dabble in - furnish with

-D-

• dabble in: When I was little I used to dabble in water.
• dance to: As soon as the music is played, couples got up and danced to it.
• debate on: People are unhappy that there has been no public debate on these issues.
• debate with: I see no point in debating with someone who holds extremist views.
• declare to: He declared to us that he will be unable to chair the meeting.
• declare on: The African nation has declared war on locusts which destroyed crops.
• decrease from: The prison population has decreased from ten thousands to nine thousands.
• decrease in: Human beings decrease in size as they grow older.
• dedicate to: He has dedicated his entire life to helping the homeless.
• deduce from: The police deduced from the evidence that more than one person were involved.
• defeat by: Our team was defeated by two goals to one.
• defraud of: The accountant defrauded his company of tens of thousands of dollars.
• delegate to: An able administrator should be able to delegate authority to the right person.
• deliberate about/on: They spent hours deliberating on the matter.
• deliver to: The postman delivered the letter to her house.
• demand from: They demanded an apology from me for something I said.
• demote from: The soldier was demoted from sergeant to corporal.
• denounce for: He was widely denounced for his deviant religious teachings.
• depart from: The first train departs from Birmingham at 6.00 a.m. tomorrow.
• deprive of: The prisoners of war were deprived of proper medical attention.
• describe to: The main witness described briefly to the police what happened.
• desist from: He was warned to desist from such undesirable behavior.
• despair of: She despaired of reviving the relationship that existed between her and Jack.
• detect in: He detected a change in her attitude towards her.
• deter from: Heavier penalties may deter motorists from committing more traffic offenses.
• deviate from: We had to deviate from our usual route due to a fallen tree across it.
• die from: My dog died from its wounds sustained in a fight with another dog.
• die of: More and more people are dying of cancer of various parts of their bodies.
• differ from: Humans differ from monkeys in their not having a tail.
• digress from: The story-teller digressed from his story for a while.
• direct to: He directed the traveler to the railway station.
• disabuse of: I didn’t say anything to disabuse him of that belief.
• disapprove of: Mother strongly disapproves of her daughter dying her hair red and blue.
• discharge from: He was certified clinically insane and discharged from the army.
• disconcert by: We were disconcerted by her statement.
• discourage by: She is easily discouraged by adverse criticisms.
• discourage from: Incentives have been cited to discourage students from playing truant..
• discriminate against: You should not discriminate against people from ethnic minorities.
• discriminate between: We were unable to discriminate between fake and genuine goods.
• disguise as: He disguised as a clown to entertain children.
• disgusted by: They were disgusted by her antisocial behavior.
• dismiss from: She was unfairly dismissed from her job.
• dispossess of: The captors dispossessed the captives of their valuables.
• disqualify from: He was disqualified from participating for flouting a rule.
• dissent form: John dissented from the majority opinion.
• dissuade from: His mother dissuaded Mike from taking up car racing.
• distinguish between: It is important to distinguish between fact and fiction in the film.
• distinguish from: It’s difficult to distinguish one of the twins from the other.
• distinguish in: He distinguished himself by scoring the highest number of goals in the season.
• distract from: He is easily distracted from whatever he’s doing by the slightest noise.
• diverge from: The path diverges from here and we don’t know which one to follow.
• divert from: Traffic had to be diverted from the main road due to a major accident.
• divide between/among: The money was to be divided equally among the children.
• drive for: You look tired; why not let him drive the car for you?
• drive to: I always like to drive to the sea-side.

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-E-

• elaborate on: He refused to elaborate on his next course of action.
• eliminate from: Jack was eliminated from the competition by a stronger opponent.
• embody in: The ideals of equality and freedom are embodied in the country’s constitution.
• embroil in: Bob found himself unexpectedly embroiled in a heated argument.
• emerge from: When the deer emerged from behind the bush, the hunter shot it dead.
• emigrate from: When his family emigrated from their homeland, he was only five years old.
• employ as: Ryan was employed as a security officer at the airport.
• encompass by: The entire area was encompassed by a dense forest.
• encourage by: We were greatly encouraged by the massive support for our proposal.
• engross in: Granny often engrossed herself in her writing.
• enjoin from: He was enjoined by law to stay away from her.
• enrage by: She was enraged by his derogatory comments.
• enrich by: My life has certainly been enriched by extensive reading.
• entitle to: Everybody is entitled to his or her own opinion.
• entrust to: The parents entrusted their baby to a nanny when they had to go overseas.
• entrust with: I entrusted her with the responsibility to manage the business while I was away.
• envelope in: The mountain peaks were enveloped in clouds.
• equip for: I think we are well equipped for the climb.
• escape from: The prisoner was captured two months after he escaped from the prison.
• escape with: She was very lucky to escape with her life.
• estimate at: The crowd of protesters was estimated at three thousands.
• excel in: Johnny excels in a number of things including swimming.
• exclude from: They exclude us from the trip.
• excuse from: We requested to be excused from participating.
• expatiate on: Once again he is expatiating on his favorite topic of communism.
• expect from: Wives expect faithfulness from their husbands.
• expect of: Faithfulness is expected of a husband.
• expend on: The government has to date expended two million dollars on the housing project.
• explain to: The mystery was not fully explained to the viewers.
• export to: The country exports huge quantities of military wares to third world countries.
• extract from: After five hours of interrogation, the police extracted a confession from him.
• extricate from: Finally, he managed to extricate himself from a very difficult situation.

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-F-

• feel like: Sometimes I feel like taking a walk in the rain.
• feel toward: I can’t describe how I feel toward that girl but I think I like her.
• fight against: The defending champion is going to fight against the challenger tonight.
• fight for: Freedom is something that is always worth fighting for .
• figure on: I was figuring on meeting him tomorrow.
• fill with: We have filled all the glasses with wine and are now ready to propose a toast.
• focus on: The astronomer focused his telescope on the comet.
• fool with: He fooled with his neighbor's dog once too often and got badly bitten on the hand.
• forget about: James drank a bit too much and forgot about catching the train home.
• forgive for: I will not forgive him for not forgiving me for what I said about him.
• fret about: She always has something to fret about .
• frighten by: Mrs. Muffet was frightened by a hairy spider while sitting on a park bench.
• frown at: The lady frowned at him for talking very loudly on his cell phone.
• furnish with: Each of the six bedrooms is furnished with a big desk, swivel chair and soft rug.

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