Toefl test

blunder

A blunder is an embarrassing mistake. Accidentally called your new boyfriend by your old boyfriend's name? Ouch. That's a blunder you don't want to repeat. Has an embarrassing mistake ever made you feel like you're stumbling around with your eyes closed? If so, it won't surprise you to learn that blunder comes from the Old Norse word blundra, meaning to "shut one's eyes." It wasn't until the eighteenth century that blunder came to refer to a stupid or embarrassing mistake, or as a verb, to describe making such a mistake, as in "I tend to blunder when I'm nervous." noun an embarrassing mistake synonyms:bloomer, blooper, boo-boo, botch, bungle, flub, foul-up, pratfall Examples: So we blunder around together,' he said, 'and let trouble find us. It's always worked before.' He was fairly sure Wylan would never let him forget a blunder like that. "I mean, you played notes, but that doesn't mean you were good. It was just a little...mechanical. But wait, I don't mean it like that," I add quickly, trying to undo my blunder. The urge to catalog the myriad blunders in order to "learn from the mistakes" is for the most part an exercise in denial and self-deception.

conspiracy

A conspiracy is a secret agreement between two or more people to commit an unlawful or harmful act. Conspiracy theorists are people who believe that the government is secretly controlled by power brokers in flagrant violation of the constitution. Conspiracy can also refer to the act of planning an unlawful or harmful act: Terrorists might be accused of organizing a conspiracy to overthrow the government. Conspiracy is ultimately from Latin cōnspīrāre "to agree or plot together, literally to breathe together." The corresponding English verb is conspire. Examples: I find most interesting the conspiracy of life in the desert to circumvent the death rays of the all-conquering sun. They forgot their conspiracy against shame and their eyes strayed apprehensively over the floor. The state contended that we were actors in a conspiracy to overthrow the government. Normally he only got that look when he was telling me about one of his conspiracy theories.

facet

A facet is one side or aspect of something. If you're thinking about quitting your day job to become a circus performer, you should first consider every facet of what your new life would be like. Facet, which is related to the word face, can also refer to one of the flat "faces" of a diamond or other gem. This was the word's original definition, and it was evidently seen as an apt metaphor for one side of a complex idea. When a problem has many parts to consider (or when it's just a huge mess), you can describe it as multifaceted. noun a distinct feature or element in a problem "he studied every facet of the question" synonyms: aspect A gene that causes facets to appear in the fruit fly eye, for instance, is temperature dependent. Like every facet of my life would finally shape up and become clear. The imagination is one of our most mysterious facets. Each new question, each new catechism chapter, each new story seemed to open up a thousand facets concerning the salvation of my soul.

flute

A flute is a thin woodwind instrument: you blow into it and put your fingers over the holes to make music. There are many types of instruments, such as percussion, brass, and woodwind. One of the most popular woodwind instruments is the flute, which is thin and makes high-pitched sounds. The flute looks like a type of thin tube or pipe with a hole on each end and holes on the body: your fingers go up and down over the holes and you blow into the flute to make music. A flute player is called a flautist. noun a high-pitched woodwind instrument; a slender tube closed at one end with finger holes on one end and an opening near the closed end across which the breath is blown synonyms: transverse flute Unlike Grandfather's stories, which quieted the warring spirits within her with the softness of moonlight or the lyric timbre of a lone flute, Mrs. Rappaport's speech thrilled her like sunlight and trumpets. The glossy pages of succeeding months blossom around it: landscapes of fluted mountains for 1964; a curious collection of Irish setters and pugs in 1969; twelve varieties of jasmine for each month of 1973. And then—flutes and tinkling cymbals, a sounding gong and drums! How I sometimes lost the sense of her words in the sweet fluting of her voice.

miracle

A miracle is an event so marvelous that it seems like it was sent from above. Catching that foul ball from the stands at the World Series? A miracle! Miracle, a noun meaning "amazing or wonderful occurrence," comes from the Latin miraculum "object of wonder." Dig way back and the word derives from smeiros, meaning "to smile," which is exactly what you do when a miracle happens. To quote the American-French author Anais Nin, "The dream was always running ahead of me. To catch up, to live for a moment in unison with it, that was the miracle." Just ask any rock star. noun a marvellous event manifesting a supernatural act of a divine agent Examples: I do not believe in miracles. But I grant that there are things—events and beings, perhaps—beyond the reach of reason," I say, turning my thoughts into words with difficulty. A month later, by some miracle, we were still in our shack. In fact, it was rare to spend an afternoon in the house without hearing some kind of recitation of the miracle, and occasionally these recitations were less than accurate. He is shown a marble statue of his long- dead wife, and then, a miracle.

idly

Acting idly means behaving in a lazy, slow, or aimless way. Your idea of a perfect vacation might be lying idly on the beach all day. If you're idly chatting with your friend, there's a casual, nonchalant tone to your conversation, and if you lounge idly on the couch on Saturday morning, you're lazing around with no real purpose. The adverb idly describes any action that isn't particularly active, and it comes from idle, "lazy or unemployed," and its Germanic root meaning "worthless." adverb in an idle manner "this is what I always imagined myself doing in the south of France, sitting idly, drinking coffee, watching the people" synonyms:lazily Examples: Tobias's finger runs along the lines of his family tree—I assume—but idly, like he's not really paying attention to it. I like that word, standing idly, lingering aimlessly. Denna kicked idly at a charred timber half buried in ashes near the remains of the barn. I hear a squeak as Christina scratches her plate with her fork idly.

atrocity

Atrocities, acts of outrageous cruelty, are often committed during wars and armed conflicts. The word atrocity describes both the act of cruelty as well as the sense of cruelty. If you go to visit a poorly run prison, you might be overwhelmed by the atrocity of the place when you see that no one is treated with respect, and torture is rampant. The word atrocity is also often used in the context of warfare and frequently as a plural. There were numerous atrocities on both sides, as the war raged on and the fighters' capacity for cruelty seemed to increase. noun an act of atrocious cruelty synonyms:inhumanity Examples: But I often wonder, with African atrocities like in the Congo, how horrific were they? On one side, the terrible legacy of the genocidal Indian wars of Manifest Destiny, atrocity, and slaughter. He announced a nationwide stay-at-home on March 28, a national Day of Mourning and protest for the atrocities at Sharpeville. It's a shock to everyone when he says, the Battle of Kinsale in sixteen nought one was the saddest moment in Irish history, a close battle with cruelty and atrocities on both sides.

contemplate

Before you accept a job offer, or a college's offer of admission, you should take time to contemplate the pros and cons of your decision. If you contemplate something, you think about it carefully. Contemplate is from Latin contemplatus, past participle of contemplari "to gaze attentively, observe," from the prefix com- "together" plus templum "temple." The original meaning of Latin contemplari was "to mark out a space for observing auguries or omens," and the temple was a holy space reserved for this purpose. verb think intently and at length, as for spiritual purposes synonyms: meditate, study She'd be livid with me for even contemplating anything but staying. For all its obvious theatricality, the painting is surprisingly muted: David seems to contemplate Goliath with a mixture of sadness and pity. I was fuzzily contemplating picking it up when Mrs. Bernoffski wiped the back of her hand across her mouth and wrapped her thick fingers around my knee. Inside, I contemplated taking the stairs but decided to wait for the ancient creaking elevator.

camaraderie

Camaraderie is a spirit of good friendship and loyalty among members of a group. You might not like your job, but still enjoy the camaraderie of the people you work with. A high level of camaraderie among athletes on and off the field not only makes it fun to play sports, but is likely to make your team win. This noun was borrowed from French, from camarade, "comrade." It retains the French spelling and Frenchlike pronunciation kahm-uh-RAHD-uh-ree. The suffix -erie corresponds to English -ery, used with nouns to indicate a quality. Examples: Momma, you would not believe the camaraderie and esprit de corps in these hallowed halls. He liked the easygoing camaraderie of it, the simple, stark maleness of it. But also I envy their conviction, their optimism, their carelessness, their fearlessness about men, their camaraderie. I also spent a considerable amount of time on the road to Imre, usually under the excuse of visiting Threpe or enjoying the camaraderie of the other musicians at the Eolian.

drizzle

Drizzle is a very light rain shower. You might grab an umbrella before you head out for a walk in the drizzle. When the weather report calls for drizzle, you know it's going to be a damp day, although you might leave your galoshes and rain suit at home. Drizzle is heavier than mist, but just a bit — and you can use it as a verb, too: "It's supposed to drizzle this evening, but our picnic is still on." The word drizzle stems from the now-obsolete drysning, "a falling of dew," from the Old English drēosan, "to fall." Examples: Still Ged waited, one hand on the yew-wood mast of his boat, staring into the icy drizzle that slowly drove in ragged lines across the sea from the north. As Cole sat staring at the flames, it began to drizzle, and finally he got up and went inside the cabin. The rose bowl dulled and sent down a warm gray drizzle. Malcolm went outside into the drizzle of the dark evening and saw a warm light glowing in the workshop.

grace

Grace commonly refers to a smooth and pleasing way of moving, or a polite and thoughtful way of behaving. But when someone says they were late to the airport and only made it onto their plane by the grace of God, they're talking about grace in the context of God's favor. "Social graces" are the skills needed for being polite, and if you are "in someone's good graces," they regard you with favor. In Middle English, the word grace originally meant "God's favor or help," a sense that we still use today. The related word gracious originally meant "filled with God's favor or help." Grace was borrowed from Old French, from Latin gratia, "pleasing quality, favor, thanks," from gratus, "pleasing." Examples: Will you indulge the baroness and grace us with a presentation of your own choosing?" Something about infinite beauty, about undying grace, about things larger and greater than ourselves. This was Ezekiel's wheel, in the middle of the burning air forever—and the little wheel ran by faith, and the big wheel ran by the grace of God. "Sister Elizabeth," he said—and she would carry to the grave the memory of his grace and humility at that moment, "will you pray?"

innocence

Innocence means you've done nothing wrong. You've broken no laws, committed no sins, and are not guilty of any morally evil act. Well done. In a courtroom, a defendant might announce their innocence, claiming they did not commit whatever crime they're accused of. Innocence is very important in many religions, where your moral purity decides what happens to your soul after you die. The word comes from the Latin innocentia, which means "not harming" and someone with innocence will not harm themselves or others, at least not on purpose. Remember that there are no ss in innocence, so spell it with two cs. noun the state of being unsullied by sin or moral wrong; lacking a knowledge of evil synonyms: pureness, purity, sinlessness, whiteness Examples: Cabot walked toward his car and, after passing two people up, stopped the third and asked, with a face full of confusion and innocence, how to find Eighth Street. I did this both to support my wife and to show my belief in her innocence. "But, Bernice, we don't even—" the man in the top hat started, his face a mask of angelic innocence. The third man featured in the film, Robert Tarver, also adamantly maintained his innocence.

