adjective

certain

I [sɜ͟ː(r)t(ə)n]BEING SURE
 ♦♦♦
 1) ADJ-GRADED: v-link ADJ, oft ADJ that/wh, ADJ of/about n If you are certain about something, you firmly believe it is true and have no doubt about it. If you are not certain about something, you do not have definite knowledge about it.
  She's absolutely certain she's going to make it in the world...
  We are not certain whether the appendix had already burst or not...
  It wasn't a balloon - I'm certain of that.
  Syn:
  sure
 2) ADJ-GRADED: oft ADJ to-inf, it v-link ADJ that/wh, ADJ of n/-ing If you say that something is certain to happen, you mean that it will definitely happen.
  However, the scheme is certain to meet opposition from fishermen's leaders...
  It's not certain they'll accept the Front's candidate if he wins...
  Brazil need to beat Uruguay to be certain of a place in the finals...
  The Prime Minister is heading for certain defeat if he forces a vote...
  Victory looked certain.
 3) ADJ: v-link ADJ, oft it v-link ADJ that/wh If you say that something is certain, you firmly believe that it is true, or have definite knowledge about it.
  One thing is certain, both have the utmost respect for each other...
  It is certain that Rodney arrived the previous day..
 4) ADJ-GRADED: ADJ n If you have certain knowledge, you know that a particular thing is true.
  He had been there four times to my certain knowledge.
 5) PHRASE: PHR with cl (not first in cl) If you know something for certain, you have no doubt at all about it.
  She couldn't know what time he'd go, or even for certain that he'd go at all...
  Hill had to find out for certain.
  Syn:
  for sure
 6) PHRASE: V inflects If you make certain that something is the way you want or expect it to be, you take action to ensure that it is.
  Firstly, they must make certain that their pension needs are adequately catered for...
  To make extra certain, a police helicopter kept watch from the skies.
  Syn:
  make sureII [sɜ͟ː(r)t(ə)n]REFERRING AND INDICATING AMOUNT
 ♦♦
 1) ADJ: det ADJ, ADJ n You use certain to indicate that you are referring to one particular thing, person, or group, although you are not saying exactly which it is.
  There will be certain people who'll say `I told you so!'...
  You owe a certain person a sum of money...
  Leaflets have been air dropped telling people to leave certain areas.
 2) QUANT: QUANT of def-pl-n When you refer to certain of a group of people or things, you are referring to some particular members of that group. [FORMAL]
  They'll have to give up completely on certain of their studies.
  Syn:
  some
 3) ADJ: a ADJ n-proper You can use a certain before the name of a person in order to indicate that you do not know the person or anything else about them.
  She managed to arrange for them to be hidden in the house of a certain Father Boduen.
 4) ADJ: a ADJ sing-n/n-uncount You use a certain to indicate that something such as a quality or condition exists, and often to suggest that it is not great in amount or degree.
  That was the very reason why he felt a certain bitterness...
  There is a certain impatience among some of the soldiers...
  I received a certain amount of sympathy immediately after the attack.
  Syn:
  some

leisurely

[le̱ʒə(r)li, AM li͟ːʒ-]
 ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n
 A leisurely action is done in a relaxed and unhurried way.
  Lunch was a leisurely affair...
  Tweed walked at a leisurely pace.
 ADV-GRADED: ADV with v
 Leisurely is also an adverb. We walked leisurely into the hotel.

