British English

wavy

wavy [wavy wavier waviest]   [ˈweɪvi]    [ˈweɪvi]  adjective
(wavi·er, wavi·est)
having curves; not straight
• brown wavy hair
• a pattern of wavy lines  
Example Bank:

• her dark, naturally wavy hair

adjective (straight·er, straight·est) 

WITHOUT CURVES
1. without a bend or curve; going in one direction only
• a straight line
• a straight road
• long straight hair (= without curls)
• a boat sailing in a straight line

• straight-backed chairs  

CLOTHING

2. not fitting close to the body and not curving away from the body

• a straight skirt  

AIM/BLOW

3. going directly to the correct place

• a straight punch to the face  

IN LEVEL/CORRECT POSITION

4. positioned in the correct way; level, vertical or parallel to sth

• Is my tie straight?  

CLEAN/NEAT

5. not usually before noun clean and neat, with everything in the correct place

• It took hours to get the house straight.  

HONEST

6. honest and direct
• a straight answer to a straight question
• I don't think you're being straight with me.
• It's time for some straight talking.

• You can trust Ben— he's (as) straight as a die (= completely honest).  

CHOICE

7. only before noun simple; involving only two clear choices
• It was a straight choice between taking the job and staying out of work.

• (BrE) The election was a straight fight between the two main parties.  

ACTOR/PLAY

8. only before noun (of an actor or a play) not connected with comedy or musical theatre, but with serious theatre  

WITHOUT INTERRUPTION
9. only before noun one after another in a series, without interruption
Syn:  consecutive

• The team has had five straight wins.  

ALCOHOLIC DRINK

10. (NAmE) (BrE neat) not mixed with water or anything else  

NORMAL/BORING

11. (informal) you can use straight to describe a person who is normal and ordinary, but who you consider dull and boring  

SEX
12. (informal)  heterosexual
Opp:  gay 
more at ramrod straight(as) straight as a ramrod at  ramrod, put/set the record straight at  record  _n.  
Word Origin:
Middle English (as an adjective and adverb): archaic past participle of stretch.  
Synonyms:
honest
frank • direct • open • outspoken • straight • blunt
These words all describe people saying exactly what they mean without trying to hide feelings, opinions or facts.
honest • not hiding the truth about sth: ▪ Thank you for being so honest with me.
frank • honest in what you say, sometimes in a way that other people might not like: ▪ To be frank with you, I think your son has little chance of passing the exam.
direct • saying exactly what you mean in a way that nobody can pretend not to understand: ▪ You'll have to get used to his direct manner.
Being direct is sometimes considered positive but sometimes it is used as a ‘polite’ way of saying that sb is rude.
open • (approving) (of a person) not keeping thoughts and feelings hidden: ▪ He was quite open about his reasons for leaving.
outspoken • saying exactly what you think, even if this shocks or offends people: ▪ She was outspoken in her criticism of the plan.
straight • honest and direct: ▪ I don't think you're being straight with me.
blunt • saying exactly what you think without trying to be polite: ▪ She has a reputation for blunt speaking.
which word?
Honest and frank refer to what you say as much as how you say it: ▪ a(n) honest/frank admission of guilt. They are generally positive words, although it is possible to be too frank in a way that other people might not like. Direct, outspoken and blunt all describe sb's manner of saying what they think. Outspoken suggests that you are willing to shock people by saying what you believe to be right. Blunt and direct often suggest that you think honesty is more important than being polite. Open is positive and describes sb's character: ▪ I'm a very open person.
honest/frank/direct/open/outspoken/straight about sth
honest/frank/direct/open/straight/blunt with sb
a(n) honest/direct/straight/blunt answer
a frank/direct/blunt manner  
Example Bank:
• Can you hang that sign straight for me?
• His teeth were white and perfectly straight.
• I think he was pretty straight with me.
• I'm trying to get the house straight before the weekend.
• Keep going in a dead straight line.
• Keep the car straight when you're backing out.
• Keep your back absolutely straight.
• Let's get this absolutely straight.
• She had curled her naturally straight hair.
• She held herself very straight.
• She soon set me straight about what had happened.
• She tidied up and put the ornaments straight.
• He stepped back to make sure that the picture was straight.
• I don't think you're being straight with me.
• I expect a straight answer to a straight question.
• I was stranded for nine straight weeks.
• It's time for some straight talking.
• She won in straight sets.
• The team has had six straight wins.
• This was our third straight victory.

