to use as a pretext; to use as an excuse
intelligence gathering; information gathering
white hair; grey hair; gray hair
not worth mentioning (with neg. verb); nothing special
feature; trait; characteristic; peculiarity; distinction
middle-age; middle age; midlife; one's middle years
to guess; to sense; to presume; to sympathize with; to sympathise with
sense of distance (physical or emotional); feeling of distance
evasion; avoidance; shirking; recusation (of a judge); taking exception (to a judge); challenge
feeling; sensation; emotion; interjection
choking; suffocating; stifling; oppressive; heavy
to enter; to trespass; to interfere; to meddle; to pry into
to pause; to have a short intermission
another; one more; not quite; not very good; lacking
to watch steadily; to stare
is something wrong?; what's wrong?; what's the matter?; slightest; mere; trivial
deep (colour); dark; strong (flavour, smell, etc.); thick (consistency); dense; strong (possibility, etc.)
on a routine basis; regularly; habitually
mostly; ordinarily; probably; most; almost all; ordinary
to settle (a problem); to put an end to (a dispute); to be disposed of; to be settled; to come to an end
as was expected; just as one thought; sure enough; really; actually; ever
in turns; in series; in number order; by rotation
to have a controlling presence; to have a certain aura
how many times; how many degrees (temperature, angle, etc.)
going to and fro; back and forth
various; all sorts of; variety of; (arch.) various colors (colours)
straight to the point; point-blank; frank; direct
recently; lately; these days; nearest; closest
there is no need to ...; never happens; there is never a time when
even if ...; even supposing that ...; also as ...; also for ...; also from the position of ...
to a surprising degree; to a remarkable extent; surprisingly; astonishingly; amazingly; alarmingly
shaking; trembling; pitching; disturbance; unrest; agitation
to appear; to come in sight; to become visible; to be expressed (e.g. emotions); to become apparent (e.g. trends, effects)
to finger; to touch; to make changes to; to tinker with; to dabble in; to do as a hobby
at hand; on hand; way of moving one's arms; skill; money at hand; pocket money
hanky-panky; juggling; cheating; deception; smoke and mirrors
promo; advertising for a program (TV, radio, etc.); program publicity
exactly; precisely; just; as if; as though; quite
fixing (in place); being fixed (in place); fixing (e.g. salary, capital); keeping the same; fixation (histology); user name (on an online forum like 2ch where the majority of users post anonymously)
absurd; foolish; stupid; silly; nonsense; ludicrous