as a matter of fact; really; truly; entirely; completely; wholly
to be clear (of a sight, sound, colour, etc.); to be bright; to be clear-headed; to be alert; to look upbeat; to be perky; to master (a skill)
to undergo great hardships; to waste away from great effort and worry
conviction; belief; confidence
to remind (someone of something); to call attention to; to make sure of; to emphasize; to emphasise
attentive; cautious; careful; watchful
in front of one's eyes; just nearby; within a stone's throw
bone; frame; outline; core; backbone; spirit
cracking sound (e.g. cracking one's knuckles); crunching sound
at this juncture; after all this time; at this stage; now
halfway; half measures; unfinished; incomplete; by halves; half-baked
evening; night; nighttime
to grapple with; to wrestle with; to engage in a bout; to tackle (e.g. a problem); to come to grips with; to work hard on
easy; trifling; harmless; nothing of the sort; not at all
Eh?; What?; Come on!; Damn!
take care of yourself; get well soon; God bless you; bless you
even so; anyhow; at any rate
devastating; gut-wrenching; shocking; startling; sensational; astounding
matter being discussed (e.g. in a private conversation); it's not your business; it doesn't matter (to you); our side of the story (in contrast to another's version)
difficult to ...; hard to ...
blind spot (on the retina); blind spot; weak point; loophole
adviser; someone to consult with; someone to turn to about one's concerns; confidant
(a) little; somewhat; somehow
to be in high spirits; to be full of vigor (vigour); to be enthusiastic; to be eager; to stretch to breaking point
running away; escaping on foot
fast; quick; early (in the day, etc.); premature; (too) soon; not yet
suspicious behavior; acting suspiciously
incident; affair; happening; event
rote memorization (memorisation); rote learning; indiscriminate memorizing (memorising)
scoring; score; points made; marks obtained; goals; runs
lasting long; continuation; keeping at (something); sticking to (something)
last-minute cramming; overnight cramming; (vegetables) salted just overnight
filling (up) a hole; filling in (for a gap, vacancy, etc.); stopgap; making up (for a loss, damage, etc.); covering (a deficit); cloze deletion (test format)
character (esp. kanji); letter; handwriting; penmanship; the ... word (e.g. "the L word" = "love")
free-form (answer, etc.); essay style
properly; accurately; exactly; neatly; tidily; orderly
(non-documentary) television series; TV drama; teledrama; drama; dramatic incident; spectacle
trivia; snippet of knowledge
reinforcement; strengthening
to watch intently; to stare
to reach; to amount to; to be up to the task; to come up to; to compare with; to be a match (for)