through

 ♦
 (The preposition is pronounced [θruː]. In other cases, through is pronounced [θru͟ː])
 1) PREP To move through something such as a hole, opening, or pipe means to move directly from one side or end of it to the other.
  The theatre was evacuated when rain poured through the roof at the Liverpool Playhouse...
  Go straight through that door under the EXIT sign...
  Visitors enter through a side entrance...
  The main path continues through a tunnel of trees.
 ADV: ADV after v
 Through is also an adverb. He went straight through to the kitchen and took a can of beer from the fridge... She opened the door and stood back to allow the man to pass through.
 2) PREP To cut through something means to cut it in two pieces or to make a hole in it.
  Use a proper fish knife and fork if possible as they are designed to cut through the flesh but not the bones...
  Rabbits still manage to find a way in. I am sure that some have even taken to gnawing through the metal.
 ADV: ADV after v
 Through is also an adverb. Score lightly at first and then repeat, scoring deeper each time until the board is cut through.
 3) PREP To go through a town, area, or country means to travel across it or in it.
  Go up to Ramsgate, cross into France, go through Andorra and into Spain.
  ...travelling through pathless woods...
  The couple set off in August from Morocco, drove through the Sahara, visited Nigeria and were heading for Zimbabwe.
  ...and Sue Cook takes her family on a motoring trip through Cornwall.
 ADV: ADV after v
 Through is also an adverb. Few know that the tribe was just passing through.
 4) PREP If you move through a group of things or a mass of something, it is on either side of you or all around you.
  We made our way through the crowd to the river...
  Sybil's fingers ran through the water...
  Nancy kept running, plunging through the sand...
  He hurried through the rain, to the patrol car.
 ADV: ADV after v
 Through is also an adverb. He pushed his way through to the edge of the crowd where he waited.
 5) PREP To get through a barrier or obstacle means to get from one side of it to the other.
  Allow twenty-five minutes to get through Passport Control and Customs...
  He was one of the last of the crowd to pass through the barrier...
  Traders generally travel safely through the border.
 ADV: ADV after v
 Through is also an adverb. ...a maze of concrete and steel barriers, designed to prevent vehicles driving straight through.
 6) PREP If a driver goes through a red light, they keep driving even though they should stop.
  He was killed at a road junction by a van driver who went through a red light...
  We drove through red traffic lights, the horn blaring.
 7) PREP If something goes into an object and comes out of the other side, you can say that it passes through the object.
  The ends of the net pass through a wooden bar at each end...
  Zita was herself unconventional, keeping a safety-pin stuck through her ear lobe.
 ADV: ADV after v
 Through is also an adverb. I bored a hole so that the fixing bolt would pass through.
 8) PREP To go through a system means to move around it or to pass from one end of it to the other.
  ...electric currents travelling through copper wires...
  What a lot of cards you've got through the post!
  ...a child's successful passage through the education system.
 ADV: ADV after v
 Through is also an adverb. It is also expected to consider a resolution which would allow food to go through immediately with fewer restrictions.
 9) PREP If you see, hear, or feel something through a particular thing, that thing is between you and the thing you can see, hear, or feel.
  Alice gazed pensively through the wet glass...
  They could hear music pulsing through the walls of the house...
  I am sure I can feel a vibration through the soles of my feet.
 10) PREP If something such as a feeling, attitude, or quality, happens through an area, organization, or a person's body, it happens everywhere in it or affects all of it.
  An atmosphere of anticipation vibrated through the crowd...
  The melody that ran through his brain was composed of bad notes...
  What was going through his mind when he spoke those amazing words?...
  A mood of optimism swept through the company and its customers.
 11) PREP If something happens or exists through a period of time, it happens or exists from the beginning until the end.
  We're playing in New Zealand, Australia and Japan through November...
  Saga features trips for older people at home and abroad all through the year...
  She kept quiet all through breakfast.
 ADV: ADV after v
 Through is also an adverb. We've got a tough programme, hard work right through to the summer... He worked right through.
 12) PREP If something happens from a particular period of time through another, it starts at the first period and continues until the end of the second period. [AM]
