n. irreligious person; pagan ; one who does not acknowledge the God of the Bible
E.g. The distinction between being a Christian or a heathen is easy to see but difficult to talk.
n. opinion contrary to popular belief; opinion contrary to accepted religion
E.g. Galileo's assertion that the earth moved around the sun directly contradicted the religious teachings of his day; as a result, he was tried for heresy.
n. period of greatest popularity, success, or power; golden age
E.g. In their heyday, the San Francisco Forty-Niners won the Super Bowl two years running.
n. time of animals sleep through the winter
E.g. All they are doing is sort of fattening themselves up to go into hibernation to build their own nests next year.
n. arrangement by rank or standing; series in which each element is graded or ranked
E.g. To be low man on the totem pole is to have an inferior place in the hierarchy.
n. great enjoyable or amusing activity
E.g. This hilarity is improper on this solemn day of mourning.
n. handle, especially the handle of a sword, dagger, or the like
E.g. Brydon knew that in time the blood would seep down onto his sword hilt and make the grip slippery.
v. put at a disadvantage; tie up; hamper; prevent the progress
E.g. Developing countries were exempt, as it was felt cutbacks would hinder development and add to the existing burden of debt.
n. something that holds back or causes problems with something else; obstacle
E.g. Stalled cars along the highway are a hindrance to traffic that tow trucks should remove without delay.
a. having a harsh, rough, grating voice or sound, as when affected with a cold; making a rough, harsh cry or sound
E.g. She crossed her hands on her lap as if she were saying lessons, and began to repeat it, but her voice sounded hoarse and strange.
v. walk lame, bearing chiefly on one leg; walk with a hitch or hop, or with crutches; move roughly or irregularly
E.g. The old man had to hobble along the road with the aid of his stick.
v. raise; lift; elevate; raise to one's mouth in order to drink
E.g. We slid by, pretty wide away from the town, and didn't hoist our lantern till we was clear out of sight of it.
a. of home; domestic; familiar; intimate; plain; unpretending; rude in appearance; unpolished
E.g. The king said it was all the more homely and more pleasant for these fixings, and so don't disturb them.
a. of the same or similar nature or kind
E.g. Because the student body at Elite Prep was so homogeneous, Sara decided to send daughter to another school that offered greater cultural diversity.
n. tough and aggressive or violent youth
E.g. A football firm, also known as a hooligan firm, is a gang formed to fight with members supporters from other clubs.
n. a large group or crowd; wandering troop or gang; a moving crowd
E.g. Before Christmas the store will treat a special horde of shoppers.
n. cultivation of plants
E.g. A unique post secondary educational opportunity that blends academic ornamental horticulture studies and practical training at this school.
n. shack; small, wretched house
E.g. He wondered how poor people could stand living in such a hovel.
n. loud noise of many confused voices; tumult; uproar.
E.g. He covered his head with the bedclothes and waited in a horror of suspense for his doom; for he had not the shadow of a doubt that this entire hubbub was about him.
n. excessive pride or self-confidence
E.g. Nathan's hubris spurred him to do things that many considered insensitive.
n. color; appearance; particular gradation of color
E.g. The aviary contained birds of every possible hue.
a. massive; bulky; great in size
E.g. Despite his hulking build, the heavyweight boxing champion was surprisingly light on his feet.
a. lacking variety or excitement; monotonous
E.g. After his years of adventure, he could not settle down to a humdrum existence.
a. containing a high amount of water or water vapor
E.g. She could not stand the humid climate and moved to a drier area.
n. dampness; moisture
E.g. But too much or too little humidity can produce a host of difficulties for householders.
n. tiny American bird having brilliant iridescent plumage and long slender bills
E.g. Hummingbird is small bird in the family Trochilidae, native only to the Americas.
n. shell; outer covering; remove the husk from
E.g. And I will give the missionary my energies, but not myself: that would be only adding the husk and shell to the kernel.
a. consisting of husks; hoarse or rough in quality
E.g. "I am Mrs. Allan Fleming," she said, with a certain husky defiance.
n. figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis; overstatement
E.g. As far as I'm concerned, Apple's claims about the new computer are pure hyperbole: no machine is that good!
a. having the quality of producing sleep; tending to produce sleep; soporific
E.g. Mothers used to read the bedtime story in a hypnotic voice.
n. patient with imaginary symptoms and ailments; one who is morbidly anxious about his health, and generally depressed
E.g. The doctor prescribed chocolate pills for his patient who was a hypochondriac.
a. of or pertaining to the parts under the skin; injected beneath the skin
E.g. A hypodermic needle and an air bubble can kill, but can you guarantee that kind of placement?
n. pendent spear of ice formed by the freezing of dripping water
E.g. An icicle is a spike of ice formed when water dripping or falling from another object freezes.
n. study of origin and nature of ideas
E.g. For people who had grown up believing in the communist ideology, it was hard to adjust to capitalism.
n. condition or quality of being an idiot; extreme folly or stupidity
E.g. All of this idiocy is a major reason why I moved out of the state in June.
a. produced under conditions involving intense heat
E.g. Igneous rock is rock formed by solidification from a molten state.
v. kindle; cause to start burning; set fire to
E.g. A nuclear-armed Iran would ignite a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
a. incapable of being read; unclear; not legible
E.g. No one likes his illegible handwriting.
a. of illuminate; tending to increase knowledge; giving or producing light; used for illumination
E.g. Science has come a long way in illuminating the development processes of an organism in terms of chemical reactions.
n. degree of visibility of your environment
E.g. For roadway luminaries, I estimate an illumination increase with proper shielding to perhaps 115 percent of the unshielded level.