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frequently_asked_questions_files/Oxford Thesaurus.pdf

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stall: The committee is dragging its feet on the housing issue.<br />

--n. 7 bore, nuisance, annoyance; pest; Colloq drip, pain (in<br />

the neck), headache: That course in botany is a real drag.<br />

drain n. 1 ditch, channel, trench, culvert, conduit, pipe, gutter,<br />

outlet, watercourse, sewer, cloaca: The storm drains have<br />

overflowed. 2 depletion, reduction, sapping, sap, exhaustion,<br />

strain, drag; outgo, outflow, withdrawal, disbursement,<br />

expenditure: The cost of the new roof was a drain on our<br />

resources. 3 down the drain. wasted, gone, thrown away, lost,<br />

Slang up the spout: All that money spent on his education went<br />

down the drain.<br />

--v. 4 draw off, tap, extract, remove, take away, withdraw,<br />

pump off or out; empty, evacuate, drink up or down, quaff,<br />

swallow, finish: After washing the lettuce, drain off the<br />

water. He drained the glass in one gulp. 5 consume, use up,<br />

exhaust, sap, deplete, bleed, strain, tax, spend; weaken,<br />

debilitate, impair, cripple: The car repairs drained my bank<br />

account. After climbing to the top of the mountain, we were<br />

completely drained. 6 seep, trickle, ooze, drip, leave, go or<br />

flow from or out of, disappear (from), ebb: Let the pus drain<br />

from the boil. The blood drained from his face when he saw her.<br />

drama n. 1 play, stage play, photoplay, screenplay, (stage) show,<br />

(theatrical) piece, (stage) production; scenario: He plays only<br />

in dramas, never in musicals. 2 dramaturgy, stagecraft, theatre<br />

art(s), Thespian or histrionic art(s), acting, theatre, dramatic<br />

art: She has studied drama at RADA. 3 histrionics, dramatics,<br />

theatrics, theatricalism, play-acting: There's always a drama<br />

over who's going to wash up.<br />

dramatic adj. 1 theatric(al), dramaturgic(al), Thespian, histrionic,<br />

stage: She was studying the dramatic works of Shakespeare.<br />

There will be a festival of dramatic arts at the centre next<br />

week. 2 vivid, sensational, startling, breathtaking, sudden,<br />

striking, noticeable, extraordinary, impressive, marked,<br />

shocking, expressive, graphic, effective; complete,<br />

considerable, radical, major: A dramatic change has come over<br />

him since meeting her. 3 flamboyant, melodramatic, colourful,<br />

showy, stirring, spectacular; theatrical, histrionic,<br />

exaggerated, overdone: His presentation was quite dramatic,

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