victory goes to the one who makes the first move; being quick to take action leads to victory; the early bird gets the worm
palm; open hand; playing on equal terms; lack of handicap
vigilance; caution; alertness; precaution; being on guard
to give up all thoughts of; to abandon; to despair of; to make up one's mind; to take a momentous decision
brow; forehead; prominent forehead; beetle brow; not catching anything (in fishing)
to hit (e.g. one's head); to strike; to throw (e.g. a ball, a question, a demand); to express; to vent (e.g. one's anger)
grateful; thankful; welcome; appreciated; evoking gratitude
to repeat; to be frequent
to lose composure; to be upset; to be flurried; to lose one's head (through shock)
flickering; flashing on and off; glaringly (bright); painfully (bright); prickling (pain)
to shine; to glitter; to sparkle
to deceive; to falsify; to dodge; to beg the question (issue, difficulties); to varnish over; to gloss over
as a matter of fact; really; truly; entirely; completely; wholly
first meeting; first interview with
rare; uncommon; not often seen
smelling of woman; womanly; feminine
unbearable; intolerable; insufferable
oops; that's enough (when pouring up alcohol, etc.)
betterment; improvement; kaizen (Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement)
fate; destiny; connection; tie; pretext; justification
fate; destiny; predestination
beautiful; lovely; heartwarming; beautiful
evil; wickedness; (role of) the villain (in theatre, etc.); the bad guy
Satan; the Devil; the Prince of Darkness; king of the demons who try to prevent people from doing good
one-sided; unilateral; arbitrary
to carry off; to run away with; to sweep away; to take entirely for oneself; to monopolize
education; schooling; training; culture; cultivation; education
thoroughness; completeness; consistency; thorough enforcement; seeing to it that a policy, etc. is carried out without exception
outward appearance; exterior appearance; outward show; looks
to like; to love; to be fond of
even so; anyhow; at any rate
to be dented; to be indented; to be beaten; to be overwhelmed; to be disheartened; to feel down
to harm; to cause harm to
harmless to humans and animals; having no influence; unimportant; insignificant
just right (time, size, length, etc.)
that kind; competition; match
easy to deal with; tractable; manageable
profitable plan; good plan
plausible; believable; solemn; dignified; serious
to groan; to moan; to roar; to howl; to hum (engine, wind, etc.); to buzz; to ooh and aah (in admiration)
four-character compound word (esp. idiomatic)
ordinary; nothing special; nothing to exclaim over
to shave (wood, leather, etc.); to sharpen (e.g. pencil); to cut down (budget, expenses, staff, time, etc.); to curtail; to delete; to erase