Barrons 3500 B Flashcards
buffet
N. /自助餐/table with food set out for people to serve them?selves; meal at which people help themselves to food that’s been set out. Please convey the soufflé on the tray to the buffet. (Buffet rhymes with tray.)
buffet
V. /殴打，斗殴/slap; batter; knock about. To buffet something is to rough it up. (Buffet rhymes with Muffett.) Was Miss Muf?fett buffeted by the crowd on the way to the buffet tray?
buffoonery
N. /滑稽的/clowning. In the Ace Ventura movies, Jim Carrey’s buffoonery was hilarious: like Bozo the Clown, he’s a natural buffoon.
bullion
N. /金条，银条/gold and silver in the form of bars. Much bullion is stored in the vaults at Fort Knox.
bulwark
N. /壁垒/earthwork or other strong defense; person who defends. The navy is our principal bulwark against invasion.
bumptious
ADJ. /盲目自大/self-assertive. His classmates called him a show-off because of his bumptious airs.
bungalow
N. /小平房/small cottage. Every summer we rent a bun?galow on Cape Cod for our vacation home. The rent is high, the roof is low-it’s a basic bungalow.
bungle
V. /搞砸/mismanage; blunder. Don’t botch this assign?ment, Bumstead; if you bungle the job, you’re fired!
buoyant
ADJ. /可漂浮的，乐观的/able to float; cheerful and optimistic. When the boat capsized, her buoyant life jacket kept Jody afloat. Scrambling back on board, she was still in a buoyant mood, certain that despite the delay she’d win the race.
bureaucracy
N. /官僚机构/over-regulated administrative system marked by red tape. The Internal Revenue Service is the ultimate bureaucracy. taxpayers wasted so much paper fill?ing out IRS forms that the IRS bureaucrats printed up a new set of rules requiring taxpayers to comply with the Paper?work Reduction Act.
burgeon
V. /发芽，成长/grow forth; send out buds. In the spring, the plants that burgeon are a promise of the beauty that is to come.
burlesque
V. /作秀，滑稽/give an imitation that ridicules. In Spaceballs, Rick Moranis burlesques Darth Vader of Star Wars, outra?geously parodying Vader’s stiff walk and hollow voice.
burly
ADJ. /魁伟，结实/husky; muscular. The burly mover lifted the packing crate with ease.
burnish
V. /擦拭/make shiny by rubbing; polish. The maid bur?nished the brass fixtures until they reflected the lamplight.
bustle
V. /喧嚣，繁忙，熙熙攘攘/move about energetically; teem. David and the children bustled about the house getting in each other’s way as they tried to pack for the camping trip. The whole house bustled with activity.
buttress
V. /支持/support; prop up. The attorney came up with several far-fetched arguments in a vain attempt to buttress his weak case. also N.
buxom
ADJ. /丰满；充满活力；欢快/plump; vigorous; jolly. The soldiers remembered the buxom nurse who had always been so pleasant to them.
cabal
N. /内阁/small group of persons secretly united to promote their own interests. The cabal was defeated when their scheme was discovered.
cache
N. /藏身之处/hiding place. The detectives followed the sus?pect until he led them to the cache where he had stored his loot. He had cached the cash in a bag for trash: it was a hefty sum.
cacophonous
ADJ. /不和谐/discordant; inharmonious. Do the stu?dents in the orchestra enjoy the cacophonous sounds they make when they’re tuning up? I don’t know how they can stand the racket. cacophony, N.
cadaver
N. /尸体/corpse. In some states, it is illegal to dissect cadavers.
cadaverous
ADJ. /尸体似的，苍白的/like a corpse; pale. By his cadaverous appearance, we could see how the disease had ravaged him.
cadence
N. /平仄，重音/rhythmic rise and fall (of words or sounds); beat. Marching down the road, the troops sang out, follow?ing the cadence set by the sergeant.
cajole
V. /哄骗，勾引/coax; wheedle. Diane tried to cajole her father into letting her drive the family car. cajolery, N.
calamity
N. /灾难，不幸/disaster; misery. As news of the calamity spread, offers of relief poured in to the stricken community.
calculated
ADJ. /预先计划好的，算好的；合适的/deliberately planned; likely. Lexy’s choice of clothes to wear to the debate tournament was carefully calculated. Her conventional suit was one calculated to appeal to the conservative judges.
caldron
N. /大锅/large kettle. “Why, Mr. Crusoe,” said the sav?age heating the giant caldron, “we’d love to have you for dinner!”
caliber
N. /能力；品质/ability; quality. Einstein’s cleaning the black?boards again? Albert, quit it! A man of your caliber shouldn’t have to do such menial tasks.
calligraphy
N. /漂亮的书法/beautiful writing; excellent penmanship. As we examine ancient manuscripts, we become impressed with the calligraphy of the scribes.
callous
ADJ. /硬心肠的，无情的/hardened; unfeeling. He had worked in the hospital for so many years that he was callous to the suffer?ing in the wards. callus, N.
callow
ADJ. /年幼，稚嫩；无经验/youthful; immature; inexperienced. As a fresh?man, Jack was sure he was a man of the world; as a sopho?more, he made fun of freshmen as callow youths. In both cases, his judgment showed just how callow he was.
calorific
ADJ. /产热的/heat-producing. Coal is much more calorific than green wood.
calumny
N. /诽谤；中伤/malicious misrepresentation; slander. He could endure his financial failure, but he could not bear the calumny that his foes heaped upon him.
camaraderie
N. /友情/good-fellowship. What he loved best about his job was the sense of camaraderie he and his co?workers shared.
cameo
N. /贝壳上的浮雕；特写（演员）/shell or jewel carved in relief; star’s special appearance in a minor role in a film. Don’t bother buying cameos from the street peddlers in Rome: the carvings they sell are clumsy jobs. Did you enjoy Bill Murray’s cameo in Little Shop of Horrors? He was onscreen for only a minute, but he cracked me up.
camouflage
V. /伪装/disguise; conceal. In order to rescue Han Solo, Princess Leia camouflaged herself in the helmet and cloak of a space bandit.
candor
N. /开诚布公；坦率/frankness; open honesty. Jack can carry can?dor too far: when he told Jill his honest opinion of her, she nearly slapped his face. candid,ADJ.
canine
ADJ. /狗的/related to dogs; dog-like. Some days the canine population of Berkeley seems almost to outnumber the human population,
canny
ADJ. /谨慎的；节约的/shrewd; thrifty. The canny Scotsman was more than a match for the swindlers.
cant
N. /伪善；黑话/insincere expressions of piety; jargon of thieves. Shocked by news of the minister’s extramarital love affairs, the worshippers dismissed his talk about the sacredness of marriage as mere cant. Cant is a form of hypocrisy: those who can, pray; those who cant, pretend.
cantankerous
ADJ. /脾气坏；易发怒/ill humored; irritable. Constantly com?plaining about his treatment and refusing to cooperate with the hospital staff, he was a cantankerous patient.
cantata
N. /大合唱；康塔塔/story set to music, to be sung by a chorus. The choral society sang the new cantata composed by its leader.
canter
N. /慢跑/slow gallop. Because the racehorse had outdis?tanced its competition so easily, the reporter wrote that the race was won in a canter. alsoV.
canto
N. /（长诗的）分篇/division of a long poem. Dante’s poetic master?piece The Divine Comedy is divided into cantos.
canvass
V. /调查；投票/determine votes, etc. After canvassing the senti?ments of his constituents, the congressman was confident that he represented the majority opinion of his district. also N.
capacious
ADJ. /宽敞的/spacious. In the capacious rotunda of the railroad terminal, thousands of travelers lingered while waiting for their train.
Capacity
N. /能力；角色/mental or physical ability; role; ability to accommodate. Mike had the capacity to handle several jobs at once. In his capacity as president of SelecTronics he marketed an electronic dictionary with a capacity of 200,000 words.
capitulate
V. /投降/surrender. The enemy was warned to capitu?late or face annihilation.
caprice
N. /反复无常；一时幻想；奇怪的想法/sudden, unexpected fancy; whim. On a caprice, Jack tried drag-racing, but paid the price-his father took his Chevy Caprice away from him.
capricious
ADJ. /反复无常的/unpredictable; fickle. The storm was capri?cious: it changed course constantly. Jill was capricious, too: she changed boyfriends almost as often as she changed clothes.
caption
N. /标题/title; chapter heading; text under illustration. The captions that accompany The Far Side cartoons are almost as funny as the pictures. alsoV.
captivate
V. /迷住；迷惑/charm or enthrall. Bart and Lisa were capti?vated by their new nanny’s winning manner.
carat
N. /克拉；开；K/unit of weight for precious stones; measure of fineness of gold. He gave her a three-carat diamond mounted in an eighteen-carat gold band.
cardinal
ADJ. /主要的/chief. If you want to increase your word power, the cardinal rule of vocabulary-building is to read.
cardiologist
N. /心脏病专家/doctor specializing in the heart. When the pediatrician noticed Philip had a slight heart murmur, she referred him to a cardiologist for further tests.
careen
V. /倾斜/lurch; sway from side to side. The taxicab careened wildly as it rounded the corner.
caricature
N. /歪曲；漫画；讽刺画/distortion; burlesque. The caricatures he drew always emphasized a personal weakness of the peo?ple he burlesqued. alsoV.
carnage
N. /残杀；大屠杀/destruction of life. The film The Killing Fields vividly depicts the carnage wreaked by Pol Pot’s followers in Cambodia.
carnal
ADJ. /肉体的；欲望的/fleshly. Is the public more interested in carnal pleasures than in spiritual matters? Compare the number of people who read Playboy daily to the number of those who read the Bible or Koran every day.
carnivorous
ADJ. /食肉的/meat-eating. The lion’s a carnivorous beast. A hunk of meat makes up his feast. A cow is not a carnivore. She likes the taste of grain, not gore.
