MBA Vocab - Oxford Examples - Vol 6
syllabication
[syllabification]:
pin
[tack, badge, attach, hold, rely on, make someone commit themselves, define, blame something on]: [a gold and diamond lapel pin] [a three-pin plug] [she was very nimble on her pins] [he pinned the badge on to his lapel] [her hair was pinned back]
exports
[exportation]:
take away
[take out]:
demonstrative
[expressive, indicative, convincing]: [we were a very physically demonstrative family] [demonstrative evidence] [the possibility of a demonstrative science of ethics]
bowdlerize
[expurgate]: [a bowdlerized version of the story]
censor
[expurgator, cut]: [the report was approved by the military censors] [the movie has been given an adults-only rating by film censors] [the report had been censored 'in the national interest'] [the letters she received were censored]
extemporaneously
[extemporarily, extempore]:
annihilated
[exterminated, wiped out]:
bonus
[extra payment, benefit]: [big Christmas bonuses] [good weather is an added bonus but the real appeal is the landscape]
penury
[extreme/dire poverty]: [he couldn't face another year of penury]
acutely
[extremely]: [the whole situation was acutely embarrassing] [Elizabeth felt Jane's distress acutely] [an acutely inflamed gall bladder] [we are all acutely aware of the fragility of our world]
junta
[faction]: [the country's ruling military junta]
knee
[faint]: [they were eating their suppers on their knees] [she kneed him in the groin] [a country no longer willing to bend its knee to foreign powers] [the country was brought to its knees by a new strike] [did your guy propose on bended knee?]
equities
[fairness]:
imposter
[fake, faker, fraud, impostor, pretender, pseud, pseudo, role player, sham, shammer]:
distorting
[falsify, garble, warp]:
distorts
[falsify, garble, warp]:
zealot
[fanatic]:
destinies
[fate]:
favor
[favour, party favor, party favour]:
favorable
[favourable]:
favorably
[favourably]:
faintest
[feeble]:
graze
[feed, scrape, touch, scratch]: [cattle graze on the open meadows] [downland areas grazed by sheep] [shepherds who grazed animals on common land] [advertisers should not encourage children to graze on snacks or sweets] [we grazed up and down the TV channels]
sensation
[feeling, commotion, great success]: [a burning sensation in the middle of the chest] [they had lost sensation in one or both forearms] [she had the eerie sensation that she was being watched] [his arrest for poisoning caused a sensation] [she was a sensation, the talk of the evening]
beliefs
[feeling, impression, notion, opinion]:
female
[feminine]: [a herd of female deer] [a female audience] [female names] [it was one of those subtle hints that the female of the species sometimes use]
fecund
[fertile, prolific]: [a lush and fecund garden] [her fecund imagination]
fiber
[fibre, roughage]:
muscular
[fibrous, strong, vigorous]: [[energy is needed for muscular activity] ] [[his legs were strong and muscular] ] [[a muscular economy] ]
apocryphal
[fictitious]: [an apocryphal story about a former president] [his alleged description of opera as 'fat gits singing' is probably apocryphal] [the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas]
finance
[financial affairs, funds, finances, fund]: [the firm's finance department] [the clearing banks are important sources of finance] [the club's finances are stretched to the limit] [the health service is financed almost entirely by the taxpayer]
incurred
[find, get, obtain, receive]:
tenacious
[firm, sticky, retentive, persevering]: [a tenacious grip] [this tenacious defence of local liberties] [you're tenacious and you get at the truth] [a tenacious local legend]
immovable
[fixed, steadfast]: [all immovable objects have graffiti sprayed on them] [an immovable article of faith]
becoming
[flattering]: [what a becoming dress!] [do not talk too much to your cousins, it's not becoming]
herd
[flock, crowd, the common people, drive, crowd, look after]: [a herd of elephants] [farms with big dairy herds] [I dodged herds of joggers] [he is not of the common herd] [they were herded into a bus]
storey
[floor]: [a three-storey building] [four-storeyed houses]
petal
[flower petal]: [pink-petalled trailing phlox]
unfolding
[flowering]:
liquidity
[fluidity, fluidness, liquidness, runniness]: [the banks closed, causing serious liquidity problems for smaller companies] [a firm may be unable to pay unless it has spare liquidity]
frothy
[foaming, insubstantial]: [steaming mugs of frothy coffee] [lots of frothy interviews]
crease
[fold, wrinkle, creases, crumple, press]: [khaki trousers with knife-edge creases] [stubble lines the creases of his face] [England were 15 for 3 overnight, with Stewart and Russell at the crease] [he was caught in the crease without the puck] [he sank into the chair, careful not to crease his dinner jacket]
shock
[fright, trauma, vibration, appal, mass]: [it was a shock to face such hostile attitudes] [her death gave us all a terrible shock] [her eyes opened wide in shock] [trading imbalances caused by the two oil shocks] [the home-made lighting gave my father a shock when he touched the aquarium]
tangent
[tan]: [Loretta's mind went off at a tangent] [this curve is tangent to the average cost curve]
tenement
[tenement house]:
loaded
[full, primed, biased, charged]: [a heavily loaded freight train] [a loaded gun] [she doesn't really have to work—they're loaded] [it's Friday night, and we want to get loaded] [1989 Ford 250 LXT: low miles, loaded]
cardinal
[fundamental]: [his appointment as cardinal] [the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster] [two cardinal points must be borne in mind]
stealthy
[furtive]: [stealthy footsteps]
weld
[fuse]: [steel plates were being welded] [the truck had spikes welded to the back] [cross-curricular themes would weld the curriculum together]
marshal
[gather, usher]: [Marshal Tito] [ground marshals joined the referee and touch judges in trying to regain order] [the general marshalled his troops] [he paused for a moment, as if marshalling his thoughts] [the quarters include those appearing on the Warwick Plate, but in addition there is marshalled that of Grey]
beckon
[gesture, entice]: [Miranda beckoned to Adam] [he beckoned Cameron over] [he beckoned Duncan to follow] [the going is tough and soft options beckon]
get along with
[get along, get on, get on with]:
eradicate
[get rid of]: [this disease has been eradicated from the world]
knack
[gift, technique, tendency to]: [he had a knack for communicating] [John had the enviable knack of falling asleep anywhere]
retire
[give up work, pension off, go off, withdraw, go to bed, retreat]: [he retired from the Navy in 1986] [the Home Office retired him] [he retired from football several years ago] [he was forced to retire with a damaged oil tank] [Stewart retired hurt]
contribute
[give, impart, play a part in]: [taxpayers had contributed £141.8 million towards the cost of local services] [he contributed to a private pension] [the government imposed a tax on fuels which contributed to global warming] [he contributed articles to the magazine] [he did not contribute to the meetings]
afforded
[give, open]:
donate
[give]: [the proceeds will be donated to an AIDS awareness charity] [all donated blood is tested for antibodies]
shimmer
[glint, glint]: [the sea shimmered in the sunlight] [shimmering candlelight] [a pale shimmer of moonlight]
sphericity
[globosity, globularness, rotundity, rotundness, sphericalness]:
glistening
[glossy, lustrous, sheeny, shining, shiny]:
incandescence
[glow]:
dwarf
[gnome, small person, miniature, dominate, overshadow]: [a dwarf conifer] [the buildings surround and dwarf All Saints church] [the dwarfed but solid branch of a tree]
terrifying
[terrific]:
subject
[theme, participant, branch of knowledge, citizen, liege, susceptible to, conditional on, bound by, put through]: [I've said all there is to be said on the subject] [he's the subject of a major new biography] [the incident was the subject of international condemnation] [subjects were asked to complete a questionnaire] [the chorale-like second subject of the Scherzo]
theologian
[theologiser, theologist, theologizer]:
heel
[wedge, tail end, subjugate, run away, lean over]: [shoes with low heels] [he rubbed the heel of his hand against the window] [what kind of a heel do you think I am?] [he played the perfect wrestling heel, arrogant, overly aggressive, yet the first to run away when the odds are not in his favour] [they were soling and heeling heavy working boots]
herbicides
[weed killer, weedkiller]:
safety
[welfare, harmlessness]: [they should leave for their own safety] [the survivors were airlifted to safety] [a safety barrier] [a safety helmet]
bravo
[well done]: [bravo, you're improving!] [bravos rang out]
whine
[whimper, hum, hum, wail, complain]: [the dog gave a small whine] [the whine of the engine] [there was a hint of a whine in Anna's voice] [a constant whine about the quality of public services] [the dog whined and scratched at the back door]
insulate
[wrap, protect]: [insulate and draught-proof your home] [an insulated loft] [the case is carefully insulated to prevent short circuits] [the service is insulated from outside pressures] [the village was insulated by every flood of the river]
sabotage
[wreck, disrupt, wrecking, disruption]: [power lines from South Africa were sabotaged by rebel forces] [a coordinated campaign of sabotage]
text
[written work, words, transcript, textbook, passage, theme]: [a text which explores pain and grief] [in some passages it is difficult to establish the original text] [stylistic features of journalistic text] [the pictures are clear and relate well to the text] [too much concentration on set texts can turn pupils against reading]
impressing
[yarn-dye]:
fanatical
[zealous, extremist, enthusiastic]: [fanatical revolutionaries] [her husband was fanatical about tidiness]
soared
[zoom]:
descend
[go down, climb down, slope, condescend, degenerate, come in force, be a descendant of, be handed down]: [the aircraft began to descend] [the vehicle descended a ramp] [a side road descended into the forest] [a flight of stairs descended a steep slope] [the categories are listed in descending order of usefulness]
dissolve
[go into solution, disappear, burst into, disband, disperse, annul]: [glucose dissolves easily in water] [dissolve a stock cube in a pint of hot water] [my courage dissolved] [she suddenly dissolved into floods of tears] [the scene dissolves into a series of shots of the Morgan family]
spurring
[goad, goading, prod, prodding, spur, urging]:
farewell
[goodbye, valediction, goodbye]: [Farewell Albert!] [the dinner had been arranged as a farewell] [he had come on the pretext of bidding her farewell]
merchandise
[goods, promote]: [shops which offered an astonishing range of merchandise] [the official merchandise for the film] [a new breakfast food can easily be merchandised] [they are merchandising 'niceness' to children] [anyone who is not of that Guild may not merchandise with them]
regulators
[governor]:
seize
[grab, capture, confiscate, grasp]: [she jumped up and seized his arm] [he seized hold of the door handle] [army rebels seized an air force base] [the current President seized power in a coup] [police have seized 726 lb of cocaine]
calorie
[gram calorie, small calorie]:
vivid
[graphic, bright, dynamic]: [memories of that evening were still vivid] [a vivid description] [the rhododendron bush provides a vivid splash of mauve]
wrestle
[grapple]: [as the policeman wrestled with the gunman a shot rang out] [the security guards wrestled them to the ground] [she wrestled the keys out of the ignition] [for over a year David wrestled with a guilty conscience] [a wrestle to the death]
considerably
[greatly]: [things have improved considerably over the last few years] [a considerably higher density]
heartrending
[grievous, heartbreaking]:
lattice
[grille, wicket]: [honeysuckle was growing up a lattice round the door] [the lift stopped and he peered through the metal lattice] [a lattice fence] [the lattice of branches above her]
traction
[grip]: [a primitive vehicle used in animal traction] [the changeover to diesel and electric traction] [a pent-up demand for traction and rolling stock] [his car hit a patch of ice and lost traction] [analysts predicted that the technology would rapidly gain traction in the corporate mobile market]
furrow
[groove, wrinkle, wrinkle]: [regular furrows in a ploughed field] [fields of ridge and furrow] [lorry wheels had dug furrows in the sand] [there were deep furrows in his brow] [gorges furrowing the deep-sea floor]
flock
[group, herd, crowd, gather, stream]: [a flock of gulls] [a flock of sheep] [a flock of paparazzi tailed them all over London] [Thomas addressed his flock] [sandgrouse are liable to flock with other species]
genus
[group, type]:
culprit
[guilty party]: [the car's front nearside door had been smashed in but the culprits had fled] [low-level ozone pollution is the real culprit]
gynecology
[gynaecology]:
gynecocracy
[gynarchy]:
whirling
[gyration]:
capillaries
[hairlike]:
longed
[hanker, yearn]:
malign
[harmful, defame]: [she had a strong and malign influence] [don't you dare malign her in my presence]
accursed
[hateful]: [the Angel of Death walks this accursed house] [this accursed country!]
checkup
[health check, medical, medical checkup, medical exam, medical examination]:
warmth
[heat, friendliness]: [the warmth of the sun on her skin] [she smiled with real warmth] ['Of course not,' he snapped, with a warmth that he regretted]
sybarite
[hedonist]:
countered
[heel counter]:
idolize
[hero-worship]: [he idolized his mother]
cold feet
[hesitate]: [after arranging to meet I got cold feet and phoned her saying I was busy]
hexangular
[hexagonal]:
hitchhike
[hitch, thumb]:
pastime
[hobby]: [his favourite pastimes were shooting and golf]
bearers
[holder]:
sea cucumber
[holothurian]:
blessed
[holy, favoured]: [the Blessed Sacrament] [the Convent of the Blessed Agnes] [blessed are the meek] [he'll want to go and see his blessed allotment]
habitats
[home ground]:
abode
[home, without a roof over one's head]: [my humble abode] [their right of abode in Britain] [both defendants were said to be of no fixed abode]
honor
[honour]:
bamboozled
[hoodwink, lead by the nose, play false, pull the wool over someone's eyes, snow]:
feisty
[huffy, thin-skinned, touchy]: [a love story with a feisty heroine who's more than a pretty face] [he got a bit feisty and tried to hit me]
massive
[huge]: [a massive rampart of stone] [massive crowds are expected] [a massive heart attack] [the band are going to be massive] [a massive limestone without bedding planes]
looming
[hulk, predominate, tower]:
comic
[humorous, comedian]: [a comic monologue] [a comic actor] [comic drama] [he is training as a stand-up comic] [the shop sold newspapers and children's comics]
hurdles
[hurdle race, hurdling]:
hydrodynamics
[hydrokinetics]:
sanitary
[hygienic]: [a sanitary engineer] [the most convenient and sanitary way to get rid of food waste from your kitchen]
fool
[idiot, laughing stock, jester, deceive, fiddle, philander, clown about/around]: [I felt a bit of a fool] [he is the fool of circumstances] [don't be fooled into paying out any more of your hard-earned cash] [she tried to fool herself that she had stopped loving him] [some lads in the pool were fooling around]
sick
[ill, nauseous, disappointed, fed up with, be sick of, macabre, vomit]: [nursing very sick children] [half my staff were off sick] [visiting the sick and the elderly] [the company organized a sick fund for its workers] [the British economy remains sick]
doomed
[ill-fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, unlucky]: [the moving story of their doomed love affair]
pictorial
[illustrated]: [feelings presented in a pictorial form] [he reported on cricket for the Sunday Pictorial]
inequality
[imbalance]: [social inequality] [the widening inequalities in income]
instantly
[immediately]: [she fell asleep almost instantly]
dip
[immerse, reach into, draw on, browse through, sink, slope down, decrease, lower, dim, swim, immersion, sauce, slope, hollow, decrease]: [he dipped a brush in the paint] [Ian dipped into his briefcase and pulled out a photograph] [you won't have to dip into your savings] [a reference work to dip into time and time again] [the sun had dipped below the horizon]
submergence
[immersion, submerging, submersion]:
migrant
[immigrant, travelling]: [migrant birds]
imperfectible
[imperfect]:
impetuosity
[impetuousness]:
tool
[implement, tools, dupe, drive, ornament]: [gardening tools] [computers are an essential tool] [the ability to write clearly is a tool of the trade] [the beautiful Estella is Miss Havisham's tool] [that guy is such a tool]
enforce
[impose, force, compulsory]: [the role of the police is to enforce the law] [there is no outside agency to enforce cooperation between the players] [my father spoke like a preacher enforcing a precept of religion]
imprecisions
[impreciseness]:
fertilize
[impregnate, pollinate, add fertilizer to]:
waxy
[impressible, impressionable]: [waxy potatoes]
confinement
[imprisonment, penning, labour]: [he was immediately released from his confinement] [the pros and cons of home versus hospital confinement] [my grandmother's last six confinements]
revival
[improvement, comeback]: [a revival in the fortunes of the party] [an economic revival] [cryogenic revival patients] [cross-country skiing is enjoying a revival] [they both played in a major revival of The School for Scandal]
enamored
[in love, infatuated, potty, smitten, soft on, taken with]:
incipience
[incipiency]:
trenchant
[incisive]: [the White Paper makes trenchant criticisms of health authorities] [a trenchant blade]
discrepant
[incompatible]:
amateurish
[incompetent]: [her amateurish interviewing technique]
sketchy
[incomplete, superficial, vague, perfunctorily]: [the information they had was sketchy] [a sketchy pencil drawing by Toulouse-Lautrec] [once the story does come out, the fact that you tried to hide it will seem sketchy] [a sketchy neighbourhood]
upturn
[increase, improvement]: [an upturn in the economy] [a sea of upturned faces]
implicate
[incriminate, involve in]: [he implicated his government in the murders of three judges] [viruses are known to be implicated in the development of certain cancers] [by saying that coffee would keep her awake, Mary implicated that she didn't want any]
indicant
[index, index number, indicator]:
declarative
[indicative]: [declarative statements]
pauperism
[indigence, need, pauperisation, pauperization, penury]:
original
[indigenous, first, authentic, innovative, archetype, individualist]: [the original owner of the house] [the plasterwork is probably original] [original Rembrandts] [a subtle and original thinker] [the portrait may be a copy of the original]
vicarious
[indirect]: [this catalogue brings vicarious pleasure in luxury living] [a vicarious atonement]
nebulous
[indistinct, vague]: [a giant nebulous glow] [nebulous concepts like quality of life]
industrialization
[industrial enterprise, industrialisation]: [these developing countries have undergone rapid industrialization]
industrialized
[industrialised]:
indefensible
[inexcusable, untenable, undefendable]: [this behaviour is morally indefensible] [the towns were tactically indefensible]
indescribable
[inexpressible]: [most prisoners suffered indescribable hardship] [it was indescribably boring]
infantry
[infantrymen]: [the infantry advanced at sunrise] [the ships carried two regiments of infantry] [infantry battalions]
