English

It would have been foolhardy for us to try to occupy that capital city and pile up American casualties from sniper attacks by Iraq's guerillas.

1. pile up [ phrasal vb ] same as pile

    Example: Newspaper and magazines were piled up on the floor.

    if something piles up or someone piles it up, the amount of it increases a lot

    Example: All the time the bills were piling up.

    Example: These policies could be piling up financial trouble for future government.

2. guerilla  [gə`rɪlə] (n.) a member of a military group that is not official and usually wants to change a political situation. Their main method is to make unexpected attacks in small groups.

    [ only before noun ] using unexpected methods of attack to surprise the enemy

    Example: guerrilla groups/ fighters/ leaders

    Example: The enemy avoided direct confrontation and concentrated on guerrilla warfare.

Schwarzkopf reiterated that it was his mission to hurl back the invaders with a minimum of bloodshed but not, he added in a caustic tone, “to splatter Saddam over the desert sands. That dictator's days are numbered,” the gerneral concluded, “but I expect his end is likely to come at the hands of his own people.”

3. bloodshed (n.) a situation in which people are killed or injured, especially during fighting

    Example: A ceasefire was called in an attempt to prevent further bloodshed.

4. splatter (v.) if a liquid splatters somewhere, drops of it hit a surface violently

    Example: Blood splattered his coat.

    Example: Oil was splattering across the stove.

    (v.) to make something splatter

    Example: The kids had splattered juice all over the carpet.

5. sb's/ sth's days are numbered     someone or something is not likely to continue in a particular situation or to exist much longer

    Example: His days in the team are probably numbered.