New Words 218
swot, noun, /swɑt/
(British English) someone who spends too much time studying and seems to have no other interests – used to show disapproval.
swot, verb, /swɑt/
1 (British English) to study a lot in a short time, especially for an examination SYN revise
swot for students swotting for exams.
2 swot up (phrasal verb) (British English) to learn as much as you can about a subject, especially in order to prepare for an examination.
swot up on It’s worth swotting up on all the different types of computer before you buy one.
swot something up I spent all last night swotting up German verbs.
grind, verb, /ɡraɪnd/, past tense and past participle ground /ɡraʊnd/
1 INTO SMALL PIECES
a) (also grind up) to break something such as corn or coffee beans into small pieces or powder, either in a machine or between two hard surfaces.
freshly ground pepper.
b) (American English) to cut food, especially raw meat, into very small pieces by putting it through a machine SYN mince (British English)
ground beef.
2 SMOOTH/SHARP to make something smooth or sharp by rubbing it on a hard surface or by using a machine.
a stone for grinding knives and scissors.
The lenses are ground to a high standard of precision.
grind, verb, /ɡraɪnd/, past tense and past participle ground /ɡraʊnd/
3 PRESS
a) to press something onto a surface and rub it with a strong twisting movement.
grind something into something
He dropped a cigar butt and ground it into the carpet with his heel.
He ground out his cigarette on the window ledge.
b) to press hard against something.
grind against/together
as these plates (=large areas of land) grind against each other.
grind, verb, /ɡraɪnd/, past tense and past participle ground /ɡraʊnd/
4 grind your teeth to rub your upper and lower teeth together, making a noise.
5 grind to a halt (also come to a grinding halt)
a) if a vehicle grinds to a halt, it stops gradually。
Traffic ground to a halt as it approached the accident site.
b) if a country, organization, or process grinds to a halt, its activity or the process gradually stops.
After two days the talks had ground to a halt.