torture
[infliction of pain, torment, inflict pain on, torment]: [the torture of political prisoners] [confessions extracted under torture] [a torture chamber] [the torture I've gone through because of loving you so] [dances were absolute torture because I was so small]
misdemeanor
[infraction, infringement, misdemeanour, violation]:
pioneering
[initiate]: [his pioneering work on consciousness]
inborn
[innate]: [an inborn defect in the formation of collagen] [people think doctors have inborn compassion]
insecticides
[insect powder]:
inject
[insert, introduce]: [the doctor injected a painkilling drug] [he was forcibly injected with a sedative] [people who want to stop injecting] [inject the foam and allow it to expand] [she tried to inject scorn into her tone]
inconsequential
[insignificant]: [they talked about inconsequential things]
installment
[installation, installing, instalment]:
instill
[instil]:
affront
[insult, insult]: [he took his son's desertion as a personal affront] [the sackings were an affront to justice] [she was affronted by his familiarity]
offensive
[insulting, unpleasant, hostile, attack, begin to attack]: [the allegations made are deeply offensive to us] [offensive language] [an offensive odour] [offensive operations against the insurgents] [he is also accused of possessing an offensive weapon]
consolidation
[integration]: [the permanent consolidation of peace] [a consolidation of data within an enterprise] [a business selling debt consolidation services]
deliberate
[intentional, careful, methodical, think about]: [a deliberate attempt to provoke conflict] [a conscientious and deliberate worker] [a deliberate decision] [she deliberated over the menu] [jurors deliberated the fate of those charged]
transpose
[interchange, shift]: [the situation might have been the same if the parties in opposition and government had been transposed] [an evacuation order transposed the school from Kent to Shropshire] [the themes are transposed from the sphere of love to that of work] [the basses are transposed down an octave] [a sequence of French tales transposed into English]
interdependency
[interdependence, mutuality]:
tamper
[interfere, monkey around]: [someone tampered with the brakes of my car]
interwoven
[interlacing, interlinking, interlocking]:
interfered
[interpose, intervene, step in]:
construed
[interpret, see]:
inquisition
[interrogation]: [she relented in her determined inquisition and offered help]
introvert
[invaginate]:
introversion
[invagination]:
marooned
[isolated, stranded]:
itching
[itch, itchiness]:
urged
[itch]:
taunt
[jeer, taunts, jeer at]: [pupils will play truant rather than face the taunts of classmates about their ragged clothes] [pupils began taunting her about her weight] [taunting comments] [she had taunted him with going to another man]
fountain
[jet, source]: [little fountains of dust] [the government always quote this report as the fountain of truth] [a river of cold air fountained into the hold] [while yogurt may not be the fountain of youth, it is exceptionally good for you]
enlist
[join up, recruit, obtain]: [he enlisted in the Royal Naval Air Service] [hundreds of thousands of recruits had been enlisted] [the company enlisted the help of independent consultants]
judgment
[judgement, legal opinion, opinion]:
hop
[jump, go, jump, journey, dance, unprepared, busy]: [he hopped along beside her] [a blackbird was hopping around in the sun] [he hopped down from the rock] [ex-soldiers looking for work hopped freights heading west] [the cow hopped the fence]
jurors
[juryman, jurywoman]:
vindicatory
[justificative, justificatory]:
fairly
[justly, reasonably, positively]: [he could not fairly be accused of wasting police time] [I was fairly certain she had nothing to do with the affair] [he fairly snarled at her]
sticking
[jutting, projected, projecting, protruding, relieved, sticking out]:
projected
[jutting, projecting, protruding, relieved, sticking, sticking out]:
cabalism
[kabbalism]:
retain
[keep, remember, learn, employ, hire]: [Labour retained the seat] [built in 1830, the house retains many of its original features] [the rights of defendants must be retained] [I retained a few French words and phrases] [limestone is known to retain water]
snatching
[kidnapping]:
kilometer
[kilometre, klick, km]:
kind-hearted
[kind]: [she was friendly and kind-hearted] [a kind-hearted local shopkeeper]
monarchy
[kingship, kingdom]: [the monarchy is the focus of loyalty and service]
demolish
[knock down, destroy]: [the house was demolished to make way for the shopping centre] [I looked forward keenly to demolishing my opponent] [Arsenal demolished City 3-0] [Brown was busy demolishing a sausage roll]
tag
[label, designation, quotation, label, designate, add, follow]: [he gave his pet a collar with a metal name tag] [he took off his identity tag and inserted it into a machine] [he lived up to his tag as the team's saviour] [scrawled felt-tip tags on city walls] [the car had Texas tags]
labor
[labour]:
insufficiency
[lack]: [insufficiency of adequate housing] [there have been demands to redress such insufficiencies] [renal insufficiency]
landmass
[land mass]:
landholder
[landowner, property owner]:
pine
[languish, yearn]: [pine potpourri] [she thinks I am pining away from love] [she's still pining for him]
largess
[largesse]:
whip
[lash, flog, pull, whisk, the upper hand, rouse, stimulate]: [the team management had decided to crack the whip on player indiscipline] [he resigned the Tory whip in protest at mine closures] [a grass whip] [I just got new wheels for my whip] [Lewis whipped the boy twenty times]
swan song
[last hurrah]:
posthumous
[late]: [he was awarded a posthumous Military Cross] [a posthumous collection of his articles] [Newton was the posthumous son of an illiterate yeoman]
lawmakers
[lawgiver]:
lawgiver
[lawmaker]: [the monarch was supreme executive, lawgiver, judge, and warrior]
solicitor
[lawyer]: [she had been a telephone solicitor for a Chicago newspaper]
stratum
[layer, level]: [a stratum of flint] [thin strata of air] [members of other social strata] [allocation of sample units to strata] [a series of overlying strata]
preeminent
[leading]:
spring
[leap, appear suddenly, fly back, originate from, announce suddenly/unexpectedly, springtime, springiness, leap, well head, origin]: [I sprang out of bed] [they sprang to her defence] [the drawer sprang open] [the engine sprang into life] [the president sought to spring the hostages]
erudition
[learning]: [he was known for his wit, erudition, and teaching skills]
leavening
[leaven]:
parasites
[leech, sponge, sponger]:
legging
[leg covering, leging]:
inheritance
[legacy, succession to]: [he came into a comfortable inheritance] [I don't want a penny of your inheritance] [the European cultural inheritance] [the inheritance of traits]
jurisdictions
[legal power]:
legitimate
[legal, valid]: [his claims to legitimate authority] [a legitimate male heir] [the last legitimate Anglo-Saxon king] [a legitimate excuse for being late] [the legitimate theatre]
unleashed
[let loose, loose]:
unleash
[let loose]: [they dig up badger setts and unleash terriers into them] [the failure of the talks could unleash more fighting] [his comment unleashed a storm of protest in India]
correspondent
[letter writer, reporter, corresponding]: [she wasn't much of a correspondent] [a cricket correspondent]
leveraging
[leverage]:
leveraged
[leveraging]:
wantonness
[licentiousness]:
recline
[lie, loll]: [she was reclining in a deckchair] [a reclining figure] [all the seats recline]
mouth
[lips, impudence, entrance, opening, outfall, estuary, utter, boasting, say nothing, rant]: [Ben stood transfixed with disbelief, his mouth open] [he leaned over and kissed her on the mouth] [she could have bitten her tongue the moment the words left her mouth] [the carp picks up the bait by sucking it into its mouth] [the horse had a hard mouth]
modicum
[little bit]: [his statement had a modicum of truth]
provincialism
[localism, sectionalism]: [book-loving Belle was burning to escape the provincialism of her village] [the myopic provincialism of women's studies] [the President warned that focusing on relations with close neighbours would lead to political provincialism] [if an idiom is a provincialism, it is likely to be found in a dialect dictionary] [the lack of provincialism in Silurian fauna]
logician
[logistician]:
bolstered
[long pillow]:
bolstering
[long pillow]:
yearn
[long]: [she yearned for a glimpse of him] [they yearned to go home] [no fellow spirit yearned towards her]
mirror
[looking glass, reflection, reflect]: [he checked his appearance in the mirror] [the stage is supposed to be the mirror of life] [the company now has a mirror site in Taiwan] [the clear water mirrored the sky] [his own views mirrored those of his followers]
adore
[love dearly, like]: [he adored his mother] [she adores Mexican cuisine] [a gift from an adoring fan] [he adored the Sacred Host]
minimum
[lowest level, minimal]: [keep costs to a minimum] [they checked visas with the minimum of fuss] [clients with a minimum of £500,000 to invest] [this can be done with the minimum amount of effort] [we zipped along at a minimum of 55 mph]
grease
[lubricant, oil, fat, lubricate]: [axle grease] [the kitchen walls were black with grease and filth] [grease a shallow baking dish] [a greased baking sheet] [the branch is alleged to have greased the palms of 130 politicians]
fortunes
[luck]:
tepid
[lukewarm, unenthusiastic]: [she soaked a flannel in the tepid water] [the applause was tepid]
pitching
[lurch, pitch]:
lumber
[lurch, trudge, clumsy, jumble, timber, burden]: [a truck lumbered past] [a lumber room] [he sat at a makeshift desk of unfinished lumber] [a lumber company] [the banks do not want to be lumbered with a building that they cannot sell]
luxuriant
[lush]: [forests of dark, luxuriant foliage] [she tossed her luxuriant dark hair]
linchpin
[lynchpin]: [nurses are the linchpin of the National Health Service]
emaciate
[macerate, waste]:
demented
[mad]: [she was demented with worry]
paved
[made-up, sealed]:
authoritatively
[magisterially]: [he could speak authoritatively on art, philosophy, literature, history, current affairs] [she shouted authoritatively, 'Hey you! Drop your weapon, now!'] [the correct interpretation of the Convention can be authoritatively expounded only by the Strasbourg court]
amplitude
[magnitude]: [the amplitude of alpha rhythms] [waves with amplitudes greater than or equal to 20 mm] [the detection of signals only a few microvolts in amplitude] [the amplitude of the crime of manslaughter lies beneath murder]
maharaja
[maharajah]: [the maharaja was wearing a djibba] [the Maharaja of Mysore]
wounded
[maimed]:
predominant
[main, controlling]: [[the predominant colour was white] ] [[the predominant political forces] ]
leading
[main, most powerful]: [a number of leading politicians]
complicate
[make (more) difficult]: [increased choice will complicate matters for the consumer] [a complicating factor] [smoking may complicate pregnancy] [patients with complicating biliary calculi]
declaim
[make a speech, recite, speak out]: [she declaimed her views] [a preacher declaiming from the pulpit] [an opportunity to declaim against the evils of society]
facilitate
[make easy/easier]: [schools were located in the same campus to facilitate the sharing of resources]
equalize
[make equal, level the score]: [the purpose is to equalize the workload among tutors] [Britain is required to equalize pension rights between men and women] [Morgan equalized ten minutes into the second half]
legislate
[make laws]: [they legislated against discrimination in the workplace] [constitutional changes will be legislated] [you cannot legislate for bad luck like that]
efface
[make oneself inconspicuous]: [with time, the words are effaced by the rain] [nothing could efface the bitter memory] [to efface oneself is not the easiest of duties which the teacher can undertake]
pretense
[make-believe, pretence]:
tactics
[maneuver, manoeuvre, tactic]:
multilateral
[many-sided]: [multilateral negotiations] [multilateral nuclear disarmament] [multilateral aid agencies]
barred
[marked]: [he sits by a barred window] [a barred gate] [he spotted a barred owl]
duplicate
[matching, copy, copy, repeat]: [a duplicate set of keys] [books may be disposed of if they are duplicates] [locksmiths can make duplicates of most keys] [information sheets had to be typed and duplicated] [they have not been able to duplicate his successes]
miserly
[mean, penny-pinching, meagre]: [his miserly great-uncle proved to be worth nearly £1 million] [the prize for the winner will be a miserly £3,500]
rote
[mechanically, from memory]: [a poem learnt by rote in childhood] [rote learning]
histrionic
[melodramatic, dramatics]: [a histrionic outburst] [histrionic talents] [by now, Anna was accustomed to her mother's histrionics] [he loved the theatre and everything which savoured of histrionics]
memo
[memoranda, memorandum]:
threaten
[menace, endanger, warn of, be likely (to happen)]: [how dare you threaten me?] [the men threatened staff with a handgun] ['I might sue for damages,' he threatened] [the trade unions threatened a general strike] [she forced a scene and Toby threatened to leave]
stock
[merchandise, store, livestock, rolling stock, capital, investments, reputation, broth, descent, trunk, handle, usual, sell, supply, fill, amass supplies of, for sale, review]: [the store has a very low turnover of stock] [buy now, while stocks last!] [stock shortages] [I need to replenish my stock of wine] [fish stocks are being dangerously depleted]
ware
[merchandise]: [blue-and-white majolica ware] [Minoan potters produced an astonishing variety of wares] [crystal ware] [aluminium ware] [traders in the street markets displayed their wares]
leniency
[mercifulness]: [the court could show leniency]
rigorous
[meticulous, fussy, harsh]: [the rigorous testing of consumer products] [rigorous controls on mergers] [a rigorous teetotaller] [many of the expedition had passed rigorous SAS courses]
micro-organism
[microorganism]:
centrist
[middle-of-the-road]: [a centrist politician]
reserves
[militia]:
millennia
[millenary]:
transgress
[misbehave, disobey, offender]: [she had transgressed an unwritten social law] [each continent has been transgressed by continental seas]
peccadillo
[misdemeanour]: [the sexual peccadilloes of celebrities aren't necessarily news]
wretchedness
[miserableness, misery]:
juggle
[misrepresent]: [Charles juggled five tangerines, his hands a frantic blur] [he can't juggle] [she works full time, juggling her career with raising children] [the average first-time buyer spends many hours juggling figures as they try to budget for their first home] [defence chiefs juggled the figures on bomb tests]
stumbles
[misstep, trip, trip-up]:
foggy
[misty, muddled]: [a dark and foggy night] [she was foggy with sleep] [my memories of the event are foggy]
abuse
[misuse, mistreat, insult, misuse, corruption, mistreatment, insults]: [the judge abused his power by imposing the fines] [at various times in her life she abused both alcohol and drugs] [riders who abuse their horses should be prosecuted] [he was a depraved man who had abused his two young daughters] [abused children]
precedent
[model]: [there are substantial precedents for using interactive media in training] [we hope to set a legal precedent to protect hundreds of miles of green lanes] [a precedent case]
damp
[moist, moisture]: [her hair was still damp from the shower] [damp November evenings] [the house reeked of mould and damp] [the damps of the valley] [shame gave a damp to her triumph]
monks
[monastic]:
financiers
[moneyman]:
ogre
[monster, brute, fiend]: [it is clear that I am no ogre]
purpose
[motive, intention, advantage, function, determination, intend, decide, deliberately, pertinent]: [the purpose of the meeting is to appoint a trustee] [the building is no longer needed for its original purpose] [state pensions are considered as earned income for tax purposes] [there was a new sense of purpose in her step as she set off] [God has allowed suffering, even purposed it]
variegate
[motley, vary]:
cavalry
[mounted troops]: [the cavalry charged up the hill] [the army numbered around 100,000 cavalry] [a cavalry regiment]
dimensional
[multidimensional]: [technicians check dimensional accuracy using coordinate measuring machines] [well-rounded, fully dimensional characters]
polynomial
[multinomial]:
assassinate
[murder]: [the organization's leader had been assassinated four months before the coup]
chanted
[musical]:
naivete
[naiveness, naivety]:
commentary
[narration, explanation, criticism]: [a biting social commentary about the divide between rich and poor] [an editorial commentary] [a narrative overlaid with commentary] [a live commentary on radio] [a commentary on the Old Testament]
parochial
[narrow-minded]: [the parochial church council] [parochial attitudes] [their interests are too parochial]
indiscriminate
[non-selective]: [the indiscriminate use of antibiotics can cause problems] [she was indiscriminate with her affections]
detect
[notice, discover, solve, catch]: [cancer may soon be detected in its earliest stages] [Paul detected a faint note of weariness in his father's voice] [the public can help the police to detect crime]
fiction
[novels, fabrication]: [they were supposed to be keeping up the fiction that they were happily married] [the notion of the country being a democracy is a polite fiction]
various
[numerous]: [dresses of various colours] [his grievances were many and various] [their environments are locally various] [various people arrived late] [various of her friends had called]
dagger
[obelisk]: [he drew his dagger and stabbed the leader] [they have been at daggers drawn for weeks over tactics] [she flung the fork down, looking daggers at him]
corpulence
[obesity]: [her corpulence is the butt of every joke]
mystification
[obfuscation]:
compelled
[obligate, oblige]:
imposed
[obligatory]:
surveillance
[observation]: [he found himself put under surveillance by British military intelligence]
gain
[obtain, profit, reach, increase in, earn, profit, play for time]: [we gained entry to the car in five seconds] [their blend of acoustic pop gained them several chart hits] [managers would gain from greater openness] [to gratify the queen, and gain the court] [we gained the ridge]
glean
[obtain]: [the information is gleaned from press cuttings] [objects gleaned from local markets] [the conditions of farm workers in the 1890s made gleaning essential]
occupancy
[occupation]: [the palace proved unready for occupancy] [70 per cent occupancy is needed to give a profit] [average daily room occupancies]
peculiarity
[oddity, idiosyncrasy, characteristic, strangeness, outlandishness, bizarreness]: [for all his peculiarities, she finds him quite endearing] [his essays characterized decency as a British peculiarity] [the peculiarity of their upbringing]
infernal
[of hell, damned]: [the infernal regions] [the infernal heat of the forge] [you're an infernal nuisance]
away
[off, aside, at a distance]: [she landed badly, and crawled away] [they walked away from the vicarage in silence] [we'll only be away for four nights] [when he was ten or twelve feet away he stopped] [we have had patients from as far away as Wales]
prescribed
[official]:
octogenarian
[old]:
portent
[omen, significance]: [many birds are regarded as being portents of death] [an omen of grave portent for the tribe] [what portent can be greater than a pious notary?]
