n. hairy growth on or near the face of certain mammals
E.g. Removing the beard is against his religious beliefs, so Singh refused the razor and instead hired a human-rights lawyer.
n. foundation; basis; solid rock that underlies loose material, such as soil, sand, clay, or gravel
E.g. Frank runs his own campaign, and he enjoys bedrock of support.
a. helpful; tending to promote physical well-being
E.g. Tiny Tim's cheerful good nature had a beneficial influence on Scrooge's charitable disposition.
a. kindly; favorable; not malignant
E.g. Though her benign smile and gentle bearing made Miss Marple seem a sweet little old lady, in reality she was a tough-minded lady.
n. inheritance; legacy; act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another
E.g. Now the wealth did not weigh on me: now it was not a mere bequest of coin, it was a legacy of life, hope, enjoyment.
v. give as gift; present
E.g. He wished to bestow great honors upon the hero.
n. invoice; act; proposal; statement or list of particulars, such as a theater program or menu
E.g. Tuition, for instance, is an important item in the bill, while valuable education which he gets is made.
a. harsh or corrosive in tone; painful; acrid; acrimonious
E.g. He is perhaps the best qualified person for many years to solve a long standing and bitter dispute.
a. fantastic; violently contrasting; strangely unconventional in style or appearance
E.g. The plot of the novel was too bizarre to be believed.
a. lacking stimulating or mild; agreeable
E.g. She kept her gaze level and her expression bland, but her teeth were gritted.
n. heavy, loosely woven fabric, usually of wool, and having a nap, used in bed clothing
E.g. Flora covered him with her pocket handkerchief, which she called a blanket, and tried to wait patiently for him to finish his nap.
n. explode; burst; gale; very strong gust of wind or air
E.g. The blast is the deadliest such incident since a series of ones killed three people in Bangkok on New Year's Eve in 2006.
v. hinder; obstruct; indicate broadly without great detail; sketch
E.g. He failed to get enough allies to block the reform.
n. flower; blossom; best time of youth; period of greatest prosperity or productivity
E.g. I know how soon youth would fade and bloom perish.
n. gloom; depressed spirits
E.g. He had a bad case of the blues.
a. having a dull edge or end; not sharp; lacking in feeling; insensitive
E.g. Public employee unions are demanding in blunt terms that Democrats make the tax code more progressive.
a. exhibiting self-importance
E.g. He wrote a boastful autobiography, recording all his great deeds.
v. drill; make a hole in or through, with or as if with a drill
E.g. Three types of protein that enable the cells to bore in and out of blood vessels.
v. jolt; rebound after having struck an object or a surface
E.g. All patients bounce back to good health with that particular medicine.
n. dividing line; border; frontier
E.g. Planning drawings sometimes show a boundary line, though there is no legal requirement for it.
n. inclination of head, or bending of body for reverence, respect, civility, or submission; bending or rounded part of ship forward
E.g. I went back and set down on the bow of the small boat to rest.
a. have legs that curve outward at the knees
E.g. Babies sometimes appear bowlegged or knock-kneed in the early months of walking.
n. fight; noisy quarrel or fight; loud party
E.g. Last week, two local men were killed in a brawl.
n. noisy; act of quarreling or fighting; making the noise of rushing water
E.g. In today's frighteningly violent school climate, it may seem insensitive to approach brawling as a street sport.
n. divorce; separation; loss of control or composure
E.g. She called the breakup peaceable and said that they planned to continue raising their two young children together.
a. marked by speed, liveliness, and vigor; energetic; swift; keen or sharp in speech or manner
E.g. "Come in!" called a brisk, familiar voice, as Ronny knocked lightly on the almost closed door.
a. easily broken; having little elasticity
E.g. My employer's self-control was as brittle as an egg-shell.
n. foam; dome-shaped covering made of transparent glass or plastic; fantastic or impracticable idea or belief
E.g. This is the most anticipated public offering since the dotcom bubble burst four years ago.
v. fold or collapse; bend out of shape, as under pressure or from heat
E.g. Then, to make sure the edges didn’t buckle from the glue, I laid wax paper over it and put a weight on it.
n. good friend; comrade; partner, especially one of a pair or team
E.g. Does anybody remember what this man and his buddy tried to do to less than what they have now admitted to?
n. estimate; a sum of money allocated for a particular purpose
E.g. Earlier this week EU governments voted to bend the rules o that France and Germany wouldn't be penalized for breaking the rules on budget deficits.
n. impact as from a collision; lump on the body caused by a blow
E.g. Have you ever found a small lump or a bump on your body?
v. grow forth; send out buds; grow or develop rapidly
E.g. In the spring, the plants that burgeon are a promise of the beauty to come.
a. marked by flames or intense heat; of immediate import; urgent
E.g. The issues seem so burning in Washington.
n. insect typically having a slender body with broad colorful wings
E.g. The diverse patterns formed by their brightly colored wings have made butterfly watching a fairly popular hobby.
a. freedom from motion, agitation, or disturbance; tranquility; stillness; quiet; serenity
E.g. It was the cool gray dawn, and there was a peace in the deep pervading calm and silence of the woods.
v. exploit natural surroundings to disguise something; conceal
E.g. In order to rescue Han Solo, Princess Leia decided to camouflage herself in the helmet and cloak of a space bandit.
n. battle ;a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end
E.g. The Clinton campaign has raised more money in the first three months of this year than all nine Democratic candidates combined.
n. heavy closely woven fabric; background against which events unfold, as in a historical narrative
E.g. My canvas is my life, and I give you the colors and brushes of me.
a. having the ability required for a specific task
E.g. Canadian politicians have been in capable of ending this primitive practice.