*carping
ADJ. /挑剔的，吹毛求疵/finding fault. A carping critic is a nit-picker: he loves to point out flaws. If you don’t like this definition, feel free to carp.
cartographer
N. /制图者，制地图的人/map-maker. Though not a professional cartographer, Tolkien was able to construct a map of his fictional world.
cascade
N. /小瀑布/small waterfall. We were too tired to appreci?ate the beauty of the many cascades because we had to detour around them to avoid being drenched by the water cascading down.
castigate
V. /严厉批评；惩罚/criticize severely; punish. When the teacher threatened that she would castigate the mischievous boys if they didn’t behave, they shaped up in a hurry.
casualty
N. /严重的事故；伤亡/serious or fatal accident. The number of auto?motive casualties on this holiday weekend was high.
cataclysm
N. /巨变；剧变；灾难/upheaval; deluge. A cataclysm such as the French Revolution affects all countries. cataclysmic,ADJ.
catalyst
N. /催化剂/agent which brings about a chemical change while it remains unaffected and unchanged. Many chemical reactions cannot take place without the presence of a catalyst.
catapult
N. /弹弓；弹射器/slingshot; a hurling machine. Airplanes are sometimes launched from battleships by catapults. alsoV.
cataract
N. /大瀑布；白内障/great waterfall; eye abnormality. She gazed with awe at the mighty cataract known as Niagara Falls.
catastrophe
N. /灾难/calamity; disaster. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake was a catastrophe that destroyed most of the city. A similar earthquake striking today could have even more catastrophic results.
catcall
N. /嘘声/shout of disapproval; boo. Every major league pitcher has off days during which he must learn to ignore the catcalls and angry hisses from the crowd.
catechism
N. /教义问答手册；FAQ,Q&A/book for religious instruction; instruction by question and answer. He taught by engaging his pupils in a catechism until they gave him the correct answer.
categorical
ADJ. /无条件；直截了当/without exceptions; unqualified; absolute. Though the captain claimed he was never, never sick at sea, he finally had to qualify his categorical denial: he was “hardly ever” sick at sea.
cater to
V. /迎合/supply something desired (whether good or bad). The chef was happy to cater to the tastes of his highly sophisticated clientele. Critics condemned the movie industry for catering to the public’s ever-increasing appetite for violence.
catharsis
N. /导泻，通便；疏泄/purging or cleansing of any passage of the body. Aristotle maintained that tragedy created a catharsis by purging the soul of base concepts.
catholic
ADJ. /一般的，普遍的；天主教/broadly sympathetic; liberal. He was extremely catholic in his taste and read everything he could find in the library.
caucus
N. /核心小组会议（秘密）/private meeting of members of a party to select officers or determine policy. At the opening of Congress, the members of the Democratic Party held a caucus to elect the Majority Leader of the House and the Party Whip.
caulk
V. /填；补漏/make watertight by filling in cracks. Jack had to caulk the tiles in the shower stall to stop the leak into the basement below.
causal
ADJ. /因果关系的/implying a cause-and-effect relationship. The psychologist maintained there was a causal relationship between the nature of one’s early childhood experiences and one’s adult personality. causality, N.
caustic
ADJ. /腐蚀；挖苦/burning; sarcastically biting. The critic’s caus?tic remarks angered the hapless actors who were the sub?jects of his sarcasm.
cavalcade
N. /队伍/procession; parade. As described by Chaucer, the cavalcade of Canterbury pilgrims was a mot?ley group.
cavalier
ADJ. /随便；傲慢/offhand or casual; haughty. The disguised prince resented the cavalier way in which the palace guards treated him. How dared they handle a member of the royal family so unceremoniously!
cavil
V. /挑剔/make frivolous objections. It’s fine when you make sensible criticisms, but it really bugs me when you cavil about unimportant details. also N.
cede
V. /放弃；屈服于；投降/yield (title, territory) to; surrender formally. Eventu?ally the descendants of England’s Henry II were forced to cede their French territories to the King of France.
celebrated
ADJ. /名人/famous; well-known. Thanks to their race to break Roger Maris’s home-run record, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire are two of America’s most celebrated base?ball players. celebrity, N.
celerity
N. /速度/speed; rapidity. Hamlet resented his mother’s celerity in remarrying within a month after his father’s death.
celestial
ADJ. /天体的/heavenly. She spoke of the celestial joys that awaited virtuous souls in the hereafter.
celibate
ADJ. /未婚的，独身的/unmarried; abstaining from sexual inter?course. The perennial bachelor vowed to remain celibate. celibacy, N.
censor
N. /审查/overseer of morals; person who reads to elimi?nate inappropriate remarks. Soldiers dislike having their mail read by a censor but understand the need for this pre?caution. alsoV.
censorious
ADJ. /批判的/critical. Censorious people delight in cast?ing blame.
censure
V. /责怪；批评/blame; criticize. The senator was censured for behavior inappropriate to a member of Congress. also N.
centigrade
ADJ. /华氏/measure of temperature used widely in Europe. On the centigrade thermometer, the freezing point of water is zero degrees.
centrifugal
ADJ. /离心；放射/radiating; departing from the center. Many automatic drying machines remove excess moisture from clothing by centrifugal force.
centripetal
ADJ. /向心/tending toward the center. Does cen?tripetal force or the force of gravity bring orbiting bodies to the earth’s surface?
centurion
N. /百夫长/Roman army officer. Because he was in com?mand of a company of one hundred soldiers, he was called a centurion.
cerebral
ADJ. /脑的；智力的/pertaining to the brain or intellect. The con?tent of philosophical works is cerebral in nature and requires much thought.
cerebration
N. /思考/thought. Mathematics problems sometimes require much cerebration.
ceremonious
ADJ. /隆重的/marked by formality. Ordinary dress would be inappropriate at so ceremonious an affair.
certitude
N. /确实/certainty. Though there was no certitude of his getting the job, Lou thought he had a good chance of doing so.
cessation
N. /停止/stoppage. The airline’s employees threat?ened a cessation of all work if management failed to meet their demands. cease,V.
cession
N. /给与；割让/yielding to another; ceding. The cession of Alaska to the United States is discussed in this chapter.
chafe
V. /摩擦；擦热/warm by rubbing; make sore (by rubbing). Chilled, he chafed his hands before the fire. The collar of his school uniform chafed Tom’s neck, but not as much the school’s strict rules chafed his spirit. also N.
chaff
N. /废物；糠；假货；开玩笑；打趣/worthless products of an endeavor. When you separate the wheat from the chaff, be sure you throw out the chaff.
chaffing
ADJ. /开玩笑/bantering; joking. Sometimes Chad’s flip?pant, chaffing remarks annoy us. Still, Chad’s chaffing keeps us laughing. also N.
chagrin
N. /伤自尊；委屈/vexation (caused by humiliation or injured pride); disappointment. Embarrassed by his parents’ shabby, working-class appearance, Doug felt their visit to his school would bring him nothing but chagrin. Someone filled with chagrin doesn’t grin: he’s too mortified.
chalice
N. /圣餐杯/goblet; consecrated cup. In a small room adjoin?ing the cathedral, many ornately decorated chalices made by the most famous European goldsmiths were on display.
chameleon
N. /变色龙/lizard that changes color in different situa?tions. Like the chameleon, he assumed the political thinking of every group he met.
champion
V. /拥护/support militantly. Martin Luther King, Jr., won the Nobel Peace Prize because he championed the oppressed in their struggle for equality.
Chaotic
ADJ. /混乱/in utter disorder. He tried to bring order into the chaotic state of affairs. chaos, N.
charisma
N. /魅力/divine gift; great popular charm or appeal of a political leader Political commentators have deplored the importance of a candidate’s charisma in these days of tele?vision campaigning.
charlatan
N. /吹牛/quack; pretender to knowledge. When they realized that the Wizard didn’t know how to get them back to Kansas, Dorothy and her companions were indignant that they’d been duped by a charlatan.
chary
ADJ. /谨慎；吝啬/cautious; sparing or restrained about giving. A prudent, thrifty, New Englander, DeWitt was as chary of investing money in junk bonds as he was chary of paying people unnecessary compliments.
chasm
N. /深渊/abyss. They could not see the bottom of the chasm.
chassis
N. /底盘/framework and working parts of an automobile. Examining the car after the accident, the owner discovered that the body had been ruined but that the chassis was unharmed.
chaste
ADJ. /纯的/pure. Her chaste and decorous garb was appropriately selected for the solemnity of the occasion. chastity, N.
chasten
V. /磨练/discipline; punish in order to correct. Whom God loves, God chastens.
chastise
V. /惩罚/punish. I must chastise you for this offense.
chauvinist
N. /盲目爱国主义/blindly devoted patriot. A chauvinist cannot recognize any faults in his country, no matter how flagrant they may be. Likewise, a male chauvinist cannot recognize his bias in favor of his own sex, no matter how flagrant that may be. chauvinistic,ADJ.
check
V. /控制；阻止/stop motion; curb or restrain. Thrusting out her arm, Grandma checked Bobby’s lunge at his sister. “Young man,” she said, “you’d better check your temper.” (sec?ondary meaning)
checkered
ADJ. /多变的；像国际象棋棋盘一样的方格/marked by changes in fortune. During his checkered career he had lived in palatial mansions and in dreary boardinghouses.
cherubic
ADJ. /天真无邪/angelic; innocent-looking. With her cheerful smile and rosy cheeks, she was a particularly cherubic child.
chicanery
N. /强辩，狡辩；欺骗/trickery; deception. Those sneaky lawyers misrepresented what occurred, made up all sorts of implau?sible alternative scenarios to confuse the jurors, and in gen?eral depended on chicanery to win the case.
chide
V. /斥责/scold. Grandma began to chide Steven for his lying.
chimerical
ADJ. /不现实，空想/fantastically improbable; highly unrealistic; imaginative. As everyone expected, Ted’s chimerical scheme to make a fortune by raising ermines in his back yard proved a dismal failure.
chisel
N. /凿子/wedgelike tool for cutting. With his hammer and chisel, the sculptor chipped away at the block of marble.
chisel
V. /欺骗/swindle or cheat; cut with a chisel. That crook chiseled me out of a hundred dollars when he sold me that “marble” statue he’d chiseled out of some cheap hunk of rock.
