The Lewis Gun

Question 1

alacrity

Answer 1

speed and eagerness:

She accepted the money with alacrity.

Question 2

envision

Answer 2

to imagine or expect something in the future, especially something good:
Train fare increases of 15 percent are envisioned for the next year.
It’s envisioned that building will start at the end of this year.
When do you envision finishing the project?
It’s hard to envision how it might happen.

Question 3

meager

Answer 3

very small or not enough:
a meager salary
The prisoners existed on a meager diet.

Question 4

slender

Answer 4

thin and delicate, often in a way that is attractive:
He put his hands around her slender waist.
The plant’s leaves are long and slender.

Question 5

in embryo

Answer 5

developing and not yet complete:

The department’s plans for enlargement are still in embryo.

Question 6

impeccable

Answer 6

perfect, with no problems or bad parts:
impeccable taste/manners/credentials
His English is impeccable.

Question 7

endear someone to someone

Answer 7

to cause someone to be liked by another person:

His fiery temper did not endear him to his coworkers.

Question 8

languish

Answer 8

to exist in an unpleasant or unwanted situation, often for a long time:
After languishing in obscurity for many years, her early novels have recently been rediscovered.
He has been languishing in jail for the past 20 years.
The ruling party is languishing in third place in the opinion polls.

Question 9

procurement

Answer 9

the process of getting supplies:

a substantial budget for the procurement of military supplies

Question 10

animosity

Answer 10

strong dislike, opposition, or anger:
Of course we’re competitive, but there’s no personal animosity between us.
In spite of his injuries, he bears no animosity towards his attackers.
The European Community helped France and Germany forget the old animosities between them.

Question 11

animus

Answer 11

a feeling of hate or anger towards someone or something:

He harbours no animus toward his rival.

Question 12

capitalize on sth

Answer 12

to use a situation to your own advantage:

She capitalized on her knowledge and experience to get a better job.

Question 13

flimsy

Answer 13

very thin, or easily broken or destroyed:
You won’t be warm enough in that flimsy dress.
We spent the night in a flimsy wooden hut.
a flimsy cardboard box

Question 14

supersede

Answer 14

to replace something, especially something older or more old-fashioned:
Most of the old road has been superseded by the great interstate highways.

Question 15

stopgap

Answer 15

something intended for temporary use until something better or more suitable can be found:
Hostels are used as a stopgap until the families can find permanent accommodation.
We might have to employ someone temporarily as a stopgap measure until we can hire someone permanently.

Question 16

go down/fall like ninepins

Answer 16

to fall, break, or be damaged in large numbers:

Trees were going down like ninepins in the strong wind.

Question 17

hunker down

Answer 17

to make yourself comfortable in a place or situation, or to prepare to stay in a place or position for a long time, usually in order to achieve something or for protection:
The press have hunkered down for the night outside the palace, waiting for news of the royal birth.

Question 18

waver

Answer 18

to lose strength, determination, or purpose, especially temporarily:
I’m afraid my concentration began to waver as lunch approached.
He has never wavered in his support for the leader.

If you waver between two possibilities, you cannot decide which of them to choose or you keep choosing one way and then the other:
“What are you going to have?” “Er, I’m wavering between the soup and the mushroom quiche.”

Question 19

bulk sth out

Answer 19

to make something bigger or thicker by adding something:

I added some potatoes to the stew to bulk it out.

Question 20

in bulk

Answer 20

in large amounts:

The office buys paper in bulk to keep down costs.

Question 21

the bulk of sth

Answer 21

most of something:

In fact, the bulk of the book is taken up with criticizing other works.

Question 22

breakneck

Answer 22

carelessly fast and dangerous:

They were riding along at breakneck speed/at a breakneck pace.

Question 23

haste

Answer 23

(too much) speed:
Unfortunately the report was prepared in haste and contained several inaccuracies.
In her haste to get up from the table, she knocked over a cup.
His father had just died and he didn’t want to marry with indecent haste.

Question 24

make haste

Answer 24

hurry up:

Make haste!

Question 25

tow

Answer 25

to pull a car, boat, etc. along, fastened behind another vehicle or boat:
You shouldn’t drive fast when your car is towing a caravan.
The road was closed while the vehicles that had been involved in the accident were towed away/off.
The damaged boat was towed to safety.

Question 26

tumble

Answer 26

to fall quickly and without control:
I lost my footing and tumbled down the stairs.
At any moment the whole building could tumble down.
He lost his balance and tumbled over.

Question 27

tuck

Answer 27

to put something into a safe or convenient place:
Tuck your gloves in your pocket so that you don’t lose them.
She had a doll tucked under her arm.
Eventually I found the certificate tucked under a pile of old bills.

Question 28

dent

Answer 28

If you dent someone’s confidence or pride, you make them feel less confident or proud:
His confidence was badly dented when he didn’t get the job.

Question 29

marksman / sharpshooter

Answer 29

someone who can shoot a gun very accurately:

Police marksmen were called to the scene.

Question 30

vaunt

Answer 30

to speak proudly about or praise something, especially in a way that is more than acceptable or reasonable:
The local people like to vaunt the glories of their faded past.

Question 31

advocate

Answer 31

to publicly support or suggest an idea, development, or way of doing something:
[ + -ing verb ] She advocates taking a more long-term view.
He advocates the return of capital punishment.

Question 32

writhe

Answer 32

to make large twisting movements with the body:
The pain was so unbearable that he was writhing in agony.
She was writhing around/about on the ground.

Question 33

brochure

Answer 33

a type of small magazine that contains pictures and information on a product or a company

Question 34

rattle

Answer 34

a sound similar to a series of quickly repeated knocks:

From across the town came the rattle of machine-gun fire.

Question 35

soldier on

Answer 35

to continue doing something although it is difficult:

I admired the way she soldiered on when her business ran into trouble.

Question 36

lackluster

Answer 36

without energy and effort:

Britain’s number-one tennis player gave a disappointingly lackluster performance.

Question 37

luster

Answer 37

a very special, attractive quality that people admire:

The dancing of the principal ballerina added luster to an otherwise unimpressive production of “Giselle.”

Question 38

overhang

Answer 38

to have a negative effect on a situation:
Overhanging the controversy is the question of how much the administration knew about the arms deal.

something that has a negative effect on a situation:
Prices are unlikely to increase while there is an overhang of 40,000 unsold new houses.
Latin America’s current debt overhang

Question 39

allocation

Answer 39

the process of giving someone their part of a total amount of something to use in a particular way:
the allocation of resources/funds/time
Allocation of the grants was handled by a charity that provides support and advocacy for disabled children.