n. charm to bring good luck and avert misfortune; something that apparently has magic power
E.g. According to the myth, the talisman is the most powerful of all the magical charms.
v. record by making a mark; reckon or count; keep score
E.g. It's hard to characterize the cultural effects, although easier to tally the vital economic impact on China's neighbors.
v. interfere in a harmful manner; alter improperly
E.g. So, somehow he is going to tamper with the census?
a. able to be touched; real or concrete; palpable
E.g. It'll take awhile before GM's new direction shows up in tangible new products at the dealership.
n. person who turns animal hides into leather; craftsman who tans skins and hides; sixpence
E.g. A good tanner is a skilled laborer, and these Indians were not only expert makers of dressed leather, but they tanned skins and peltries with the hair or fur on.
n. burst of ill humor; display of temper; ill natured caprice
E.g. But throwing empty points against him exactly likes that a teenage girl throws stuffed animals against her bedroom wall during a temper tantrum.
v. make dirty or spotty; stain; dull the luster of; discolor, especially by exposure to air or dirt
E.g. The air and days did tarnish these coins.
n. male hawk; a kind of bur used in dressing cloth; flower or head of some plants, as when pendent; a narrow silk ribbon
E.g. As corn plants mature, seed companies hire crews of mostly students at about $8 an hour to remove the tops—called the tassel.
v. reproach in a mocking, insulting, or contemptuous manner; make fun of , often in an aggressive manner
E.g. Perhaps later tonight I will dream up something else to taunt you.
a. cheap in nature or appearance; tastelessly showy; shameful or indecent
E.g. The bride, instead of being disguised in tawdry stuffs of gold and silver, appeared in a negligee of plain blue satin, without any other jewels than her eyes, which far outshone all that ever was produced by the mines of Golconda.
a. of or pertaining to temperament; excessively sensitive or irritable; moody; likely to perform unpredictably
E.g. There, he became known as a temperamental experimentalist, obsessive and fearless.
a. not lasting forever; limited by time; secular or civil; of material world; worldly
E.g. By passing both laws in temporal proximity to one another, Arizona has revealed itself to have great anxiety not merely about illegal immigration in this nation, but about diversity itself.
a. sticking together; stubbornly unyielding; holding together firmly
E.g. The insurgents holed up here remain tenacious, unleashing suicide bombers and planting lethal explosives that can blow anything off the road.
n. continuous, unwavering course; exact meaning or actual wording of a document
E.g. Its general tenor is to take more power away from the local boroughs and concentrate them in the hands of the Mayor.
a. hesitant; not fully worked out or developed; experimental; not definite or positive
E.g. So, again, that's why I couched everything in tentative terms as there's a great amount of contrary evidence, at least within some critical concentrations of the population.
n. holding of an office; period during which something is held; status of holding position on permanent contract
E.g. Why the school denied her tenure is the subject of a lawsuit.
n. whitish soft-bodied ant-like social insect that feeds on wood; white ant
E.g. Termite, sometimes incorrectly called white ants, is a group of social insects.
n. piece of ground having specific characteristics or military potential; area of land; ground
E.g. Lots of hunting areas have roads closed to vehicles, the terrain is all flat so it makes it a lot easier.
n. solemn, authentic instrument in writing, by which a person declares his will
E.g. Her solicitor drew up her last will and testament.
a. irritated or impatient; easily annoyed; peevish
E.g. That implies that whether or not it was testy is still a matter subject to dispute.
n. rough surface quality; structure of interwoven fibers or other elements; feel of a surface or a fabric
E.g. They look and taste just like Pumpkin Pies, but the texture is a little denser and has more fiber.
a. of or pertaining to theater, or to scenic representations; resembling manner of dramatic performers; histrionic; artificial
E.g. I work in theatrical multimedia presentation, so I switch between platforms almost daily.
a. curative; having or exhibiting healing powers; relating to healing art
E.g. Across the Washington region, enrollment in therapeutic camps soars every year, although they are far more expensive than traditional day camp.
n. fit of irritation; petty quarrel; liquor, especially, a small draught of liquor
E.g. We had a high school girl get in a tiff with another high school girl so she stuffed a gasoline soaked rag in their van's gas tank and lit it.
n. wood; lumber; trees or wooded land considered as a source of wood
E.g. The deer has been jumping the fence to go to the timber from the corn field.
a. being or occurring in good time; sufficiently early; seasonable
E.g. This has been a timely reminder of the need for constant care.
n. extended scolding; long angry or violent speech
E.g. Your tirade is juvenile, hypocritical, and dare I say, unprofessional.
n. exhausting labor or effort; any thread, web, or string spread for taking prey
E.g. Three days and nights of toil and hunger in the cave were not to be shaken off at once, as Tom and Becky soon discovered.
n. body excluding head and neck and limbs
E.g. Players need to understand that the torso is the engine for the golf swing.
n. partial wig or hairpiece worn to cover a bald spot
E.g. One would think that with all the money he stole he would buy a toupee that looks real!
v. advertize in strongly positive terms; praise excessively; show off
E.g. Clinton and McCain tout their Washington experience as having prepared them to be President; they claim Obama is not adequately seasoned.
a. high; outstanding; very great or intense
E.g. Do you see that mountain towering directly south of us?
n. toxic or poisonous substance produced by the biological processes of biological organisms
E.g. They don't have a distinct taste or smell, and the toxin is not destroyed by cooking.
n. friction between body and surface on which it moves
E.g. Traction refers to the friction between a drive member and the surface it moves upon, where the friction is used to provide motion.
n. path of other moving body through space; chosen or taken course
E.g. Any abrupt change in trajectory is a potential for another delay, an opportunity to begin fishing for something that's stuck.
v. change in outward structure or looks; convert
E.g. He wants to transform into a monster.
v. forward; send from one person or place to another
E.g. They transmit his secret to the whole town.
n. comedy characterized by improbable situations; treatment aimed at making something appear ridiculous
E.g. The main travesty is that the people who caused the current problem are now assigned to fix the problem.
a. dangerous; dangerously unstable and unpredictable; disloyal; tending to betray
E.g. The crew of the Southern Supporter has finally arrived here in Cape Town harbor after an epic three-week chase through the treacherous southern ocean.
n. violation of allegiance or of faith and confidence; willful betrayal of fidelity, confidence, or trust; perfidy
E.g. And for a play about murder, treachery, betrayal, death, violence, and justice, this is not a bad location to summon those ancient spirits.