Chivalrous
ADJ. /勇敢；诚实/courteous; faithful; brave. Chivalrous behavior involves noble words and good deeds.
choleric
ADJ. /易发怒的；脾气坏/hot-tempered. His flushed, angry face indi?cated a choleric nature.
choreography
N. /舞蹈术；舞蹈记谱/art of representing dances in written symbols; arrangement of dances. Merce Cunningham has begun to use a computer in designing choreography. a software program allows him to compose arrangements of possible moves and immediately view them onscreen.
chortle
V. /得意的笑/chuckle with delight. When she heard that her rival had just been jailed for embezzlement, she chortled with joy. She was not a nice lady.
chronic
ADJ. /慢性的/long established as a disease. The doctors were finally able to attribute his chronic headaches and nausea to traces of formaldehyde gas in his apartment.
chronicle
V. /编年史/report; record (in chronological order). The gossip columnist was paid to chronicle the latest escapades of the socially prominent celebrities. also N.
churlish
ADJ. /粗鲁的/boorish; rude. Dismayed by his churlish map?ners at the party, the girls vowed never to invite him again.
cipher
N. /密码/secret code. Lacking his code book, the spy was unable to decode the message sent to him in cipher.
cipher
N. /不重要的人或物/nonentity; worthless person or thing. She claimed her ex-husband was a total cipher and wondered why she had ever married him.
circuitous
ADJ. /迂回的/roundabout. To avoid the traffic congestion on the main highways, she took a circuitous route. circuit, N.
*circumlocution
N. /婉转曲折的表达/indirect or roundabout expression. He was afraid to call a spade a spade and resorted to circum?locutions to avoid direct reference to his subject.
circumscribe
V. /限制/limit; confine. Although I do not wish to cir?cumscribe your activities, I must insist that you complete this assignment before you start anything else.
circumspect
ADJ. /慎重；周到/prudent; cautious. Investigating before acting, she tried always to be circumspect.
circumvent
V. /智取；包围/outwit; baffle. In order to circumvent the enemy, we will make two preliminary attacks in other sec?tions before starting our major campaign.
cistern
N. /水塔；水库/reservoir or water tank. The farmers were able to withstand the dry season by using rainwater they had stored in an underground cistern.
citadel
N. /大本营/fortress. The citadel overlooked the city like a protecting angel.
cite
V. /引用；掌握/quote; command. She could cite passages in the Bible from memory. citation, N.
Civil
ADJ. /民事的；国民的/having to do with citizens or the state; courteous and polite. Although Internal Revenue Service agents are civil servants, they are not always civil to suspected tax cheats.
clairvoyant
ADJ. N. /预知；预言者/having foresight; fortuneteller. Cassan?dra’s clairvoyant warning was not heeded by the Trojans. clairvoyance, N.
clamber
V. /爬/climb by crawling. She clambered over the wall.
clamor
N. /吵闹声；噪音/noise. The clamor of the children at play outside made it impossible for her to take a nap. alsoV.
clandestine
ADJ. /秘密/secret. After avoiding their chaperon, the lovers had a clandestine meeting.
clangor
N. /大声喧哗；持续的铿锵声/loud, resounding noise. The blacksmith was accustomed to the clangor of hammers on steel.
clapper
N. /铃舌，钟舌/striker (tongue) of a bell. Wishing to be undis?turbed by the bell, Dale wound his scarf around the clapper to muffle the noise of its striking.
clasp
N. /扣合；紧密合作/fastening device; firm grip. When the clasp on Judy’s bracelet broke, Fred repaired it, bending the hook back into shape. He then helped her slip on the bracelet, holding it firm in the sure clasp of his hand.
claustrophobia
N. /幽闭恐怖症/fear of being locked in. His fellow class?mates laughed at his claustrophobia and often threatened to lock him in his room.
cleave
V. /劈开；黏着；忠于/split or sever; cling to; remain faithful to. With her heavy cleaver, Julia Child can cleave a whole roast duck in two. Soaked through, the soldier tugged at the uniform that cleaved annoyingly to his body. He would cleave to his post, come rain or shine.
Cleft
N. /裂缝；开裂/split. Trying for a fresh handhold, the mountain?climber grasped the edge of a cleft in the sheer rockface. alsoADJ.
clemency
N. /温和；仁慈/disposition to be lenient; mildness, as of the weather. The lawyer was pleased when the case was sent to Judge Smith’s chambers because Smith was noted for her clemency toward first offenders.
clench
V. /牢牢抓住/close tightly; grasp. “Open wide,” said the den?tist, but Clint clenched his teeth even more tightly than before.
cliché
N. /陈词滥调/phrase dulled in meaning by repetition. High school compositions are often marred by such clichés as “strong as an ox.”
clientele
N. /常客/body of customers. The rock club attracted a young, stylish clientele.
climactic
ADJ. /顶点的，高潮的/relating to the highest point. When he reached the climactic portions of the book, he could not stop reading. climax, N.
clime
N. /地域；气候/region; climate. His doctor advised him to move to a milder clime.
Clip
N. /剪辑/section of filmed material. Phil’s job at Fox Sports involved selecting clips of the day’s sporting highlights for later broadcast. alsoV.
clique
N. /小圈子；同行/small exclusive group. Fitzgerald wished that he belonged to the clique of popular athletes and big men on campus who seemed to run Princeton’s social life.
cloister
N. /修道院/monastery or convent. The nuns lived a secluded life in the cloister.
Clout
N. /巨大的影响（政治\社会）/great influence (especially political or social). Gatsby wondered whether he had enough clout to be admitted to the exclusive club.
cloying
ADJ. /倒胃口；过度的/distasteful (because excessive); excessively sweet or sentimental. Disliking the cloying sweetness of standard wedding cakes, Jody and Tom chose to have homemade carrot cake at the reception. cloy,V.
Clump
N. /一块，一团；沉重的脚步声；草丛，灌木丛/cluster or close group (of bushes, trees); mass; sound of heavy treading. Hiding behind the clump of bushes, the fugitives waited for the heavy clump of the sol?diers’ feet to fade away.
coagulate
V. /凝结/thicken; congeal; clot. Even after you remove the pudding from the burner, it will continue to coagulate as it stands; therefore, do not overcook the pudding, lest it become too thick.
*coalesce
V. /接合/combine; fuse. The brooks coalesce into one large river. When minor political parties coalesce, their coa?lescence may create a major coalition.
coalition
N. /伙伴；同盟，集合/partnership; league; union. The Rainbow Coalition united people of all races in a common cause.
coddle
V. /娇养，溺爱/to treat gently. Don’t coddle the children so much; they need a taste of discipline.
codicil
N. /遗嘱的附录/supplement to the body of a will. Miss Havisham kept her lawyers busy drawing up codicils to add to her already complicated will.
codify
V. /编纂/arrange (laws, rules) as a code; classify. We need to take the varying rules and regulations of the different health agencies and codify them into a national health code.
coercion
N. /威逼，强迫/use of force to get someone to obey. The inquisitors used both physical and psychological coercion to force Joan of Arc to deny that her visions were sent by God. coerce,V.
cogent
ADJ. /有说服力的/convincing. It was inevitable that David chose to go to Harvard: he had several cogent reasons for doing so, including a full-tuition scholarship. Katya argued her case with such cogency that the jury had to decide in favor of her client.
cogitate
V. /考虑/think over. Cogitate on this problem; the solu?tion will come.
cognate
ADJ. /同源的/related linguistically: allied by blood: similar or akin in nature. The English word “mother” is cognate to the Latin word “mater,” whose influence is visible in the words “maternal” and “maternity.” also N.
cognitive
ADJ. /认知的/having to do with knowing or perceiving; related to the mental processes. Though Jack was emotion?ally immature, his cognitive development was admirable; he was very advanced intellectually.
cognizance
N. /认知/knowledge. During the election campaign, the two candidates were kept in full cognizance of the inter?national situation.
