stake-out

Miyuki MiyabeのShadow Familyを読んでいます。
"Well, it does sound like it's going to be rather fun," Tokunaga said, still chuckling, and then caught himself. "Sorry, that was inappropriate. I apologize."
Chikako gave him a smile. "By the way, what about the stake-out? Have you--"
Takegami quickly cut in. "We've contacted our man. He's all set."

"stake-out" が分からないので辞書を見ましたが、"stake-out" を見出しにしている辞書はなく、"stakeout" で次の説明がありました。
・Oxford English Dictionary: A period of secret surveillance of a building or an area by police in order to observe someone's activities.: they were looking for a vantage point for a stakeout
・Collins Dictionary: If police officers are on a stakeout, they are secretly watching a building for evidence of criminal activity.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: the continuous watching of a building or area, especially by the police
事件物、探偵小説、推理小説もある程度読みましたが、その手の小説には必須の様な単語ですが、知りませんでした。

hit it off from the start

The Japan Times July 3の記事表題からの引用です。
Princess Ayako says she and fiance Kei Moriya hit it off from the start
"hit it off" は知らない表現ですが、文脈から意味は容易に推測できます。
記事を読むと表題の表現を裏ずけする文章が次の様にありました。
“I met Mr. Moriya for the first time in December last year, and I remember that our conversation got so lively that it didn’t feel like we had just met and that I had so much fun that I forgot about time,” said the princess, who serves as honorary patron of the Canada-Japan Society, a public organization that promotes mutual understanding and friendship between Japanese and Canadian nationals.

"hit it off" を一応辞書で確認します。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Be naturally friendly or well suited.: She met this guy Tim at a party of a mutual friend and seemed to hit it off.
・Collins Dictionary: If two people hit it off, they like each other and become friendly as soon as they meet.: They hit it off straight away, Daddy and Walter.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to be friendly with each other immediately: We had similar ideas about the show, and the two of us hit it off right away.
めでたしめでたしですね。

take stock

The Japan Times June 26付の記事タイトル 'Osaka takes stock a week after violent rush-hour quake' の "takes stock" に引っ掛かりました。
新聞記事の場合、タイトルの意味が分からない時は記事の中身を読むと分かる場合が多いので、記事を読みます。最初の段落を引用します。
Hundreds of Osaka residents were living in shelters Monday as the city and prefecture began to take account of the damage from the short but violent rush-hour temblor that killed five and injured over 400 across Kansai a week ago.
"take stock" を英英辞書で確認します。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Review or make an overall assessment of a particular situation, typically as a prelude to making a decision.: he needed a period of peace and quiet in order to take stock of his life
・Collins Dictionary: If you take stock, you pause to think about all the aspects of a situation or event before deciding what to do next.: It was time to take stock of the situation.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: To take stock (of something) is to think carefully about a situation or event and form an opinion about it, so that you can decide what to do: After two years spent teaching overseas, she returned home for a month to take stock of her life.
3/15/2011に私のブログで "Cause there's a, a kind of, that feeling of winding down and taking stock." を引用して "take stock" を取り上げていました。ブログに取り上げても忘れる事が多いので、ブログのネタが無くなることは無いと、良いように解釈します。

meme

Reader's Digest 5月号の記事 'The Night I Joined the Cajun Navy' からの引用です。
And thank God for the Cajun Navy and all the other volunteers. How many more people would be dead today if not for our first responders and the thousands of volunteers? I saw a meme on Facebook today that read, "Someone needs to erect a statue honoring the random average dude with a bass boat."
"meme" はやはりReader's Digestの2012年2月号の単語クイズに出ていた単語ですが、そのクイズの回答は："meme": idea or trait that spreads within a culture.であり、今回の記事の意味とは違う様です。再度辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: A humorous image, video, piece of text, etc., that is copied (often with slight variations) and spread rapidly by Internet users.: The "news" was often flippant, being about internet memes and strange events, and the "newscaster" was flippant, too.
・Collins Dictionary: A meme is something such as a video, picture, or phrase that a lot of people send to each other on the internet.: The image quickly became a meme.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: an idea, image, video, etc. that is spread very quickly on the internet: Take a look at the top ten internet memes for this past year.
インターネットが盛んになって来たのでこちらの意味で使われる例が多くなったのでしょう。

veg out

Reader's Digest 5月号の記事 'How to Create an Aha! Moment' からの引用です。
The default mode network, as Dr. Raichle came to call it, is crackling with activity, burning perhaps 20 times the metabolic resources of the conscious brain. So the brain's resting-state circuitry--which is turned on, paradoxically, when you stop focusing on a problem and just veg out--is very likely the best place to park a problem, for it employs the best, wisest, and most creative (though not necessarily fastest-working) mechanics.
"veg out" は "11/29/2010" にも取り上げているので復習です。
・Collins Dictionary: to relax in an inert passive way; vegetate: vegging out in front of the television set
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to relax and spend time doing very little: I'm exhausted - I think I'll just go home and veg out in front of the TV tonight.
The Phrase Finderの次の説明はとても参考になります。
Relax in a slothful and mindless manner.: This phrase derives from the association of vegetables with mental incapacity; in the way that mentally disabled people are sometimes referred to as vegetables. 'Couch potato' comes from the same notion.
The term originated in the 1990s. Most of the early uses of it come from the London literary elite, although the earliest I've found is in the 1990 film Pretty Woman. In that, Julia Roberts' character uses this line: "Let's watch old movies all night... we'll just veg out in front of the TV."

mark

Reader's Digest 5月号の記事 'How to Create an Aha! Moment' からの引用です。
Simon Lovell was 31 and a professional con man who had spun the gambling tricks he'd learned from his grandfather into a lucrative business fleecing strangers. Without hesitation or remorse, he left his marks broken in hotels all over the world.
この "marks" は何でしょう？　辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: A person who is easily deceived or taken advantage of.: they figure I'm an easy mark
・Wiktionary: The target or intended victim of a swindle, fixed game or con game
表題で使われている "Aha! Moment" は "Eureka! Moment" とも言いますね。

handoff/slipups

Reader's Digest 5月号の記事 '50 Ways To Survive Your Next Trip to the Hospital' からの引用です。
Ask for a bedside shift change.
Many errors occur when care transitions from one nurse to the next. If nurses do the handoff in your presence, you can catch slipups and ask questions.
"handoff" と "slipups" の意味が分かりません。上の場面に合う "handoff" の意味を説明している辞書は余りありませんでした。
・Wiktionary: (business) The passing of a completed project to another person or group.
次に "slipups" を調べましたが、ほとんどの辞書は　"slip-up/slip-ups" のハイフンでつないだ言葉を掲載していました。
・Cambridge English Dictionary: a mistake that someone makes by not giving something enough attention: That slip-up cost a lot of money.
・Dictionary.com: a mistake, blunder, or oversight: Several slip-ups caused a delay in the delivery of the books.
病院でのミスは意外と多い様です。入院しないで済むのが一番。