- caravan (VEHICLE): noun [C]1 UK (US trailer) a wheeled vehicle for living or travelling in, especially for holidays, which contains beds and cooking equipment and can be pulled by a car. 2 UK a painted wooden vehicle that is pulled by a horse and in which people live: a gypsy caravan.
- choke (STOP BREATHING) : verb 1 [I or T] If you choke, or if something chokes you, you stop breathing because something is blocking your throat: She choked to death on a fish bone. Children can choke on peanuts. Peanuts can choke a small child. 2 [T] to make someone stop breathing by pressing their throat with the hands
- gamble: verb 1 [I] to do something risky that might result in loss of money or failure, hoping to get money or achieve success: Anyone who gambles on the stock exchange has to be prepared to lose money. 2 [I or T] to bet money, for example in a game or on a horse race: I like to gamble when I play cards - it makes it more interesting. He gambles on the horses (= horse races). He gambled away all of our savings. gambler (n); gambling (n).
- give sth away (FREE): phrasal verb [M] to give something to someone without asking for payment: The shop is giving away a sample pack to every customer. Nobody wants this type of heater anymore - I can't even give it away!
- heir: noun1 [C] a person who will legally receive money, property or a title from another person, especially an older member of the same family, when that other person dies: The guest of honour was the Romanoff heir to the throne of all Russia. Despite having a large family, they still had no son and heir. See also heiress.
- inherit (FROM DEAD PERSON): verb [I or T] to receive money, a house, etc. from someone after they have died: Who will inherit the house when he dies?All her children will inherit equally. inheritance (n); inheritor (n)
- set sth up (START) phrasal verb [M]to formally establish a new company, organization, system, way of working, etc: A committee has been set up to organize social events in the college. She plans to set up her own business. They've set up a fund for victims of the earthquake.
- sob story noun [C] INFORMAL DISAPPROVING a story or piece of information that someone tells you or writes about themselves which is intended to make you feel sad and sympathetic towards them: She came out with some sob story about not having enough money to go and see her father who was ill.
- starve: verb 1 [I or T] to (cause to) become very weak or die because there is not enough food to eat: Whole communities starved to death during the long drought. From talking to former prisoners in the camps, an obvious conclusion is that they have been starved. 2 [T often passive] If you are starved of something necessary or good, you do not receive enough of it: People starved of sleep start to lose their concentration and may hallucinate.
- think sth up: phrasal verbto produce a new idea or plan: I don't want to go tonight but I can't think up a good excuse.
- work sth out (CALCULATE): phrasal verb [M]to do a calculation to get an answer to a mathematical question: We need to work out the total cost of the project.
- work sth out (UNDERSTAND): phrasal verb [M] MAINLY UK to understand something or to find the answer to something by thinking about it: [+ question word] There will be a full investigation to work out what caused the accident. [+ that] Investigators needed several months to work out that a fraud had been committed.
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