cohere
V. /粘住的/stick together. Solids have a greater tendency to cohere than liquids.
cohesion
N. /内聚力；黏度/tendency to keep together. A firm believer in the maxim “Divide and conquer,” the evil emperor, by means of lies and trickery, sought to disrupt the cohesion of the federation of free nations.
coiffure
N. /发型/hairstyle. You can make a statement with your choice of coiffure: in the sixties many African?Americans affirmed their racial heritage by wearing their hair in Afros.
coin
V. /铸币；发明；杜撰/make coins; invent or fabricate. Mints coin good money; counterfeiters coin fakes. Slanderers coin nasty rumors; writers coin words. A neologism is an expression that’s been newly-coined.
coincidence
N. /巧合/two or more things occurring at the same time by chance. Was it just a coincidence that John and she had chanced to meet at the market for three days run?ning, or was he deliberately trying to seek her out? coinci?dental,ADJ.
colander
N. /过滤器/utensil with perforated bottom used for strain?ing. Before serving the spaghetti, place it in a colander to drain it.
collaborate
V. /协作，合作/work together. Two writers collaborated in preparing this book.
collage
N. /拼贴画/work of art put together from fragments. Scraps of cloth, paper doilies, and old photographs all went into her collage.
collate
V. /校对，整理/examine in order to verify authenticity; arrange in order. They collated the newly found manuscripts to deter?mine their age.
collateral
N. /抵押品/security given for loan. The sum you wish to borrow is so large that it must be secured by collateral.
colloquial
ADJ. /口语的/pertaining to conversational or common speech. Some of the new, less formal reading passages on SAT I have a colloquial tone that is intended to make them more appealing to students.
collusion
N. /勾结/Conspiring in a fraudulent scheme. The swindlers were found guilty of collusion.
colossal
ADJ. /巨大/huge. Radio City Music Hall has a colossal stage.
comatose
ADJ. /昏迷；熟睡/a coma; extremely sleepy. The long?winded orator soon had his audience in a comatose state.
*combustible
ADJ. /易燃的/easily burned. After the recent outbreak of fires in private homes, the fire commissioner ordered that all combustible materials be kept in safe containers, also N.
comely
ADJ. /清秀，美丽，漂亮；有吸引力的/attractive; agreeable. I would rather have a poor and comely wife than a rich and homely one.
comeuppance
N. /报应/rebuke; deserts. After his earlier rude?ness, we were delighted to see him get his comeuppance.
commandeer
V. /征用，招募/to draft for military purposes; to take for public use. The policeman commandeered the first car that approached and ordered the driver to go to the nearest hospital.
commemorate
V. /纪念/honor the memory of. The statue of the Minute Man commemorates the valiant soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War.
commensurate
ADJ. /相当的，相称的/equal in extent. Your reward will be commensurate with your effort.
commiserate
V. /怜悯，同情/feel or express pity or sympathy for. Her friends commiserated with the widow.
commodious
ADJ. /宽敞，舒适/spacious and comfortable. After sleep?ing in small roadside cabins, they found their hotel suite commodious.
communal
ADJ. /公共的/held in common; of a group of people. When they were divorced, they had trouble dividing their communal property.
compact
N. /合约，合同/agreement; contract. The signers of the Mayflower Compact were establishing a form of government.
compact
ADJ. /紧密的，结实的/tightly packed; firm; brief. His short, com?pact body was better suited to wrestling than to basketball.
comparable
ADJ. /相似的/similar. People whose jobs are compara?ble in difficulty should receive comparable pay.
compatible
ADJ. /和谐的/harmonious; in harmony with. They were compatible neighbors, never quarreling over unimportant matters. compatibility, N.
compelling
ADJ. /强制的/overpowering; irresistible in effect. The prosecutor presented a well-reasoned case, but the defense attorney’s compelling arguments for leniency won over the jury.
compensatory
ADJ. /补偿/making up for; repaying. Can a com?pensatory education program make up for the inadequate schooling he received in earlier years?
compile
V. /聚集，积累，汇集/assemble; gather; accumulate. We planned to compile a list of the words most frequently used on SAT I examinations.
complacency
N. /自满；装模作样/self-satisfaction; smugness. Full of com?placency about his latest victories, he looked smugly at the row of trophies on his mantelpiece. complacent,ADJ.
complaisant
ADJ. /彬彬有礼；殷勤/trying to please; obliging. The courtier obeyed the king’s orders in a complaisant manner.
complement
V. /补足；完善/complete; consummate; make perfect. The waiter recommended a glass of port to complement the cheese. also N.
*complementary
ADJ. /补足的，完善的/serving to complete something. John and Lisa’s skills are complementary. he’s good at following a daily routine, while she’s great at improvising and han?dling emergencies. Together they make a great team.
compliance
N. /顺从/readiness to yield; conformity in fulfilling requirements. Bullheaded Bill was not noted for easy com?pliance with the demands of others. As an architect, how?ever, Bill recognized that his design for the new school had to be in compliance with the local building code.
compliant
ADJ. /顺从/yielding. Because Joel usually gave in and went along with whatever his friends desired, his mother worried that he might be too compliant.
complicity
N. /共犯，共同/participation; involvement. You cannot keep your complicity in this affair secret very long; you would be wise to admit your involvement immediately.
component
N. /成分/element; ingredient. I wish all the compo?nents of my stereo system were working at the same time.
composure
N. /镇定，沉着/mental calmness. Even the latest work crisis failed to shake her composure.
compound
V. /混合；组合；增加/combine; constitute; pay interest; increase. The makers of the popular cold remedy compounded a nasal decongestant with an antihistamine. also N.
comprehensive
ADJ. /全面的/thorough; inclusive. This book pro?vides a comprehensive review of verbal and math skills for the SAT.
compress
V. /压缩/close; squeeze; contract. She compressed the package under her arm.
comprise
V. /包括/include; consist of. If the District of Columbia were to be granted statehood, the United States of America would comprise fifty-one states, not just fifty.
compromise
V. /危害；妥协/adjust or settle by making mutual conces?sions; endanger the interests or reputation of. Sometimes the presence of a neutral third party can help adversaries compromise their differences. Unfortunately, you’re not neu?tral; therefore, your presence here compromises our chances of reaching an agreement. also N.
compunction
N. /后悔/remorse. The judge was especially severe in his sentencing because he felt that the criminal had shown no compunction for his heinous crime.
compute
V. /计算/reckon; calculate. He failed to compute the interest, so his bank balance was not accurate. computa?tion, N.
concave
ADJ. /空的/hollow. The back-packers found partial shel?ter from the storm by huddling against the concave wall of the cliff.
concede
V. /勉强，让步，屈从/admit; yield. Despite all the evidence Monica had assembled, Mark refused to concede that she was right.
conceit
N. /自负，自大；离奇古怪的想法/vanity or self-love; whimsical idea; extravagant metaphor. Although Jack was smug and puffed up with conceit, he was an entertaining companion, always expressing himself in amusing conceits and witty turns of phrase.
concentric
ADJ. /同心/having a common center. The target was made of concentric circles.
conception
N. /开始，构思/beginning; forming of an idea. At the first conception of the work, he was consulted. conceive,V.
concerted
ADJ. /协调的/mutually agreed on; done together. All the Girl Scouts made a concerted effort to raise funds for their annual outing. When the movie star appeared, his fans let out a concerted sigh.
concession
N. /让步/an act of yielding. Before they could reach an agreement, both sides had to make certain concessions.
conciliatory
ADJ. /抚慰，调和/reconciling; soothing. She was still angry despite his conciliatory words. conciliate,V.
concise
ADJ. /简练/brief and compact. When you define a new word, be concise: the shorter the definition, the easier it is to remember.
contrived
ADJ. /做作的；牵强的/forced; artificial; not spontaneous. Feeling ill at ease with his new in-laws, James made a few contrived attempts at conversation and then retreated into silence.
controvert
V. /辩论；反驳/oppose with arguments; attempt to refute; contradict. The witness’s testimony was so clear and her reputation for honesty so well-established that the defense attorney decided it was wiser to make no attempt to contro?vertwhat she said.
contusion
N. /擦伤；撞伤/bruise. Black and blue after her fall, Sue was treated for contusions and abrasions.
conundrum
N. /谜语/riddle. During the long car ride, she invented conundrums to entertain the children.
convene
V. /召集，集合/assemble. Because much needed legislation had to be enacted, the governor ordered the legislature to convene in special session by January 15.
convention
N. /习俗，惯例/social or moral custom; established prac?tice. Flying in the face of convention, George Sand shocked society by taking lovers and wearing men’s clothes.
conventional
ADJ. /典型的；普通的/ordinary; typical. His conventional upbringing left him wholly unprepared for his wife’s eccen?tric family.
converge
V. /聚合；接近/approach; tend to meet; come together. African-American men from all over the United States con?verged on Washington to take part in the historic Million Men march.
conversant
ADJ. /熟悉/familiar with. The lawyer is conversant with all the evidence.
converse
N. /相反的/opposite. The inevitable converse of peace is not war but annihilation.
converse
V. /聊天/chat; talk informally. Eva was all ears while Lulu and Lola conversed. Wasn’t it rude of her to eavesdrop on their conversation? conversation, N.
convert
N. /改变；转换；皈依/one who has adopted a different religion or opinion. On his trip to Japan, though the President spoke at length about the virtues of American automobiles, he made few converts to his beliefs. alsoV.
convex
ADJ. /凸的/curving outward. He polished the convex lens of his telescope.
conveyance
N. /运输；交通工具/vehicle; transfer. During the transit strike, commuters used various kinds of conveyances.
conviction
N. /定罪；深信/judgment that someone is guilty of a crime; strongly held belief. Even her conviction for murder did not shake Peter’s conviction that Harriet was innocent of the crime.
convivial
ADJ. /欢乐；高兴/festive; gay; characterized by joviality. The convivial celebrators of the victory sang their college songs.
convoke
V. /召集/call together. Congress was convoked at the outbreak of the emergency. convocation, N.
convoluted
ADJ. /围绕，卷绕；费解/coiled around; involved; intricate. His argument was so convoluted that few of us could follow it intelligently.
