we held dear. #JH$Hlft7v —more at
HEART, LIFE
■
exclamation used in expressions that show that
you are surprised, upset, annoyed or worried ( AA.
M
1
think I’ve lost my purse! *f|t, ! O
Oh dear! What a shame. AiP, A oJlf <©! 0 Dear me! What a mess! B£njf,
MM—@0®! 0 Dear oh dear! What are you going to do now?
mnoun 1 (BrE, informal)
a kind person ft M W A; rTHW A: Isn’t
he a dear? ft AMffi rTM? o Be a dear
and fetch me my coat. 2 used when
speaking to sb you love (
ftB?#rMW A )
Would you like a drink, dear? A ?
o
Come here, my dear. A&JLA, 3 used when
speaking to sb in a friendly
way, for example by an older person to a young person or a child ( W
A^®7i£i&Wftl ) 3^W, alfeaffe: What’s your name, dear? ft Ri] ft ^45?, ^t:§IW? — compare duck n.(4) ttadv. (BrE) at
a high price jUfftl-ft; to buy cheap
and sell dear IT»TO1 see cost v.
dearest /‘diarist; NAmE'dir-/ adj., noun m adj. (old-fashioned) 1 used when writing to
sb you love ( ^rMWA^Wffl ) ‘Dearest
Nina’, the
letter began, , {tWft&&#^ito
2
[usually before noun] that you feel deeply
ifilty}[ft;
W: It was her dearest wish to have a
family. M—A'M
a noun (old-fashioned) used
when speaking to sb you love ( ftRf FJrMtf] A ) 3^W: Come (my)
dearest, let’s go home. Hf
i®, ^SgW, EEJ see near adj.
dearie /‘diari; NAmE ‘diri/ noun (old-fashioned, BrE, informal) used to address sb in a friendly way ( A
7;^ ) 3^W, Sit down, dearie.
4*7, 3S;gWo
dearly /‘diali; NAmE ‘dirli/ adv. 1 very much jg: She
loves him dearly. 01 would
dearly
likeAove to know what he was
thinking. ftc SI ft] if ft £Sft /> 0 o dearly
beloved (= used by a minister at a Christian church service to address
people)
( ftIRAM Wftnf ) 2 in a way that
causes a lot of suffering or
damage, or that costs a lot of money ftjfrl&Aft; Success has
cost him dearly, ft A J& ft
7 Ip W ft ffr „ 0 She
paid dearly for her mistake. 7
SAW
dearth /d3:0; NAmE d3:r0/ noun
[sing.] ~ (of sth) a lack of sth; the
fact of there not being enough of sth 5ft A; A A EEE3 scarcity : There was a dearth of reliable information
on the subject. AAi&ftilllSftA^II^A death 0-w /de0/ noun
1
[C] the fact of sb dying or being killed ft;. ft tl: a sudden/violent/peaceful, etc. death # ft.
m.ft.
WA# 0 the anniversary of his wife’s death ftHAWJii 0 0 an
increase in deaths from cancer AfScWftjlJn
0 He died a slow and
painful death. ft|gt§M1i iiirftA Ao 2 [U] the end of life; the state of
being dead W££lh; Two
children were burnt to death in
the fire (= they died as a
result of the fire).
AA^S^Eo 0 He’s drinking
himself to death (= so that it will kill him), fife # % M A S? ft A rT
0 o Police are trying to establish the cause of death.
@ 0 o Do you believe in life
after death? ftjf ft Atft ? o a death camp (= a place where
prisoners are killed, usually in a war) ?E ft lift If ( # It ft tF ft ft W ft A
) O He was sentenced to death (= to be executed), fife £i] ft ft fftj 0 3 [U] ~ of sth the per
manent end or destruction of
sth 77
AW At; §£A; $A: the death of all my plans 3$$f A if M
W ®£ A 0 the death of his career ftW ft W IS A 4 (also Death) [U] (literary) the power that
destroys life, imagined as human in formTEft: Death is often shown
in paintings as a human skeleton. ^£E#SlftSSSS;fti
—see also sudden
death ITBTO1 at death’s ‘door (often humorous) so ill/sick that you may
die ( 0 ^ It ) JLA; Mf?L be the 'death of sb (informal)
to worry or upset sb
very much ^Al^^A^:
Those kids will be the death of me.
