Monthly Archives

January 2026

Intermediate+ Word of the Day: bow

To bow is ‘to bend the knee or incline the head’ to show respect. It also means ‘to bend downwards’ and, figuratively it means to give in to something. The related noun bow describes the movement made to show respect. However, bow, with the second pronunciation above, has another noun meaning, ‘a flexible strip of wood bent by a string and used for shooting arrows,’…

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Intermediate+ Word of the Day: tweak

To tweak means ‘to pinch and pull with a jerk and twist’ or ‘to pull the nose gently and with care.’ It also means ‘to adjust a little bit.’ As a noun, a tweak is a sharp twist or jerk, as well as the act of tweaking. Also, a tweak is a minor adjustment. Informally, and mostly in the US, to tweak also means ‘to get high on drugs,’…

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Intermediate+ Word of the Day: ginger

Ginger is a plant, originally from Asia, with a strong smelling and spicy root used for cooking and medicine. It’s also the name for a yellow-brownish color, similar to the color of the plant. In British English, we call red-haired people ginger and you’d also call a cat with orange fur ginger. As an adjective, ginger refers to everything that tastes like ginger or that is made with ginger…

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Intermediate+ Word of the Day: wave

A wave is most commonly a movement in the surface of water, the hand movement we use for greeting, or any other gesture resembling that. In physics, a wave is a disturbance sent out or across from one point to another in a medium. Figuratively, a wave is any sudden emotion or rush of feelings or a period of extreme heat or cold…

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Intermediate+ Word of the Day: pluck

To pluck means ‘to pull off from the place of growth,’ as done with flowers, feathers, or hairs. It also means ‘to remove feathers or hairs’ by pulling. Pluck also means ‘to grab and pull.’ In music, pluck means ‘to sound the strings of an instrument’ by pulling at them with the fingers…

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