Copious
ADJ. /丰富的，大量的/plentiful. She had copious reasons for reject?ing the proposal.
coquette
N. /卖弄风情的女子；蜂鸟/flirt. Because she refused to give him an answer to his proposal of marriage, he called her a coquette. alsoV.
cordial
ADJ. /亲切；衷心/gracious; heartfelt. Our hosts greeted us at the airport with a cordial welcome and a hearty hug.
cordon
N. /警戒线/extended line of men or fortifications to prevent access or egress. The police cordon was so tight that the criminals could not leave the area. alsoV.
cornucopia
N. /象征丰饶的羊角/horn overflowing with fruit and grain; symbol of abundance. The encyclopedia salesman claimed the new edition was a veritable cornucopia of information, an inexhaustible source of knowledge for the entire family.
corollary
N. /结果，产物/consequence; accompaniment. Brotherly love is a complex emotion, with sibling rivalry its natural corollary.
coronation
N. /加冕/ceremony of crowning a queen or king. When the witches told Macbeth he would be king, they failed to warn him he would lose his crown soon after his coronation.
corporeal
ADJ. /肉体的，物质的/bodily; material. The doctor had no patience with spiritual matters: his job was to attend to his patients’ corporeal problems, not to minister to their souls.
corpulent
ADJ. /肥胖/very fat. The corpulent man resolved to reduce. corpulence, N.
correlation
N. /相互的关系/mutual relationship. He sought to determine the correlation that existed between ability in algebra and ability to interpret reading exercises. correlate, V., N.
corroborate
V. /确认；支持/confirm; support. Though Huck was quite willing to corroborate Tom’s story, Aunt Polly knew better than to believe either of them.
corrode
V. /腐蚀/destroy by chemical action. The girders support?ing the bridge corroded so gradually that no one suspected any danger until the bridge suddenly collapsed. corrosion, N.
corrosive
ADJ. /腐蚀性的/eating away by chemicals or disease. Stain?less steel is able to withstand the effects of corrosive chem?icals. corrode,V.
corrugated
ADJ. /皱的/wrinkled; ridged. She wished she could smooth away the wrinkles from his corrugated brow.
Cosmic
ADJ. /宇宙的；巨大的/pertaining to the universe; vast. Cosmic rays derive their name from the fact that they bombard the earth’s atmosphere from outer space. COSMOS, N.
cosmopolitan
ADJ. /世界主义/sophisticated. Her years in the capitol had transformed her into a cosmopolitan young woman highly aware of international affairs.
coterie
N. /同行，圈内人/group that meets socially; select circle. After his book had been published, he was invited to join the literary coterie that lunched daily at the hotel.
countenance
V. /忍受；接受/approve; tolerate. He refused to counte?nance such rude behavior on their part.
countenance
N. /脸/face. When Jose saw his newborn daugh?ter, a proud smile spread across his countenance.
countermand
V. /取消；废除/cancel; revoke. The general counter?manded the orders issued in his absence.
culvert
N. /水管/artificial channel for water. If we build a culvert under the road at this point, we will reduce the possibility of the road’s being flooded during the rainy season.
cumbersome
ADJ. /粗笨的；累赘/heavy; hard to manage. He was bur?dened down with cumbersome parcels.
cumulative
ADJ. /累积/growing by addition. Vocabulary building is a cumulative process: as you go through your flash cards, you will add new words to your vocabulary, one by one.
cupidity
N. /贪婪/greed. The defeated people could not satisfy the cupidity of the conquerors, who demanded excessive tribute.
curator
N. /主管；经理/superintendent; manager. The members of the board of trustees of the museum expected the new curator to plan events and exhibitions that would make the museum more popular.
curmudgeon
N. /脾气坏；吝啬/churlish, miserly individual. Although he was regarded by many as a curmudgeon, a few of us were aware of the many kindnesses and acts of charity that he secretly performed.
cursive
ADJ. /流动的；连接的/flowing, running. In normal writing we run our letters together in cursive form; in printing, we separate the letters.
cursory
ADJ. /草率；匆忙/casual; hastily done. Because a cursory examination of the ruins indicates the possibility of arson, we believe the insurance agency should undertake a more extensive investigation of the fire’s cause.
curtail
V. /减短；降低/shorten; reduce. When Herb asked Diane for a date, she said she was really sorry she couldn’t go out with him, but her dad had ordered her to curtail her social life.
cynical
ADJ. /愤世嫉俗/skeptical or distrustful of human motives. Cyn?ical from birth, Sidney was suspicious whenever anyone gave him a gift “with no strings attached.” cynic, N.
cynosure
N. /广受注意的目标/the object of general attention. As soon as the movie star entered the room, she became the cynosure of all eyes.
dabble
V. /涉猎，尝试；溅/work at in a non-serious fashion; splash around. The amateur painter dabbled at art, but seldom produced a finished piece. The children dabbled their hands in the bird bath, splashing one another gleefully.
dais
N. /讲台/raised platform for guests of honor. When he approached the dais, he was greeted by cheers from the people who had come to honor him.
dank
ADJ. /湿的；湿透的/damp. The walls of the dungeon were dank and slimy.
dapper
ADJ. /整齐的，优雅的/neat and trim. In “The Odd Couple” TV show, Tony Randall played Felix Unger, an excessively dapper soul who could not stand to have a hair out of place.
dappled
ADJ. /有斑点的/spotted. The sunlight filtering through the screens created a dappled effect on the wall.
daub
V. /涂抹/smear (as with paint). From the way he daubed his paint on the canvas, I could tell he knew nothing of oils. also N.
daunt
V. /惊吓；胁迫/intimidate; frighten. “Boast all you like of your prowess. Mere words cannot daunt me,” the hero answered the villain.
dauntless
ADJ. /胆大的/bold. Despite the dangerous nature of the undertaking, the dauntless soldier volunteered for the assignment.
dawdle
V. /游手好闲；混日子/loiter; waste time. We have to meet a deadline so don’t dawdle; just get down to work.
deadlock
N. /僵局/standstill; stalemate. Because negotiations had reached a deadlock, some of the delegates had begun to mutter about breaking off the talks. alsoV.
deadpan
ADJ. /没有表情的；呆板的/wooden; impersonal. We wanted to see how long he could maintain his deadpan expression.
dearth
N. /稀缺；缺乏/scarcity. The dearth of skilled labor compelled the employers to open trade schools.
debacle
N. /崩溃/sudden downfall; complete disaster. In the Air?plane movies, every flight turns into a debacle, with passen?gers and crew members collapsing, engines falling apart, and carry-on baggage popping out of the overhead bins.
debase
V. /贬低，降低/reduce in quality or value; lower in esteem; degrade. In The King and l, Anna refuses to kneel down and prostrate herself before the king, for she feels that to do so would debase her position, and she will not submit to such debasement.
debauch
V. /堕落，放荡/corrupt; seduce from virtue. Did Socrates’ teachings lead the young men of Athens to be virtuous citi?zens, or did they debauch the young men, causing them to question the customs of their fathers? Clearly, Socrates’ philosophical talks were nothing like the wild debauchery of the toga parties in Animal House.
debilitate
V. /使虚弱，衰弱/weaken; enfeeble. Michael’s severe bout of the flu debilitated him so much that he was too tired to go to work for a week.
debonair
ADJ. /温文尔雅；友好；殷勤/friendly; aiming to please. The debonair youth was liked by all who met him, because of his cheerful and obliging manner.
debris
N. /碎片；残骸/rubble. A full year after the earthquake in Mexico City, they were still carting away the debris.
debunk
V. /揭穿；奚落/expose as false, exaggerated, worthless, etc; ridicule. Pointing out that he consistently had voted against strengthening anti-pollution legislation, reporters debunked the candidate’s claim that he was a fervent environmentalist.
debutante
N. /初次参加社交活动的女孩/young woman making formal entrance into society. As a debutante, she was often mentioned in the society columns of the newspapers.
decadence
N. /颓废；腐坏/decay. The moral decadence of the people was reflected in the lewd literature of the period.
decapitate
V. /斩首，杀头/behead. They did not hang Lady Jane Grey; they decapitated her. “Off with her head!” cried the Duchess, eager to decapitate poor Alice.
decelerate
V. /减慢/slow down. Seeing the emergency blinkers in the road ahead, he decelerated quickly.
deciduous
ADJ. /落叶的/falling off as of leaves. The oak is a decid?uous tree; in winter it looks quite bare.
decimate
V. /残杀（十个里面杀一个）/kill, usually one out of ten. We do more to decimate our population in automobile accidents than we do in war.
decipher
V. /破译，解密/interpret secret code. Lacking his code book, the spy was unable to decipher the scrambled message sent to him from the KGB.
