noun

hat

hat S1 W3 /hæt/ noun [countable]
[Language: Old English; Origin: hæt]
1. a piece of clothing that you wear on your head:
Maria was wearing a beautiful new hat.
straw/cowboy/bowler etc hat
in a hat
a man in a fur hat
bowler-hatted/top-hatted etc (=wearing a bowler hat, top hat etc)
a bowler-hatted gentleman
2. keep something under your hat informal to keep something secret
3. be wearing your teacher’s/salesman’s etc hat (also have your teacher’s/salesman’s etc hat on) informal to be performing the duties of a teacher etc, which are not your only duties:
I’m a manager now and only put my salesman’s hat on when one of our sales reps is having real problems.
4. I take my hat off to somebody (also hats off to somebody) informal used to say you admire someone very much because of what they have done:
I take my hat off to Ian – without him we’d have never finished this project on time.
5. be drawn/pulled/picked out of the/a hat if someone’s name is drawn out of a hat, they are chosen, for example as the winner of a competition, because their name is the first one that is taken out of a container containing the names of all the people involved:
The first correct entry out of the hat on September 2nd will win a prize.
6. pass the hat around to collect money from a group of people, especially in order to buy someone a present
7. throw/toss your hat into the ring to say publicly that you will compete in an election or for a job
⇒ hard hat, old hat, ⇒ at the drop of a hat at drop2(5), ⇒ I’ll eat my hat at eat(8), ⇒ hang up your hat at hang up(3), ⇒ be talking through your hat at talk1(29)

actor

ac‧tor W3 /ˈæktə $ -ər/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
someone who performs in a play or film
leading/principal actor
She has starred with many leading actors.
character actor (=an actor who takes unusual or interesting roles)
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ a good/fine/great actor He had a reputation as a fine actor.
▪ a well-known/famous actor I’d really like to be a famous actor.
▪ a professional/amateur actor It isn’t easy to become a successful professional actor.
▪ the leading/principal actor (=acting the most important part) Schwarzeneeger was one of Hollywood’s leading actors.
▪ a supporting actor (=acting a part that is not the most important one) She was awarded an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
▪ a talented/accomplished actor Jacobsen was one of the most accomplished actors of his generation.
▪ a comic actor He was a comic actor and he always got a laugh.
▪ a classical actor (=acting parts from important traditional literature) a drama school that trains classical actors
■ NOUN + actor
▪ a movie/film/screen/Hollywood actor the movie actor Brad Pitt
▪ a stage actor Most stage actors are very badly paid.
▪ a television/TV actor For several years he had small parts as a television actor.
▪ a comedy actor Jason was voted top TV comedy actor.
▪ a character actor (=an actor who is good at unusual or interesting roles) As a character actor you get interesting parts.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ actor someone who performs in a play or film: Her son wants to be an actor. | Both my parents are actors.
▪ actress a woman who performs in a play or film. Many women prefer to be called actors rather than actresses: Who was the actress who played Jane Eyre? | She’s one of my favourite actresses.
▪ star a famous actor: Julia Roberts is a famous Hollywood star. | The hotel is popular with movie stars.
▪ the star someone who plays the most important part in a play or film: Daniel Radcliffe is the star of the ‘Harry Potter’ films.
▪ co-star one of two or more famous actors who have important parts in a play or film: Her co-star Jodie Foster won the Best Actress Award.
▪ the lead the main acting part in a play or film: He will play the lead in a new version of ‘Dracula’.
▪ extra an actor in a film who does not say anything but is part of a crowd: She started her career as an extra in TV soap operas.
▪ understudy an actor who learns a part in a play so that they can act the part if the usual actor is ill: Vanessa had flu, and her place was taken by her understudy, Miss Lisa Fennell.
■ a group of actors
▪ the cast all the actors in a play or film: Other members of the cast include Johnny Depp and Danny DeVito. | She will head the cast (=she will have the most important part).
▪ company a group of actors who perform plays together: In 2006, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. | The play will be performed by an all-female company.

goal S2 W1 AC / ɡəʊl $ ɡoʊl / noun [ countable ]

1 something that you hope to achieve in the future SYN aim :

Your goal as a parent is to help your child become an independent adult.