  ...open Monday through Sunday from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm...
  During her busy season (March through June), she often completes as many as fifty paintings a week.(in BRIT, use to)
 13) PREP If you go through a particular experience or event, you experience it, and if you behave in a particular way through it, you behave in that way while it is happening.
  Men go through a change of life emotionally just like women.
  ...a humorous woman who had lived through two world wars in Paris...
  Why was I putting myself through all this misery?...
  Through it all, Mark was outwardly calm.
 14) ADJ: v-link ADJ, oft ADJ with n If you are through with something or if it is through, you have finished doing it and will never do it again. If you are through with someone, you do not want to have anything to do with them again.
  I'm through with the explaining...
  Training as a marriage counsellor would guarantee her some employment once her schooling was through...
  They were through. They wanted out. Forever...
  I'm through with women.
 15) PREP: n PREP n You use through in expressions such as half-way through and all the way through to indicate to what extent an action or task is completed.
  A thirty-nine-year-old competitor collapsed half-way through the marathon and died shortly afterwards.
 ADV: n ADV
 Through is also an adverb. Stir the pork about until it turns white all the way through.
 16) PREP If something happens because of something else, you can say that it happens through it.
  They are understood to have retired through age or ill health...
  The thought of someone suffering through a mistake of mine makes me shiver.
  Syn:
  because of
 17) PREP You use through when stating the means by which a particular thing is achieved.
  Those who seek to grab power through violence deserve punishment...
  You simply can't get a ticket through official channels.
 18) PREP If you do something through someone else, they take the necessary action for you.
  Do I need to go through my doctor or can I make an appointment direct?...
  Speaking through an interpreter, he called for some new thinking from the West.
  Syn:
  via
 19) ADV: ADV after v If something such as a proposal or idea goes through, it is accepted by people in authority and is made legal or official.
  It is possible that the present Governor General will be made interim President, if the proposals go through...
  The secretary of state during the Nixon-Ford transition did not wish to push the proposals through.
 PREP
 Through is also a preposition. They want to get the plan through Congress as quickly as possible.
 20) PREP If someone gets through an examination or a round of a competition, they succeed or win.
  She was bright, learned languages quickly, and sailed through her exams...
  All the seeded players got through the first round.
 ADV: ADV after v
 Through is also an adverb. Nigeria also go through from that group.
 21) ADV: ADV after v When you get through while making a telephone call, the call is connected and you can speak to the person you are phoning.
  He may find the line cut on the telephone so that he can't get through...
  Smith tried to get through to Frank at Warm Springs the next morning.
 22) PREP If you look or go through a lot of things, you look at them or deal with them one after the other.
  Let's go through the numbers together and see if a workable deal is possible...
  When you have finished your list of personal preferences, go through it again...
  David ran through the agreement with Guy, point by point...
  He, too, had a lot of paperwork to get through.
 23) PREP If you read through something, you read it from beginning to end.
  She read through pages and pages of the music I had brought her...
  I only had time to skim through the script before I flew over here.
 ADV: ADV after v
 Through is also an adverb. The article had been authored by Raymond Kennedy. He read it straight through, looking for any scrap of information that might have passed him by.
 24) ADJ: ADJ n A through train goes directly to a particular place, so that the people who want to go there do not have to change trains.
  ...Britain's longest through train journey, 685 miles.
 25) ADV: adj ADV (emphasis) If you say that someone or something is wet through, you are emphasizing how wet they are.
  I returned to the inn cold and wet, soaked through by the drizzling rain...
  She went on crying, and cried and cried until the pillow was wet through.
 26) PHRASE: usu n/adj PHR, PHR after v Through and through means completely and to the greatest extent possible.
  I've gotten my feet thoroughly soaked in the cold and feel frozen through and through...
  People assume they know me through and through the moment we meet.

