A boom is a sudden big noise like the sound of thunder or a bomb exploding, but more frequently, we use the word boom to mean a sudden big increase or growth. So when the economy grows a lot, you…
Intermediate word of the day: pride
Pride is that feeling of satisfaction and pleasure that you get when you've done something special, or when someone connected to you has achieved something. We often talk about people taking pride in things. If you take pride in something,…
Intermediate word of the day: depression
Today’s word is depression. Depressions are all to do with being low and down. So when you are suffering from depression, you have low energy and emotion and are very unhappy. When the country is experiencing a depression, there is…
Intermediate word of the day: struggle
Today’s word is struggle. Struggle is all to do with difficulty, and with fighting or working hard to get what you want. Struggle is a verb: you can struggle with a problem (find a problem difficult or work hard to…
Intermediate word of the day: agenda
Today’s word is agenda. The main meaning of agenda is a list of all the things that need to be discussed and considered at a meeting – or all the things that need to be done or considered in general.…
Intermediate word of the day: restore
When you restore something, you make it good again or make it exist again after a time when it was bad, damaged or not in use. So you can restore an old building or an old machine. You can restore…
Intermediate word of the day: anniversary
An anniversary is a date when you celebrate something good that happened on the same date in a previous year – or when you mark something more serious or sad. The most obvious kind of anniversary is a wedding anniversary,…
Intermediate word of the day: resignation
When someone resigns from a job, they publicly say they are going to stop doing it. The noun is resignation. With most jobs in normal everyday life, people don’t actually use the word resign that much; instead, they decide to…
Intermediate word of the day: suicide
Suicide is the act of deliberately killing yourself. There are a number of different ways that people usually commit suicide: They may decide to hang themselves (using a rope which they tie round something high up) or shoot themselves (using…
Intermediate word of the day: allegation
An allegation is a public statement saying that someone has done something wrong or illegal, even though this has not (yet) been proved. Allegations are often made against famous people or public officials, who might, for example, face allegations of…