Barron's 3500 List 7 Flashcards
<p>blunder</p>
<p>N. error. The criminal's fatal blunder led to his capture. alsoV.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>blurt</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>V. utter impulsively. Before she could stop him, he blurted out the news.</p>
<p>bluster</p>
<p>V. blow in heavy gusts; threaten emptily; bully. "Let the stormy winds bluster," cried Jack, "we'll set sail tonight." Jill let Jack bluster. she wasn't going anywhere, no matter what he said.</p>
<p>bode</p>
<p>V. foreshadow; portend. The gloomy skies and the sulphurous odors from the mineral springs seemed to bode evil to those who settled in the area.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>bogus</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>ADJ. counterfeit; not authentic. The police quickly found the distributors of the bogus twenty-dollar bills.</p>
<p>bohemian</p>
<p>ADJ. unconventional (in an artistic way). Gertrude Stein ran off to Paris to live an eccentric, bohemian life with her writer friends. Oakland was not bohemian: it was too bourgeois, too middle-class.</p>
<p>boisterous</p>
<p>ADJ. violent; rough; noisy. The unruly crowd became even more boisterous when he tried to quiet them.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>bolster</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>V. support; reinforce. The debaters amassed file boxes full of evidence to bolstertheir arguments.</p>
<p>bolt</p>
<p>N. door bar; fastening pin or screw; length of fabric. The carpenter shut the workshop door, sliding the heavy metal bolt into place. He sorted through his toolbox for the nuts and bolts and nails he would need. Before he cut into the bolt of canvas, he measured how much fabric he would need.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>bolt</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>V. dash or dart off; fasten (a door); gobble down. Jack was set to bolt out the front door, but Jill bolted the door. “Eat your breakfast,” she said, “don’t bolt your food.”</p>
<p>bombardment</p>
<p>N. attack with missiles. The enemy bombardment demolished the town. Members of the opposition party bombarded the prime minister with questions about the enemy attack.</p>
<p>bombastic</p>
<p>ADJ. pompous; using inflated language. Puffed up with conceit, the orator spoke in such a bombastic manner that we longed to deflate him. bombast, N.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>booming</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>ADJ. deep and resonant; flourishing, thriving. “Who needs a microphone?” cried the mayor in his booming voice. Cheerfully he boomed out that, thanks to him, the city’s economy was booming. boom,V.</p>
<p>boon</p>
<p>N. blessing; benefit. The recent rains that filled our empty reservoirs were a boon to the whole community.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>boorish</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>ADJ. rude; clumsy; ungentlemanly. Natasha was embarrassed by her fellow spy’s boorish behavior. “If you cannot act like a gentleman, Boris, go back to Russia: espionage is no job for clumsy boors.” boor, N.</p>
<p>boundless</p>
<p>ADJ. unlimited; vast. Mike's energy was boundless: the greater the challenge, the more vigorously he tackled the job.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>bountiful</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>ADJ. abundant; graciously generous. Thanks to the good harvest, we had a bountiful supply of food and we could be as bountiful as we liked in distributing food to the needy.</p>
<p>bourgeois</p>
<p>ADJ. middle class; selfishly materialistic; dully conventional. Technically, anyone who belongs to the middle class is bourgeois, but, given the word's connotations, most people resent it if you call them that.</p>
<p>bovine</p>
<p>ADJ. cowlike; placid and dull. Nothing excites Esther; even when she won the state lottery, she still preserved her air of bovine calm.</p>
<p>bowdlerize</p>
<p>V. expurgate. After the film editors had bowdlerized the language in the script, the motion picture's rating was changed from "R" to "PG."</p>
<p>boycott</p>
<p>V. refrain from buying or using. To put pressure on grape growers to stop using pesticides that harmed the farm workers' health, Cesar Chavez called for consumers to boycott grapes.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>braggart</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>N. boaster. Modest by nature, she was no braggart, preferring to let her accomplishments speak for themselves.</p>
<p>brandish</p>
<p>V. wave around; flourish. Alarmed, Doctor Watson wildly brandished his gun until Holmes told him to put the thing away before he shot himself.</p>
<p>bravado</p>
<p>N. swagger; assumed air of defiance. The bravado of the young criminal disappeared when he was confronted by the victims of his brutal attack.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>brawn</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>N. muscular strength; sturdiness. It takes brawn to become a champion weightlifter. brawny,ADJ.</p>
<p>brazen</p>
<p>ADJ. insolent. Her brazen contempt for authority angered the officials.</p>
<p>breach</p>
<p>N. breaking of contract or duty; fissure or gap. Jill sued Jack for breach of promise, claiming he had broken his promise to marry her. They found a breach in the enemy's fortifications and penetrated their lines. alsoV.</p>
<p>breadth</p>
<p>N. width; extent. We were impressed by the breadth of her knowledge.</p>
<p>brevity</p>
<p>N. conciseness. Brevity is essential when you send a telegram or cablegram; you are charged for every word.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>brindled</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>ADJ. tawny or grayish with streaks or spots. He was disappointed in the litter because the puppies were brindled, he had hoped for animals of a uniform color.</p>
<p>bristling</p>
<p>ADJ. rising like bristles; showing irritation. The dog stood there, bristling with anger.</p>
<p>brittle</p>
<p>ADJ. easily broken; difficult. My employer's self-control was as brittle as an egg-shell. Her brittle personality made it difficult for me to get along with her.</p>
<p>broach</p>
<p>V. introduce; open up. Jack did not even try to broach the subject of religion with his in-laws. If you broach a touchy subject, it may cause a breach.</p>