disturb <H* /di’st3:b; NAmE-'st3:rb/ verb

1                  [VN] to interrupt sb when they are trying to work,

sleep, etc. f: I’m sorry to disturb you,

but can I talk to you for a moment?

"F,    &)m? 0 If you get up early, try not

to disturb everyone else. in# ft

A o 0 Do not disturb (= a sign placed on the outside of the door of a hotel room, office, etc.) if t7ttt ( Sfett J^i'C       ) 0 She awoke early after a

disturbed night.        fa&WLMT* 2 [VN] to

move sth or change its position ff §L; # §L; id : Don’t disturb the papers on my desk. $l] #} Tic W ^ n A W £f4#£l7c 3 to make sb worry        ft

: [VN] The letter shocked and disturbed me. S^ifg ft 3\ ftfsi Tfl X3c o O [VN to inf] It disturbed her to realize that she was alone. MlciRfJ §  All

disturbance /dTst3ibans; NAmE -‘st3:rb-/ noun 1 [U, C, usuaPy sing.] actions that make you stop what you are doing, or that upset the normal state that sth is in; the act of disturbing sb/sth or the fact of being disturbed (  ) fftfc, Ttft, The building work is creating

constant noise, dust and disturbance.        rfrjiil

i^Df, AXfflXlfco 0 a disturbance in the usual pattern of events        disturbance of

the local wildlife by tourists

2                  [C] a situation in which people behave violently in a

public place      I; zbSL: serious disturbances in

the streets ± W A 16  0 He was charged with

causing a disturbance after the game.

3                  [U, C] a state in which sb’s mind or a function of the body is upset and not working normally p^5§; Aii; MUL: emotional disturbance dis turbed /di'st3:bd; NAmE-'st3:rbd/ adj. 1 mentally ill, especially because of very unhappy or shocking experiences AJf XIE^W;     a

special school for emotionally disturbed children A f## o note at mental 2 unhappy and full of bad or shocking experiences W;

M W; W: The killer had a disturbed family back­ground. ^AWXihztX —3 very anxious and unhappy about sth >i> # F A: W; A M M SL W; MtSiW: I was deeply disturbed and depressed by the news, ikff        —compare undis­

turbed

dis-turb-ing 0-w/di'st3:birj; NAmE-'st3:rb-/ adj. making you feel anxious and upset or shocked tSW; ^AXf^W; 'jl&iS'tfiEW: a disturbing piece of news         dis-turb-ing-ly adv.

dis unite /.disju'nait/ verb [VN] [usuaPy passive] (formal) to make a group of people unable to agree with each other or work together f£ —; f£Ffn;       a

disunited political party

dis unity /dis'juinati/ noun [u] (formal) a lack of agree­ment between people 0; Xffl: disunity

within the Conservative party    r»TT-3

UNITY

dis-use /dis'juis/ noun [U] a situation in which sth is no longer being used X 41;       ^ : The factory fell into

disuse twenty years ago.

WHICH WORD? Wmmft

distrust * mistrust

There is very little difference between these two words, but distrust is more common and perhaps slightly stronger. If you are sure that someone is acting dishonestly or cannot be relied on, you are more likely to say that you distrust them. If you are expressing doubts and suspicions, on the other hand, you would probably use mistrust.   f!

distrust Hiiffi,

distrust,   xf§ff®iA

mistrust0

dis used /,dis'ju:zd/ adj. [usuaPy before noun] no longer used X#j£4i W;        a disused station

— compare unused1 ditch /ditj7 noun, verb

m noun a long channel dug at the side of a field or road, to hold or take away water /£|;

verb 1 [VN] (informal) to get rid of sth/sb because you no longer want or need it/them        Mis   The

new road building programme has been ditched. $r W 31 o He ditched his girlfriend. ftfefEAH XinRITo 2 [VN, V] if a pilot ditches an aircraft, or if it ditches, it lands in the sea in an emergency {<£ ( HsU )

(4ft±)it»

ditch-water /'ditJwo:ta(r)/ noun [u] IETOI see dull adj. dither /'dida(r)/ verb, noun

mverb [V] ~ (over sth) to hesitate about what to do because you are unable to decide : She

was dithering over what to wear.

£f0 o Stop dithering and get on with it. #] #$)[;!& 7,

o

mnoun [sing.] (informal) 1 a state of not being able to decide what you should do #£ M 7 3A; ^ : I’m in

a dither about who to invite. # >F $|.± M 3i[ it it 0 2 a state of excitement or worry % fjfc; M J&; t^SL: Don’t get yourself in a dither over everything. X left A

ditran si tive /daTtraensativ; -'traenz-/ adj. (grammar il H) (of verbs zft is]) used with two objects. In the sentence ‘I gave her the book’, for example, the verb ‘give’ is ditransitive and ‘her’ and ‘the books’ are both objects. Mm&J-, ( fsm ) K^i^W ditsy = ditzy

ditto /'ditao; NAmE -tou/ noun, adv. unoun (abbr. do.) (symb ") used, especially in a list, underneath a particular word or phrase, to show that it is repeated and to avoid having to write it again ( Affl

^m*)m±, iwjitu

madv. (informal) used instead of a particular word or phrase, to avoid repeating it

IrJ#, tfe—■#: The waiters were rude and unhelpful, the

manager ditto.

ditty /'diti/ noun (pi -ies) (often humorous) a short simple song/F®; /J%iS3

ditzy (also ditsy) /'ditsi/ adj. (informal, especially NAmE) (usually of a woman 31 # ft ~k '14) silly; not able to be trusted to remember things or to think in an organized

way ft W; MEW; JgttAW; mm

di ur et ic /.daiju'retik/ noun (medical E) a substance that causes an increase in the flow of urine fij W.

di ur et ic adj. -. diuretic drugs/effects diurnal /dai'3:nl; NAmE -'3irnl/ adj. 1 (biology X) (of animals %j%j) active during the day 0 W; JMt

'14 W 033 nocturnal 2 (astronomy A) taking one day j§| 0 W: the diurnal rotation of the earth j&JjcWM! 0 Div. abbr. (in writing) division (      ) pPH;

!)1: League Div. 1 (= in football/soccER) ^

( )

diva /'diiva/ noun a famous woman singer, especially an opera singer ^££#01^ (       )

Di va I i = Diwali

divan/dTvaen; NAmE'daivaen/ noun 1 (also di.van 'bed) (both BrE) a bed with a thick base and a mattress Bifi — picture o bed 2 a long low soft seat without a back or arms ( dive /darv/ verb, noun

mverb (dived, dived, NAmE also dove /dauv; NAmE douv/, dived) [V]

4                  JUMP INTO WATER JgR-jjC 1 - (from/off sth) (into sth) |

~ (in) to jump into water with your head and arms going in first ©bK ( AfflWW5feA7jt ) : We dived into the river to cool off. ftrfb—MIMS', Jitft—To

5                  UNDERWATER jc f 2 (usually go diving) to swim

underwater wearing breathing equipment, collecting or looking at things ( M Bf VH ^ M 7X : to dive for pearls 7jco The main purpose of his holiday to Greece was to go diving.      @ WDc^A

if 7X0 —see also diving(2) 3 to go to a deeper level