recess

Recess is a break from doing something, like work or school. Almost everyone looks forward to taking a recess — even if you don't have access to monkey bars. Recess comes from the Latin word recessus, meaning "a going back, retreat." You may have heard children talking about recess as their favorite part of school. This meaning of the word refers to the break in a school day for children to play, usually outside in a playground. As a verb, recess means to take a break at the end of a session — usually in a court proceeding: "The judge announced the court would recess until the following day." Examples: At 10:1$, before recess, the Prayer to My Guardian Angel. During recess, when she catches me examining a flower I'd never seen before up close, and I explain I'm counting the stamens, she starts calling me Virginia the Esteemed Scientist. I'm doing much better at keeping pace with Mrs. Brook at recess. On Aron's first day in school he waited eagerly for the recess.

reckon

Reckon means guess, or imagine, and is often used by rural types in Hollywood movies who say things like "I reckon I'll be moseyin' on." Reckon means guess or think, as in "I reckon he's put his nose where it don't belong one too many times." If reckon sounds odd, that's because it's mostly gone out of style. When used to talk about prediction, it's a little more common, as in "Who do you reckon is going to win the Super Bowl?" Still, it sounds a little old-fashioned. Many people use the word just for fun. Saying "I reckon" sounds more humorous than "Yes." verb expect, believe, or suppose synonyms:guess, imagine, opine, suppose, think Examples: I dont reckon it's any secret what you and I think of one another. Maybe you want the money back," I says. In my opinion, that was just further proof that Sami Saedi was a force to be reckoned with. 'I reckon eyes are better than your snotty noses.' Maddie flew alone, careful and happy, low over the snow-tipped Highlands on those pretty tapered wings, deafened by the Merlin engine, navigating by dead reckoning.

scandal

Scandal is disgraceful events or nasty gossip about people's private lives, like the scandal that erupted when you were seen at the mall with your best friend's girlfriend. Just because there's a scandal, it doesn't mean it's always true — being seen with your friend's girl? What the gossips didn't know it that you were buying his birthday present. Some scandals, though, involve public figures who have been found guilty. For example, if a politician is found guilty of taking bribes, that's a scandal that will rock your town, causing outrage not to mention the end of that politician's career. noun a disgraceful event synonyms: outrage Examples: When Hoover met with White, his grip on power remained tenuous, and he was suddenly confronting the one thing that he'd done everything to avoid since becoming director: a scandal. One is cluttered with newspapers and tattlers and scandal sheets, another with petit-hourglasses and abaci. He was a big financial guy recently sent to prison for what the news sites called "the D and G trading scandal." Will the people see just another politician in trouble, just another scandal?

scrutiny

Scrutiny is when you look at something really closely, like when you are checking a test for mistakes. Scrutiny can also be an intense look, like when your mother looks at you — trying to tell if you might be lying. Scrutiny comes from the Latin scrutari, which means "to search," but which originally meant, "to sort trash." When you turn in a draft of your essay, you are subjecting it to your teacher's scrutiny — and there's a good chance that she'll find some sentences that can be "trashed" as well as sections that could be improved. noun the act of examining something closely (as for mistakes) synonyms: examination Examples: They were, as usual, in Mrs. McCullough's home, to avoid scrutiny. Under her loose scrutiny I grew more buxom, and my brown skin smoothed and tight-pored, like pancakes fried on an unoiled skillet. The advantage of a Gore plant is that every part of the process for designing and making and marketing a given product is subject to the same group scrutiny. "Don't you see?" he demanded, losing patience with their suspicion and scrutiny and the unacceptable absence of celebration.

theft

Theft is the act of stealing something. If you've ever taken your sister's sweater without asking her first, then she's right: that's an instance of theft! The word theft refers to taking something from someone else without getting permission. Shoplifting is a form of theft, as is embezzling a million dollars from your business partner's Swiss bank account. In the United States, petty theft is the act of stealing anything worth less than $500, like someone's bike or a pack of gum. It's still a punishable crime, but you will get in much bigger trouble if you steal something more valuable, like a car. noun the act of taking something from someone unlawfully synonyms:larceny, stealing, thievery, thieving Examples: Then I call for a vote to set aside the charge of theft," Hemme said. But her eyes were too hollow, too depthless, to be just about her anger at his milk theft of weeks ago. Now he was trying to frame me and my dad for a theft we hadn't committed. Still wary of censure, I further related to him my entry into Mr. Jonathan Gitney's house and my theft of clothing.

dwindle

What do love, money, and the earth all have in common? All can dwindle, or shrink away, if we don't handle them properly. The word dwindle has a wonderfully descriptive, almost childlike sound to it, as though it belongs in a nursery rhyme. That might help you remember the meaning, which is to shrink away gradually, like the Cheshire Cat in "Alice in Wonderland," who dwindles away until nothing is left but his grin. verb become smaller or lose substance "Her savings dwindled down" synonyms:dwindle away, dwindle down Examples: Within another hour, the number of surviving kites dwindled from maybe fifty to a dozen. This did nothing to encourage the ticket buyers, whose numbers dwindled to the single digits by the second night of our weeklong run. What seemed like a lot of food now would dwindle to nothing in a matter of weeks. Maybe it was my silence, or maybe he felt the ruby-red anger sizzling off my skin, but his upbeat mood dwindled with each step.

accused

noun a defendant in a criminal proceeding see less type of: defendant, suspect a person or institution against whom an action is brought in a court of law; the person being sued or accused Examples: What would it matter if he were accused of murder and then executed because he didn't cry at his mother's funeral? But—though this was one of the crimes that the accused in the great purges invariably confessed to—it was difficult to imagine any such thing actually happening. If I say no, I will be accused of something. "We Communists don't dramatize Negro nationalism," he said in a voice that laughed, accused, and drawled.

chime

noun a percussion instrument consisting of a set of tuned bells that are struck with a hammer; used as an orchestral instrument synonyms: bell, gong

contracting

noun becoming infected "the contracting of a serious illness can be financially catastrophic" synonyms:catching Examples: In the other walls an X-ray of the same woman revealed the contracting journey of the refreshing beverage on its way to her delightful stomach! These would convert the hydrogen into more helium, and the heat given off would raise the pressure, and so stop the clouds from contracting any further. If it was expanding fairly slowly, the force of gravity would cause it eventually to stop expanding and then to start contracting. No, she would sell the painting and contracting business and hold on to the rentals.

tamp down

verb press down tightly synonyms: pack, tamp Her father says to tamp down her imagination. Ebright was dead serious, and he needed to tamp down expectations in Berkeley. The sharpness of her collarbone is enough to tamp down my irritation at her comment. That big grin was back, but then she tamped down on it again, cheeks flushing a deep burgundy, and looked away.

downplay

کم اهمیت جلوه دادن To downplay something is to act as if it's not very important. If you're trying to convince your friends to play poker with you, you might downplay the fact that you're an experienced and competitive player. Politicians who depend on contributions from oil and gas companies tend to downplay the environmental effects of their products, and a boy who wants a trampoline for his birthday might downplay the possible dangers when he talks to his parents about it. Downplay is a relatively recent addition to the English language, dating from the late 1960s. Examples: Media accounts persistently bright-side the situation, highlighting the occasional success stories and downplaying the acknowledged increase in hunger. They try to keep smiling and downplay the hardship. As Luke was opening his mouth to downplay it, to tell her it wasn't a problem—that Toby was as tough as he was annoying—Annie leaned over and kissed him. He keeps his face neutral, downplaying his feelings for my benefit.

ballot

A ballot is a document that lists the choices during an election. When running for office, a candidate's first goal is getting on the ballot. This Italian-derived word has proven remarkably successful by adapting itself to evolving voting technologies. It has been applied to devices used for casting votes from ancient times to the present, whether consisting of pottery, paper or pixels. Any kind of device, whether on paper or a computer screen, can be called a ballot if it lists the candidates and allows you to vote. noun a document listing the alternatives that is used in voting Examples: I would sooner cut off my right hand than ask the ballot for the black man and not the woman," she wrote to abolitionist Wendell Phillips. So, the next day I went to the meeting, entered my name on the ballot, and started my campaigning. Another vital early development in women's long road to the ballot took place in 1851, when Elizabeth Cady Stanton met antislavery and women's rights activist Susan B. Anthony. Anthony slipped her papers into the ballot box.

bartender

A bartender is a person who mixes, pours, and serves drinks from behind a bar. The bartender at a bar mitzvah may spend hours putting little paper umbrellas in Shirley Temples for the young guests. If you work as a bartender, you need to know how to mix cocktails, pour wine and beer, and keep the bar tidy. Most bartenders don't make a high hourly wage, but depend on tips to make a good living. Many events, like wedding receptions and big parties, include a bartender. The word itself dates from the early 19th century, from bar, which comes from the barrier or counter over which drinks are served, and tender, or "seller." Examples: We'd hired a caterer to add to the food my mom cooked, and a bartender to set up and serve the drinks. Instead I graciously accept and ask bartender for a Greysdale Mead. Once they do I realize that the saloon is empty excepting for the bartender, polishing glasses. I walk around the pool tables toward the men, and the bartender sees me first.

bay

A bay is an inlet along the shoreline of a body of water. A bay window occupies a similar inlet in a room. When you keep someone "at bay" you hold them off. The different meanings of bay come from different origins. For example, the idea of the word as a cove comes from the Latin bāia, while the idea of an opening is a wall is from the Latin batāre, meaning "gape." The word that means a dog's howl, however, comes from the Latin baubari, which means "to bark." Other meanings of this versatile word include a horse with reddish coloring, and a tree with leaves used to add flavor in cooking. There's nothing quite like riding a bay along the scenic bay while listening to the hounds bay! noun an indentation of a shoreline larger than a cove but smaller than a gulf synonyms: embayment They drank tea and sat by the fire and they slept in the sand and listened to the roll of the surf in the bay. He ran to the shoreline in time to see two boats round the point and enter the bay. It seemed like only minutes before they zipped into a narrow bay. Along the bay, paddleboarders balance, pushing forward with oars while cormorants float around them.

biopsy

A biopsy is a sample of tissue or liquid from the body that helps determine if you have a disease. If your doctor finds a lump in part of your body, she will probably do a biopsy to see if it is cancerous or not. Bios means "life" and opsis means "see" or "sight," so a biopsy is a way for a doctor to look into your body, so to speak, by taking a sample of it. There are different kinds of biopsies, depending on where the tissue is that your doctor needs to look at. You might have a surgical biopsy or a less invasive biopsy by needle. noun examination of tissues or liquids from the living body to determine the existence or cause of a disease Examination of a biopsy specimen of fat showed an accumulation of 23 parts per million of DDT. A fair amount of the nun's liver traveled up the needle and filled a biopsy syringe. Possibly it was during this agonal biopsy that her blood squirted on the walls. But storing tissues from diagnostic procedures like, say, mole biopsies, and using them in future research doesn't require such consent.

