1. Face & upper body

• eyebrows = the two lines of hair above your eyes. She raised her eyebrows in surprise.
• forehead = the top part of your face, above your eyebrows. His hair usually covers his forehead.
• cheeks = the soft areas on each side of your face. The cold wind made her cheeks red.
• chin = the lower part of your face, under your mouth. He rubbed his chin while he was thinking.
• breasts = the front part of a woman’s chest. The baby was lying against its mother’s breast.
• pecs = (informal) the chest muscles, especially on a man. His pecs got bigger after months in the gym.
• ribs = the curved bones in your chest, under the skin. He was so thin you could see his ribs.

2. Arms & hands

• elbow = the joint in the middle of your arm. He rested his elbows on the table.
• wrist = the narrow part between your hand and your arm. She wears a watch on her left wrist.
• thumb = the short, thick finger next to your wrist. The ring was so big it only fit on my thumb.

3. Waist, hips & legs

• waist = the narrow part of your body, where you wear a belt. The dress is tight around the waist.
• hips = the wide bones on each side of your waist. She has wide hips and finds jeans hard to buy.
• bottom = the soft part of your body that you sit on. He sat on a wet bench and now his bottom is wet.
• thigh = the top part of your leg between your hip and knee. My thighs hurt after cycling up the hill.
• calf (pl. calves) = the back part of your lower leg. Her calf muscles were sore after the run.
• ankle = the joint between your leg and your foot. He twisted his ankle while playing football.
• heel = the back, lower part of your foot. New shoes always hurt my heels at first.

4. Breathing, senses & sleep

• breathe = take air in and out of your lungs. Take a moment to breathe deeply.
• sneeze = suddenly blow air out through your nose and mouth. He couldn’t stop sneezing because of his cold.
• taste = notice the flavour of food or drink with your mouth. I tasted the soup and added more salt.
• smell = notice a scent with your nose. She bent down to smell the flowers.
• yawn = open your mouth wide because you are tired or bored. He kept yawning during the meeting.
• snore = make a noisy sound while sleeping. I couldn’t sleep because my brother was snoring.

5. Mouth & face actions

• smile = move the corners of your mouth up to show you are happy. She smiled when she got the good news.
• laugh = make sounds because something is funny. We laughed all the way through the film.
• bite (bit, bitten) = use your teeth to cut into something. He bit into the fresh apple.
• swallow = make food or drink go down from your mouth to your stomach. The tablet was difficult to swallow.
• whistle = make a high musical sound with your lips. I heard someone whistling in the corridor.

6. Head, hands & movement

• sweat = produce a salty liquid on your skin when you are hot or doing exercise. He was sweating after his workout.
• nod = move your head up and down to say “yes”. She nodded to show she agreed.
• shake your head = move your head from side to side to say “no”. He shook his head and refused the offer.
• clap = hit your hands together to show approval. Everyone clapped at the end of the concert.
• grab = take something quickly and strongly with your hand. She grabbed her bag and ran for the bus.
• hold = keep something in your hand or arms. He was holding the baby very carefully.
• kick = hit something or someone with your foot. He kicked the ball into the net.
• punch = hit someone or something with your closed hand (fist). He punched the bag at the gym.
• bend (down) = move the top part of your body forwards and down. She bent down to pick up her keys.

Tip: these verbs often collocate with body parts, e.g. nod your head, clap your hands, kick the ball.