Did you know?

Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word

To use, or to be affected by magical or supernatural powers

bewitch

verb

to control someone’s behaviour with magic

call up

to use magic to try to make the spirit of a dead person appear

change into

in stories, if a person or thing changes into something, or is changed into something, they become that thing by magic

charm

verb

to use magic to influence or control someone or something

conjure up

to make something appear using magic powers

curse

verb

to use magic powers to make bad things happen to someone

enchant

verb

to use magic on someone or something

invoke

verb

to make the spirits of dead people appear by using magic powers

prophesy

verb

to describe a future event using religious or magic powers

turn into

to change into something else as a result of magic

turn into

to make someone or something change into someone or something else using magic

wish for

to hope that something that you want will happen by magic or by the power of your thoughts

cast a spell on/over someone

to use magic to make something happen to someone

read someone’s palm

to claim to be able to tell what will happen to someone in the future by examining the palm of their hand

read the tea leaves

to look at the tea leaves in the bottom of a cup for a sign of what will happen in the future

tell someone’s fortune

to say what will happen to someone in the future using what are claimed to be magic powers

vocal fry

a speech habit in which a speaker lowers their voice at the end of a sentence

BuzzWord Article

Word of the Day Word of the Day

dray

a type of cart pulled by a horse and used in the past for carrying barrels of beer

Open Dictionary

conflict mineral

a mineral which is mined in a place where there is armed conflict, and sold to help pay for weapons

add a word

Blog

A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.

global English and language change from our blog