hatch

A bird such as a hen that sits on eggs to incubate them can be said to hatch the eggs. Then, when the chick emerges from the egg, you can also say it hatched. Humans don't hatch eggs like birds do, but they can still incubate and then hatch a plan, invention, or idea. You may hatch a plan to surprise a friend for her thirtieth birthday party, but to ensure you don't end up with egg on your face, you should verify your friend isn't actually twenty-nine for the third year in a row! As a noun, a hatch is a trapdoor or other opening in the floor, ceiling, or wall that allows access. Examples: It's like a hatch that opens directly onto the spacious skies of his brain. He was as damp and wobbly and susceptible to damage as a newly hatched chick. During the next hour the sound of the engine died away to a quiet background rumble, voices shouted orders or queries, ropes were thrown, gangways lowered, hatches opened. "The mom is fidgety like a hen hatching eggs."

blob

A blob is a spot, drop, or a shapeless mass of something, You can't just put blobs of paint on your canvas and call it art! Blob is often used interchangeably with glob or drop. You might top your apple pie with blobs of whipped cream, or put a blob of toothpaste on your toothbrush. And if your map appears to be just blobs of color, you might want to put your glasses on and look again. Blob first appeared as a verb in the 15th century, meaning "to mark with drops or granules," a close relation of bubble. noun an indistinct shapeless form Characterizing the similarities is as difficult as nailing down a blob of mercury, because exceptions abound and human behavior is always multifaceted. Grinning, he gathered in one sweep all the mucus in his flaring nostrils and let fly a blob as thick as a hailstone. I pressed onward, leaping from platform to platform, attacking in midair, dodging the relentless onslaught of blobs, skeletons, snakes, mummies, minotaurs, and yes, ninjas. There is the problem of my portfolio being full of broken bowls and blobs.

conviction

A conviction is something certain: a judgment of guilty in court and a strong belief are both convictions. In the legal world, when a judge or jury convicts someone of a crime — finding them guilty — this is called a conviction. Prosecutors try to get convictions, and defense attorneys try to prevent them. Also, convictions are beliefs — principles. The United States was founded on many convictions, such as the belief in free speech and separation of church and state. When you have a conviction, you're certain of something. noun (criminal law) a final judgment of guilty in a criminal case and the punishment that is imposed "the conviction came as no surprise" synonyms: condemnation, judgment of conviction, sentence Examples: I hope you do get away with it," Appleby whispered with conviction. The prosecutor's office, following Terryl's instinct, used wiretap evidence to secure a conviction. He would spend hours on end in his room, calculating the strategic possibilities of his novel weapon until he succeeded in putting together a manual of startling instructional clarity and an irresistible power of conviction. The only exception is for those jobs for which state or local laws expressly bar people with certain specific convictions from employment.

crumb

A crumb is a very tiny piece of food. Some recipes instruct you to top a dish with bread crumbs before you bake it. Crumbs are what you're left with after finishing a box of cookies or a bag of tortilla chips — the bits that are too small to eat. You can also talk about other, non-edible types of crumbs, like the crumb of wisdom in an otherwise silly movie or the crumb of information a detective finds at a crime scene. The Old English root is cruma, "crumb," and it's thought that the silent b was influenced by words like dumb. Examples: Kira eats the last little crumbs of pretzels in the bowl. I say, now licking chip crumbs from the wax basket liner. Tiny gray birds poked around their feet for crumbs and pecked at a paper wrapper. Unfortunately, several chocolate crumbs fell from my mouth to the floor at precisely that moment.

monument

A monument is a statue or other sculpture meant to honor a great person, like the Lincoln Monument or Washington Monument. You can find monuments in the downtown area of most cities. Many honor a specific person, while other are dedicated to soldiers who fought in a certain war, such as Vietnam or World War I. Cemeteries are also full of monuments, and monument can mean a type of burial vault. Whenever people create a monument, they're trying to make sure that a person or event is remembered. noun a structure erected to commemorate persons or events synonyms: memorial Examples: And as for the enormous peach stone—it was set up permanently in a place of honor in Central Park and became a famous monument. The rest of what remains are texts on monuments, murals, and pottery—about fifteen thousand samples of writing, according to one estimate. In the wavering firelight Gandalf seemed suddenly to grow: he rose up, a great menacing shape like the monument of some ancient king of stone set upon a hill. The men who peopled the grill in the early hours of morning were not just regulars to the restaurant, they were regulars to the town and their family names were on street signs and monuments.

mop

A mop is a tool for cleaning a floor. Most mops have a long handle and a sponge or bundle of absorbent strings on one end. If someone says that your hair looks like a mop, that's not a compliment. When you use a mop, you mop the floor. Mops can be used dry, but more often they're dunked in a soapy bucket of water before they mop the floor. You can also "mop up" a mess or a spill, even if you're using a cloth, a sponge, or a paper towel instead of a mop. The earliest mops were used to clean ships' decks, and the word comes from the Latin mappa, "napkin." noun cleaning implement consisting of absorbent material fastened to a handle; for cleaning floors synonyms:swab, swob Examples: Sitting in his office, Ron finishes the end of the night paperwork while Bo mops up the kitchen and I scrub down all the countertops. Father frowned, mopping his face with the drying towel. "Very well," said the Queen, and she went down to Lancelot while Sir Meliagrance mopped his brow. Bessie mopped up the fat with a crust of bread as she listened to the talk of evening plans.

mutation

A mutation is a genetic change that causes new and different characteristics, like the mutation on the dog's DNA that makes its tail shorter than its ancestors' tails. Mutation comes from the Latin word mutationem meaning "a changing." You might recognize this root in related words like mutate, mutable, and mutant. We often think of mutations as changes in an animal's genetic structure, but there are other kinds of mutations. For example, if an architect designs an award-winning building, her later designs that are similar might be called mutations of that one. Examples: Doubts also soon emerged about the assumed rates of mutations. Do some combinations of variants require other mutations, or triggers, to push that risk over an edge? Even the language of his thoughts—variation, mutation, survival, and selection—bore striking similarities to Darwin's. When I was a college undergraduate in the early 1950's, I was fortunate enough to work in the laboratory of H. J. Muller, a great geneticist and the man who discovered that radiation produces mutations.

plateau

A plateau is a high, flat area of land. The word has also been stretched to include a leveling off of progress. At first the children at the sleepover were running wild, but then their energy level reached a plateau. You can see the word plate inside plateau. Think flat like a plate, or think about mountains that look like tables you could set with plates--so flat the plates won't fall off. If you're a French speaker, this will be easier, as plateau derives from the French plat, "level." noun a relatively flat highland synonyms:tableland Examples: I've moved up to another plateau, and now the streams of the various disciplines seem to be closer to each other as if they flow from a single source. Directly ahead, a steep cobblestone staircase at the edge of the runway led up to a grand, floodlit mansion constructed on a plateau near the base of the mountain range. But eventually the river narrowed and deepened again, and soon ahead of them began to rise the mountains of the great central Asian plateau. The plateau was dull and gloomy, and the shapes of the trees and the houses were changed.

sensation

A sensation is a type of feeling, picked up by one of the five senses. Peppercorns will give you the sensation of a million tiny pinpricks on your tongue. A sensation is something from your senses. If you lose sensation in your feet, they are numb and it's time for you to get up and move around to restore blood flow. You can call something a sensation if it is wonderful and astonishing. Your parents will tell you that you were a sensation in the school play. Everyone will want to go see the special-effects movie that critics are calling a worldwide sensation. noun an unelaborated elementary awareness of stimulation "a sensation of touch" synonyms:aesthesis, esthesis, sense datum, sense experience, sense impression Examples: Their arrival outside the wood caused something of a sensation, which Hazel cut short with a peremptory sharpness quite unlike his usual manner. The witch or wizard would perform a basic Flame Freezing Charm and then pretend to shriek with pain while enjoying a gentle, tickling sensation. I am shocked by the sensation of his skin warm against mine. The sensation I'm feeling bursts forth from my lips.

spike

A spike is a sharp point, often made of metal or wood, but not always. Hedgehogs have long skinny spikes that keep them from being eaten by predators. The wide metal nails that fasten railroad ties to rails are called "rail spikes." A spike can be big like those rail spikes, or small like the ones on the bottom of a cleat. And, extremely high-heeled shoes are sometimes called "spike heels." When something increases and abruptly decreases, like the price of sugar or a fever, it spikes. To spike a volleyball, smash it over the net. Spike shares a root with the Latin spina, for "spine or thorn." Examples: Stepping inside now sends a spike of pain through my heart, and I freeze for a moment, my hand sweating on the doorknob. His hair was spiked and he was clean-shaven. She ended up kneeling on the small of his back, careful to avoid the spikes along his spine, squeezing and kneading and applying pressure in diverse ways. They jumped the spiked trench and reached the machine.

splinter

A splinter is a narrow, pointed sliver that breaks off something larger. If you walk barefoot on a wooden floor, dock, or boardwalk, you might get a splinter of wood in your foot. Ouch! We often use the word splinter to refer to tiny shards of wood that lodge under the skin, but a sliver of any hard material — stone, glass, bone, wood, metal — can be called a splinter. When something splinters, it breaks into individual bits. You can also use the word figuratively to describe something that separates in a violent or forceful way, like when a mainstream political party splinters into more or less extreme groups. noun a small thin sharp bit or wood or glass or metal "he got a splinter in his finger" synonyms:sliver Examples: I undress and hang my clothes on a splinter of wood on the door. Beside it was the splintered body of a tree, still rolling to a stop after the collision. Bullets dig into the dome, sparking and splintering against the electric shield, but it holds firm. Instead, they felt that "a splinter terrorist cell, or a lone actor...would be more likely to exploit a hurricane on site. This includes persons pursuing a political agenda, religious extremists, or other disgruntled individuals."

aberration

An aberration is something strange that rarely occurs. An example of an aberration is when the temperature in Minnesota hits 90 degrees in January — it's nice and warm, but it's really strange. The noun aberration often refers to something that doesn't fit with current moral standards, or is something that shows a mental lack of control. Aberration comes from the Latin word that means "to wander, go astray." Today, you'd say it was an aberration to send little children to work in coal mines and factories and not to school, which was common in the nineteenth century. There's a very old poem called "The Chimney Sweep" about a boy who cleans chimneys and is only about five years old! noun a state or condition markedly different from the norm synonyms: aberrance, aberrancy, deviance Examples: Over the course of her life, this day will be a slight, barely noticeable aberration. We are cultural animals and it is the richness of our culture which allows us to accept our undoubted potentiality for violence but to believe nevertheless that its expression is a cultural aberration. It is important to remember that the Atlantic slave trade was not a single aberration in an otherwise spotless record. In their world, aberrations were as much a part of nature as grace.