declivity
N. /下坡/downward slope. The children loved to ski down the declivity.
decollete
ADJ. /低肩露颈的服装/having a low-necked dress. Current fashion decrees that evening gowns be decollete this season; bare shoulders are again the vogue.
decomposition
N. /瓦解；腐烂/decay. Despite the body’s advanced state of decomposition, the police were able to identify the murdered man.
decorum
N. /礼貌；温文尔雅/propriety; orderliness and good taste in man?ners. Even the best-mannered students have trouble behav?ing with decorum on the last day of school. decorous,ADJ.
decoy
N. /引诱/lure or bait. The wild ducks were not fooled by the decoy. alsoV.
decrepit
ADJ. /老化，磨损/worn out by age. The decrepit car blocked traffic on the highway.
decrepitude
N. /衰老；老耄/state of collapse caused by illness or old age. I was unprepared for the state of decrepitude in which I had found my old friend; he seemed to have aged twenty years in six months.
decry
V. /强烈反对/express strong disapproval of; disparage. The founder of the Children’s Defense Fund, Marian Wright Edelman, strongly decries the lack of financial and moral support for children in America today.
deducible
ADJ. /可推导的，可推论的/derived by reasoning. If we accept your premise, your conclusions are easily deducible.
deface
V. /丑化/mar; disfigure. If you deface a library book, you will have to pay a hefty fine.
defame
V. /丑化；诽谤/harm someone’s reputation; malign; slander. If you try to defame my good name, my lawyers will see you in court. If rival candidates persist in defaming one another, the voters may conclude that all politicians are crooks. defamation, N.
default
N. /不作为，无动于衷/failure to act. When the visiting team failed to show up for the big game, they lost the game by default. When Jack failed to make the payments on his Jaguar, the dealership took back the car because he had defaulted on his debt.
defeatist
ADJ. /失败主义者/attitude of one who is ready to accept defeat as a natural outcome. If you maintain your defeatist attitude, you will never succeed. also N.
defection
N. /缺点；逃跑，叛逃/desertion. The children, who had made him an idol, were hurt most by his defection from our cause.
defer
V. /推迟，延期/delay till later; exempt temporarily. In wartime, some young men immediately volunteer to serve; others
defer
/缓招/making plans until they hear from their draft boards. During the Vietnam War, many young men, hoping to be deferred, requested student deferments.
defer
V. /听从/give in respectfully; submit. When it comes to making decisions about purchasing software, we must defer to Michael, our computer guru; he gets the final word. Michael, however, can defer these questions to no one; only he can decide.
deference
N. /尊重的，尊重他人的/courteous regard for another’s wish. In defer?ence to the minister’s request, please do not take pho?tographs during the wedding service.
defiance
N. /抵抗；不屈服/refusal to yield; resistance. When John reached the “terrible two’s,” he responded to every parental request with howls of defiance. defy,V.
defile
V. /污染；亵渎/pollute; profane. The hoodlums defiled the church with their scurrilous writing.
definitive
ADJ. /完全的；最终的/final; complete. Carl Sandburg’s Abraham Lincoln may be regarded as the definitive work on the life of the Great Emancipator.
deflect
V. /反射，偏转/turn aside. His life was saved when his cigarette case deflected the bullet.
defoliate
V. /落叶/destroy leaves. In Vietnam the army made extensive use of chemical agents to defoliate the woodlands.
defray
V. /偿付/pay the costs of. Her employer offered to defray the costs of her postgraduate education.
deft
ADJ. /灵巧的，敏锐地/neat; skillful. The deft waiter uncorked the cham?pagne without spilling a drop.
defunct
ADJ. /死的；不存在的，报废的/dead; no longer in use or existence. The lawyers sought to examine the books of the defunct corpo?ration.
defuse
V. /拆弹；化解（危机）/remove the fuse of a bomb; reduce or eliminate a threat. Police negotiators are trained to defuse danger?ous situations by avoiding confrontational language and behavior.
degenerate
V. /恶化/become worse; deteriorate. As the fight dragged on, the champion’s style degenerated until he could barely keep on his feet.
degradation
N. /降级；降格；退化/humiliation; debasement; degeneration. Some secretaries object to fetching the boss a cup of cof?fee because they resent the degradation of being made to do such lowly tasks. degrade,V.
dehydrate
V. /脱水/remove water from; dry out. Running under a hot sun quickly dehydrates the body; joggers soon learn to carry water bottles and to drink from them frequently.
deify
V. /神化/ turn into a god; idolize. Admire Elvis Presley all you want; just don’t deify him.
deign
V. /屈服，屈尊/condescend; stoop. The celebrated fashion designer would not deign to speak to a mere seamstress; his overburdened assistant had to convey the master’s wishes to the lowly workers assembling his great designs.
delectable
ADJ. /使人愉快的/delightful; delicious. We thanked our host for a most delectable meal.
delete
V. /删除/erase; strike out. Less is more: if you delete this paragraph, your whole essay will have greater appeal.
deleterious
ADJ. /有害的/harmful. If you believe that smoking is deleterious to your health (and the Surgeon General cer?tainly does), then quit!
deliberate
V. /深思熟虑的；商讨/consider; ponder. Offered the new job, she asked for time to deliberate before she told them her decision,
delineate
V. /描绘；描述/portray; depict; sketch. Using only a few descriptive phrases, Austen delineates the character of Mr. Collins so well that we can predict his every move. delin?eation, N.
delirium
N. /精神错乱/mental disorder marked by confusion. In his delirium, the drunkard saw pink panthers and talking pigs. Perhaps he wasn’t delirious: he might just have wandered into a movie.
delude
V. /盅惑/deceive. His mistress may have deluded herself into believing that he would leave his wife and marry her.
deluge
N. /冲（水）（刺）/flood; rush. When we advertised the position, we received a deluge of applications.
delusion
N. /错觉/false belief; hallucination. Don suffers from delusions of grandeur: he thinks he’s a world-famous author when he’s published just one paperback book.
delve
V. /挖掘；调查/dig; investigate. Delving into old books and man?uscripts is part of a researcher’s job.
demagogue
N. /煽动政治家/person who appeals to people’s prejudice; false leader of people. He was accused of being a dema?gogue because he made promises that aroused futile hopes in his listeners.
demean
V. /降级；贬低/degrade; humiliate. Standing on his dignity, he refused to demean himself by replying to the offensive letter. If you truly believed in the dignity of labor, you would not think it would demean you to work as a janitor.
demeanor
N. /风度；行为/behavior; bearing. His sober demeanor qui?eted the noisy revelers.
demented
ADJ. /疯狂的/insane. Doctor Demento was a lunatic radio personality who liked to act as if he were truly demented. If you’re demented, your mental state is out of whack; in other words, you’re wacky.
demise
N. /死/death. Upon the demise of the dictator, a bitter dispute about succession to power developed.
demolition
N. /拆除/destruction. One of the major aims of the air force was the complete demolition of all means of trans?portation by bombing of rail lines and terminals. demolish,V.
demoniac
ADJ. /魔鬼的/fiendish. The Spanish Inquisition devised many demoniac means of torture. demon, N.
demur
V. /反对；犹豫/object (because of doubts, scruples); hesitate. When offered a post on the board of directors, David demurred: he had scruples about taking on the job because he was unsure he could handle it in addition to his other responsibilities.
demure
ADJ. /端庄的；认真的；腼腆的/grave; serious; coy. She was demure and reserved, a nice modest girl whom any young man would be proud to take home to his mother.
demystify
V. /澄清；揭秘/clarify; free from mystery or obscurity. Help?ful doctors demystify medical procedures by describing them in everyday language, explaining that a myringotomy, for example, is an operation involving making a small hole in one’s eardrum.
denigrate
V. /抹黑/blacken. All attempts to denigrate the charac?ter of our late president have failed; the people still love him and cherish his memory.
denizen
N. /居民；常客/inhabitant or resident; regular visitor. In The Untouchables, Eliot Ness fights AI Capone and the other denizens of Chicago’s underworld. Ness’s fight against cor?ruption was the talk of all the denizens of the local bars.
denotation
N. /指示；根据名字区别/meaning; distinguishing by name. A dictio?nary will always give us the denotation of a word; fre?quently, it will also give us the connotations. denote,V.
denouement
N. /结局；结果/outcome; final development of the plot of a play. The play was childishly written; the denouement was obvious to sophisticated theatergoers as early as the mid?dle of the first act.
denounce
V. /咒骂；批评/condemn; criticize. The reform candidate denounced the corrupt city officers for having betrayed the public’s trust. denunciation, N.
depict
V. /描述/portray. In this sensational exposé, the author depicts Beatle John Lennon as a drug-crazed neurotic. Do you question the accuracy of this depiction of Lennon?
deplete
V. /耗尽；减少/reduce; exhaust. We must wait until we deplete our present inventory before we order replacements.
deplore
V. /悔恨/regret; disapprove of. Although I deplore the vulgarity of your language, I defend your right to express yourself freely.
deploy
V. /散开；部署/spread out [troops] in an extended though shal?low battle line. The general ordered the battalion to deploy in order to meet the enemy offensive.
depose
V. /革职/dethrone; remove from office. The army attempted to depose the king and set up a military govern?ment.
deposition
N. /宣言，誓言/testimony under oath. He made his deposi?tion in the judge’s chamber.
depravity
N. /堕落，腐坏/extreme corruption; wickedness. The deprav?ity of Caligula’s behavior came to sicken even those who had willingly participated in his earlier, comparatively inno?cent orgies.
