to enroll in sth	to sign up
brisk walking	moving in a vigorous, energetic way
onset	a start, a beginning
to stave sth off	to delay or postpone sth unwanted, such as hunger, death
adherence	faithful support for a cause or political party or religion
to ward sth off	to fight sth off
to guard against sth	to take care to avoid sth or sb
to glean	to collect bit by bit
impairment	disablement, handicap
to have sth in hand	to control sth
Bourgeois	characteristic of, relating to or comprising the middle class
inferiority complex	lack of self-esteem or self-confidence
phony	an impostor, a hypocrite/false, not genuine
at heart	in one's deepest feelings, fundamentally
yellow	cowardly
swell	excellent, wonderful, stylish
a crew cut	a haircut in which all the hair is very closely cropped
to comb	to move a comb through (the hair) so as to arrange or groom
sheer	absolute, pure
have the guts	have enough courage to do sth
cutting	sarcastic, injuring or capable of injuring the feeling of others
snotty	arrogant
to rile sb up	to get sb excited and angry
a crook	a dishonest person
for the birds	worthless
to howl	to cry or wail loudly
to face the music	to deal with the consequences of one's actions
to wash one's hands of sth	to absolve oneself of resposibility for sth
to scoff	to mock
to loiter	to wander, to walk around suspiciously
to expiate sins	to atone for one's wrongdoings
a rite of passage	ceremony that shows that sb has reached an important new stage in their life
to whittle sb down to size	to reduce sb's ego, to put sb in their place
perturbed	disturbed, anxious
to dwell on sth	to think a lot about sth, to focus on sth
to be in cahoots with sb	to secretely plan sth with sb else
to egg on	to encourage sb to do sth, to cause to act
to make a wry face	an expression indicatind dislike
to be hushed up	to be prevented from public knowledge
to invent a facile excuse	to create not original and simple explanation
to fall into the habit of doing sth	get used to do sth
to put sb straight on/about sth	to make sth clear to sb
to lead sb astray	lead someone in the wrong direction or give someone wrong directions
to throb with life	to be full of life
my head is throbbing/throb with pain	to vibrate, pulsate, or sound with a steady pronounced rhythm
myriands of people	a great number of people
to be in store for sb	to be forthcoming
to be a munificent patron of art	to show great generosity
sth has seen better days	sth is in a bad condition
to be filled with awe	to be full of admiration, respect
to be on a tightrope between sth and sth	to be in a difficult or risky situation and try to postpone it
to give rise to sth	to be the cause or origin of; bring about.
to shrug one's shoulders	to not care or feel unable to do anything
to do sth at one's ease	to do sth without worry or anxiety
to make a row	to cause a noisy argument or fight
to be lionized	to make someone famous, or to treat someone as if they were famous
to pry into sb's business	to get into someone else's business
to take delight in doing sth	to profit great pleasure or joy from doing sth
to be apt to do sth	to be likely to do something or to often do something
to take great pains over/with sth	to take great care or effort
a brick-a-brac stall	a small shop where small ornamental objects are sold; knick-knacks
to be in sb's black books	to be out of favour with someone
to bewilder sb	to confuse utterly; puzzle
to pay sb a compliment	to express admiration of; congratulate or commend
a pang of pain/jealousy/conscience/hunger	a sudden brief sharp feeling, as of loneliness, physical pain, or hunger
birth pangs	one of the repetitive pains occurring in childbirth