Ao ,do sth to 'death to do or perform sth
so often that people become tired of seeing
or hearing it j$ft7;
<tM7; b)tA7: That joke’s been done
to death. M7 „ frighten/scare sb
to 'death to frighten sb very
much ft ^ A Iff % 1? ifo iook/feei like death warmed up (BrE) (NAmE like death warmed over) (informal) to look or feel
very ill/sick or tired ( ^c$H§:AiS )
; mm
A£fH ( ) put sb to death to kill sb as a
punishment ft ft\ H771 execute : The prisoner
will be put to death at
dawn. to
death extremely; very much [g; # #: to be bored to death Muffle# o I’m
sick to death of your endless criticism. Aft ± W ts ^ Jt it IS M A 7
0 to the death until sb is deadi!]J^; AcizS: a fight to the death ^ ft-51] Is —more at catch
v., cheat v.,
DICE V., DIE V., FATE, FIGHT V., FLOG, GRIM, KISS /?., LIFE, MATTER n.
death-bed/'de0bed/ noun [usually sing.] the bed in which sb is
dying or dies l]g ^ : a deathbed
confession/
conversion l|££Ao 0 He told me the truth on
his
deathbed (= as he lay dying); ftfe
l|£ ^ I"1ti: M 7 M
'If 0 o She was on her
deathbed (= going to die very soon). fi/ft II It; o 0 (humorous) You’d
have to be practically on your deathbed before the doctor would come and see
you! ft ifr
#ft!
'death
blow noun an event that
destroys or puts an end to sth -^ifc§&AW#1f; itifrW—They thought the
arrival of television would deal a death blow to mass cinema audiences.
WmAJi#&o
'death
certificate noun an official document, signed by a
doctor, that states the cause and time of sb’s death
At:iE45
'death
duty noun [usually pi.] (old-fashioned,
BrE) = inheritance tax
'death
knell (also
knell)
noun
[sing.]
an event that means that the end or destruction of sth will come soon^B*; AWIMft
death-less/'deOlas/ adj. never dying or
forgotten A A W; Aft) W; 7fttlW Em immortal: (ironic) written in his usual deathless
prose (=
very bad) ftHtfeUPA 1ftA^E
death ly /'de01i/ (also less frequent dead-ly) adv. like a dead
person; suggesting death ft — IS ftfe; it A Si 3\ ft tr: Her face was deathly pale.
M o 0
The house was deathly still. ► death-ly adj.:
A deathly hush fell over the room as he walked
in.
ftfeift
aw,
' death mask noun a model of the
face of a person who has just died, made by pressing a soft substance over
their face and removing it when it becomes hard ( ^
the 'death penalty noun [sing.] the punishment of
being killed that is used in some countries for very serious crimes ftfft; WiM: the abolition/retum
of the death penalty ftMffi ik'&s I ‘Vk lsL 0 The two men are facing
the death penalty. ^ziAMlt&'AlPJo
'death
rate noun 1 the number of
deaths every year for every l 000 people in the population of a place ft
tZ$ ( ^itfe^A^ 1 000 AW ftilXtyL )
: a highAow death rate MI ifafttz^ 2 the number of
deaths every year from a particular disease or in a particular group ( W ) fttDeath rates from
heart disease have risen
considerably in recent years, ift AAA'JK^WAti^AA±ft|-7.
'death
rattle noun [sing.] a sound sometimes
heard in the throat of a dying person
.death 'row noun [U] the cells in a
prison for prisoners who are waiting to be killed as punishment for a serious
crime A0 E: prisoners on
death
row A0KW3EA
'death
sentence noun the legal punishment of being killed
for a serious crime ftM: to be given/to receive the
death sentence for murder