the old days; the past; former times; the past ten years; the past decade
another place; some other place; another (person or thing); other; beyond (one's expectations, imagination, etc.); outside
demon; devil; evil spirit; monster; goblin; apparition
rubbish; trash; garbage; refuse; litter
excluding; except (for); apart from; outside (a boundary, scope, etc.)
sudden; abrupt; urgent; pressing; steep; sharp; rapid
skillful; skilful; adroit; clever; shrewd; ingenious
change to ...; becoming ...; making into ...; -ization; -ification
literature; books (reference); document
lifespan; life; lifetime; life (of a battery, lightbulb, etc.); service life; end of an object's (useful) life
it is written that ...; ... is written; it says ...; it reads ...
to write; to compose; to pen; to draw; to paint
puzzled; perplexed; quizzical; dubious; suspicious
further; above (that); greater (than that); any more
unfortunately; regrettably
key to a solution; first step toward a solution; thread to unravel a mystery
way of writing; manner of writing; penmanship (esp. used in old textbooks); calligraphy; format (e.g. of a report); stroke order of a character
investigation; examination; inquiry; enquiry; survey
total destruction; complete destruction; annihilation; total defeat; complete failure
contacting; (making) contact; connection (with a train, bus, etc.); joining (a railway line, etc.); connection (between matters, incidents, etc.); relation
satisfactory; desirable; favourable; seeming (to be); appearing
state of affairs; situation; conditions; circumstances
dangerous; risky; awful; terrible; terrific; amazing
after that; afterwards; thereafter
readiness; (mental) preparedness; resolution; determination; resignation (to one's fate)
something; something or other; so-and-so; somehow (handling, dealing with something); anyhow; one way or another
at present; currently; so far; for now; for the time being
which; where; all; both; anyway; anyhow
for the present; for the time being; for a while (from now); for some time (to come)
to attack; to assault; to challenge; to take on; to be bold; to be audacious
how much; something over; and something; however (much); no matter how
to work too hard; to try too hard; to strain oneself; to overdo it; to go too far
to go back to the start; to reset; to restore; to return to the point (of a discussion); to return something (that has been moved) to previous place; to reconstitute
abruptly; suddenly; all of a sudden; without warning
very much; exceedingly; extremely
how; in what way; by what means
to wrinkle; to crinkle; to shrivel
look (in someone's eyes); expression (of the eyes); eyes
sharp (knife, claws, etc.); pointed; sharp (pain, tone, etc.); acute; keen (intuition, sense of smell, etc.); acute
question; inquiry; enquiry
particle used to indicate the speaker's hope, desire, wish, etc. (e.g. "it would be nice if ...", "I wish there were ...", etc.); emphatic particle; particle adding uncertainty
continuation; rest (of the story, work, etc.); flow (e.g. of a piece of writing); pacing (of a story); succession (of); sequence
to burn; to burn with (emotion, feeling); to be fired up
contents; content; substance; matter; detail; import
dead body; corpse; cadaver; carcass
the front; honest; upright; decent