to pick up; to gather; to find (and pick up; something someone has dropped); to select; to choose; to get (unexpectedly); to hit upon (luck, an opportunity, etc.)
to distinguish; to discern; to make out; to tell
far from; anything but; not at all ... but rather ...; let alone; to say nothing of; not to mention
guess; speculation; supposition
daughter of a person of high rank (esp. eldest daughter)
to erase; to rub out; to turn off (a light, TV, heater, etc.); to switch off; to extinguish (a fire, candle, etc.); to put out; to remove (a smell, pain, etc.)
now that; since; so long as; because
messy; shabby; scruffy; dirty; squalid; sordid
professional killer; hit man
on the contrary; far from it; if anything; in fact; instead
being afraid of; being fearful; being timid; trembling; shivering
to tremble violently; to shudder up; to shake
gear; cogwheel; cog (in an organization, company, etc.); cog in the machine
to mesh (of gears, cogs, etc.); to engage with each other; to bite each other; to be on the same wavelength; to mesh
scattered; disperse; loose; disconnected; in pieces; in drops
to be connected (to); to be joined together; to connect (of a telephone call, the internet, etc.); to get through; to lead (to an outcome); to bring about (a result); to be lined up (e.g. of cars)
mastery; skillfulness; dexterity; master hand; expert
contrary to expectations; or so we thought, but ...
important; serious; valuable; precious; serious matter; major incident
boisterous merrymaking; racket; spree
order; directive; instructions; command
book; document; calligraphy (esp. Chinese); penmanship; handwriting; letter
serious; not joking; straight; (arch.) cannot; (arch.) should not; (arch.) will not
to retreat; to back off; to draw back; to step back; to shrink away
to run away; to flee; to escape; to make a getaway; to skedaddle
to expel (from the body); to let off (a fart); to utter (a lie, nonsense, etc.); to say; to do
of all (things, people, places, days, etc.)
by the way; incidentally; sometimes; occasionally; precisely (at that time); exactly
to talk; to chat; to chatter
coward; chicken; yellow-belly; sneaky person; underhanded person; dastardly person
inside; interior; inner part
coincidence; chance; by chance; unexpectedly; contingency
to lose an easy game; to suffer an unexpected defeat; to lose information
to pick up; to pick out (e.g. key points in an article); to single out; to point out
pit of the stomach; solar plexus
after all; in the end; anyway; (cannot) possibly; (not) at all; (not) by any means
embankment; bank; beef sinew stewed in miso and mirin
to plunder; to grab; to snatch