n. most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; central idea
E.g. The legends vary in detail but the gist is the same.
n. originally, a sword player; one who fought with weapons in public, either on the occasion of a funeral ceremony, or in the arena, for public amusement
E.g. For example, one of the games I played involves sword-and-shield combat against a virtual gladiator.
n. light; brightness; fierce or angry stare
E.g. The next thing I remember is, waking up with a feeling as if I had had a frightful nightmare, and seeing before me a terrible red glare, crossed with thick black bars.
n. music; entertainment; joy; merriment; mirth
E.g. He passed the night in glee and gladness.
a. performed with a natural or offhand ease
E.g. "Excuse me, sir," said the man in glib English.
n. aircraft supported only by the dynamic action of air against its surfaces
E.g. A small, self-guided glider, designed to fly at very high altitudes.
n. dim or intermittent flicker or flash of light; faint glow; shimmer
E.g. You could see the glimmer from the pond in the front yard and hear the gentle roll of the water from the small creek.
n. partial or total darkness; thick shade; obscurity; shady, gloomy, or dark place or grove; cloudiness or heaviness of mind
E.g. Tom got his lantern, lit it in the hogshead, wrapped it closely in the towel, and the two adventurers crept in the gloom toward the tavern.
a. imperfectly illuminated; dusky; dim; clouded
E.g. Despite its gloomy title, this book is not depressing.
a. sullen look; a frown; quality or state of being moody, melancholy, and gloomy
E.g. He was a charming mixture of glum and glee.
n. person who eats too much food and drink
E.g. When Mother saw that Bobby had eaten all the cookies, she called him a little glutton.
a. continued biting, consuming, or fretting; severe or intense
E.g. Tom's fearful secret and gnawing conscience disturbed his sleep for as much as a week after this.
n. dwarf; fabled race of dwarflike creatures who live underground
E.g. In medieval mythology, gnome was the special guardian and inhabitant of subterranean mines.
v. urge with a long pointed stick; give heart or courage to
E.g. His friends goad him until he yields to their wishes.
v. swallow or eat greedily or hastily; gulp; utter a sound like a turkey cock
E.g. As I am still hungry, I gobble up a second sandwich.
n. dirt; mud; blood; especially, blood that after effusion has become thick or clotted; wedge-shaped or triangular piece of cloth
E.g. The figures are computer generated and the blood and gore is nothing like the grisly stuff you see on TV every night.
v. stuff oneself; overeat; make a pig of oneself
E.g. The guests gorge themselves with foods as though they had not eaten for days.
a. bloody; full by bloodshed and violence
E.g. At last night's gathering, Thompson described in gory detail the injuries suffered by McCain during his capture and detention at the Hoa Lo Prison in North Vietnam.
a. sheer, light, delicate, or tenuous
E.g. They would laugh in gossamer tones, and then move on gracefully to someone else, sometimes moving gracefully at speeds exceeding 40 mph.
n. piece of transplanted tissue; portion of plant inserted in another plant
E.g. A patient's immune system will frequently reject a skin graft from a donor.
n. quality or condition of being grand; magnificence
E.g. The concept that matter and energy are inter-convertible strikes to the core of the universe, probably exceeds in grandeur any other picture the field of physical science.
n. common, coarse-grained, light-colored, hard igneous rock consisting chiefly of quartz; unyielding endurance
E.g. What do you do if your suspect your granite is radioactive?
a. represented by graph; described in vivid detail; clearly outlined
E.g. Read the story, then enlarge the title graphic to see what its about.
a. seizing; embracing; catching; exceedingly eager for material gain; avaricious
E.g. To say they are weak and grasping is an understatement.
v. make a harsh noise; have an unpleasant effect; shred
E.g. The screams of the quarreling children grate on her nerves.
n. act of gratifying, or pleasing, either the mind, the taste, or the appetite
E.g. There was a buzz of gratification from time to time during the reading, accompanied by whispered ejaculations of "How sweet!" "How eloquent!" "So true!" etc.
a. given freely; unwarranted; granted without recompense; unearned
E.g. Yet many of these movies contain gratuitous and graphic violence.
n. small stones, or fragments of stone; very small pebbles, often intermixed with particles of sand
E.g. They saw him draw a bucket of gravel from the hole and tilt it on the edge of the dump.
n. house in which tender plants are cultivated and sheltered from the weather
E.g. Most vegetables we buy in winter are nurtured in the greenhouse.
a. causing grief or sorrow; painful; afflictive; hard to bear; offensive; harmful
E.g. Thus relieved of a grievous load, I from that hour set to work afresh, resolved to pioneer my way through every difficulty.
n. vulture; griffin; fast hold with the hand or arms; close embrace; grasp; clutch
E.g. My eye rose to his; and while I looked in his fierce face I gave an involuntary sigh; his gripe was painful, and my over-taxed strength almost exhausted.
a. frightfully; terribly; inspiring horror
E.g. The Israeli strikes on Gaza are being broadcast in grisly detail almost continually on Arab satellite networks.
n. sand or gravel; rough, hard particles; coarse part of meal; grain, as oats or wheat
E.g. And quite frequently, dust in the air produces colored rain, like the red-tinted rain that dropped fine grit from the Sahara over southern England in 1968.
a. overcome with grog; tipsy; unsteady on the legs; shaky
E.g. I was so groggy that my vision was blurry and I could barely see.
a. fantastic; comically hideous; unnatural in shape or size; abnormal
E.g. On Halloween people enjoy wearing grotesque costumes.
v. crawl or creep on ground; remain prostrate
E.g. Do we not grovel here long enough, eating and drinking like mere brutes?
a. causing horror and repugnance; frightful and shocking
E.g. Rader seemed to proudly relive his crimes as he recounted his killings in gruesome detail, right in front of the victims' families.
n. device consisting of a heavy blade held aloft between upright guides and dropped to behead the victim below
E.g. Would you rather put me on a cross or a guillotine?
v. swallow; utter or make a noise, as when swallowing too quickly
E.g. He did gulp for help after choking on a big piece of meat.
n. nice or keen appreciation or enjoyment; enthusiasm
E.g. The culture of making learning something to love and engage in with gusto is totally absent.