Wordcyclopedia | English | alarm control flip-flop

alarm Noun

— An alarm is a signal that something needs attention or a machine that makes the signal. I wake up, without an alarm clock, at seven or eight a.m. People in the restaurant ran out the emergency exit, sounding the alarm. The safety system was known to be defective and had frequently sent out false alarms. The hotel did not have fire alarms or a sprinkler system. A fire in the fry pan set off the smoke alarm. — Alarm is a feeling of worry or fear. They watched with some alarm as the speeding car got closer. This is completely natural and no cause for alarm.

alarm Verb

— If you alarm someone, you make them feel worried or scared. The school was alarmed by the number of children failing math.

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control Noun

— If you have control over someone or something, you can make it do what you want. He should try to take control and tell the other handlers what to do. in the rain, he had lost control on the wet surface and spun off the road. The country fell under the direct control of the army. They are trying to keep tighter control over spending. The government will demand improved pollution control systems for all factories. Most companies devote some resources to quality control and product testing. Unless birth control methods are used, sooner or later the woman is likely to get pregnant. The continuing Soviet desire for arms control led to a SALT II treaty. The brain's control systems tend to decline with age so that, for instance, our balance gets less good. The experimental group took the medicine while the control group took a sugar pill. Suddenly the airplane went out of control and started diving. — A control is a button, switch, dial, etc. that lets you make a machine do what you want. If you turn off your TV with the remote control, it continues to use a quarter of normal power. She touched the volume control and the sound dropped.

control Verb

— If you control something, you make it do what you want. Too many people are overweight because they can't control their eating behaviour. The company is controlled by a New York businessman. — If you control something, you do not let its numbers or size grow too much. The new plan should control inflation.

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flip Verb

— When you flip something, you turn it over, or you move it suddenly. If you flip that light switch, it will be a lot brighter in here. The cook flipped the pizza dough high into the air and caught it in his hands. — When something flips, it turns over, usually quickly. Her car flipped over in the accident, but she wasn't hurt badly. The dolphin was taught to flip in the water when his trainer whistled. — When you flip, you get very upset or angry. He said, "If I don't pass this math test, I am going to flip." His friend said back, "Why are you flipping out? You know you always do well in math."

flip Noun

— A flip is a quick movement. With a quick flip of her wrist, she threw me the ball. — When you do a flip, you jump up into the air and turn your body. She did a flip into the water and landed on her back. The dolphin did a flip and got a fish as a reward.

flip Adjective

— If a person is flip, they act like they are not serious. His mother asked him, "Could you be any more flip about failing the math test? You act like you don't care about school at all." When his girlfriend asked him if she looked fat, his flip comment made her cry.

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flop

— verb fall loosely He flopped into a chair — verb fall suddenly and abruptly — adverb with a flopping sound he tumbled flop into the mud — noun someone who is unsuccessful — noun the act of throwing yourself down he landed on the bed with a great flop — noun a complete failure the play was a dismal flop — adverb exactly he fell flop on his face — noun an arithmetic operation performed on floating-point numbers this computer can perform a million flops per second — verb (= founder) fail utterly; collapse The project foundered

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