Common words with uncommon meaning

like

the like of somebody, and the like.

might

power.

to that end

purpose, in order to do it, longman.

ills

to defeat the ills brought about by…

long

to want, longman

fashion

to shape or make something, using your hands or only a few tools: Children my own age didn’t fashion complicated attacks.

compound exacerbate, deteriorate

to make a difficult situation worse by adding more problems?

frequent

to go to a particular place often.

spare lean

someone who is spare is tall and thin, a spare style of writing, painting etc is plain or basic and uses nothing unnecessary.

second support, countenance

formally support a suggestion made by another person in a meeting.

flat

directly and definitely: flat refusal, longman.

flag

to become tired or weak. see tired. longman.

rally

to become stronger again after a period of weakness or defeat, convalescent. longman.

smart as a verb

pain, hurts: She was still smarting from the insult. My eyes were smarting with the smoke. longman.

but

only: This is but one example of what can happen when things go badly wrong. It’s going to be difficult. Anyway, we can but try. longman.

part

written to separate from someone, or end a relationship with them. longman.

features visage

a part of someone’s face, such as their eyes, nose etc. countenance, visage. longman.

scores of something

a lot of people or things. longman.

bid somebody good afternoon

to greet someone. longman.

minute/minutiae

paying careful attention to the smallest details SYN (see) meticulous. longman.

furnish

to supply or provide something. longman.

while away the hours/evening/days

to spend time in a pleasant and lazy way. longman.

faculty for

a particular skill that someone has SYN talent. longman.

have/make common cause (with/against somebody)

to join with other people or groups in order to oppose an enemy. longman.

cause / cause of

an aim, belief, or organization that a group of people support or fight for: My father fought for the Nationalist cause. longman.

hopeful as a noun

someone who is hoping to be successful, especially in acting, sports, politics etc: Thousands of young hopefuls were auditioned for the role.

longman.

level criticism/charges/accusations etc at/against somebody

to aim criticism etc at a particular person, country etc, especially publicly. longman.

implement

a tool, especially one used for outdoor physical work. longman.

replace

to put something back where it was before: He replaced the book on the shelf. longman.

pain

it pains somebody to do something — used to say that it is very difficult and upsetting for someone to have to do something. longman.

tell / teller

someone who counts votes. The original sense of tell is retained in the word teller:

• One who counts or keeps tally; now esp. one who counts money; spec. an officer in a bank who receives or pays money over the counter. longman.

exact

to demand and get something from someone by using threats, force etc. exact something from somebody: “I exacted a promise from Ros that she wouldn’t say a word”. exact revenge (on somebody). longman.

grave

gravity.

loose

to make something unpleasant begin: “And now the anger Maggie had feared was loosed”. longman.

eye

to look at someone or something carefully, especially because you do not trust them or because you want something: “The man behind the desk eyed us suspiciously”. longman.

intent

giving careful attention to something so that you think about nothing else: “his intent gaze”, intent on/upon. longman.