deprecate
V. /抗议；蔑视/express disapproval of; protest against; belit?tle. A firm believer in old-fashioned courtesy, Miss Post deprecated the modern tendency to address new acquain?tances by their first names. deprecatory,ADJ.
depreciate
V. /折旧/lessen in value. If you neglect this property, it will depreciate.
depredation
N. /掠夺/plundering. After the depredations of the invaders, the people were penniless.
deranged
ADJ. /不理智/insane. He had to be institutionalized because he was mentally deranged.
derelict
ADJ. /遗弃的；废弃的/abandoned; negligent. The derelict craft was a menace to navigation. Whoever abandoned it in the mid?dle of the harbor was derelict in living up to his responsibili?ties as a boat owner. also N.
deride
V. /打趣；取消/ridicule; make fun of. The critics derided his pre?tentious dialogue and refused to consider his play seri?ously. derision, N.
derivative
ADJ. /派生的/unoriginal; derived from another source. Although her early poetry was clearly derivative in nature,the critics thought she had promise and eventually would find her own voice.
dermatologist
N. /皮肤病专家/one who studies the skin and its diseases. I advise you to consult a dermatologist about your acne.
derogatory
ADJ. /贬低的，贬损的/expressing a low opinion. I resent your derogatory remarks.
descant
V. /全面而详细的讨论/discuss fully. He was willing to descant upon any topic of conversation, even when he knew very little about the subject under discussion. also N.
descry
V. /看到/catch sight of. In the distance, we could barely descry the enemy vessels.
desecrate
V. /亵渎/profane; violate the sanctity of. Shattering the altar and trampling the holy objects underfoot, the invaders desecrated the sanctuary.
desiccate
V. /弄干/dry up. A tour of this smokehouse will give you an idea of how the pioneers used to desiccate food in order to preserve it.
desolate
ADJ. /荒无人烟的/unpopulated. After six months in the crowded, bustling metropolis, David was so sick of people that he was ready to head for the most desolate patch of wilderness he could find.
desolate
V. /放弃/rob of joy; lay waste to; forsake. The bandits desolated the countryside, burning farms and carrying off the harvest.
despise
V. look on with scorn; regard as worthless or distasteful. Mr. Bond, I despise spies; I look down on them as mean, despicable, honorless men, whom I would wipe from the face of the earth with as little con?cern as I would scrape dog droppings from the bottom of my shoe.
despoil
V. /掠夺/plunder. If you do not yield, I am afraid the enemy will despoil the countryside.
despondent
ADJ. /忧郁的；沮丧的/depressed; gloomy. To the dismay of his parents, William became seriously despondent after he broke up with Jan; they despaired of finding a cure for his gloom. despondency, N.
despot
N. /暴君/tyrant; harsh, authoritarian ruler. How could a benevolent king turn overnight into a despot?
destitute
ADJ. /一贫如洗/extremely poor. Because they had no health insurance, the father’s costly illness left the family destitute.
desultory
ADJ. /慢无目的的；断断续续的/aimless; haphazard; digressing at random. In prison Malcolm X set himself the task of reading straight through the dictionary; to him, reading was purposeful, not desultory.
detached
ADJ. /分离的/emotionally removed; calm and objective; physically unconnected. A psychoanalyst must maintain a detached point of view and stay uninvolved with his or her patients’ personal lives. To a child growing up in an apart?ment or a row house, to live in a detached house was an unattainable dream.
detergent
N. /洗洁精；洗涤剂/cleansing agent. Many new detergents have replaced soap.
determination
N. /决定；测量，计算；解决/resolve; measurement or calculation; decision. Nothing could shake his determination that his children would get the best education that money could buy. Thanks to my pocket calculator, my determination of the answer to the problem took only seconds of my time.
deterrent
N. /挫败；使气馁/something that discourages; hindrance. Does the threat of capital punishment serve as a deterrent to potential killers? deter,V.
detonation
N. /引爆，爆炸/explosion. The detonation of the bomb could be heard miles away.
detraction
N. /诽谤/slandering; aspersion. He is offended by your frequent detractions of his ability as a leader.
detrimental
ADJ. /有害的/harmful; damaging. The candidate’s acceptance of major financial contributions from a well?known racist ultimately proved detrimental to his campaign, for he lost the backing of many of his early grassroots sup?porters. detriment, N.
deviate
V. /背离/turn away from (a principle, norm); depart; diverge. Richard never deviated from his daily routine: every day he set off for work at eight o’clock, had his sack lunch (peanut butter on whole wheat) at 12:15, and headed home at the stroke of five.
devious
ADJ. /拐弯抹角的；偏僻的/roundabout; erratic; not straightforward. The Joker’s plan was so devious that it was only with great diffi?culty we could follow its shifts and dodges.
devise
V. /设计；发明/think up; invent; plan. How clever he must be to have devised such a devious plan! What ingenious inven?tions might he have devised if he had turned his mind to science and not to crime.
devoid
ADJ. /缺乏的/lacking. You may think her mind is a total void, but she’s actually not devoid of intelligence. She just sounds like an airhead.
devotee
N. /热心的追随者/enthusiastic follower. A devotee of the opera, he bought season tickets every year.
devout
ADJ. /虔诚的；诚恳的/pious. The devout man prayed daily.
dexterous
ADJ. /灵巧的；右撇子/skillful. The magician was so dexterous that we could not follow him as he performed his tricks.
diabolical
ADJ. /恶魔的/devilish. “What a fiend I am, to devise such a diabolical scheme to destroy Gotham City,” chortled the Joker gleefully.
diagnosis
N. /诊断/art of identifying a disease; analysis of a con?dition. In medical school Margaret developed her skill at diagnosis, learning how to read volumes from a rapid pulse or a hacking cough. diagnose, V.; diagnostic,ADJ.
discomfit
V. /扰乱/put to rout; defeat; disconcert. This ruse will discomfitthe enemy. discomfiture, N. discomfited,ADJ.
discomposure
N. /心乱；不安/agitation; loss of poise. Perpetually poised, Agent 007 never exhibited a moment’s discompo?sure.
disconcert
V. /迷惑；扰乱；使难堪/confuse; upset; embarrass. The lawyer was disconcerted by the evidence produced by her adversary.
disconsolate
ADJ. /悲伤；沮丧/sad. The death of his wife left him dis?consolate.
discord
N. /冲突的；不和谐的/conflict; lack of harmony. Watching Tweedle?dum battle Tweedledee, Alice wondered what had caused this pointless discord.
discordant
ADJ. /不和谐的；冲突的/not harmonious; conflicting. Nothing is quite so discordant as the sound of a junior high school orchestra tuning up.
discount
V. /漠视；解散/disregard; dismiss. Be prepared to discount what he has to say about his ex-wife.
discourse
N. /演讲；谈话/formal discussion; conversation. The young Plato was drawn to the Agora to hear the philosophical dis?course of Socrates and his followers. alsoV.
discredit
V. /不信任；丢脸/defame; destroy confidence in; disbelieve. The campaign was highly negative in tone; each candidate tried to discredit the other.
discrepancy
N. /相差；缺乏一致/lack of consistency; difference. The police noticed some discrepancies in his description of the crime and did not believe him.
discrete
ADJ. /分离；没有关系的/separate; unconnected. The universe is com?posed of discrete bodies.
discretion
N. /判断力；审慎的/prudence; ability to adjust actions to circum?stances. Use your discretion in this matter and do not dis?cuss it with anyone. discreet,ADJ.
discriminating
ADJ. /有识别能力的；有偏见的/able to see differences; prejudiced. A superb interpreter of Picasso, she was sufficiently discrimi?nating to judge the most complex works of modern art. (secondary meaning) discrimination, N.
discursive
ADJ. /散漫的；不得要领的/digressing; rambling. As the lecturer wan?dered from topic to topic, we wondered what if any point there was to his discursive remarks.
disdain
V. /蔑视/view with scorn or contempt. In the film Funny Face, the bookish heroine disdained fashion models for their lack of intellectual interests. also N.
disembark
V. /登陆；靠岸/go ashore; unload cargo from a ship. Before the passengers could disembark, they had to pick up their passports from the ship’s purser.
disenfranchise
V. /剥夺（公民权）/deprive of a civil right. The imposition of the poll tax effectively disenfranchised poor Southern blacks, who lost their right to vote.
disengage
V. /脱离；分离/uncouple; separate; disconnect. A standard movie routine involves the hero’s desperate attempt to dis?engage a railroad car from a moving train.
disfigure
V. /诬陷，抹黑，诽谤/mar in beauty; spoil. An ugly frown disfigured his normally pleasant face.
disgorge
V. /吐出，涌出，呕吐/surrender something; eject; vomit. Unwilling to disgorge the cash he had stolen from the pension fund, the embezzler tried to run away.
disgruntle
V. /使郁闷/make discontented. The passengers were disgruntled by the numerous delays.
dishearten
V. /挫败/discourage; cause to lose courage or hope. His failure to pass the bar exam disheartened him.
disheveled
ADJ. /邋遢，肮脏/untidy. Your disheveled appearance will hurt your chances in this interview.
disinclination
N. /不情愿，厌恶/unwillingness. Some mornings I feel a great disinclination to get out of bed
disingenuous
ADJ. /不诚恳的/lacking genuine candor; insincere. Now that we know the mayor and his wife are engaged in a bitter divorce fight, we find their earlier remarks regretting their lack of time together remarkably disingenuous.