daring

[de͟ərɪŋ]
 1) ADJ-GRADED People who are daring are willing to do or say things which are new or which might shock or anger other people.
  Bergit was probably more daring than I was...
  He realized this to be a very daring thing to ask.
  ...one of the most daring political theatres in Prague.
  Syn:
  bold
  Derived words:
  daringly ADV-GRADED ADV with v, ADV adj `Cheers,' he said and winked daringly at her. ...a daringly low-cut dress.
 2) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n A daring person is willing to do things that might be dangerous.
  ...the heroic and daring Charlie Pierce...
  His daring rescue saved the lives of the youngsters.
  Syn:
  bold
 3) N-UNCOUNT Daring is the courage to do things which might be dangerous or which might shock or anger other people.
  His daring may have cost him his life.
  Syn:
  bravery, boldness
  Ant:
  cowardice

little

I [lɪ̱t(ə)l]DETERMINER, QUANTIFIER, AND ADVERB USES
 ♦
 1) DET: DET n-uncount You use little to indicate that there is only a very small amount of something. You can use `so', `too', and `very' in front of little.
  I had little money and little free time...
  I find that I need very little sleep these days...
  There is little doubt that a diet high in fibre is more satisfying...
  So far little progress has been made towards ending the fighting...
  The pudding is quick and easy and needs little attention once in the oven.
  Ant:
  much
 QUANT: QUANT of def-n
 Little is also a quantifier. Little of the existing housing is of good enough quality... They claim that little of the $16.5 million dollars in aid sent by the US government has reached them.
 PRON
 Little is also a pronoun. He ate little, and drank less... In general, employers do little to help the single working mother... Little is known about his childhood.
 2) ADV-GRADED: ADV with v Little means not very often or to only a small extent.
  On their way back to Marseille they spoke very little...
  Only Africa is at present little affected by hard drugs.
 3) DET: DET n-uncount A little of something is a small amount of it, but not very much. You can also say a very little.
  Mrs Caan needs a little help getting her groceries home...
  A little food would do us all some good.
  ...a little light reading...
  I shall be only a very little time.
  Ant:
  a lot
 PRON
 Little is also a pronoun. They get paid for it. Not much. Just a little.
 QUANT: QUANT of def-n-uncount/sing
 Little is also a quantifier. Pour a little of the sauce over the chicken... I'm sure she won't mind sparing us a little of her time.
 4) ADV-GRADED: ADV after v If you do something a little, you do it for a short time.
  He walked a little by himself in the garden.
 5) ADV-GRADED: ADV after v, ADV adj/adv A little or a little bit means to a small extent or degree.
  He complained a little of a nagging pain between his shoulder blades...
  He was a little bit afraid of his father's reaction...
  If you have to drive when you are tired, go a little more slowly than you would normally...
  He wanted to have someone to whom he could talk a little about himself.
 6) PHRASE: PHR with cl If something happens little by little, it happens very gradually.
  In the beginning he had felt well, but little by little he was becoming weaker...
  I would have to learn, little by little, to exist alone.
  Syn:
  graduallyII [lɪ̱t(ə)l]ADJECTIVE USES
 ♦
 littler, littlest
 (The comparative littler and the superlative littlest are sometimes used in spoken English for meanings 1, 3, and 4, but otherwise the comparative and superlative forms of the adjective little are not used.)
 1) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n Little things are small in size. Little is slightly more informal than small.
  We sat around a little table, eating and drinking wine.
  ...the little group of art students.
  Syn:
  small
  Ant:
  big
 2) ADJ: ADJ n You use little to indicate that someone or something is small, in a pleasant and attractive way.
  She's got the nicest little house not far from the library.
  ...a little old lady...
  James usually drives a little hatchback.
 3) ADJ-GRADED A little child is young.
  I have a little boy of 8...
  When I was little I was very hyper-active.
 4) ADJ: ADJ n Your little sister or brother is younger than you are.
  Whenever Daniel's little sister was asked to do something she always had a naughty reply.
  Syn:
  younger
  Ant:
  big
 5) ADJ-GRADED: ADJ n A little distance, period of time, or event is short in length.
  Just go down the road a little way, turn left, and cross the bridge...
  Why don't we just wait a little while and see what happens...
  I've been wanting to have a little talk with you.
  Ant:
  long
 6) ADJ-GRADED: ADJ n A little sound or gesture is quick.
  I had a little laugh to myself...
  She stood up quickly, giving a little cry of astonishment...
  He turned with a little nod and I watched him walk away.
  Ant:
  big
 7) ADJ: ADJ n You use little to indicate that something is not serious or important.
  ...irritating little habits...
  Harry found himself getting angry over little things that had never bothered him before.

giant

[ʤa͟ɪ͟ənt]
 ♦♦♦
 giants
 1) ADJ: ADJ n Something that is described as giant is much larger or more important than most others of its kind.
  ...Italy's giant car maker, Fiat.
  ...a giant oak table.
  ...a giant step towards unification with the introduction of monetary union.
  Syn:
  huge
 2) N-COUNT: usu n N Giant is often used to refer to any large, successful business organization or country. [JOURNALISM]
  ...Japanese electronics giant Sony.
  ...one of Germany's industrial giants, Daimler-Benz.
 3) N-COUNT A giant is an imaginary person who is very big and strong, especially one mentioned in old stories.
  ...a Nordic saga of giants.
 4) N-COUNT: usu a N of n You can refer to someone, especially a man, as a giant, if they seem important or powerful or if they are big and strong.
  He has enormous charisma. He is a giant of a man...
  The biggest man in the patrol, a giant of a man, lifted Mattie on to his shoulders.
 5) N-COUNT: usu N of n You can refer to someone such as a famous musician or writer as a giant, if they are regarded as one of the most important or successful people in their field.
  ...the giant of opera, Luciano Pavarotti...
  He was without question one of the giants of Japanese literature.

thirtieth

[θɜ͟ː(r)tiəθ]
 ♦♦
 ORD
 The thirtieth item in a series is the one that you count as number thirty.

twentieth

[twe̱ntiəθ]
 ♦♦
 twentieths
 1) ORD The twentieth item in a series is the one that you count as number twenty.
  ...the twentieth century.
 2) FRACTION A twentieth is one of twenty equal parts of something.
  A few twentieths of a gram can be critical.

thirteenth

[θɜ͟ː(r)ti͟ːnθ]
 ♦♦
 ORD
 The thirteenth item in a series is the one that you count as number thirteen.