in the nicest possible way

get here by eight if possible — llega antes de las ocho, si es posible or si puedes

• as... as possible, try to make the lesson as interesting as possible — trata de que la lección sea lo más interesante posible

you must practise as much as possible — debes practicar todo lo que puedas or todo lo posible

• we provide the best possible accommodation for our students — nuestros estudiantes disponen del mejor de los alojamientos

• if (at all) possible — si es posible, a ser posible

• to make sth possible, improvements made possible by new technology — mejoras fpl que la nueva tecnología ha hecho posible

• I meant it in the nicest possible way — lo dije con la mejor de las intenciones

• we will help whenever possible — ayudaremos siempre y cuando sea posible, ayudaremos siempre que podamos

• where possible, wherever possible — donde sea posible

• they have joined the job market at the worst possible time — se han incorporado al mercado de trabajo en el peor momento posible or en el peor de los momentos

• it's just possible he may still be there — existe una pequeña posibilidad de que siga allí

get here by eight if possible — llega antes de las ocho, si es posible or si puedes

no tengo palabras o me faltan palabras para expresar lo que siento — I haven't got the o there aren't words to express how I feel, words fail to express how I feel

sin decir o chistar * palabra — without a word

• con buenas palabras, me lo dijo con muy buenas palabras — he told me as cool as you like *

• medias palabras — hints

• en una palabra — in a word

palabras cruzadas — LAm (=crucigrama) crossword sing

palabras gruesas — crude language sing

palabras mayores — † offensive language sing

ser palabras mayores (=ser importante) —

tiene el don de la palabra, es de palabra fácil — he has a way with words, he has the gift of the gab *

• de palabra, he pecado solo de palabra — I've sinned in word only

• dirigir la palabra a algn, hace tiempo que no me dirige la palabra — he hasn't spoken to me for a long time

• ceder la palabra a algn, conceder la palabra a algn — to give sb the floor, invite sb to speak

• pedir la palabra — to ask for the floor, ask to be allowed to speak

• tener la palabra — to have the floor

• tomar la palabra — to take the floor, speak

• hacer uso de la palabra — to take the floor, speak

palabra que yo no tengo nada que ver — * I've got nothing to do with it, (I) promise!

-¿de verdad que no sabías nada? -¡palabra! o hum ¡palabrita del Niño Jesús! — "you really didn't know anything?" - "cross my heart and hope to die!"

• bajo palabra — (Mil) on parole

• dar o empeñar su palabra — to give one's word

• faltar a su palabra — to go back on o break one's word

palabra de honor — word of honour, word of honor (EEUU)

yo no sabía ni una palabra del asunto — I didn't know a thing o anything about it

eso ya son palabras mayores — (refiriéndose - a insulto, acusación) those are strong words; (- a propuesta excesiva) that's taking things too far

quitarle las palabras de la boca a alguien — to take the words right out of somebody's mouth

tener la última palabra — to have the final say

tener unas palabras con alguien — to have words with somebody (colloq)

nunca falta a su palabra — he never breaks o goes back on his word

se lo devolví palabra! — I gave it back to her, honest! (colloq)

cobrarle la palabra a alguien — (Chi fam) to hold somebody to his/her word (colloq)

dejar a alguien con la palabra en la boca: me dejó con la palabra en la boca — ( me interrumpió) he cut me off in mid-sentence; ( no me dejó hablar) he didn't give me a chance to open my mouth

tener/tomar la palabra — to have/to take the floor (frml)

ceder (le) la palabra a alguien — to give the floor to somebody (frml), to call upon somebody to speak

yo no sabía ni una palabra del asunto — I didn't know a thing o anything about it

eso ya son palabras mayores — (refiriéndose - a insulto, acusación) those are strong words; (- a propuesta excesiva) that's taking things too far

quitarle las palabras de la boca a alguien — to take the words right out of somebody's mouth

tener la última palabra — to have the final say

tener unas palabras con alguien — to have words with somebody (colloq)

nunca falta a su palabra — he never breaks o goes back on his word

se lo devolví palabra! — I gave it back to her, honest! (colloq)

cobrarle la palabra a alguien — (Chi fam) to hold somebody to his/her word (colloq)

dejar a alguien con la palabra en la boca: me dejó con la palabra en la boca — ( me interrumpió) he cut me off in mid-sentence; ( no me dejó hablar) he didn't give me a chance to open my mouth

tener/tomar la palabra — to have/to take the floor (frml)

ceder (le) la palabra a alguien — to give the floor to somebody (frml), to call upon somebody to speak

Ex: A subject index has alphabetical terms or words as headings; These terms represent concepts or subjects.

non riesco più a sopportarla — I can't stand her any more o any longer

è più furbo che capace — he's cunning rather than able

è più che intelligente — he's clever to say the least

noi lavoriamo più di loro — we work more o harder than they do

mi piace più di ogni altra cosa al mondo — I like it better o more than anything else in the world

non guadagna più di me — he doesn't earn any more than me

è più intelligente di te — he is more intelligent than you (are)

è più povero di te — he is poorer than you (are)

cammina più veloce di me — she walks more quickly than me o than I do

non ce n'erano più di 15 — there were no more than 15

ha più di 70 anni — she is over 70

è a più di 10 km da qui — it's more than o over 10 km from here

più di uno gli ha detto che... — several people have told him that...

si fa sempre più difficile — it is getting more and more difficult

due volte più grande del mio — twice as big as mine

ne voglio di più — I want some more

3 ore/litri di più che — 3 hours/litres more than

una volta di più — once more

ci sono 3 persone in più — there are 3 more o extra people

mi ha dato 3 pacchetti in più — he gave me 3 more o extra packets, (troppi) he gave me 3 packets too many

e in più fa anche... — and in addition to o on top of that he also...

