to aggravate a situation

См. также в других словарях:

• aggravate — verb 1) the new law could aggravate the situation Syn: worsen, make worse, exacerbate, inflame, compound; add fuel to the fire/flames, add insult to injury, rub salt in the wound Ant: alleviate, improve 2) informal you don …   Thesaurus of popular words

• aggravate — [[t]æ̱grəveɪt[/t]] aggravates, aggravating, aggravated 1) VERB If someone or something aggravates a situation, they make it worse. [V n] Stress and lack of sleep can aggravate the situation... [V n] He would only aggravate the injury by rubbing… …   English dictionary

• aggravate — ag|gra|vate [ˈægrəveıt] v [T] [Date: 1500 1600; : Latin; Origin: , past participle of aggravare to make heavier , from ad to + gravare to make heavy ] 1.) to make a bad situation, an illness, or an injury worse ≠ ↑improve ▪ Their money problems… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

• aggravate — verb 1) the new law could aggravate the situation Syn: worsen, make worse, exacerbate, inflame, compound 2) informal you ll only aggravate him! Syn: annoy, antagonize, irritate, exasperate, nett …   Synonyms and antonyms dictionary

• aggravate — /ˈægrəveɪt / (say agruhvayt) verb (t) (aggravated, aggravating) 1. to make worse or more severe; intensify, as anything evil, disorderly, or troublesome: *To aggravate the situation, the Asian immigrants were becoming numerous in many suburbs… …  

• aggravate —    in the sense of exasperate has been with us at least since the early seventeenth century and has been opposed by grammarians for about as long. Strictly, aggravate means to make a bad situation worse. If you walk on a broken leg, you may… …   Dictionary of troublesome word

• aggravate — verb ADVERB ▪ seriously, severely ▪ Their negative reactions have greatly aggravated the situation. ▪ slightly ▪ further Aggravate is used with these nouns as the object: ↑ …   Collocations dictionary

• situation — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ general, overall, whole ▪ current, immediate, present ▪ international, local, national …   Collocations dictionary

• aggravate — UK [ˈæɡrəveɪt] / US [ˈæɡrəˌveɪt] verb [transitive] Word forms aggravate : present tense I/you/we/they aggravate he/she/it aggravates present participle aggravating past tense aggravated past participle aggravated 1) to make something bad become… …   English dictionary

• aggravate — ag|gra|vate [ ægrə,veıt ] verb transitive 1. ) to make something bad become worse, especially a situation or a medical condition: His headache was aggravated by all the noise. This speech will only aggravate the existing tensions. 2. ) MAINLY… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

• aggravate —   Strictly, means to make a bad situation worse. If you walk on a broken leg, you may aggravate the injury. People can never be aggravated, only circumstances …   Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors