note‧wor‧thy / ˈnəʊtˌwɜːði $ ˈnoʊtˌwɜːr- / adjective

important or interesting enough to deserve your attention :

a noteworthy achievement

quirk / kwɜːk $ kwɜːrk / noun [ countable ]

1 something strange that happens by chance

quirk of

Years later, by a strange quirk of fate , she found herself sitting next to him on a plane.

2 a strange habit or feature of someone’s character, or a strange feature of something :

Like every computer, this one has its little quirks.

con‧fer AC / kənˈfɜː $ -ˈfɜːr / verb ( past tense and past participle conferred , present participle conferring ) formal

1 [ intransitive ] to discuss something with other people, so that everyone can express their opinions and decide on something

confer with

Franklin leant over and conferred with his attorneys.

2 confer a title/degree/honour etc to officially give someone a title etc, especially as a reward for something they have achieved SYN bestow

confer a title/degree/honour etc on/upon

An honorary degree was conferred on him by the University.

— conferment noun [ uncountable and countable ]

su‧pe‧ri‧or 1 / suːˈpɪəriə $ sʊˈpɪriər / adjective [ no comparative ]

1 better, more powerful, more effective etc than a similar person or thing, especially one that you are competing against OPP inferior :

superior to

Your computer is far superior to mine.

He loves making fun of women. It makes him feel superior .

a vastly superior (= very much better, stronger etc ) army

2 thinking that you are better than other people – used to show disapproval :

She had that superior tone of voice.

3 [ only before noun ] having a higher position or rank than someone else OPP inferior :

Don’t you usually salute a superior officer ?

a superior court

4 [ only before noun ] of very good quality – used especially in advertising :

a superior wine

stam‧i‧na / ˈstæmənə, ˈstæmɪnə / noun [ uncountable ]

physical or mental strength that lets you continue doing something for a long time without getting tired :

You need stamina to be a long-distance runner.

Elaine has the stamina and the determination to succeed.

ma‧ni‧a / ˈmeɪniə / noun [ uncountable and countable ]

1 a strong desire for something or interest in something, especially one that affects a lot of people at the same time SYN craze

mania for

the Victorian mania for butterfly collecting

religious/football/disco etc mania

Keep-fit mania has hit some of the girls in the office.

2 medical a serious mental illness → manic

ran‧dom AC / ˈrændəm / adjective

1 happening or chosen without any definite plan, aim, or pattern :

The company has introduced random drug testing of its employees.

A few random shots were fired.

We looked at a random sample of 120 families.

a random selection of women who were in the shop

2 at random without any definite plan, aim, or pattern

choose/select/pick something at random

The gang picked their victims at random.

— randomly adverb :

seven randomly chosen numbers

— randomness noun [ uncountable ]

di‧git / ˈdɪdʒət, ˈdɪdʒɪt / noun [ countable ]

1 one of the written signs that represent the numbers 0 to 9

three-digit/four-digit etc number

4305 is a four-digit number.

2 technical a finger or toe

span 2 noun [ countable ]

1 a period of time between two dates or events

over/within/in a span of something

Over a span of ten years, the company has made great progress.

It’ll be difficult to hire that many new staff in such a short time span.

2 the length of time over which someone’s life, ability to pay attention to something etc continues

attention/concentration span

Most two-year-olds have a very short attention span .

Captivity vastly reduces the life span of whales.

4 the distance from one side of something to the other :

a bird with a large wing span

swamp 2 verb [ transitive ]

1 [ usually in passive ] to suddenly give someone a lot of work, problems etc to deal with SYN inundate

be swamped by/with something

We’ve been swamped with phone calls since the advert appeared.

2 [ usually in passive ] to go somewhere or surround something in large numbers, especially in a short period of time

be swamped by/with something

In the summer the village is swamped by visitors.

3 to suddenly cover an area with a lot of water SYN flood :

Huge waves swamped the vessel.

en‧tail / ɪnˈteɪl / verb [ transitive ]

1 to involve something as a necessary part or result :

A new computer system entails a lot of re-training.

Some foreign travel is entailed in the job.

entail doing something

The journey will entail changing trains twice.

2 old use if you entail property, you arrange for it to be given to a specific person, usually your oldest son, when you die

start‧ling / ˈstɑːtlɪŋ $ ˈstɑːrt- / adjective

very unusual or surprising :

Paddy’s words had a startling effect on the children.

a startling discovery

it is startling to do something

It is startling to read that his father never visited him in hospital.

— startlingly adverb

as‧ser‧tion / əˈsɜːʃ ə n $ -ɜːr- / noun [ countable ]

something that you say or write that you strongly believe

assertion that

the assertion that house prices are falling

assertion of

her assertion of independence

assertion about

her assertions about the murder of her father

She makes very general assertions about marriage in the poem.

o‧ver‧rated / ˌəʊvəˈreɪtəd◂, ˌəʊvəˈreɪtɪd◂ $ ˌoʊ- / adjective

not as good or important as some people think or say OPP underrated :

a vastly overrated film

— overrate verb [ transitive ]

spotlight 2 verb ( past tense and past participle spotlighted or spotlit ) [ transitive ]

1 to direct attention to someone or something SYN highlight :

The article spotlights the problems of the homeless.

2 to shine a strong beam of light on something :

She walked out onto the spotlit stage.

hys‧te‧ri‧a / hɪˈstɪəriə $ -ˈsteriə / noun [ uncountable ]

1 extreme excitement that makes people cry, laugh, shout etc in a way that is out of control :

In a fit of hysteria, Silvia blamed me for causing her father’s death.

2 a situation in which a lot of people feel fear, anger, or excitement, which makes them behave in an unreasonable way :

Since the general’s death, the population has been gripped by mass hysteria .

feed‧back S3 / ˈfiːdbæk / noun [ uncountable ]

1 advice, criticism etc about how successful or useful something is :

How can I provide feedback without making someone angry?

feedback on

Try to give each student some feedback on the task.

o‧ver‧look / ˌəʊvəˈlʊk $ ˌoʊvər- / verb [ transitive ]

1 to not notice something, or not see how important it is SYN miss :

It is easy to overlook a small detail like that.

Nobody could overlook the fact that box office sales were down.

2 to forgive someone’s mistake, bad behaviour etc and take no action :

She found him entertaining enough to overlook his faults.

3 if a house, room etc overlooks something, it has a view of it, usually from above :

Our room overlooks the ocean.

nur‧ture 1 / ˈnɜːtʃə $ ˈnɜːrtʃər / verb [ transitive usually passive ] formal

1 to help a plan, idea, feeling etc to develop :

European union is an ideal that has been nurtured since the post-war years.

a hatred of foreigners nurtured by the media

2 to feed and take care of a child or a plant while it is growing :

plants nurtured in the greenhouse