impediment; burden; encumbrance; hindrance; drag
to hit a nerve; to go for the throat; to touch a sore spot
to withdraw; to leave; to retire; to back down; to give up
to talk back; to answer back; to retort; to say over; to repeat (what one has said)
war potential; military strength; fighting power; ability (to compete); capabilities; valuable asset
to (an extent); up to; doesn't amount to doing ...; not significant enough to require ...; even if ...
roll (e.g. of cloth); winding (e.g. watch); volume (of book); speeding up; heel (of a Japanese sandal)
dimly; faintly; absentmindedly; vacantly; idly; aimlessly
dangerous; critical; grave; uncertain; unreliable; dodgy
something's wrong (with someone); not right (in the head); not oneself; crazy; nuts
movement; transfer; migration; mobile; moving; traveling
inscrutable; incomprehensible
hypothesis; supposition; assumption; tentative theory
to keep secret; to conceal
to resolve; to ready (oneself); to make up one's mind
to stiffen; to become stiff
with a whiff; with a puff; suddenly; abruptly; without warning
mischief; prank; pastime; hobby; playing with (a lighter, etc.); fooling around with
to jump up; to spring up; to move around; to bounce up and down; to pound (of one's heart, e.g. with excitement); to throb
peeking; peeping (e.g. through a hole, narrow gap)
to tighten; to stiffen; to brace; to strain
phantom; vision; illusion
since some time ago; for some time; for quite a while
level ground; horizon; field of view
(not) anything; (nothing) at all; (not) any
to bury (e.g. in the ground); to fill up (e.g. audience fills a hall); to cause to be packed; to plug (a gap); to stop (a gap); to make up for (a loss, shortage, etc.); to make amends
meteor; shooting star; falling star
to one's heart's content or satisfaction
concerning the result (as opposed to the means used to achieve this result or the original goal)
phantom; vision; illusion; extremely rare item
operation; management; handling; manipulating (to one's benefit); manipulation; influencing
intentionally; deliberately; designedly; especially; particularly
joint; knuckle; tune; melody; knot (in wood); node in a bamboo stem
preface; introduction; preamble
to decide to; to pretend that; to make a practice of doing; to make it a rule to
before one's eyes; under one's nose; immediate (e.g. interests); present; foresight; near future
male coming-of-age-ceremony; shaving one's eyebrows, blackening one's teeth, and wearing one's hair in the marumage style (of a newly married woman; Edo period)
to finish; to get it over with; to settle; to pay back; to get along (without something); to make do with (without)
to pose as; to (successfully) impersonate; to pretend to be; to (completely) become; to (fully) turn into
camouflage; disguise; pretense; feigning; masquerade
form (as opposed to substance); formality; method; system; format; mode