1 [count] : a particular goal or aim : something that a person hopes to do or achieve • My first ambition as a child was to be in the circus. • The wife of a famous poet, she had literary ambitions of her own. [=she wanted to be a writer too] • He has ambitions for an acting career. = He has ambitions to become an actor. = Hisambition is to be/become an actor. • She finally achieved/realized/fulfilled herlife’s ambition[=the thing she most wanted to do in her life] when she started her own business.
2 [noncount] : a desire to be successful, powerful, or famous • He lacked ambition and couldn’t compete with the others. • With her talent and fierce ambition [=her very strong desire to succeed], she became a very successful actress.
3 [noncount]US : a desire to do things and be active — usually used in negative constructions • I was tired and had no ambition[=initiative, energy], so I just spent the whole weekend watching TV.
1 : a stone by the side of a road that shows the distance in miles to a specified place
2 : an important point in the progress or development of something: a very important event or advance — usually followed by in • The birth of their first child was a (major) milestonein their marriage. • The study marks an important milestonein our understanding of the disease.
(esmagar, amassar, espremer, fazer som de batida em massa mole, pôr um fim a, comprimir)
inflected forms: squashes; squashed; squashing
1 [with object] : to press (something) into a flat or flatter shape • She squashed the bug. • He squashed his nose against the window.• The tomatoes got squashed.
2 [with object] : to stop (something) from continuing by doing or saying something • She tried to squash [=quash] the rumors. • His poor performance squashed any hope he had of a promotion. • The boss squashed my idea immediately.
3 always followed by an adverb or preposition : to move into a space that is very tight or crowded [no object] • Four of ussquashed [=squeezed] into the backseat. • (British) Squash up[=move closer together] to make room for one more person. [with object] • Someone had squashed all the ribbons together in one box. — often used as (be) squashed• We were squashed between the table and wall. • The ribbons had all beensquashed together into one box.
(esmigalhar-se, desintegrar-se, cair em pedaços, desintegrar-se)
inflected forms: crumbles; crumbled; crumbling
1 [with object] : to break (something) into small pieces • Crumblethe cookies into small bits. • The recipe calls for the herbs to becrumbled.
2 [no object] : to separate into many small pieces : to fall apart • The arch had crumbled [=disintegrated] under the weight of all those stones. • bones so old they had crumbled to dust •crumbling buildings/monuments/walls
3 [no object] : to break down completely : to stop functioning • Peace talks between the two parties have crumbled. [=collapsed] • She was extremely depressed after her marriage crumbled. • theircrumbling marriage
/æmˈbɪʃən/ noun
