2254 Flashcards
traverse
\trə-ˈvərs\
D. to cross an area of land or water
E. skiers traversing the slopes / The region is traversed by several roads.
travesty
'tra-ve’s-tē\
D. something that does not have the qualities or values that it should have, and as a result is often shocking or offensive; a burlesque; a distortion
E. the trial was a travesty of justice. / His claim is a travesty of the facts.
treatise
\ˈtrē-təs\
D. a long and serious piece of writing on a particular subject
trek
D. to travel slowly
E. Star Trek: into darkness
tremor
'tre-me’r\
D. a slight shaking movement in a part of your body caused, for example, by cold or fear
E. There was a slight tremor in his voice. / She felt a tremor of fear run through her.
tremulous
D. shaking slightly because you are nervous; causing you to shake slightly
E. a tremulous voice / He was in a state of tremulous excitement.
trenchant
D. keen; forceful
E. His trenchant views on the subject are well known.
trepidation
\tre-pe’-‘dā-she’n\
D. great worry or fear about something unpleasant that may happen
E. He answered the door with some trepidation.
tribulation
\ˌtri-byə-ˈlā-shən\
D. great trouble or suffering
E. the tribulations of modern life
tribunal
\trī-‘byü-ne’l\
D. a type of court with the authority to deal with a particular problem or disagreement
E. an international war crimes tribunal / a military tribunal
trite
D. dull and boring because it has been expressed so many times before; not original
troth
\ˈträth\
D. loyal; one’s pledged word
E. pledged my troth / by my troth, I will not trespass on your precious property
truckle
\ˈträ-kəl\
D. to submit and be servile
E. the kind of guy who truckles to anyone who has even a suspicion of money
truculent
'trä-cyü-le’nt\
D. tending to argue or be bad-tempered; slightly aggressive
E. ‘What do you want?’ he asked, sounding slightly truculent.
truism
\trui-se’m\
D. a statement that is clearly true and does not therefore add anything interesting or important to a discussion
E. ended his letter with the overused truism, “You can’t win them all!”
trumpery
\ˈträm-p(ə-)rē\
D. objects of little value
E. a wagon loaded with household trumpery
truncate
D. to make something shorter, especially by cutting off the top or end
E. My article was published in truncated form. / Further discussion was truncated by the arrival of tea.
truncheon
\ˈtrən-chən\
D. a short thick stick that police officers carry as a weapon
E. police officers were forced to use their truncheons on the rioters
tryst
\trist\
D. a secret meeting between lovers
E. both lovers had to hurry to keep their noontime tryst in the park
tumid
\ˈtü-məd\
D. swollen; inflated
E. he’d just been in a fight, and was nursing his tumid lip
turbid
D. full of mud, dirt, etc. so that you cannot see through it
E. the pond water became turbid from our swimming and splashing / turbid depths of degradation and misery
turbulence
D. a state of commotion or agitation, a situation in which there is a lot of sudden change, confusion, disagreement and sometimes violence
E. a period of turbulence in the country’s history / We experienced severe turbulence during the flight.
turgid
D. boring, complicated and difficult to understand; swollen; containing more water than usual
E. turgid prose / the turgid waters of the Niles
turncoat
'te’rn-cōt\
D. a person who leaves one political party, religious group, etc. to join one that has very different views
E. the plot of the story revolved around the gangster’s relentless determination to learn the identity of the turncoat
