning or which have been re-
turned after dry-cleaning
ć Could you
collect my cleaning for me after work
tonight?
clear
clear /klə/
adjective
1. with nothing in
the way
ć You can cross the road – it’s
clear now.
ć From the window, she had
a clear view of the street.
2. easily un-
derstood
ć She made it clear that she
wanted us to go.
ć The instructions on
the computer screen are not very clear.
ć Will you give me a clear answer – yes
or no?
clear away
phrasal verb
to take some-
thing away completely
clear off
phrasal verb
to go away
(

ć He has been resting, but his cold still
hasn’t cleared up.
clearly
clearly /kləli/
adverb
1. in a way which
is easily understood or heard
ć He
didn’t speak clearly, and I couldn’t
catch the address he gave.
2. obviously
ć He clearly or Clearly he didn’t like
being told he was too fat.
clergy
clergy /kldi/
plural noun
priests
clerical
clerical /klerk(ə)l/
adjective
1. refer-
ring to office work
ć A clerical error
made the invoice £300.00 when it
should have been £3000.00.
ć He’s
looking for part-time clerical work.
2.
referring to clergy ć The newspaper sto-
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dle turn.
í
verb
to make a short sharp
sound
ć The cameras clicked as the film
star came out on to the steps.
ć He
clicked his fingers to attract the waiter’s
attention.
client
client /klaənt/
noun
a person who pays
for a service
cliff
cliff /klf/
noun
a high, steep area of rock
usually by the sea
climate
climate /klamət/
noun
the general
weather conditions in a particular place
ć The climate in the south of the country
is milder than in the north.
climb
climb /klam/
verb

ć She clipped
the invoice and the cheque together and
put them in an envelope.
(NOTE: clips –
clipping – clipped)
cloak
cloak /kləυk/
noun
a long type of coat
which hangs from the shoulders and has
no sleeves
ć She wore a long cloak of
black velvet.
clock /klɒk/
noun
an object which
shows the time
ć Your clock is 5 min-
utes slow.
ć The office clock is fast. ć
The clock has stopped.
clockwise
clockwise /klɒkwaz/
adjective
,
ad-
verb
moving in a circle from left to
right, in the same direction as the hands
of a clock

close to the station.
ć This is the closest
I’ve ever been to a film star!
2. near in
time
ć My birthday is close to Christ-
mas.
í
adverb
1. very near ć Keep
close by me if you don’t want to get lost.
ć Go further away – you’re getting too
close.
ć They stood so close or so close
together that she felt his breath on her
cheek.
ć The sound came closer and
closer.
(NOTE: closer – closest) 2. very
near in time
ć The conference is getting
very close.
í
noun
a short road, espe-
cially of houses
ć They live in Briar
Close.
close
close

from being open by being covered or
blocked
ć Make sure all the windows
and doors are tightly closed.
ć She sat
quietly with closed eyes.
ć The object
was in a closed box.
2. not doing busi-
ness
ć The shop is closed on Sundays. ć
The office will be closed for the Christ-
mas holidays.
ć There was a ‘closed’
sign hanging in the window.
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