to instigate	to start sth unpleasant
at the behest of	on sb's orders
the hot favourite to	popular, assumed to be the right person
ardent	hot (ex. supporter)
to inflate	to pomp air into sth
to hang round	to walk around aimlessly
unprecedented	not earlier experienced
to acquiesce	to agree without protesting
to loosen up	to make sth loose
to ease off	tomake sth less severe
to back away	to move backwards
to renounce	to give up
to spurn	to refuse with contempt
to materialise	to show real effect
to steer clear of	not to approach sth
anguish	physical or mental pain
in the throes of doing sth	struggling with the task of doing sth (idiom)
to be at pains to do sth	to make a particular effort to achieve sth
to swerve	to change direction suddenly
to dodge	to move quickly to avoid sth
to shirk one's duties	to avoid doing sth through laziness/cowardice
to flinch	to move/draw suddenly from pain, fear
to dart	to run quickly
to pin on	to depend/ to rely
whereby	by which
threrby	by that means
to ditch	to leave, to abandon
to clutch	to hold sth tightly
to get a grip on sth	to gain control of sth
to clasp	to hold firmly
to pin sb down	to make sb finally do sth