gradually; by degrees; little by little; steps; stairs; staircase
to shave (wood, leather, etc.); to sharpen (e.g. pencil); to cut down (budget, expenses, staff, time, etc.); to curtail; to delete; to erase
grinding of the teeth; involuntary nocturnal tooth grinding; bruxism; grinding one's teeth out of anger or vexation; gnashing one's teeth; gritting one's teeth
(a) little; somewhat; somehow
official post; regular post; principal post (as opposed to secondary post); I (of someone in government or the civil service)
speech; words; one's lines; remarks
tofu; bean curd; beancurd
to be packed (with); to be full (space, schedule, etc.); to be blocked (road, pipe, nose, etc.); to be clogged; to shorten (width, interval, etc.); to shrink (shirt, word form, etc.); to be at a loss
thickheaded; insensitive; dull; thick-skinned
(verbal) abuse; denunciation; disparagement; vilification; scathing criticism
you bastard!; you son of a bitch!
to stick into (of something with a sharp point); to prick; to pierce; to resonate emotionally; to move
management; dealing with; course of events; circumstances; end result (usu. bad); outcome
yes; indeed; ha!; what?; huh?; sigh
ah!; oh!; yes; indeed; aah; gah
war; fighting; fierce competition
inevitable; necessary; certain; inevitability; necessity
(I) think (that); (I) have a feeling (that); (I) fancy (that)
really; truly; indeed; good grief
furthermore; again; after all; more and more; moreover; even more
to sigh; to breathe a sigh
so far; up to now; hitherto; that's enough (for today); it ends here
time after time; countless times; many a time; dozens of times
to exchange (messages, greetings, arguments, etc.); to intersect; to cross; ... with one another; ... to each other
as one would expect; naturally; indeed; still; all the same; after all
under (guidance, supervision, rules, the law, etc.); under (a flag, the sun, etc.); beneath; with (e.g. one blow); on (the promise, condition, assumption, etc. that ...); (somebody's) side
to send; to forward; to hand over (e.g. money)
story; tale; narrative; account; fable; legend
many; numerous; various; large number of
outbreak (e.g. of war); outburst; sudden occurrence
lie; fib; mistake; error; unwise move; bad decision
as was expected; just as one thought; sure enough; really; actually; ever
real feeling; actual feeling; to actually feel; to have a real feeling (that ...); to experience personally
to accompany; to go hand in hand with; to be consequent upon; to be accompanied by; to bring with; to take with
to hear; to listen (e.g. to music); to ask; to enquire; to hear about; to hear of; to follow (advice, order, etc.)
vague; ambiguous; shady; disreputable; fuzzy
in the first place; to begin with; after all; anyway; beginning; start
the world; society; sphere; circle; world-renowned; world-famous
another world (esp. in fiction); otherworld; parallel universe; different-dimension world; isekai