ensemble

An ensemble is a group of musicians, dancers, or actors who perform together, like an ensemble which has been playing music together for several years. Ensemble comes from the Middle French word ensemblée, which means "together, at the same time." Groups of people who perform at the same time are ensembles, so are things that are put together. A collection of short stories or artwork can be an ensemble, but you don't have to be a writer or artist to be complimented on your ensemble — the outfit you are wearing. noun an assemblage of parts or details (as in a work of art) considered as forming a whole synonyms: tout ensemble Examples: I shall follow the entire ensemble with my camera in order to record this memorable occasion. Volpe told Mike that he hoped he would stay in the show, as part of the ensemble, but that he would understand and respect whatever decision he made. Lest he freeze, he wore a ragged sweater over the ensemble. But Ana managed to escape the house unscathed, and Ash watched the front door close on her velvet-and-feather-and-silk ensemble with relief.

executive

An executive is a powerful person who is responsible for making things run smoothly. If you become an executive, you might be in charge of an organization, a business, or even an entire country. The executive of a company has the best office and works on ways to make their business more successful. The Medieval Latin root of executive is exsequi, which means "carry out," and so an executive carries out plans and actions. Executive is also an adjective that describes having the power to make decisions. The president of the United States is the executive branch of the government and is responsible for executing laws that will improve the country for its citizens. Examples: The final straw was a wedding where a Wall Street executive tried to bill me for the wedding gown and medical expenses," she said. The KidPower conference, attended by marketing executives from Burger King and Nickelodeon, among others, was held at the Disneyland outside of Paris. "We do not knowingly hire undocumented workers," an IBP executive told me. There was a scythe at the door of the executive's mansion.

executive

An executive is a powerful person who is responsible for making things run smoothly. If you become an executive, you might be in charge of an organization, a business, or even an entire country. The executive of a company has the best office and works on ways to make their business more successful. The Medieval Latin root of executive is exsequi, which means "carry out," and so an executive carries out plans and actions. Executive is also an adjective that describes having the power to make decisions. The president of the United States is the executive branch of the government and is responsible for executing laws that will improve the country for its citizens. noun a person responsible for the administration of a business synonyms: executive director Examples: According to IBP, the decision to shut it was made after a unanimous vote by its top executives. His father was a successful insurance executive, so life was always comfortable, and Edwin enjoyed a wealth of physical endowments, too. He spoke without regret about the compromises he's made along the path from organic farmer to agribusiness executive. Its executives paid state income taxes at a maximum rate of 7 percent.

bureaucratic

Anything bureaucratic has to do with the business of running an organization — usually not in a very efficient manner. If there are bureaucrats or a bureaucracy involved, go ahead and call it bureaucratic. This adjective is used in a negative sense to describe a person or organization more concerned with following procedures than being guided by common sense. Bureaucratic things usually involve loads of paperwork and nonsensical rules, otherwise known as "red tape" — a connection that originated in the 17th century when official documents were bound together with actual red tape. adjective of or relating to or resembling a bureaucrat or bureaucracy "his bureaucratic behavior annoyed his colleagues" "a bureaucratic nightmare" Most non-European empires of the early modern era were established by great conquerors such as Nurhaci and Nader Shah, or by bureaucratic and military elites as in the Qing and Ottoman empires. In lofty bureaucratic doublespeak the policy was called the School Improvement Plan. Its walls were painted with a postwar bureaucratic gray. He spent four days rushing from one office to the next, in a series of desperate maneuvers that all ran up against the same wall of bureaucratic incomprehension.

slim

Anything slim is thin or narrow. So, your sister may be considered slim, and you could also have "a slim chance" of winning the lottery. Slim people are slender, and slim things are usually delicate, like a slim watch band. You can also use slim to describe a margin or a chance: "There was only a slim likelihood that the home team would win this game." Back in the early 1800s, to slim meant "to do one's work carelessly," and in the seventeenth century, the adjective was also used to mean "sly or crafty." adjective being of delicate or slender build "a slim girl with straight blonde hair" synonyms:slender, slight, svelte lean, thin lacking excess flesh Examples: All the inspectors seemed bewitched by the lovely, slim Chinese woman who was in such a hurry. His tall slim body and tapering fingers spoke of fragility, gentleness. He offers me a slim, pained grin, and I try to offer him one back that's not quite so stretched. I leave him standing there, hoping I've changed him but knowing those odds are slim at best.

dominant

Dominant means to be in control. In a wolf pack, one male wolf fights the others, wins, and becomes the dominant wolf in the group. Dominant derives from the Latin dominus which means "lord or master." If you grew up with a Latin mass, you will recognize this as one of many words for God. If you're dominant, it means you treat others as if you're their master. You can also use dominant to describe something frequent or common. For example, when cell phones first came out, their dominant use was for making calls. Now cells phone do so much more, some people hardly make calls on them at all. adjective most frequent or common synonyms: predominant, prevailing, prevalent, rife Particularly problematic is the assumption that women's dependence on external help made them dependent on men, rather than on other women, and that male competitiveness made men socially dominant. The name certainly fits, since we now find the dominant vertical accent that is so conspicuously absent in the Early English style. The biggest difference in their social behavior is that females are dominant in hyena society, whereas males are dominant in the world of the chimp. Suppose schizophrenia is caused by a single, dominant, highly penetrant mutation in one gene.

fellow

Fellow is an old fashioned word for "guy." If you're wearing a top hat, you may address someone as "my good fellow." It's also a non-stuffy word to describe people in the same situation, such as you and your fellow Vocabulary.com fans. Other words for fellow include "chap" and "dude." A fellow can also be someone's boyfriend, as in "Is he your fellow?" an interested suitor might ask. Another kind of fellow is an academic who's either reached a high position or won a prestigious scholarship. A MacArthur Fellow, for example, is a person who won a MacArthur fellowship (a well-deserved hunk of money). Fellow comes from an Old English word, feolaga, "one who shares with another." Examples: I'm the kind of fellow who needs instructions." "She would say fellow writer," thought Francie, still jealous about the play. I am so stupid to try to smile, to forget and act like I a fine-looking fellow again. "I like a fellow who's not afraid to push for a little extra. What would you like then? I've got a lovely woolen blanket here. Or some nice rope?"

fierce

Fierce is ferocious and forceful, like a lion. When you are fierce, opponents fear you. Despite their loss, the talented JV team put up a fierce fight against the varsity squad. Fierce comes from the Latin ferus 'wild animal.' It means strong, proud, dangerous and ready to roar. Fierce can also be used to mean intense. The family was known for their fierce pride. If you have a fierce work ethic, you don't rest until you finish the job. And a fierce storm can really devastate a community. adjective marked by extreme and violent energy "fierce fighting" synonyms:ferocious, furious, savage violent acting with or marked by or resulting from great force or energy or emotional intensity Examples: The fierce July sunlight streamed in over a gray cloud bank and lit up the New York Harbor like a fire was rising from its depths. The thought surprises me, accompanied as it is by a pulse of fierce desire. With his fierce, frightened gaze on me I bespoke him: "Therem, my friend, there's nothing to fear between us." I heard one of the generals say that he never saw no unit, white or colored, fight as fierce as we did.

fusion

Fusion is the process of combining two or more things together into one. If your favorite genres are Westerns and reality dating shows, maybe when you become a TV executive, you'll create a fusion of the two, where competing dates have shoot-outs in saloons. The noun fusion comes from the Latin word fundere, meaning melt, so fusion is the act of melting things together. In science, fusion is the process of merging atoms together to create energy. Fusion is also used as an adjective. Fusion cuisine is the combination of at least two different ways of cooking. Fusion music is usually the combination of jazz and rock. Don't you participate in fusion? Don't you own an empathy box?" It was, in fact, to this fusion of Oriental and Greek elements that they owed their vitality and appeal. They—and he—cared about one thing; this fusion of their mentalities oriented their attention on the hill, the climb, the need to ascend. Thus the "Carolingian revival" may be termed the first, and in some ways most important, phase of a genuine fusion of the Celtic-Germanic spirit with that of the Mediterranean world.

enliven

High school students who are throwing a dance in the gym might enliven it with balloons and streamers. In other words, they might try to cheer the room up. When you enliven something, you make it more lively, colorful, or exciting. Your friend who is the life of the party can probably be counted on to enliven the dullest gathering, and a sprinkle of curry powder can enliven a dish of plain roasted vegetables. The original meaning of enliven, from the seventeenth century, was literally "to bring to life," as when a doctor re-starts a patient's stopped heartbeat. verb make lively synonyms: animate, invigorate, liven, liven up Examples: It increases the rate at which they jiggle and jounce, and in their enlivened state they crash into one another, releasing heat. The testing, the experiment, the surgery, and my subsequent mental development were described at length, and his talk was enlivened by quotations from my progress reports. "Of course I would rather be with Arthur. An educated man is always an enlivening companion." To Kit's surprise the husking was fun, enlivened by singing and wagers and jokes that seemed uproariously funny.

hygiene

Hygiene is any practice or activity that you do to keep things healthy and clean. Washing hands, coughing into your elbow, and regular house cleaning are all part of good hygiene. Hygieia was the Greek goddess of health, cleanliness and sanitation, so it's not hard to see where the word hygiene comes from. Good oral hygiene includes brushing and flossing your teeth, and working in a clean kitchen helps promote food hygiene. You have a better chance of staying healthy during flu season -and any other time- if you practice good personal hygiene, such as washing your hands frequently. Examples: She lectured to the Muslim girls' and women's classes on hygiene and medical facts. Inside, there was a booklet that discussed "dental hygiene." A dermatologist by training, Siemens was a student of Ploetz's and a vociferous early proponent of racial hygiene. The crowding, poor nutrition, and lack of hygiene made disease rampant; from typhus to scarlet fever, from malnutrition to psychosis, illness of some kind struck nearly every family.

skeptical

If a friend told you that her family was perfect and they never had any problems, would you believe her? If not, you may be skeptical. Skeptical people look at the world with a certain amount of doubt. This word comes from ancient Greece, where a philosopher named Pyrrho taught his followers that we can never really understand the true nature of things, only how they appear to us. (So basically, we should stop searching for the meaning of life and just relax.) In Pyrrho's view, the true sage was someone who realized that it was impossible to be certain about anything. His followers were called Skeptikoi, or Skeptics; the Greek word skeptikos means "given to asking questions." adjective marked by or given to doubt "a skeptical attitude" "a skeptical listener" synonyms:doubting, questioning, sceptical distrustful having or showing distrust Examples: When I heard this, I knew I was doing better writing by myself no matter how skeptical I was of the results. The man considered this with a skeptical pout. His face took on a sour, skeptical expression. Rather than strengthening her faith, Elizabeth's traumatic experience with Reverend Finney made her skeptical of organized religion, a doubt that continued for the rest of her life.

