Tests 2 Flashcards
Suppress
to end or stop (something) by force
: to keep (something) secret : to not allow people to know about or see (something)
: to not allow yourself to feel, show, or be affected by (an emotion)
Full Definition of suppress
1
: to put down by authority or force : subdue
2
: to keep from public knowledge: as
a : to keep secret
b : to stop or prohibit the publication or revelation of
3
a : to exclude from consciousness
b : to keep from giving vent to : check
4
obsolete : to press down
5
a : to restrain from a usual course or action
b : to inhibit the growth or development of
6
: to inhibit the genetic expression of
Examples of suppress
Political dissent was brutally suppressed.
The governor tried to suppress the news.
He struggled to suppress his feelings of jealousy.
She could not suppress her anger.
I had to suppress an urge to tell him what I really thought.
Lavish
Simple Definition of lavish
: giving or using a large amount of something
: given in large amounts
: having a very rich and expensive quality
Full Definition of lavish 1 \: expending or bestowing profusely : prodigal 2 a : expended or produced in abundance b : marked by profusion or excess
Examples of lavish
a lavish display of flowers
Yield
Simple Definition of yield
: to produce or provide (something, such as a plant or crop)
: to produce (something) as a result of time, effort, or work
: to produce (a profit, an amount of money, etc.)
: to give or render as fitting, rightfully owed, or required
3: to give up possession of on claim or demand: as
a : to give up (as one’s breath) and so die
b : to surrender or relinquish to the physical control of another : hand over possession of
c : to surrender or submit (oneself) to another
d : to give (oneself) up to an inclination, temptation, or habit
e : to relinquish one’s possession of (as a position of advantage or point of superiority)
4a : to bear or bring forth as a natural product especially as a result of cultivation
b : to produce or furnish as return
c (1) : to produce as return from an expenditure or investment : furnish as profit or interest <a> (2) : to produce as revenue : bring in
5: to give up (as a hit or run) in baseball</a>
Examples of yield
The apple trees yielded an abundant harvest.
This soil should yield good crops.
The seeds yield a rich oil.
New methods have yielded promising results in the field.
The studies yielded clear evidence.
The tax is expected to yield millions.
The bond yields seven percent annually.
After several hours of debate, the opposition yielded.
I yield the floor to the Senator from Maine.
I yield to the Senator.</a>
surpass
Simple Definition of surpass
: to be better or greater than (someone or something)
Full Definition of surpass
1
: to become better, greater, or stronger than : exceed
2
: to go beyond : overstep
3
: to transcend the reach, capacity, or powers of <a></a>
Examples of surpass
Attendance is expected to surpass last year’s record.
Last quarter, sales surpassed two million.
His work regularly surpasses all expectations.
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Undermine
Simple Definition of undermine
: to make (someone or something) weaker or less effective usually in a secret or gradual way
Full Definition of undermine
transitive verb
1
: to excavate the earth beneath : form a mine under : sap
2
: to wash away supporting material from under
3
: to subvert or weaken insidiously or secretly
4
: to weaken or ruin by degrees
Examples of undermine
She tried to undermine my authority by complaining about me to my boss.
The events of the past year have undermined people’s confidence in the government.
Downfall
Simple Definition of downfall
: a sudden loss of power, happiness, success, etc.
: something that causes failure
Full Definition of downfall
1
a : a sudden fall (as from power)
b : a fall (as of snow or rain) especially when sudden or heavy
2
: something that causes a downfall (as of a person)
Examples of downfall
Their downfall was the result of several bad decisions.
Bad decision-making was their downfall.
restore
Simple Definition of restore
: to give back (someone or something that was lost or taken) : to return (someone or something)
: to put or bring (something) back into existence or use
: to return (something) to an earlier or original condition by repairing it, cleaning it, etc.
Full Definition of restore
re·storedre·stor·ing
transitive verb
1
: give back, return
2
: to put or bring back into existence or use
3
: to bring back to or put back into a former or original state : renew
4
: to put again in possession of something
Examples of restore
The police restored law and order.
