UNIT1 Flashcards
GRE
abate
v. to decrease; reduce
NASA announced that it would delay the launch of the manned
spacecraft until the radiation from the solar flares abated.
abdicate
v. to give up a position, right, or power
Romulus Augustus, the last Western Roman emperor, was forced to
abdicate the throne in 476 A.D., and the Germanic chieftain
Odovacar became the de facto ruler of Italy.
The appeals judge has abdicated his responsibility to review the
findings of the high court.
aberrant
adj. deviating from what is normal
When a person’s behavior becomes aberrant, his or her peers may
become concerned that the individual is becoming a deviant.
Aberration is a noun meaning something different from the usual or normal.
For centuries, solar eclipses were regarded as serious aberrations in the natural order.
abeyance
n. temporary su ression or suspension
A good judge must hold his or her judgment in abeyance until all
the facts in a case have been presented.
abject
adj. miserable; pitiful
John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath portrays the abject
poverty of many people during the Great Depression.
abjure
v. to reject; abandon formally
Most members of the Religious Society of Friends (commonly
known as the Quakers or Friends) abjure the use of violence to settle
disputies between nations.
For a foreigner to become a U.S. citizen, he or she must take an oath
abjuring allegiance to any other country and pledging to take up
arms to defend the United States.
abscission
n. the act of cutting; the natural separation of a leaf or
other part of a plant
Two scientists, Alan G. Williams and Thomas G. Whitham, have hypothesized that premature leaf abscission is an adaptive plant
response to herbivorous attack.
The verb abscise means to cut off or away.
The surgeon abscised a small growth on the patient’s hand.
abscond
v. to depart secretly
A warrant is out for the arrest of a person believed to have absconded
with three million dollars.
abstemious
adj. moderate in appetite
Some research suggests that people with an abstemious lifestyle
tend to live longer than people who indulge their appetites.
abstinence
n. the giving up of certain pleasures
The monk’s vow of abstinence includes all intoxicating substances.
v. to decrease; reduce
abate
v. to give up a position, right, or power
abdicate
adj. deviating from what is normal
aberrant
n. temporary suspession or suspension
abeyance
adj. miserable; pitiful
abject
v. to reject; abandon formally
abjure
n. the act of cutting; the natural separation of a leaf or
other part of a plant
abscission
v. to depart secretly
abscond
adj. moderate in appetite
abstemious
n. the giving up of certain pleasures
abstinence