tenuous

If something is tenuous it's thin, either literally or metaphorically. If you try to learn a complicated mathematical concept by cramming for 45 minutes, you will have a tenuous grasp of that concept, at best. Tenuous comes from the Latin word tenuis, for thin, and is related to our word tender. Something can be physically tenuous, like a spiderweb or ice on a pond. We more often use it in a metaphorical sense, to talk about weak ideas. Tenuous arguments won't win any debate tournaments. Synonyms for tenuous, also used physically or metaphorically, are flimsy and shaky. synonyms: flimsy, fragile, slight, thin insignificant, unimportant devoid of importance, meaning, or force When Hoover met with White, his grip on power remained tenuous, and he was suddenly confronting the one thing that he'd done everything to avoid since becoming director: a scandal. A dwarf enjoyed at best a tenuous hold on dignity. The island was nothing more than a sandy spit, connected to shore by a tenuous thread of bamboo slats. Its economy was fraying, its tenuous infrastructure heaving under the weight of waves of immigration.

reckless

If you are reckless, you don't think or care about the consequences of your words or actions, like a reckless driver who speeds while texting, knitting, and eating a sandwich. The word reckless comes from the Old English word receleas, meaning "careless, thoughtless, heedless." If you have a reckless attitude, you aren't concerned about what happens to yourself or others who are affected by your actions. In this usage, reckless is the opposite of considerate. Reckless friends will invite people you don't know to your house because with your parents away, it's party time. Surprise! adjective marked by defiant disregard for danger or consequences ""became the fiercest and most reckless of partisans"-Macaulay" "a reckless driver" synonyms:foolhardy, heady, rash bold fearless and daring Examples: Now that I am actuated by hopes more active—by anger at injustice and demand for benevolence—I fear I shall not be so reckless of my life. He was a formidable player; few dared play with him for his stakes were so high and reckless. Speaking up about her dodging my call must've unlocked something reckless in my brain. But now he will be reckless, to prove himself.

diagnose

If you diagnose a disease, you recognize it by the signs and symptoms your patient shows. Your high temperature and the green crud you keep coughing up will allow your doctor to diagnose your bronchitis. The verb diagnose was first used in medicine, meaning "make a diagnosis," or identify a disease by observation of symptoms. Use it to describe the process of figuring it out. If you have bad gut pain, ask your doctor to diagnose your condition. You can also use diagnose for other problems, like if you diagnose poverty and malnutrition as the real causes of a student's terrible behavior, or diagnose the virus that caused your computer to crash. Technically, the disease is diagnosed, not the patient. She was carried away with the sound of her voice, her mother diagnosed. She was diagnosed with polio when she was six, which made her right leg skinnier than her left. Clinicians suspected an unusual genetic syndrome, but all known genetic tests failed to diagnose the illness.

bow

If you want to practice your archery, you'll need some arrows and a bow — a curved piece of wood (or other material), with a cord stretched between the ends that is used to launch the arrows. The bow of a stringed instrument (like a violin or cello) was originally shaped like an archer's bow used in archery and thus shares the same name. When you move the bow across the strings, you're bowing. Sometimes violinists bow and sometimes they pluck the strings. noun something curved in shape synonyms:arc Examples: Shadow observed, with a wry amusement, that the bows of the stringed instruments, played by mechanical arms, never actually touched the strings, which were often loose or missing. He forced men to bow at pumpkins or trees for hours. She nodded, bowed—bowed!—and then left us. He was wearing a striped shirt and a bow tie.

spigot

If you want to splash in a giant puddle, just leave the spigot open in your backyard. A spigot is a faucet, a device to turn water on and off. If you leave a spigot open, the water will keep flowing. In the U.S., most of us call an indoor valve (in the kitchen or bathroom) a faucet, and the outdoor one a spigot. In other English-speaking places, a spigot is a plug inserted in a cask, or one end of a pipe. It's not uncommon for this word to be pronounced "spicket," with some dictionaries including that as an acceptable way to say it. noun a regulator for controlling the flow of a liquid from a reservoir synonyms: faucet Out of each spigot flows a different product made from corn, called "fractions" by the food industry. Lolo is at the spigot, but he can't seem to find the nozzle on the hose. From a spigot on the side of the building, he fills the bucket. The locksmith brings back a shirtful of vegetables and fills a tin bucket at a spigot and eases shut the barn door and feeds his daughter in the dark.

booster

If you're a big fan and promoter of something or someone, you're a booster. Go team! A booster provides support, like a kid's booster seat, a follow-up dose of medicine, or a booster rocket that launches the Space Shuttle. Boosters of teams, groups, or organizations often form official clubs to coordinate their fundraising and event planning. Another kind of booster is an engine or rocket that's the first stage of launching a space vehicle into orbit. And in medicine, a booster is a second (or subsequent) dose of a vaccine that helps the initial dose work better. All of these boosters assist, encourage, or boost in some way. someone who is an active supporter and advocate synonyms: plugger, promoter In 1986, the Shuttle Challenger was destroyed about a minute after liftoff, when a hole burned through the side of a solid rocket booster, causing a gigantic explosion. I went back the second time to recover from Martin's birth, since I'd gotten dangerously anemic, and to get the boys their booster shots. The same rocket boosters used to launch probes to the planets are poised to send nuclear warheads to the nations. Both men were scientists commuting to their jobs at ATK Systems, where they were helping build rocket boosters.

utopian

If you're looking to relocate to a utopia, good luck! A utopia is an ideal society, and a scheme or vision for producing such a society can be called utopian. In 1516, the English philosopher Thomas More published Utopia, a book about an island nation with the perfect form of government. This novel gave us the adjective utopian, which can be used to describe plans for or works of fiction depicting ideal societies. Dystopian literature, by contrast, describes nightmarishly repressive worlds. It's ironic that More himself may have conceived of his Utopia as a dystopia, or at least a satire. The name of More's novel is anglicized Greek for "no place" — which makes a lot of sense if you think about it. Examples: Before Greeley became a meatpacking town, it was a utopian community of small farmers. The Soviets felt duty-bound to facilitate the inexorable historical march from capitalism towards the utopian dictatorship of the proletariat. "Ayman was attracted from the time he was a teenager into a utopian vision of an Islamic state," Schleifer told me on a visit to Cairo. Every girl wants to be a utopian mermaid!

fate

Is it your fate to win a fortune in the lottery and retire young? Better hope so. Fate is like destiny, so that means winning the lottery would be an inevitable outcome. The word fate traces back to the Latin word fatum, meaning "that which has been spoken," and something that's your fate is a done deal, not open to revision. If you feel like something is your fate, you feel it's beyond your control. Fate is often referred to directly, as if it were a supernatural power: "fate tore us apart." It can also describe your lot in life, like if it's your fate to take over the family farm. A better fate than this," he said mostly to himself. With four girls, Dad was reconciled to his fate of being the Last of the Gilbreths. "The Council of Cloven Elders is meeting now to decide his fate." He scarcely raised his eyes when he heard the door open, but that look was enough for his brother to see repeated in it the irreparable fate of his great-grandfather.

incriminate

Is your homework in shreds and the dog chewing something? Then you can incriminate poor Fido for eating your homework. To incriminate someone (or some dog) of a crime, is more than just accusing them; it's offering some evidence they're guilty. To incriminate someone is to show or prove their guilt with "incriminating evidence." Some famous historical examples of incriminating evidence: When President Nixon declared "I am not a crook," those pesky Watergate tapes suggested otherwise. Or when Lady Macbeth couldn't stop washing her imaginary blood-stained hands? Hmmmm.... Pretty incriminating. verb suggest that someone is guilty synonyms:imply, inculpate Examples: In the list of agreement errors above, for example, the last two sentences appear on my screen free of incriminating squiggles. If I talked, I would only incriminate myself further. Taken at its simplest, it is a clue which directly incriminates someone whose initial is H, and it was dropped there unwittingly by that person." I've found no incriminating emails, no sordid pictures or passionate letters.

surveillance

Many times, a person suspected of something illegal by the authorities is placed under surveillance, meaning he or she is closely watched to see if their suspicions are well-founded. If you break down the word surveillance you get the prefix sur, from the French word for "over" and the root veiller, meaning "to watch." All of which is a roundabout way of saying that if you are under surveillance, you are being closely watched — usually by the authorities, and usually not for a good reason! Those surveillance cameras in banks and stores are put there in the hopes of both preventing crimes and recognizing criminals after a crime has been committed. noun close observation of a person or group (usually by the police) To be attentive to the location of surveillance cameras, as in our Coxsackie tour, was one of them. Anna's motto is "Apply makeup subtly and carry a big purse. " surveillance. Sickened that they would pick on a man's mother and strike at him through terrorizing her, I immediately made calls and asked for police surveillance of both my home and my parents' home. "You said you saw me on a surveillance video, right?"

melanoma

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer. It's important to wear sunblock and protective clothing to protect your skin and prevent melanoma. Melanoma is used for the disease itself and also an individual tumor on the skin. A melanoma often starts as a mole that grows larger or becomes irregular in shape or color. Melanoma is dangerous and fast-spreading, so it's important for people to consult a doctor if they think they have a melanoma. The medical suffix -oma, often used for tumors or growths, is added to the Greek melas, "black." noun any of several malignant neoplasms (usually of the skin) consisting of melanocytes Great-grandmother took him home from hospital, raised him in projects in Oakland, California, until she died of melanoma when Rondell was six. "Everyone knows about breast cancer and self-examinations, but melanoma is still relatively unknown," she says. The author, reckoning with Stage 4 melanoma, demystifies the final experience of our lives, exploring questions of control, fear and regret. A separate presentation at the conference suggests that obesity plays a part in malignant melanoma - a form of skin cancer that is the fifth most common in the UK, causing 2,000 deaths a year.

merit

Merit means "worthiness or excellence." If you receive a certificate of merit in school, you are being recognized for doing a good job. As a verb, merit means "deserve." Your certificate might merit a prominent place on your bulletin board! You will often hear the phrases merit-based promotion and merit-based pay, which come up when employees are pushing against a system in which time on the job--and not job performance--determines when workers are promoted and how much they are paid. Using the word merit suggests impartiality and objectivity--such as when you swear off a prejudiced approach to something and vow to "judge it on its merits." noun the quality of being deserving (e.g., deserving assistance) synonyms: deservingness, meritoriousness Examples: Or was the discovery of new genetic information so novel that it would merit ownership and patentability? By contrast, in other developed countries around the world, a first-time drug offense would merit no more than six months in jail, if jail time is imposed at all. Buckland was able to find merit in them all, except the common garden mole, which he declared disgusting. His name, of course, was Proudfoot, and well merited; his feet were large, exceptionally furry, and both were on the table.