disinter
V. /挖出，出土/dig up; unearth. They disinterred the body and held an autopsy.
disinterested
ADJ. /公允的/unprejudiced. Given the judge’s political ambitions and the lawyers’ financial interest in the case, the only disinterested person in the courtroom may have been the court reporter.
disjointed
ADJ. /断开/disconnected. His remarks were so dis?jointed that we could not follow his reasoning.
dislodge
V. /强制移除/remove (forcibly). Thrusting her fist up under the choking man’s lower ribs, Margaret used the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the food caught in his throat.
dismantle
V. /拆除/take apart. When the show closed, they dis?mantled the scenery before storing it.
dismay
V. /使沮丧；使害怕/discourage; frighten. The huge amount of work she had left to do dismayed her. also N.
dismember
V. /分解，肢解/cut into small parts. When the Austrian Empire was dismembered, several new countries were established.
dismiss
V. /拒绝；排除/put away from consideration; reject. Believing in John’s love for her, she dismissed the notion that he might be unfaithful. (secondary meaning)
disparage
V. /忽略，轻视/belittle. A doting mother, Emma was more likely to praise her son’s crude attempts at art than to dis?parage them.
disparate
ADJ. /大相径庭的；没关系的/basically different; unrelated. Unfortunately, Tony and Tina have disparate notions of marriage: Tony sees it as a carefree extended love affair, while Tina sees it as a solemn commitment to build a family and a home.
disparity
N. /不同；差距/difference; condition of inequality. Their dis?parity in rank made no difference at all to the prince and Cinderella.
dispassionate
ADJ. /平静的；公平的/calm; impartial. Known in the company for his cool judgment, Bill could impartially examine the causes of a problem, giving a dispassionate analysis of what had gone wrong, and go on to suggest how to correct the mess.
dispatch
N. /急速；急件/speediness; prompt execution; message sent with all due speed. Young Napoleon defeated the enemy with all possible dispatch; he then sent a dispatch to head?quarters informing his commander of the great victory. alsoV.
dispel
V. /散开；分裂；消失/scatter; drive away; cause to vanish. The bright sunlight eventually dispelled the morning mist.
disperse
V. /散开/scatter. The police fired tear gas into the crowd to disperse the protesters. dispersion, N.
dispirited
ADJ. /没情绪的，沮丧的/lacking in spirit. The coach used all the tricks at his command to buoy up the enthusiasm of his team, which had become dispirited at the loss of the star player.
disputatious
ADJ. /好辩的/argumentative; fond of arguing. Con?vinced he knew more than his lawyers, Alan was a disputa?tious client, ready to argue about the best way to conduct the case. disputant, N.
disquiet
V. /使焦虑，使难受/make uneasy or anxious. Holmes’s absence for a day, slightly disquieted Watson; after a week with no word, however, Watson’s uneasiness about his missing friend had grown into a deep fear for his safety. disquietude, N.
dissection
N. /分析；解剖/analysis; cutting apart in order to examine. The dissection of frogs in the laboratory is particularly unpleasant to some students.
dissemble
V. /伪装，做作，掩饰/disguise; pretend. Even though John tried to dissemble his motive for taking modern dance, we all knew he was there not to dance but to meet girls.
disseminate
V. /分发，扩散，散布/distribute; spread; scatter (like seeds). By their use of the Internet, propagandists have been able to disseminate their pet doctrines to new audiences around the globe.
dissent
V. /反对/disagree. In the recent Supreme Court decision, Justice O’Connor dissented from the majority opinion. also N.
dissertation
N. /论文（博士生）/formal essay. In order to earn a graduate degree from many of our universities, a candidate is fre?quently required to prepare a dissertation on some schol?arly subject.
dissident
ADJ. /持不同意见的；难于对付的/dissenting; rebellious. In the purge that fol?lowed the student demonstrations at Tiananmen Square, the government hunted down the dissident students and their supporters. also N.
dissimulate
V. /伪装，做作，掩饰/pretend; conceal by feigning. She tried to dissimulate her grief by her exuberant attitude.
dissipate
V. /驱散，消散；浪费/squander; waste; scatter. He is a fine artist, but I fear he may dissipate his gifts if he keeps wasting his time playing games.
dissolute
ADJ. /放纵，挥霍/loose in morals. The dissolute life led by the ancient Romans is indeed shocking.
dissolution
N. /解散；终止；解体/breaking of a union; decay; termination. Which caused King Lear more suffering: the dissolution of his kingdom into warring factions, or the dissolution of his aged, failing body?
dissonance
N. /不和谐的（声音）/discord. Composer Charles Ives often used dissonance-clashing or unresolved chords-for special effects in his musical works.
dissuade
V. /劝阻；使灰心/persuade not to do; discourage. Since Tom could not dissuade Huck from running away from home, he decided to run away with him. dissuasion, N.
distant
ADJ. /冷漠的；远离的/reserved or aloof; cold in manner. His distant greeting made me feel unwelcome from the start. (sec?ondary meaning)
distend
V. /扩大；扩张/expand; swell out. I can tell when he is under stress by the way the veins distend on his forehead.
distill
V. /蒸馏；萃取，提炼，提纯/extract the essence; purify; refine. A moonshiner distills mash into whiskey; an epigrammatist distills thoughts into quips.
distinction
N. /出名；出格/honor; contrast; discrimination. A holder of the Medal of Honor, George served with great distinction in World War II. He made a distinction, however, between World War II and Vietnam, which he considered an immoral conflict.
distort
V. /扭曲，歪曲/twist out of shape. It is difficult to believe the newspaper accounts of the riots because of the way some reporters distort and exaggerate the actual events. distor?tion, N.
distraught
ADJ. /使悲伤；使焦虑/upset; distracted by anxiety. The dis?traught parents frantically searched the ravine for their lost child.
diurnal
ADJ. /日常的/daily. A farmer cannot neglect his diurnal tasks at any time; cows, for example, must be milked regularly.
diva
N. /著名女歌唱家，天后；歌剧女主角/operatic singer; prima donna. Although world famous as a diva, she did not indulge in fits of tempera?ment. ..
diverge
V. /多样的；各异的/vary; go in different directions from the same point. The spokes of the wheel diverge from the hub.
divergent
ADJ. /分歧的/differing; deviating. Since graduating from medical school, the two doctors have taken divergent paths, one going on to become a nationally prominent sur?geon, the other dedicating himself to a small family practice in his home town. divergence, N.
diverse
ADJ. /丰富多样的/differing in some characteristics; various. The professor suggested diverse ways of approaching the assignment and recommended that we choose one of them. diversity, N.
diversion
N. /转移；解闷/act of turning aside; pastime. After studying for several hours, he needed a diversion from work. divert,V.
diversity
N. /多样性/variety; dissimilitude. The diversity of colleges in this country indicates that many levels of ability are being cared for.
divest
V. /剥夺/strip; deprive. He was divested of his power to act and could no longer govern. divestiture, N.
divine
V. /运用直觉，超能力；预见/perceive intuitively; foresee the future. Nothing infuriated Tom more than Aunt Polly’s ability to divine when he was telling the truth.
divulge
V. /揭开，暴露/reveal. No lover of gossip, Charlotte would never divulge anything that a friend told her in confidence.
docile
ADJ. /驯服的，听话的；善良的/obedient; easily managed. As docile as he seems today, that old lion was once a ferocious, snarling beast. docility, N.
doctrinaire
ADJ. /教条的；顽固的/unable to compromise about points of doctrine; dogmatic; unyielding. Weng had hoped that the student-led democracy movement might bring about change in China, but the repressive response of the doctri?naire hard-liners crushed his dreams of democracy.
doctrine
N. /教育；学说/teachings, in general; particular principle (reli?gious, legal, etc.) taught. He was so committed to the doc?trines of his faith that he was unable to evaluate them impartially.
document
V. /书面证明/provide written evidence. She kept all the receipts from her business trip in order to document her expenses for the firm. also N.
doff
V. /脱/take off. A gentleman used to doff his hat to a lady.
dogged
ADJ. /顽固的；顽强的/determined; stubborn. Les Miserables tells of Inspector Javert’s long, dogged pursuit of the criminal Jean Valjean.
doggerel
N. /打油诗/poor verse. Although we find occasional snatches of genuine poetry in her work, most of her writing is mere doggerel.
dogmatic
ADJ. /独断的，教条的，固执的/opinionated; arbitrary; doctrinal. We tried to discourage Doug from being so dogmatic, but never could convince him that his opinions might be wrong.
doldrums
N. /忧郁，悲伤/blues; listlessness; slack period. Once the excitement of meeting her deadline was over, she found herself in the doldrums.
doleful
ADJ. /悲伤/sorrowful. He found the doleful lamentations of the bereaved family emotionally disturbing and he left as quickly as he could.
dolt
N. /愚蠢的人，蠢货/stupid person. I thought I was talking to a mature audience; instead, I find myself addressing a pack of dolts and idiots.
domicile
N. /家/home. Although his legal domicile was in New York City, his work kept him away from his residence for many years. alsoV.
domineer
V. /暴力压制/rule over tyrannically. Students prefer teach?ers who guide, not ones who domineer.
don
V. /穿上/put on. When Clark Kent has to don his Superman outfit, he changes clothes in a convenient phone booth.
