Body & Health Actions — B1 Essential Words

bleed /bliːd/ verb B1 Health

Meaning: To lose blood from your body because of a cut or injury; blood flows out.

Example: His nose started to bleed.

Another example: The cut bled for a minute.

Collocations: bleed from · bleeding nose · bleed a lot

Synonyms: lose blood, hemorrhage (medical, serious)

Word family: bled (past) · bleeding (n/adj) · blood (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Its past is BLED — rhymes with red for easy cruelty. 'My heart bleeds for you' is sympathy with irony options.

🗣 In spoken American English: Colors 'bleed' in wash too — shirts suffer their own version.

Register: Neutral — health essential.

yawn /jɔːn/ verb / noun B1 Health

Meaning: To open your mouth wide and breathe in deeply because you are tired or bored; this action or sound.

Example: He yawned during the long film.

Another example: A big yawn escaped her.

Collocations: yawn loudly · a yawn · yawn with tiredness

Synonyms: gape, sigh-open

Word family: yawns (n pl) · yawning (adj) · yawny (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Contagious across rooms and even species — dogs catch ours. Even reading the word triggers it in half of readers (you're welcome).

🗣 In spoken American English: Its rudeness is purely a matter of covering the mouth.

Register: Neutral — health basics.

blink /blɪŋk/ verb B1 Health

Meaning: To close and open your eyes very quickly, many times a day without thinking; a flashing light does the same.

Example: She blinked in the bright light.

Another example: The red light blinked on and off.

Collocations: blink your eyes · blink twice · blinking light

Synonyms: flutter, wink (one eye, on purpose)

Antonyms: stare

Word family: blinks (v) · blink (n) · blinker (n — car signal in US!)

⚠ Common mistake: Cars wear blinkers (turn signals) — same flicker. 'In the blink of an eye' means instantly, for good reason (about 0.3 seconds).

🗣 In spoken American English: Don't-blink contests punish it competitively.

Register: Neutral — health basics.

stretch /stretʃ/ verb B1 Health

Meaning: To make your body or a part of it as straight and long as possible; to extend material, land, or time over a wider area.

Example: Stretch your arms after sitting.

Another example: The road stretches for miles.

Collocations: stretch your legs · stretch out · stretch the budget

Synonyms: extend, lengthen, reach

Antonyms: shrink, contract

Word family: stretches (n pl) · stretchy (adj) · stretch (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Cats are its professors. Budgets, truths, and coastlines get 'stretched' in offices and essays alike.

🗣 In spoken American English: The 7th-inning stretch made it a baseball ceremony with a song.

Register: Neutral — health essential.

limp /lɪmp/ verb / noun B1 Health

Meaning: To walk with difficulty because one leg is hurt, favoring the good side; this walking style. Also (adjective) soft and not stiff.

Example: He limped after the football injury.

Another example: The dog limps on its back leg.

Collocations: limp home · walk with a limp · a limp

Synonyms: hobble, shuffle (different)

Antonyms: stride

Word family: limps (v) · limping (n) · limp (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: One word covers the walk and the wet lettuce leaf — injured legs and tired salads. Context walks it one way or the other.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its brave version: finishing the race anyway.

Register: Neutral — health staple.

digest /daɪˈdʒest/ verb B1 Health

Meaning: To break down food in the stomach so the body can use it; also to think about new information until you understand it.

Example: Wait an hour to digest lunch before swimming.

Another example: She needed time to digest the news.

Collocations: digest food · digest the news · easy to digest

Synonyms: break down, process, absorb

Word family: digestion (n) · digestive (adj) · digest (n — a summary!)

⚠ Common mistake: News and lunch 'digest' alike — the metaphor is the stomach of the mind. A Reader's DIGEST is its noun twin: information, pre-chewed.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its adjective system (digestive) guards many a biscuit box abroad.

Register: Formal — health essential.

scratch /skrætʃ/ verb B1 Health

Meaning: To rub your skin with your nails because it feels itchy; to damage a surface with something sharp; also to cancel or remove from a list.

Example: Don't scratch the mosquito bite.

Another example: The cat scratched the door.

Collocations: scratch the bite · scratch the surface · from scratch (from the beginning)

Synonyms: rub, scrape, claw

Antonyms: soothe

Word family: scratches (n pl) · scratchy (adj) · scratched (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: 'From scratch' means from zero — cakes and companies both start there. Records and cars suffer its damage sense.

🗣 In spoken American English: 'You scratch my back...' starts its famous exchange proverb.

Register: Neutral — health essential.

swell /swel/ verb B1 Health

Meaning: To become bigger or rounder because of injury, liquid, or growth; also (of crowds, sounds, feelings) to grow larger.

Example: His ankle swelled after the twist.

Another example: The crowd swelled to ten thousand.

Collocations: ankle swelled · swell up · swell with pride

Synonyms: expand, puff up, grow

Antonyms: shrink, go down

Word family: swollen (participle) · swelling (n) · swell (adj — old slang: great)

⚠ Common mistake: Twisted ankles and proud hearts both swell. Old movies call a fine fellow 'a swell guy' — same word, tuxedo sense.

🗣 In spoken American English: Ocean swells (long waves) share its rise-and-fall soul.

Register: Neutral — health essential.

frown /fraʊn/ verb / noun B1 Health

Meaning: To move your eyebrows down and together because you are angry, worried, or thinking hard; this expression.

Example: She frowned at the bad news.

Another example: A frown crossed his face.

Collocations: frown at · a deep frown · frown with worry

Synonyms: scowl (angrier), glare

Antonyms: smile

Word family: frowns (n pl) · frowning (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Smile's mirror image — some languages count it in muscles (more for a frown, they claim wrongly, but the face believes it). 'Frown upon' means disapprove of something formally.

🗣 In spoken American English: Teachers deploy it at classroom doors with precision.

Register: Neutral — feelings essential.

sweat /swet/ verb / noun B1 Health

Meaning: To produce liquid through your skin when hot, exercising, or nervous; this liquid. Also to worry about something ('don't sweat it').

Example: He sweated through the whole game.

Another example: Wipe the sweat from your face.

Collocations: sweat in the heat · break a sweat · don't sweat it

Synonyms: perspire (formal), glow (joking), drip

Word family: sweats (n pl/v) · sweaty (adj) · sweater (n — the clothing!)

⚠ Common mistake: Perspire is the polite word; horses sweat, gentlemen perspire, goes the old joke. The SWEATER is named for absorbing it — gym clothes became fashion.

🗣 In spoken American English: 'No sweat!' answers thanks like 'no problem'.

Register: Neutral — health essential.