martedì 21 gennaio 2014

Vocabolario inglese illustrato. Lettera: C.

car: noun. Dicios / Sansoni / Word.
It’s a blue, two-door car
IL: 1. The man is driving a car. 2. The man is pushing the car. 3. It’s a blue, two-door car. 4. The dog is getting in the car. 5. drive a car. || WB: 1. «a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine»: he needs a car to get to work. - 2. «a wheeled vehicle adapted to the rails of railroad»: three cars had jumped the rails. - 3. «the compartment that is suspended from an aiship and that carries personnel and the cargo and the power plant». - 4. «where passengers ride up and down»: the car was on the top floor. - 5. «a conveyance for passengers or freight on a cable railway»: they took a cable car to the top of the mountain. - || ORIGIN: 1301, "wheeled vehicle," from Norman French carre, from Latin carrum, carrus (pl. carra), orig. "two-wheeled Celtic war chariot," from Gaul karros, from Proto-Indo-European *krsos, from base *kers- "to run." Extension to "automobile" is 1896. Car-sick first recorded 1908, on model of sea sick. U.S. carport is from 1939. Car bomb first 1972, in reference to Northern Ireland. Car pool is 1942 (n.), 1962 (v.).

cat: noun. Dicios / Sansoni / Word.
A black and white cat

IL: 2. A baby cat is called a kitten. 3. The striped cat is playing with red yarn. 4. The black cat is walking across the screen. 5. big cat. 6. pet cat. 7. black and white cat. || WB: noun: 1. «feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cat; wildcats». - 2. «an informal term for a youth or man». - 3. «a spiteful woman gossip»: what a cat she is! - 4. «the leaves of the shrub Catha edulis which are chewed tile tobacco or used to make tea; has the effect of a euphoric stimulant». - 5. «a whip with nine knotted cords»: British sailors feared the cat. - 6. «a large tracked vehicle that is propelled by two endless metall belts; frequently used for moving earth in costruction and farm work». - 7. «and of sevral large cats typically able to roar and living in the wild». Verb: Ex. The want to cat the prisoner. - 1. «beat with a cat-o’nine-tails». - 2. «eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth». || ORIGIN: Old English (c.700), from West Germanic (c.400-450), from Proto-Germanic *kattuz, from Late Latin cattus. The near-universal European word now, it appeared in Europe as Latin catta (Martial, c.75 C.E.), Byzantine Greek katta (c.350) and was in general use on the continent by c. 700, replacing Latin feles. Probably ult. Afro-Asiatic (cf. Nubian kadis, Berber kadiska, both meaning "cat"). Arabic qitt "tomcat" may be from the same source. Cats were domestic in Egypt from c.2000 B.C.E., but not a familiar household animal to classical Greeks and Romans. The nine lives have been proverbial since at least c.1562. Extended to lions, tigers, etc. 1607. As a term of contempt for a woman, from c.1225. Slang sense of "prostitute" is from at least 1401. Slang sense of "fellow, guy," is from 1920, originally in U.S. Black English; narrower sense of "jazz enthusiast" is recorded from 1931. Catcall first recorded 1659; catnap is from 1823; catfish is from 1620; catwalk is from 1917. Cat's-cradle is from 1768. Cat-o'-nine-tails (1695), probably so called in reference to its "claws," was legal instrument of punishment in British Navy until 1881. Cat's paw (1769, but cat's foot in the same sense, 1597) refers to old folk tale in which the monkey tricks the cat into pawing chestnuts from a fire; the monkey gets the nuts, the cat gets a burnt paw. To rain cats and dogs (c.1652) is probably an extension of cats and dogs as proverbial for "strife, enmity" (1579). Cat-witted "small-minded, obstinate, and spiteful" (1673) deserved to survive. For Cat's meow, cat's pajamas, see bee's knees.

chili pepper: noun. D / S / W.
 IL: 1. Leaving the seeds in a chili pepper will make it much hotter. 2. spicy chili pepper. || Verbix: Indicative Present of to make: I make, you make, he makes, we make, you make, they make. - Indicative Present of to will: I will, you will, he will, we will, you will, they will. ||  WB: 1. «plant bearing very hot and finely tapering long peppers; usually red». - 2. «very hot and finely tapering pepper of special pungency». || noun: plural: chilies or chiles or Br. chillies || «a small hot-tasting pod of a variety of capsicum, used chopped (and often dried) in sauces, relishes, and spice powders. There are various forms with pods of differing size, color, and strength of flavor, such as cascabels and jalapeõs». || «The (dried) red pod of the pepper Capsicum annuum var. longum, used in sauces, relishes, etc., and made into a hot cayenne; cayenne made from these dried pods. Also chilli pepper.» || ORIGIN: early 17th cent.: from Spanish chile, from Nahuatl chilli.

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