Did your mother fuck a snowman?

She conflated the three plays to produce a fresh new work.

be delirious. She had a high temperature and was delirious. The team arrived home to a delirious reception from its fans.

They both enlisted (in the navy) a year before the war broke out. The organization has enlisted the support of many famous people in raising money to help homeless children. the enlistment of thousands of men into the army

She always coveted power but never quite achieved it. The Booker Prize is the most coveted British literary award. Covetousness is condemned as a great sin.

These primitive peoples are believed to have worshipped the phallus as a symbol of regeneration.

There was no doubting his virility. a country's economic virility

Through the window came the last few oblique rays of evening sunshine. He gave her an oblique glance. She made several oblique references to the current financial situation.

We are inching towards an agreement. Residents watched the flames inch closer and closer.

The landscape was sheathed in ice.

She must have written nigh on (= nearly but not quite) 50 books. The time is nigh (= it is nearly time) for us to make a decision. The time is nigh (= it is nearly time) for us to make a decision.

to be candid. The two presidents have had candid talks about the current crisis. To be candid with you, I think you're making a dreadful mistake.

Her breath reeked of garlic. You reek of a horse's arse.

solid waste from animals, especially cattle and horses

I wanted to call with the news, but Steve beat me to it.

the smell of putrefying flesh The body had putrefied beyond recognition.

The female bird incubates the eggs for about 16 days.

It was a stillborn effort. a stillborn baby The child was stillborn.

He was singing off-key, and it was painful to hear.

What really angered her was the dirty, underhand way they had tricked her.

It's advisable to book seats at least a week in advance. A certain amount of caution is advisable at this point.

impervious to something. How does glue bond with impervious substances like glass and metal? He is impervious to criticism and rational argument. This glue is a very strong bond for wood.

Cannabis has been used for medicinal purposes since antiquity. Under Greek law, all antiquities that are discovered in Greece belong to the government.

This is the scoop that will get me promoted.

mammalian evolution mammalian species

The rapaciousness of the regime has not changed. He was conscious of the rapaciousness of his own father's practices. rapacious

Add a scant spoon of sugar. We paid scant attention to him. I was scant of breath.

exceedingly manly. He has such a manly voice. My mother used to tell me it wasn't manly for little boys to cry.

He was clever, handsome, and exceedingly rich.

The meeting was adjourned until Tuesday. Shall we adjourn for lunch? The defence attorney requested an adjournment. The court's adjournment means that a decision will not be reached until December at the earliest.

We watched as demonstrators doused a car in/with petrol and set it alight.

Supper was fresh salmon and vegetables, washed down with a bottle of white wine. He washed the car down with soapy water.

A dangerous criminal is on the loose.

let me give you a pointer here

He struck me as an affable sort of a man. She was quite affable at the meeting.

Ben Palmer easily outshone his rivals in the 200 metre freestyle.

a steadfast friend/ally steadfast loyalty The group remained steadfast in its support for the new system, even when it was criticized in the newspapers.

She met his unwavering stare. an unwavering commitment to social justice

It is obvious that sweeping changes are needed in the legal system. We need to make sweeping cuts to our budget. Sweeping generalizations about this complex and difficult situation are not helpful.

He guzzled his beer and ordered another. The car guzzles a gallon of gas every 15 miles. guzzle a booze

His accountant had aided and abetted him in the fraud.

We cannot deduce very much from these figures. The police have deduced that he must have left his apartment yesterday evening.

an angsty teenage boy

He never forgot the humiliation he felt at his first school caning. His father believed in strict discipline, including caning.

Male peacocks have beautiful plumage.

The policing of demonstrations will be far tougher than two months ago. The new Bill will tighten up the policing of pension funds.

The long-dormant volcano has recently shown signs of erupting. These investments have remained dormant for several years. Her talent might have lain dormant had it not been for her aunt's encouragement.

The driver has preference. We give preference to those who have worked with us for a long time.

BA, MA

you were the mare of the stallion and I rode you at the race

He saw head impaled on pikes. I caught a pike today

They live a vagabond life/existence, travelling around in a caravan.

Metal contracts when the temperature drops. In spoken English, "do not" often contracts to "don't". He contracted malaria while he was travelling. Agricultural output has contracted by 2.3 percent. contract a deal

to empty your bladder (= urinate)

He jutted his chin/jaw (out) defiantly.

She watched the snake slither away.

It would be presumptuous of me to comment on the matter.

