fiercely fought contest; close game (match, race, etc.); dead heat
maneuver (usu. of military force); manoeuvre; mobile; nimble; agile
before one's eyes; under one's nose; immediate (e.g. interests); present; foresight; near future
to get one's head around; to think about
failing to properly evaluate the (relative) importance (of); putting the cart before the horse; mistaking the cause for the end; mistaking the insignificant for the essential; getting one's priorities backwards
four-character compound word (usu. idiomatic)
pirate; sea robber; buccaneer; freebooter
to take something into ...; to bring in; to lodge (a complaint); to file (a plan); to bring to (a state: tied game, vote, trial, etc.)
head; brains; intellect; understanding
to begin to appear; to begin to come in
to engage in a bloody feud; to have a family quarrel; to quarrel with one's own flesh and blood; (lit.) to wash blood for blood
to descend; to go down; to be handed down (of an order, judgment, etc.); to pass (of time); to surrender; to capitulate; to be less than
to become hungry; to get an empty stomach
August; eighth month of the lunar calendar
public holiday; celebration (of)
assertion; declaration; affirmation
insistence; (major) emphasis; stress
oh; ho; exclamation of surprise, admiration, etc.; hoo (owl call); toot (sound of a flute)
to begin to fall (rain, etc.)
to finish reading; to read through
wakame (species of edible brown seaweed, Undaria pinnatifida)
to become hollow (with age, illness, etc.); to be scrawny; to be thin
basic tone; underlying tone; trend; keynote
simple; plain; uncomplicated; straightforward; simple-minded; naive
refined; genteel; graceful; decent
(for the) first time; something used (worn, etc.) for the first time; new item; first of the season (crop, fruit, etc.)
to come back; to return; to recur
sticking (in one place, position, etc.); settling; becoming established (of a custom, system, etc.); taking hold; fixation (photography); fixing
hanger-on; follower; flunky; purse strapped round one's waist
whole soybeans; unprocessed soybeans
to push away; to thrust aside; to detach oneself from; to keep away from; to act coldly; to do without emotion
after this; from now on; hereafter; thereafter; since (then); after
pleased to make your acquaintance
to leak out; to escape; to find expression; to give vent; to leak out; to be divulged