stra‧te‧gic W3 AC / strəˈtiːdʒɪk / ( also stra‧te‧gic‧al / -dʒɪk ə l / ) adjective

1 done as part of a plan, especially in a military, business, or political situation :

UN forces made a strategic withdrawal.

strategic planning meetings

a strategic decision to move production to Hungary

2 useful or right for a particular purpose :

Marksmen were placed at strategic points along the president’s route.

3 relating to fighting wars → tactical :

Marseilles was of great strategic importance .

strategic arms/weapons (= weapons designed to reach an enemy country from your own )

strategic nuclear missiles

— strategically / -kli / adverb :

Strategically placed video cameras can alert police to any trouble.

spy 2 verb ( past tense and past participle spied , present participle spying , third person singular spies )

1 [ intransitive ] to secretly collect information about an enemy country or an organization you are competing against

spy on

He was charged with spying on British military bases.

spy for

He confessed to spying for North Korea.

2 [ transitive ] literary to suddenly see someone or something, especially after searching for them SYN spot :

Ellen suddenly spied her friend in the crowd.

— spying noun [ uncountable ]

spy on somebody phrasal verb

to watch someone secretly in order to find out what they are doing :

She sent you to spy on me, didn’t she?

spy something ↔ out phrasal verb

1 to secretly find out information about something

2 spy out the land British English to secretly find out more information about a situation before deciding what to do

re‧store W3 AC / rɪˈstɔː $ -ɔːr / verb [ transitive ]

1 former situation to make something return to its former state or condition

restore something to something

The government promises to restore the economy to full strength.

She was hoping that the Mediterranean climate would restore her to full health.

restore (diplomatic) relations with somebody

Vietnam restored diplomatic relations with South Korea on December 22.

restore sb’s sight/hearing (= make someone who cannot hear or who is blind, hear or see again )

2 positive feeling to bring back a positive feeling that a person or a group of people felt before :

measures aimed at restoring public confidence in the education system

a man whose kindness and sincerity really restored my faith in human nature (= helped me to believe that people can be good )

3 repair to repair an old building, piece of furniture, or painting etc so that it is in its original condition :

a Victorian fireplace restored to its former glory

re‧mould 1 British English , remold American English / ˌriːˈməʊld $ -ˈmoʊld / verb [ transitive ]

formal to change an idea, system, way of thinking etc :

Mergers have forced organizations to remould themselves.

re‧vive / rɪˈvaɪv / verb

1 [ transitive ] to bring something back after it has not been used or has not existed for a period of time :

Local people have decided to revive this centuries-old tradition.

2 [ intransitive and transitive ] to become healthy and strong again, or to make someone or something healthy and strong again → recover :

The economy is beginning to revive.

an attempt to revive the steel industry

vo‧ca‧tion / vəʊˈkeɪʃ ə n $ voʊ- / noun [ uncountable and countable ]

1

a) the feeling that the purpose of your life is to do a particular type of work, especially because it allows you to help other people

vocation for

Jan has a vocation for teaching.

b) a particular type of work that you feel is right for you :

At 17 she found her true vocation as a writer.

2 a strong belief that you have been chosen by God to be a priest or a nun

in‧flu‧en‧tial / ˌɪnfluˈenʃ ə l◂ / adjective

having a lot of influence and therefore changing the way people think and behave :

He had influential friends.

influential in

Dewey was influential in shaping economic policy.

a highly influential art magazine

com‧pile AC / kəmˈpaɪl / verb [ transitive ]

1 to make a book, list, record etc, using different pieces of information, music etc → compilation :

The document was compiled by the Department of Health

compile something from/for something

The report was compiled from a survey of 5,000 households.

2 technical to put a set of instructions into a computer in a form that it can understand and use

mar‧gin W3 AC / ˈmɑːdʒən, ˈmɑːdʒɪn $ ˈmɑːr- / noun [ countable ]

1 the empty space at the side of a page :

Someone had scribbled a note in the margin .

2 the difference in the number of votes, points etc that exists between the winners and the losers of a competition or election

by a wide/narrow/significant etc margin

They’re a world-class team and it was no surprise that they won by such a wide margin.

by a margin of 10 points/100 votes etc

The bill was approved by a margin of 55 votes.

3 the difference between what it costs a business to buy or produce something and what they sell it for :

Margins are low and many companies are struggling.

Within 10 years they had a gross profit margin of 50%.

4 [ usually singular ] an additional amount of something such as time, money, or space that you include in order to make sure that you are successful in achieving something :

It’ll take about 30 minutes to dry but I’d allow a safety margin of, say, another 10 minutes.

5 margin of error the degree to which a calculation might or can be wrong :

The survey has a margin of error of 2.1%.

6 margin for error how many mistakes you can make and still be able to achieve something :

At this late stage in the competition there is no margin for error.

verbs

win by a large/small etc margin The party won by a huge margin.

lose by a large/small etc margin He lost by only a narrow margin.

ex‧ert / ɪɡˈzɜːt $ -ɜːrt / verb [ transitive ]

1 to use your power, influence etc in order to make something happen :

Environmental groups are exerting pressure on the government to tighten pollution laws.

2 exert yourself to work very hard and use a lot of physical or mental energy :

He has exerted himself tirelessly on behalf of the charity.

mu‧tu‧al‧ly AC / ˈmjuːtʃuəli / adverb

1 mutually acceptable/beneficial/convenient etc something that is mutually acceptable etc is acceptable etc to both or all the people involved :

We eventually arrived at a figure that was mutually acceptable.

2 mutually exclusive two ideas or beliefs that are mutually exclusive cannot both exist or be true at the same time

for‧mer 1 S2 W1 / ˈfɔːmə $ ˈfɔːrmər / adjective [ only before noun ]

1 happening or existing before, but not now → present , previous :

the former Soviet Union

2 having a particular position in the past SYN ex- → present :

former President Clinton

3 in former times/years in the past

4 somebody/sth’s former self what someone or something was like before they were changed by age, illness, trouble etc :

She seems more like her former self.

be a shadow/ghost of your former self (= be much less confident, healthy, energetic etc than you used to be )

The team’s a shadow of its former self.

keep 2 noun

1 sb’s keep the cost of providing food and a home for someone

earn your keep (= do things in return for the things that are provided for you )

It’s time you got a job and started earning your keep.

2 for keeps informal forever :

Marriage ought to be for keeps.

3 [ countable ] a large strong tower, usually in the centre of a castle

in‧tel‧li‧gence S3 W3 AC / ɪnˈtelədʒ ə ns, ɪnˈtelɪdʒ ə ns / noun [ uncountable ]

1

a) the ability to learn, understand, and think about things :

high/low intelligence

John showed high intelligence from an early age.

b) a high level of this ability :

a woman who had both beauty and intelligence

→ artificial intelligence

2

a) information about the secret activities of foreign governments, the military plans of an enemy etc :

According to our intelligence, further attacks were planned.

intelligence operations/sources/reports etc

Intelligence sources denied the reports.

b) a group of people or an organization that gathers this information for their government

intelligence agencies/services etc

In Britain there are three main intelligence organizations.

US Military Intelligence

non‧con‧form‧ist AC / ˌnɒnkənˈfɔːməst◂, ˌnɒnkənˈfɔːmɪst◂ $ ˌnɑːnkənˈfɔːr- / noun [ countable ]

someone who does not accept the ways of thinking or behaving accepted by most other people in their society or group

— nonconformist adjective

— nonconformity noun [ uncountable ]