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alight
Ally Pally *infml* a large building in North London that was built in 1873 and is now used for CONFERENCES (=large business or political meetings) and concerts. It also has a famous metal tower from which the first television signals were broadcast by the BBC.
**Al-ex-an-dri-a** /ˌælɪɡˈzɑːndrɪəlˈzæn-/ a city and port in Egypt on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, first built by ALEXANDER THE GREAT. In ancient times Alexandria had a famous library and many important people went there to study and learn.
**ALF** /ˌeɪ el ˈef/ *abbrev.* for ANIMAL LIBERATION FRONT
**al-fal-fa** /ælˈfælfə/ *n* [U] especially *AmE* a plant of the PEA family grown for animal food. The young undeveloped plants (alfalfa sprouts) are also eaten by people, especially in SALADS.
**Al-fa Ro-me-o** /ˌælfə rəʊˈmeɪəʊ/ *trademark* a type of car produced by the Italian company FIAT, which is fashionable and can go very fast
**Al Fay-ed, Do-di** /æl ˈfaɪed, ˈdəʊdi/ (1955–97) a wealthy British man who was killed in a car crash in Paris with DIANA, Princess of Wales, with whom he was having a relationship. He was the son of Mohammed Al Fayed.
**Al Fayed, Mohammed** (1933–) an Egyptian businessman who lives in the UK, and who owns the famous London department store Harrods. Dodi Al Fayed was his son.
**Al-fred the Great** /ˌælfrɪd ðə ˈɡreɪt/ (849–899) king of Wessex (871–899), the southwestern part of England. At this time, the rest of England was mostly controlled by Danes (=people from Denmark), and Alfred fought against them to win back English land. He is usually considered to be the first king of England.
**al-fres-co** /ælˈfreskəʊ/ *adj, adv* in the open air: *We eat alfresco in summer.* | *an alfresco theatrical performance*
**al-gae** /ˈældʒiː/ *n* [P] very simple, usually very small plants that live in or near water
**Al-garve, the** /ælˈɡɑːrvə|ˈlɡɑːrvə/ an area of southern Portugal, which is a popular place for holidays, and is also known as a place where some wealthy British people go to live after they have finished working
**al-ge-bra** /ˈældʒəbrə/ *n* [U] a branch of MATHEMATICS in which signs and letters are used to represent numbers and values —**ic(al)** /ˌældʒəˈbreɪ-ɪk(əl)/ *adj* —**ically** /kli/ *adv*
**Al-ger, Ho-ra-tio** /ˈældʒər, həˈreɪʃioʊ/ (1832–1899) a US writer, many of whose stories are about poor boys who become rich and successful through hard work and good luck
**Al-ge-ri-a** /ælˈdʒɪəriə/ a country in northwest Africa on the Mediterranean Sea, between Morocco and Libya. Population: 32,818,500 (2003). Capital: Algiers. —**Algerian** *n, adj*
**Al-giers** /ælˈdʒɪərz||-ɪərz/ a port on the Mediterranean Sea, which is the capital and largest city of ALGERIA
**Al-gon-quin Ho-tel, the** /ˌælˌɡŋkwɪn həʊˈtel||-ˌɡɑŋ-/ a hotel in New York where many famous and wealthy people have stayed. Between the 1920s and the 1940s, Dorothy PARKER and many other famous writers regularly met at the hotel's restaurant and discussed their ideas, and their group is sometimes called ‘the Algonquin Round Table’.
**Algonquin Round Table, the** a group or writers, including Dorothy PARKER, who met in New York’s Algonquin Hotel and exchanged ideas from the 1920s to the 1940s
**al-go-rith-m** /ˈælɡərɪðəm/ *n* *tech* a list of instructions, especially to a computer, which are carried out in a fixed order to find the answer to a question, calculate etc —**ic** /ˌælɡəˈrɪðmɪk/ *adj*
**Al-ham-bra, the** /ælˈhæmbrə/ a PALACE built on a hill above Granada in southeast Spain between 1238 and 1358 for MOORISH kings, and considered to be Spain’s most impressive building in the Moorish style.
**A-li, Muhammad** /ɑːˈliː/ (1942–) an American BOXER who was the world HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION in 1964, 1974, and 1978, and is regarded as one of the greatest boxers ever. He changed his name from Cassius Clay when he became a MUSLIM in 1964, and he is known especially for saying ‘I am the greatest!’ and ‘I float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’. He now suffers from a serious illness, PARKINSON’S DISEASE.