single
[one, individual, unmarried, select]: [a single red rose] [the kingdom was ruled over by a single family] [she wrote down every single word] [alcohol is the single most important cause of violence] [they didn't receive a single reply]
susceptible
[open to, liable to, impressionable, capable of]: [patients with liver disease may be susceptible to infection] [they only do it to tease him—he's too susceptible] [the problem is not susceptible of a simple solution]
manipulate
[operate, massage, exploit, falsify]: [he manipulated the dials of the set] [the pupils can manipulate the data or screen image] [this system of healing is based on manipulating the ligaments of the spine] [the masses were deceived and manipulated by a tiny group] [nations may still be able to manipulate their own data]
sentiments
[opinion, persuasion, reckoning, thought, view]:
dogmatic
[opinionated, peremptory]: [she was not tempted to be dogmatic about what she believed]
contrary
[opposite, perverse, opposite, in conflict with, conversely]: [he ignored contrary advice and agreed on the deal] [his mother had given him contrary messages] [she is sulky and contrary where her work is concerned] [an Act applies only to the United Kingdom unless the contrary is expressed] [contrary to his expectations, he found the atmosphere exciting]
sanguine
[optimistic]: [he is sanguine about prospects for the global economy] [the committee takes a more sanguine view]
injunction
[order]:
mediocre
[ordinary]: [he is an enthusiastic if mediocre painter]
primal
[original, basic]: [primal hunting societies] [he preys on people's primal fears] [rivers were the primal highways of life]
decorative
[ornamental]: [a well-appointed house with original decorative features] [a decorative artist] [she was an extremely decorative and popular actress]
orthopedic
[orthopaedic, orthopedical]:
orthopedist
[orthopaedist]:
hovering
[oscillate, vacillate, vibrate]:
epidemic
[outbreak, spate, rife]: [a flu epidemic] [an epidemic of violent crime] [shoplifting has reached epidemic proportions]
pariah
[outcast]: [they were treated as social pariahs]
exorbitance
[outrageousness]:
portrayal
[painting, representation, performance as]: [a realistic portrayal of war] [the media portrayal of immigration] [his portrayal of the title character]
latitude
[parallel, freedom, scope]: [at a latitude of 51° N] [lines of latitude] [temperate latitudes] [northern latitudes] [journalists have considerable latitude in criticizing public figures]
paralyze
[paralyse]:
prepossession
[parti pris, preconceived idea, preconceived notion, preconceived opinion, preconception]:
ounce
[particle]: [melt three ounces of butter in a large frying pan] [Robyn summoned up every ounce of strength]
straits
[pass, strait]:
ferry
[passenger boat, transport, go back and forth]: [ambulances ferried the injured to hospital]
preceding
[past, retiring]:
auspice
[patronage]: [the course is run under the auspices of the Anglican Church]
patronymic
[patronym]: [a patronymic derived from the name of their original lordship] [the patronymic naming of children]
wage
[pay, wages, reward, engage in]: [we were struggling to get better wages] [an income of less than half the average wage] [disasters are the wages of sin] [it is necessary to destroy their capacity to wage war]
wages
[payoff, reward]:
paycheck
[payroll check]:
percent
[pct, per centum, percentage]:
apricot
[peach, salmon pink, yellowish pink]: [apricot jam]
pectoral
[pectoral medallion]: [pectoral development] [a pectoral shield] [an exercise that will help to develop the pectorals is the bench press]
pedagogics
[pedagogy, teaching method]:
infiltrated
[penetrate]:
infiltrating
[penetrate]:
pierce
[penetrate]: [a splinter had pierced the skin] [I had to pierce another hole in my belt] [a punk with a pierced nose] [the dividing wall is pierced by arches] [they were seeking to pierce the anti-ballistic-missile defences]
incisive
[penetrating]: [she was an incisive critic] [the songs offer incisive pictures of American ways] [the most incisive move of a tight match]
repentant
[penitent]: [he is truly repentant for his incredible naivety and stupidity]
quintessence
[perfect example, essence]: [he was the quintessence of political professionalism] [we were all brought up to believe that advertising is the quintessence of marketing]
perfectible
[perfect]:
penetrable
[permeable, understandable]: [the outer membrane is penetrable] [the translation makes the original text penetrable]
pervasion
[permeation, suffusion]:
chronic
[persistent, constant, inveterate]: [chronic bronchitis] [a chronic asthmatic] [the school suffers from chronic overcrowding] [a chronic liar] [the film was absolutely chronic]
induce
[persuade, bring about]: [the pickets induced many workers to stay away] [none of these measures induced a change of policy] [the current in the primary winding is induced by the rotating magnet] [induced labour] [Carol was induced just four days before her baby's due date]
eloquent
[persuasive, expressive]: [an eloquent speech] [the bus journey alone is eloquent of class inequality]
perusal
[perusing, poring over, studying]: [I continued my perusal of the instructions] [a quick perusal of the index to the book reveals an interesting fact]
badger
[pester]: [journalists badgered him about the deals] [Tom had finally badgered her into going]
altruist
[philanthropist]:
heathen
[philistine, barbarian, pagan, unbelieving, barbarian]: [my brother and I were raised, as my grandma puts it, as heathens] [a chance of salvation for the heathen] [eat your chips, you little heathen!] [heathen practices]
philologist
[philologue]:
linguistics
[philology]:
phonetic
[phonic]: [detailed phonetic information] [a phonetic alphabet] [phonetic training]
materialism
[physicalism]: [they hated the sinful materialism of the wicked city]
envisioned
[pictured, visualised, visualized]:
quaint
[picturesque, unusual]: [quaint country cottages] [a quaint old custom]
envisioning
[picturing]:
quarry
[pit, stone pit]: [a limestone quarry] [limestone is quarried for use in blast furnaces] [the hillside had been quarried for many years] [the papers have been extensively quarried by historians] [grouse are not an easy quarry for a hawk]
hub
[pivot, centre]: [the city has always been the financial hub of the country] [the kitchen was the hub of family life] [the airport authority's policy promotes Manchester as an international hub] [the city's major transportation hub for bus and rail] [major hub airports have grown up all over the world]
banner
[placard, flag]: [a nuclear disarmament banner was carried round the war memorial] [students waved banners and chanted slogans] [the standard bearers followed, banners of bright red and yellow depicting dragons and stags] [the government is flying the free trade banner] [a banner ad]
tranquility
[placidity, quiet, repose, serenity, tranquillity]:
stratagem
[plan]: [a series of devious stratagems]
malleability
[plasticity]:
specious
[plausible but wrong]: [a specious argument] [the music trade gives Golden Oldies a specious appearance of novelty]
plea bargain
[plea bargaining]:
conspire
[plot, act together]: [they conspired against him] [they deny conspiring to defraud the Inland Revenue] [everything conspires to exacerbate the situation]
plowed
[ploughed]:
pulmonary
[pneumonic, pulmonic]: [pulmonary blood flow]
noxious
[poisonous, harmful]: [they were overcome by the noxious fumes]
prop
[pole, mainstay, hold up, lean, subsidize, support]: [he looked around for a prop to pin the door open] [he found himself becoming the emotional prop of the marriage] [she propped her chin in the palm of her right hand] [a jug of milk with a note propped against it] [she propped the picture up on the mantlepiece]
contaminated
[polluted]:
polysyllable
[polysyllabic word]:
reservoir
[pool, stock, receptacle]: [the more water we use, the more land has to be flooded for reservoirs] [Scotland has always had a fine reservoir of comic talent] [big oil reservoirs are becoming harder to find] [if all three colours overlap then a black dot is printed from the black ink reservoir] [there is a vast reservoir of herpes infection in the community]
consortium
[pool, syndicate]: [the amount awarded for loss of consortium must be included]
obsessed
[possessed]:
chance
[possibility, opportunity, accident, fortuitously, happen, come across, risk, risk]: [there is a chance of winning the raffle] [there is little chance of his finding a job] [he played down his chances of becoming chairman] [I gave her a chance to answer] [he met his brother by chance]
postage
[postage stamp, stamp]: [proof of postage is required] [the prices include postage and packing]
defer
[postpone, yield]: [they deferred the decision until February] [the judge deferred sentence until 5 April for background reports] [he was no longer deferred from the draft] [he deferred to Tim's superior knowledge]
potentiality
[potency, potential]:
prospective
[potential]: [she showed a prospective buyer around the house] [a meeting to discuss prospective changes in government legislation]
fuel
[power source, firewood, nourishment, encouragement, power, stimulate]: [one aircraft ran out of fuel and had to ditch] [buses powered by alternative fuels] [an engine with high fuel consumption] [any protein intake can also be used as fuel] [the remuneration packages will add fuel to the debate about top-level rewards]
utilitarian
[practical]: [a utilitarian building] [a utilitarian theorist]
rehearsed
[practice, practise]:
rehearsal
[practice]: [rehearsals for the opera season] [I've had a fortnight in rehearsal]
plaudits
[praise]: [the network has received plaudits for its sports coverage] [the plaudits for the winner died down]
meritorious
[praiseworthy]: [a medal for meritorious conduct] [the costs involved in civil litigation may prevent a meritorious appeal]
preemption
[pre-emption]:
prefabricate
[preassemble]: [prefabricated homes]
foreordination
[predestination, predetermination, preordination]:
chancellors
[premier, prime minister]:
presentiment
[premonition]: [a presentiment of disaster]
obsess
[preoccupy, be fixated]: [he was obsessed with the idea of revenge] [I became more and more obsessed by him] [her husband, who is obsessing about the wrong she has done him]
lay out
[present, represent]:
conservation
[preservation]: [nature conservation] [the artworks in the collection need indexing and conservation] [the government must take action to promote energy conservation]
target
[prey, mark, objective, victim, pick out, aim, accurate, on schedule]: [the airport terminal was the target of a bomb] [a military target] [the car met its sales target in record time] [they were the target for a wave of abuse from the press] [two men were targeted by the attackers]
procurement
[procural, procurance]: [financial assistance for the procurement of legal advice] [the company's procurements from foreign firms] [defence procurement]
turn a profit
[profit]:
reformists
[progressive, reform-minded]:
prohibitory
[prohibitive]:
motivate
[prompt, inspire]: [he was primarily motivated by the desire for profit] [it is the teacher's job to motivate the child at school] [he said he would motivate funds to upgrade the food stalls]
proclamations
[promulgation]:
demonstration
[proof, manifestation, exhibition, protest]: [his demonstration of the need for computer corpora in language study is convincing] [acts of faith are not capable of mathematical demonstration] [physical demonstrations of affection] [a microwave cookery demonstration] [a pro-democracy demonstration]
shore up
[prop, prop up, shore]:
dimension
[proportions, aspect]: [the final dimensions of the pond were 14 ft x 8 ft] [the drawing must be precise in dimension] [we must focus on the cultural dimensions of the problem]
proprietorship
[proprietary]:
prosecutors
[prosecuting attorney, prosecuting officer, public prosecutor]:
insure
[protect]: [the table should be insured for £2,500] [the company had insured itself against a fall of the dollar] [businesses can insure against exchange rate fluctuations] [your new sum insured is shown on your renewal notice] [subsidiaries set up to insure the risks of a group of companies]
insulation
[protection, lagging]: [keep your home warmer through insulation] [his comparative insulation from the world] [fit insulation to all exposed pipes]
defence
[protection, vindication, armaments, barricade, rebuttal]: [methods of defence against this kind of attack] [she came to the defence of the eccentric professor] [he spoke in defence of a disciplined approach] [his first title defence against Jones] [the minister of defence]
beaming
[proud]: [his beaming face told its own story] [a beaming smile]
furnish
[provide with furniture, supply]: [the proprietor has furnished the bedrooms in a variety of styles] [fish furnish an important source of protein] [she was able to furnish me with details of the incident]
tug
[pull, drag, pull]: [she tugged off her boots] [he tugged at Tom's coat sleeve] [the ships were tugged off the reefs] [another tug and it came loose] [an overwhelming tug of attraction]
mash
[pulp, pulp]: [mash the beans to a paste] [mashed banana] [he almost had his head mashed by a slamming door] [the worst thing you can do is mash the brake pedal] [they both got mashed up pretty bad]
doll
[puppet, toy, beauty, dress up]: [would you be a doll and set the table?] [I got all dolled up for a party] [staff incorrectly dolled off a fence at the meeting]
strictly
[purely]: [he's been brought up strictly] [strictly speaking, ham is a cured, cooked leg of pork] [to be strictly accurate, there are two Wolvertons] [these foods are strictly forbidden] [that visit was strictly business]
quell
[put an end to, calm]: [extra police were called to quell the disturbance] [Connor quelled him with a look] [she quelled an urge to race up the stairs]
propose
[put forward, nominate, intend, ask someone to marry you]: [he proposed a new nine-point peace plan] [I proposed that the government should retain a 51 per cent stake in the company] [Roy Thomson was proposed as chairman] [the government put its slim majority to the test by proposing a vote of confidence] [he proposed to attend the meeting]
invest
[put money into, spend, imbue, admit to office, vest in]: [the company is to invest £12 m in its manufacturing site at Linlithglow] [getting workers to invest in private pension funds] [we have invested a considerable amount of time in demonstrating the value of the system] [I invested in an expensive moisturizer and tried to drink more water] [the passage of time has invested the words with an unintended humour]
proposition
[theory, hypothesis, proposal, scheme, sexual advance, task, propose sex with]: [the proposition that high taxation is undesirable] [a detailed investment proposition] [Californian voters rejected by a two-to-one majority proposition 128] [needless to say, she refused his frank sexual proposition] [setting up your own business can seem an attractive proposition]
thereabout
[thereabouts]:
hammer out
[thrash out]:
perplex
[puzzle, puzzled, puzzling]: [she was perplexed by her husband's moodiness] [they were perplexing a subject plain in itself]
unquenchable
[quenchless]: [his enthusiasm was unquenchable]
celerity
[quickness, rapidity, rapidness, speediness]:
lulled
[quiet]:
noiseless
[quiet]: [the cycle is a noiseless form of transport] [the 4000-1 and 4000-2 use an adaptive, noiseless data algorithm to compress data in real time]
vibration
[quiver, reverberation]: [powerful vibrations from an earthquake] [the big-capacity engine generated less vibration] [molecular vibrations] [the high frequencies of vibration in diamond] [I picked up no unusual vibrations as to the envelope's contents]
effulgence
[radiance, radiancy, refulgence, refulgency, shine]:
radiation
[radiation sickness, radiation syndrome]: [background radiation] [the radiation dose] [ultraviolet and infrared radiations] [evolution is a process of radiation not progression]
reviled
[rail, vilify, vituperate]:
nurtured
[raising, rearing]:
scatter
[throw, fleck, disperse]: [scatter the coconut over the icing] [his family are hoping to scatter his ashes at sea] [sandy beaches scattered with driftwood] [there are many watermills scattered throughout the marshlands] [a scattered cliff-top community]
toss
[throw, flip, flail, lurch, throw back, shake, jerk, drink (up/down)]: [Suzy tossed her bag on to the sofa] [she tossed me a box of matches] [we could just toss a coin] [he tossed up between courgettes and tomatoes and courgettes won] [I'll toss you for it]
bombshell
[thunderbolt, thunderclap]: [the news came as a bombshell] [a twenty-year-old blonde bombshell]
helm
[tiller, in charge, managing]: [she stayed at the helm, alert for tankers] [the second mate took the helm] [the chairman is to step down after four years at the helm] [he is a competent helm] [he helmed a sailing vessel]
annals
[records]: [eighth-century Northumberland annals] [the annals of the police courts] [the deed will live forever in the annals of infamy] [Annals of Neurobiology]
convalescence
[recuperation]: [a period of convalescence] [I had a long convalescence ahead]
frequent
[recurrent, habitual, visit]: [frequent changes in policy] [the showers will become heavier and more frequent] [a frequent visitor to Scotland] [walls flanked by frequent square towers] [pubs frequented by soldiers]
fraction
[tiny part, tiny amount]: [he hesitated for a fraction of a second] [her eyes widened a fraction] [the dominant classes or fractions in capitalist societies] [the third fraction contain alcohols with boiling points of 120-130°C] [the Fraction may be accompanied by the Agnus Dei]
culpable
[to blame, guilty]: [mercy killings are less culpable than 'ordinary' murders]
gobblers
[tom, tom turkey, turkey cock]:
pitch
[tone, steepness, level, playing field, throw, patter, site, lurch, throw, fall, put up, lurch, try to obtain, help out, attack]: [her voice rose steadily in pitch] [the guitars were strung and tuned to pitch] [the media furore reached such a pitch that the company withdrew the product] [a football pitch] [both batsmen were stranded in the middle of the pitch]
purgatory
[torment]: [all her sins were forgiven and she would not need to go to Purgatory] [the punishment of souls in purgatory] [this was purgatory, worse than anything she'd faced in her life] [infernal punishments are purgatory and medicinal]
contact
[touch, communication, connection, get in touch with]: [equipment in contact with water can benefit from rubber lining] [contact dermatitis] [she didn't have her contacts in] [she had little contact with family members] [they have forged contacts with key people in business]
shacks
[trail]:
transferee
[transfer]:
transferrer
[transferer]:
care for
[treat]:
shiver
[tremble, tremble, splinter]: [they shivered in the damp foggy cold] [she gave a little shiver as the wind flicked at her bare arms] [the way he looked at her sent shivers down her spine] [a look that gave him the shivers] [the world seemed to shiver into a million splinters of prismatic colour]
fantastic
[tremendous, marvellous, fanciful, strange]: [they did a fantastic job] [your support has been fantastic] [she had spent a fantastic amount of cash] [fantastic hybrid creatures] [a fantastic, maze-like building]
trimness
[trim]:
masterpiece
[triumph]: [a great literary masterpiece]
malcontent
[troublemaker, disaffected]: [it was too late to stop the malcontents with a show of force] [the malcontent generals saw their role as leaders of this counter-revolution]
truncated
[truncate]:
widening
[turnout]:
unaffected
[unchanged, unassuming, genuine]: [the walks are suitable only for people who are unaffected by vertigo] [her effortless, unaffected charm]
obscure
[unclear, little known, abstruse, indistinct, hide, confuse]: [his origins and parentage are obscure] [a relatively obscure actor] [obscure references to Proust] [grey and obscure on the horizon rose a low island] [I feel an obscure resentment]
easy
[uncomplicated, calm, natural, vulnerable]: [an easy way of retrieving information] [promises of an easy life in the New World] [her easy and agreeable manner] [he never felt easy with her] [as a taxi driver he was an easy target]
denial
[refusal]: [she shook her head in denial] [his pious denials of responsibility] [the denial of insurance to people with certain medical conditions] [I was an addict in denial]
defying
[refuse, resist]:
irrespective
[regardless of]: [child benefit is paid irrespective of income levels]
indemnify
[reimburse, insure]: [each of the parties shall indemnify me for all reasonable costs of defending such actions and proceedings] [the company has taken out insurance to indemnify its directors against liability when acting for the group]
comparative
[relative]: [he returned to the comparative comfort of his own home] [comparative religion]
denomination
[religious group, value, name]: [the Presbyterian community is the second largest denomination in the country] [Orthodox Jewish denominations] [high-denomination banknotes] [two cards of the same denomination] [the denomination of a consideration as relevant or irrelevant]
migration
[relocation, departure]: [this butterfly's annual migration across North America] [the extensive rural-to-urban migration has created a severe housing shortage] [there is virtually no cell migration in plants]
disinclined
[reluctant]: [the rural community was disinclined to abandon the old ways]
depend on
[rely on]:
contrite
[remorseful]: [a contrite tone]
expulsion
[removal, discharge]: [his expulsion from the union] [a rise in the number of pupil expulsions] [the expulsion of two diplomats from the embassy] [oxytocin causes expulsion of milk from the lactating mammary gland]
overthrow
[remove (from office/power), put an end to, removal (from office/power), ending]: [military coups which had attempted to overthrow the King] [their subversive activities are calculated to overthrow parliamentary democracy] [one who is already prostrate cannot be overthrown] [he grips the ball too tight and overthrows it] [Dodge overthrew a receiver in the end zone]
skim
[remove, glide, throw, glance through, mention briefly]: [as the scum rises, skim it off] [bring the stock to the boil, then skim it to remove any foam] [she was skimming money from the household kitty] [he let his fingers skim across her shoulders] [we stood on the bridge, watching swallows skimming the water]
move out
[remove, take out]:
compensated
[remunerated, salaried, stipendiary]:
flimsiest
[unconvincing]:
ripping
[rending, splitting]: [she's going to have a ripping time]
take over
[repeat]:
resides
[repose, rest]:
envoy
[representative, ambassador]: [the UN special envoy to Yugoslavia] [a peace envoy]
upbraid
[reprimand]: [he was upbraided for his slovenly appearance]
respectability
[reputability]: [provincial notions of respectability] [scientific respectability]
revisal
[rescript, revise, revision]:
aggrieved
[resentful]: [they were aggrieved at the outcome]
venerable
[respected]: [a venerable statesman]
respite
[rest, postponement]: [the refugee encampments will provide some respite from the suffering] [a brief respite from the heat] [a Letter of Licence, by which creditors agreed to postpone claims, brought only temporary respite] [the execution was only respited a few months] [some poor criminal ... from the gibbet or the wheel, respited for a day]
reprisal
[retaliation]: [three youths died in the reprisals which followed] [the threat of reprisal]
reserved
[reticent, booked]: [he is a reserved, almost taciturn man] [a reserved seat]
demonstrate
[reveal, show, give a demonstration of, protest]: [their shameful silence demonstrates their ineptitude] [she began to demonstrate a new-found confidence] [computerized design methods will be demonstrated] [she demonstrated how to cook chops] [thousands demonstrated in favour of the government]
luxuriate
[revel]: [she was luxuriating in a long bath]
recurring
[revenant]:
taxation
[revenue, tax income, tax revenue]: [the progressive nature of taxation] [a taxation system] [direct taxation was low] [it should be financed out of taxation]
boom
[reverberation, reverberate, bellow]: [the deep boom of the bass drum] [the boom of the bittern may be enjoyed in the country] [thunder boomed in the sky] ['Stop right there,' boomed the Headmaster] [a dozen bitterns boom mysteriously from the reeds]
turn around
[reversal]:
renewed
[revived]:
reneges
[revoke]:
wavelet
[riffle, ripple, rippling]:
tear
[rip up, snatch, rip, lacerate, sprint, torment, rip, reprimand, divide, demolish, attack, teardrop, crying]: [I tore up the letter] [a nation torn asunder by political pressures] [he tore up the floorboards] [she was always tearing her clothes] [the blast tore a hole in the wall]
rituals
[rite]:
bar
[rod, block, sandbank, counter, hostelry, obstacle, barristers, bolt, prohibit, except (for)]: [an iron bar] [bars on the windows] [a bar of chocolate] [gold bars] [bars of sunlight shafting through the windows]
romanticism
[romance]:
coarse
[rough, heavy, oafish, vulgar]: [a coarse woollen cloth] [coarse sand] [under the microscope they are seen to contain coarse grains] [his coarse, ugly features contorted with rage] [the wine is harsh, tannic, and coarse]
rotundity
[roundness]:
chafe
[rub, be impatient]: [the collar chafed his neck] [her arms chafed where the rope bit into them] [the grommet stops the cable chafing on the metal] [I chafed her feet and wrapped the blanket round her] [the bank chafed at the restrictions imposed upon it]
garbage
[rubbish]: [garbage littered the estate] [a garbage dump] [a store full of overpriced garbage]
florid
[ruddy, ornate, flowery]: [a stout man with a florid face] [a florid, baroque building] [his florid and exciting prose] [florid symptoms of psychiatric disorder]
domination
[rule]: [the imperial domination of India]
rusted
[rusty]:
hallowed
[sacred]:
irony
[sarcasm, paradox]: ['Don't go overboard with the gratitude,' he rejoined with heavy irony] [the irony is that I thought he could help me] [one of life's little ironies] [an irony grey colour]
planet
[satellite]: [no generation has the right to pollute the planet] [the planets are presently influencing you in a positive way]
satiric
[satirical]:
economize
[save (money)]: [I have to economize where I can] [people on low incomes may try to economize on fuel]
rescue
[save, retrieve, saving, help]: [firemen rescued a man trapped in the river] [he got out of his chair to rescue his cup of coffee] [the dramatic rescue of nine trapped coal miners] [he came to our rescue with a loan of £100] [rescue workers began pulling survivors from the wreckage]
hardly
[scarcely, only with difficulty]: [the little house in which he lived was hardly bigger than a hut] [a thing hardly bigger than a credit card] [we hardly know each other] [the party had hardly started when the police arrived] [she could hardly sit up]
scissors
[scissor grip, scissor hold, scissors grip, scissors hold]: [as the fish swims the tail lobes open and close in a slight scissor action] [a dummy scissors from David Thomas deceived the opposition]
sear
[scorch, dry up/out, distress, flash-fry]: [the water got so hot that it seared our lips] [a sharp pang of disappointment seared her] [the unfortunate childhood encounter is seared on his memory] [seared chicken livers] [a crushing pain seared through his chest]
doodling
[scrabble, scribble]:
squeaking
[screaky, screechy, squeaky, squealing]:
wrack
[sea wrack]: [there was a thin moon, a wrack of cloud]
clairvoyance
[second sight]: [she stared at the card as if she could contact its writer by clairvoyance]
interminable
[seemingly endless, countless]: [we got bogged down in interminable discussions]
leak
[seep (out), discharge, disclose, hole, discharge, disclosure]: [the roof leaked] [a leaking gutter] [the drums were leaking an unidentified liquid] [water kept leaking in] [worrying stories leaked out]
seismal
[seismic]:
diet
[selection of food, dietary regime, follow a diet, legislative assembly]: [a vegetarian diet] [screen violence is becoming the staple diet of the video generation] [I'm going on a diet] [diet soft drinks] [I began dieting again]
egotism
[self-centredness, boastfulness]: [in his arrogance and egotism, he underestimated Gill]
export
[sell overseas/abroad, transmit]: [nearly all the bananas produced were exported to Britain] [the Greeks exported Hellenic culture around the Mediterranean basin] [the information can be exported to a database] [wool and mohair were the principal exports] [meat exports]
subaquatic
[semiaquatic]:
translucence
[semitransparency, translucency]:
precedential
[senior]:
sentience
[sensation, sense, sensory faculty, sentiency]:
reasonable
[sensible, within reason, fairly good, inexpensive]: [no reasonable person could have objected] [it seems a reasonable enough request] [the guilt of a person on trial must be proved beyond reasonable doubt] [man is by nature reasonable] [a police officer may use reasonable force to gain entry]
mawkish
[sentimental]: [a mawkish ode to parenthood] [the mawkish smell of warm beer]
shade
[shadow, surpass, darkness, colour, nuance, a little, blind, sunglasses, ghost, cast a shadow over, darken, change gradually, echoes]: [sitting in the shade] [this area will be in shade for much of the day] [her elegant pink and black ensemble would put most outfits in the shade] [the shades of evening drew on] [various shades of blue]
fallow
[uncultivated, inactive]: [incentives for farmers to let land lie fallow] [long fallow periods when nothing seems to happen] [a great estate was usually divided between fallows, grazed stubble, and wheat] [strips of summer fallow] [fallow the ground for a week or so after digging]
underrated
[underestimate]:
underestimated
[underestimation, underrating, underreckoning]:
underlined
[underscore]:
covenant
[undertake]: [there was a covenant between them that her name was never to be mentioned] [the landlord covenants to repair the property] [the company have covenanted £1,000 a year to the Law Library]
unexplored
[undiscovered]: [the unexplored rainforest] [the research focuses on an unexplored theme in European history]
immoral
[unethical]: [unseemly and immoral behaviour]
unpredictable
[unforeseeable, erratic]: [the unpredictable weather of the Scottish islands]
dehydrated
[unhealthy]:
merges
[unify, unite]:
trifle
[unimportant thing/matter, trifles, bauble, very small amount, treat in a cavalier fashion, a little]: [we needn't trouble the headmaster over such trifles] [the thousand yen he'd paid seemed the merest trifle] [syllabubs, trifles, and other dishes] [bowls of trifle followed] [he is not a man to be trifled with]
catholicity
[universality]:
actionable
[unjust]: [an actionable assertion] [insightful and actionable information on the effect advertising is having on your brand]
overlooked
[unmarked, unnoted]:
anonymous
[unnamed, unsigned, characterless]: [the donor's wish to remain anonymous] [an anonymous phone call] [his impeccable, slightly anonymous Chelsea flat]
relinquished
[unoccupied]:
volatility
[unpredictability]: [the succession of new rulers contributed to the volatility of the situation] [a week of historic stock market volatility] [the children have been exposed to the full force of her volatility] [the volatility of chemicals in an indoor environment]
chimerical
[unrealistic]:
irreconcilably
[unreconcilable]:
impromptu
[unrehearsed, extempore]: [an impromptu press conference] [he spoke impromptu]
spree
[unrestrained bout, drinking bout]: [he went on a six-month crime spree] [a shopping spree] [crews were seldom going ashore and therefore seldom going on the spree] [they don't want work, they're too busy spreeing!]