è ciò che ho di più caro — it's the thing I hold dearest

è quello che mi piace di più — it's the one I like the most o best

ciò che mi ha colpito di più — the thing that struck me most

fare qc il più in fretta possibile — to do sth as quickly as possible

è il programma che guardo più spesso — it's the programme I watch most often

più due — (gradi) plus two, two degrees above freezing o above zero

urlava a più non posso — she was shouting at the top of her voice

al più presto — as soon as possible

al più tardi — at the latest

più che altro — above all

più che mai — more than ever

chi più chi meno hanno tutti contribuito — everybody made a contribution of some sort

più o meno — more or less

avrà più o meno 30 anni — he must be about 30

sarò lì più o meno alle 4 — I'll be there about 4 o'clock

minuto più minuto meno — give or take a minute

né più né meno — no more, no less

né più né meno come sua madre — just like her mother

e per di più — (inoltre) and what's more, moreover

tanto più che non sai neppure parlare l'inglese — all the more so as you can't even speak English

chi ha più voti di tutti? — who has the most votes?

più gente viene meglio è — the more the merrier

ci sono più macchine — there are more cars

ci vuole più sale — it needs more salt

i genitori, più i figli — parents plus o and their children

ottenere il più possibile — to get the best possible

tutt'al più o al più possiamo andare al cinema — if the worst comes to the worst we can always go to the cinema

il più delle volte — more often than not, generally

per lo più — perlopiù

tre volte più lungo di — three times longer than o as long as

mangia più di me — she eats more than I do o more than me

non fuma più — he doesn't smoke any more o any longer

una volta di più — once more o again

è attivo quanto lei, se non di più — he is just as active as her, if not more so o or even more so; (con valore superlativo)

il più è convincerlo — the main thing o the most difficult thing is to persuade him

sentido del ridículo, su sentido del ridículo le impidió hacerlo — he felt self-conscious o embarrassed so he didn't do it

tiene un gran sentido del ridículo — she easily feels self-conscious o embarrassed

la vida sin ti no tendría sentido — without you life would have no meaning o would be meaningless

• doble sentido — double meaning

• sin sentido — [palabras, comentario] meaningless

no le veo sentido a esta discusión — I can't see any sense o point in this argument

• sin sentido — [crueldad, violencia] senseless

• tener sentido — to make sense

solo tiene sentido quejarse si así puedes conseguir lo que quieres — it only makes sense to complain if o the only point in complaining is if you can then get what you want

no tiene sentido que te disculpes ahora — it's pointless (you) apologizing now, there's no sense o point in (you) apologizing now

• perder el sentido — to lose consciousness

• recobrar el sentido — to regain consciousness

• en el sentido de las agujas del reloj — clockwise

en sentido contrario al de las agujas del reloj — anti-clockwise, counterclockwise (EEUU)

• en sentido amplio — in the broad sense

• en el buen sentido de la palabra — in the best o good sense of the word

• en cierto sentido — in a sense

• en ese sentido — [con nombre] to that effect; [con verbo] in that sense, in that respect

en ese sentido no sabemos qué hacer — in that sense o respect, we don't know what to do

• en sentido estricto — in the strict sense of the word o term

no es, en sentido estricto, un pez de río — it's not a freshwater fish in the strict sense of the word o term, it's not strictly speaking a freshwater fish

• en sentido figurado — in the figurative sense, figuratively

• en sentido lato — in the broad sense

• tomar algo en el mal sentido — to take sth the wrong way

• en tal sentido — to that effect

un acuerdo en tal sentido sería interpretado como una privatización — such an agreement o an agreement to that effect would be interpreted as privatization

poner los cinco sentidos en algo — to give something one's full attention; ( ante peligro) to keep one's wits about one

no le encuentro sentido a lo que haces — I can't see any sense o point in what you're doing

esa política ya no tiene sentido — that policy doesn't make sense anymore o is meaningless now

gírese en sentido contrario al de las agujas del reloj — turn (round) in a counterclockwise (AmE) o (BrE) an anticlockwise direction

venían en sentido contrario or opuesto al nuestro — they were coming in the opposite direction to us

calle de sentido único or (Méx) de un solo sentido — one-way street

poner los cinco sentidos en algo — to give something one's full attention; ( ante peligro) to keep one's wits about one

no le encuentro sentido a lo que haces — I can't see any sense o point in what you're doing

esa política ya no tiene sentido — that policy doesn't make sense anymore o is meaningless now

gírese en sentido contrario al de las agujas del reloj — turn (round) in a counterclockwise (AmE) o (BrE) an anticlockwise direction

venían en sentido contrario or opuesto al nuestro — they were coming in the opposite direction to us

calle de sentido único or (Méx) de un solo sentido — one-way street

Ex: In establishing subdivisions for use with the names of people or peoples consider the connotation, in addition to the denotation, of the wording and structure of the subdivision.