• You can trust Ben— he's (as) straight as a die.

blonde

blonde [blonde blondes] adjective, noun   [blɒnd]    [blɑːnd]

adjective (also blond) In British English it is usual to spell this word blonde when writing about a woman or girl and blond when writing about a man or boy, although the spelling blonde is sometimes used for men and boys too. In American English the spelling blond is often preferred for either sex. Blonde may be used to describe a woman's hair, but it is sometimes considered offensive to refer to a woman as ‘a blonde’ because hair colour is not a whole person.

1. (of hair) pale gold in colour

2. (of a person) having blonde hair
• a small, blond boy  
Word Origin:

late 17th cent. (earlier as blond): from French, feminine of blond, from medieval Latin blundus ‘yellow’, perhaps from Germanic.

butter

but·ter [butter butters buttered buttering] noun, verb   [ˈbʌtə(r)]    [ˈbʌtər]

noun uncountable
a soft yellow food made from cream, used in cooking and for spreading on bread
• Fry the onions in butter.
• Do you want butter or margarine on your toast?
see also  bread and butter, peanut butter
more at like a knife through butter at  knife  _v.  
Word Origin:
Old English butere, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch boter and German Butter, based on Latin butyrum, from Greek bouturon.  
Example Bank:
• Cream the butter and icing sugar together until light and fluffy.
• He put a large knob of butter on the potatoes.
• He spread butter on the roll.
• Put some butter on the crackers, please.
• Rub the butter into the flour.
• The butter melted in the heat.
• This butter doesn't spread very well.
• You can make frosting out of half a stick of butter and two cups of powdered sugar.
• courgettes sautéed in butter
• If you're still hungry, have some bread and butter.
Idiom: butter wouldn't melt

Derived: butter somebody up 

salt

salt [salt salts salted salting] noun, verb, adjective   [sɔːlt]    [sɒlt]    [sɔːlt]

noun
1. uncountable a white substance that is added to food to give it a better flavour or to preserve it. Salt is obtained from mines and is also found in sea water. It is sometimes called common salt to distinguish it from other chemical salts.
Syn:  sodium chloride
• Pass the salt, please.
• a pinch of salt (= a small amount of it)
• Season with salt and pepper.
• sea salt

see also  rock salt

2. countable (chemistry) a chemical formed from a metal and an acid
• mineral salts

see also  acid salt, Epsom salts

3. salts plural a substance that looks or tastes like salt
• bath salts (= used to give a pleasant smell to bath water)
see also  smelling salts
more at like a dose of salts at  dose  _n., take sth with a pinch of salt at  pinch  _n., rub salt into the wound/sb's wounds at  rub  _v., worth your/its salt at  worth  _adj.  
Word Origin:
Old English sealt (noun), sealtan (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zout and German Salz (nouns), from an Indo-European root shared by Latin sal, Greek hals ‘salt’.  
Example Bank:
• Could you pass the salt, please?
• Don't put so much salt on your chips!
• He could taste the salt from the water in his mouth.
• He wants to reduce his salt intake.
• I could smell the salt air as it whipped through my hair.
• Most foodstuffs contain some salt.
• When salt is dissolved in water, it alters the properties of the water.
• a diet low in salt
• foods with a high salt content
Idiom: salt of the earth

Derived: salt something away 

meat

meat [meat meats]   [miːt]    [miːt]  noun
1. uncountable, countable the flesh of an animal or a bird eaten as food; a particular type of this
• a piece/slice of meat
• horse meat (= from a horse)
• dog meat (= for a dog)
• meat-eating animals
• There's not much meat on this chop.
• (figurative, humorous) There's not much meat on her (= she is very thin).

see also  luncheon meat, mincemeat, red meat, sausage meat, white meat

2. uncountable ~ (of sth) the important or interesting part of sth
Syn:  substance
• This chapter contains the real meat of the writer's argument.
more at dead meat at  dead, one man's meat is another man's poison at  man  _n.
Idiom: meat and drink to somebody  
Word Origin:
Old English mete ‘food’ or ‘article of food’ (as in sweetmeat), of Germanic origin.  
Example Bank:
• Britain's meat consumption
• Do you eat meat?
• Fry the meat in a little olive oil.
• He eventually found employment as a meat cutter.
• I'm not a great meat eater.
• It was so cold, it was like a meat locker.
• She always buys the cheaper cuts of meat.
• Simmer the meat for 30 minutes until tender.
• That meat smells rotten.
• The animals do not hunt and rarely consume meat.
• The meat has gone off.
• These pies have a low meat content.
• Turn the meat frequently to brown it.
• a plate of cold meats
• chewing on the tough meat