in vain
[unsuccessfully]: [they waited in vain for a response]
premature
[untimely, rash, preterm]: [the sun can cause premature ageing] [it would be premature to draw any firm conclusions at this stage] [the child was three weeks premature]
disclosed
[unveiled]:
inadvisable
[unwise]: [it would be inadvisable to involve more than one architect]
diverse
[various]: [a culturally diverse population] [subjects as diverse as architecture, language teaching, and the physical sciences]
sundry
[various]: [prawn and garlic vol-au-vents and sundry other delicacies] [a drugstore selling magazines, newspapers, and sundries]
emphatic
[vehement, conclusive]: [the children were emphatic that they would like to repeat the experience] [an emphatic movement of his hand] [an emphatic World Cup win]
volcano
[vent]: [Clare had been building up a silent volcano of resentment]
compromises
[via media]:
sentiment
[view, feeling, sentimentality]: [I agree with your sentiments regarding the road bridge] [the council sought steps to control the rise of racist sentiment] [an intense sentiment of horror] [many of the appeals rely on treacly sentiment]
form
[shape, body, structure, manifestation, kind, etiquette, good manners, questionnaire, class, fitness, a criminal record, bench, set up, arrange, comprise, constitute, materialize, formulate, make, develop]: [the form, colour, and texture of the tree] [the flowers of this shrub are remarkable both in form and colour] [his eyes scanned her slender form] [these videos are a triumph of form over content] [essays in book form]
panorama
[view, overview]: [the tower offers a wonderful panorama of Prague] [the galleries will offer a full panorama of 20th-century art]
aspersion
[vilification, vilify]: [I don't think anyone is casting aspersions on you]
vinery
[vineyard]:
narrow
[small, slender, confined, limited, strict, marginal, get/become/make narrower, strait(s)]: [he made his way down the narrow road] [they ate a narrow range of foods] [companies fail through their narrow view of what contributes to profit] [the idea of nationalism in the narrowest sense of the word] [the home team just hung on for a narrow victory]
creamy
[smooth, off-white]: [beat the sugar and egg yolks together until thick and creamy] [creamy white flowers] [a thick, creamy dressing]
smolder
[smoulder]:
energy
[vitality, power]: [changes in the levels of vitamins can affect energy and well-being] [an alternative is to devote your energies to voluntary work] [nuclear energy] [a collision in which no energy is transferred]
craters
[volcanic crater]:
lamenting
[wailful, wailing]:
ramble
[walk, chatter, walk]: [I spent most of my spare time rambling and climbing] [as a boy I rambled the fells around Dent] [Willy rambled on about Norman archways] [roses climbed, rambled, hung over walls]
tread
[walk, crush, step]: [Rosa trod as lightly as she could] [the government had to tread carefully so as not to offend the judiciary] [the youth stumbled and trod on Harry's shoe] [shoppers will soon be treading the floors of the new shopping mall] [food had been trodden into the carpet]
narcotic
[soporific drug, soporific]: [cultivation of a plant used to make a popular local narcotic] [pethidine, usually given as an injection, is a narcotic which causes drowsiness] [the substance has a mild narcotic effect]
soy
[soya bean, soybean]:
spearheads
[spear-point, spearpoint]:
specialized
[specialised]: [employees with specialized skills] [periodicals have become more and more specialized] [specialized software]
breathtaking
[spectacular]: [the scene was one of breathtaking beauty]
caved
[spelunk]:
globular
[spherical]: [plants with distinctive globular blooms]
faucet
[spigot]:
barb
[spike, insult, barbs]: [his barb hurt more than she cared to admit]
spinster
[spinner, thread maker]: [Elizabeth Harris of London, Spinster]
blighted
[spoilt]:
spontaneity
[spontaneousness]: [she occasionally tore up her usual schedule in favour of spontaneity]
intermittent
[sporadic]: [intermittent rain]
sprawling
[sprawl]:
pervade
[spread through]: [a smell of stale cabbage pervaded the air] [the sense of crisis which pervaded Europe in the 1930s]
dispersed
[spread]:
run off
[waste]: [he won only 49 per cent of the vote, so a run-off will be held] [the ratio of run-off to rainfall] [fertilizer run-off from the intensively farmed areas in the river basin] [when it rains the run-off cascades down to the valley floor] [water polluted by run-offs from farmland]
crystal
[watch crystal, watch glass]: [a quartz crystal] [ice crystals formed where his breath froze] [cups cut from crystal] [a crystal chandelier] [a collection of crystal]
steam
[water vapour, energy, momentum, mist (up), become agitated, become very angry, give vent to one's feelings, unaided]: [a cloud of steam] [steam was rising from the mugs of coffee] [she wiped the steam off the mirror] [the equipment was originally powered by steam] [a steam locomotive]
sealing
[waterproofing]:
fluctuations
[wavering]:
doormat
[weakling, wuss]: [to put up with such treatment you must be either a saint or a doormat]
affluent
[wealthy]: [the affluent societies of the western world]
weaver
[weaver finch, weaverbird]:
network
[web, system, maze]: [a spider constructs a complex network of several different kinds of threads] [the company has a network of 326 branches] [a trade network] [the railway network] [a support network]
disinfect
[sterilize]: [he disinfected and dressed the cut on his forehead] [chlorine has been used to disinfect water in pools for many years]
cohere
[stick together, be consistent]: [he made the series of fictions cohere into a convincing sequence] [this view does not cohere with their other beliefs]
specifications
[stipulation]:
incite
[stir up, egg on]: [they conspired to incite riots] [he incited loyal subjects to rebellion]
arousing
[stir]:
tale
[story, rumour, lie]: [a delightful children's tale] [tales of witches and warlocks] [she enjoyed hearing others tell their tales] [an exact tale of the dead bodies] [she sparked a family row after telling tales about her mother on a TV show]
narrator
[storyteller, voice-over]: [his poetic efforts are mocked by the narrator of the story] [a first-person narrator] [a religious broadcast with Johnny Morris as narrator]
sieve
[strainer, strain]: [puree the potatoes through a sieve] [rinse the lentils in a sieve under running water] [she's forgotten all the details already, she's got a mind like a sieve] [sieve the flour and sugar together in a bowl] [dredge with sieved icing sugar]
bizarre
[strange]: [a bizarre situation] [his behaviour became more and more bizarre]
brook
[stream, tolerate]: [the Lake District boasts lovely lakes and babbling brooks] [Jenny would brook no criticism of Matthew]
wasp
[]:
mortgage
[]: [I put down a hundred thousand in cash and took out a mortgage for the rest] [a £60,000 mortgage] [the estate was mortgaged up to the hilt] [a heavily mortgaged farm] [some people worry that selling off state assets mortgages the country's future]
esquire
[]: [J. C. Pearson Esquire] [the lord of the manor, Richard Bethell Esquire]
sustainably
[]: [a firm's ability to grow sustainably and profitably] [sustainably low prices] [an increasing emphasis on finding means of living sustainably] [sustainably managed forests] [locally, sustainably grown food]
leonine
[]: [a handsome, leonine profile]
approbate
[]: [a letter approbating the affair]
sleep on it
[]: [although she said she would sleep on it, she was virtually certain to resign]
biographer
[]: [an important biographer of contemporary artists]
temperature
[]: [at a temperature of 2°C] [I'll take her temperature] [he was running a temperature] [the temperature of the debate was lower than before]
renaissance
[]: [cinema-going is enjoying something of a renaissance]
improperly
[]: [councillors acted improperly in releasing the draft document] [evidence is inadmissible if it is improperly obtained] [the young woman is improperly attired with a sleeveless, low-necked dress]
dna
[]: [diversity is part of the company's DNA] [men just don't get shopping—it's not in our DNA]
discreetly
[]: [he discreetly inquired whether the position was still available] [she coughed discreetly] [they are counted then discretely marked] [he wanted the affair handled discreetly]
acre
[]: [he farms 1,200 acres in East Yorkshire] [a 15-acre estate] [acres of space] [a many-acred park]
overpay
[]: [many fans think our top players are overpaid] [the recovery of overpaid tax]
fulcrum
[]: [research is the fulcrum of the academic community]
matron
[]: [she initiated training for matrons of residential homes] ['This is preposterous,' sighed Matron] [she had been matron of a Belgian Hospital] [respectable suburban matrons]
surveyor
[]: [surveyors recorded the species and locations of fallen trees] [a marine surveyor]
prefix
[]: [the Institute was granted the prefix 'Royal' in 1961] [a preface is prefixed to the book] [all three-digit numbers will now be prefixed by 580]
hussar
[]: [the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars]
electrotype
[]: [the acid copper solution is largely employed in electrotyping]
laboriously
[]: [the boys were laboriously copying down sentences from the blackboard] [she breathed slowly and laboriously]
no-brainer
[]: [the enormous popularity of his TV show makes the book a no-brainer for him]
inroad
[]: [the firm is beginning to make inroads into the UK market] [serious inroads had now been made into my pitiful cash reserves] [the inroads and cross-border raiding of the Grahams]
inefficiency
[]: [the idea is to eliminate inefficiency, creating a seamless manufacturing process] [the hospital had its budget cut because of past financial inefficiencies]
retrial
[]: [the judge ordered a retrial]
confidentiality
[]: [the lead bank's duty of confidentiality to the borrower] [visitors have to sign confidentiality agreements]
privity
[]: [the parties no longer have privity with each other]
re enactment
[]: [the re-enactment of a naval battle] [a replica gun for use in historical re-enactments] [visions of the re-enactment of the Statute of Labourers]
vandal
[]: [the rear window of the car was smashed by vandals]
starkly
[]: [the scar stood out starkly against his bronzed skin] [a starkly lit warehouse] [her motivations contrast starkly with Clara's] [their ordeal starkly illustrates an inescapable reality] [the class divisions of the country were starkly revealed]
zeitgeist
[]: [the story captured the zeitgeist of the late 1960s]
under the wire
[]: [the team got into the playoffs just under the wire]
transformative
[]: [the transformative power of technology] [having a baby is a transformative experience]
a pig in a poke
[]: [the unwary were apt to buy a pig in the poke]
urinary
[]: [the urinary tract]
facilitation
[]: [third-party facilitation seeks to promote the resolution of conflict] [the response is dependent on the frequency of stimulation and on neuromuscular facilitation]
gastronomy
[]: [traditional American gastronomy]
verily
[]: [verily these men are mad]
catchment
[]: [water catchment continues the whole year round]
antemeridian
[a.m., ante meridiem]:
slaughterhouses
[abattoir, butchery, shambles]:
dorsal
[abaxial]: [a dorsal view of the body] [the dorsal aorta]
kidnap
[abduct]: [militants kidnapped the daughter of a minister] [they were arrested for robbery and kidnap]
deplore
[abhor, regret]: [we deplore all violence]
comply
[abide by, agree to]: [we are unable to comply with your request] [all second-hand furniture must comply with the new regulations]
complying
[abide by, follow]:
buoyant
[able to float, cheerful, booming]: [buoyant water] [the conference ended with the party in a buoyant mood] [car sales were buoyant]
abhorred
[abominate, execrate, loathe]:
aborigines
[aboriginal, indigen, indigene, native]:
friction
[abrasion, discord]: [a lubrication system which reduces friction] [the friction of braking] [a considerable amount of friction between father and son]
decamp
[abscond, strike one's tents]: [now he has decamped to Hollywood] [the armies of both chiefs had decamped]
autocrat
[absolute ruler]: [like many autocrats, Franco found the exercise of absolute power addictive] [Eva was an autocrat—people didn't argue unless they had a lot of courage]
autocracy
[absolutism]: [the Grand Duchy of Tuscany was an autocracy] [a boss who shifts between autocracy and consultation]
incorporate
[absorb, embody, blend]: [he has incorporated in his proposals a number of measures] [some schemes incorporated all these variations] [add the cheeses and butter and process briefly to incorporate them] [limited liability companies could only be incorporated under the 1930 Act] [through an incorporate resilience, slighted confidence restores itself]
steeped
[absorb, engross, engulf, immerse, plunge, soak up]:
immersed
[absorb, engross, engulf, plunge, soak up, steep]:
credible
[acceptable, believable]: [few people found his story credible] [a credible witness] [a credible threat] [few people found his story credible] [a very creditable 2-4 defeat]
record
[account(s), previous conduct/performance, criminal record, best performance, album, write down, indicate, achieve, make a record/recording of, make, unofficial, unofficially]: [identification was made through dental records] [a record of meter readings] [the safety record at the airport is first class] [the team preserved their unbeaten home record] [he held the world record for over a decade]
commissioned
[accredited, licenced, licensed]:
amassing
[accumulate, collect, compile, hoard, pile up, roll up]:
collector
[accumulator, gatherer]: [an art collector] [a tax collector] [the ticket collector closed the gates]
recrimination
[accusation(s)]: [there are no tears, no recriminations] [there was a period of bitter recrimination]
sweep through
[ace, breeze through, nail, pass with flying colors, sail through]:
acid
[acidic, sour, acerbic, sarcastic]: [trees were exposed to mixtures of heavy metals, acids, and overdoses of nutrients] [traces of acid] [she was unable to quell the acid in her voice] [she didn't have a clue the sweet had acid in it] [a bad acid trip]
acquaintances
[acquaintanceship]:
assoil
[acquit, clear, discharge, exculpate, exonerate]:
acerbity
[acrimony, bitterness, jaundice, tartness, thorniness]:
sparked
[activate, actuate, set off, spark off, touch off, trigger, trigger off, trip]:
sparking
[activate, actuate, set off, spark off, touch off, trigger, trigger off, trip]:
energetic
[active, vigorous, forceful]: [moderately energetic exercise] [energetic X-rays]
proactively
[active]: [the police will be working proactively to help reduce the problem] [astute firms don't just listen, but proactively engage customers too]
amounted
[add up, come]:
amounting
[add up, come]:
plows
[address, cover, deal, handle, treat]:
glue
[adhesive, stick, be riveted to/by]: [waterproof glue] [what is the glue that holds companies together?] [the wood is cut into pieces which are then glued together] [I was glued to the telly when the Olympics were on]
arbitration
[adjudication, mediation]: [Tayside Regional Council called for arbitration to settle the dispute] [binding arbitration] [the trust and consortium are likely to go to arbitration]
espouse
[adopt, support]: [the left has espoused the causes of sexual and racial equality] [Edward had espoused the lady Grey] [she was secretly espoused to his son, Peter] [a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph]
mature
[adult, sensible, careful, ripe, be fully grown, develop, become more sensible/responsible/adult, ripen]: [she was now a mature woman] [owls are sexually mature at one year] [a young man mature beyond his years] [on mature reflection he decided they should not go] [Miss Walker was a mature lady when she married]
impure
[adulterated, contaminated, immoral, unchaste]: [an impure form of heroin] [a parasite that thrives in impure water] [citizens suspected of harbouring impure thoughts] [the perception of woman as impure]
beneficial
[advantageous]: [the beneficial effect on the economy] [the process was beneficial to both supplier and customer] [the beneficiary will be taxed on the value of his beneficial use of the property]
counsel
[advice, conference, barrister, advise]: [with wise counsel a couple can buy a home that will be appreciating in value] [for the public, simple counsels of more patience are not enough] [he took much counsel with him] [the counsel for the defence] [careers officers should counsel young people in making their career decisions]
streamlined
[aerodynamic, flowing, sleek]:
esthetically
[aesthetically]:
wealth
[affluence, abundance]: [he used his considerable wealth to bribe officials] [some people buy boats and cars to display their wealth] [the country's mineral wealth] [the tables and maps contain a wealth of information]
generation
[age, ages, crop, creation, procreation]: [one of his generation's finest songwriters] [the same families have lived here for generations] [a third-generation Canadian] [a new generation of actors and directors] [a new generation of rear-engined sports cars]
annoyances
[aggravator]:
appalled
[aghast, dismayed, shocked]:
lithe
[agile]: [she lay gazing up at his tall, lithe figure]
gibe
[agree, check, correspond, fit, jibe, match, tally]:
assent
[agreement, agree to]: [a loud murmur of assent] [he nodded assent] [the act was given the Royal Assent] [the Prime Minister assented to the change] ['Guest house, then,' Frank assented cheerfully]
settlement
[agreement, resolution, community, colonization, payment]: [unions succeeded in reaching a pay settlement] [the settlement of the boundary disputes] [the award was made as an out-of-court settlement by the driver's insurance firm] [one of the oldest Viking settlements in western Europe] [a continent where settlement is at the mercy of geography]
unsettled
[aimless, restless, changeable, undecided, unpaid, uninhabited]: [an unsettled childhood] [she felt edgy and unsettled] [a spell of unsettled weather] [one question remains unsettled] [they charge interest on debts that remain unsettled after 30 days]
appall
[alarm, appal, dismay, horrify]:
scaremonger
[alarmist]: [scaremongers forecast that 8 m-9 m people could soon flood in]
on the qui vive
[alertness, sharp-sightedness]:
algae
[alga]:
nourishment
[aliment, alimentation, nutriment, nutrition, sustenance, victuals]: [tubers from which plants obtain nourishment] [she was starved of emotional nourishment] [the nourishment of our bodies and of our minds]
designate
[appoint, classify]: [he was designated as prime minister] [the Wye Valley is designated an area of outstanding natural beauty] [certain schools are designated 'science schools'] [the Director designate]