Register

In everyday British English, people often talk about what someone is aiming to do rather than talk about someone’s goal :

His goal is to set up his own business. ➔ He’s aiming to set up his own business. 2 the area between two posts where the ball must go in order to score in games such as football or hockey

be in goal/keep goal British English (= be the goalkeeper )

3 the action of making the ball go into a goal, or the score gained by doing this :

I scored the first goal .

COLLOCATIONS

adjectives

sb’s main/primary goal My main goal was to get the team to the finals. | The primary goal of the 1917 Revolution was to seize and redistribute the wealth of the Russian empire.

sb’s ultimate goal (= what they eventually and most importantly hope to achieve ) The ultimate goal is a freer, more democratic society.

an immediate goal (= that you need to achieve very soon ) Our immediate goal is to cut costs.

a long-term goal (= that you hope to achieve after a long time ) The organization’s long-term goal is to gain a strong position in the European market.

a short-term goal (= that you hope to achieve after a short time ) Companies should not focus only on the short-term goal of profitability.

sb’s personal goal They had to sacrifice personal goals for their family life.

a common goal (= an aim shared by more than one person or organization ) Iran and Turkey shared common goals in their handling of the refugee crisis.

a realistic/achievable goal Students are encouraged to set themselves realistic goals for academic improvement. | We pushed for what we thought were achievable goals

an ambitious goal (= an aim that will be difficult to achieve ) The agreement set ambitious goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

a modest goal (= an aim that is not too difficult to achieve ) Don’t try to lose a lot of weight quickly; set yourself a more modest goal.

verbs

have a goal She had one goal in life: to accumulate a huge fortune.

work towards a goal We are all working towards similar goals.

pursue a goal Have we gone too far in pursuing the goal of national security?

achieve/attain/reach your goal She has worked hard to achieve her goal of a job in the medical profession. | They’re hoping to reach their goal of raising £10,000 for charity.

set (yourself/somebody) a goal (= decide what you or someone else should try to achieve ) It helps if you set yourself clear goals.

COLLOCATIONS

verbs

score a goal Robbie Keane scored a goal just before halftime.

get a goal It was great that he got that goal so late in the game.

head a goal (= score a goal by hitting the ball with your head ) Peter Crouch headed England’s equalizing goal.

make a goal (= help another player to score a goal ) Rooney made the goal with a superb pass to Saha.

concede a goal (= let the other team score a goal ) Arsenal conceded a goal in the final minute of extra time.

let in a goal (= let the other team score a goal ) Chelsea let in a goal in the 63rd minute.

disallow a goal (= not allow a goal to be counted because a rule has been broken ) The goal was disallowed for offside.

adjectives

the winning goal Berbatov scored the winning goal from just outside the box.

an own goal (= when a player accidentally puts the ball into his/her own net ) Dixon scored an unfortunate own goal against West Ham.

a last-minute goal A last-minute goal condemned Fulham to a 0–1 home defeat.

an equalizing goal British English (= a goal that gives you the same number of points as your opponent ) A loud cheer went up as he scored the equalizing goal.

call 2 S1 W1 noun

1 telephone [ countable ] when you speak to someone on the telephone call for

Were there any phone calls for me while I was out?

call from

I received a call from an old friend last week.

It’s cheaper to make calls after 6 pm.

I’ll give you a call at the weekend.

2 be on call if someone such as a doctor or engineer is on call, they are ready to go and help whenever they are needed as part of their job :

Don’t worry, there’s a doctor on call 24 hours a day.

