Important Vocabulary to Improve your English-8

maid
maid maids
A maid is a woman who works as a servant in a hotel or private house.
A maid brought me breakfast at half past eight.



heel
heel heels
Your heel is the back part of your foot, just below your ankle.


The heel of a shoe is the raised part on the bottom at the back.
...the shoes with the high heels.


Heels are women's shoes that are raised very high at the back.
...two well-dressed ladies in high heels...
...the old adage that you shouldn't wear heels with trousers.

The heel of a sock or stocking is the part that covers your heel.


The heel of your hand is the rounded pad at the bottom of your palm.



see also Achilles heel
If you bring someone to heel, you force them to obey you.
It's still not clear how the president will use his power to bring the republics to heel.

If you dig your heels in or dig in your heels, you refuse to do something such as change your opinions or plans, especially when someone is trying very hard to make you do so.
It was really the British who, by digging their heels in, prevented any last-minute deal.

If you say that one event follows hard on the heels of another or hot on the heels of another, you mean that one happens very quickly or immediately after another.
Unfortunately, bad news has come hard on the heels of good...

If you say that someone is hot on your heels, you are emphasizing that they are chasing you and are not very far behind you.
They sped through the American southwest with the law hot on their heels.

If you are kicking your heels, you are having to wait around with nothing to do, so that you get bored or impatient.
The authorities wouldn't grant us permission to fly all the way down to San Francisco, so I had to kick my heels at Tunis Airport.

If you turn on your heel or spin on your heel, you suddenly turn round, especially because you are angry or surprised.
He simply turned on his heel and walked away.


head over heels: see head
to drag your heels: see drag

chore
chore chores
A chore is a task that you must do but that you find unpleasant or boring.

Chores are tasks such as cleaning, washing, and ironing that have to be done regularly at home.
My husband and I both go out to work so we share the household chores.


cardamom
cardamom cardamoms also cardamon
Cardamom is a spice. It comes from the seeds of a plant grown in Asia.


pissed
pissed
Someone who is pissed is drunk.
He was just lying there completely pissed.

If you say that someone is pissed, you mean that they are annoyed.
You know Molly's pissed at you.


gaze
If you gaze at someone or something, you look steadily at them for a long time, for example because you find them attractive or interesting, or because you are thinking about something else.

You can talk about someone's gaze as a way of describing how they are looking at something, especially when they are looking steadily at it.

If someone or something is in the public gaze, they are receiving a lot of attention from the general public.


dreaded
Dreaded means terrible and greatly feared.

You can use the dreaded to describe something that you, or a particular group of people, find annoying, inconvenient, or undesirable.

possession
If you are in possession of something, you have it, because you have obtained it or because it belongs to you.
Your possessions are the things that you own or have with you at a particular time.
= belongings
A country's possessions are countries or territories that it controls.
= colonies

sister-in-law
Someone's sister-in-law is the sister of their husband or wife, or the woman who is married to their brother.


foursome
A foursome is a group of four people or things.


loot
If people loot shops or houses, they steal things from them, for example during a war or riot.

looting

If someone loots things, they steal them, for example during a war or riot.

Loot is stolen money or goods.
= plunder, spoils

verily
Verily is an old-fashioned or religious word meaning `truly'. It is used to emphasize a statement or opinion.


crap
If you describe something as crap, you think that it is wrong or of very poor quality.


Crap is also a noun.
= rubbish
Crap is sometimes used to refer to faeces.

To crap means to get rid of faeces from your body.

Craps or crap is a gambling game, played mainly in North America, in which you throw two dice and bet what the total will be.


brace
If you brace yourself for something unpleasant or difficult, you prepare yourself for it.

If you brace yourself against something or brace part of your body against it, you press against something in order to steady your body or to avoid falling.

If you brace your shoulders or knees, you keep them stiffly in a particular position.

To brace something means to strengthen or support it with something else.

You can refer to two things of the same kind as a brace of that thing. The plural form is also brace.

A brace is a device attached to a part of a person's body, for example to a weak leg, in order to strengthen or support it.
= support
A brace is a metal device that can be fastened to a child's teeth in order to help them grow straight.

Braces are a pair of straps that pass over your shoulders and fasten to your trousers at the front and back in order to stop them from falling down.

Braces or curly braces are a pair of written marks that you place around words, numbers, or parts of a computer code, for example to indicate that they are connected in some way or are separate from other parts of the writing or code.