tribunal
[arbitration board/panel, court]: [an industrial tribunal ruled that he was unfairly dismissed] [an international war crimes tribunal]
archeology
[archaeology]:
ardor
[ardour]:
grueling
[arduous, backbreaking, gruelling, hard, heavy, laborious, operose, punishing, toilsome]:
backbreaking
[arduous, grueling, gruelling, hard, heavy, laborious, operose, punishing, toilsome]:
desiccated
[arid, desiccate]:
inlet
[arm of the sea, vent]: [an air inlet]
fragrances
[aroma, perfume, scent]:
buggy
[around the bend, balmy, barmy, bats, batty, bonkers, cracked, crackers, daft, dotty, fruity, haywire, kookie, kooky, loco, loony, loopy, nuts, nutty, round the bend, wacky, whacky]: [a golf buggy] [her two younger children were in a buggy]
enkindle
[arouse, elicit, evoke, fire, kindle, provoke, raise]: [the glare from its enkindled roof illumined its innermost recesses] [fresh remembrance of vexation must still enkindle rage]
artifact
[artefact]:
fluent
[articulate, articulate, be fluent in, free-flowing]: [a fluent speaker and writer on technical subjects] [she became fluent in French and German] [he spoke fluent Spanish] [his style of play was fast and fluent] [a fluent discharge from the nose]
supremacy
[ascendancy, dominance]: [the supremacy of the king]
divagation
[aside, digression, excursus, parenthesis]:
necessitates
[ask, call for, demand, involve, need, postulate, require, take]:
prospects
[aspect, panorama, scene, view, vista]:
hopefuls
[aspirant, aspirer, wannabe, wannabee]:
seeks
[assay, attempt, essay, try]:
affirmation
[assertion, confirmation]: [he nodded in affirmation] [an affirmation of basic human values] [the lack of one or both parents' affirmation leaves some children emotionally crippled]
evaluate
[assess]: [the study will assist in evaluating the impact of recent changes] [a system for evaluating how well the firm is performing] [substitute numbers in a simple formula and evaluate the answer]
mission
[assignment, delegation, sortie, vocation, mission post]: [a fact-finding mission to the Czech Republic] [by then, the mission had journeyed over 3,500 miles] [the head of the West German mission] [a reconnaissance mission] [NASA has approved a mission to investigate the atmosphere of Mars]
affiliates
[associate, assort, consort]:
presume
[assume, venture, take advantage of]: [I presumed that the man had been escorted from the building] [two of the journalists went missing and are presumed dead] [the argument presumes that only one person can do the work] [kindly don't presume to issue me orders in my own house] [forgive me if I have presumed]
arrogate
[assume]: [they arrogate to themselves the ability to divine the nation's true interests]
staggering
[astonishing, astounding, stupefying]:
amazement
[astonishment]: [she shook her head in amazement] [to her amazement, Bill was keen]
impending
[at hand, close at hand, imminent, impendent]:
unbelief
[atheism]: [the darkness of unbelief] [the distinction between doubt and unbelief is valid and useful]
atomization
[atomisation]:
expiate
[atone for]: [their sins must be expiated by sacrifice]
abomination
[atrocity, detestation]: [concrete abominations masquerading as hotels] [a Calvinist abomination of indulgence]
committed
[attached]: [a committed environmentalist] [a committed relationship] [Esther has a committed boyfriend]
usher
[attendant, escort, herald]: [a waiter ushered me to a table] [the railways ushered in an era of cheap mass travel]
considerate
[attentive]: [she was unfailingly kind and considerate] [be considerate over your handwriting]
documented
[attested, authenticated]:
pleasing
[attractive, beautiful, humorous, humourous, pleasant, admirable, charming, delicious, delightful, easy, fab, fabulous, good, gratifying, sweet, ingratiating, sweet]: [the pleasing austerity of the surroundings]
due to
[attributable to, because of]: [his death was not due to any lack of care] [he had to withdraw due to a knee injury]
ascribe
[attribute]: [he ascribed Jane's short temper to her upset stomach] [a quotation ascribed to Thomas Cooper] [tough-mindedness is a quality commonly ascribed to top bosses]
revered
[august, venerable]:
opportune
[auspicious, timely]: [he couldn't have arrived at a less opportune moment] [the opportune use of humour to lower tension]
ascetic
[austere, abstainer]: [an ascetic life of prayer, fasting, and manual labour]
dictator
[autocrat, tyrant]:
alleges
[aver, say]:
alleging
[aver, say]:
ward off
[avert, avoid, debar, deflect, fend off, forefend, forfend, head off, obviate, stave off]:
forfend
[avert, avoid, debar, deflect, fend off, forefend, head off, obviate, stave off, ward off]: ['The fiend forfend' said the grim Earl] [the sacrifice of Mississippi was forfended against even the treason of Wilkinson] [Heaven forfend I should wound her susceptibilities]
fend off
[avert, avoid, debar, deflect, forefend, forfend, head off, obviate, stave off, ward off]:
shun
[avoid, snub, reject]: [he shunned fashionable society] [the shunned wife's quiet divorce]
privy
[aware of]: [he was no longer privy to her innermost thoughts] [a privy place]
off
[away, away, cancelled, unavailable, rotten, unfair, unfriendly, periodically]: [the man ran off] [she dashed off to her room] [we must be off now] [turning off for Ripon] [he whipped off his coat]
ripples
[babble, bubble, burble, guggle, gurgle]:
pampered
[baby, cocker, coddle, cosset, featherbed, indulge, mollycoddle, spoil]:
sponsor
[backer, finance]: [the production cost £50,000, most coming from local sponsors] [NBC found a sponsor willing to put the election up on prime time] [a leading sponsor of the bill] [they act as sponsors and contacts for new immigrants] [Paul has asked me to be his sponsor for confirmation next month]
maleficent
[baleful, baneful, evil, malefic, malevolent, malign, malign]:
globose
[ball-shaped, global, globular, orbicular, spheric, spherical]:
embargo
[ban, ban]: [an embargo on grain sales] [an arms embargo] [there is a complete embargo on taking photographs in court] [an embargo laid by our Emperor upon all vessels whatsoever] [all of these countries have been embargoed by the US]
shunned
[ban, banish, blackball, cast out, ostracise, ostracize]:
banishing
[ban]:
platitudes
[banality, bromide, cliche, commonplace]:
brigand
[bandit]:
exile
[banishment, émigré, expel]: [he knew now that he would die in exile] [the return of political exiles] [a corrupt dictator who had been exiled from his country] [supporters of the exiled King]
prevention
[bar]: [crime prevention] [the treatment and prevention of AIDS]
bard
[barde, caparison, dress up]: [our national bard, Robert Burns] [he was admitted as a Bard at the National Eisteddfod] [the venison was barded and marinated]
volley
[barrage]: [the infantry let off a couple of volleys] [he unleashed a volley of angry questions] [a forehand volley] [she volleyed the ball home] [he took his chance well, volleying into the top corner from 25 yards]
roadblocks
[barricade]:
fundamental
[basic, basics]: [the protection of fundamental human rights] [interpretation of evidence is fundamental to the historian's craft] [the fundamental problem remains that of the housing shortage] [the theories are based on a fundamental error] [two courses cover the fundamentals of microbiology]
grassroots
[basic]:
savor
[bask, enjoy, relish, savour]:
plumbing
[bathymetry]: [you may be able to get a grant to install proper plumbing and bathrooms] [the kitchen has a gas cooker point and plumbing for an automatic washing machine] [the magazine gives a guide to the tools needed for home plumbing] [maybe I should talk to my doctor about my plumbing]
ribald
[bawdy]: [a ribald comment]
hover
[be suspended, linger]: [Army helicopters hovered overhead] [her hand hovered over the console] [his expression hovered between cynicism and puzzlement] [she hovered anxiously in the background] [inflation will hover around the 4 per cent mark]
debt
[bill, owing money, indebtedness, indebted to]: [I paid off my debts] [a way to reduce Third World debt] [the firm is heavily in debt] [I would like to acknowledge my debt to my teachers] [God bless you—I am forever in your debt]
surging
[billowing, billowy]:
busting
[binge, bout, tear]:
orgies
[binge, splurge]:
bipartisan
[bipartizan, two-party, two-way]: [the reforms received considerable bipartisan approval]
aviary
[bird sanctuary, volary]:
pungency
[bite]:
jaundiced
[bitter]: [they looked on politicians with a jaundiced eye]
rancor
[bitterness, gall, rancour, resentment]:
extortionists
[blackmailer, extortioner]:
vacuous
[blank, empty-headed]: [a vacuous smile] [vacuous slogans]
clamor
[blare, blaring, cacophony, clamour, din]:
flagrant
[blatant]: [a flagrant violation of the law]
hemorrhage
[bleed, shed blood]:
fusion
[blend, melting]: [the election results produced pressure for fusion of the parties] [the film showed a perfect fusion of image and sound] [the centre of the Sun where fusion occurs] [a fusion reactor] [the fusion of resin and glass fibre in the moulding process]
prate
[blether, chin music, idle talk, prattle]: [I sat in my pew and heard him prate on for at least an hour and a half]
blithesome
[blithe, light-hearted, lighthearted, lightsome]:
scarlet
[blood-red, carmine, cerise, cherry, cherry-red, crimson, red, reddish, ruby, ruby-red, ruddy]: [a mass of scarlet berries] [papers lettered in scarlet and black] [silk awnings of brilliant scarlet]
blobs
[blot, fleck, spot]:
blue chip
[blue-chip stock]: [blue-chip art]
feint
[bluff]: [a brief feint at the opponent's face] [Adam feinted with his right and then swung a left]
bullying
[blustery]:
vaunt
[boast about]: [the much vaunted information superhighway]
curtsy
[bob, bend the knee]: [she bobbed a curtsy to him] [his sisters had curtsied to the vicar]
hampered
[bond, shackle, trammel]:
clams
[boodle, bread, cabbage, dinero, dough, gelt, kale, lettuce, lolly, loot, lucre, moolah, pelf, scratch, shekels, simoleons, sugar, wampum]:
flourishing
[booming, palmy, prospering, prosperous, roaring, thriving]: [a flourishing career]
frontier
[border]: [international crime knows no frontiers] [France's frontier with Belgium] [the frontier between thought and reality is confused] [an end to frontier controls] [his novel of the American frontier]
debtor
[borrower]: [generally, debtors must negotiate with each creditor separately] [debtor countries]
reverberated
[bounce, bound, rebound, recoil, resile, ricochet, spring, take a hop]:
redolence
[bouquet, fragrance, fragrancy, sweetness]:
burdened
[bowed down, loaded down, overburdened, weighed down, laden, oppressed, saddled]:
overburdened
[bowed down, loaded down, weighed down]:
clamp
[brace, immobilizer, fasten, clench, immobilize, suppress]: [I have fixed the motor to the table with two clamps] [the sander is clamped on to the edge of a workbench] [the two frames are clamped together] [Maggie had to clamp a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing] [he had flown into a rage when he found his car was clamped]
erupted
[break out, recrudesce]:
snap
[break, crack, lose one's self-control, bite, say/speak roughly, photograph, click, dynamism, photograph, period, recover, buy eagerly/quickly]: [guitar strings kept snapping] [dead twigs can be snapped off] [banners snapping in the breeze] [Rosa snapped her bag shut] [his mouth snapped into a tight, straight line]
sigh
[breathe out, rustle, yearn]: [Harry sank into a chair and sighed with relief] [a breeze made the treetops sigh] [he sighed for days gone by] [she let out a long sigh of despair] [the councils heaved a sigh of relief when they saved over £6m between them]
knickknack
[bric-a-brac, knickknackery, nicknack, whatnot]:
brigadier
[brigadier general]:
lurid
[brightly coloured, sensational, gruesome]: [lurid food colourings] [a pair of lurid shorts] [the more lurid details of the massacre were too frightening for the children]
inflicted
[bring down, impose, visit]:
unveils
[bring out, reveal, uncover]:
exert
[bring to bear, make an effort]: [the moon exerts a force on the Earth] [how much control can he exert over his own life?] [he needs to exert himself to try to find an answer]
cord
[string]: [her feet were tied with cord] [a dressing-gown cord] [the baby was still attached to its mother by the cord] [she began toying with the telephone cord] [the cloth for their suits was cord]
embossed
[brocaded, raised]:
bronchus
[bronchial tube]:
introspection
[brooding]: [quiet introspection can be extremely valuable]
cronies
[brother, buddy, chum, pal, sidekick]:
comrades
[brother]:
forehead
[brow]:
contusion
[bruise]: [a dark contusion on his cheek was beginning to swell] [vigorously shaking the head back and forth can produce contusions to the soft structure of the brain]
discounted
[brush aside, brush off, dismiss, disregard, ignore, push aside]:
fortify
[build defences round, strengthen, invigorate, add spirits/alcohol to, add vitamins/minerals to]: [the whole town was heavily fortified] [a fortified manor house] [the girl was fortified by her religious faith] [fortified wine]
urban
[built-up]: [the urban population] [hip-hop's traditionally urban vibe]
ammunition
[bullets, shells, arguments]: [guns, ammunition, and explosives] [an ammunition dump] [these figures provide ammunition to the argument for more resources]
cluster
[bunch, crowd, congregate]: [clusters of creamy-white flowers] [they stood there in a frightened cluster] [there are several clusters in Cassiopeia] [ten clusters from all the primary health centres were selected] [noble-metal clusters supported on an acidic carrier]
bundle
[bunch, tie (up), wrap, hustle]: [a thick bundle of envelopes] [a bundle of 15 desktop utilities] [the new printer cost a bundle] [she quickly bundled up her clothes] [they were bundled up in thick sweaters]
sepulcher
[burial chamber, sepulchre, sepulture]:
entrepreneur
[businessman, businesswoman, wheeler-dealer]: [many entrepreneurs see potential in this market] [the music entrepreneur pulled back from financing a screenplay Hopper had written]
ruptured
[bust, snap, tear]:
anatomy
[structure, analysis]: [he studied physiology and anatomy] [human anatomy] [descriptions of the cat's anatomy and behaviour] [every part of his anatomy hurt] [she was unable to reach for the bag in case she revealed more of her anatomy than she already had]
systematic
[structured]: [a systematic search of the whole city]
psychology
[study of the mind, mindset]: [the psychology of child-killers] [the psychology of interpersonal relationships]
stymied
[stymy]:
urbanity
[suaveness]: [that polished urbanity of his] [a picture of banal urbanity]
properly
[by rights]: [ensuring the work is carried out properly] [a properly drafted agreement] [I'm trying to get my mother to behave properly] [algebra is, properly speaking, the analysis of equations] [on the first day she felt properly well, Millie sat out on the front steps]
incidentally
[by the way, by chance]: [incidentally, it was many months before the whole truth was discovered] [the infection was discovered only incidentally at post-mortem examination]
defecating
[ca-ca, crap, make, stool, take a crap]:
rigs
[carriage, equipage]:
volunteer
[subject, offer, offer one's services]: [a call for volunteers to act as foster-parents] [the railway is operated solely by volunteers] [140 employees volunteered for redundancy] [I rashly volunteered to be a contestant] [he volunteered his services as a driver for the convoy]
topic
[subject]: [her favourite topic of conversation is her partner]
immerse
[submerge, baptize, absorb]: [immerse the paper in water for twenty minutes] [she immersed herself in her work] [she was still immersed in her thoughts]
submersible
[submersible warship]:
subsidiaries
[subsidiary company]:
par
[substandard, slightly unwell, as good as, normal, good enough]: [Woosnam had advanced from his overnight position of three under par] [the sixteenth is a par five] [a card that showed 16 pars, one eagle, and one birdie] [the 9 per cent unsecured loan stock is redeemable at par] [par value]
chastised
[castigate, chasten, correct, objurgate]:
pawning
[cat's-paw, instrument]:
catalog
[catalogue]:
catalyze
[catalyse]:
contracting
[catching]:
causal
[causative]: [the causal factors associated with illness] [a causal conjunction]
undermined
[cave]:
undermining
[cave]:
cautions
[caveat]:
truce
[ceasefire]: [the guerrillas called a three-day truce]
blindness
[cecity, sightlessness]: [a leading cause of blindness in the elderly] [the field of vision gradually narrows and blindness can result] [this policy is based on willful blindness to economic reality]
revel
[celebrate, enjoy, gloat over, celebration, party]: [a night of drunken revelling] [Bill said he was secretly revelling in his new-found fame] [late-night revels]
condemn
[censure, sentence, damned, doom, incriminate, declare unfit]: [most leaders roundly condemned the attack] [the plan was condemned by campaigners] [the rebels had been condemned to death] [the condemned men] [the physical ailments that condemned him to a lonely childhood]
centennial
[centenary]: [centennial celebrations] [the show is a celebration of the museum's centennial]
charisma
[charm]: [he has tremendous charisma and stage presence]
captivated
[charmed]:
pursuit
[chasing, striving towards, activity, occupation]: [the cat crouched in the grass in pursuit of a bird] [those whose business is the pursuit of knowledge] [the Olympic pursuit champion] [a whole range of leisure pursuits] [three cavalry companies gave pursuit]
hostel
[cheap hotel]:
economical
[cheap, thrifty]: [a small, economical car] [he was economical in all areas of life] [the cast are economical with their actions] [the government spokesman was often economical with the truth]
inexpensive
[cheap]: [a simple and inexpensive solution]
chemicals
[chemical substance]:
contemplating
[chew over, excogitate, meditate, mull, mull over, muse, ponder, reflect, ruminate, speculate, think over]:
iciness
[chilliness, coldness, coolness, frigidity, frigidness]:
mantel
[chimneypiece, mantelpiece, mantle, mantlepiece]:
opted
[choose, prefer]:
refrained
[chorus]:
mobilized
[circulate, mobilise]:
mobilizing
[circulate, mobilise]:
acknowledgment
[citation, cite, credit, mention, quotation, reference]:
quotation
[citation, estimate]: [a quotation from Mark Twain] [a quotation from Bartók's Fourth String Quartet] [a great argument with much quotation of Darwin] [ensure you receive a written quotation covering all aspects of the job] [the company is being refused a quotation on the New York Stock Exchange]
summoned
[cite, summons]:
humanize
[civilize]: [his purpose was to humanize prison conditions] [dogs are wonderful friends but why do we try to humanize them?]
