in-fi-del-ity /.mfi'delati/ noun [U, C] {pi.
-ies)
the
act of not being faithful to your wife, husband or partner, by having sex with
sb else ( A#SJc#fi:fiijW ) A&frA; 11
iff ECT71 unfaithfulness • marital infidelity
Zjj# 10 WAl&M 0 She could not forgive his infidelities. MAft
JFd&llkWA-SArAo EXtOI FIDELITY
in-field /’mfl:ld/ noun, adv.
m noun [sing.] the inner part of the field in baseball, cricket and some other sports
(
W ) 1*1^ — compare outfield n.
« adv. in or to the infield fE ( nJc |n]
) ^ A : Figo came infield from the left to score. W# A
*m0
infighting /'infaitir)/ noun [U] arguments and disagreements between people in the same group who
are competing for power ® pfj £|$ W #■ IX. Z? ^>J; P*3 il: political infighting within
the party ^|^W In 4* A in-fill /‘infil/ noun [U] 1 the filling in of a
space with sth, especially the building of new houses in spaces between
existing ones fa#£
|h] ; ( A
ja ) fE 10 M |a] ^frM: infill
development 7fjE$l#;£h|lTMW$S^ 2 the material used to fill in a space or a
hole A#?; gravel infill ► in-fill verb [V, VN]
in fil trate /'infiltreit/ verb 1 - (sb) (into
sth) to enter or make sb enter a place or an organization secretly, especially
in order to get information that can be used against it ( ® ) iffffijftA, Vf A:
[VN] The headquarters had been infiltrated by enemy spies. p|$ ?§
2 ~
(into) sth
{technical Ain) (especially
of liquids or gases Xfa
to pass slowly into sth #A; [V] Only a
small amount of the rainwater actually
infiltrates into the soil. [also VN]
►
in-fil-tra-tion /.infil'treijn/ noun [U]: infiltration of
the government by enemy agents Ifr A # Ir A0 the infiltration of rain
into the soil infiltrator /Tnfiltreita(r)/ noun a person who secretly
becomes a member of a group or goes to a place, to get information or to
influence the group '^A#; #A# in fin ite /'infinat/ adj., noun
m adj. 1 very great; impossible to measure MAW; A'A flW ETITi boundless : an infinite variety of
plants $(A?it <> a.
teacher with infinite patience A A
It it
A W i/tp 0 {ironic) The company in its infinite
wisdom decided to close the staff restaurant (= they thought it was a good
thing to do, but nobody else agreed). & n Id A tt W g it & £ * & HR X * „
2
without limits; without end A HI W; A A if- W: an infinite universe AIIW^A KTI3
finite ■ noun [sing.] 1 the infinite something that has no end APdWMtf; AA^W^t^
2 the
Infinite God in fin ite ly /'infmatli/ adv. 1
(used especially in comparisons Affj A ft M) very much # #: Your English is
infinitely better than my German. ft$£WHi« A
A ^ T
o 2 extremely; with no limit M ^; A PS
infinitesi mal /.mfmi'tesiml/ adj. {formal) extremely small M/bW; ft
►
infinitesimally /-mali/ adv. in-fini-tive /in'finativ/ noun {grammar j&) the basic form of
a verb such as be or run. In English, an infinitive is used by
itself, as is swim in She can swim, or with to as in
She likes to swim. ( zj/jiaJW
) A Wzft
, #P
she can swim AW swim, to, $P she likes to swim ) ITST771 see split v. in fin ity /in'finati/ noun {pi. -ies) 1 [U] (also in-fin-it-ies [pi.]) the state of having
no end or limit APS; A A: the infinity/infinities of space $ |b] W A PS 2 [U] a point far away
that can never be reached APSSW^; A A Izs; The landscape seemed
to stretch into infinity. ft T AAS^iio 3 {symb oo) [u, c] {mathematics a number larger than any other AAA ( W ffc
) 4 [sing.] a large amount that is impossible to count A'tk
it#WS; APSAWi:; an infinity of stars m
A^W
MM
in-firm /in'f3:m; NAmE in'f3:rm/ adj. 1 ill/sick and weak, especially over a long period or as
a result of being old ( ) ^HW;
¥£ftHW 2 the
infirm noun [pi.]
people who are weak and ill/sick for a long
period ^ HWA; # IIW A: care for the elderly and infirm A
in-firm-ary /in'f3:mari; NAmE -'f3:rm-/ noun {pi. -ies)
1
(often used in names) a hospital ( ) @EI^
2
a special room in a school, prison, etc. for people
who are ill/sick (
in-firm-ity /in'f3:mati; NAmE -'f3:rm-/ noun [u, C] {pi.
-ies)
weakness
or illness over a long period ( -fcc M W )
II, We
all fear disability or infirmity.
WfeBssSc&llo
0 the infirmities of old age ^A'AII infix /'infiks/ noun {grammar i§}£) a letter or
group of letters added to the middle of a word to change its meaning
in fla-grante /,m fla'graenti/ adv. (from Latin,
literary or humorous) if sb is found or caught in flagrante, they are
discovered doing sth that they should not be doing, especially having sex ^
in-flame /in'fleim/ verb [VN] {formal) 1 to cause very strong feelings, especially anger or
excitement, in a person or in a group of people $1® • • ■ W 3® ; (A
ts ) ^ ^ M
ifa : His comments have inflamed
teachers all over the country. jlfaWif AHiWo
2 to
make a situation worse or more difficult to deal with f : The
situation was
further inflamed by the arrival of the security
forces.
in-flamed /in'fleimd/ adj. 1 (of a
part of the body bPM) red, sore
and hot because of infection or injury A i^W; ^tWW 2 (of people,
feelings, etc. A, lift#) very angry or excited ®^W; A#^S(jW
inflammable /in'flaemabl/ adj. 1 {especially BrE) = flammable: inflammable material 2 full of
strong emotions or violence M^^W
inflam mation /.mfla'meijn/ noun
[u, C] a condition in which a part of the body becomes red, sore and swollen
because of infection or injury AA; All in flam
ma tory /in'flaematri; NAmE -toiri/ adj.
1 (disapproving) intended to cause
very strong feelings of anger &AA&W: inflammatory remarks faW g
2 {medical IS) causing or involving inflammation
AAW;
AttW
in flat able /m'fleitabl/ adj., noun m adj. needing to be filled with
air or gas before you use it HW: an inflatable mattress noun 1 an inflatable boat % A 2 a large object made
of plastic or rubber and filled with air or gas, used for children to play on,
or as an advertisement for sth-^Sc*; AM^g#iB inf late /in'fleit/ verb 1 to fill sth or become
filled with gas or air AA; [VN] Inflate
your life jacket by
pulling sharply on the cord.
0 [V] The
life jacket failed to inflate. # A A A t£ A A 0
2 [VN] to make sth appear to be more important or impressive than it
really is i£n£; 3 to increase in
price; to increase the price of sth ( fk ) [VN] The
principal effect of the demand for new houses was
to inflate prices.
o [V] Food prices are no longer inflating at the
same rate as lastyear. W±if¥fiA#ff
A
— compare deflate(3),
reflate in-flated /in'fleitid/ adj. 1 (especially of prices AjaMIfr)
higher than is acceptable or reasonable Mi^W; iSi#A ^JIW: inflated
prices/salaries / irA 2 (of
ideas, claims, etc. ® , ±|fe#) believing or claiming
that sb/sth is more important or impressive
than they really are W; W: He has an
inflated sense
of his own importance.
inflation /in'fleijn/ noun [u] 1 a general rise in the prices of services and goods in
a particular country, resulting in a fall in the value of money; the rate at