storefront, genuflect, water sth down, take up

EU Seen Weakening Emissions Law

Europe's first mandatory carbon caps on the auto industry will likely win an EU committee's approval Thursday, albeit in watered-down form.

As indoor smoking bans spread through the United States and Europe, so do creative ways to water them down.


European painting was Mr. de Montebello’s original field of expertise, and he has made some amazing catches. Vermeer’s extraterrestrial “Study of a Young Woman” is one. It took up residence in the museum in 1979.


The official story is that Microsoft and Google both genuflected to government regulators today testifying that they want laws to protect the privacy of Web ...

Paul Lacy

Brooklyn Storefronts Change With Borough

By SEWELL CHAN

W. W. Norton has published “Brooklyn Storefronts,” a collection of 75 color photographs of small, independently owned stores throughout the borough.

storefront 

noun [C] (UK shop front) US

the part of a shop which faces the road:

A number of storefronts were damaged in the riots.

genuflect
verb [I]
to bend one or both knees as a sign of respect to God, especially when entering or leaving a Catholic church:
People were genuflecting in front of the altar.

genuflection
noun [C or U]
1 when you genuflect
genuflection：跪拜；請安：教友進入教堂時，或舉行禮儀時，向耶穌聖體所行的單膝跪拜禮。又可稱作genuflexion。
2 when you make respectful signs or remarks:
Contemporary Hollywood movies often make subtle genuflections to the great film-makers of the past.

Idioms: take up

1. Raise, lift, as in We have to take up the old carpet and sand the floor. [c. 1300]

2. Reduce in size, shorten, tighten, as in I have to take up the hem of this coat, or You have to take up the slack in that reel or you'll never land a fish. [c. 1800]

3. Station oneself, settle in, as in We took up our positions at the front. [Mid-1500s]

4. Accept an option, bet, or challenge, as in No one wanted to take up that bet. This usage is often expanded to take someone up on, as in You're offering to clean the barn? I'll take you up on that.Take up dates from about 1700, the variant from the early 1900s.

5. Develop an interest in, begin an activity, as in Jim took up gardening. [Mid-1400s] Also see go into, def. 3.

6. Use up or occupy entirely, as in The extra duties took up most of my time, or This desk takes up too much space in the office, or How much room will your car take up? [c. 1600]

Also, take up room or time. See take up, def. 6.

7. Begin again, resume, as in I'll take up the story where you left off. [Mid-1600s]

8. Deal with, as in Let's take up these questions one at a time. [c. 1500]

9. Absorb, as in These large trees are taking up all the water in the soil. [Late 1600s]

10. Support, adopt as a protegé, as in She's always taking up one or another young singer. [Late 1300s] Also see the subsequent entries beginning with take up.

Request and gather donations, as in They were taking up a collection for the church that burned down, or The veterans' group takes up a collection every month of household goods and furniture. This idiom was first recorded in 1849.

water sth down (OPINION) phrasal verb [M]
to intentionally make an idea or opinion less extreme or forceful, usually so that other people will accept it:
The party has watered down its socialist ideals in order to appeal to the centre ground.

watered down adjective [before noun]
They have returned with a watered down and more acceptable version of the proposal.