Little Johnny was sitting on a park bench munching on one candy bar after another.
After the sixth one a man on the bench across from him said, "Son, you know eating all that candy isn’t good for you. It will give you acne, rot your teeth, make you fat."
Little Johnny replied, "My grandfather lived to be 107 years old."
The man asked, "Did your grandfather eat 6 candy bars at a time?"
Little Johnny answered, "No, he minded his own business!"
- understand or realize (a fact or meaning). —n. - firm hold; grip.
- (foll. By of) a mastery (a grasp of the situation). B mental hold. grasp the nettle tackle a difficulty boldly. [earlier grapse: related to *grope]
GRASS
roots n.pl. - fundamental level or source.
- ordinary people; rank and file of an organization, esp. A political party.
- snake n. Common harmless european snake.
- widow n. (also grass widower) person whose husband (or wife) is away for a prolonged period.
- —n. - a any of a group of wild plants with green blades that are eaten by ruminants. B plant of the family which includes cereals, reeds, and bamboos.
- pasture land.
- grass-covered ground, lawn.
- grazing (out to grass).
- slang marijuana.
- slang informer. —v. - cover with turf.
- us provide with pasture.
- slang a betray, esp. To the police. B inform the police. grassy adj. (-ier, -iest). [old english]
GRATE
v. (-ting) 1 reduce to small particles by rubbing on a serrated surface.
- (often foll. By against, on) rub with a harsh scraping sound.
- utter in a harsh tone.
- (often foll. By on) a sound harshly. B have an irritating effect.
- n. - fireplace or furnace.
- metal frame confining fuel in this. [latin cratis hurdle]
GRAVE
accent n. A mark (`) placed over a vowel to denote pronunciation, length, etc.
- n. - trench dug in the ground for the burial of a corpse; mound or memorial stone placed over this.
- (prec. By the) death. [old english]
- —adj. - a serious, weighty, important. B dignified, solemn, sombre.
- v. (-ving; past part. Graven or graved) 1 (foll. By in, on) fix indelibly (on one's memory).
- archaic engrave, carve. [old english]
GRAVY
n. (pl. -ies) 1 juices exuding from meat during and after cooking.
- sauce for food, made from these etc. [perhaps from a misreading of french grane from grain spice, *grain]
- train n. Slang source of easy financial benefit.
GRAZE
v. (-zing) 1 (of cattle, sheep, etc.) Eat growing grass.
- a feed (cattle etc.) On growing grass. B feed on (grass).
- pasture cattle. [old english: related to *grass]
- —v. (-zing) 1 rub or scrape (part of the body, esp. The skin).
- a touch lightly in passing. B (foll. By against, along, etc.) Move with a light passing contact. —n. Abrasion. [perhaps from *graze1, as if ‘take off the grass close to the ground’]
GREAT
bear see *bear2.
- circle n. Circle on the surface of a sphere whose plane passes through the sphere's centre.
- dane n. Dog of a large short-haired breed.
- deal n. = *deal1 n. 1.
- tit n. Eurasian songbird with black and white head markings.
- war n. World war of 1914–18.
- —adj. - a of a size, amount, extent, or intensity considerably above the normal or average (a great hole; great fun). B also with implied admiration, contempt, etc., esp. In exclamations (you great idiot!; great stuff!). C reinforcing other words denoting size, quantity, etc. (great big hole).
- important, pre-eminent (the great thing is not to get caught).
- grand, imposing (great occasion).
- distinguished.
- remarkable in ability, character, etc. (great men; great thinker).
- (foll. By at, on) competent, well-informed.
- fully deserving the name of; doing a thing extensively (great reader; great believer in tolerance).
- (also greater) the larger of the name, species, etc. (great auk; greater celandine).
- colloq. Very enjoyable or satisfactory (had a great time). 10 (in comb.) (in names of family relationships) denoting one degree further removed upwards or downwards (great-uncle; great-great-grandmother). —n. - great or outstanding person or thing.
- (in pl.) (greats) colloq. (at oxford university) honours course or final examinations in classics and philosophy. greatness n. [old english]
GREBE
n. A kind of diving bird. [french]
GREED
n. Excessive desire, esp. For food or wealth. [from *greedy]
GREEK
cross n. Cross with four equal arms.
- —n. - a native or national of greece. B person of greek descent.
- language of greece. —adj. Of greece or its people or language; hellenic. greek to me colloq. Incomprehensible to me. [old english ultimately from greek graikoi]
A dog"s sense of smell is one of the keenest in nature. If a pot of stew was cooking on a stove, a human would smell the stew, while the dog could smell the beef, carrots, peas, potatoes, spices, and all the other individual ingredients in the stew.
