bitter smile; wry smile; forced smile; strained laugh
as usual; as always; as before; as ever; still
upright; honest; faithful; conscientious; sincere
exactly; precisely; closely; tightly; properly; without fail
to be shut; to close; to be locked; to tighten; to be tightened; to become sober
to droop (e.g. ears of grain); to bow one's head; to hang one's head
useless; futile; unnecessary; needless; not on business; unrelated
obstinate; stubborn; obdurate; headstrong; willful; perverse
more; much more; step; rung; paragraph; passage
to hurry; to rush; to hasten; to make something happen sooner
estimate (of costs); budget
resolution; vote; decision
meeting; assembly; party; society; association; club
rule; regulation; settlement; conclusion; habit; custom
record; minutes; record (e.g. in sports); results; to record; to document
the one before last; two generations, etc. previous
period; epoch; the times; those days; oldness; ancientness
to hold (in one's hand); to take (into one's hand); to own; to obtain
to read out; to read aloud; to call out; to finish reading; to read through
to repeat; to do something over again
absurd; ridiculous; silly; ludicrous; nonsensical; asinine
to go against; to act contrary to; to run counter to; to deviate from
quite capable of ...; could happen; not unlikely to
manner of speaking; verbal argument; objection; protesting a decision (esp. that of a sumo referee); rumor; rumour
whispering; murmuring; subdued
to mutter; to murmur; to grumble; to tweet (Twitter)
seeming; giving the appearance of; giving one the feeling of
dilution; watering down; inflation (of budget, claim, etc.); padding
intent; intention; bad faith; mens rea (guilty mind)
omission (from a list, record, etc.)
lump; mass; group; crowd; embodiment (of an idea, quality, feeling etc.); personification
fidelity; truth; authenticity; credibility
meagre; meager; scarce; limited; destitute; hard up
piece of paper; slip of paper; strip of paper; scrap of paper
quality; value; nature; inherent quality; logical quality
to take the name of; to call oneself; to pretend; to feign; to purport
division (of a larger group); branch; field; class (subclass); group; category
to receive; to get; to accept; to take; to interpret; to understand