clinching
[clamp]:
tribes
[clan, kin, kin group, kindred, kinship group]:
clashes
[clang, clangor, clangoring, clangour, clank, crash]:
clangor
[clang, clangour]:
lingua
[clapper, glossa, tongue]:
collided
[clash, jar]:
cooperative
[collaborative, helpful]: [every member has clearly defined tasks in a cooperative enterprise] [they have been extremely considerate, polite, and cooperative] [we run the agency as a workers' cooperative]
collapsible
[collapsable]: [a collapsible bed]
collectible
[collectable, payable]:
synthesis
[combination]: [the synthesis of intellect and emotion in his work] [the ideology represented a synthesis of certain ideas] [the synthesis of methanol from carbon monoxide and hydrogen]
solace
[comfort, comfort]: [she sought solace in her religion] [the soundlessness of nature impressed and solaced her]
annotate
[comment on]: [an annotated bibliography]
remarks
[comment, input]:
provisions
[commissariat, provender, viands, victuals]:
commissioning
[commission]:
accredited
[commissioned, licenced, licensed]:
entrusted
[commit, confide, intrust, trust]:
narratives
[communicative, communicatory]:
commuting
[commutation]:
packed
[compact]:
liken
[compare]: [racism is likened to a contagious disease]
humanitarian
[compassionate, charitable, philanthropist]: [groups sending humanitarian aid] [human rights groups have warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis] [the worst humanitarian disaster this country has seen]
humane
[compassionate]: [regulations ensuring the humane treatment of animals] [humane methods of killing] [the humane education of literary study]
rival
[competitor, equal, compete with]: [he has no serious rival for the job] [gun battles between rival gangs] [she has no rivals as a female rock singer] [the efficiency of the Bavarians rivals that of the Viennese]
ailments
[complaint, ill]:
complaisance
[compliance, compliancy, deference, obligingness]:
abidance
[compliance, conformation, conformity]:
submissive
[compliant]: [a submissive, almost sheeplike people]
abide by
[comply, follow]:
ingredients
[component, constituent, element, factor]:
embraces
[comprehend, cover, encompass]:
implicated
[concerned]:
conceding
[concession, yielding]:
mediation
[conciliation]: [the parties have sought mediation and it has failed] [they are offering sacrifice and mediation between God and man]
incur
[suffer]: [I will pay any expenses incurred]
miracle
[supernatural phenomenon, wonder]: [the miracle of rising from the grave] [it was a miracle that more people hadn't been killed] [industries at the heart of the economic miracle] [a machine which was a miracle of design] [a miracle drug]
oversee
[supervise]: [the Home Secretary oversees the police service]
supplicant
[suppliant, supplicatory]:
schemes
[connive, intrigue]:
semiconscious
[conscious]:
mustered
[conscription, draft, selective service]:
vows
[consecrate]:
debated
[consider, deliberate, moot, turn over]:
prominently
[conspicuously]: [the actor is to figure prominently in the marketing campaign] [his wife was prominently involved in local politics] [because of their height, the towers stand out prominently] [he left his comb protruding prominently from a pile of objects] [posters were prominently displayed in the hall]
deceiving
[cozen, delude, lead on]:
rift
[crack, breach]: [the wind had torn open a rift in the clouds] [the rift between the two branches of the legal profession] [a fragment of continental crust which rifted away from eastern Australia] [the nascent rifted margins of the Red Sea]
smash
[crash into, crash, hit, destroy, breaking, crash, great success]: [the thief smashed a window to get into the car] [gone are the days when he smashed up hotels] [the glass ball smashed instantly on the pavement] [soldiers smashed down doors] [my Land Rover's been smashed up]
stalk
[creep up on, strut]: [he chewed a stalk of grass] [the acorns grow on stalks] [drinking glasses with long stalks] [the control stalk on the car's fascia] [a cat stalking a bird]
spooked
[creep, weirdie, weirdo, weirdy]:
criticizing
[criticise]:
shortcut
[crosscut, cutoff]: [they were taking a shortcut to town] [teaching no longer offered a shortcut to secure employment]
tides
[surge]:
tutelar
[custodial, tutelary]:
accustomed
[customary]: [his accustomed route]
glut
[surplus, cram full]: [there is a glut of cars on the market] [the roads are glutted with cars] [he planned a treacherous murder to glut his desire for revenge]
interrupt
[cut in (on), suspend, break up, obstruct]: [the buzzer interrupted his thoughts] ['Of course ...' Shepherd began, but his son interrupted him] [the coastal plain is interrupted by chains of large lagoons]
cede
[surrender, hand over]: [in 1874, the islands were ceded to Britain]
smatter
[dabble, play around]:
commuter
[daily traveller]: [a fault on the line caused widespread delays for commuters]
decameter
[dam, decametre, dekameter, dekametre, dkm]:
menace
[danger, threat, threaten, bully, threatening, looming]: [a new initiative aimed at beating the menace of drugs] [the snakes are a menace to farm animals] [he spoke the words with a hint of menace] [a demand of money with menaces] [Africa's elephants are still menaced by poaching]
jeopardy
[danger]: [the whole peace process is in jeopardy]
challenge
[dare, problem, confrontation with, dispute with, question, disagree with, test]: [he accepted the challenge] [the traverse of the ridge is a challenge for experienced climbers] [he took up the challenge of organizing a sports afternoon] [he is desperate for a third world title challenge] [a challenge to the legality of the banning order]
line
[dash, course, wrinkle, contour, boundary, cord, sentence, words, ancestry, series, brand, line of work, course, patter, position, file, border, furrow, ruled, wrinkled, stop short of, under control, in a queue, a candidate for, speak frankly, at risk, arrange in a line, form a queue, assemble, covered, make money]: [a row of closely spaced dots will look like a continuous line] [I can't draw a straight line] [the ball rose in a straight line] [there were new lines round her eyes and mouth] [laughter lines]
intimidating
[daunting]:
baneful
[deadly, pernicious, pestilent]:
shortages
[dearth, famine]:
mortality
[death]: [the work is increasingly haunted by thoughts of mortality] [the causes of mortality among infants and young children] [post-operative mortality was 90 per cent for some operations]
enervating
[debilitative, enfeebling, weakening]:
crumbles
[decay, dilapidate]:
crumbling
[decay, dilapidate]:
affirm
[declare, uphold]: [he affirmed the country's commitment to peace] [they affirmed that policies were to be judged by their contribution to social justice] [the referendum affirmed the republic's right to secede] [the Court of Appeal affirmed a decision of the High Court] [he refused to take the oath but chose simply to affirm on being admitted to the Privy Council]
ornamental
[decorative]: [an ornamental fountain]
attenuated
[decreased, reduced]: [she was a drooping, attenuated figure] [attenuated strains of rabies virus]
edict
[decree]: [Clovis issued an edict protecting Church property]
legalise
[decriminalise, decriminalize, legalize, legitimate, legitimatise, legitimatize, legitimise, legitimize]:
tarnishing
[defile, maculate, stain, sully]:
bending
[deflection, deflexion]:
disobey
[defy]: [around 1,000 soldiers had disobeyed orders and surrendered]
deist
[deistic]:
wanton
[deliberate, promiscuous]: [sheer wanton vandalism] [her cheeks burned as she recalled how forward she had been, how wanton] [where wanton ivy twines] [a wanton fawn] [she'd behaved like a wanton]
dainty
[delicate, tasty, fastidious, delicacy]: [a dainty lace handkerchief] [the china cup seemed too dainty in his large hands] [he is one of the daintiest players in the game] [a dainty morsel] [a dainty appetite]
enthrall
[delight, enchant, enrapture, enthral, ravish, transport]:
charming
[delightful]: [a charming country cottage] [he was a charming, affectionate colleague] ['I hate men.' 'Charming!' he said]
savior
[deliverer, rescuer, saviour]:
challenging
[demanding, dare]: [challenging and rewarding employment] [the current challenging economic environment] [there was a challenging glint in his eyes]
razed
[demolished, dismantled]:
dismantled
[demolished, razed]:
presentment
[demonstration, presentation]:
inhabitants
[denizen, dweller, habitant, indweller]:
habitant
[denizen, dweller, indweller, inhabitant]: [the habitant farmhouses of old Quebec]
ding
[dent, gouge, nick]: [cash registers were dinging softly] [I dinged him one] [he dings into doorways like a bearing in a pinball machine]
deviating
[depart, diverge, vary]:
exhaustible
[depletable]:
depreciated
[deprecate, vilipend]:
devaluing
[depreciate, devaluate, undervalue]:
delegation
[deputation, assignment]: [a delegation of teachers] [the delegation of power to the district councils]
sarcasm
[derision]: [she didn't like the note of sarcasm in his voice]
derived
[derivable, derivative, plagiarised, plagiaristic, plagiarized]:
merits
[deserve]:
creation
[design, conception, work, design, the world, appointment]: [creation of a coalition government] [job creation] [she treats fictional creations as if they were real people] [the big bang was the moment of the Creation, and therefore the work of God] [our alienation from the rest of Creation]
motif
[design]: [the colourful hand-painted motifs which adorn narrowboats] [floral or other motifs are then appliquéd to net veils] [superstition is a recurring motif in the book] [in this opera, Verdi used identifying motifs]
temptation
[desire, lure, allure]: [he resisted the temptation to call Celia at the office] [we almost gave in to temptation] [the temptations of life in London]
homesick
[desirous, wishful]: [he was homesick for America after five weeks in Europe]
looter
[despoiler, freebooter, pillager, plunderer, raider, spoiler]:
doom
[destruction, destine, doomed, ill-fated]: [the aircraft was sent crashing to its doom in the water] [a day like that of the last doom] [fuel was spilling out of the damaged wing and the aircraft was doomed] [her plan was doomed to failure] [the national feeling of doom and gloom]
minutiae
[details, niceties]: [the minutiae of everyday life]
delay
[detain, linger, postpone, hold-up, postponement, lingering]: [the train was delayed] [time being of the essence, they delayed no longer] [he may decide to delay the next cut in interest rates] [a two-hour delay] [long delays in obtaining passports]
perceived
[detected]:
pertinacious
[determined]: [he worked with a pertinacious resistance to interruptions]
despised
[detested, hated, scorned]:
deadliest
[deucedly, devilishly, insanely, madly]:
formative
[developmental, determining]: [his formative years] [a formative assessment]
twists
[device, gimmick]:
deviltry
[devilment, devilry, mischief, mischief-making, mischievousness, rascality, roguery, roguishness, shenanigan]:
polemic
[diatribe, argumentation]: [his polemic against the cultural relativism of the Sixties] [a writer of feminist polemic] [the history of science has become embroiled in religious polemics]
dismal
[dingy, gloomy, bad]: [the dismal weather made the late afternoon seem like evening] [his dismal mood was not dispelled by finding the house empty] [he shuddered as he watched his team's dismal performance] [a fit of the dismals]
contention
[disagreement, argument, in competition]: [the captured territory was the main area of contention between the two countries] [Freud's contention that all dreams were wish fulfilment] [three penalties kept the team firmly in contention] [Heather's error in the race put her out of contention]
disturb
[disarrange, muddle, interrupt, perturb, worrying]: [take the rollers out carefully so as not to disturb the curls too much] [I'll see my patient now and we are not to be disturbed] [I am disturbed by the document I have just read]
skeptical
[disbelieving, sceptical, unbelieving]:
perceive
[discern, see, look on]: [his mouth fell open as he perceived the truth] [he was quick to perceive that there was little future in such arguments] [he perceived the faintest of flushes creeping up her neck] [if Guy does not perceive himself as disabled, nobody else should] [some geographers perceive hydrology to be a separate field of scientific enquiry]
perception
[discernment, awareness, insight]: [the normal limits to human perception] [the perception of pain] [Hollywood's perception of the tastes of the American public] [we need to challenge many popular perceptions of old age] ['He wouldn't have accepted,' said my mother with unusual perception]
judgement
[discernment, in my opinion, verdict, punishment, reluctantly]: [an error of judgement] [that is not, in my judgement, the end of the matter] [they make subjective judgements about children's skills] [county court judgements against individuals in debt] [the events of last week are a judgement on us for our sinful ways]
divulge
[disclose]: [I am too much of a gentleman to divulge her age]
unveiled
[disclosed, undraped]:
revelation
[disclosure, divulging, uncovering]: [revelations about his personal life] [the revelation of a plot to assassinate the king] [seeing them play at international level was a revelation] [an attempt to reconcile Darwinian theories with biblical revelation] [a divine revelation]
discolor
[discolour]:
discombobulated
[disconcerted]:
discontinuance
[discontinuation]:
treatments
[discourse, discussion]:
breakthroughs
[discovery, find]:
damaged
[discredited]:
favoritism
[discrimination, favouritism]:
foul
[disgusting, dirty, unkind, vulgar, contaminated, inclement, unfair, dirty, tangle up]: [a foul odour] [his foul breath] [the news had put Michelle in a foul mood] [murder most foul] [foul oaths]
disheveled
[dishevelled, frowzled, rumpled, tousled]:
deceitful
[dishonest, fraudulent]: [a deceitful politician] [such an act would have been deceitful and irresponsible]
knavery
[dishonesty]:
deterrent
[disincentive]: [cameras are a major deterrent to crime] [Britain's nuclear deterrent] [the deterrent effect of heavy prison sentences]
antiseptic
[disinfectant, sterile, characterless, disinfectant]: [garlic has powerful antiseptic properties] [his breath smelt of antiseptic mouthwash] [their squeaky-clean home epitomizes this antiseptic respectability] [the inappropriate use of antiseptics] [come into the house and have some antiseptic put on that wound]
preempt
[displace]:
manifestation
[display, sign, apparition]: [the first obvious manifestations of global warming] [the manifestation of anxiety over disease] [cryptococcal meningitis was the first manifestation of AIDS in seven of twenty-seven patients] [the butterfly was one of the many manifestations of the Goddess] [some supernatural manifestations are regarded as portents of good or evil]
discard
[dispose of]: [Hilary bundled up the clothes she had discarded] [West led a heart and East was able to discard his club loser]
inclined
[disposed, fain, prepared]:
confute
[disprove]: [restorers who sought to confute this view were accused of ignorance]
phony
[dissembler, dissimulator, hypocrite, phoney, pretender]:
dissolving
[dissolution]:
distention
[distension]:
distill
[distil]:
preeminence
[distinction, eminence, note]:
excellence
[distinction]: [awards for excellence] [a centre of academic excellence]
unique
[distinctive, single, peculiar, remarkable, unequalled]: [the situation was unique in British politics] [original and unique designs] [a style of architecture that is unique to Portugal] [a unique opportunity to see the spectacular Bolshoi Ballet] [some of Lamb's writings were so memorably beautiful as to be uniques in their class]
deformation
[distortion]: [solid rock undergoing slow deformation] [the deformation will be temporary]
area
[district, section, expanse, domain]: [rural areas of Britain] [people living in the area are at risk] [the dining area] [areas of the body] [the area of a triangle]
scribbled
[doodle, scrabble]:
quiescence
[dormancy, quiescency, sleeping]:
skeptics
[doubter, sceptic]:
undoubtedly
[doubtless]: [they are undoubtedly guilty]
soil
[earth, territory, dirty, damage]: [blueberries need very acid soil] [rotary cultivators are ideal, particularly on difficult soils] [the stationing of US troops on Japanese soil] [he might soil his expensive suit] [a soiled T-shirt]
dirge
[elegy]: [singers chanted dirges] [the wind howled dirges around the chimney] [after his ten-minute dirge, the audience booed]
sympathizing
[empathise, empathize, sympathise, understand]:
endue
[empower, endow, gift, indue, invest]: [our sight would be endued with a far greater sharpness]
vacuum
[empty space, gap, vacuum cleaner, vacuum-clean]: [the political vacuum left by the death of the Emperor] [the room needs to be vacuumed] [professional training cannot take place in a vacuum]
cognation
[enation, matrilineage]:
inclose
[enclose, insert, introduce, put in, stick in]:
intrusion
[encroachment on]: [he was furious about this intrusion into his private life] [unacceptable intrusions of privacy] [villagers say the noise is an intrusion on their lives]
fetch up
[end up]: [all four of them fetched up in the saloon bar of the Rose and Crown]
vigor
[energy, muscularity, vigour, vim]:
waging
[engage]:
betrothal
[engagement]:
ingraft
[engraft, graft]:
carve
[engrave, divide]: [the wood was carved with runes] [bookcases of carved oak] [the altar was carved from a block of solid jade] [I carved my initials on the tree] [he stood carving the roast chicken]
rapt
[engrossed]: [a rapt teenage audience] [they listened with rapt attention] [she shut her eyes and seemed rapt with desire] [the newly chosen minister declared he was rapt with his new portfolio] [he was rapt on high]
agreeably
[enjoyably, pleasantly]:
huge
[enormous]: [a huge area] [huge amounts of money] [she's made a huge mistake] [this could be the start of something huge for you] [while he may be unknown in the American mainstream, he's huge in Britain]
inquiry
[enquiry]:
enroll
[enrol, enter, inscribe, recruit]:
enrolment
[enrollment, registration]: [the amount due must be paid on enrolment in October] [enrolments for teacher training have dropped off sharply] [a record enrolment of 690 students]
figures
[enter]:
debuted
[entry, first appearance, introduction, launching, unveiling]:
cuticle
[epidermis]: [you've been gnawing at your cuticles] [the cuticle is the hair's protective shield] [the body is covered with a non-living cuticle of chitin]
isothermal
[equal]:
furnished
[equipped]: [a full-sized, fully furnished apartment]
commensurate
[equivalent, appropriate to]: [salary will be commensurate with age and experience] [such heavy responsibility must receive commensurate reward]
irruption
[eruption, outbreak]:
unexpendable
[essential, irreplaceable, unreplaceable]:
substantive
[essential]: [there is no substantive evidence for the efficacy of these drugs] [he earned the rank of Substantive Corporal]
laying down
[establish, make]:
reputed
[esteem, look on, look upon, regard as, take to be, think of]:
guess
[estimate, suppose, hypothesis]: [she guessed the child's age at 14 or 15] [he took her aside and I guessed that he was offering her a job] [we can only guess at Alan's motives] [she's guessed where we're going] [I guess I'd better tell you everything]
morality
[ethics, virtue, moral standards]: [the matter boiled down to simple morality: innocent prisoners ought to be freed] [a bourgeois morality] [the issue of the morality of the possession of nuclear weapons]
heathenish
[ethnic, heathen, pagan]:
vapor
[evaporation, vaporisation, vaporization, vapour]:
volatile
[evaporative, tense, unpredictable, changeable]: [volatile solvents such as petroleum ether, hexane, and benzene] [the political situation was becoming more volatile] [a passionate, volatile young man]
placid
[even-tempered, quiet]: [a placid, contented man] [the placid waters of a small lake]
perpetual
[everlasting, constant, interminable]: [deep caves in perpetual darkness] [a perpetual secretary of the society] [a perpetual bond] [their perpetual money worries] [he grows perpetual flowering carnations]
maligned
[evil, malefic, malevolent]:
aggravating
[exacerbating, exasperating]:
precision
[exactness]: [the deal was planned and executed with military precision] [a precision instrument] [a technique which examines and identifies each character with the highest level of precision] [a precision of six decimal figures]
overstate
[exaggerate]: [I overstated my case to make my point]
extolling
[exalt, glorify, laud, proclaim]:
representatives
[example, illustration, instance]:
outstripped
[exceed, outdo, outgo, outmatch, outperform, surmount, surpass]:
outstanding
[excellent, remarkable, to be done, unpaid]: [the team's outstanding performance] [works of outstanding banality] [much of the work is still outstanding] [Julian's outstanding debts]
inordinate
[excessive]: [the case had taken up an inordinate amount of time]
rallies
[exchange]:
fumes
[exhaust, exhaust fumes]:
explicate
[explain]: [an attempt to explicate the relationship between crime and economic forces] [these essays seek to explicate and contextualize Kristeva's writings]
exposition
[explanation, exhibition]: [a systematic exposition of the idea of biodiversity] [the exposition will feature exhibits by 165 companies] [the country squires dreaded the exposition of their rustic conversation]
definite
[explicit, unmistakable, certain, fixed]: [we had no definite plans] [no definite proof has emerged] [you're very definite about that!] [under the circumstances, air conditioning is a definite asset] [organizations have boundaries in the sense that they may occupy a definite geographical area]
parasitic
[exploitative]: [mistletoe is parasitic on trees] [mortality from parasitic diseases] [attacks on the parasitic existence of Party functionaries]
defendants
[suspect]:
gratifying
[sweet]:
oscillate
[swing, waver]: [the grain pan near the front of the combine oscillates back and forth] [he was oscillating between fear and bravery]
scouting
[exploratory survey, reconnoitering, reconnoitring]: [he learned the elements of scouting and intelligence gathering] [he ventured forth in a scouting party with two of his troopers] [rugby union should build a system of scouting such as rugby league has had for 100 years] [we need active participation from every facet of Scouting] [a veteran of the Scouting Movement]
cosmography
[]: [he published a series of elementary textbooks on cosmography, trigonometry, and astronomy (1651)] [the Ravenna Cosmography]
reportedly
[]: [he was in El Salvador, reportedly on his way to Texas]
distrain
[]: [legislation has restricted the right to distrain goods found upon the premises] [the Crown applied political pressure by distraining debtors]
abridgment
[abridgement, capsule, condensation]:
repeals
[abrogation, annulment]:
throng
[crowd, pack (into), crowd round, rush]: [he pushed his way through the throng] [a throng of birds] [a crowd thronged the station] [the pavements are thronged with people] [tourists thronged to the picturesque village]
crustaceous
[crustacean]:
kiloliter
[cubic meter, cubic metre, kilolitre]:
sly
[cunning, roguish, surreptitious, in secret]: [a sly, manipulative woman] [he gave a sly grin] [a sly sip of water] [she was drinking on the sly]
dome
[cupola]: [the dome of St Paul's Cathedral] [the dome of the sky] [her Mohican projected from her shaved dome]
downsizing
[curtailment, retrenchment]:
slew
