to lose a closely fought contest
guts; pluck; nerve; spirit
supreme beauty; exquisiteness
carving characters; carved characters
appraised value; appraisal; valuation
to praise; to extol; to applaud
stone artifact; article made of stone
inquisitively; pryingly; nosily; thoroughly; persistently; through-and-through
drilling machine; boring machine; drill press; keypunch; card punching machine
one or two sizes (bigger, etc.); one or two levels (better, more mature, etc.)
suspicion that something is inferior (game, product, etc.)
lower classes; proletariat; underclass
grounds; foundation; authority; support; prop; something upon which to rely
beside a nobleman; close aid (of a nobleman, etc.); place where a high ranking person resides; one's own city (of a shogun, lord, etc.); place under one's direct control; one's own turf
Dead Souls (novel by Gogol); Myortvye dushi
advance payment; up-front payment; prepayment
to have one's hands tied behind one; to be arrested
appearance; features; looks
in general; on the whole; for the most part; by and large; almost all
monme (unit of weight, 3.75 g); monme; Edo period silver coin worth between 1/50th-1/80th of a ryō
points to remember; things to keep in mind; notes
charm (e.g. of an innocent child); lovable nature
crude construction; crude manufacture
holding two or more positions concurrently
person who always wants to make a good impression; pretentious person
to be told or made to hear something so often that you (metaphorically) get calluses on your ears
retort; back talk; backchat
inferior position; inferior situation; disadvantage; subordination
melt-in-the-mouth feeling
leaving work (office, school) early
to praise highly; to sing the praises of; to applaud; to acclaim; to admire
minimum price; floor price