• recipes for simple meat dishes

bread

bread [bread breads breaded breading]   [bred]    [bred]  noun uncountable
1. a type of food made from flour, water and usually yeast mixed together and baked
• a loaf/slice/piece of bread
• white/brown/wholemeal bread

see also  crispbread, French bread, gingerbread

2. (old-fashioned, slang) money
more at your daily bread at  daily  _adj., half a loaf is better than no bread at  half  _det., know which side your bread is buttered at  know  _v., the best thing since sliced bread at sliced
Idiom: take the bread out of somebody's mouth  
Word Origin:
Old English brēad, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch brood and German Brot.  
Example Bank:
• He had to live on bread and water for two weeks.
• People started going up to receive the bread and wine.
• She tore off a large hunk of bread.
• This bread is going stale.
• What would you like on your bread?
• a plate of bread and butter
• bread thickly spread with peanut butter
• bread thickly spread with plum jam
• loaves of crusty French bread
• some nice crusty white bread

• the smell of freshly baked bread

soda

soda [soda sodas]   [ˈsəʊdə]    [ˈsoʊdə]  noun
1. uncountable, countable =  soda water
• Add some soda to the whisky, please.

• a Scotch and soda
2. (also old-fashioned ˈsoda pop) (both NAmE) uncountable, countable a sweet fizzy drink (= a drink with bubbles) made with soda water, fruit flavour and sometimes ice cream
• Do you have any diet soda?

• He had an ice-cream soda.

3. uncountable a chemical substance in common use that is a compound of sodium
• baking/washing soda
see also  caustic soda, sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate
See also: soda pop  
Word Origin:

late Middle English (in sense 3): from medieval Latin, from Arabic suwwad ‘saltwort’ (a plant whose ashes were formally used in soap making).

juice

juice [juice juices juiced juicing] noun, verb   [dʒuːs]    [dʒuːs]

noun
1. uncountable, countable the liquid that comes from fruit or vegetables; a drink made from this
• Add the juice of two lemons.
• a carton of apple juice

• Two orange juices, please.

2. countable, usually plural, uncountable the liquid that comes out of a piece of meat when it is cooked

• Use the juices of the meat to make gravy.

3. countable, usually plural the liquid in the stomach that helps you to digest food

• digestive/gastric juices

4. uncountable (informal, especially BrE) petrol/gas

5. uncountable (NAmE, informal) electricity
see let sb stew in their own juice at  stew  _v.  
Word Origin:
Middle English: via Old French from Latin jus ‘broth, vegetable juice’.  
Example Bank:
• Sprinkle the avocado slices with lemon juice.
• The juice from the meat is used to make the sauce.
• the grated rind and juice of two lemons

Derived: juice something up 

tea

tea [tea teas teaed tea'd teaing]   [tiː]    [tiː]  noun
1. uncountable the dried leaves (called tea leaves) of the tea bush

see also  green tea

2. uncountable a hot drink made by pouring boiling water onto tea leaves. It may be drunk with milk or lemon and/or sugar added
• a cup/mug/pot of tea
• lemon/iced tea
• Would you like tea or coffee?

• Do you take sugar in your tea?

3. countable a cup of tea

• Two teas, please.

4. uncountable, countable a hot drink made by pouring boiling water onto the leaves of other plants
• camomile/mint/herb, etc. tea

see also  beef tea

5. uncountable, countable the name used by some people in Britain for the cooked meal eaten in the evening, especially when it is eaten early in the evening
• You can have your tea as soon as you come home from school.

