road to NEC - test 1

woefully

to a very bad or serious degree

abscond

to leave a place secretly (with stolen money)

color scheme

the way in which colors are arranged in decoration

complexion

skin color and its condition

abort

to cause something to end

banish

to exile/get rid of something

rupture

to end a relationship

rake over the ashes

to call up past events or memories (usually bad ones)

pack heat

to bring a gun

simmer down

to habour emotions

gobble up

to cost a lot of money

dally with

to treat something/somebody not seriously

usurious

lending money at very high rates of interest

bare bones

the basic facts of a problem

think tank

a group of experts

uncharted waters

things that are unfamiliar and hard to understand

forge ahead

to make a lot of progress

plunge ahead

plough ahead: do something very determinedly

press ahead

to continue doing something

rack and ruin

the state of being completely destroyed

hem and haw

hesitation

wax and wane

increase or decrease in something

sadfishing

the act of exaggerating your emotions in order to seek attention for others

verbosity

the use of unnecessary lengthy words

inscrutable

impossible to understand

acculturate

to learn to live successfully in a different culture

uproariously

noisy with a lot of laughing