[curve, cut, sheer, slue, swerve, trend, veer]: [the Renault slewed from side to side in the snow] [he slewed the aircraft round before it settled on the runway] [I was assaulted by the thump and slew of the van] [he asked me a slew of questions]
subtraction
[deduction]: [subtraction of this figure from the total]
vegetate
[do nothing]: [if she left him alone, he'd sit in front of the television and vegetate] [he advised that seeds be sent in a vegetating condition] [the final task was to vegetate the area used to store the muck dredged from the pond]
berth
[docking site, bunk, dock, accommodate, avoid]: [the vessel had left its berth] [I'll sleep in the upper berth] [a four-berth caravan] [he looked at home in an unfamiliar right-back berth] [they planned to berth HMS Impregnable at Portsmouth]
ism
[doctrine, philosophical system, philosophy, school of thought]: [he loathed isms and any form of dogma]
reigned
[dominate, predominate, prevail, rule]:
somber
[drab, sober, sombre]:
draws
[draw play]:
sediment
[dregs]: [the ice freezes the wine and sediment at the base of the cork] [there is a huge concentration of sediment in deltas] [it takes hundreds of thousands of years to turn the sediments into carbonate rock] [the erythrocytes were allowed to sediment within the syringe] [heparinated blood was allowed to sediment at room temperature]
desiccant
[drier, drying agent, siccative]: [natural desiccants cause fleas to dehydrate and die] [a small packet of desiccant to absorb any moisture]
purports
[drift]:
imbibe
[drink, drink alcohol, assimilate]: [they were imbibing far too many pitchers of beer] [if one does not imbibe the culture one cannot succeed]
fall
[drop, slope down, topple over, fall over, collapse, decrease, decrease, surrender, die, become, doze off, occur, come, tumble, descent, waterfall, decline, downfall, surrender, sin, become clear, fail to meet, fall to pieces, break down, retreat, resort to, lag, get into debt, fail, fall in love with, be deceived by, get in formation, get involved with, comply with, attack, be borne by, quarrel, move out of formation, happen, be the responsibility of, fail]: [bombs could be seen falling from the planes] [my purse fell out of my bag] [she was injured by a falling tree] [my sunglasses fell off and broke on the pavement] [hair that was allowed to fall to the shoulders]
inebriated
[drunk, intoxicated]:
prohibitionist
[dry]:
flabbergasted
[dumbfounded, dumbstricken, dumbstruck, dumfounded, stupefied, thunderstruck]:
reproducibility
[duplicability]:
fraudulence
[duplicity]:
indigestion
[dyspepsia]: [you know crisps give me indigestion]
suspense
[eagerly, tension]: [come on, Fran, don't keep me in suspense!] [a tale of mystery and suspense]
enthusiasm
[eagerness, interest]: [her energy and enthusiasm for life] [few expressed enthusiasm about the current leaders] [the three enthusiasms of his life were politics, religion, and books]
betimes
[early]: [next morning I was up betimes]
alleviating
[ease, facilitate]:
eroding
[eating away, erosion, wearing, wearing away]:
molt
[ecdysis, molting, moult, moulting]:
rapture
[ecstasy, enthuse]: [Leonora listened with rapture] [the tabloids went into raptures about her] [thousands of Christians gathered outside Rochester and other cities, awaiting the Rapture] [people will be raptured out of automobiles as they are driving along]
enlightening
[edifying]:
egoist
[egocentric]:
elementally
[elementary, primary]:
elusion
[eluding, slip]:
manumit
[emancipate]: [old Angus had never manumitted a single slave]
moratorium
[embargo]: [a moratorium on the use of drift nets] [the debt was to be subject to a five-year moratorium]
soaring
[eminent, lofty, towering]:
distinguished
[eminent]: [a distinguished American educationist] [that hairstyle makes you look quite distinguished]
impetuous
[impulsive, torrential]: [she might live to rue this impetuous decision] [an impetuous but controlled flow of water]
fussy
[finicky, over-elaborate]: [he is very fussy about what he eats] [Eleanor patted her hair with quick, fussy movements] [I hate fussy clothes] [he's quite welcome to do that because the rest of us are not fussy]
above all
[first and last]:
conforming to
[fit, meet]:
mended
[fix, fixing, fixture, mending, repair, reparation]:
inflammable
[flammable]: [inflammable materials]
flapping
[flap, flutter, fluttering]:
flavor
[flavour]:
flavors
[flavour]:
pliable
[flexible, malleable]: [quality leather is pliable and will not crack] [pliable teenage minds]
flection
[flexion, inflection]:
tossed
[flip]:
hanger-on
[follower]: [the shysters, the freebooters, the hangers-on who traditionally take advantage of champions]
extrude
[force out]: [lava was being extruded from the volcano] [extruded and die-cast aluminium]
prognosticate
[forecast]: [the economists were prognosticating financial Armageddon]
previous
[foregoing, overhasty, before]: [she looked tired after her exertions of the previous evening] [the boat's previous owner] [I admit I may have been a bit previous] [he's got previous—theft and wounding] [the month previous to publication]
woods
[forest, wood]:
predecessor
[former/previous holder of the post]: [the new President's foreign policy is very similar to that of his predecessor] [the chapel was built in 1864 on the site of its predecessor]
unnerving
[formidable, redoubtable]:
munition
[fortification]: [reserves of nuclear, chemical, and conventional munitions] [munition factories] [it never had the defence industry necessary to equip or munition its forces]
moats
[fosse]:
paleontology
[fossilology, palaeontology]:
shards
[fragment, sherd]:
fraud
[fraudulence, deception, impostor, sham]: [he was convicted of fraud] [prosecutions for social security frauds] [mediums exposed as tricksters and frauds]
sustained
[free burning]: [several years of sustained economic growth]
independent
[freethinking, self-governing, private, self-sufficient, impartial, unconnected, separate]: [an independent nuclear deterrent] [the study is totally independent of central government] [India became independent in 1947] [the independent candidate] [an independent girls' school]
cargo
[freight]: [transportation of bulk cargo] [a cargo of oil]
hysteria
[frenzy, hysterics]: [the anti-Semitic hysteria of the 1890s]
continually
[frequently, constantly]: [this information is continually updated] [I was continually moving around]
refurbished
[freshen up, renovate]:
outskirt
[fringe]:
foiling
[frustration, thwarting]:
fulfillment
[fulfilment]:
fruition
[fulfilment]: [the plans have come to fruition rather sooner than expected] [the apples in the orchards gave a suggestion of sour fruition]
financing
[funding]:
overpower
[gain control over, overcome, overwhelming, stifling]: [he overpowered the two men and frogmarched them to the police station] [they were overpowered by the fumes]
garnishing
[garnishee]:
heaved
[gasp, pant, puff]:
felicity
[happiness, eloquence]: [domestic felicity] [he exposed the kernel of the matter with his customary elegance and felicity] [a book full of minor felicities]
harbor
[harbour, shield]:
solid
[hard, well built, pure, continuous, unanimous, well founded, dependable, sensible, financially sound]: [the stream was frozen solid] [solid fuels] [a solid door with good, secure locks] [a solid figure with six plane faces] [solid geometry]
hardline
[hard-line]:
coincidence
[accident, co-occurrence, correspondence]: [it was a coincidence that she was wearing a jersey like Laura's] [they met by coincidence] [the coincidence of interest between the mining companies and certain politicians]
plaudit
[acclaim, acclamation, eclat, plaudits]:
admitting
[accommodate, hold]:
accouter
[accoutre]:
arbitrate
[adjudicate, mediate]: [the board has the power to arbitrate in disputes] [the insurance ombudsman arbitrates insurance matters]
executives
[administrator]:
occasioned
[affair, function, social function, social occasion]:
betroth
[affiance, engage, plight]: [in no time I shall be betrothed to Isabel]
plotted
[aforethought, planned]:
nutrients
[alimental, alimentary, nourishing, nutritious, nutritive]:
throughout
[all over, all through]: [it had repercussions throughout Europe] [the house is in good order throughout] [the Church of which she was a faithful member throughout her life] [both MPs retained a smiling dignity throughout]
mention
[allude to, state, recommend, reference to, tribute, recommendation, don't apologize, in addition to]: [I haven't mentioned it to William yet] [I mentioned that my father was meeting me later] [he is still regularly mentioned as a possible secretary of state] [their eyes light up at a mention of Sartre] [she made no mention of her disastrous trip to Paris]
combine
[amalgamate, cooperate]: [combine the flour with the margarine and salt] [a new product which combines the benefits of a hairspray and a gel] [high tides and winds combined to bring chaos to the east coast] [oxygen and hydrogen do not combine at room temperatures] [oxygen combines with haemoglobin]
astonish
[amaze, amazed, amazing]: [you never fail to astonish me] [it astonished her that he was so anxious]
ambrosial
[ambrosian, nectarous]:
meliorate
[ameliorate, better, improve]:
forego
[antecede, antedate, forgo, precede, predate]: [so Abdulmelik went away to his house, whither he found that the money had foregone him]
herbivorous
[anthophagous, anthophilous, baccivorous, carpophagous, fruit-eating, grass-eating, phytophagic, phytophagous, phytophilous, plant-eating, saprophagous, saprozoic, saprophytic]:
tranquilizer
[antianxiety agent, ataractic, ataractic agent, ataractic drug, tranquilliser, tranquillizer]:
antiquate
[antique]:
onrush
[attack, onset, onslaught]: [the mesmerizing onrush of the sea]
chew out
[bawl out, berate, call down, call on the carpet, chew up, chide, dress down, have words, jaw, lambast, lambaste, lecture, rag, rebuke, remonstrate, reprimand, reproof, scold, take to task, trounce, vituperate]:
vomit
[be sick, regurgitate, eject, sick]: [the sickly stench made him want to vomit] [she used to vomit up her food] [the machine vomited fold after fold of paper] [the cell stank of vomit and urine]
carrier
[bearer]: [water carriers] [a plastic carrier] [the instruments can be sent by carrier] [the largest timber carrier ever to dock at Sharpness] [aircraft from the carrier Illustrious attacked the Italian fleet]
prevaricate
[beat around the bush, equivocate, palter, tergiversate]: [he seemed to prevaricate when journalists asked pointed questions] [he prevaricated at the mention of money] [the Western powers will procrastinate until it is too late]
beats
[beat generation, beatniks]:
measures
[beat, cadence, meter, metre]:
groused
[beef, bellyache, bitch, crab, gripe, holler, squawk]:
enchanted
[beguiled, captivated, charmed, delighted, enthralled, entranced, bewitched, ensorcelled, fascinated, hypnotised, hypnotized, mesmerised, mesmerized, spell-bound, spellbound, transfixed]:
behavior
[behaviour]:
tardiness
[belatedness]: [forgive my tardiness, I had some very important business to attend to]
conceiving
[believe, consider, think]:
stoop
[bend down, lower, hunch one's shoulders, lower oneself, hunch]: [he stooped down and reached towards the coin] [Linda stooped to pick up the bottles] [the man stoops his head] [he tends to stoop when he walks] [a thin, stooping figure]
asset
[benefit, property]: [quick reflexes were his chief assets] [the school is an asset to the community] [growth in net assets]
hassles
[beset, chevvy, chevy, chivvy, chivy, harass, harry, molest, plague, provoke]:
semiannual
[biannual, biyearly, half-yearly]:
scriptural
[biblical]: [scriptural quotations from Genesis]
peaking
[bill, eyeshade, visor, vizor]:
beak
[bill]: [a parent bird with a caterpillar in its beak] [she can't wait to stick her beak in] [a yellow-beaked alpine chough]
caliber
[calibre, quality]:
vocation
[calling]: [not all of us have a vocation to be nurses or doctors] [her vocation as a poet] [GNVQs in Leisure and Tourism will be the introduction to a wide span of vocations]
calisthenics
[callisthenics]:
tranquilize
[calm, sedate, tranquillise, tranquillize]:
candidacy
[campaigning, candidature, electioneering, political campaign]: [he's going to announce his candidacy for the US Senate]
displaced
[can, dismiss, fire, force out, give notice, give the axe, give the sack, sack, send away, terminate]:
candor
[candour, fair-mindedness, fairness]:
oratorio
[cantata]:
imprisoned
[captive, confined, jailed]: [an imprisoned dissident]
meticulous
[careful]: [the designs are hand-glazed with meticulous care] [he had always been so meticulous about his appearance]
fondling
[caressing, cuddling, hugging, kissing, necking, petting, smooching, snuggling]:
shipment
[cargo, consignment, freight, lading, load, loading, payload]: [logs waiting for shipment] [the shipment arrived at Liverpool]
tender
[caring, affectionate, romantic, sore, delicate, difficult, easily chewed, young, offer, bid, bid]: [he was being so kind and tender] [she covered his face with tender kisses] [be tender of a lady's reputation] [the pale, tender skin of her forearm] [pelargoniums are colourful but tender plants]
dissever
[carve up, divide, divvy, separate, split, split up]: [a European tradition which had not been willing to dissever reason from the law of nature]
centiliter
[centilitre, cl]:
formality
[ceremony, aloofness, official procedure, routine, matter of course]: [the formality of life in an English public school] [with disconcerting formality the brothers shook hands] [legal formalities] [promotion looks a formality]
weeping
[cernuous, drooping, nodding, pendulous]:
certifiably
[certified]:
conduit
[channel]: [nearby springs supplied the conduit which ran into the brewery] [as an actor you have to be a conduit for other people's words] [the gas pipe should not be close to any electrical conduit] [the cable must be protected by conduit]
maneuver
[channelise, channelize, direct, guide, head, manoeuver, manoeuvre, point, steer]:
finality
[conclusiveness]: [the abrupt finality of death] ['No,' she said with finality] [death is the ultimate finality]
execration
[condemnation, curse]:
stipulated
[condition, qualify, specify]:
directors
[conductor, music director]:
coniferous
[cone-bearing]:
detained
[confine]:
corroboration
[confirmation]: [there is no independent corroboration for this]
infringed
[conflict, contravene, run afoul]:
muddle
[confuse, jumbled, bewilder, confused, incoherent, bungle, cope]: [they were muddling up the cards] [Paul was hopelessly muddled by the rates of exchange] [he was muddling about in the kitchen] [the finances were in a muddle] [she was able to cut through confusion and muddle]
garbled
[confused, disconnected, disjointed, disordered, illogical, scattered, unconnected]:
congressman
[congresswoman, representative]: [senators and congressmen joined in a standing ovation] [Congressman Bob Smithers]
congruity
[congruence, congruousness]:
related
[connected, of the same family]: [sleeping sickness and related diseases] [income-related benefits]
wink at
[connive at]:
hatched
[crosshatched]:
upfront
[in advance]: [he can play up front or in defence] [the salesmen are paid commission up front] [he'd been upfront about his intentions] [an upfront fee of 4%] [a literary weekly with an upfront section modelled on the New Yorker]
interlude
[interval]: [enjoying a lunchtime interlude] [an orchestral interlude] [short instrumental interludes between songs] [the romantic interlude palled rapidly once he was back in town]
formidable
[intimidating, onerous, capable]: [a formidable opponent]
figment
[invention]: [it really was Ross and not a figment of her overheated imagination]
urges
[itch]:
biography
[life story]: [the basic difference of approach to autobiography and biography] [although their individual biographies are different, both are motivated by a similar ambition]
snack
[light meal, eat between meals]: [not many people make it through to the evening meal without a snack] [bar snacks are served at lunchtime] [it'll be a snack] [she likes to snack on yogurt]
kindle
[light, ignite]: [a love of art was kindled in me] [she hesitated, suspicion kindling within her] [a day or two before she kindles, the mother will pull out some of her fur to make a soft lining] [she was asked to take in a kindle of kittens]
luminescent
[light]:
tripping
[lilting, swinging, swingy]:
circumscribed
[limited]:
wilted
[limp]:
loiterer
[lingerer]:
bray
[neigh, roar]: [the mule uttered its insane bray] [he recognized the loud bray of the doctor] [the donkey brayed and kicked] [he brayed with laughter] ['Leave!' brayed a voice behind her]
savings
[nest egg]:
notch
[nick, degree, nick, score]: [there was a notch in the end of the arrow for the bowstring] [he tightened his belt an extra notch] [I didn't want to be just another notch on Nathan's bedpost] [her opinion of Nicole dropped a few notches] [notched bamboo sticks]
no
[no indeed]: [there is no excuse] [no two plants are alike] [it was no easy task persuading her] [Toby is no fool] [you'll be back in no time]
out of print
[no longer available]: [the title I want is out of print]
racket
[noise, criminal activity]: [a squash racket] [the kids were making a racket] [a protection racket] [I'm in the insurance racket] [trains racketed by]
depose
[overthrow, swear]: [he had been deposed by a military coup] [every affidavit shall state which of the facts deposed to are within the deponent's knowledge]
drowned
[overwhelm, submerge]:
pacesetter
[pacemaker, pacer]: [these centres are the pacesetters for the nation]
pediatrics
[paediatrics, pediatric medicine, pedology]:
pedophile
[paedophile]:
ordeal
[painful/unpleasant experience]: [the ordeal of having to give evidence] [ordeals conducted in the twelfth century] [ordeal by fire]
panelists
[panellist]:
hitherto
[previously]: [hitherto part of French West Africa, Benin achieved independence in 1960]
spectrum
[range]: [the left or the right of the political spectrum] [self-help books are covering a broader and broader spectrum]
infrequent
[rare]: [her visits were so infrequent]
enthuse
[rave, motivate]: [they both enthused over my new look] [public art is a tonic that can enthuse alienated youth]
strives
[reach, strain]:
legible
[readable]: [the original typescript is scarcely legible]
logical
[reasoning, reasoned, natural]: [a logical impossibility] [her logical mind] [the information is displayed in a simple and logical fashion] [the polar expedition is a logical extension of his Arctic travels]
lately
[recently]: [she hasn't been looking too well lately]
advocates
[recommend, urge]:
compensation
[recompense]: [he is seeking compensation for injuries suffered at work] [a compensation claim] [the compensation of victims] [the grey streets of London were small compensation for the loss of her beloved Africa] [getting older has some compensations]
reconnoiter
[reconnoitre, scout]:
chronicle
[record, record]: [a vast chronicle of Spanish history] [the rebels' demands for personal freedom are conspicuous in the chronicles] [a chronicle of his life during the war years] [his work chronicles 20th-century migration]
isolation
[separation, solitariness, remoteness]: [isolation from family and friends may also contribute to anxiety] [environmental problems must not be seen in isolation from social ones]
launch
[set afloat, send into orbit, throw, set in motion, start]: [the town's lifeboat was launched to rescue the fishermen] [the ship was launched in 1843 by Prince Albert] [they launched two Scud missiles] [a chair was launched at him] [I launched myself out of bed]
amatory
[sexual]: [his amatory exploits]
stimulus
[spur]: [areas of the brain which respond to auditory stimuli] [if the tax were abolished, it would act as a stimulus to exports] [she loved the stimulus of the job]
compressible
[squeezable]:
philately
[stamp collecting, stamp collection]:
standstills
[stand, tie-up]:
spaceship
[starship]:
majesty
[stateliness, sovereignty, Royal Highness]: [the majesty of Ben Nevis] [the majesty of the royal household] [Her Majesty the Queen] [we offer our humble thanks to Your Majesty]
contacting
[tangency]:
tavern
[tap house]:
tax break
[tax benefit]: [tax breaks for industry to encourage investment]
assesses
[tax]:
seesaw
[teeter, totter]:
televised
[telecast]:
turbulent
[tempestuous, rough]: [the country's turbulent history] [her turbulent emotions] [the turbulent sea]
misgivings
[distrust, mistrust, suspicion]:
divergences
[divergency]:
varied
[diverse]: [the phenomena were very varied] [a long and varied career]
amused
[diverted, entertained]:
divulgence
[divulgement]:
parades
[exhibit, march]:
conveniently
[handily]: [this house is very conveniently located]
jack-of-all-trades
[handyman, odd-job man]:
vendible
[marketable, merchantable, sellable, vendable]:
equivocate
[prevaricate]: [the government have equivocated too often in the past]
mackintosh
[raincoat]: [a mackintosh hat]
deflected
[distract]:
scattered
[distributed]:
eventuate
[happen, ensue, result in]: [you never know what might eventuate] [circumstances that eventuate in crime]
throughput
[]: [fast data throughput] [a weekly throughput of 200,000 shoppers] [falling throughput and rising production costs]
bullion
[]: [gold bullion] [bullion cords]
consulate
[]: [he called at the consulate in Palestine to pick up a visa]
estuary
[(river) mouth]:
aluminum
[Al, aluminium, atomic number 13]:
seethe
[boil, teem, be angry]: [the grey ocean seethed] [others were cut into joints and seethed in cauldrons made of the animal's own skins] [inwardly he was seething at the slight to his authority] [the entire cellar was seething with spiders] [we cascaded down the stairs and seethed across the station]
fearless
[bold]: [a fearless crusader for animal rights]
foodies
[bon vivant, epicure, epicurean, gastronome, gourmet]:
scavenging
[clean]:
hawk
[clear the throat]: [severe limits were put on the peace plan by party hawks] [he spent the afternoon hawking] [swifts hawked low over the water] [she watched them like a hawk because some of them were bound to cheat] [street traders were hawking costume jewellery]
culminated
[climax]:
astringent
[constricting, severe]: [an astringent skin lotion] [her astringent words had their effect] [an astringent smell of rotting apples]
competing
[contend, vie]:
controversial
[contentious]: [years of wrangling over a controversial bypass]
adjacency
[contiguity, contiguousness]:
continence
[continency]:
remain
[continue to exist, residual, surviving, stay, continue to be, be left, unsettled]: [a cloister is all that remains of the monastery] [her husband remained at the flat in Regent's Park] [he had remained alert the whole time] [a more intractable problem remains] [she has broken her leg, but it remains to be seen how badly]
disputant
[controversialist, eristic]:
depth
[deepness, profoundness, complexity, extent, intensity, deepest part, thoroughly]: [water of no more than 12 feet in depth] [the depth of the wardrobe] [loosen the soil to a depth of 8 inches] [texture in a picture gives it depth] [he was surprised by the depth of Eloise's vindictiveness]
rampart
[defensive wall]: [a castle with ramparts and a moat] [the open Pacific broke on the far-off ramparts of the reef] [the town's streets were ramparted with tall mounds of rubble]
perish
[die, come to an end, go bad]: [a great part of his army perished of hunger and disease] [must these noble hopes perish so soon?] [an abandoned tyre whose rubber had perished] [I was perished with cold before the end of the day] [he wasn't out to get drunk—perish the thought!]