haven

Need to find shelter, from the weather or from other troubles? Then you need a haven. Haven looks a lot like heaven, and the words have quite a bit in common. A haven isn't necessarily as wonderful as heaven is supposed to be, but it is a good place to find when you're in trouble or someone is after you. This word often appears in the phrase "safe haven," which is a good reminder of its meaning. A haven is a safe place, and people who are in trouble tend to seek havens. noun a sheltered port where ships can take on or discharge cargo synonyms:harbor, harbour, seaport Examples: It is said that there are still havens of the High Elves, but they are far north and west, beyond the land of the Halflings. In 1916, shortly after California's ban on wagering, they opened the Tijuana Racecourse, which immediately became a haven for American stables and racing fans. At Berkeley, he moved into the Faculty Club, a haven for bachelors where Ernest Lawrence—at twenty-eight, Oppenheimer's senior by nearly three years— was his neighbor. So he'd borrowed a warhorse and some plate from Lord Dondarrion's armory and entered the lists at Black- haven as a mystery knight.

prosecutor

On a TV crime drama or in real life courts, the prosecutor is the person who brings criminal charges against a suspect. A prosecutor is a lawyer who works for a state or government organization and is responsible for starting legal proceedings and then proving in court that the suspect committed the crime he's accused of. The opposite of a prosecutor is a defense attorney. So on that TV crime drama, the prosecutor is the one trying to put the bad guy in jail, and the defense attorney is the one trying to prove that the guy really isn't a bad guy. noun a government official who conducts criminal prosecutions on behalf of the state synonyms:prosecuting attorney, prosecuting officer, public prosecutor Examples: In the state of Washington, for example, a review of juvenile sentencing reports found that prosecutors routinely described black and white youth differently. Many poor and minority victims complained that they were not getting calls or support from local police and prosecutors. He looks around at the rest of us like a prosecutor making an argument to a jury. As the interview continued, there emerged all the contours of the battle, the idea that Reggie's the victim of zealous prosecutors, a veritable witch hunt.

prioritize

Prioritize means to rank in order of importance. There are so many great clubs and activities to get involved in--you should be sure to prioritize the ones you like, or you'll get burned out. Prioritize can also mean to set something at the top of a ranking system. By prioritizing healthy eating and exercise, you can lose weight and stay in shape. In the same way, when something is a priority, it usually means it has a high priority, or as some like to say, "priority number one." verb assign a priority to "we have too many things to do and must prioritize" synonyms:prioritise Examples: Human and animal foragers are constantly prioritizing and making effort-allocation decisions, even if only unconsciously. Her brother talking about prioritizing his own interests over hers wasn't that different from her prioritizing Mr. Griswold's game over the cipher challenge. Far from prioritizing the needs of the least advantaged, many black reformers began aggressively pursuing policy reforms that would benefit the black elite to the detriment of the poorest segments of the black community. For the first time at Duke, I prioritized my personal happiness.

reckon

Reckon means guess, or imagine, and is often used by rural types in Hollywood movies who say things like "I reckon I'll be moseyin' on." Reckon means guess or think, as in "I reckon he's put his nose where it don't belong one too many times." If reckon sounds odd, that's because it's mostly gone out of style. When used to talk about prediction, it's a little more common, as in "Who do you reckon is going to win the Super Bowl?" Still, it sounds a little old-fashioned. Many people use the word just for fun. Saying "I reckon" sounds more humorous than "Yes." verb expect, believe, or suppose synonyms: guess, imagine, opine, suppose, think Loma was at our house as much as at her own, I reckon, and for a long time after Mama laid down the law I didn't call her anything. "I'm the Baptist so I reckon I'm the one to be baptized." When everybody else was through, he let the chair down and said, "Well, Camp, I reckon you and me better get on back to the store." "He just starts like that. He been at it all morning. Cause it his birthday, I reckon."

trafficker

Someone who delivers or sells illegal goods is a trafficker. Some traffickers move controlled substances or weapons from one state or country to another. In some cases, a trafficker can also be called a smuggler. Traffickers deal in all kinds of goods, from drugs and guns to human beings — some traffickers illegally transport people across borders. To act as a trafficker is to traffic, to trade or sell something illicitly. The k in trafficker indicates how the word is pronounced. Examples: COLIC: colicky frolic: frolicked, frolicker, frolicking GARLIC: garlicky mimic: mimicked, mimicking panic: panicked, panicking, panicky picnic: picnicked, picnicker, picnicking POLITICS: politicker, politicking traffic: trafficked, trafficker, trafficking playwright. The same group of respondents also perceived the typical drug trafficker as black. It was less than he'd asked for, but the trafficker took the thick wad without counting and backed toward his bike. "It is not that way, mademoiselle," the trafficker said.

needless

Something needless isn't required, necessary, or wanted. If you haven't touched that plastic back scratcher since Christmas 1992, it's probably needless. If your mom frets every time you walk out the door, you can assure her that it's needless worry — you'll be fine. And buying extremely pricey underwear might seem to be a needless expense — who cares how fancy your underwear is? Needless comes from need and its Old English root nied, "necessity." adjective unnecessary and unwarranted "a strikers' tent camp...was burned with needless loss of life" synonyms: gratuitous, uncalled-for unnecessary, unneeded not necessary That is, needless to say, a long time to recover from a single volcanic blast. My contribution to the effort was negligible, needless to say, and it took nearly an hour to complete the job. The veracity of this and other reports of relatively recent Ruess sightings, needless to say, is extremely suspect. The horses, needless to say, were not mentioned again.

soothing

Something soothing is comforting; it helps calm fears, anxiety, or pain. Cool aloe vera lotion is very soothing on a really bad sunburn, while pacifiers are soothing to screaming babies. The adjective soothing comes to us from the verb soothe, which means "to relieve." So something soothing brings relief and makes you feel better. Soothing music can help you feel more relaxed, while a soothing cup of hot chocolate can warm you up from the frigid cold. And if you fall and scrape your knee? You'll probably wish your mom was there to offer some soothing words and a kiss to make it all better. adjective affording physical relief "a soothing ointment for her sunburn" Synonyms: comfortable, comfy providing or experiencing physical well-being or relief (`comfy' is informal) Examples: The cloth was soothing, but Irri seemed so sad, it frightened her. Even the cops riding horseback added to the sense of normalcy, the clop-clop-clop of the horses' hooves making a soothing noise. After a while, sleep plucked at him with soft fingers, soothing away the ache. To hasten a cure the community constructed a stage and musicians were hired to play soothing dance music so that the dancers might slowly waltz themselves back to good spiritual health.

palatable

Something that is palatable is acceptable to one's sense of taste—literally or figuratively. If it's palatable, then you can put up with it — whether it's leftovers or a mediocre made-for-TV movie. The palate is the roof of the mouth, the combination of structures that separates the mouth from the nose. Early anatomists believed that the sense of taste was located in the palate, and, just as taste is metaphorically expanded to include sensibilities beyond the experience of food and drink, so palatable can be used to describe phenomena beyond the culinary. And, while palatable can mean pleasing or agreeable, it generally means merely tolerable—edible, rather than delicious. adjective acceptable to the taste or mind "palatable food" "a palatable solution to the problem" synonyms:toothsome Examples: And at this level of experience one's bitterness begins to be palatable, and hatred becomes too heavy a sack to carry. "Its natural consistency is a bit gelatinous and pasty, really, but whipped together with a soup^on of remoulade and spread upon white meat, it's quite palatable." "So beauty to you is what's palatable to everyone else? You're drawing what you think everyone wants to see?" he asks gently. Rick liked to think of them that way; it made his job palatable.

overdue

Something that's overdue should have happened or been dealt with a long time ago, like the long overdue recognition for the people who rescued motorists in last winter's big snowstorm. Overdue literally means "past the due date." Bills that aren't paid on time are overdue. So are library books not returned or renewed by the date specified by the library. However, some things that are overdue don't have a particular date associated with them. Instead, it is up to subjective perception: if it seems "too long" then something may be considered overdue, like an overdue visit from a friend or a positive change that's overdue. adjective past due; not paid at the scheduled time "an overdue installment" synonyms:delinquent due owed and payable immediately or on demand Examples: I knew I ought to cry, but I'd lived with my parents for sixteen years, and a trial separation seemed overdue. It was a week overdue, and I wasn't going to get to it over the weekend. "I do. At any rate, we're overdue for a Level Five security drill," says Coin. As always, there were overdue bills mixed with throwaway flyers printed with cheap black ink that rubbed off onto his fingers.

sweeping

Something that's sweeping is wide-ranging or thorough. A political candidate might campaign on promises to bring sweeping change to a country. Sweeping things can be extensive, like the sweeping powers a president has in a dictatorship, or curving, like the sweeping motion a dancer makes with his arm. Sweeping can also mean "overly broad," so if you make a sweeping generalization, you take a general idea or rule and apply it too widely, without allowing any exceptions to it. adjective taking in or moving over (or as if over) a wide area; often used in combination "a sweeping glance" "a wide- sweeping view of the river" Synonyms: broad, wide having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other Examples: Frankie and Joseph scoured the floor, sweeping their hands across the carpet. There would be lots of shoveling and raking and sweeping. Gilderoy Lockhart, however, was immaculate in sweeping robes of turquoise, his golden hair shining under a perfectly positioned turquoise hat with gold trimming. Beside the last line, we made two sweeping arcs, carving a circle into the ground, and filled it with the kindling as well.

stall

Stall means to stop or delay. If your car stalls, it comes to a stop. When you want a horse to stop, you put him in a stall, or small enclosure inside a barn. The word stall implies stopping something that will start again — a horse will leave the stall eventually and start moving, a stalled car can be restarted. Remember that when you're thinking about stall in the sense of postpone or delay. You can stall your professor from giving an exam by talking about last night's big game. Your little sister can stall going to bed by asking for one more story. If you want to delay an approaching army, you might steal their boots — they'll still come but the "stall tactic" will buy you time. noun small area set off by walls for special use synonyms:booth, cubicle, kiosk Examples: All the children in the neighborhood loved the stall and Grandpa Hong, with his gray hair and wispy beard. There were other market-folk and visitors setting up their stalls all over the meadow, putting up tents and hanging draperies from trees. On weekends she takes me to market stalls, dropping off the clothes and trying to collect on last week's goods. Then the outer door would unlock itself and slide open, revealing a steel-reinforced air lock about the size of a shower stall.

steep

Steep means sharply angled. When hiking trails lead straight up mountainsides, they've got a steep incline. Steep also means "to soak in," as in steeping a tea bag in boiling water. You often hear steep used as an adjective to describe cliffs, hills, or even water park slides that have a perilous slope. Steep can apply to curves on a chart--you might say when someone who has a lot to learn that their learning curve is going to be steep. Steep also comes up to describe exorbitant changes in costs or spending. Everyone would love to travel more, but sometimes plane fare is too steep. Synonyms: abrupt, precipitous, sharp extremely steep bluff, bold, sheer very steep; having a prominent and almost vertical front heavy sharply inclined perpendicular extremely steep steepish somewhat steep steep-sided having very steep sides perpendicular, vertical at right angles to the plane of the horizon or a base line Negotiating optimistically the steep, slippery slopes of life. The tiercel appeared in the mist, flew close to her, then dove earthward at a steep angle. The hillsides are too steep, the road too open, the areas between the road's double-backs too shallow with shrubs. And then he lifted up both gloved hands and fiddled with the valves until the balloon made a steep descent.

