few decades; many decades; several decades
to go to ruin; to go under; to fall; to be destroyed; to die out; to become extinct
unmanned; uninhabited; unattended; shorthandedness; lack of help
only recently; just of late
to make sure of the truth
investigation; examination; inquiry; enquiry; survey
in; at; on; as for; regarding; with regards to
police officer; policeman; constable
part; assigning (allotment of) parts; role; duties
maintenance of public order; maintaining security
to miss (doing); to fail (to do); to do without
existence; being; presence
belonging to (a group, organization, etc.); affiliation (with); being attached to; being under the control of; serving (in the military, congress, etc.)
shortage of talented people; shortfall in human resources
dispatch; despatch; deployment; temporary employee (esp. from an agency); temporary worker; agency temp
to supplement; to make up for; to compensate for; to cover (a shortage, loss, etc.); to fill (e.g. a vacancy)
manager; controller; chief treasurer; boss (of a gambling den)
to furnish with; to equip with; to prepare for; to make preparations for; to possess (all that is needed); to be endowed with
to pull up; to drag up; to increase; to raise (e.g. taxes); to withdraw; to leave; to promote (someone to a higher position)
demand; firm request; requisition; requirement; desire
sleeve; wing (of a stage, desk, gate, etc.); flap (of a dust jacket)
originally; primarily; essentially; intrinsically; proper; rightful
indication; sign; hint; tone (of the market)
to feel around for; to fumble for; to investigate; to probe into; to explore (parts unknown); to enjoy (natural beauty)
extent; scope; sphere; range; span
metre (unit of length); meter; meter; gauge
(sense of) hearing; auditory perception
but (still); and yet; nevertheless; even so; notwithstanding
fake; something false; sham; deception
a little; some; somewhat; amount; quantity; number
to be sticky; to be adhesive; to persevere; to persist; to stick to
to cross over (e.g. mountain); to go across; to get over (e.g. hardship); to pass time (e.g. a winter); to surpass; to be better than; to move house
feeling of tension; air of tension; tension; nervousness
place hidden from view; cover; shelter; hiding place
minute (unit of time); fun (one tenth of a monme, 5.787 grains)
passage (of time); elapsing; progress; development; transit
first (of all); firstly; probably; most likely; more or less (satisfactory); on the whole
li (one of the trigrams of the I Ching: fire, south)