fiend, fiendish, bear, still. bear down, pressing, egosurfing / profile, bear down on

Did you know JS Bach was a coffee fiend? He even wrote a caffeinated cantata...

Multiple studies show that men are more likely to marry and stay married to women who bear them sons rather than daughters. One reason may be that the desire to parent a “mini-me” is stronger among fathers than mothers.

From The Economist’s 1843 magazine

Why your marriage is more likely to last if you have sons, not daughters

Men are less likely to walk out on families with boys

ECON.ST

Salvador Dalí was born on May 11th 1904. His paintings are not beautiful; they spark no great emotion and can be fiendish to untangle. But what they do show is rare technical ability

Dalí's work sits halfway between enchanting fairytales and gruesome horror stills

Artist Salvador Dalí was born on this day in 1904

ECON.ST

Why are house prices in Britain so high? To help readers understand the fiendish complexities of the housing market, we've assembled a list of charts

In 2012 a European Commission survey tested the foreign-language proficiency of 54,000 students aged 14 and 15, in 14 nations. The average for all 14 states was 42%. England came bottom, with just 9%. The decline of languages at GCSE has inevitably had an effect higher up the academic food chain: the economy and the labour market bear the consequences http://econ.st/1H6xAZt

Shout louder

Not any more, son THE last time she was recruiting for her export-sales team, Sarah Grain hired a Lithuanian who speaks Russian, Polish and German. Her two previous...

ECON.ST

Major Cyclone Bears Down on India

By GARDINER HARRIS

A monstrous cyclone that may be among the most powerful storms ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal drew closer to the eastern coast of India on Saturday.

Two and a half years after its eruption, Syria's fiendishly complex internal conflict has attracted an especially tangled host of outside schemers, punters and players. Here is a list of the main outside actors, along with a description of why they care and what they aim to gain http://econ.st/1a9odbI


Google's Eric Schmidt Searches for Time to Write

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt says he snatches writing time whenever he gets a chance, as the deadline for his book bears down.

 TOKYO—With Japan's announcement on Tuesday that the government is taking charge of water containment at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant, experts say the site of one of the world's most-pressing nuclear cleanups may finally be getting the money and backing it needs.

2009   Why Google Wants You to Google Yourself

By TOM MCNICHOL

Google profiles are the search giant's fiendishly clever attempt to turn your egosurfing pain into their gain

egosurfing

ego+surfing

 still

NOUN

1[MASS NOUN] Deep silence and calm; stillness:the still of the night

More example sentencesSynonyms

2An ordinary static photograph as opposed to a motion picture, especially a single shot from a cinema film:film stills[AS MODIFIER]: stills photography

surf (INTERNET) Show phonetics
verb [I or T]
to spend time visiting a lot of websites:
Many towns and cities have cybercafes where you can surf the Internet/Net/Web.

surfing Show phonetics
noun [U]
Internet surfing

pressing

Pronunciation: /ˈprɛsɪŋ/

Translate pressing | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
adjective

• requiring quick or immediate action or attention:inflation was the most pressing problem he had pressing business in Scotland
• expressing something strongly or persistently:a pressing invitation

noun

• 1an act or instance of applying force or weight to something:pure-grade olive oil is the product of the second or third pressings

• 2a record or other object made by the application of force or weight.
• a series of objects pressed at one time:the EP sold out its first pressing in one day

Derivatives

pressingly
adverb

bear down

• (of a woman in labor) exert downward pressure in order to push the baby out.
• put pressure on someone or something:he bore down and allowed the Bears only one more run

bear down

1. Press or weigh down on someone or something. For example, This pen doesn't write unless you bear down hard on it. [Late 1600s]
2. Try hard, intensify one's efforts, as in If you'll just bear down, you'll pass the test.
3. Move forward in a pressing or threatening way, as in The ferry bore down on our little skiff. This usage was originally nautical. [Early 1700s]

bear down on

• move quickly toward someone, in a purposeful or an intimidating manner.
• take strict measures to deal with:a commitment to bear down on inflation

bear,

Line breaks: bear

Pronunciation: /bɛː/

verb (past borebɔː; past participle bornebɔːn)

[WITH OBJECT]

1(Of a person) carry:he was bearing a tray of brimming glassesthe warriors bore lances tipped with iron

1.1 (Of a vehicle or boat) convey (passengers orcargo):

steamboats bear the traveller out of Kerrerra Sound

1.2Have or display as a visible mark or feature:many of the papers bore his flamboyant signature

1.3Be called by (a name or title):he bore the surname Tiller

1.4(bear oneself) Carry or conduct oneself in a specified manner:she bore herself with dignity

2Support; carry the weight of:walls which cannot bear a stone vault

2.1

Take responsibility for:no one likes to bear the responsibility for suchdecisionsthe expert’s fee shall be borne by the tenant

2.2 Be able to accept or stand up to:

it is doubtful whether either of these distinctionswould bear scrutiny

3Endure (an ordeal or difficulty):she bore the pain stoically

3.1[WITH MODAL AND NEGATIVE] Manage to tolerate (asituation or experience):she could hardly bear his sarcasm[WITH INFINITIVE]: I cannot bear to see you hurt

3.2(cannot bear someone/thing) Strongly dislike:I can’t bear caviar

4Give birth to (a child):she bore sixteen daughters[WITH TWO OBJECTS]: his wife had borne him a son

4.1(Of a tree or plant) produce (fruit or flowers):a squash that bears fruit shaped like cucumbers

5[NO OBJECT, WITH ADVERBIAL OF DIRECTION] Turn andproceed in a specified direction:bear left and follow the old drove road

Origin

Old English beran, of Germanic origin; from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit bharati, Greekpherein, and Latin ferre.

fiendish

Syllabification: (fiend·ish)

Pronunciation: /ˈfēndiSH/

adjective

• extremely cruel or unpleasant; devilish: shrieks of fiendish laughter
• extremely awkward or complex:a fiendish problem

Derivatives

fiendishly
adverb

fiendishness
noun