LXXX Flashcards
accentuate /əkˈsentʃueɪt/
to make something more noticeable
“The photograph seemed to accentuate his large nose.”
assess /əˈses/
1) to make a judgment about a person or situation after thinking carefully about it SYN judge
assess the impact/extent/effectiveness etc of something
“a report to assess the impact of advertising on children”
assess what/how etc
“The technique is being tried in classrooms to assess what effects it may have.”
be assessed as something
“Many of the adults were assessed as having learning difficulties.”
2) to calculate the value or cost of something
be assessed at something
“The value of the business was assessed at £1.25 million.”
appraise /əˈpreɪz/
1) to officially judge how successful, effective, or valuable something is SYN evaluate
“Greenpeace has been invited to appraise the environmental costs of such an operation.”
2) to look carefully at someone or something to make an opinion about them
“His eyes appraised her face.”
escalate /ˈeskəleɪt/
1) if fighting, violence, or a bad situation escalates, or if someone escalates it, it becomes much worse
escalate into
“Her fear was escalating into panic.”
“The fighting on the border is escalating.”
“We do not want to escalate the war.”
2) to become higher or increase, or to make something do this
“The costs were escalating alarmingly.”
“policies that escalate their own costs”
“escalating crime”
impend /ɪmˈpend/
1) If an event impends, usually an event that is unpleasant or unwanted, it is going to happen soon:
“A crisis of huge proportions impends in the area.”
2) to be suspended, hang
conjecture /kənˈdʒektʃə/
1) when you form ideas or opinions without having very much information to base them on
“What she said was pure conjecture.”
“There has been some conjecture about a possible merger.”
2) an idea or opinion formed by guessing SYN guess, hypothesis
“My results show that this conjecture was, in fact, correct.”
3) to form an idea or opinion without having much information to base it on SYN guess
conjecture that
“It seems reasonable to conjecture that these conditions breed violence.”
presume /prɪˈzjuːm/
1) to think that something is true, although you are not certain SYN assume
“Each of you will make a speech, I presume?”
“‘Are his parents still alive?’ ‘I presume so.’”
presume that
“I presume we’ll be there by six o’clock.”
presume somebody/something to be somebody/something
“From the way he talked, I presumed him to be your boss.”
be presumed to do something
“The temple is presumed to date from the first century BC.”
2) to accept something as true until it is shown to not be true, especially in law SYN assume
“We must presume innocence until we have evidence of guilt.”
be presumed dead/innocent etc
“Their nephew was missing, presumed dead.”
3) to behave without respect or politeness by doing something that you have no right to do
“presume to do something”
“I would never presume to tell you what to do.”
divisive /dəˈvaɪsɪv/
causing a lot of disagreement between people
“The strike was a divisive issue in the community.”
socially/economically/politically etc divisive
“socially divisive policies”
succumb /səˈkʌm/
1) to stop opposing someone or something that is stronger than you, and allow them to take control SYN give in
succumb to
“Succumbing to pressure from the chemical industry, Governor Blakely amended the regulations.”
“Gina succumbed to temptation and had a second serving of cake.”
2) if you succumb to an illness, you become very ill or die of it
succumb to
“About 400,000 Americans succumb each year to smoking-related illnesses.”
decree /dɪˈkriː/
1) an official order or decision, especially one made by the ruler of a country
“The Emperor issued the decree repealing martial law.”
2) a judgment in a court of law
3) to make an official judgment or give an official order
decree (that)
“The King decreed that there should be an end to the fighting.”