compare  dinner, supper

6. uncountable, countable (BrE) a light meal eaten in the afternoon or early evening, usually with sandwiches and/or biscuits and cakes and with tea to drink
see also  cream tea, high tea
more at not sb's cup of tea at  cup  _n.
Idiom: not for all the tea in China  
Word Origin:
mid 17th cent.: probably via Malay from Chinese (Min dialect) te; related to Mandarin chá. Compare with char  (noun - sense 2).  
Culture:
meals
Americans and British people generally eat three meals a day though the names vary according to people’s lifestyles and where they live.
The first meal of the day is breakfast. The traditional full English breakfast served in many British hotels may include fruit juice, cereal, bacon and eggs, often with sausages and tomatoes, toast and marmalade, and tea or coffee. Few people have time to prepare a cooked breakfast at home and most have only cereal and/or toast with tea or coffee. Others buy coffee and a pastry on their way to work.
The traditional American breakfast includes eggs, some kind of meat and toast. Eggs may be fried, ‘over easy’, ‘over hard’ or ‘sunny side up’, or boiled, poached or in an omelette (= beaten together and fried). The meat may be bacon or sausage. People who do not have time for a large meal have toast or cereal and coffee. It is common for Americans to eat breakfast in a restaurant. On Saturday and Sunday many people eat brunch late in the morning. This consists of both breakfast and lunch dishes, including pancakes and waffles (= types of cooked batter) that are eaten with butter and maple syrup.
Lunch, which is eaten any time after midday, is the main meal of the day for some British people, though people out at work may have only sandwiches. Some people also refer to the midday meal as dinner. Most workers are allowed about an hour off work for it, called the lunch hour, and many also go shopping. Many schools offer a cooked lunch (school lunch or school dinner), though some students take a packed lunch of sandwiches, fruit, etc. Sunday lunch is special and is, for many families, the biggest meal of the week, consisting traditionally of roast meat and vegetables and a sweet course. In the US lunch is usually a quick meal, eaten around midday. Many workers have a half-hour break for lunch, and buy a sandwich from near their place of work. Business people may sometimes eat a larger lunch and use the time to discuss business.
The main meal of the day for most people is the evening meal, called supper, tea or dinner. It is usually a cooked meal with meat or fish or a salad, followed by a sweet course. In Britain younger children may have tea when they get home from school. Tea, meaning a main meal for adults, is the word used in some parts of Britain especially when the evening meal is eaten early. Dinner sounds more formal than supper, and guests generally receive invitations to ‘dinner’ rather than to ‘supper’. In the US the evening meal is called dinner and is usually eaten around 6 or 6.30 p.m. In many families, both in Britain and in the US, family members eat at different times and rarely sit down at the table together.
Many people also eat snacks between meals. Most have tea or coffee at mid-morning, often called coffee time or the coffee break. In Britain in the past this was sometimes also called elevenses. In the afternoon many British people have a tea break. Some hotels serve afternoon tea which consists of tea or coffee and a choice of sandwiches and cakes. When on holiday/vacation people sometimes have a cream tea of scones, jam and cream. In addition many people eat chocolate bars, biscuits (AmE cookies) or crisps (AmE chips). Some British people have a snack, sometimes called supper, consisting of a milk drink and a biscuit before they go to bed. In the US children often have milk and cookies after school. 
Culture:
Many British people have a cup of tea in the morning, and several more during the day. Some people stop work for a few minutes to have a tea break. Most people in Britain offer a cup of tea to anybody visiting their home or office. Tea also suggests comfort and warmth, and sitting down with a ‘nice cup of tea’ is a common response to problems and worries. 
More About:
meals
People use the words dinner, lunch, supper and tea in different ways depending on which English-speaking country they come from. In Britain it may also depend on which part of the country or which social class a person comes from.
A meal eaten in the middle of the day is usually called lunch. If it is the main meal of the day it may also be called dinner in BrE, especially in the north of the country.
A main meal eaten in the evening is usually called dinner, especially if it is a formal meal. Supper is also an evening meal, but more informal than dinner and usually eaten at home. It can also be a late meal or something to eat and drink before going to bed.
In BrE, tea is a light meal in the afternoon with sandwiches, cakes, etc. and a cup of tea: ▪ a cream tea. It can also be a main meal eaten early in the evening, especially by children: ▪ What time do the kids have their tea?
As a general rule, if dinner is the word someone uses for the meal in the middle of the day, they probably call the meal in the evening tea or supper. If they call the meal in the middle of the day lunch, they probably call the meal in the evening dinner.
Brunch, a combination of breakfast and lunch, is becoming more common, especially as a meal where your guests serve themselves. 
Example Bank:
• A lady comes round the office with a tea trolley in the afternoon.
• All rooms have tea-making facilities.
• Allow the tea to cool before you drink it.
• He stores his books in a tea chest.
• He tried to alleviate their disappointment by inviting them in for tea and sympathy.
• I cleared away the tea things.
• I decided to treat myself to a cream tea in the tea room next door.
• I don't drink tea.
• I'll bring you a cup of tea in a few minutes.
• I'll have tea— white, no sugar, please.
• I'll make you some tea.
• John rushed around dispensing tea and cakes to everyone.
• Pour me a cup of tea please.
• She sipped her hot tea slowly.
• The hospital tea bar is run by volunteers.
• There's some fresh tea in the pot.
• There's some fresh= just made tea in the pot.
• You haven't let the tea brew long enough.
• a bone china tea service
• an authentic Japanese tea house
• When we were on holiday we had cream teas every day.

• Would you like to come to tea on Sunday?