For a brief time（ちょっとの間）

→“Wait for me awhile. I just want to send this one e-mail.”

→“Okay, we are pulling into the rest area. Get off the bus and stretch awhile.”

An exaggerated reaction; overblown attention（大袈裟な評判、過剰に取り沙汰されること）

→“I am sick of all the brouhaha that the media are creating about the astronaut.”

→“There was a widespread brouhaha when the actress announced her intention to run for president.”

The dawning of a feeling that something has been completed and put to rest（事やプロセスに終止符が打たれたという実感、心の区切り）

→“The solemn graduation ceremony gave the students a sense of closure.”

→“The execution of the serial murderer brought a closure to the victims’ families.”

To weaken or destroy gradually（～を徐々に弱める・破壊する）

→“The manager’s pattern of verbal abuse is corroding the team members’ confidence in the company.”

→“The spread of drug addiction among the youth is corroding the country.”

An ancestor; a precursor（先祖、前身）

→“My favorite pastime is to look up my forebears in the family tree.”

→“I am interested in Judaism as the forebear of Christianity.”

Extremely sad and melancholy（非常に悲しい）

→“I heard a lugubrious howl from the bushes and turned around.”

→“What’s wrong? You look so lugubrious today.”

To serve as a sign that something bad is going to happen（何か悪いことが起こる兆しとなる、前触れとなる）

→“Before the calamity struck the coastal village, there were some strange phenomena that portended disaster.”

→“This latest white-collar crime portends a wave of similar sophisticated criminal acts by copycats.”

（促す、行動を起こすようプッシュする）

→“During our one-on-one meeting, my boss gave me an ultimatum. It prodded me into quick action to drive up my sales figures.”

→“The party members are now prodding the unpopular president to resign before his term is up.”

To rise or increase rapidly（急激に浮上・増加する、空高くそびえる）

→“After the major disaster, insurance claims soared.”

→“From here you can see the Tokyo Sky Tree soaring over the Sumida River.”

A high frequency of similar events or phenomena in a relatively short time span（短期の間に頻繁に起きる似たような事件や現象）

→“Chiba Prefecture has been having a spate of muggings.”

→“People are frightened to make a trip up north after a spate of gang attacks there.”

Insolent boldness（無礼な大胆さ、向う見ず）

→“The tailor had the temerity to tell me to lose weight so the pants will fit me.”

→“That pitcher has a reputation for temerity.”

A place for some event to take place（会議やイベントが催される場所）

→“We had a phone chat and agreed on a date and a venue for a meeting the following week.”

→“Lady Gaga will play at 7 venues in Asia.”

Cunning and manipulative（狡賢い、狡猾な）

→“That lady is elegant and attractive on the outside, but I have heard rumors that she could be wily.”

→“The wily politician is back in the spotlight in the wake of the latest scandal.”

Yearning for something that is beyond one’s reach（実現不可能なものを念頭に物欲しげな、懐かしげな）

→“My grandfather looked wistful as he said how wonderful it would be to be young again.”

→“‘I stayed in this apartment for the first 2 years of college,’ she said with a wistful smile.”