n. blast; outburst
E.g. If a gust of wind swept the waste, I looked up, fearing it was the rush of a bull; if a plover whistled, I imagined it a man.
n. place or building where athletic exercises are performed; a school for gymnastics
E.g. A new gymnasium has been built on our campus.
a. not thorough, constant or consistent; by chance
E.g. His haphazard reading left him unacquainted with the authors of the books.
n. sheltered part of a body of water deep enough to provide anchorage for ships; place of shelter; refuge
E.g. This is the famous Sydney Opera House at night - picture taken from a water taxi in the harbour.
a. dangerous; reckless; daring; inclined to run risks
E.g. People who employ pregnant women and children in hazardous occupations do so because such labor is cheaper than the labor of adult men, it's a simple matter of maximizing profits.
a. stubbornly and often recklessly willful; unyielding
E.g. I know I'm the good girl, the pure girl, the smart girl, the over-achieving girl, and maybe it's something that makes me the kind of headstrong girl.
n. thicket of bushes, usually thorn bushes
E.g. The hay was all got in; the trees were in their dark prime; hedge and wood, full-leaved and deeply tinted, contrasted well with the sunny hue of the cleared meadows between.
v. enhance; hoist; raise or increase the quantity or degree of; intensify
E.g. This action worried others because it might heighten political instability.
ad. from this time forward; henceforward
E.g. Basically, we should all just assume that everything they say henceforth is just another lie.
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.
v. stop and rob a vehicle in transit; seize control of by use of force
E.g. If you attempt to hijack or otherwise destroy this aircraft, we encourage your fellow passengers to remove you from your seat and beat you until you are dead.
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. a joint that holds two parts together so that one can swing relative to the other
E.g. His absence is the hinge of our plan.
n. one who is an authority on history
E.g. Someone who writes an account of the times is a historian just as much as someone who concerns themselves only with the events prior to them.
v. travel by getting free rides from passing vehicles; be carried along with something else
E.g. Not knowing where to turn, he began to hitchhike his way back to Arkansas.
ad. to this place; to a prescribed limit; up to this time; as yet; until now
E.g. The weather, which had hitherto been sunny and mild, suddenly turned cold.
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.
n. container for holding or carrying miscellaneous items, especially a traveling case or bag
E.g. He claimed to occupy a chair near the back door and possess one small holdall containing all his personal possessions.
n. great destruction resulting in the extensive loss of life, especially by fire; massive slaughter
E.g. A holocaust is an event so terrible that it's hard to believe or talk about.
n. students visiting a foreign country to study, board with a local family at an affordable price
E.g. I have such friendly neighbors, students, parents of students, homestay families, etc.
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. cultivation of plants
E.g. A unique post secondary educational opportunity that blends academic ornamental horticulture studies and practical training at this school.
v. hang about; wait nearby; remain floating
E.g. He held the aircraft to hover on the lake and listened over his headset.
v. utter a loud, mournful sound or cry, as dogs and wolves often do; utter a sound expressive of distress; cry aloud and mournfully
E.g. There are some neighbor dogs I would like to use it on, just to train them not to bark and howl, especially when they wake me up at night.
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.
a. lacking variety or excitement; monotonous
E.g. After his years of adventure, he could not settle down to a humdrum existence.
n. dampness; moisture
E.g. But too much or too little humidity can produce a host of difficulties for householders.
n. assumption; theory
E.g. A hypothesis is a tentative statement that proposes a possible.
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. expression whose meaning differs from meanings of its individual words; distinctive style
E.g. The phrase "to lose one's marbles" is an idiom: if I say that Joe's lost his marbles, I'm not asking you to find some for him. I'm telling you that he's crazy.
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. uncultured; uneducated; not able to read or write
E.g. The children are musically illiterate in that village.
v. provide or brighten with light; clear up or make understandable; enlighten
E.g. Yes, I have hidden her; neither the light of the sun, nor any social taper shall again illuminate her kindly face.
v. represent; demonstrate; depict; clarify, as by use of examples or comparisons
E.g. The editor will illustrate the definition with an example sentence.
v. copy the actions, appearance, mannerisms, or speech of; mimic; use or follow as a model
E.g. I can't imitate him, and so I am not going to try to; but he has really done it pretty good.
a. enormous; boundless; so great as to be beyond measurement
E.g. He expressed immense disappointment with the way the Clintons have run the campaign.
v. plunge into anything, especially a fluid; sink; dip
E.g. We are ready to invite you all to immerse in Mathematics for two weeks this summer.
n. one who comes to a country where they were not born in order to settle there; non-native
E.g. His is a glamorous version of the American immigrant dream, arriving as a mere Austrian bodybuilder before finding fame, fortune and wife.
v. move into another country to stay there permanently
E.g. The cost to immigrate legally needs to be lowered, or we will see more border accidents.
v. injure or hurt; become worse; affect negatively
E.g. Drinking alcohol can impair your ability to drive safely; if you're going to drink, don't drive.