3 shout/cry [ countable ] a) a loud sound that a bird or animal makes SYN cry call of

the call of an owl

b) a shout that you make to get someone’s attention

4 visit [ countable ] a visit, especially for a particular reason :

Sorry, Doctor Pugh is out on a call at the moment.

pay/make a call (on somebody) (= visit someone )

5 request/order [ countable ] a request or order for something or for someone to do something :

Members obediently answered the calls for funds.

call for somebody to do something

There have been calls for the secretary to resign.

a call to arms (= an order for people to fight against an enemy )

6 decision a) [ countable ] the decision made by a referee in a sports game make a good/bad call

There may have been a few bad calls, but they’re making them for a reason.

b) [ singular ] informal a decision :

Don’t just say what you think I would like. It’s your call .

make a call (= decide something )

an easy/hard call (= an easy or difficult decision )

judgement call (= a decision based on your personal judgement of a situation )

7 there isn’t much call for something used for saying that not many people want a particular thing :

There isn’t much call for black and white televisions these days.

8 there is no call for something spoken used to tell someone that their behaviour is wrong and unnecessary :

There’s no call for that kind of language!

9 at an airport [ countable ] a message announced at an airport that a particular plane will soon leave :

This is the last call for flight BA872 to Moscow.

10 have first call on something

a) to have the right to be the first person to use something

b) to be the first person that you will help because they are important to you :

Her children had first call on her time.

11 the call of something literary the power that a place or way of life has to attract someone :

the call of the sea

12 the call of nature a need to urinate (= pass liquid from your body ) – used especially humorously

→ be at sb’s beck and call at beck ( 1 ) , → port of call , roll-call , wake-up call

COLLOCATIONS

verbs

make a call He made a few calls and then went out.

give somebody a call (= phone someone ) I’ll give him a call later today.

get/have a call ( also receive a call formal ) At 11 in the evening we got a call from the police.

there is/was a call There was a phone call for you.

answer a call We’re sorry that we cannot answer your call right now.

take a call (= answer one ) Monica took the call upstairs.

return sb’s call (= call someone after they have tried to call you ) I left a message for her but she didn’t return my call.

expect a call She’s expecting a phone call from Matt.

transfer a call (= connect one to another person’s phone ) The call was transferred to his secretary.

put through a call (= transfer or make one ) She asked the switchboard to put the call through.

ADJECTIVES/NOUN + call

a phone/telephone call I had a phone call from Barbara in Australia.

a quick call This is just a quick call to make sure you’re OK.

a local call Local calls are free at weekends.

a long-distance call I’d like to make a long-distance call.

an international call

a collect call American English (= one paid for by the person who receives it ) Can I make a collect call to Florida, please?

incoming/outgoing calls (= coming into or going out of a place ) You have to dial 9 first to make an outgoing call.

an emergency call (= to the police, fire service, or ambulance service ) The police normally respond immediately to an emergency call.

a hoax call (= one intended to trick someone ) They received a hoax call warning of a bomb in the building.

an anonymous call (= in which the caller does not give their name ) The £10,000 demand was made in an anonymous call to his home.

a crank call (= made by someone you do not know, as a joke or to annoy you ) The heavy breathing sounded like a crank call.

skydiving

sky‧div‧ing /ˈskaɪˌdaɪvɪŋ/ noun [uncountable]
  the sport of jumping from a plane and falling through the sky before opening a parachute
 —skydive verb [intransitive]
 —skydiver noun [countable]

rock climbing

ˈrock ˌclimbing noun [uncountable]
  the sport of climbing up very steep rock surfaces such as the sides of mountains
 —rock climber noun [countable]

paragliding

par‧a‧glid‧ing /ˈpærəˌɡlaɪdɪŋ/ noun [uncountable]
  a sport in which you jump off a hill or out of a plane and use a parachute to fly for long distances before floating back down to the ground

bungee jumping

bun‧gee jump‧ing /ˈbʌndʒi ˌdʒʌmpɪŋ/ noun [uncountable]
  a sport in which you jump off something very high with a long length of special rope that stretches tied to your legs, so that you go up again without touching the ground
 —bungee jump noun [countable]
 —bungee jumper noun [countable]