CONFUSING WORDS 1

1. Condense: make
smaller more
compact
( ,
gas,
vapour, writing) vs
2. Contract: become
shorter, narrower
(=tighten, )
blood, muscle,
metal)
3. Decline: get worse/
lower (=,
,)
4. Deduce: work out
from the facts
( =,work
out, conclude) vs
5. deduct ( =take away
from the total)
(subtract) ,
,
6. Diminish ( be
reduced in
importance or size) (
decrease, lessen,
)
7. Discharge: allow sb
to leave( hospital,
the army etc)
8. Disclose: make sth
known
(usu.information)
9. Dismiss: a. reject sth
as unimportant

b.ask/order sb to
leave, sack sb.
10. Dispel =remove
doubts or fears /
(=banish,scatter)
11. Display=show
12. Dissolve=
officially end (an
organization/
arrangement)
(=,
,
)
13. Evacuate =empty
a place in a time of
danger.
14. Exhibit=show
publicly
15. Expose= a. leave
sth
unprotected/clearly
visible b. show sth
as bad or immoral.
16.
16.Extradite: send
a suspect back to
another country for
trial ( deport,)
17.
17.Flail =wave
wildly and
energetically ( ,
)
18.
18.Flaunt ( show
off in an obvious way)

19.
19. Flourish=hold
sth in a way that

makes people see

it.
20.
20.flout=intention
ally disobey
rules=defy
21.
21. Lower
=reduce ( value,
amount,value)
22.
22.
Minimize=reduce sth
unpleasant to the
lowest possible level
(risk, danger)
23.
23. Reduce=
( make less in size/
amount, value)
32.

24.
24. Reveal ( let
sth be seen or shown)
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.

Confusing words #1 , multiple choice.

1.
2. After Geoffs rapid promotion, he.power by using the
company helicopter.
a. Exposed b. flaunted c. revealed d. dissolved
3. Theythe rumours as being unfounded.
a. Dismissed b. dispelled c. minimized d. flouted.
4. After being wounded in action, Ben wasfrom the
army on medical grounds.
a. Discharged b. dismissed c. evacuated d. expelled
5. Helen has alwaysa tendency to overreact
melodramatically.
a. Disclosed b. exposed c. revealed
d.exhibited
6. Its disgusting how Jenny..her success now that her
first CD has become a hit.
a. Flaunts b. flouts c. flourishes d. flails
7. Linda..great presence of mind in the way she
saved the boy.
a. Disclosed b. exposed c. displayed d. deduced
8. The managers first task was to..the guests from the
burning hotel.
a. Dismiss b. expel c. discharge d. evacuate
9. I want you to.the report into a one-page statement.
a. Minimize
b. deduct c. condense d. diminish

10.
The restaurant.$20 from the waiters pay
for breakages.
a. reduced b. deducted c. diminished d. decreased
11.
It took the journalist five years to..the
politicians lies for what they were.
a. Display
b. disclose c. expose d. flaunt
12.
The judgethe elderly witness as soon as she
had testified.
a. Dismissed b. extradited b. discharged d. dispelled.
13.
Our productivitywhen our rate of pay was
cut.
a. Declined b. reduced c. contracted d. lowered
14.
The town council thought it could.the law, but
the court ordered it to demolish its unsafe buildings.
a. Flaunt
b. flout c. flourish d. flail
15.
The muscle..so suddenly that I felt a sharp pain.
a. Contracted b. flailed c. condensed d. declined
16.
The committee was.when the project funding
failed to materialize.
a. Extradited b. dissolved c. discharged d. declined

17.

Set phrases

1. Dont get cold feet 2. See with the naked eye. 3. His
bark is worse than his bite 4. Keep a straight face 5.
Be out of breath 6. Stop beating about the bush 7.
Pass with flying colours. 8. Be up in arms 9. Let the
cat out of the bag 10. At the drop of the hat. 11. Let
sth go to your head. 12. Be on the verge of. 13. Put
your foot down 14. Get a chip on your shoulder 15.
Ignorance is bliss 16. Be slow on the uptake/ intake
17. Bursting at the seams 18. Be in deep water 19.
Born with a silver spoon in your mouth. 20. Give a
piece of my mind.
18.
19.
Which are the
differences
between the
following words
1. Across the board/ by
the board

2. Of course/ off course

3. In demand/ on
demand
4. From scratch/ up to
scratch

5. Out of date/ up to
date
6. For short/ in short
7. Out of control/ under
control
8. To the point/ up to
the point
9. At sea/ to sea
10.
In her stride/
into her stride.
20.
Practice
makes Perfect
a. Should drug
addicts be able to
get a heroin
substitute?
b. I agree with
you, but
we need to discuss
it further.
c. We had intended
to go to the
Galapagos Islands
next week, but the
children have
come down with
the measles so our
plans
gone
..
d. OLeary was
dropped from the
team as his

e.

f.

g.

h.

i.

j.

footballing skills
were
not
This information is
no use now; it
needs to be
more
..
We lost our lead in
the yacht race
when the wind
blew
us
Its amazing how
Celia took so many
setbacks
.
How many parents
worry that their
teenagers are
totally.
?
His real name was
Mallimarachi, but
his colleagues
called him
Malli..
The sailing boat I
was on was
becalmed the first
time I
was.

