Tress of the Emerald Sea Flashcards
Effervescence
noun
1. bubbles in a liquid; fizz.
“the effervescence of sparkling wine”
2. vivacity and enthusiasm.
Streamer
noun
1. a long, narrow strip of material used as a decoration or symbol.
“plastic party streamers”
2. a banner headline in a newspaper.
“a streamer head in the student paper”
FISHING
3. a fly with feathers attached.
“a streamer fly”
ASTRONOMY
4. an elongated mass of luminous matter, e.g. in aurorae or the sun’s corona.
“above active sunspot regions coronal streamers may travel 140 million km into space”
COMPUTING
5. short for tape streamer.
Miser
noun
a person who hoards wealth and spends as little money as possible.
“a typical miser, he hid his money in the house in various places”
Gullet
noun
the passage by which food passes from the mouth to the stomach; the oesophagus.
Buttress
noun
1. a structure of stone or brick built against a wall to strengthen or support it.
“the cathedral’s massive buttresses”
2. a projecting portion of a hill or mountain.
3. a source of defence or support.
“she clung to her shrinking faith as a buttress against despair”
verb
1. provide (a building or structure) with buttresses.
“we buttressed the wall as it was showing signs of cracking and collapse”
2. increase the strength of or justification for; reinforce.
Sublime
adjective
1. of very great excellence or beauty.
“Mozart’s sublime piano concertos”
2. producing an overwhelming sense of awe or other high emotion through being vast or grand.
“a sense of the sublime”
3. (of a person’s attitude or behaviour) extreme or unparalleled.
“he had the sublime confidence of youth”
verb
CHEMISTRY
1. (of a solid substance) change directly into vapour when heated, typically forming a solid deposit again on cooling.
“the ice sublimed away, leaving the books dry and undamaged”
2. cause (a substance) to sublime.
“these crystals could be sublimed under a vacuum”
ARCHAIC
3. elevate to a high degree of moral or spiritual purity or excellence.
“let your thoughts be sublimed by the spirit of God”
Lucre
noun
money, especially when regarded as sordid or distasteful or gained in a dishonourable way.
“officials getting their hands grubby with filthy lucre”
Aphorism
noun
1. a pithy observation which contains a general truth.
“the old aphorism ‘the child is father to the man’”
2. a concise statement of a scientific principle, typically by a classical author.
“the opening sentence of the first aphorism of Hippocrates”
Germinate
verb
1. (of a seed or spore) begin to grow and put out shoots after a period of dormancy.
2. cause (a seed or spore) to germinate.
3. come into existence and develop.
“the idea germinated and slowly grew into an obsession”
Larceny
noun
theft of personal property. In English law larceny was replaced as a statutory crime by theft in 1968.
Cinch
noun
INFORMAL
1. an extremely easy task.
“the program was a cinch to use”
NORTH AMERICAN
2. a sure thing; a certainty.
“he was a cinch to take a prize”
NORTH AMERICAN
3. a girth for a Western saddle or pack of a type used mainly in Mexico and the western US.
“they watered the horses and loosed the cinches”
verb NORTH AMERICAN
1. secure (a garment) with a belt.
“my cut-offs are cinched by a belt”
2. fix (a saddle) securely by means of a girth.
“when I caught up with him he was cinching up the saddle on Rose”
INFORMAL
3. make certain of.
“his advice cinched her decision to accept the offer”
Darn
verb
1. mend (a hole in knitted material) by interweaving yarn with a needle.
“I don’t expect you to darn my socks”
2. embroider (material) with a large running stitch.
3. used in various expressions for emphasis or to express anger or frustration.
“darn it all, Poppa!”
noun
a place in a garment that has been darned.
“a sweater with darns in the elbows”
INFORMAL•NORTH AMERICAN
adjective
used to emphasize something, especially to express anger or frustration.
“he was a darn sight younger than Jill”
exclamation
used for emphasis, especially to express anger or frustration.
“darn, I missed the show”
Congenital
adjective
1. (of a disease or physical abnormality) present from birth.
“a congenital malformation of the heart”
2. (of a person) having a particular trait from birth or by firmly established habit.
“a congenital liar”
Ignoble
adjective
1. not honourable in character or purpose.
“ignoble feelings of intense jealousy”
2. of humble origin or social status.
Elucidate
verb
make (something) clear; explain.
“work such as theirs will help to elucidate this matter”
