holding a castle (during a siege); holing up; confinement (to one's home); staying at home; staying indoors
both eloquent and skilled
first of all; to begin with; probably; most likely; more or less (satisfactory); on the whole
to be born and raised (in); to be born and brought up; to be born and bred
military service; serving in a war; taking part in a campaign
master (of a house, shop, etc.); husband; sir; boss; patron of a mistress, geisha, bar or nightclub hostess; sugar daddy
force (bulldoze) one's way through
defense; defence; safeguard; protection
to barricade oneself in; to hold (a fort, etc.); to shut oneself up; to be besieged; to dig in
to assume the air of ...; to behave like ...; to put on airs; to be self-important
receiving; welcoming; going to meet; final call; call of fate; approach of death
another place; somewhere else; outside (one's family or group); someone else; not caring for; being indifferent to
to soothe and humor (humour); to coax
substance; real form; main part; main unit; this machine; this appliance; object of worship (at a shrine, temple, etc.)
stripping (of rights, office, etc.); deprivation; divestiture; forfeit; revocation
natural virtue; personal virtue
zero; 0; nought; nothing; zilch
favorite; favourite; pet (e.g. teacher's pet); bookmark (in web browser)
breaking the front line; frontal breakthrough
to attach; to join; to furnish (a house with); to wear; to put on; to keep a diary; to make an entry
careful; thorough; meticulous; scrupulous
lack of policy; having no measures; lacking means
downstream; lower reaches of a river; lower classes
comparatively; relatively
shorthanded; short of hands; undermanned; insufficient (stock, money, etc.); in short supply; low
upper stream; upper course; upstream; upper classes
tiger cub; one's treasure; precious savings
(death from) starvation; starving to death
simple honesty; tactless frankness
detour; circumvention; turning movement
taking; taker; last performer of the day (usu. the star performer); last performance of the day; active partner (e.g. in judo demonstration); emphatic or formal prefix
delivering an order; dispatch of an order; messenger; orderly; runner
phew; whew; huff; whoo; wohoo
diversion (action meant to attract attention away from the real objective); feint
fort; fortress; stronghold; fortification