The government needs to restore confidence in the economy.
an antique car that is being carefully restored
accuse
Simple Definition of accuse
: to blame (someone) for something wrong or illegal : to say that someone is guilty of a fault or crime
Full Definition of accuse
ac·cusedac·cus·ing
transitive verb
1
: to charge with a fault or offense : blame
2
: to charge with an offense judicially or by a public process
Examples of accuse
circumvent
Simple Definition of circumvent
: to avoid being stopped by (something, such as a law or rule) : to get around (something) in a clever and sometimes dishonest way
Full Definition of circumvent transitive verb 1 a : to hem in b : to make a circuit around 2 \: to manage to get around especially by ingenuity or stratagem
Examples of circumvent
Los Angeles was the beachhead for the sushi invasion, attracting many Japanese chefs eager to make their fortunes and to circumvent the grueling 10-year apprenticeship required in their homeland. —Jay McInerney, New York Times Book Review, 10 June 2007
… Rondon and Lyra paddled to the right side, where they found a channel that circumvented the worst part of the rapids. —Candice Millard, The River of Doubt, 2005
His appreciation of this finer side of life is circumvented by a cynicism that he tells me is common to Eastern Europeans. —Lynne Tillman, Motion Sickness, 1991
The thirty-six-hour workweek established by the garment-industry code was circumvented by having the workers punch out at five P.M., leave by the back door (their usual entrance), then return by the front door and work until eleven P.M. without punching the clock. —Melissa Hield, Speaking For Ourselves, (1977) 1984
We circumvented the problem by using a different program.
He found a way to circumvent the law.
Jeopardize
Simple Definition of jeopardize
: to put (something or someone) in danger
Full Definition of jeopardize
jeop·ar·dizedjeop·ar·diz·ing
transitive verb
: to expose to danger or risk : imperil
Examples of jeopardize
His health has been jeopardized by poor nutrition.
Incapacitate
Simple Definition of incapacitate
: to make (someone or something) unable to work, move, or function in the usual way
Full Definition of incapacitate
in·ca·pac·i·tat·edin·ca·pac·i·tat·ing
transitive verb
1
: to make legally incapable or ineligible
2
: to deprive of capacity or natural power : disable
Legitimate
Simple Definition of legitimate
: allowed according to rules or laws
: real, accepted, or official
: fair or reasonable
Examples of legitimate
Law books were getting thicker by the week with Supreme Court decisions barring legitimate claims because they weren’t timely filed. —John Grisham, The Chamber, 1995
Even in many courtrooms, where there is valid concern about the privacy of defendants, judges recognize that camera coverage serves a legitimate public interest. —New Republic, 22 Feb. 1993
He was indeed already a legitimate child according to the law of Scotland, by the subsequent marriage of his parents. —Sir Walter Scott, The Heart of Mid-Lothian, 1818
legitimate means for achieving success
the legitimate use of firearms
There’s no legitimate reason for prescribing this medication to a child.
Disgrace
Simple Definition of disgrace
: to cause (someone) to feel ashamed
: to cause (someone or something) to lose or become unworthy of respect or approval
Examples of disgrace
Many feel that the mayor has disgraced the town government by accepting personal favors from local businesspeople.
He felt he had disgraced himself by failing at school.
Fortify
Simple Definition of fortify
: to strengthen (a place) by building military defenses (such as walls, trenches, etc.)
: to make (someone or something) stronger
: to make (yourself) feel stronger or less fearful
Examples of fortify
fortify a city against attack
a city fortified by high walls
Support for his theories has been fortified by the results of these experiments.
He took a deep breath to fortify himself before stepping onto the stage.
milk fortified with vitamin D
Parity
plural par·i·ties
1
: the quality or state of being equal or equivalent
2
a : equivalence of a commodity price expressed in one currency to its price expressed in another
b : equality of purchasing power established by law between different kinds of money at a given ratio
3
: an equivalence between farmers’ current purchasing power and their purchasing power at a selected base period maintained by government support of agricultural commodity prices
4
a : the property of an integer with respect to being odd or even
b (1) : the state of being odd or even used as the basis of a method of detecting errors in binary-coded data (2) : parity bit
5
: the property of oddness or evenness of a quantum mechanical function
6
: the symmetry of behavior in an interaction of a physical entity (as a subatomic particle) with that of its mirror image
Immunize
Simple Definition of immunize
Popularity: Bottom 30% of words
: to give (someone) a vaccine to prevent infection by a disease
similitude
Definition of similitude 1 a : counterpart, double b : a visible likeness : image 2 \: an imaginative comparison : simile 3 a : correspondence in kind or quality b : a point of comparison
Examples of similitude
synchronicity/synchronous
Simple Definition of synchronous
: happening, moving, or existing at the same time
Full Definition of synchronous
1
: happening, existing, or arising at precisely the same time
2
: recurring or operating at exactly the same periods
3
: involving or indicating synchronism
4
a : having the same period; also : having the same period and phase
b : geostationary
5
: of, used in, or being digital communication (as between computers) in which a common timing signal is established that dictates when individual bits can be transmitted and which allows for very high rates of data transfer
Examples of synchronous
pertinent
Simple Definition of pertinent
: relating to the thing that is being thought about or discussed
Full Definition of pertinent
: having a clear decisive relevance to the matter in hand
Examples of pertinent
At the dawn of the common-law court system, jurors took their places as residents of the neighborhood where the pertinent events had occurred, who were assumed to possess special knowledge of the facts and, more important, of every witness’s credibility. —Hiller B. Zobel, American Heritage, July/August 1995
A more pertinent question than “What am I?” is “How can I be who I am and still hack it in America?” —C. Eric Lincoln, Lure and Loathing, 1993
But as my moment of fame ticks by, a more pertinent issue persists: What hath CNN wrought in the worlds of communications, of diplomacy, of politics? —Peter Arnett, Washington Post, 25-31 Mar. 1991
No recurrent symbolism in the Odyssey is more pertinent than the long and deliberate stripping its hero undergoes: of his ships, of his men, of his hopes, of his clothes, even of his very skin on the cliffs of Corfu. —John Fowles, Island, 1978
Supremacy
Simple Definition of supremacy
: the quality or state of having more power, authority, or status than anyone else : the state of being supreme
Examples of supremacy
ineptitude
Simple Definition of ineptitude
: a lack of skill or ability
Examples of ineptitude
The team’s poor play is being blamed on the ineptitude of the coaching staff.
