nothingburger

The Japan Times, June 6の記事から引用します。

Why Toyota's so-called safety scandal is a 'nothingburger'
Unlike the Volkswagen Dieselgate scandal, there have been no recalls, and Japanese vehicles have passed retests without issues.

"nothingburger" は引用符で囲まれているので、造語、もしくは通常は余り使われない表現なのでしょう。辞書に出ているかな？

・Wiktionary: Something of less importance than its treatment suggests; also, something which is bland or unremarkable in appearance or impact.: This 2005 Donald Trump tax return is a total nothingburger.
・Urban Dictionary: something lame, dead-end, a dud, insignificant; especially something with high expectations that turns out to be average, pathetic, or overhyped.: "much to the team's dismay, the number one pick in this year's draft turned out to be a nothingburger."

世の中には、特にマスコミが騒いでいる話で、実際には大したことの無い事が往々にしてありますが、そんな時に使える便利な単語ですね。

in her wake

John Grishamの小説 "Camino Island" を読んでいます。

"Why are we still standing in the foyer" Leigh asked.
"Dammned good question," Myra said, flinging an arm toward the stairway. "Come with me." From behind she looked like an offensive tackle as she cleared the hallway. They followed in her wake and stopped in a family room with a marble counter.

"in her wake" の "wake" も色々な意味で使われ、名詞で思いつくのは「通夜」、「寝ずの番」、「航跡」ですが、上の引用文の "in her wake" は文脈からすると単に「彼女の後について行った」と思いますが、辞書で確認します。

・Collins Dictionary: If you are following in someone's wake, you are following them or their example.: In his wake came a waiter wheeling a trolley.

他の辞書にはこの用例は見当たりませんでした。

magnanimous

John Grishamの小説 "Camino Island" を読んでいます。

He smiled and said, "That's why I'm here. That's what I wanted."
"An apology?"
"Yes. And I accept it. No hard feelings."
"You're awfully magnanimous."
"I can afford to be," he said and both chuckled.

"magnanimous" は "magnanimity" の形容詞の様です。辞書で確認します。

・Oxford English Dictionary: kind, generous and forgiving, especially towards an enemy or competitor: a magnanimous gesture
・Collins Dictionary: If you are magnanimous, you behave kindly and generously towards someone, especially after defeating them or being treated badly by them.: He was a man capable of magnanimous gestures.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: very kind and generous towards an enemy or someone you have defeated: The team's manager was magnanimous in victory, and praised the losing team.

bound up

John Grishamの小説 "Camino Island" を読んでいます。
Dr. Jeffrey Brown practically jogged across the Princeton campus and bounded up the front steps of Nassau Hal, the administration building.

"bound" の単語は知っているし、最近は東京の電車内の英語のアナウンスでも "bound for" をよく耳にしますが、階段を上がるのに "bound up" が使われるのは知りませんでした。　辞書で確認します。

動詞の "bound" の項で次の説明があります。

・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: to move by leaping: She bounded down the stairs.
・Oxford English Dictionary: to run with long steps, especially in an enthusiastic way: Louis came bounding down the stairs.
・American Heritage Dictionary: To leap forward or upward; jump; spring: The dog bounded over the gate.

何故か辞書には階段を下る例しかありませんでしたが、"bound up" は弾むように階段を上がることを意味している様です。

orgy

John Grishamの小説 "Camino Island" を読んでいます。
"Thank you, Bruce. I need the encouragement."
"I'm dead serious, and I'm not flattering you because we're in the midst of a little weekend orgy"
They laughed and took a sip of wine.

"orgy" は文脈からしてパーティの様ですが、辞書で確認します。

・Oxford English Dictionary: a party at which there is a lot of eating, drinking and sexual activity: a drunken orgy
・Collins Dictionary: An orgy is a party in which people behave in a very uncontrolled way, especially one involving sexual activity.: It was reminiscent of a scene from a Roman orgy.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: an occasion when a group of people behave in a wild uncontrolled way, especially involving sex, alcohol, or illegal drugs: drunken orgies

for good measure

John Grishamの小説 "Camino Island" を読んでいます。

She was reading when she heard noises at the door. Bruce walked in with a breakfast tray, which he placed snugly at her side. "Bacon, scrambled eggs, muffins with jam, strong coffee, and, for good measure, a mimosa."
"I'm not sure I need more booze at this point," she said. The food looked and smelled delicious.
"The hair of the dog. It's good for you."

