Note that, in the passages below, the emboldened and same-coloured parts of words listed immediately after the phrase ‘Pronunciation tip’, are pronounced in the same way. For example, ‘Pronunciation tip: budge, cup’ means the ‘u‘ in the word ‘budge’ sounds just like the ‘u’ in the word ‘cup’.
baloney
‘Baloney’ means ‘silly or pretentious talk or writing‘.
Pronunciation tip: baloney, about, tow.
barrage
This word has more than one meaning. One of its meanings is ‘continuous and rapid delivery of linguistic communication‘. Another meaning of ‘barrage’ is ‘heavy fire of artillery to saturate an area rather than hit a specific target‘.
You can learn about all the other meanings from a good dictionary.
Pronunciation tip: barrage, sad, barn.
baton
Pronunciation tip: baton, sad, about.
beat
The word ‘beat’ has several meanings.
One of its meanings is ‘worn out completely or fatigued‘ as illustrated by the sentence ‘I’m beat after the long session‘. Another meaning of ‘beat’ is ‘shine very intensely‘ as illustrated by the sentence ‘The afternoon sun was beating down on them‘.
You can learn about all the other meanings from a good dictionary.
befall
The sentence ‘No harm would befall me’ means ‘no harm would happen to me’.
billow
A ‘billow’ is a ‘large sea wave‘.
brew
One of the meanings of ‘brew’ is ‘sit in boiling water so that the flavour is extracted‘, as illustrated by the sentence ‘The tea is brewing in the kitchen.‘.
budge
‘Budge’ means ‘move very slightly‘.
Pronunciation tip: budge, cup.