(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
A ~ is a very frightening dream.
All the victims still suffered ~s...
Jane did not eat cheese because it gives her ~s.
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2.
If you refer to a situation as a ~, you mean that it is very frightening and unpleasant.
The years in prison were a ~.
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3.
If you refer to a situation as a ~, you are saying in a very emphatic way that it is irritating because it causes you a lot of trouble.
Taking my son Peter to a restaurant was a ~...
In practice a graduate tax is an administrative ~.
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