18/07/20(Princeton's New GRE 1014 Question:Drill 6) Flashcards
quadruped
COUNTABLE NOUN
A quadruped is any animal with four legs.
[formal]
marsupial
COUNTABLE NOUN
A marsupial is an animal such as a kangaroo or an opossum. Female marsupials carry their babies in a pouch on their stomach.
scat
excrement
UNCOUNTABLE NOUN
Scat is a type of jazz singing in which the singer sings sounds rather than complete words.
excrement left by an animal, esp. a wild animal
UNCOUNTABLE NOUN Excrement is the solid waste that is passed out of a person or animal's body through their bowels. [formal] The cage smelled of excrement. Synonyms: faeces, dung, stool, droppings
burrow
- VERB
If an animal burrows into the ground or into a surface, it moves through it by making a tunnel or hole.
The larvae burrow into cracks in the floor. [VERB preposition/adverb]
Synonyms: dig, tunnel, excavate
badger
- COUNTABLE NOUN
A badger is a wild animal which has a white head with two wide black stripes on it. Badgers live underground and usually come up to feed at night.
2.
INFORMAL•US
a native of Wisconsin.
verb
repeatedly ask (someone) to do something; pester.
“Tom had finally badgered her into going”
incisor
COUNTABLE NOUN
Your incisors are the teeth at the front of your mouth which you use for biting into food.
rodent
COUNTABLE NOUN
Rodents are small mammals which have sharp front teeth. Rats, mice, and squirrels are rodents.
wear down
- PHRASAL VERB
If you wear someone down, you make them gradually weaker or less determined until they eventually do what you want.
None can match your sheer will-power and persistence in wearing down the opposition. [VERB PARTICLE noun (not pronoun)]
They hoped the waiting and the uncertainty would wear down my resistance. [VERB PARTICLE noun]
He believed that he could wear her down if he only asked often enough. [VERB noun PARTICLE]
territorial
- ADJECTIVE
If you describe an animal or its behaviour as territorial, you mean that it has an area which it regards as its own, and which it defends when other animals try to enter it.
Two cats or more in one house will also exhibit territorial behaviour.
dispel
VERB
To dispel an idea or feeling that people have means to stop them having it.
This result should dispel the notion that developing countries are dependent on exports of agricultural products. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: drive away, dismiss, eliminate, resolve
to remove fears, doubts, and false ideas, usually by proving them wrong or unnecessary:
I’d like to start the speech by dispelling a few rumours that have been spreading recently.
extinction
UNCOUNTABLE NOUN
The extinction of a species of animal or plant is the death of all its remaining living members.
An operation is beginning to try to save a species of crocodile from extinction.
Many species have been shot to the verge of extinction.
Synonyms: dying out, death, destruction, abolition
strike down
- PHRASAL VERB
If a judge or court strikes down a law or regulation, they say that it is illegal and end it.
[US]
The Supreme Court today struck down a law that prevents criminals from profiting from books or movies about their crimes. [VERB PARTICLE noun] - PHRASAL VERB [usually passive]
If someone is struck down, especially by an illness, they are killed or severely harmed by it.
[written]
Frank had been struck down by a massive heart attack. [be VERB-ed PARTICLE]
…a great sporting hero, struck down at 49. [VERB-ed PARTICLE]
sediment
VARIABLE NOUN
Sediment is solid material that settles at the bottom of a liquid, especially earth and pieces of rock that have been carried along and then left somewhere by water, ice, or wind.
Many organisms that die in the sea are soon buried by sediment.
…ocean sediments.
Synonyms: dregs, grounds, residue, lees
render
- VERB
You can use render with an adjective that describes a particular state to say that someone or something is changed into that state. For example, if someone or something makes a thing harmless, you can say that they render it harmless.
It contained so many errors as to render it worthless. [VERB noun adjective]
Many factories are rendered obsolete by the competitive pressures of the world market. [VERB noun adjective]
Synonyms: make, cause to become, leave
provide or give (a service, help, etc.).
