| punctilious | taking care of every detail |
| fit | a sudden attack of epilepsy |
| spry | live and active |
| overtures to/of sth | friendly proposals or approaches |
| lithe | bending easily, flexible |
| to scud away | to move fast, straight and smoothy |
| constitution | the condition of one's body |
| upshot | a final result, outcome |
| to acquit | to free sb of guilt in court |
| to exonerate | to free sb of guilt |
| to find oneself at pains | to make particular effort to accomplish sth |
| unequivocal | clean, having one possible meaning |
| backlog | accumulation of work/business not yet attended to ?? |
| unimpeachable | that cannot be doubted, trustworthy, honest |
| deluge | a great flood |
| to gush | to flow out rapidly and in great quantities |
| to fetch | to go somewhere and bring sth/ to be bought or sold for particular amount of money |
| gist | the main points |
| to counter sth with sth | to oppose |
| to rattle | to make sb nervous or alarmed |
| hazy | not sufficiently clear, gloomy |
| tedious | boring, taking long |
| momentous | very important, serious |
| momentary | lasting for a short period of time |
| to come over as sth | to turn out to be sth |
| to babble | to speak carelessly |
| to prattle | to speak in a childish way |
| to get through | to use up/ to reach sb on the phone |
| to ramble | to walk for pleasure, without destination |
| to rumble | to reveal |
| fallacy | common, erroneous belief |
| susceptible | prone, likely to suffer |
| to hold down | to continue to have |
| petty | not much/ not very serious |
| in terms | as regards |
| to reel | to sway/ to pull fishes with a rod |
| to reel off | to recite sth without a break |
| to spurn | to turn down with contempt |
| grounded | based on |