directory enquiries
562 I
names and addresses of businesses in a
particular area & ;
ffe -gf ft; i#*: a telephone/trade
directory ;
]§j ft £ ^ o a directory of European Trade Associations 2 a file
containing a group of other files or programs in a
computer (
directory en quiries (BrE)
(NAmE di rectory as- 'sistance or informal in-for-ma-tion) noun [U+sing./pl. v.] a telephone service that
you can use to find out a person’s telephone number a
di.rect
‘rule noun [U] government of a region by a central
government, when that region has had its own government in the past j|[$t
di.rect
'speech noun [U] {grammar iff?£) a
speaker’s actual words; the use of these in writing itESHiilt : Only direct
speech should go inside inverted commas. —
compare
INDIRECT SPEECH, REPORTED
SPEECH
di.rect
'tax noun (technical A igj a tax which is collected directly
from the person who pays it, for example income tax M $£ ( $0 Bf Ift ) — compare indirect TAX ► di rect tax'ation noun [U] dirge
/d3:d3;
NAmE d3:rd3/ noun 1 a song sung in the past at a funeral or
for a dead person ~$£ ffc ; ffc 2 (informal, disapproving) any song or piece of music that is too
slow and sad )
diri gible /'dirid39bl/ adj., noun
»adj. (format) able to be guided or steered ; bJ
a dirigible balloon IsH ■ noun an airship IsJg
dirigisme /'diri3iz0m/ noun [U] (formal) control of society and of the economy by
the state i±
) MM ► diri-giste/'diri3ist/adj. dirk /d3:k
; NAmE d3:rk/ noun a long heavy pointed knife that was used
as a weapon in
dirndl /'d3:ndl;
NAmE 'd3:rndl/ noun (from German) a very full wide skirt, pulled in tightly
at the waist; a dress with a skirt like this and a closely fitting top
< a
dirt 0-w /d3:t; NAmE d3irt/ noun [U]
1
any substance that makes sth dirty, for example dust,
soil or mud His
clothes were covered
in dirt (Hj AMife0 First remove any grease
or dirt from the surface. ^ ffi W ^
2
(especially NAmE) loose earth or soil ; $s±; Wt ±: He picked up a handful of dirt and
threw it at them.
— IE ± #5 E A 0 0 Pack the dirt
firmly
round the plants. H
±fp o They lived in a
shack with a dirt floor. Clffe# i o note at soil 3 (informal) unpleasant or harmful
information about sb that could be used to damage their reputation, career,
etc. 3L PH; M W ~X in : Do you have any dirt on the new guy?
4 (informal) = excrement: dog dirt 117171 see dish v., treat v.
'dirt bike noun a motorcycle designed for
rough ground, especially for competitions ( X jf T fcb If
w)
,dirt 'cheap adj., adv (informal) very cheap # #
j£L.JC : It was dirt cheap. EAll!®To 01 got
it dirt cheap.
'dirt farmer noun (NAmE) a farmer who has poor land and does not make much money, and who does
not pay anyone else to work on the farm i $fA .dirt 'poor adj. (NAmE, informal) extremely poor M A®
'dirt road (NAmE also 'dirt track) noun a rough road in the country that is made
from hard earth ±jf&
'dirt track noun 1 (NAmE) = dirt road 2 a track made of cinders, soil, etc. used for motorcycle racing E ( ) : a dirt-track race
dirty 0-w /'d3:ti; NAmE ‘d3:rti/ adj., verb, adv. wadj. (dirt ier, dirti-est)
NOT CLEAN Ain 1 not clean
Elft&A M:
dirty hands/clothes H4A/ AM 0 a dirty mark o Try
not to get too dirty! ! 0 I
always get
given the dirty jobs (= jobs that make you
become dirty).
3
OFFENSIVE h $1 2 [usually before noun] connected with
sex in an offensive way TifitW; felt(ft; M&&J;
MM $J: a dirtyjoke/book TIWA
0 He’s got a dirty mind (= he often thinks about sex). TT
ifulUL
4
UNPLEASANT/DISHONEST # A.T tfe ; 3 [usually
before noun] unpleasant or dishonest ^AKI^;
W;
AM^&A a dirty lie -A0 She’s a dirty
player. M JkA & A W W Eft W is fk„ 0 He’s a great man
for doing the dirty jobs (= jobs which are unpleasant because they involve
being dishonest or mean to people). ItfeEAAS^AAjA^JIlWo
5
COLOURS 4 [only before noun] dull All W ; B§ tfj: a dirty brown carpet B#
6
DRUGS nq 5 (NAmE, slang) using illegal drugs
rrTTTTl be a dirty 'word to be a subject or an idea
that people think is bad or immoral 3E M 7 BH; 3E‘ U.
M; Profit is not a dirty word
around here. &&M, ftf'J(do sb’s) 'dirty work (to do) the unpleasant or
dishonest jobs that sb else does not want to do ( T ) f^AIETW ^#gp ^ do the 'dirty on sb (BrE, informal) to
cheat sb who trusts you; to treat sb badly or
unfairly 91; lEH; E#: I’d
never do the dirty on my friends. ^ Ao give sb a dirty 'look to look at sb in a way that
shows you are annoyed with them iTSiffela® A^ BS; ^ A—A BH — more at hand
n., wash v.
uverb (dirt ies, dirty ing, dirt-ied, dirt
ied) [VN]
to make sth dirty AM;
madv. IT»171 dirty great/big (BrE, informat) used to emphasize how
large sth is # ^ A^J; ISA^I: When I turned round he
was pointing a dirty great gun at me.
A, play 'dirty (informal) to
behave or play a game in an unfair way ^;
( tfcH ) —
more at talk v.
synonyms msimmtii dirty
dusty ♦ filthy ♦ soiled ♦
grubby
These
words all describe sb/sth that is not clean. 1^_t
. Mo
dirty not
dean; covered with dust, soil, mud, oil, etc.
If your hands are dirty,
go and wash them. WL&tk-—&0
dusty full
of dust; covered with dust juA$! J£T.l1A M&Mm. fril: There were
shelves full of dusty books.
filthy very
dirty and unpleasant ft? EM fill.
It’s absolutely filthy in here. EMffiiSIfAffTo soiled (ratherformal) dirty, especially with
waste from the body jtMJK&A XtiifTA
soiled nappies/diapers A grubby (rather informal) rather dirty, usually
because it has not been washed
iHEW: He hoped she wouldn’t
notice his grubby shirt cuffs, life # M M A A E ;S M E W ft
PATTERNS
AND COLLOCATIONS
* dirty/dusty/fiIthy/soiled/grubby clothes
■
dirty/dusty/filthy/grubby hands
■
a dirty/dusty/fiIthy room
■
dirty dishes
■
to be/look dirty/dusty/fi 1 thy/soiled/grubby
■
to get dirty/dusty/filthy/soiled/grubby a rather dirty/dusty/filthy/grubby
very /extremely dirty/dusty/gru bby