Inoculation

That shot the doctor gave you was an inoculation — that is, a preventative measure against disease. Inoculation is also known as "vaccination." Inoculation is a fancy word from the Latin term inoculationem, meaning "engrafting" or "budding." That is exactly what an inoculation is — the grafting of a milder form of some horrible disease in you that will prevent you from getting a far nastier version. Inoculation and its various forms has also taken on a metaphorical meaning of being protected against something, as in the American politician Alan K. Simpson's quote that "an educated man is thoroughly inoculated against humbug." noun taking a vaccine as a precaution against contracting a disease synonyms: vaccination De Becker, whose firm provides security for public figures, puts his bodyguards through a program of what he calls stress inoculation. This judgment also ignores the fact that inoculation with the spores need be done only once; the first cost is the only cost. Other prisoners said he was lucky and would never get it again—that a mild case was like an inoculation. Nita's informant among the GPs provided her with the inoculation serum months ago.

wise

The adjective wise describes someone who has experience and a deep understanding. Your wise older sister always gives the best advice. When you make a decision based on careful thought and good judgment, you've made a wise choice. If someone calls you a wise guy, though, it's not a compliment: it's likely to be a criticism of your joke at someone else's expense or your rudeness. To wise off (or sometimes, to be wise), has a similar meaning: to talk back or be disrespectful. adjective having or prompted by wisdom or discernment "a wise leader" "a wise and perceptive comment" Synonyms: advisable worthy of being recommended or suggested; prudent or wise Examples: Sitting motionless in his bright, rich garments he seemed like some wise king from a legend. I think it's also wise that we are allowed to glean ourselves. "We shall feed the parrot to the beasts of the deep, as your drawings suggest, and none will be the wiser." The memories of his friend changed in his mind so that he remembered nothing that was wrong or foolish—only the wise and good.

doomed

The doomed are people marked by very bad luck, particularly death. When you learn about a tragedy, like a tsunami that kills many people, it makes you feel terrible for the doomed. Doomed is a plural noun for referring to a group of unfortunate people, and it's also an adjective describing someone who's destined to die. A runaway dog that kills the animal control officer's pet chickens is doomed, and many characters in Shakespeare's tragic plays are doomed. You can also follow doomed with "to" to mean "destined" or "fated." Your uncle might be doomed to continue working as a school bus driver for the rest of his career. noun people who are destined to die soon "the agony of the doomed was in his voice" synonyms:lost Examples: Ever. By any means. Which is why our nineteen-eighties expedition was doomed to fail." It also seemed strange to Raymie that Edgar was doomed to smile through the whole thing. "Matthias, thank you with all my heart for saving my family. We thought we were doomed." Maybe Albert Nightingale was like a vampire in a novel, doomed to witness centuries going by.

commemorate

To commemorate something means to remember something and by doing so to honor it, as in "We would like to commemorate his many years of past service by presenting him with this lovely gold watch." The word commemorate has a pretty clear echo of memory in it, so it can help to keep it in your mind just by noticing that. You might also notice that you've seen the word before, either in late-night infomercials or in various advertisements in magazines, when they talk about commemorative plates, or stamps, or coins: little things that are supposed to honor events or people by recalling them to our collective memory. Examples: But a ragtag group of the former ladies-in-waiting and their offspring by the fisherfolk established a festival to commemorate the battle. At Camp Half-Blood, demigods got bead necklaces to commemorate years of training. The engineer corps was working on a new arch that would commemorate the victory over Polybotes. April 6 is the day white South Africans annually commemorate as the founding of their country — and Africans revile as the beginning of three hundred years of enslavement.

commingle

To commingle is to blend together, the way different flavors commingle in a stew or people from all over the world commingle in a big city. The verb commingle is a slightly literary way to say "mix until blended." The book Charlotte's Web commingles sadness and humor. If you combine the money you were saving to buy books with your weekly spending money, you commingle your funds. Commingle is formed with the Latin prefix com-, "together," and mingle from the Middle English myngen, "to mix." verb mix or blend "His book commingles sarcasm and sadness" Examples: The sharp smell of alcohol wafted from the pocket of commingled breath hanging between us. Longing and elation, anguish and joy—they were all there, sometimes commingling in the same canvas. The look in his face is some commingling of panic and desire. Computers and communications technology commingling with open spaces.

crumble

To crumble is to come apart into tiny pieces. If the doughnuts you bring to work crumble before you get there, you co-workers will have nothing but crumbs to snack on. Baked goods seem to crumble easily, but other things tend to crumble too: old houses, over time; sand castles; fragile ruins; and art objects made from clay. Anything that falls apart, especially into small bits, can be said to crumble. The root of the word is the Old English gecrymman, "to break into crumbs," which in turn comes from cruma, "crumb or fragment." verb break or fall apart into fragments "The cookies crumbled" "The Sphinx is crumbling" synonyms:fall apart Examples: The rampart a huge crumbling bulwark above him. The bones crumble between your teeth; one touch and they fall apart. Half a millennium ago, the Scholars crumbled beneath the Martial invasion because our blades broke against their superior steel. Our trailer was near the northern edge of the stacks, which ran up to a crumbling highway overpass.

denounce

To denounce is to tattle, rat out, or speak out against something. When you stand on your desk and tell the class that your partner is cheating, you denounce him or her. The prefix de- means "down," as in destroy or demolish (tear down). Add that to the Latin root nuntiare, meaning "announce," and de- plus announce equals denounce. It's a word that shows up in the headlines often, as a country might denounce a corrupt election. Politicians love to denounce the shady behavior or their opponents. Denounce can also mean the official end of something, like a treaty. Examples: Even Pilar couldn't denounce her for being a hypocrite. He might denounce me there before the whole school. Above all, Lourdes and her father continue to denounce the Communist threat to America. North Korea's news agency denounced the flight as "premeditated allurement, abduction, and terrorism."

morph

To morph is to change from one shape to another. A cute bunny, for example, might morph into a killer dragon in a fairy tale or an animated film. Morph comes from the word metamorphosis, which is a Greek word meaning "a transforming." As a verb, it has only been around since the 1980s, when computers allowed animators to make things change shape in an apparently seamlessly way. With the right skills, you can morph a toaster into a highly intelligent robot that helps fight crime, offers dating advice to the protagonist of the film, and still makes an excellent piece of toast. verb cause to change shape in a computer animation "The computer programmer morphed the image" Examples: Frank morphed back into a burly, grumpy Chinese Canadian dude. There's Dad emerging from the ocean like a sun god and morphing into a body made of ashes. His backpack hadn't yet morphed into a bow and quiver, which was probably prudent. The shadows rise, morphing into a manlike shape.

morph

To morph is to change from one shape to another. A cute bunny, for example, might morph into a killer dragon in a fairy tale or an animated film. Morph comes from the word metamorphosis, which is a Greek word meaning "a transforming." As a verb, it has only been around since the 1980s, when computers allowed animators to make things change shape in an apparently seamlessly way. With the right skills, you can morph a toaster into a highly intelligent robot that helps fight crime, offers dating advice to the protagonist of the film, and still makes an excellent piece of toast. verb cause to change shape in a computer animation "The computer programmer morphed the image" see less type of: alter, change, modify cause to change; make different; cause a transformation verb change shape as via computer animation "In the video, Michael Jackson morphed into a panther" see less type of: contort, deform, distort, wring twist and press out of shape Examples: He looks up at me, his face morphing from pain to confusion to fear. The former double agent now morphed into the model prisoner, charming the Scrubs' guards and administrators and making friends among its inmates. As the months progressed, they'd morphed into something warm and alive, liquid and vibrant. I force a cough, but it morphs into a choke halfway through.

stumble

To stumble means to nearly fall by tripping or missing a step. When you walk over uneven cobblestones, it's easy to stumble, so please be careful. While stumble often means to nearly fall, it can also mean to make a misstep of a different kind. If you stumble over your words, you speak in a stuttering confused manner. Politicians make so many public decisions that they're bound to stumble — make a mistake — occasionally. When you stumble on rare mushrooms, i.e. come across them unexpectedly, be sure have the species verified before you eat them. verb miss a step and fall or nearly fall "She stumbled over the tree root" synonyms:trip Examples: Slowly, and with great effort, Charlie takes several steps backward, stumbling against the examination table as he goes. He stumbled forward, and Bits directed him toward the front of the school. He thought it was fitting for people to stumble across his magazine of stumbled across items. As I stumbled up the hill, I was struck by how very beautiful the farm looked in the hazy early light.

underscore

To underscore is to draw special attention to a fact, idea, or situation. When you're involved in a debate, it's wise to underscore the points that best support your argument. Literally, underscore means "to underline," or draw a line beneath a word to emphasize it. In common speech, to underscore something is to call attention to it. If a worker sustained an injury on the job, for instance, the event would underscore the need for workplace safety. Underscore is also used to mean "emphasize." During a job interview, you want to underscore any experience that relates to the job you are applying for. verb give extra weight to (a communication) synonyms: emphasise, emphasize, underline To underscore her authority it is likely that Cleopatra arranged a stop at Memphis—the former capital where the pharaohs of ages past resided. He wanted to underscore the waste and immorality of the standard American diet. My favorites are those that underscore just how much uploading is empowering the little guys and gals. As if to underscore his words, at that moment the sky opened, and Kaede stuffed the last bite of her bun into her mouth as they all scrambled for their rain gear.

notorious

Use the adjective notorious to describe people, places, or things that are famous for a bad reason. A good synonym for notorious is infamous; both words mean "well-known, and not in a good way." A celebrity convicted of a series of crimes might be referred to as notorious, as might a book that has been banned in several countries. The word originally meant just "famous" and could carry either positive or negative connotations. Only in recent centuries did the negative uses start to outweigh the positive ones. In general, you'd rather be famous than notorious — unless you're looking to build a bad reputation. adjective known widely and usually unfavorably "a notorious gangster" "the tenderloin district was notorious for vice" synonyms:ill-famed, infamous disreputable lacking respectability in character or behavior or appearance Examples: He was one of the notorious Kleynhans brothers, known for their brutality to prisoners. According to an account by Galen, it was Euergetes who was responsible for one of the most notorious acts of bait and switch in ancient history. Yet within days Davis was spotted consorting with some of the county's notorious criminals. It is well known that Neuengamme is a concentration camp near Hamburg, notorious for its subhuman conditions, where brutal guards force prisoners to do hard labor with inadequate food and live in squalid cells.

