participant; entrant; player; competitor
appearance; shape; form; atmosphere; look; feel
to be hard to deal with; to be an eccentric; to be idiosyncratic
rumbling (of thunder, one's stomach, etc.); grumbling; rolling (of something large and heavy); tumbling; all over the place; everywhere; idly
this way (of doing); this method; this sort (of thing); this type
to snatch (and run); to carry off; to swipe; to scoop up (and remove; sand, earth, etc.)
foothold; footing; toehold; stepping stone
to meet; to assemble; to congregate
floor; stage (for the narrator and the shamisen player); dining platform built across a river
ceiling; ceiling (e.g. of share price); ceiling price
high-class; high-grade; high-quality; high-ranking; high-level; senior
to decorate; to ornament; to display; to exhibit; to mark (e.g. the day with a victory); to adorn (e.g. the front page)
floor; dance floor; sales floor; floor (of a building); storey
to connect; to link together; to tie; to fasten; to maintain; to preserve; to transfer (phone call)
to give (time, money, goods); to donate; to do; to perform; to apply (processing, makeup, etc.); to add (e.g. ornamentation, annotation)
exactly; precisely; just; just (like); as if; as though
qualifications; requirements; capabilities
binding; regulation; limit; binding period (e.g. phone or broadband contract); minimum contract term
personnel; members; lineup (of a team); announcement of next day's match-ups
young person; youngster; young people; (the) youth
very young; little; childish; immature
to disdain; to look down on; to make light of; to hold in contempt; to scorn; to despise
massing (of troops); gathering
influential person; man of importance
recommendation; referral; endorsement
dispatch; despatch; deployment; temporary employee (esp. from an agency); temporary worker; agency temp
next generation; future generation
hope; white hope; person of promise
to fire oneself up; to give it one's all; to get psyched; to fire someone up (with scolding, corporal punishment, etc.); to rouse
to look out on; to overlook; to face (a situation, crisis, etc.); to meet (e.g. death); to deal with (an issue); to attend (e.g. a function)
to stop crying; to cry oneself out
high praise; great admiration; with critical acclaim; to rave reviews; currently; presently
crying loudly; bawling; wailing; crying one's eyes out (without making noise); breaking into a flood of tears; crying buckets
to hand (over); to deliver in person
precious; valuable; priceless; noble; exalted; sacred
sobbing; weeping; fit of crying
because; as; since; because of that; therefore; accordingly
completely; absolutely; (not) at all; (not) a bit; earnestly; intently
as one would expect from ...; given that ... (naturally ...); precisely because ...; all the more because of ...; on account of ...; ... being what it is