n. small, smooth, flat surface, as on a bone or tooth; side; a smooth surface
E.g. The stonecutter decided to improve the rough diamond by providing it one bigger facet among several sides.
v. help bring about; make less difficult
E.g. Rest and proper nourishment should facilitate the patient's recovery.
n. deceptive or false appearance; false notion; deception
E.g. This particular logical fallacy is called 'circular definition'.
a. likely to fail or be inaccurate
E.g. I know I am fallible, but I feel confident that I am right this time.
v. be unsteady in purpose or action, as from loss of courage or confidence
E.g. When told to dive off the high board, she did not falter, but proceeded at once.
n. shortage of food; starvation
E.g. If they do, they may help to prevent famine in Africa.
n. person who is zealously enthusiastic for some cause; showing evidence of possession by a god or demon
E.g. What the papers report is that he was an extreme right-wing fanatic with psychological delusions.
v. cause to be interested or curious; captivate
E.g. The next moment he was "showing off" with all his might --cuffing boys, pulling hair, making faces--in a word, using every art that seemed likely to fascinate a girl and win her applause.
a. difficult to please; having complicated requirements; excessively particular demanding about details
E.g. Bobby was such a fastidious eater that he would eat a sandwich only if his mother first cut off every scrap of crust.
a. foolish or silly, especially in self-satisfied way
E.g. He is far too intelligent to utter such fatuous remarks.
a. capable of being accomplished or brought about
E.g. Now, the expert that would have to come in and examine "Baby R.B." and decide whether that's feasible is just now being scheduled.
n. uniting in a league; confederation; league
E.g. A principle of allowing each state in a nation or federation to act independently of the central authority, especially in promoting its own economic interests.
n. state or relation of being or associate; companionship of persons on equal and friendly terms; state of being together
E.g. They offered him the hand of fellowship when he was in difficulties.
a. fierce; savage; wild; indicating cruelty
E.g. The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.
a. rich; fruitful; inventive; creative; intellectually productive
E.g. It provides a fertile idea for a group of entrepreneurs.
a. extremely hot; sincerely or intensely felt
E.g. She felt that the fervent praise was excessive and somewhat undeserved.
v. undergo decay; infect, inflame, or corrupt;
E.g. Letting the problem continue to fester is not an option; it could well provoke another crisis and outbreak of more general fighting through out the region.
v. restrain with U-shaped bar for ankles or feet; impede; hamper
E.g. They fetter the prisoner to the wall.
n. slender, elongated, threadlike object or structure
E.g. The Maya produced fibre from the henequen plant since the time of Christ.
a. having a limit; limited in quantity, degree, or capacity; bounded
E.g. By the way, it's wrong to think a single individual can overtake a population of size infinity in finite time.
n. commonplace object; object firmly fixed in place
E.g. It was vain to try to read with such an inscrutable fixture before me; nor could I, in impatience, consent to be dumb; he might rebuff me if he liked, but talk I would.
a. weak; lacking firmness
E.g. If they become too fat, that is a flaw and they are called flabby.
n. quality produced by the sensation of taste; a variety of tastes attributed to an object
E.g. Cream cheese frosting with pineapple flavour is my favourite.
v. flutter; flap the wings without flying; waver unsteadily, like a flame in a current of air
E.g. The generator started to whir; the lights on it began to flicker and sparks shot out from the wires.
v. grow well; decorate with ornaments; be in a period of productivity
E.g. Upsets may occur, even painful misunderstandings and separations, yet the essential love remains, and might again flourish, more temperately.
v. rise and fall in or as if in waves; shift; vary irregularly
E.g. The water pressure in our shower does fluctuate wildly.
a. easy and graceful in shape; graceful; smooth and unconstrained in movement
E.g. There was a yacht with long, fluent curves in water.
v. vibrate or move quickly; drive in disorder; throw into confusion; wave or flap rapidly in an irregular manner
E.g. Out in the street the loudspeakers bellow, the flags flutter from the rooftops, the police prowl to and fro.
n. flowing; series of changes; state of being liquid through heat
E.g. While conditions are in such a state of flux, I do not wish to commit myself too deeply in this affair.
n. flight over a specific location, usually at low altitude, as by a formation of military aircraft; overpass, as on a highway
E.g. Why do we have to have an ear-splitting flyover of military jets at baseball games?
n. prediction about how something will develop, as for weather
E.g. Weather forecast said there are early signs that this continent risks entering another El Nino episode.
n. predecessor; one who goes before or announces the coming of another
E.g. Doug Engelbart helped launch the Internet's forerunner, the Arpanet.
v. anticipate; predict
E.g. Local Republican leaders foresee Bush nomination.
v. pattern; design; set into a specific pattern
E.g. Please format this letter so it can be printed out.
v. decide upon and express in words
E.g. The deputy prime minister, Abdullah Badawi had to formulate Malaysia's response to the US-led invasion of Iraq, deal with the outbreak of the SARS virus and keep watch while the courts heard an appeal by his jailed predecessor Anwar Ibrahim.
n. particular skill; special talent
E.g. However, her main forte is the young readers 'novels, where children ride out their own adventures with minimal adult help.
v. make strong or stronger; prepare oneself for a military confrontation
E.g. Allowing women to join the infantry and take on combat positions, would fortify military efforts.
n. a period of fourteen consecutive days
E.g. If you think it useful to write to me, within a fortnight from the present date, direct to me at the post-office.
a. physically weak; easily broken
E.g. He was 49 years old and in frail health, suffering from diabetes.
n. fundamental structure, as for a written work; skeleton
E.g. If they're given a draft framework for such a body, the rebels say they are willing to resume negotiations.