Lesson 10A · New English File Advanced Vocabulary List

to make something more powerful

"Exercise helps strengthen your muscles."

"Regular exercise can strengthen your muscles and improve your overall physical health over time."

to increase the length or duration of something

"You should lengthen your stride."

"The tailor had to lengthen the trousers because they were too short for the tall customer."

to intensify or strengthen something, making it more significant or extreme

"The mystery continues to deepen."

"The mystery continued to deepen as investigators discovered more contradictory evidence at the crime scene."

the distance of something from side to side

"The width of the gap was less than a millimeter."

"The width of the river is too great for the team to build a bridge without expensive equipment."

to become wider or broader in dimension, extent, or scope

"The road will widen here."

"The city council decided to widen the main road to reduce traffic congestion during peak hours."

the condition of lacking in height or length

"The shortness of the rope caused problems."

"The shortness of his stature did not prevent him from achieving great success."

to decrease the length of something

"Please shorten your speech a little."

"The editor had to shorten the article significantly to fit within the magazine's space limits."

the measure of the distance between two parallel surfaces of an object

"The thickness of the ice was enough to walk on safely."

"The thickness of a material is the distance between its two opposite surfaces"

the quality of lacking depth or three-dimensionality in a two-dimensional context

"The flatness of the land goes on for miles."

"The flatness of the land goes on for miles and there are no hills or valleys in sight."

having a lot of physical power

"He is strong."

"The strong athlete effortlessly lifted the enormous weight during the competition."

the quality or state of being physically or mentally strong

"Her physical strength impressed everyone."

"Lifting weights every day helped him build the strength he needed to compete in the strongman competition against much larger opponents."

(of two points) having an above-average distance between them

"The road is long."

"The long line at the grocery store made her late for her appointment with the doctor this morning unfortunately."

the distance from one end to the other end of an object that shows how long it is

"The length of the table is two meters."

"The length of the river is over two thousand miles making it one of the longest in the world."

having a great distance from the surface to the bottom

"The lake is deep."

"The deep ocean is dark and cold and pressure at the bottom is so intense that only special submarines can explore the strange creatures that live there."

the distance below the top surface of something

"The pool has great depth."

"Divers explored the ocean's immense depth, discovering unknown marine life and geological formations."

having a large length from side to side

"The river is wide."

"The wide river flows slowly through the valley and provides water for many local farms nearby."

having a relatively great vertical extent

"The mountain is high."

"The high shelf in the kitchen is where my mother keeps all the special dishes that we rarely use."

the distance from the top to the bottom of something or someone

"What is the height of the tallest building?"

"We measured the height of the tall building from the ground."

to raise something above its current position

"Heighten the shelf."

"The architect proposed to heighten the ceiling to create a more spacious and airy feel."

structurally fragile or lacking durability

"The bridge is weak."

"The old structure had weak foundations, making it unsafe."

lack of power or ability to act effectively

"Everyone has weakness."

"Her weakness was fear of public speaking."

to make something physically or structurally less strong or sturdy

"The wind will weaken."

"Heavy rainfall and erosion can weaken the structural integrity of old buildings over time."

having a below-average distance between two points

"Her hair is short."

"The short story was so interesting that I read it twice and recommended it to everyone."

having a long distance between opposite sides

"The book is thick."

"He struggled to push the thick, heavy door open because it had not been oiled in a very long time."

to become more viscous or dense

"Add flour to thicken the sauce."

"Add a little flour to thicken the sauce if it is too thin and runny after simmering for a while."

(of a surface) continuing in a straight line with no raised or low parts

"The table is flat."

"The desert landscape stretched out before them, a vast and incredibly flat expanse of sand and rock."

to reduce the thickness or height of something, making it less raised or elevated in its shape or form

"Flatten the dough with a rolling pin."

"The heavy steamroller slowly moved across the fresh asphalt to flatten the road surface completely and make it smooth."