betterment; improvement; kaizen (Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement)
seeming; giving the appearance of; giving one the feeling of
in a sense; in some way; to an extent
terrible; dreadful; amazing (e.g. of strength); great (e.g. of skills); to a great extent; vast (in numbers)
courage; bravery; pluck; nerve; grit; guts
while; even though; despite
descent; fall; drop; decline; downturn; subsidence
deep; profound; dense; thick; close (relationship); intense; strong
size; large and small (sizes); various sizes; daishō (matched pair of long and short swords); large and small drums; long months and short months; sic bo (Macao dice game)
mass of rock; rock lump; block
to fill to capacity; to pack; to complete; to tessellate
underground space; subterranean space; subterranea
to break through; to penetrate; to pierce
remains; traces; (the sorrow of) parting; end
hereabouts; around there; that area
town; city; municipal; urban
trace; vestige; mark; sign; evidence
prototype; model; pattern; archetypal
faint hopes; dim prospects; little hope; unlikely (to be successful)
zero; 0; nought; nothing; zilch
Japanese pagoda tree (Sophora japonica)
function; facility; faculty; feature
to be very far apart from; to be remote; to be quite different from
loading (on board); equipping; equipped (with); built-in
visit for no reason; go on fool's errand
fruitless effort; wasted effort; abortive scheme; futility
to a great extent; impressive; staggering; horrible; complete; whole
to serve; to work for; to attend
to ask; to enquire; to query
arrogance; insolence; disrespect
to get heavy; to worsen (of illness); to grow serious
that way; that direction; there; that (one); you; your family
isolated; standing alone; falling in drops (e.g. rain); saying a single word; muttering just a few words
feature; trait; characteristic; peculiarity; distinction
hypothesis; supposition; assumption
to open out (of a view, scenery, etc.); to spread out; to improve (of luck, prospects, etc.); to get better; to develop (of a town, civilization, etc.); to become civilized; to be sensible
pink; erotic (usually used in relation to the sex industry); blue; pornographic
to hit; to strike; to strike (noon, etc.); to sound (cymbals, etc.); to beat (rhythmically, e.g. pulse, waves, etc.); to move; to impress
painful; sore; cringy; embarrassing; exceeding
because ...; for ...; the reason being ...; as for ...; when it comes to ...; regarding ...
standard item; usual thing; (a) classic; basic item (with stable demand); staple goods