labour shortage; labor shortage; shortage of workers; shortage of hands
to leave nothing undone; to give good service; to attend to everything; to be on someone's tracks (e.g. police); to catch up with; to close in on
beginning; clue; starting point
intelligence gathering; information gathering
real intention; true motive; true meaning
to be complicated; to be elaborate; (arch.) to push in; (arch.) to be crowded
difficult to ...; hard to ...
pretext for not revealing something (e.g. actual reason for one's failure, vested interest, etc.)
strict; severe; stern; rigid; rigorous; tough
shame; embarrassment; disgrace
tight-lipped; able to keep a secret
person with a lot of experience; old hand; veteran (in a particular field)
to read and understand; to subject to close analysis; to read deeply; to decipher; to decode
fictitious; imaginary; fanciful; aerial; overhead
order; sequence; procedure
to collect; to gather; to compile; to arrange; to settle
how many people; a number of people
whole passage; full text; whole sentence; full paragraph
to point; to nominate; to select someone; to identify; to indicate; to play (a game of shogi)
to hew; to chop up; to mangle; to mince
face; mask; face guard; (in kendo) striking the head; surface (esp. a geometrical surface); page; aspect
so to speak; so to call it; as it were
to explain; to dispel doubts
study; scholarship; learning; discipline; branch of learning; (a) science
width; breadth; freedom (e.g. of thought); latitude; gap; difference (e.g. in price)
nature; the natural world; realm of nature
fiction; fabrication; concoction; fictitious; fictional; imaginary
human emotions (joy, anger, grief and pleasure)
to investigate thoroughly; to examine closely; to probe into; to be obsessed with a thought; to brood over; to worry about
to find out; to discover; to select; to pick out; to look out (from the inside); to be wide-eyed (in surprise, anger, etc.)
just because; even if; even though
to manufacture; to produce; to raise (crops); to invent; to dream up; to create
several years; a few years
creation; generation; formation; derivation
economy; economics; finance; (one's) finances; being economical; economy
invention; intelligent; clever; (arch.) making sense (of something); (arch.) understanding