anticlimax; let-down; disappointment; loss of interest
that being the case; in that case; if that's how it's going to go
prey (i.e. of a predator); kill; victim (of a crime, a hoax, etc.)
leaving as is; leaving alone; leaving unattended; neglecting; abandoning
flatly rejecting; curtly refusing; beating easily; defeating handily; one kick
disrespect; irreverence; impiety; blasphemy; profanity
just before; on the verge of; on the brink of; just in front of; just ahead of
modus operandi; criminal technique; trick
trace; vestige; mark; sign; evidence
skilled person; capable person; doer; performer; giver; bestower
overlooking; turning a blind eye
to taste; to try (food or drink)
so to speak; so to call it; as it were; in a sense
useless; vain; aimless; idle
drama; play; powerful drug
trigger (of a gun, etc.); trigger (for something); immediate cause
open; public; overt; free; unreserved; uninhibited
to prevent (something) from occurring; to forestall; to avert; to nip in the bud
to bury; to inter; to entomb; to cover up; to hush up; to shelve
what kind of; what sort of; what; no matter what (kind of); whatever; any
stance; attitude; standpoint; stance; posture
basic policy; fundamental policy; fundamental plan of action
group; faction; (political) faction; wing; school (of thought, painting, etc.); sect
mechanism; machinery; system; structure; organization
extreme (measure, idea, etc.); radical; violent (language); strenuous (exercise, work, etc.); excessive; (physically) demanding
weeding out; elimination (e.g. of unneeded employees); culling; selection
swelling; enlargement; becoming fat; hypertrophy
main purpose; primary objective
exclusion; removal; elimination; clearing away; getting rid of
to stir up trouble for oneself; (lit.) to scare out a snake by poking at the bush
thicket; bush; grove; (medical) quack
to poke (repeatedly, lightly); to nudge; to peck at (one's food); to pick at; to peck at (someone's faults, etc.); to egg on
to push into; to cram into; to stuff into; to break in; to burgle; to burglarize
traditional; from ancient times; formerly
continuance; survival; persistence; retention; duration
maintaining the status quo
reconstruction; reorganization; reorganisation; reconstitution; reconfiguration
influential person; man of importance
present condition; existing state; status quo; current state