recent state; present state; present condition; current status; current circumstances
sweetness; sugary taste; sweets; dessert; cake
to be somewhat different (from before, from others, etc.)
literally; to the letter; literal
gender; distinction of sex; sex
before very long; soon; someday; of the previously mentioned; of that number; among them
low (level, value, price, etc.)
small mercy (from some misfortune); silver lining of a dark cloud; consolation in sadness; blessing in disguise
mission; delegation; transmission
clear; clearing (a bar, hurdle, etc.); overcoming; getting through; clearing (the ball); clearing (e.g. a checked box)
quiet; calm; easily; comfortably; distant; far-off
to take seriously; to take someone at their word; to believe (to be true)
please; somehow or other; one way or another
to go through; to pass through; to get through; to cut across
handwriting; handwritten; hand-painted; hand-drawn
encircled flower seal (equiv. of a gold star awarded to children for good work at school)
concise; brief; succinct; compact (style)
dimension; perspective; point of reference; level (of something)
still more; to say nothing of; not to mention; still less
because; the reason is; if you want to know why
to give one's everything; to make one's best effort; to be enthused; to put your back into it
imposing stance; daunting pose
a blink of time; (lit.) the time it takes to say "Ah!"
sneakily; secretly; stealthily; on the sly
labour shortage; labor shortage; shortage of workers; shortage of hands
to apply (a rule); to be applicable; to come under (a category); to fulfill; to hold true
distinction; differentiation; classification
objection; refutation; rebuttal; counterargument
main question; real issue at hand
absurd; nonsensical; preposterous
to stop (plug) one's ears
starting to work in a shop; joining a shop as an employee; going inside a shop; opening up a shop (in a building, etc.)
long-established shop; shop of long standing; old shop
recipe; prescription (medical); how-to guide (e.g. crafts)
hard to say; inexpressible; hesitant to say; embarrassing; delicate
to quarry; to cut (timber); to begin to talk; to break the ice; to start a fire (with flint, by rubbing sticks together, etc.); to select and extract (from a media file)
-clad; in the midst of; tenths (e.g. wholesale price, as tenths of retail price); times (i.e. multiplied by); able-to-seat (of a chair, etc.)
seat at a table; place at a table
working adult; full-fledged member of society