**a-li-as**¹ /ˈeɪliəs/ *adv* (especially of a criminal) also known as; also called: *Edward Ball alias John Smith*
**alias**² *n pl.* **aliases** a name other than one’s usual or officially recognized name, used especially by a criminal; a false name: *He carried out a series of frauds using/under several different aliases.*
**Al-i Ba-ba** /ˌæli ˈbɑːbə||ˌɑːz-/ the main character in a story called *Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves* from THE ARABIAN NIGHTS. Ali Baba sees 40 thieves enter a secret CAVE (=a large hole in the side of a cliff or under the ground) by saying the magic words ‘Open Sesame’, which makes a door in the cliff open. He repeats these words, enters the cave, and takes some of the gold that the thieves keep there. When the thieves discover that Ali Baba knows their secret they decide to kill him. They hide in 40 large oil JARS (=round containers) which are delivered to his house, but Ali Baba’s servant hears about the trick and saves his master by pouring boiling oil into the containers and killing all the thieves.
**al-i-bi** /ˈælɪbaɪ/ *n* an argument or proof that a person who has been charged with a crime was in another place when the crime was done and that he/she therefore could not have done it: *Jim’s girlfriend gave him a cast-iron (=very strong) alibi by saying that he was with her on the night of the robbery.* | (*fig.*) *What’s your alibi (=excuse) for being late?*
**Al-ice in Won-der-land** /ˌælɪs ɪn ˈwʌndəlænd||-dər-/ also **Alice’s Ad,ventures in Wonderland** a book by Lewis CARROLL about a girl called Alice who falls down a rabbit hole and arrives in a magical land, where she meets many strange animals and people, and has many strange adventures. People sometimes describe something as being ‘Alice-in-Wonderland’, when they mean it is the opposite of what is normal or what you expect: *The book is a good introduction to the strange, Alice-in-Wonderland world of theoretical physics.*
**Alice Springs** /ˌælɪs ˈsprɪŋz/ a town in the NORTHERN TERRITORY of Australia. It is the nearest town to Uluru (Ayers Rock), which is very popular with tourists.
**a-li-en**¹ /ˈeɪliən/ *adj* **1** belonging to another country or race; foreign: *alien religious customs* | *an alien culture* **2** [(to)] very different in nature or character, especially so different as to cause dislike or opposition: *Their ideas are quite alien to our way of thinking.* | *an alien concept*
**alien**² *n* **1** (in films and stories) a creature from another world **2** a foreigner who has not become a citizen of the country where he/she is living → compare CITIZEN¹, NATIONAL², SUBJECT¹
**Alien** (1979) a US HORROR film about a creature that kills people, sometimes after first living in their bodies. There has been a series of *Alien* films, including *Alien Resurrection* (1997).
**alien ab'duction** *n* [C,U] when a human being is taken away by force by creatures from another part of the universe
**a-li-en-ate** /ˈeɪliəneɪt/ *v* [T(from)] **1** to make (someone) become unfriendly, unsympathetic, or unwilling to give support: *By adopting this policy, they risk alienating many of their supporters.* **2** *law* to change who owns (land, property etc) → see also INALIENABLE
**a-li-en-a-tion** /ˌeɪliəˈneɪʃən/ *n* [U(from)] **1** separation from a person with whom one was formerly friendly **2** a feeling of not belonging to or being part of one’s surroundings: *The boring and repetitive nature of manufacturing jobs has led to the alienation of many workers.*
**Al-i G** /ˌæli ˈdʒiː/ a character invented and played by the British COMEDY actor Sacha Baron Cohen (1970–). Ali G is a young Asian man who thinks he is fashionable and copies the clothes, language, and behaviour of GANGSTA RAPPERS. He wears a lot of gold jewellery. Baron Cohen makes the character say a lot of silly or unintelligent things in order to make him funny. Many people think Baron Cohen is Asian, like Ali G, but actually he is white European and Jewish.
**a-light**¹ /əˈlaɪt/ *v* **alighted** or **alit** /əˈlɪt/ [I(from, on)] *fml* to get off or down from something, especially at the end of a journey; come down from above: *The bird alighted on a branch.* | *Passengers should not alight from the train until it has stopped.*
**alight on/upon sthg.** *phr v* [T] *fml* becoming rare to find or see unexpectedly; HAPPEN on