abortive | a. unsuccessful; failing to accomplish an intended objective; fruitless |
aerostatics | n. a branch of statics that deals with the equilibrium of gaseous fluids and of solid bodies immersed in them |
animadvert | v. express blame or censure or make a harshly critical remark |
argot | n. a characteristic language of a particular group, as among thieves |
baroque | a. complex or bizarre, especially in ornamentation; irregular in shape |
biennium | n. a period of two years |
brogue | n. a thick and heavy shoe; a strong outdoor shoe with ornamental patterns |
cacophonous | a. discordant; inharmonious; sounding harshly; ill-sounding |
cantata | n. story or poem set to music that can be sung by chorus |
cathode | n. a negatively charged electrode that is the source of electrons entering an electrical device |
clangor | n. loud, resounding noise; sharp, metallic, ringing sound; resonant, clanging sound |
cogency | n. power of proving or of producing belief; quality of being highly probable or convincing; force; credibility |
comity | n. a state or atmosphere of harmony or mutual civility and respect |
concomitant | a. in conjunction with; accompanying; associated with |
consanguineous | a. of the same lineage or origin; having common ancestor |
contemn | v. look down on with disdain; treat or regard with contempt |
contuse | v. injure the underlying soft tissue or bone of |
corporeal | a. bodily; of a material nature; tangible |
coxswain | n. the helmsman of a ship's boat or a racing crew |
declension | n. the variation of the form of a noun, pronoun, or adjective, by which its grammatical case, number, and gender are identified; process of changing to an inferior state |
demagnetize | v. make nonmagnetic; take away the magnetic properties; erase |
deponent | n. a person who testifies or gives a deposition |
desiccant | n. a substance that promotes drying, e.g., calcium oxide absorbs water and is used to remove moisture |
diacritical | a. capable of distinguishing; showing up a distinction |
diminution | n. the act of decreasing or reducing something; change toward something smaller or lower |
discountenance | v. look with disfavor on; show disapproval by discouraging |
dissentient | a. disagreeing, especially with a majority |
distaff | n. the sphere of work by women; a stick or spindle onto which wool or flax is wound for spinning |
dowdy | a. lacking stylishness or neatness; shabby; old-fashioned |
duteous | a. willingly obedient out of a sense of duty and respect |
effervescent | a. marked by high spirits or excitement |
effuse | v. give out or emit; flow or spill forth; pour out |
embolism | n. an insertion into a calendar; obstruction of an artery, typically by a clot of blood or an air bubble |
empirical | a. derived from experiment and observation rather than theory |
ennoble | v. confer dignity or honor upon; give a title to someone; make someone a member of the nobility |
esquire | n. a title of respect for someone, whose rank just below a knight; an attendant and shield bearer to a knight; a candidate for knighthood |
eureka | n. an alloy of copper and nickel with high electrical resistance and a low temperature coefficient; used as resistance wire |
exigent | a. requiring precise accuracy; demanding attention |
expostulation | n. the act of expressing earnest opposition or protest; an exclamation of protest or remonstrance or reproof |
farrier | n. a person who shoes horses; a blacksmith |
feudalism | n. the social system that developed in Europe in the 8th century; vassals were protected by lords who they had to serve in war |
forecastle | n. living quarters consisting of a superstructure in the bow of a merchant ship where the crew is housed |
fusible | a. capable of being melted and fused |
grebe | n. small compact-bodied almost completely aquatic bird that builds floating nests; similar to loons but smaller and with lobate rather than webbed feet |
heterogeneous | a. consisting of dissimilar elements or parts; completely different |
incunabula | n. any book printed before 1501; the infancy or earliest stages of something |
inquisition | n. a severe interrogation, often violating the rights or privacy of individuals |
interposition | n. the act or fact of interjecting or interposing one thing between or among others |
inure | v. apply in use; use or accustom till no pain or inconvenience; harden; habituate |
iridescence | n. the visual property of something having a milky brightness and a play of colors from the surface |
isobar | n. an isogram connecting points having equal barometric pressure at a given time, for meteorology |
lackadaisical | a. lacking purpose or zest; halfhearted; lacking spirit or liveliness |
laxative | a. having a tendency to loosen or relax. |
libertine | n. free thinker, usually used disparagingly; one without moral restraint |
lingual | a. relating to, near, or on the side toward the tongue; relating to speech or language |
littoral | a. of or relating to a coastal or shore region |
macadamize | v. pave by laying and compacting successive layers of broken stone, often with asphalt or hot tar |
marmot | n. stocky coarse-furred burrowing rodent with a short bushy tail found throughout the northern hemisphere; hibernates in winter |
metonymy | n. substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself |
ministration | n. assistance in time of difficulty |
modish | a. in the current fashion or style |
mordacious | a. capable of wounding; biting or given to biting |
muleteer | n. a worker who drives mules |
necromancer | n. one who practices magic or sorcery; one who practices divination by conjuring up the dead |
neurology | n. the branch of medicine that deals with the nervous system and its disorders |
obsolescence | n. the process of becoming obsolete; falling into disuse or becoming out of date |
occlude | v. block passage through; close, shut, or stop up a passage |
orthogonal | a. statistically unrelated; having a set of mutually perpendicular axes; meeting at right angles |
pamphleteer | n. a writer of pamphlets, usually taking a partisan stand on public issues |
patronymic | a. of or derived from a personal or family name |
peevish | a. easily irritated or annoyed |
penury | n. extreme poverty; lack of something; barrenness; insufficiency |
perspicuous | a. transparently clear of language; easily understandable |
phonograph | n. machine in which rotating records cause a stylus to vibrate and the vibrations are amplified acoustically or electronically |
pogrom | n. organized persecution of an ethnic group, especially Jews |
precipitant | a. done with very great haste and without due deliberation |
propitiate | v. make peace with; appease and render favorable |
ramify | v. divide into branches or subdivisions; subordinate branchlike parts |
renunciation | n. sacrificing; giving up; state of having rejected your religious beliefs |
reversion | n. returning to a former state; turning in the opposite direction; a failure to maintain a higher state |
salacious | a. lustful; suggestive of or tending to moral looseness |
secede | v. withdraw from an organization or communion |
solder | v. repair or unite by using fusible metal alloy, usually tin and lead |
threnody | n. a song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person |
venereal | a. of or relating to the external sex organs |
wittingly | ad. with full knowledge and deliberation |
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