I watched him heft the heavy sack onto his shoulder. Despite their considerable heft, buffalo are agile creatures.

The fire fizzled miserably in the rain.

a publicity gimmick They give away free gifts with children's meals as a sales/marketing gimmick.

a compliant child

Hercule Poirot is the dapper detective of the Agatha Christie novels.

Investors each received a windfall of £3,000. I tend to leave the windfalls for the birds to pick at.

He has shown himself to be an artful politician. The prime minister dealt with the interviewer's questions in a very artful way.

Has your dog been neutered?

a place of ill repute. The music is reputed to be very good, the miniatures are fanciful

He has some fanciful notion about converting one room of his apartment into a gallery.

Ever since she was a child, she has had a predilection for spicy food.

behaving badly or rudely

Yeah, so what?" came the gruff reply. He's quite a sweet man beneath the gruff exterior.

There was the rasp of a bolt and the door suddenly opened.

The crane lifted the container off the ship.

pubescent girls/boys

He is still too easily riled by the words and deeds of others. The general public gets riled up by so many motorists parking for free.

rear seat belt anchorage points

There was a brown sediment in the bottom of the bottle.

It took 50 rescuers two hours to free a runner who got stuck in quicksand. The country had managed to extract itself from the quicksand at last.

The fish was OK, but the chips were a tad greasy.

a close confidant

The government condoned the computer hacking among rival corporations.

He come here?" he asked in pidgin English.

The doctor jabbed the needle into the dog's leg. Watch out! You nearly jabbed me in the eye with your umbrella! He jabbed the ball into the net in the final minute of the game.

He was stifled by the smoke.

The boxer had pummelled his opponent into submission by the end of the fourth round. They were pummelled in the second round.

tableware the kitchenware department

yada, yada... you know the drill

I didn't have long to talk so I cut to the chase and asked whether he was still married.

This is the delineation of our course.

fast-forward to something. I hate this song - I'll fast-forward to the next one. The tape jammed while I was fast-forwarding it.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Your son could face life imprisonment.

a cake/jelly mould. This plastic is going to be moulded into plates. The children moulded little pots out of/from (= made them by shaping) clay.

Our company taps natural resources. For more than a century, Eastern cities have expanded their water supplies by tapping ever more remote sources. There is a rich vein of literary talent here just waiting to be tapped by publishers.

We need to replace or rehabilitate the bridge. The prison service should try to rehabilitate prisoners so that they can lead normal lives when they leave prison. Physiotherapy is part of rehabilitating accident victims.

The value of property has slumped. Car sales have slumped dramatically over the past year. She slumped into the chair, exhausted. an economic slump The airline industry is currently in a slump.

I watched a plug and I changed the channel

Working at a computer strains your eyes. He strained his ears to hear her whisper. He was straining to speak. He strained his muscles to show off. Strain the pasta if it is cooked.

the dogs fought with great ferocity

She makes cerebral films that deal with important social issues. Chess is cerebral; video games are visceral. His problem wasn't his policies; it was his personality. He was simply too cerebral and too out of touch with Middle America.

The demonstrators rampaged through the town, smashing windows and setting fire to cars.

Grill the peppers until the skin starts to char.

The success of the event will be determined by the vagaries of the weather. She had her own style and was not influenced by the vagaries of fashion.

It is the job of the inspectors to enforce compliance with the regulations. The company said that it had always acted in compliance with environmental laws. It's his compliance that amazes me.

The researchers tested 10 sighted, blindfolded volunteers. I've been there so often I could probably drive there blindfolded. I've been there so often I could probably drive there blindfolded.

28 percent of people thought that the advertising of tobacco (= tobacco and products made from it, such as cigarettes) and alcohol should be banned. He works at a tobacco plantation.

Let me show you Pat's embroideries. It was a beautiful piece of embroidery. I'm not very good at embroidery

As a reporter, I was paid to pry into other people's lives. I hope you don't think I'm prying, but has your boyfriend ever lived with anyone before? The car trunk had been pried open and all her equipment was gone.

She has shunned publicity since she retired from acting.

It has been estimated that one in eight couples is infertile. Poor farmers have little choice but to try to grow food in this infertile soil. One of the side effects of the drug could be to make men sterile. a sterile argument

Critics are describing the musical as "unmissable".

The fastidiousness of the inhabitants can be seen in the neat log-piles beside every front door. He is very fastidious about how a suitcase should be packed. They were too fastidious to eat in a fast-food restaurant.

The food was amazeballs.