v. call together; cause to assemble in meeting; convene
E.g. He has to convoke Congress at the outbreak of the emergency.
n. unnatural and violent contraction of the muscular parts of an animal body; any violent and irregular motion or agitation; violent shaking; tumult
E.g. Mary gave him a brand-new "Barlow" knife worth twelve and a half cents; and the convulsion of delight that swept his system shook him to his foundations.
a. plentiful; containing plenty; affording ample supply
E.g. She had copious reasons for rejecting the proposal.
n. a brass musical instrument with a brilliant tone
E.g. I love to play cornet - and it is a very versatile instrument.
a. very fat; large in body; overweight
E.g. The corpulent man resolved to reduce.
v. relate; associate; bring into a mutual relation
E.g. I cannot correlate these two pieces of information.
n. group that meets socially; an exclusive circle of people with common purpose
E.g. After his book had been published, he was invited to join the literary coterie that lunched daily at the hotel.
v. cancel; revoke command or order; order or direct in opposition to; prohibit; forbid
E.g. The general decided to countermand the orders issued in his absence.
a. characterized by or manifesting, sourness, peevishness, or moroseness; harsh; cross; cynical
E.g. The bitter check had wrung from me some tears; and now, as I sat poring over the crabbed characters and flourishing tropes of an Indian scribe, my eyes filled again.
n. steep, rugged rock; rough, broken cliff, or point of a rock, on a ledge
E.g. I waded knee-deep in its dark growth; I turned with its turnings, and finding a moss-blackened granite crag in a hidden angle, I sat down under it.
n. a piece of silk, fine muslin, or other cloth, worn by men about the neck
E.g. I have never seen a man wearing cravat.
n. readiness of belief; disposition to believe on slight evidence
E.g. The rascal lives on the credulity of the people.
a. apt to believe on slight evidence; easily imposed upon; unsuspecting; believed too readily
E.g. They are credulous people who believe in the advertisement.
n. a kind of knitting done by means of a hooked needle, with worsted, silk, or cotton
E.g. She is good at crochet, especially for sweater.
v. fall apart; fold or collapse; crush together or press into wrinkles
E.g. It's weird watching your leg to crumple in directions it's not natural to go in.
n. of various predominantly aquatic arthropods of the class Crustacea, including lobsters, crabs, shrimps
E.g. I believe there is a kind of crustacean living in the lakes, very much like an ordinary crab.
v. rest upon as a troublesome or useless weight or load; be burdensome or oppressive to; hinder or embarrass in attaining an object
E.g. One day, however, as she put away her account-book and unfolded her embroidery, she suddenly took her up thus -- "Georgiana, a more vain and absurd animal than you was certainly never allowed to cumber the earth."
a. heavy; difficult to handle because of weight or bulk
E.g. He was burdened down with cumbersome parcels.
n. greed; excessive desire, especially for wealth
E.g. The defeated people could not satisfy the cupidity of the conquerors, who demanded excessive tribute.
a. perverse; stubborn
E.g. Potter took out a large spring-knife and cut off the dangling end of the rope and then said: "Now the cussed thing's ready, Sawbones, and you'll just out with another five, or here she stays."
n. object that serves as a focal point of attention and admiration; something that strongly attracts attention; center of attraction
E.g. As soon as the movie star entered the room, she became the cynosure of all eyes.
a. spotted; having mottled or spotted skin or coat
E.g. The sunlight filtering through the screens created a dappled effect on the wall.
v. smear as with paint; apply with quick or crude strokes to surface; make crude paintings
E.g. From the way you daub your paint on the canvas, I could tell you knew nothing of oils.
v. frighten; abate the courage of; discourage
E.g. Other northern employers were shocked that ex-slaves refused to work in conditions that would not daunt a farmer in the North.
a. bold; incapable of being discouraged; fearless
E.g. Despite the dangerous nature of the undertaking, the dauntless soldier volunteered for the assignment.
v. reduce in quality or value; lower in esteem; degrade
E.g. In The King and l, Anna refuses to kneel down and prostrate herself before the king, for she feels that to do so would debase her position.
v. corrupt; seduce from virtue
E.g. Did Socrates' teachings lead the young men of Athens to be virtuous citizens, or did they debauch the young men, causing them to question the customs of their fathers?
v. make weak; enfeeble; impair the strength of
E.g. Michael's severe bout of the flu might debilitate him so much that he was too tired to go to work for a week.
v. expose as false, exaggerated, worthless; ridicule
E.g. Pointing out that he consistently has voted against strengthening anti-pollution legislation, reporters debunk the candidate's claim that he is a fervent environmentalist.
v. slow down rate of advancement of; decrease speed of
E.g. Seeing the emergency blinkers in the road ahead, I decelerate quickly.
a. falling off as of leaves; falling off or shed at specific season or stage of growth
E.g. The oak is a deciduous tree; in winter it looks quite bare.
v. speak loudly and vehemently; make formal speech
E.g. At Thanksgiving dinners, our grandfather used to declaim his right, as the eldest, to sit at the head of the table.
n. downward slope, as of a hill
E.g. The children loved to ski down the declivity.
n. breakdown or decay of organic materials; act or result of decomposing
E.g. Despite the body's advanced state of decomposition, the police were able to identify the murdered man.
n. state of collapse caused by illness or old age
E.g. I was unprepared for the state of decrepitude in which I had found my old friend; he seemed to have aged twenty years in six months.
v. express strong disapproval of; disparage
E.g. The founder of the Children's Defense Fund, Marian Wright Edelman, would strongly decry the lack of financial and moral support for children in America today.
v. harm someone's reputation; degrade; bring into disrepute; make infamous
E.g. If you try to defame my good name, my lawyers will see you in court.
n. withdrawing support or help; act of abandoning something to which one is bound by allegiance or duty; failure in duty
E.g. The children, who had made him an idol, were hurt most by his defection from our cause.
a. dead; no longer in use or existence
E.g. The lawyers sought to examine the books of the defunct corporation.
v. remove water from; dry out; lose water or bodily fluids
E.g. Running under a hot sun would quickly dehydrate the body; joggers soon learn to carry water bottles and to drink from them frequently.