
alarm | alarm: n. 1 warning, alert, danger- or distress-signal; tocsin, bell, gong, siren, whistle, horn: At the approach of the storm, the lookouts gave the alarm. The alarm is set to wake me at four o''clock. 2 fear, fright, apprehension, dismay, trepidation, terror, dread, anxiety, excitement, panic, consternation, distress, nervousness, uneasiness, discomfort: He viewed with alarm the arrest of his next-door neighbours. --v. 3 frighten, scare, daunt, startle, terrify, panic; unnerve, dismay, disturb, upset: She was alarmed at the news of the car crash. Don''t be alarmed - such delays are quite normal.
alcohol | alcohol: n. spirits, liquor, the bottle, the cup that cheers, demon rum, John Barleycorn, Colloq booze, hard stuff, juice, moonshine, fire-water, Slang rot-gut, US and Canadian hooch: Alcohol and driving do not mix.
alcoholic | alcoholic: adj. 1 intoxicating, inebriating: His doctor has forbidden him any alcoholic beverage. --n. 2 drunkard, drunk, dipsomaniac, sot, toper, drinker, winebibber, serious or problem drinker, tippler, Colloq barfly, soak, Slang boozer, alchy or alkie or alky, dipso, stew, rummy, US and Canadian lush, booze-hound, wino: The community runs a centre for rehabilitating alcoholics.
alert | alert: adj. 1 awake, wide awake, watchful, vigilant, attentive, heedful, wary, cautious, on the qui vive, aware, on guard, on the lookout, observant, Colloq on the ball, on one''s toes: The sentinels must remain alert throughout the night. Kenneth is alert to the perils of smoking cigarettes. 2 active, nimble, lively, agile, active, quick, spry, sprightly, vivacious: He is an alert and joyous old soul. --n. 3 lookout: She is always on the alert for new ways of saving money. 4 alarm, warning, signal, siren: Sound the air-raid alert! --v. 5 warn, caution, advise, alarm, forewarn, signal, notify: We must alert him to the fact that the man is a vicious killer.
alibi | alibi: n. 1 excuse, explanation: Your alibi places you very close to the scene of the crime. --v. 2 excuse, explain: Caught red-handed, she couldn''t alibi her way out of it.
alien | alien: adj. 1 foreign, strange, exotic, outlandish, unfamiliar: The customs of the country were alien to me. --n. 2 foreigner, stranger, outlander, outsider, non-native, immigrant, newcomer: Aliens are required to register during January.
alienate | alienate: v. Usually, alienate from. disabuse (of or from), wean away (from), detach (from), distance (from): Gradually the villagers were alienated from their old animistic beliefs.
alike | alike: adj. 1 similar, akin, resembling or like one another, akin to or similar to one another, showing or exhibiting a resemblance: They began to think all religions were alike. --adv. 2 in like manner, in the same manner or way, similarly, equally, uniformly, identically: She believes that all people should be treated alike.
alive | alive: adj. 1 living, live, breathing, among the living, in the land of the living: My great-grandfather is still alive, in spite of years of defying medical advice. 2 alive to. sensitive or alert to, aware or conscious of, aware or cognizant of: She is alive to every slight nuance in the poem. 3 alert, active, lively, vivacious, quick, spirited, animated, brisk, spry, sprightly, vigorous, energetic: Look alive, my lads, and hoist away! 4 astir, teeming, swarming, thronging, crowded, packed, buzzing, crawling, jumping, bustling, humming, Colloq lousy: In a few minutes the water around the corpse was alive with deadly piranha.
allegation | allegation: n. charge, accusation, complaint; assertion, avowal, asseveration, claim, declaration, statement, deposition: I resent the allegation that I don''t bath often enough.
allege | allege: v. declare, aver, state, assert, charge, affirm, avow, asseverate, depose, say: The guard alleged that he had caught the boy climbing in a basement window.
alleged | alleged: adj. described, designated; claimed, avowed, stated; purported, so-called, suspected, supposed, assumed, presumed; hypothetical, conjectural: The press reported that the alleged assailant had confessed. He is awaiting trial for his alleged involvement in the bombing.
alliance | alliance: n. 1 union, confederation, combination, federation, pact, league, association, coalition, affiliation, connection, bond; unity, affinity: The alliance between the two empires has been faithfully maintained. 2 marriage, affinity: The alliance between the two families was welded by the children born of it.
allot | allot: v. distribute, apportion, allocate, earmark, assign, parcel or dole out, deal (out), divide, share (out), dispense: The millionaire allotted an equal share of his fortune to each of his children.
allotment | allotment: n. 1 share, apportionment, ration, portion, quota, allowance, measure: Each prisoner was given a daily allotment of four ounces of black bread and a cup of water. 2 garden plot, kitchen garden, patch, tract, plot, Brit market garden, US truck garden: If I don''t answer the phone, it''s because I am digging my allotment.
allow | allow: v. 1 acknowledge, admit, grant, concede, own: He allowed that he had not been completely truthful about his movements that night. 2 agree to, concede, cede to, admit, permit, authorize, entertain, consent to: The judge said that he would allow a plea of ''guilty with an explanation''. 3 permit, let, suffer: Please allow the children to select their own friends. 4 tolerate, stand (for), brook, sanction, countenance, permit, consider, put up with: The headmaster refuses to allow such goings-on at his school. 5 give, let (someone) have, appropriate, grant, budget, earmark, assign, allocate, assign, approve: The company allowed him �100 a day for expenses. 6 make allowance or concession for, set apart or aside, put aside, take into account or consideration; add; deduct: You must allow at least an extra hour for the traffic during rush hour. The shipper allows ten kilos for the weight of the container.
