foreword to a collection of poems; preface; explanatory notes; captions
confinement to one's home; being made to stay at home
small restaurant; eating house
godparents; foster parents
thoroughly; completely; utterly; severely; harshly; terribly
language of flowers (e.g. the use of red roses to signify love); floriography
preparations; preliminary arrangements; spade work; mise en place; groundwork
sorry; excuse me; thank you
main street (as opposed to a side street); high street
regarding oneself (as); fancying oneself (as); seeing oneself (as); considering oneself (to be); pretension
searching for the culprit; trying to find out who did something
final month of pregnancy; month in which childbirth is due
strong; potent; strong; brawny; good (at); skilled; being able to handle
to give birth; to bear (child); to lay (eggs); to produce; to yield; to give rise to
harm; evil; poison; blight; harmful influence
good citizen; honest man; respectable member of society
same trade; same business; same profession
orderliness; put in order; tidying up; arranging neatly
redecoration; remodelling; remodeling; refurbishment
adjacency; contiguity; being adjoined
great nuisance; extremely annoying; quite embarrassing
cunning; crafty; wily; sly
structural alteration (of a building); reconstruction; rebuilding; remodelling; remodeling
stylistic beauty; beauty of form; beauty derived from refined style; established trope; beloved stock formula (in entertainment); time-honored routine
heavy blow; thump; wallop; belt; whack
bothersome; tiresome; bother to do
to turn one's face; to turn around; to look over one's shoulder
to remove; to get rid of; to clear away; to tear down
navel; belly button; protrusion or depression in the middle of an object; center; centre
pliantly; pliably; subserviently; ingratiatingly; servilely
alternating between happiness and anxiety; swinging between joy and sorrow; being glad and sad by turns; oscillating between optimism and pessimism
anything and everything; just about everything
to be famous; to be well-known
bowing twice; worshipping again; yours sincerely; sincerely yours
making something strong even stronger; solidifying something's chances; (lit.) (giving) a metal rod to an ogre
to break a promise; to go back on one's word; to renege
to go uninvited; to call on without an invitation; to barge in on; to throng to; to crowd into; to converge upon
legal; from a legal standpoint; legally speaking; de jure
sour (expression); (lit.) as if having chewed on a bitter bug
to speak with an accent; to mispronounce; to be corrupted (of word)