vocabulary words 12/15/14

convince

"How again was it that you convinced me to do this?" the boy said to his friend before they jumped out of the plane on their first sky dive. Convince means to talk someone into something, or win someone over.

yield

Yield has two meanings that seem quite different: "an amount" or "to give way." The yield of the recipe was twelve brownies. To avoid being tripped, Mary was forced to yield to the children on her way to the brownie plate.

grant

You can grant anything from a permanent restraining order to a request for time off, or, if you're a genie, seven wishes. When you grant something you are letting someone have or do something that they are asking for.

stock

Stock is collective noun for the stuff a store or a company has to sell, be it toilet paper, automobiles or clothing. Many stores close once a year for a few days to do an inventory of their stock.

inspire

The Olympics often inspire people to take up a sport, but they can also inspire patriotism. Inspire means to excite, encourage, or breathe life into.

appoint

The President can appoint someone as ambassador to another county; that means to give them the job or recommend them for it.

coast

The noun coast describes the area where the land meets the sea — the seashore. When you're mom says, "We're going to the coast," pack your bathing suit, because you'll be near the ocean.

campaign

A campaign is any series of actions or events that are meant to achieve a particular result, like an advertising campaign of television commercials and Internet ads that tries to convince kids to buy bubble gum-flavored toothpaste.

concept

A concept is a thought or idea. If you're redecorating your bedroom, you might want to start with a concept, such as "flower garden," or, if that's too femme, "black hole in outer space."

convention

A convention is a meeting, usually of a particular group. Political parties, teachers, plumbers, gardeners, toymakers and computer designers all hold conventions.

project

A project is a piece of work that is planned or intended. Plan a little extra time for your gingerbread house project — gluing the walls and roof can take a while.

venture

A venture is a risky undertaking. If your latest venture is a dog food store, you hope there are some hungry dogs around. Also, to venture is to go somewhere possibly dangerous, like if you venture out into a snowstorm.

affect

Affect is most often used as a verb meaning "to have an impact on," as in "The tornado barreling towards us will affect our picnic plans."

instance

An instance is a specific example or case of something. One instance of being chased by a growling dog can make a person spend his whole life being afraid of animals.

institute

An institute is an organization or association designed to study or promote something. If you're interested in politics, you might want to do an internship at one of Washington D.C.'s many political research institutes.

apparent

Apparent means obvious

appeal

Appeal means to ask, or address. If you appeal to someone's better nature, you're asking them for mercy. If a shirt doesn't appeal to you, you could also say it doesn't "speak" to you, or more simply, you don't like it.

circumstances

Circumstances are factors or conditions that play a part in determining an outcome. Given the current economic circumstances, a lot of good candidates just can't find jobs.

compel

Compel means to force or drive someone to do something. Even if you don't like toast, when you visit the toast-eating natives of Shrintakook Island, you'll be compelled to eat it, or they will not trust you.

concern

Concern is both a noun and a verb. As a noun it's something that you find particularly important. If you love pizza, getting the crust just so is a major concern during your pizza party.

conduct

Conduct is about how you behave--"conduct unbecoming"--and also about carrying something through--"the survey was conducted in May and June."

Consider

Consider is a verb that simply means to think about, look at, or judge. Consider, for a moment, the perks of house sitting for your pool-owning neighbors before you immediately refuse their request.

straight

Arrows, sides of a rectangle, well-organized lines of people waiting to get into the theater or the ladies' room, and anything else free from curves can be described as straight. The word can also mean honest, uninterrupted, undiluted, or heterosexual.

policy

Did you just come up with a plan for reducing the number of paper clips your department uses at work each month? Then you've created a policy, a plan of action.

engage

Engage means to bind, catch, or involve. If your sink is stopped up, engage, or hire, a plumber to fix it. Otherwise the smell of rotten food in the garbage disposal will engage your attention (in a bad way).

fancy

Fancy can be an adjective, noun, or a verb. As an adjective, it's the opposite of plain. The noun names something that isn't real. When someone likes or wants something, the verb can be used: "I fancy a cup of tea." Doesn't that sound fancy?

generate

Generate means produce or create. A good stock pick might generate cash, and a good idea might generate the basis for an Oscar-winning film.

Evident

If something is evident, it's visible. If you blush furiously and start shaking every time your crush comes near, your infatuation will be evident to everyone.

scarce

If something is scarce, there isn't much of it around. Crops are scarce after a long drought, or you might find babysitters scarce if your kids are a nightmare to watch.

confer

If you gab, chat, and talk it up with someone, you have conversation, but if you're looking for input from each other as you talk, you confer, or consult, together. They had a family meeting to confer about a schedule for sharing the new laptop.

Intend

If you intend to do something, you mean to do it or have it in mind as a goal. Do you plan on getting your holiday cards in the mail before February this year? Then you intend on getting them out early.

vain

If you spend all day admiring yourself in reflective surfaces — mirrors, pools of water, the backs of spoons — people may think you are conceited or vain.

obtain

Obtain means to get something that is not so easy to come by such as knowledge, rights, or a large amount of money. You wouldn't say you obtained a pair of pants, unless they were one of a kind.

passage

Passage describes the act of passing or traveling from one place to the next.

practice

Practice can be a noun or a verb, but either way it's about how things are done on a regular basis. You can practice shotput every day because your town has a practice of supporting track-and-field events.

range

Range always refers to a variety of things or an area that something operates. The store offers the living room set in a range of colors. What's the range of that remote-controlled airplane?

render

Render is a synonym of make--technically it means "cause to become." An illness might render you unable to walk, or a shocking site might render you speechless.

league

The two meanings of league are quite different — either it's a group or federation joined for a common purpose (say, your bowling league or the League of Nations) or it's a rough measurement of about three miles, usually at sea.

wander

The verb wander describes something that has lost track. If you're watching a boring movie, your mind might begin to wander. If you don't have a clear goal, you could wander too — meaning you drift aimlessly.

constant

Think of something or someone that does not change as constant. A classmate's constant drumming on the table with his fingers could be a constant source of annoyance.

approach

To approach is to get near something. An airplane is cleared for a final approach just as the wheels approach the landing strip.

commit

To commit is to fully dedicate yourself to something. To commit yourself to being the coolest kid on the beach means spending hours at the mall trying on trunks and flip-flops.

constitute

To constitute is to make up a whole from smaller parts, or "constituents." "What constitutes a family?" means "What makes up a family?"

dwell

To dwell in a home is to live in it. To dwell on something — usually something bad, like a failed romance or terrible service in a restaurant -- is to think or speak about it at great length.

establish

To establish something means to begin it or bring it about. If you want everyone in your family to bring you chocolate every evening, you can establish a "Chocolates for Me" policy requiring it.

insist

To insist on something is to demand or swear to it. You can insist that you didn't eat the last piece of cake, and then insist that your brother show your mom the bits of frosting on his fingers.

knight

Traditionally the noun knight means someone born of the nobility and trained to fight, usually in heavy metal armor. As a verb, if a king decides to knight you, that means the king wants to make you into a knight.

property

What you own or have, like a car or clothes, is your property. The qualities that a thing has are its properties. Aloe is a plant with medicinal properties — it soothes burns.

contract

When you and someone else have agreed on something and that agreement is both binding and enforceable by law, you have a contract. When you rent an apartment, you and your future landlord sign a rental contract.

theory

When you have a theory, you have a set of beliefs or principles that might not be proven yet. Does anyone have a good theory for where missing socks go when you do laundry?