English Words in Action, Group T
(a variety of English words which have developed through history and are currently used in our modern age)
Simply click on this banner (or the following link) and you will be on your way to stimulate your brain for greater word comprehension with quizzes based on some of the words in this unit.
2. Someone who is very popular in a particular place or among a particular group of people: After Marvin won the championship, he was said to be the toast of the sport.
3. Bread which has been sliced and then made crisp and brown by heating: Sean and Shareen had toast with their scrambled eggs.
In Scotland, a new project in the Scotch producing region of Speyside plans to take the waste from the whiskey-making process and turn it into electrical power; so, in a few years, some 9,000 homeowners may be able to toast their new source of electricity over and over again.
2. To make food; such as, bread crisp and brown by heating it: Jillian toasted the bread in a toaster for breakfast.3. To warm oneself, or a part of the body, by being close to a fire or some other source of heat: Earl was toasting his cold feet in front of the fireplace.
After the winter snow melted, the stream became a raging torrent.
2. Etymology: from French torrent, and from Latin torrentem, torrens. "rushing stream"; originally, it meant "roaring, boiling, burning, and parching"; from Latin torrere, "to parch, to scorch".Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.
Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.
Mike is driving his car toward town.
Elisa is coming towards me with a glass of water.
2. Used to indicate a direction faced by an object: Susan said, "Tom, please turn the light towards the ceiling."3. Close to or near a place: Tabitha and Willie live out towards the edge of the forest.
4. Not long before a special time: Natasha and Brandon plan to go on their trip towards the end of the summer.
5. A process which is meant to achieve or to produce some objective: All of the efforts toward putting out the fires have been delayed because of the dry weather and the scorching hot temperatures.
6. Referring to part of a payment for something: Melba deposited $1,500 toward the costs of her trip to France.
The manager said that most of the store's traffic was from the entrance to the dress department.
2. The changes of locations of passengers, travelers, voyagers, vacationists, and commuters: Dina was told that the evening flight to New York had a lot of traffic.3. The system of illegally buying and selling things; such as, drugs, weapons, etc.: The federal authorities are striving to suppress the illegal drug traffic; especially, the traffic that is coming from Mexico.
Henry claims that his family has never had any traffic with criminals.
The bootlegger was arrested for his illegal participation in the traffic of illegal liquor.
2. Etymology: from Latin tripaliare, "to torture"; from trepalium, "instrument of torture" probably from Latin tripalis, "having three stakes"; from tria, "three" + palus, "stake".
Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.
Later, tired and weary, the group trod back to camp.
2. To take a step or steps, or walk or step on, across, or along something: James has gone where others fear to tread.The boys trod on the newly planted flowers in Marcy's yard.
3. To form something, such as, a path by trampling or walking: Janet can see that countless footsteps have been trodden to her door.Dr. Livingstone visited parts of Africa where the foot of a white man had never trod before.
Look where the rabbits have trodden out a path in the snow.
4. To proceed or to behave in a particular way: The opposition realized that it would have to tread carefully against the other political party.5. To repress or to treat someone or something harshly: Joshua was treading on Carol's feelings and her little son, Jimmy, sometimes tread on her toes.
6. Etymology: Old English tredan, from Proto-Germanic tredanan.
The noun is recorded from about 1225, from the verb; in reference to automobile tires, it is recorded from 1906.
2. Failing to advance or to make progress: There are some people who are treading water as they struggle to survive without jobs in these bad economic times.
Treadles are normally used to cause rotary motions in various machines by people who use their feet to sustain the movements.
2. A row of metal spikes that are set on an angle of a spring within a plate that is laid across an entrance or an exit of a parking lot: Some treadles are used to prevent drivers, who park their cars in a facility, from being able to leave without paying their parking fees.It is recommended that people should at least be outdoor treadlers so they can get some exercise and fresh air.
Links to all of the groups of English words in action, Groups A to Z.
You may see the bibliographic list of sources of information for these words in action.