“money serves as a reward for services rendered”
mural
COUNTABLE NOUN
A mural is a picture painted on a wall.
…a mural of Tangier bay. [+ of]
stratification
UNCOUNTABLE NOUN
Stratification is the division of something, especially society, into different classes or layers.
[formal]
She was concerned about the stratification of American society. [+ of]
crater
COUNTABLE NOUN
A crater is a very large hole in the ground, which has been caused by something hitting it or by an explosion.
Synonyms: hollow, hole, depression, dip
conjecture
- VARIABLE NOUN
A conjecture is a conclusion that is based on information that is not certain or complete.
[formal]
That was a conjecture, not a fact.
There are several conjectures.
The future of the province remains a matter of conjecture.
Synonyms: guess, theory, fancy, notion
famine
VARIABLE NOUN
Famine is a situation in which large numbers of people have little or no food, and many of them die.
Thousands of refugees are trapped by war, drought and famine.
The civil war is obstructing distribution of famine relief by aid agencies.
Synonyms: hunger, want, starvation, deprivation
speculate
- VERB
If you speculate about something, you make guesses about its nature or identity, or about what might happen.
Critics of the project speculate about how many hospitals could be built instead. [VERB preposition]
It would be unfair to speculate on the reasons for her resignation. [VERB preposition]
The doctors speculate that he died of a cerebral haemorrhage caused by a blow on the head. [VERB that]
The reader can speculate what will happen next. [VERB wh]
[Also V, V with quote]
Synonyms: conjecture, consider, wonder, guess - VERB
If someone speculates financially, they buy property, stocks, or shares, in the hope of being able to sell them again at a higher price and make a profit.
Big farmers are moving in, in order to speculate with rising land prices. [VERB preposition/adverb]
The banks speculated in property whose value has now dropped. [VERB preposition/adverb]
[Also VERB]
Synonyms: gamble, risk, venture, hazard
lapdog
- a pet dog small and docile enough to be cuddled in the lap
- informal
a person who attaches himself or herself to someone in admiration or infatuation
alleviate
VERB
If you alleviate pain, suffering, or an unpleasant condition, you make it less intense or severe.
[formal]
Nowadays, a great deal can be done to alleviate back pain. [VERB noun]
…the problem of alleviating mass poverty. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: ease, reduce, relieve, moderate
skyrocket
VERB
If prices or amounts skyrocket, they suddenly increase by a very large amount.
Production has dropped while prices and unemployment have skyrocketed. [VERB]
…the skyrocketing costs of health care. [VERB-ing]
intervene
- VERB
If you intervene in a situation, you become involved in it and try to change it.
The situation calmed down when police intervened. [VERB]
The Government is doing nothing to intervene in the crisis. [VERB + in]
Synonyms: step in [informal], interfere, mediate, intrude
anthropology
UNCOUNTABLE NOUN
Anthropology is the scientific study of people, society, and culture.
countervailing
ADJECTIVE [ADJECTIVE noun]
A countervailing force, power, or opinion is one which is of equal strength to another one but is its opposite or opposes it.
[formal]
Their strategy is greatest in effect when there is no countervailing power.
tilt
- VERB
If you tilt an object or if it tilts, it moves into a sloping position with one end or side higher than the other.
She tilted the mirror and began to comb her hair. [VERB noun]
Leonard tilted his chair back on two legs and stretched his long body. [VERB noun adverb/preposition]
The boat instantly tilted, filled and sank. [VERB]
[Also V adv/prep]
Synonyms: slant, tip, slope, list
fragile
- ADJECTIVE
If you describe a situation as fragile, you mean that it is weak or uncertain, and unlikely to be able to resist strong pressure or attack.
[journalism]
…moves that will place added strain on an already fragile economy.
The Prime Minister’s fragile government was on the brink of collapse.
His overall condition remained fragile.
Synonyms: unstable, weak, vulnerable, delicate