vulnerable

Use the adjective vulnerable to describe something or someone open to being physically or emotionally wounded, like a newborn chick or an overly sensitive teenager. Vulnerable is from Latin and is based on vulnus, "wound." From its literal meaning, it has come to be more often used for someone who is easily hurt or likely to succumb to temptation. It's best used for a person whose feelings are so delicate that they can't withstand any criticism or pressure: "Don't speak harshly to her, she's very vulnerable today." adjective capable of being wounded or hurt "vulnerable parts of the body" Synonyms: weak wanting in physical strength Examples: He looks suddenly alone, vulnerable even in his determination. That night, she set up her guard post near the window to the side yard where she thought we were most vulnerable. The color of our skin made us vulnerable. And still, somehow, she felt vulnerable in a way that was totally unfamiliar to her.

victim

Use the word victim to describe someone who has been wronged or harmed, like the victim of the armed robbery or the stores that went out of business, victims of the slow economy. The noun victim refers to a person who has been harmed by a crime, accident, or other adverse circumstances, such as a victim of a tsunami or a victim of domestic violence. It can also refer to someone has been tricked or swindled, like when you paid $2 for a candy bar that should only have cost a dollar — you were the victim of someone's scheme to pocket half the money from the candy bar sale. noun an unfortunate person who suffers from some adverse circumstance Examples: How would we be able to tell that they were all victims of a merciless war? In the era of affirmative action it became more and more difficult to distinguish the middle-class victim of social oppression from the lower-class victim. He placed his left hand over it and began to pump in the manner of someone attempting to resuscitate a drowning victim. Each and every victim is a world destroyed, a family ruined, friends and relatives scarred for life.

swollen

When something's swollen, it's puffed up, rounded, and misshapen. If you've sprained your ankle, it's likely to be swollen and may look more like a grapefruit than the body part you know and love. When something swells up, it's swollen, and that can be anything from knees and glands to pregnant bellies. You can also use swollen more poetically: you can describe someone with a big ego as having a swollen head. A stormy ocean with big, angry waves is a swollen sea. And a state with out-of-control spending has a swollen budget, inflated by special projects and other expenses that there's not enough money to pay for. adjective characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense of self-importance "so swollen by victory that he was unfit for normal duty" "growing ever more swollen-headed and arbitrary" synonyms: conceited, egotistic, egotistical, self-conceited, swollen-headed, vain She looks up, eyes swollen with grief, but doesn't speak. Ma's face is red and swollen, and, as always, she is holding Geak. Elsewhere in the trading center, children with swollen stomachs and strange copper hair clustered under storefronts. Worst of all, the flesh on the palms of my hands was peeled, swollen, and blistered.

bolster

When you cheer up a friend who's feeling down, you bolster them. To bolster is to offer support or strengthen. A bolster is also the name of a long pillow you might use to make your back feel better. And the two uses are not dissimilar. When you bolster your friends, you support them and prop them up, just like the pillow does for your back. When you're trying to bolster your credibility, you find people and/or documents that support you or your view. Bolster efforts to learn this word! verb support and strengthen "bolster morale" synonyms:bolster up Examples: I think about the old woman from our block, Khadijah auntie, who raised her fist to bolster me when some of the others were yelling at me about the fast. Alexander said warmly, while Beowulf nodded in agreement, and this bolstered her courage a great deal. When court convened at the next term the court and sheriff were bolstered by sixty militiamen, but by then the defendant was not available for trial. He raised himself up upon the bolster, and I slipped a pewter bowl beneath his arm.

flatter

When you flatter someone, you praise and compliment him or her — but you aren't totally sincere. You flatter your friend by telling her she's the best driver in the world. Because you want her to offer you a ride. The Old French flater originally meant "to stroke or caress," which is what you do to people's egos when you flatter them. When you flatter, you probably want something — it could be as simple as wanting someone to like you. That's why people who meet celebrities tell them they're the greatest. More positively, if your hairstyle flatters your face, it emphasizes your best features. verb praise somewhat dishonestly synonyms: blandish Then the path levels, and opens into a flatter patch of land. Something told me to refuse, but I was intrigued and, underneath it all, was probably flattered. "One is flatter than the other. You see?" I did not need to learn to flatter women.

hunker down

When you hunker down, you settle into a safe, sheltered position. Some people evacuate their homes during a big hurricane, while others hunker down and wait for the storm to pass. This term is such a popular way to describe taking shelter from a storm that it's become a weather report cliché. You might hunker down in your basement during a tornado watch, but you can also hunker down during an argument, refusing to budge from your stated position. Hunker comes from Scottish — it means "crouch on your heels" or "squat." Sometimes the phrase is also used to mean "get to work," like when you hunker down and finish your homework. verb sit on one's heels synonyms: crouch, hunker, scrunch, scrunch up, squat A branch snapped in the woods—something large, from the sound of it—and Sefia and Archer dashed off the path, hunkering down among the leaves. Most of the squad hunker down in their sleeping bags. All day the children knelt beside one another in the fields, hunkered down close against the earth beneath the heat of the sun. Better to hunker down in his house with his chickens and forget.

sprint

When you run really fast, you sprint. You and your sister might sprint to the bus stop, racing to see who can get there first. In the sport of track and field, a sprint is a short race that's run at top speed the whole way. Two professional cyclists also sprint when they race on bikes that start out side-by-side. If you notice a swarm of angry wasps heading your direction, you can sprint indoors, hoping you move faster than they do. Sprint has a Scandinavian root, possibly the Old Norse word spretta, "to jump up." verb run very fast, usually for a short distance see more noun a quick run synonyms:dash Examples: He sprinted for the back stairs and was already kneeling at the Queen's feet, while Lancelot was raging round the Porter's lodge, demanding the Queen. The late bell rings, and the last people in the parking lot sprint for the door. I stare at him for a moment and then sprint for the stairs. Holding his bike and wheeling it along beside him, he sprinted through the gates.

synchronize

When you synchronize things, you make them happen at the same time. If you have rhythm, you can synchronize your dance moves with the beat of the music. If not, stay off the dance floor. Synchronize, pronounced "SINK-ruh-nize," means "to make things happen at the same time" — even down to a fraction of a second, as in synchronized swimming. In that sport, one movement that doesn't sync, or match up, costs the swimmers points. When you synchronize your wristwatches, people can't blame their watches being fast or slow if they don't come to the meeting spot at the right time. Examples: Somehow he held himself together and synchronized the watches. The UPS people are not just synchronizing your packages—they are synchronizing your whole company and its interaction with both customers and suppliers. A weight dropped, crashed downward, then pounded aside at the last moment under the synchronized thump of a sudden force beam. After all, whenever we were together for a while under the same roof, our cycles became as synchronized as our watches.

inherit

When your grandmother dies, you might inherit her tea set. Regardless of her death, you might inherit her sense of humor or rather large nose. To inherit is to receive from a predecessor. When you are talking about property, inherit is always used to describe something you get after someone else has died. However, there doesn't have to be a death involved to use the word inherit. When you start a new job, you might inherit less than pleasant tasks from the person who had the job before you. You might also quickly inherit their desire to find a new place to work. verb receive from a predecessor "The new chairman inherited many problems from the previous chair" verb obtain from someone after their death "I inherited a castle from my French grandparents" see more verb receive by genetic transmission "I inherited my good eyesight from my mother" Examples: Since those are the oldest West African crops, all modern southern Nigerian languages inherited the same original set of words for them. And it was from Cody that he inherited money--a legacy of twenty-five thousand dollars. De Gouvéa proposed an "inherited factor" as the cause of these rare eye tumors. Mendel's laws guarantee that all five variants will rarely be inherited in toto by two siblings.

halt

Whether it's used as a noun or a verb, the word halt means stop. You can remember this by remembering that when you step on the brake to halt your car (verb), it comes to a halt (noun). English draws on both Romance and Germanic languages, and halt is one that comes from the Old High German haltmachen, which means "to hold." The word suggests a stoppage in the midst of action, and a Chinese proverb states, "We are not so much concerned if you are slow as when you come to a halt." Consider, also, that a less-used definition of the word is that of "lame" or disabled, which still ties in with the idea of stopping. verb cause to stop "Halt the engines" "halt the presses" synonyms:arrest, hold Examples: The bookshelf-door ground to a halt as soon as it touched her arm. Having to travel so far and so slow and with so many halts, it looked like we'd never get him home. A growl tore through the sky and caused everyone in the vicinity—the Algerians of Bloom's village, the Egyptians and Persians and every visitor within one hundred yards—to halt and stare at the wheel. But when they got to the top of the Hillary Step, Hall couldn't get Hansen down the 40-foot vertical drop, and their progress ground to a halt.

savvy

You are known as someone with a lot of business savvy, but only because you've managed to keep your staggering debts a secret. Which is actually pretty savvy. Someone who is savvy is shrewd and perceptive. Most English words stem directly from other European languages, like French and Latin. Not savvy. It comes from the West Indies, a twist on the French savez vous? — "Do you know?" Savvy was first recorded in its adjective form in 1905. Synonyms for the noun form include acumen, discernment, grasp, perception, and sharpness. adjective marked by practical hardheaded intelligence synonyms:astute, sharp, shrewd smart showing mental alertness and calculation and resourcefulness Examples: Or that the audiences were savvy and appreciative. The slick, savvy streets of Harlem welcomed me. And he was savvy enough to understand that the more attention he got from the news media, the easier it would be to coax corporations to open their checkbooks. No sooner would an officer become savvy as to which rules were commonly ignored, however, than somebody in a white shirt would appear to shake up his whole understanding of accepted practice.

contagious

You should probably postpone dinner if your date's cold is contagious — that means it's easily spread and likely to get you sick. Contagious actually evolved from contagio, the Latin phrase for "contact." Those smart ancient Romans — they figured out that the sick and contagious can pass on their plague to those they touch or get close to. So the word contagious usually sends people running. But let's not forget that a smile or good deed can be just as infectious as a cough! synonyms: catching, communicable, contractable, transmissible, transmittable But in many cases the contagious spread of a new idea is actually quite tricky. The message here — new seeds — was highly contagious and powerfully sticky. It's like when Mom goes crazy, so do I. Her insanity is contagious. His sadness is contagious, sending an ache over me.

thigh

Your thigh is the part of your leg between your hip and your knee. Your thighs are probably the strongest parts of your body. Humans' thighs have just one extremely strong bone, the femur, and many muscles, including the hamstrings and quadriceps. Your thigh is joined to your torsos with a ball-and-socket hip joint, and to your lower leg by the hinge joint of a knee. The word thigh comes from a Germanic source that means "the thick or fat part of the leg." I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through. I rolled under his legs and stabbed him in the back of his thigh. The farther trees looked shadowy, and almost black, and the stream was suddenly opaque, eddying about Kingshaw's thighs. Reg shuffled in his chair, his right hand massaging his thigh just above the spot where the gauze ended.