Chapter 7

Question 1

legion

Answer 1

n.

1. The major unit of the Roman army consisting of 3,000 to 6,000 infantry troops and 100 to 200 cavalry troops.
2. A large military unit trained for combat; an army.
3. A large number; a multitude

Question 2

officious

Answer 2

adj.

1. Marked by excessive eagerness in offering unwanted services or advice to others; domineering; intrusive; meddlesome: an officious host; officious attention.
2. Informal; unofficial.

Question 3

posthumous

Answer 3

adj.

1. Occurring or continuing after one’s death: a posthumous award.
2. Published after the writer’s death: a posthumous book.
3. Born after the death of the father: a posthumous child.

Question 4

totter

Answer 4

1.

a. To sway as if about to fall.
b. To appear about to collapse: an empire that had begun to totter.
2. To walk unsteadily or feebly; stagge

Question 5

rigor

Answer 5

n.
1.
a. Strictness or severity, as in action or judgment
b. A harsh or trying circumstance; a hardship or difficulty: the rigors of working in a coal mine
2.
a. Strictness in adhering to standards or a method; exactitude e.g. scientific rigor, behaviorists
b. A standard or exacting requirement, as of a field of study: the intellectual rigors of advanced mathematics.

Question 6

alacrity

Answer 6

n.

1. Cheerful willingness; eagerness.
2. Speed or quickness; celerity.

Question 7

burgeon

Answer 7

v.

a. To put forth new buds, leaves, or greenery; sprout.
b. To begin to grow or blossom, flourish
2. To grow or develop rapidly; expand or proliferate.

Question 8

deleterious

Answer 8

adj.

Having a harmful effect; injurious: the deleterious effects of smoking.

Question 9

tractable

Answer 9

adj.

1. Easily managed or controlled; governable; obedient; dutiful; polite.
2. Easily handled or worked; malleable.

Question 10

burnish

Answer 10

v.

1. To make smooth or glossy by rubbing; polish.
2. To rub with a tool that serves especially to smooth or polish.
3. To improve or make more impressive: achievements that burnished her reputation.

Question 11

euphony

Answer 11

n.

Agreeable sound, especially in the phonetic quality of words.

Question 12

iconoclast

Answer 12

n.

1. One who attacks and seeks to overthrow traditional or popular ideas or institutions; one who opposes orthodoxy
2. One who destroys sacred religious images.

Question 13

levity

Answer 13

n.
Humor, merriment, flippancy, or a lack of seriousness, especially when inappropriate: a subject that should not be treated with levity.

Question 14

olfactory

Answer 14

adj.

Of, relating to, or contributing to the sense of smell.

Question 15

potable

Answer 15

adj.

Fit to drink.

Question 16

rotund

Answer 16

adj.

1. Rounded in figure; plump
2. Round or spherical

Question 17

buttress

Answer 17

v.

1. To support or reinforce with a buttress.
2. To sustain, prop, or bolster:”The author buttresses her analysis with lengthy dissections”

Question 18

delineate

Answer 18

v.
1.
a. To draw or depict
b. To describe or characterize in words
2.
a. To mark, form, or show the outline or border of: The police delineated the crime scene with yellow tape. A hedge delineates one plot of land from the other.
b. To establish the position of (a border): The treaty delineates the border between Spanish and American territory.
c. To show or contain a distinguishing characteristic of; distinguish: “The first game … delineated the differences between the two teams” (Stuart Miller).

Question 19

idiosyncrasy

Answer 19

1. A structural or behavioral characteristic peculiar to an individual or group.
2. A physiological or temperamental peculiarity.
3. An unusual individual reaction to food or a drug.

Question 20

ruminate

Answer 20

v.

To turn a matter over and over in the mind; to ponder

Question 21

byline

Answer 21

n.

A line at the head of a newspaper or magazine article carrying the writer’s name.

Question 22

demur

Answer 22

v.

1. To voice opposition; object; refuse

Question 23

ignominious

Answer 23

adj.

1. Characterized by or deserving shame or disgrace
2. Degrading; debasing

Question 24

liniment

Answer 24

n.

A medicinal fluid rubbed into the skin to soothe pain or relieve stiffness.

Question 25

ruse

Answer 25

n.

A crafty stratagem; a subterfuge; a trick