to fiddle with sth	to play with sth small (a pencil, a box of matches) in your fingers, especially when you are bored
to fumble	to hold sth or try to reach for sth with your hands or fingers, but in an awkward and clumsy way
to pat	to repeatedly touch sb lightly with the hand held flat
to rub	to move your hand or fingers over sth, applying pressure
to slap sb	to hit sb (generally on the face) with an open hand, often because sb has said or done sth to offend
to smack sb	to hit a child with an open hand in order to punish him or her
to stroke	to gently move an open hand back and forth over sth (generally for animals)
to tamper with sb	to touch or move sth without permission and in doing so change it or damage it
to tickle sb	to make sb laugh by touching them with your fingers
to toy with sth	to play with sth in your hands or fingers, often while you are deep in thought
to cling	to hold on to sth very tightly because you are frightened that you will fall or you will lose it
clingy	for clothes - very tight ans showing the shape of your body; for people-too attached and dependent
to clutch	to hold tightly because you are in pain
to drag	to pull sth that is heavy
to embrace	to put your arms around sb
to grab	to quickly take sth; to manage to get some food/drink/sleep
to grasp	to take sth and hold it very tightly
to have an excellent grasp of	to have an excellent understanding of
to grip	to hold sth very tightly
to be in the grip of	to be experiencing sth that cannot be controlled (an economic crisis, a famine etc)
to let go of sth	to stop holding sth so that it is no longer in your hand
to manhandle	to push sb roughly
to pull your weight	to do your fair share of the work
to seize	to take sth illegal
to shove	to push sb roughly
to snatch	to quickly take sth (especially sth that does not belong to you) from sb
to tow	to pull a vehicle, often by means of a rope or a chain
to tug	to pull sth with short but forceful pulls
to wrench	to pull sth forcefully and quickly, in order to open it/remove it from where it is
to yank	to pull sth with one quick, forcefull pull
to alleviate (the) pain/symptoms	to reduce the amount of pain/symptoms
to contract a disease/illness	to catch/fall ill with a disease/illness: not used wih minor illnesses in spoken english
to give blood	to voluntarily have blood taken from you so that it can be stored and used for sb else
to make a recovery	to recover, to get better
to nurse sb back to health	to help sb get better
to perform an operation	formal, to operate on sb
to reduce the swelling	do sth (put ice on the swelling) or take some medicine which will return the swollen part
to regain consciousness	to wake up having previously fainted/been unconscious
to respond to treatment	to get better as a result of taking a particular medicine
to take effect	to start to work
to treat an illness	to try and cure an illness
to undergo surgery	formal, to have a surgeon operate on you
to be admitted to hospital	to be taken to hospital
to be allergic to sth	your body reacts to sth in a negative way - perhaps you start sneezing
to be on antibiotics	to be taking antibiotic medicine
a cure for a disease	a medicine that will get rid of an illness or a disease
to die of sth	particular illness/disease kills them
to be discharged from hospital	to be allowed to leave hospital
to be in intensive care	to be in a hospital ward where people who are very ill are treated and looked after
to be on he mend	to be getting better
to operate on sb	to treat sb by cutting open part of their body and removing or repairing sth
to get medicine on prescription	you must have a prescription to obtain it
to be rushed to/into hospital	to be taken to hospital very quickly
buy medicine over the counter	you do not need a prescription to buy it
to be in good shape	to be fit and healthy
to be under a lot of stress	to be unable to relax because you are worrying a lot
to suffer from sth	to have a particular illness or disease
to be susceptible to sth	to be the kind of person who easily catches a disease or illness
to hang by a thread	they are very ill and likely to die
to take its toll/a heavy toll on	to have a bad effect on