proportions
[dimension]:
letdown
[disappointment]:
meet
[encounter, get to know, gather, face, greet, come together, fulfil, pay, event, reach a compromise]: [a week later I met him in the street] [we met for lunch] [they arranged to meet up that afternoon] [she took Paul to meet her parents] [we met at an office party]
invaded
[encroach upon, intrude on, obtrude upon]:
endeavor
[endeavour, enterprise]:
anticipate
[expect, pre-empt, look forward to, foreshadow]: [she anticipated scorn on her return to the theatre] [it was anticipated that the rains would slow the military campaign] [they failed to anticipate a full-scale invasion] [Stephen was eagerly anticipating the break from the routine of business] [he anticipated Bates's theories on mimicry and protective coloration]
skilled
[experienced]: [a lab technician skilled in electronics] [skilled draughtsmen] [skilled legal advice] [a highly skilled job]
tackle
[gear, system of pulleys, interception, get to grips with, confront, intercept]: [fishing tackle] [he was only prevented from scoring by a fine tackle] [police have launched an initiative to tackle rising crime] [a young man tackled him over why the council had spent money on a swimming pool] [the first scoring chance came when Orrell tackled Webb]
harshness
[hardness, inclemency, rigor, rigorousness, rigour, rigourousness, severeness, severity, stiffness]: [he slowly opened his eyes to the harshness of the light] [the harshness of her tone of voice] [glycerin can be added to reduce the harshness of the soap on the skin] [he has a reputation for the harshness of his judgments] [the harshness of the regime]
dine
[have dinner]: [we dined at a restaurant] [a dining area]
vulnerable
[in danger, exposed to]: [we were in a vulnerable position] [small fish are vulnerable to predators] [the scheme will help charities working with vulnerable adults and young people] [the authors advise a variable no-trump opening bid which means weak non-vulnerable and strong vulnerable]
existent
[in existence]: [the technique has been existent for some years]
nomad
[itinerant]: [the withering of their grasslands forced the nomads of the Sahara to descend into the Nile valley] [the nomads who roam the borderlands of Afghanistan] [the Magyars were a nomad people of the steppes] [Dolly was a nomad who had finally taken root in Hawaii]
throngs
[jam, mob, pack, pile]:
nudging
[jog]:
molten
[liquefied]:
dissolved
[liquid, liquified, melted]:
clutter
[litter, mess, disorder]: [the room was cluttered with his bric-a-brac] [the attic is full of clutter] [the room was in a clutter of smelly untidiness]
cluttered
[littered]:
situated
[located, placed, set]:
locative
[locative role]:
lodgment
[lodgement]:
matrilineal
[matrilinear]: [a society founded on the matrilineal kinship principle]
meagerly
[meagrely, slenderly, sparingly]:
generally
[normally, in general, overall, widely]: [the term of a lease is generally 99 years] [a decade when France was moving generally to the left] [generally speaking, things have been getting better] [the best scheme is generally reckoned to be the Canadian one]
nil
[nothing, nought]: [they beat us three-nil] [his chance of survival was virtually nil]
aliment
[nourish, nutrify]:
patch
[piece of cloth/material/fabric/leather, cover, blotch, plot, period, mend, repair, reconcile]: [the jacket was of well-worn tweed with leather patches on the elbows] [on his sleeve there was a red 'Freedom' patch] [once the patch is removed, the drug clears from the body tissue after twenty minutes] [his hair was combed forward to hide a growing bald patch] [the bird has a bright red patch under its wing]
pitfalls
[pit]:
approach
[proceed towards, border on, speak to, set about, attitude, method, proposal, advances, advance, arrival, approximation, driveway]: [the train approached the main line] [winter was approaching] [an approaching car] [the population will approach 12 million by the end of the decade] [all those changes shall serve to approach him the faster to the blest mansion]
monition
[process of monition]:
exclaimed
[proclaim, promulgate]:
blush
[redden, flush]: [she blushed at the unexpected compliment] [Kate felt herself blushing scarlet] [he blushed to think of how he'd paraded himself] [the trees are loaded with blushing blossoms] [he had brought a faint blush to her cheeks]
redundance
[redundancy]:
redeemable
[reformable]: [socially redeemable ideas] [the young women were misguided but ultimately redeemable] [the prize is not redeemable for cash] [redeemable coupons] [redeemable preference shares]
resisting
[refuse, reject]:
spin
[revolve, whirl, reel, rotation, trip, slant, tell, prolong]: [the girl spun round in alarm] [the rear wheels spun violently] [he fiddled with the radio, spinning the dial] [the figures were enough to make her head spin] [the ball spun in viciously]
bitter
[sharp, resentful, acrimonious, painful, intensely cold]: [raw berries have an intensely bitter flavour] [I don't feel jealous or bitter] [she wept bitter tears of self-reproach] [a bitter five-year legal battle] [today's decision has come as a bitter blow]
pane
[sheet of glass]:
sheet
[sheets, bed linen, piece of paper, pane, layer, expanse]: [a sheet of unmarked paper] [he produced yet another sheet of figures] [a sheet of 1p stamps] [the small pipe has been formed from a flat sheet of bronze] [Loch Affric is a lovely sheet of water among trees]
glossy
[shiny, expensive]: [thick, glossy, manageable hair] [a 16-page glossy brochure] [a glossy TV miniseries] [he's been touted in some upmarket glossies as the thinking woman's crumpet]
shores
[shoring]:
deficits
[shortage, shortfall]:
announcement
[statement, declaration]: [the minister was about to make an announcement] [the announcement of the decision of the European Parliament] [an announcement is appearing in the Morning Post tomorrow] [a loudspeaker announcement echoed across the field]
prestige
[status]: [the firm has recently gained considerable prestige] [prestige diplomatic posts] [a prestige car]
float
[stay afloat, hover, drift, suggest, launch]: [she relaxed, floating gently in the water] [trees were felled and floated downstream] [fragments of chipped cartilage floated in the joint] [clouds floated across a brilliant blue sky] [the notion was floating around Capitol Hill]
steamer
[steam]:
infused
[steep]:
principle
[truth, in general, on balance, in theory]: [the basic principles of justice] [struggling to be true to their own principles] [she resigned over a matter of principle] [a man of principle] [these machines all operate on the same general principle]
overreach
[try to do too much]: [never lean sideways from a ladder or overreach] [the Church overreached itself in securing a territory that would prove impossible to hold] [the horse overreached jumping the first hurdle] [Faustus's lunacy in thinking he can overreach the devil]
strive
[try, struggle]: [national movements were striving for independence] [we must strive to secure steady growth] [scholars must strive against bias]
outbursts
[tumultuous disturbance]:
capsized
[turn turtle, turtle]:
vertical
[upright]: [the vertical axis] [keep your back vertical] [we need more vertical cooperation between manufacturers and service providers] [vertical transmission of HIV infection] [the columns incline several degrees away from the vertical]
utilised
[utilized]:
sheer
[utter, precipitous, diaphanous, swerve, turn away]: [she giggled with sheer delight] [it's been sheer hard work] [the sheer ice walls] [sheer white silk chiffon] [the ridge fell sheer, in steep crags]
vale
[valley]: [the Vale of Glamorgan] [they hadn't asked to come into this vale of tears]
diversity
[variety]: [there was considerable diversity in the style of the reports] [newspapers were obliged to allow a diversity of views to be printed]
professional
[white-collar, expert, paid, white-collar worker, professional player, expert]: [young professional people] [his professional expertise] [their music is both memorable and professional] [a professional boxer] [a professional gloom-monger]
rife
[widespread, overflowing, abounding in]: [male chauvinism was rife in medicine] [the streets were rife with rumour and fear] [speculation ran rife that he was an arms dealer]
willfully
[wilfully]:
entwine
[wind round]: [they lay entwined in each other's arms] [the nations' histories were closely entwined]
sapience
[wisdom]:
sagacious
[wise]: [they were sagacious enough to avoid any outright confrontation]
carpenter
[woodworker]: [the rails were carpentered very skilfully] [she carpenters and goes on archaeological digs]
parole
[word, word of honor]: [he committed a burglary while on parole] [I took their paroles of honour] [a good many French officers had been living on parole in Melrose] [he was paroled after serving nine months of a two-year sentence]
global
[worldwide, comprehensive]: [the downturn in the global economy] [give students a global picture of what is involved in the task] [global searches]
engrossed
[written]:
contraposition
[]:
protein
[]: [a protein found in wheat] [animal proteins] [a diet high in protein]
steeply
[]: [the walls of the gorge rise steeply on both sides] [the steeply sloping ocean floor] [prices rose steeply] [steeply discounted rates]
typography
[composition]:
raze
[destroy]: [villages were razed to the ground]
dissipated
[dissolute, debauched]: [dissipated behaviour]
triple
[three-way, three times, trio, treble]: [a triple murder] [triple somersaults] [a triple dark rum] [the copper energy cells had triple the efficiency of silicon cells] [two whiskies—triples, please]
prosperous
[thriving]: [prosperous middle-class professionals] [we wish you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year]
timbre
[tone]: [trumpet mutes with different timbres] [a voice high in pitch but rich in timbre] [you must demonstrate your moral timbre as a human being]
trade-off
[tradeoff]: [a trade-off between objectivity and relevance]
supersonic
[ultrasonic]: [the tip speed of the upwind blade becomes supersonic] [supersonic aircraft]
irreplaceable
[unique]: [do not send valuable or irreplaceable photographs] [some favourite old books are irreplaceable]
fray
[unravel, unravelling, strain, strained, battle]: [cheap fabric soon frays] [as the temperature rose, tempers frayed] [bucks mark their territory by fraying small trees] [ten companies intend to bid for the contract, with three more expected to enter the fray] [he charged into the thick of the fray and went down fighting]
mess
[untidiness, excrement, plight, muddle, dirty, potter about, mismanage, bungle]: [she made a mess of the kitchen] [my hair was a mess] [she replaced the jug and mopped up the mess] [I look a mess] [dog mess]
vassal
[villein]: [a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire]
debilitate
[weakening, weaken]: [he was severely debilitated by a stomach upset] [a debilitated patient] [hard drugs destroy families and debilitate communities]
compatible
[well suited, consistent]: [the careers structure here is not compatible with having a family] [it's a pity we're not compatible] [the symptoms were compatible with gastritis or a peptic ulcer] [the printer is fully compatible with all leading software] [packages available for IBM PCs and compatibles]
mosquito
[]:
nerve cord
[]:
pentameter
[]:
pharmacopoeia
[]:
physicist
[]:
procuration
[]:
rancher
[]:
reflexible
[]:
regicide
[]:
seedling
[]:
sublingual
[]:
adverb
[]:
anticyclone
[]:
archdeacon
[]:
arthrosis
[]:
bibliomania
[]:
bursar
[]:
cathode
[]:
contra
[]:
deliquesce
[]:
forepeak
[]:
freemason
[]:
hexagon
[]:
fines
[OK, all right, alright, very well]:
homonym
[]:
irrefragable
[]:
snowflakes
[Plectrophenax nivalis, snow bunting, snowbird]:
let sleeping dogs lie
[]:
lune
[]:
exhibition
[(public) display, display]: [an exhibition of French sculpture] [he never lent his treasures out for exhibition] [fields which have been ploughed with a supreme exhibition of the farm worker's skills] [a false exhibition of concern for smaller nations] [an exhibition match]
ternary
[3, III, deuce-ace, leash, tercet, ternion, terzetto, three, threesome, tierce, trey, triad, trine, trinity, trio, triplet, troika]:
quintet
[5, Little Phoebe, Phoebe, V, cinque, fin, five, fivesome, pentad, quint, quintuplet]: [a jazz quintet played hypnotic Chicago blues] [the music of a Mozart quintet] [a novel about a quintet of interrelated lovers]
scuba
[Aqua-Lung, aqualung]: [I want to do some scuba] [scuba gear]
bromine
[Br, atomic number 35]:
turnips
[Brassica rapa, white turnip]:
carol
[Christmas song, sing]: [we sang carols by candlelight] ['Goodbye,' he carolled] [Christmas carolling]
evolution
[Darwinism, development]: [the forms of written languages undergo constant evolution] [the evolution of oxygen occurs rapidly in this process] [flocks of waders often perform aerial evolutions]
cay
[Florida key, key]:
prudery
[Grundyism, primness, prudishness]:
hydrogen
[H, atomic number 1]:
sea-ear
[Haliotis tuberculata, ormer]:
messieurs
[]:
midwest
[]:
dose
[amount]: [he took a dose of cough mixture] [a dose of radiation exceeding safety limits] [I wanted to give you a dose of the hell you put me through] [he dosed himself with vitamins] [the petrol is dosed with lead]
amphitheater
[amphitheatre]:
anesthesia
[anaesthesia]:
ire
[anger]: [the plans provoked the ire of conservationists]
beast
[animal, monster]: [a wild beast] [mucking out and feeding the beasts is a big job] [the gift of reason differentiates humanity from the beasts] [he is a filthy drunken beast] [sex beasts who are assaulting victims]
annexes
[annexe, extension, wing]:
displeasure
[annoyance, dissatisfaction]: [he started hanging around the local pubs, much to the displeasure of his mother] [not for worlds would I do aught that might displeasure thee]
pension
[annuity, welfare payment]: [men can draw a pension from the age of sixty-five] [the company pension scheme] [he was pensioned off from the army after the war] [garden sheds were raided to bring out machines long since pensioned off]
rescinding
[annul, countermand, lift, overturn, repeal, reverse, revoke, vacate]:
alienated
[anomic, disoriented]:
apprehension
[anxiety, understanding, arrest]: [he felt sick with apprehension] [she had some apprehensions about the filming] [his first apprehension of such large issues] [they acted with intent to prevent lawful apprehension]
vertex
[apex]:
invoked
[appeal]:
haunt
[appear in, frequent, torment, hang-out]: [a grey lady who haunts the chapel] [he haunts street markets] [the sight haunted me for years] [cities haunted by the shadow of cholera] [the bar was a favourite haunt of artists of the time]
appearances
[appearing, coming into court]:
added
[append, supply]:
pertaining
[appertain]:
admire
[applaud, worship]: [I admire your courage] [she couldn't help but notice his admiring glance] [we were just admiring your garden]
purify
[clean, purge]: [the filtration plant is able to purify 70 tons of water a day] [purified linseed oil] [they set out to purify art by reviving the spirit and style of early religious painting] [genomic DNA was purified from whole blood] [a ritual bath to purify the soul]
cabal
[clique]: [a cabal of dissidents]
disguised
[cloaked, masked]:
furrier
[cloakmaker]: [I came across a very classy furrier's in Nottingham]
rule out
[close out, preclude]:
ruled out
[close out, preclude]:
close-hauled
[close]:
nearly
[closely, intimately]: [David was nearly asleep] [a rise of nearly 25 per cent] [in the absence of anyone more nearly related, I was designated next of kin] [you're not nearly as clever as you think you are]
proximity
[closeness]: [do not operate microphones in close proximity to television sets]
fabric
[cloth, structure]: [heavy cream fabric] [stretch fabrics] [decay and neglect are slowly eating away at the building's fabric] [we heard creaking and rushing noises in the car's fabric] [the multicultural fabric of Canadian society]
overcast
[cloudy]: [a chilly, overcast day] [the planes found the target obscured by overcast] [the pebbled beach, overcast with the shadows of the high cliffs] [finish off the raw edge of the hem by overcasting it]
foolery
[clowning]: [we endured his foolery all afternoon]
flocked
[clump, cluster, constellate]:
seized
[clutch, get hold of]:
cling to
[clutch, hold close, hold tight]:
coeducational
[co-ed]:
curdled
[coagulate, coagulated, grumose, grumous]:
gossamer
[cobweb, ultra-fine]: [a fine gossamer fabric that clung to her skin]
coherency
[coherence]:
gripes
[colic, griping, intestinal colic]:
make
[construct, formulate, prepare, cause, perform, perpetrate, appoint, force, compute, reach, acquire, catch, succeed, survive, gain a place in, brand, scrape by/along, make the best of, decide, move aside, ambitious, kill, go towards, contribute to, run away/off, take, steal, get on, make love, see, understand, demonstrate, allege, write out, transfer, be friends again, apply make-up/cosmetics to, make oneself up, atone for, offset, comprise, complete, prepare, invent, flirt with]: [my grandmother made a dress for me] [cricket bats are made of willow] [buffalo's milk can be made into cheese] [make a list of all the points you can think of] [she was making lunch for Lucy and Francis]
appliances
[contraption, contrivance, convenience, gadget, gismo, gizmo, widget]:
conduce
[contribute, lead]: [nothing would conduce more to the unity of the nation]
carry
[convey, transport, transmit, support, be pregnant with, be audible, undertake, conduct, entail, publish, sell, display, approve, win over, win, lose self-control, kill, win, succeed in, continue, behave, misbehave, have an affair, engage in, conduct, fulfil]: [medics were carrying a wounded man on a stretcher] [the train service carries 20,000 passengers daily] [nerves carry visual information from the eyes] [he was killed for the money he was carrying] [she had carried the secret all her life]
swirls
[convolution, vortex, whirl]:
liaison
[cooperation, intermediary, love affair]: [the head porter works in close liaison with the reception office] [he's our liaison with a number of interested parties] [she abandoned her loyalty to her absent husband in favour of a sexual liaison with William]
reproduce
[copy, repeat, breed]: [his works are reproduced on postcards and posters] [you'll be amazed to see how well half-tones reproduce] [the problems are difficult to reproduce in the laboratory] [bacteria normally divide and reproduce themselves every twenty minutes] [an individual needs to avoid being eaten until it has reproduced]
cardiac
[coronary]:
principals
[corpus, principal sum]:
correlative
[correlate]: [rights, whether moral or legal, can involve correlative duties] [the child's right to education is a correlative of the parent's duty to send the child to school]
correlate
[correspond, connect]: [the study found that success in the educational system correlates highly with class] [we should correlate general trends in public opinion with trends in the content of television news] [strategies to promote health should pay greater attention to financial hardship and other correlates of poverty]
depravity
[corruption]: [a tale of depravity hard to credit] [I wondered what depravities had occurred in that place]
degeneracy
[corruption]: [the degeneracy of later Roman work]
cozy
[cosy, tea cosy, tea cozy]:
snug
[cosy, tight]: [she was safe and snug in Ruth's arms] [a snug cottage] [a well-shaped hood for a snug fit] [she tucks him in, snugging the blanket up to his chin] [the passengers snugged down amongst the cargo]
fake
[counterfeit, imitation, forge, feigned]: [she got on the plane with a fake passport] [a fake Cockney accent] [a fake doctor] [fakes of Old Masters] [I felt sure that some of the nuns were fakes]
duet
[couple, duo, twosome]: [performing duets with famous foreign artists] [a simple duet for two cellos] [they duetted at the tribute concert] [he duetted with Johnny on a ballad]
chancery
[court of chancery]:
woo
[court, seek the support of]: [he wooed her with quotes from Shakespeare] [pop stars are being wooed by film companies eager to sign them up]
courting
[courtship, suit, wooing]:
compensating
[cover, overcompensate]:
refuge
[shelter, sanctuary]: [he was forced to take refuge in the French embassy] [I sought refuge in drink] [the family came to be seen as a refuge from a harsh world]
yelled
[shouted]:
rake in
[shovel in]:
wizen
[shriveled, shrivelled, shrunken, withered, wizened]:
shriveled
[shrivelled, shrunken]:
nausea
[sickness, disgust]: [a wave of nausea engulfed him] [the stories will launch a wave of public nausea and outrage]
silversmith
[silver-worker, silverworker]:
homologous
[similar]: [a seal's flipper is homologous with the human arm]
insights
[sixth sense]:
proficiency
[skill]: [he demonstrated his proficiency in Chinese]
skilfully
[skillfully]: [a skilfully crafted thriller] [skilfully carved marble handicrafts] [they skilfully evaded the question]
carnage
[slaughter]: [the bombing was timed to cause as much carnage as possible]
servitude
[slavery]: [you've got thousands of years of peasant servitude to make up for]
skid
[slew, slide, slip, slue]: [her car skidded and hit the grass verge] [the taxi cab skidded to a halt] [Barbara's foot skidded and she fell to the floor] [he skidded his car] [they skidded the logs down the hill to the waterfront]
tenuous
[slight, fine]: [the tenuous link between interest rates and investment] [a tenuous cloud]
slipping
[slithering]:
slippery
[slithery, evasive, devious]: [slippery ice] [her hand was slippery with sweat] [Martin's a slippery customer] [the word 'intended' is a decidedly slippery one] [he is on the slippery slope towards a life of crime]
gradual
[slow, gentle]: [the gradual introduction of new methods]