allowance | allowance: n. 1 permission, toleration, tolerance, sufferance, admission, concession, sanction; allowing, permitting, tolerating, suffering, sanctioning, brooking, countenancing: There were many causes of difference between them, the chief being the allowance of slavery in the south. 2 payment, recompense, remuneration, reimbursement, remittance: Allowance will be made for all reasonable expenses. 3 stipend, dole, pin or pocket money, quota, ration; pension, annuity, allocation: Bill gets a liberal weekly allowance for expenses. 4 deduction, discount, reduction, rebate; credit; tret; tare: You must make allowance for the weight of the crate. 5 excuse(s), concession, consideration: Allowance must be made for his poor eyesight.
alloy | alloy: n. 1 mixture, mix, combination, compound, composite, blend, amalgam, admixture; aggregate: Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. --v. 2 contaminate, pollute, adulterate, debase, diminish, impair, vitiate: Their external prosperity was not alloyed by troubles from within. 3 change, modify, temper, alter, moderate, allay: Gentle persons might by their true patience alloy the hardness of the common crowd.
ally | ally: n. 1 comrade, confederate, collaborator, coadjutor; accessory, accomplice; associate, partner, friend: I had hoped to have you as an ally in my proposal for reorganization. The Allies finally defeated the Nazi war machine in 1945. --v. 2 league, combine, unite, join (up), team (up), side, band together, associate, affiliate, collaborate, confederate: In their attempt at a take-over of our company, the raiders have allied themselves with two banks. We shall ally the Romans to us and conquer the territory.
almost | almost: adv. nearly, about, approximately, practically, virtually, wellnigh, bordering on, on the brink of, verging on, on the verge of, little short of; not quite, all but; barely, scarcely, hardly; Colloq damn near: We are almost ready to go. You almost broke the window!
aloft | aloft: adv. above, overhead, (up) in the air, in flight, up (above); on high; heavenwards, skyward: The plane was overloaded, but we finally made it aloft. Five women held the banner aloft.
alone | alone: adj. 1 unaccompanied, unescorted, solitary, by oneself, tout(e) seule, solo, unattended, unassisted; abandoned, desolate, deserted: I am alone in the world. Leave me alone. 2 unequalled, unparalleled, unique, singular, unexcelled, unsurpassed, without equal, peerless, matchless: As a poet, Don stands alone. --adv. 3 solitarily, by oneself, solo: I''ll walk alone. 4 only, solely, exclusively, simply, just, merely: You alone can help me.
aloof | aloof: adv. 1 apart, away, at a distance, separate; at arm''s length: We invited Martha to join us but she preferred to remain aloof. --adj. 2 private, reticent, reserved, withdrawn, haughty, supercilious, standoffish, formal, unsociable, unsocial; distant, remote: Deirdre is quite an aloof sort of person - not what you would call a ''mixer''. 3 standoffish, distant, remote, cool, chilly, unresponsive, unfriendly, antisocial, unapproachable; unsympathetic, apathetic, indifferent, undemonstrative: Roger keeps himself aloof from the needs of those less fortunate than he is.
alter | alter: v. change, revise, modify, vary, transform; adjust, adapt, convert, remodel: After the attack, we altered our opinion of the rebels. The dress fits better since being altered.
alteration | alteration: n. change, modification, revision, transformation; adjustment, adaptation, conversion, remodelling: We found places where alterations had been made in the original document. My new suit needs alteration to fit properly.
alternate | alternate: v. 1 rotate, exchange, change, interchange, take turns, go or take, etc. in turn, US change off, interexchange: To help out, we could alternate our days off. 2 succeed, be in succession or rotation: The wallpaper had alternating stripes of pink, grey, and maroon. --adj. 3 in rotation, successive; every other, every second: The embankment revealed alternate layers of clay and gravel. The nurse visited our district on alternate days. 4 alternative, second, other: The alternate selection contains only milk chocolate. --n. 5 variant, alternative, (second) choice, US and Canadian substitute, deputy, stand-in, backup, understudy; pinch-hitter, Baseball designated hitter: I prefer the alternate to the featured model. My alternate takes over if I am ill.
alternation | alternation: n. rotation, succession; exchange, interchange: In a temperate climate there is the advantage of the alternation of the seasons.
alternative | alternative: adj. 1 alternate, variant, (an)other, different, additional; substitute, surrogate: Alternative models are available. --n. 2 alternate, variant, choice, option, selection; possibility; substitute, surrogate: The alternative was to remain at home and do nothing. You leave me no alternative. ''Esthetic'' is an American spelling alternative.
altogether | altogether: adv. entirely, utterly, completely, wholly, totally, fully, in all respects, absolutely, perfectly, quite; all in all, in all: I don''t altogether agree with you. Altogether, you may be right.
altruism | altruism: n. selflessness, self-sacrifice, unselfishness, philanthropy, generosity, charity, charitableness, humanitarianism, humaneness, benevolence, humanity, public-spiritedness: Nick does things for others out of altruism, expecting nothing in return.
always | always: adv. 1 at all times, again and again, on all occasions, every or each time, each and every time, without exception, unexceptionally; often, many times, usually: He that indulges hope will always be disappointed. I have always made coffee this way and see no reason for changing. 2 forever, continually, ever, perpetually; unceasingly, unendingly, eternally, evermore, ever after, everlastingly, till the end of time, in perpetuity: You are a fool, Mike, and you will always be a fool. 3 in any case, as a last resort: You could always refuse to pay.
