to strengthen; to beef up; to put on a firm basis; to ensure; to secure
perpetuation of one's descendants
public power; governmental authority
police questioning (of a suspicious person); police checkup
licence; license; permit; certificate (of qualification)
bitter tears; (lit.) tears of blood
large size (paper, book, etc.); ōban; large oval gold coin used in the Edo period
somewhat thick; relatively thick; thickish; on the thick side
examination results; test result; test outcome
highly unpredictable; touch and go
preconception; preconceived notion; prejudice
characteristic; (distinctive) feature; peculiarity; spot color; spot colour
buying; shopping; buyer; purchase
scissors; shears; clippers; hole punch
paper knife; letter opener
box cutter; utility knife
to tear to pieces; to tear to shreds; to pick (e.g. fruit); to pluck; to do ... heavily; to do ... heartily
cooking class; cookery school
taking no notice (of); thinking nothing of; disregarding; not aware of; completely ignoring; being out of consideration
full stomach; filling one's stomach; eating one's fill; complete; total; full
side job (outside of one's main employment); side gig; homeworking; simple job carried out at home; (secretly) working on something unrelated to the class (or conference, etc.) one is attending
once in a lifetime; once in one's life
to succeed; to relieve; to take the place of; to substitute for; to be exchanged; to change (places with)
time and time again; many times; a number of times
flashy; gaudy; wrapped in cheap flattery
grabbing a handful (of); grabbing as much as one can in one handful; catching with one's hands
to be noisy; to be astir; to be abuzz; to be in commotion; to be aflutter; to be unsettled
piece(s) of firewood (esp. chopped or split from logs); kindling (twigs, branches, etc.); firewood
to ignite; to set fire to; to spark (an incident, etc.); to inflame (a situation, etc.)
more than most people; more than other people; compared with other people; more than others
hot topic; talk of the town
grilling (fish) with salt; broiling with salt; boiling seawater to get salt
charcoal grilling; char-grilling
passing mark (examination); passing grade
grazing; skimming; almost touching; barely; just; narrowly
short pause; short interval