acumen
imple Definition of acumen
: the ability to think clearly and make good decisions
Examples of acumen
And perhaps this is just part of Washington’s transition into the new economy: the triumph of national brands over local loyalty, of business acumen over upper Northwest idealism. —Franklin Foer, New Republic, 7 Feb. 2000
… the historical acumen, the steady shrewdness, and the uncommon common sense with which the old maestro watches the American procession of similar problems faced by dissimilar egos. —Alistair Cooke, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 1987
Here was a man of extraordinary sensitivity, political acumen, spiritual power, and sexual wildness; a free spirit if ever there was one. —Alice Walker, Living by the Word, 1986
Her political acumen won her the election.
a lack of business acumen
discernment
Simple Definition of discernment
: the ability to see and understand people, things, or stituations clearly and intelligently
Full Definition of discernment
1
: the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure : skill in discerning
2
: an act of perceiving or discerning something
Examples of discernment
I wasn’t sanguine about my powers of discernment, as I’ve failed similar exercises in the Central Park Ramble, where I practice bird-watching for dummies and am scarcely able to distinguish a rook from a duck. —Judith Thurman, New Yorker, 1 Dec., 2003
Varying widely in scope and theme, the 10 essays about the Bill of Rights in this collection often shine with insight and sparkling turns of phrase; some, however, betray lack of discernment. —Jonathan Kellerman et al., Publishers Weekly, 17 Apr. 2000
If one searched the archives to find an example of Spanish colonial policy at its worst, one would surely select Don Carlos Benites Franquis de Lugo, a vain, arrogant, opinionated fop who never displayed a shred of either courage or discernment but who did distinguish himself as one of the most inept and vengeful Spaniards ever to function overseas. —James A. Michener, Texas, 1985
His lack of discernment led to his disastrous choice of business partners.
Grasp
Simple Definition of grasp
: to take and hold (something) with your fingers, hands, etc.
: to understand (something that is complicated or difficult)
Examples of grasp
I grasped the end of the rope and pulled as hard as I could.
I grasped the rope by its end.
His arthritis is so bad he can barely grasp a pencil.
obscure
Simple Definition of obscure
Popularity: Top 10% of words
: not well-known : not known to most people
: difficult to understand : likely to be understood by only a few people
: difficult or impossible to know completely and with certainty
Examples of obscure
Many people shared an obscure sense of gratification that [Dylan] Thomas had died young, as a poet should. —Adam Kirsch, New Yorker, 5 July 2004
But by 1830 the Boston Mission Board was desperate enough that it targeted an obscure sect of Oriental Christians, the Nestorians in faraway Iran, as a possibility for conversion. —Robert D. Kaplan, The Arabists, 1993
I knew they were special from their jeans and T-shirts, their knowing, ironic looks when obscure works of literature were referred to. —Julia Alvarez, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, 1991
Now at last Bacon could refer when he chose to his father’s high position and his father’s service—and no man could say it was done for self-aggrandizement, as a son who is obscure bespeaks the glory of past forebears. —Catherine Drinker Bowen, Francis Bacon, 1963
The movie is full of obscure references that only pop culture enthusiasts will understand.
The origins of the language are obscure.
abuse
Definition of abuse
1 \: a corrupt practice or custom 2 \: improper or excessive use or treatment : misuse 3 obsolete : a deceitful act : deception 4 \: language that condemns or vilifies usually unjustly, intemperately, and angrily 5 \: physical maltreatment
Examples of abuse
He subjected his wife to physical and emotional abuse.
the buying of votes and other election abuses
She was subjected to every term of abuse her boss could think of.
a torrent of verbal abuse
The prisoner hurled abuse at the judge.