"hair of the dog" は確か迎え酒で、そうすると "mimosa" はおそらくカクテルと推測できますが、"for good measure" は何でしょうか？　辞書で調べます。

・Oxford English Dictionary: If you say that something is done for good measure, you mean that it is done in addition to a number of other things.: For good measure, a few details of hotels were included.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: in addition: The concert was excellent - there were lots of well-known songs with some new ones thrown in for good measure.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: in addition to the minimum required : as an extra: added another illustration for good measure

"mimosa" はやはりカクテルの一種でした。
・Oxford English Dictionary: an alcoholic drink made by mixing sparkling white wine (= with bubbles) with orange juice

"hair of the dog" の説明を辞書から一つだけ引用します。
・Collins Dictionary: or hair of the dog that bit one: an alcoholic drink taken as an antidote to a hangover

on the fly

John Grishamの小説 "Camino Island" を読み始めました。

Getting out of the country was imperative. That was not what he had planned, but things could not be lining up more perfectly. Plans--nothing ever goes as planned, and the survivors are the ones who can adapt on the fly.

"on the fly" を辞書で確認します。

・Oxford English Dictionary: if you do something on the fly, you do it quickly while something else is happening, and without thinking about it very much
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: in a hurry and often without preparation : HASTILY, SPONTANEOUSLY: making decisions on the fly
・Collins Dictionary:　If you do something on the fly, you do it quickly without thinking about it or planning it in advance, especially while something else is happening.： It was all pretty much done on the fly.
・Wiktionary: Spontaneously or extemporaneously; done as one goes, or during another activity.: The software program has a table of values for some results, but calculates others on the fly.

dognap

Reader's　Digest ３・４月合併号の記事 "Operation: Find Avery " からの引用です。

Witherspoon's case of a missing pet turned into something sinister when, 24 hours after the dognapping, her cellphone buzzed. In menacing texts laced with profanity and misspellings, someone claimed to have Avery and sent a video of the pup in a cage. The conversation was punctuated with a threat to kill the dog and a demand for ransom: "Y'all not getting y'all dog back Y'all paying 1200 no funny's!!'

犬の誘拐事件ですね。 "dognap" を辞書で確認します。

・Collins Dictionary: To dognap a dog is to steal it, usually to get money from its owner in exchange for its return.: The two terriers were dognapped from their owner's car.
・Webster's New World: To steal (a dog), esp. in order to sell it to a medical research laboratory

語源はAmerican Heritage DictionaryにDOG + (KID)NAP. とありました。 "kidnap" から来たのですね。
ところで "catnap" は猫を誘拐することにはなりませんね。

make off with

Reader's　Digest ３・４月合併号の記事 "Operation: Find Avery " からの引用です。

Raquel Witherspoon, 38, was frantically searching for her daughter's Yorkshir terrier, Avery, in June 2022 after making a shocking discovery. Doorbell camera footage showed a young woman with dyed-red hair creep onto her front porch, throw treats to Avery, then make off with the tiny dog.

文脈からして上記の句動詞、"make off with" の意味は持ち去るに違いない。辞書で確認します。

・Oxford English Dictionary: to steal something and hurry away with it: Thieves made off with $30 000 worth of computer equipment.
・Collins Dictionary: If you make off with something, you steal it and take it away with you.: Masked robbers broke in and made off with $8,000.
・Farlex Dictionary of Idioms: To escape with someone or something that has been stolen, snatched, etc.: The thieves busted the ATM and made off with the cash inside.

"with" 無しで "make off" だと逃げ去るだけです。

higgledy-piggledy

Giles Murrayの "Breaking into Japanese Literature" を読んでいます。
芥川龍之介の短編、羅生門から引用します。

The corpses were higgledy-piggledy on the floor, their mouths gaping, their arms thrown wide.

この個所の日本語原文は、「その屍骸は皆、(それが、嘗て、生きていた人間だという事実さえ疑われるほど、土を捏ねて造った人形のように、) 口を開いたり手を延ばしたりして、ごろごろ床の上にころがっていた」となっています。
と言うことは、"higgledy-piggledy" は「ごろごろと乱雑に置かれていた」の意味ですね。辞書で確認します。

・Oxford English Dictionary: untidy and not in any order: a higgledy-piggledy collection of houses
・Cambridge English Dictionary: mixed up and in no particular order: My clothes are all higgledy-piggledy in my drawers.
・Vocabulary.com: When something happens higgledy-piggledy, it's chaotic and disorganized. If you build your Lego tower higgledy-piggledy, it may end up too tall and narrow, making it that much easier for your brother to knock it over.