21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35. Difference between 'decline' and 'decrease'
36.
37.

I have an advanced English student who is stuck on the word 'decline'. I told him 'decline' and
'decrease' are very similar, but are not always interchangeable. It is a business English course
and we were talking about what Customer Focus means. I wanted him to say "A company
needs todecrease its customer base in order to increase Customer Focus". And instead he used
"decline its customer base", which is not correct (right?!).

38.

He then used the example of "stocks declining in the last quarter" to prove that you could use
'decline' to mean 'decrease'.

39.

Does anyone have a good rule or way of explaining when to use 'decline' vs. 'decrease'?

40.
41.
43.

42.
44.

When decline is used as a transitive verb, it means "to refuse" or "to say no to": We are
declining your loan application. - I regret that I must decline your invitation. Declining a
customer would be a bad business move; declining your customer base is simply
ungrammatical. Probably bad business too.

45.

When a sentient actor (a person, a corporation, an intelligent animal) is the subject of decline in
an apparently intransitive sense, there is generally an implied object; I would call this a
"virtually transitive" use: I offered him a job, but he declined (the job). - We offered the chimp a
banana, but she declined (the banana).

46.

When a non-sentient noun is used as the subject of decline, it means that that
thing/resource/quality is becoming less, or less powerful: The puma population has been
declining for the past few years. - Hari Seldon says that the Empire is declining.

47.

When a thing is declining, or a person's health or power is declining, we can say that that thing
or person is in decline. As soon as his team started losing, he went into a decline. - This country's

been in decline ever since they raised the drinking age.

52.

u
p
v
o
t
e
3
d
o
w
n
v
o
t
e

48.

When decrease is used as a transitive verb, it means "to reduce the amount of": I'll have to
decrease my donut intake, or else my chair will break.

49.

Sentient actors don't decrease intransitively; you can't say He decreased.

50.

When a non-sentient noun is used as the subject of decrease, it means that that
thing/resource/quality is becoming less: The puma population has been decreasing for the past
few years. but NOT Hari Seldon says that the Empire is decreasing.

51.

A crucial difference between decline and decrease in this last case is that decline can be used to
indicate a loss of power, influence, significance, etc., whereas decrease can only be used for a
reduction in quantity. Thus you can say both The population is decreasing and The population is
declining, but while you can say The Empire is declining, you cannot say The Empire is
decreasing, since there's still only one Empire.

53.

If you compare the overlapping meanings, you see that

54.

Decrease can mean:

without object

to diminish or lessen in extent, quantity, strength, power, etc.: During the ten-day march across
the desert their supply of water decreased rapidly
55.

with object
to make less; cause to diminish: to decrease one's work load.

56.

while decline would mean

without object

to express courteous refusal; refuse: We sent him an invitation but he declined.

to bend or slant down; slope downward; descend: The hill declines to the lake.

(of pathways, routes, objects, etc.) to follow a downward course or path: The sun declined in the
skies.

to draw toward the close, as the day.

to fail in strength, vigor, character, value, etc.; deteriorate.

to fail or dwindle; sink or fade away: to decline in popularity.

to descend, as to an unworthy level; stoop.

57.

the dictionary lists also meanings

with object

to withhold or deny consent to do, enter into or upon, etc.; refuse: He declined to say more
about it.

to express inability or reluctance to accept; refuse with courtesy: to decline an invitation; to

decline an offer.

to cause to slope or incline downward.

58.

however in meaning of the verb when used with an object there is no meaning that directly
corresponds to decrease.

59.

From this I am stipulating that a good criteria might be that of if you are trying the replace
"decrease" applied to an object that it will not work, but in cases you want to replace use with
no object there is an overlap of meanings and it can be possible (I believe you will find this

applies to your examples directly).1

60.

Semantic is still slightly different; while "decrease" designates any opposite of growth
(frometymology, de + cresere), "decline" (from de + clinare, "bend downwards"), in closest
sense to "decrease", means that there is such a decrease that would resemble a slope (if for
example drawn as a graph).

61.

In another words, while "decrease" is completely appropriate to describe either one time or
prolonged, unrepresentative or representative, small or large events, "decline" is reserved for a
significant event that has some duration (significant does not mean it is appropriate only for
empires or whole civilizations, you can talk about decline in the sales of ink, and it suggest that
it is more serious, or significant, than just a decrease of sales).

62.Disclose/ vs reveal

They are more or less the same thing. However, to disclose would imply to
share with a specific smaller groups while to reveal would imply for all to
see, come what may.

63. You disclose to a few, you reveal to all. Have a great day.
64. wheeliebin 8 years ago

65. Disclose is to tell, reveal is to show.

Voila!
66.