An old hand, good hand at smth

Ant. not much of a hand at smth, e. g. I am not much of a hand at making pastry.

2) encouragement given by clapping the hands, as to give a (good, big) hand to, get a (big, good) hand; 3) help (lend a help­ing hand to); 4) control (get/become out of hand), eg. The meet­ing is getting out of hand — will everybody stop talking at once!

at hand (formal) near in time or place, e. g. She always keeps her dictionary at hand.

by hand by a person, not a machine or organization, e. g. These rugs are made by hand.

to eat out of someone's hand to be ready to do everything someone wants, e. g. I'll soon have him eating out of my hand.

to give smb a free hand to allow smb to do things in his/her own way

hand in glove (with) closely connected (with someone), esp. in smth bad, e. g. They were found to be hand Iji glove.with enemy agents.

hat in hand to beg, look for smth, e. g. He went to his em­ployer, hat in hand, for a pay-rise.

on the one/other hand (used for comparing different things or ideas), e.g. I know this job of mine isn't much, but on the other hand I don't feel tied down.

to try one's hand (at) to attempt (an activity), e. g. I tried my hand at swimming though it was the first time I'd been in the water.

to wash one's hands of to refuse to be concerned with or re­sponsible for, e. g. He washed his hands of the entire affair.

6. clear vt/i 1) to cause to become clear, e. g. After the storm the sky cleared. He cleared his throat. 2) to (cause to) go away, e. g. Soldiers! Clear the people away from the palace gates.

3) to remove, take away, get rid of, e. g. Whose job is it to clear snow from the road? 4) to free from blame (a person wrongly thought to have done smth wrong), e. g. The judge cleared the prisoner of any crime and set him free.

clear a 4) bright, free from anything that darkens, as clear sky, clear eyes. 2) certain, confident, e. g. She seems quite clear about her plans. 3) free from guilt or blame, untroubled, as a clear conscience, clear of guilt. 4) open, free from blocks, danger or obstructions, as a clear road, clear view, e. g. The road's clear of snow now.

the coast is clear (informal) all danger has gone, e. g. When the coast was clear the two thieves escaped.

7. conduct n (formal) behavior, e. g. I'm glad to see your conduct at school has improved.

conduct vt I) (formal) to behave (oneself), e. g. I like the way your children conduct themselves. Their behavior is very good. 2) to direct the course of (a business, activity, etc.). 3) to lead or guide (a person, tour, etc.). 4) to stand before and direct the playing of musicians or a musical work. 5) to act as the path for (electricity, heat, etc.), e. g. Plastic and rubber won't conduct electricity. 6) to collect payments from the passengers (on a public vehicle), e. g. She's conducted on London buses for 20 years.

conductor n 1) a person who directs the playing of a group of musicians. 2) a substance that readily acts as a path for electricity, heat, etc., e. g. Wood is a poor conductor of heat. 3) (AE) a railroad employee in charge of a train and train crew.

8. compose vt/i 1) to write (music, poetry, essays, etc.), e. g. It is very time-consuming to compose a good essay. 2) to make up (smth), form (smth), e. g. The chemistry teacher asked the pupils what water was composed of.

Syn. comprise, consist of, include, be made up of

3) to make (esp. oneself) calm, quiet, etc., e. g. The students couldn't stop laughing so the teacher asked them to compose themselves. 4) to make or form (smth) by putting parts together, e. g. The artist composed an interesting picture by putting the variously-coloured shapes together.

composer n a person who writes music.

composition n 1) act of putting together parts to form smth, act of composing, as a piece of music of his own composition. 2) an example of this, as a piece of music or art or a poem, e. g. I like his earlier poems but not his later compositions.

9. abrupt a 1) sudden and unexpected, e. g. The train came to an abrupt stop, making many passengers fall off their seats. 2) (of behavior, speech, character, etc.) rough and impolite, not wanting to waste time being nice, e. g. Everybody resented his abrupt answer.

abruptly adv in an abrupt manner, e. g. "No," said Roger abruptly, "I'm staying here."

abruptness n e. g. His abruptness was really impolite.

10. ignore vt not to take notice of, e. g. Ignore the child if he misbehaves and he will soon stop.

to ignore smth to pretend not to know or see it, e. g. She saw him coming but she ignored him.

Ant. to consider, to regard

Note: The Russian for to ignore is игнорировать, не замечать. Ignore does not correspond to the Russian пренебрегать, не заботиться о чем-л., упускать из виду which is expressed by the verb to neglect, as to neglect one's duties, one's children.

ignorant a 1) lacking knowledge, not aware, as ignorant of even simplest facts, e. g. He is quite ignorant of these facts. She was ignorant of his presence. (She didn't know he was there.) 2) rude, impolite esp. because of lack of social training, e. g. He is an ignorant person — he always goes through a door in front of a girl (lady). She is an ignorant girl: she knows nothing about her country's history.