a. one-sided; prejudiced; committed to a party
E.g. On certain issues of principle, she refused to take a partisan stand, but let her conscience be her guide.
v. divide into parts, pieces, or sections
E.g. Before their second daughter was born, they decided each child needed a room, and so they planned to partition a large bedroom into two small separate rooms.
n. something which amuses, and serves to make time pass agreeably; sport; amusement
E.g. "Rochester was so willing to receive and looked so grateful for the pastime given him; you have noticed this?" "Grateful! I cannot remember detecting gratitude in his face."
n. tender sorrow; pity; quality in art or literature that produces these feelings
E.g. The quiet tone of pathos that ran through the novel never degenerated into the maudlin or the overly sentimental.
n. love of country; devotion to welfare of one's country; virtues and actions of patriot
E.g. Among the potent factors in developing and enriching our patriotism is the constant singing of our national anthem.
v. coat; cover
E.g. He's called for an end to the campaign of violence in order to pave the way for a resumption of the peace process, but the militants have rejected his strategy.
a. lacking wit or imagination; ordinary
E.g. Unintentionally boring, he wrote page after page of pedestrian prose.
n. a body suspended from fixed point as to swing freely to and fro by the alternate action of gravity and momentum
E.g. There was a clock on the middle of the mantelpiece, with a picture of a town painted on the bottom half of the glass front, and a round place in the middle of it for the sun, and you could see the pendulum swinging behind it.
a. capable of being perceived; cognizable; discernible; perceivable
E.g. By and by, out of the stillness, little, scarcely perceptible noises began to emphasize themselves.
a. striking one object against another sharply
E.g. The drum is a percussion instrument.
n. lasting indefinitely long time; suggesting self-renewal; remaining active throughout all the time
E.g. These plants are hardy perennial and will bloom for many years.
n. publication that appears at fixed intervals
E.g. Total operating revenues in the periodical publishing industry increased in 2005 from the previous year.
ad. in a regular periodic manner; intermittently
E.g. Check in periodically to see if Utah is keeping it close, but you might want to have a backup activity if it gets out of hand.
n. edge, especially of a round surface; surface of a solid; circumference
E.g. He sensed that there was something just beyond the periphery of his vision.
n. optical instruments that contain reflecting elements, such as mirrors and prisms; general or comprehensive view
E.g. The periscope is turned on and you are able to view the outside by clicing on the lense.
a. liable to perish; subject to destruction or death or decay
E.g. Travel tickets are like perishable goods: If a company doesn't sell seats, then they lose them.
v. spread or flow throughout; pervade
E.g. The odor of frying onions permeate the air.
a. proper to be permitted; allowable; admissible.
E.g. Many people think that the former is permissible but the latter is not.
a. vertical; upright; intersecting at or forming right angles; extremely steep
E.g. The axes are perpendicular to each other.
v. baffle; confuse
E.g. You puzzle me, Jane: your look and tone of sorrowful audacity perplex and pain me.
n. quality or state of being perplexed or puzzled; complication; intricacy; entanglement; embarrassment
E.g. He sprang to his feet and shouted -- "I done it!" The school stared in perplexity at this incredible folly.
v. pursue in a manner to injure, grieve, or afflict; beset with cruelty or malignity; harass; annoy
E.g. They persecute us with various delicate questions this morning.
v. endure; be persistent, refuse to stop
E.g. The will to persevere is often the difference between failure and success.
v. continue; insist; persevere
E.g. Why, when studies show that cell phone use, and especially texting, while driving impairs drivers more than drinking, do so many people persist in combining these lethal behaviors?
v. sweat; excrete perspiration through the pores in the skin
E.g. We perspire to keep the temperature of our internal thermostat set to an average, normal temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
v. belong; have connection with, or dependence on
E.g. Learning the specific set of vocabulary words that pertain to one's business becomes a simple task.
v. disturb greatly; make uneasy or anxious; throw into great confusion
E.g. The thought that electricity might be leaking out of the empty light bulb sockets might perturb my aunt.
v. pass or flow through, as an aperture; permeate; pass or spread through the whole extent of
E.g. These challenges are global in nature, and pervade all aspects of society.
n. belief that life is basically bad or evil; gloominess
E.g. Considering how well you have done in the course so far, you have no real reason for such pessimism about your final grade.
v. trouble; disturb; annoy; harass with petty vexations
E.g. I am so sorry to pester you but this is a project for orphans.
n. a chemical used to kill pests
E.g. The most significant advantages of genetically modified crops for the developing world are that farmers would have higher yields: they would be able to produce food using fewer inputs: less pesticide, less fertilizer.
n. one of the often brightly colored parts of flower, immediately surrounding reproductive organs
E.g. Each large outer petal is curved and cup-shaped, yet each has its finishing point which makes the blossom starry.
n. anxiety disorder by extreme and irrational fear; dislike
E.g. And a phobia is an uncontrollable response to fear, so I looked for another way to expose millions of people.
a. of or pertaining to the voice; relating to sounds of spoken language
E.g. In languages that have great phonetic differences, like Chinese and Japanese, they are often unrecognizable.
a. pertaining to science of the function of living organisms
E.g. To understand this disease fully, we must examine not only its physiological aspects but also its psychological elements.
n. natural constitution, or physical structure, of a person
E.g. Always show a thin waistline with wide hips, which give her sex appeal and also make her physique powerful.
a. scenic; striking or interesting in an unusual way
E.g. The town is just a couple of miles from where Urquhart Castle stands in picturesque ruins beside the loch.
ad. by a small amount at a time; in stages; gradually
E.g. Tolstoy's War and Peace is too huge to finish in one sitting; I'll have to read it piecemeal.
n. religious devotion and reverence to God; devout act, thought, or statement; godliness
E.g. The nuns in the convent were noted for their piety; they spent their days in worship and prayer.
n. substance used as coloring; dry coloring matter
E.g. Van Gogh mixed more than one pigment with linseed oil to create his paints.