VOCAB 04 FEB 11, 2016 Flashcards
QUARANTINE
ˈkwôrənˌtēn |
An isolation or restriction placed upon individuals or things so to stop a disease from spreading.
To keep someone or something away from others.
noun
a state, period, or place of isolation in which people or animals that have arrived from elsewhere or been exposed to infectious or contagious disease are placed: many animals die in quarantine .
verb [with obj.]
impose such isolation on (a person, animal, or place); put in quarantine.
— He is currently quarantined and on medication with flu-like symptoms, manager John Farrell said.
— But it might delay the fungus’s arrival just long enough to develop strategies to quarantine and treat infected salamanders.
— The law students say the plaintiffs had no Ebola symptoms, but were illegally quarantined for two to three weeks.
RATIONALE
ˌraSHəˈnal |
The basis for something, such as a statement or explanation of reasons.
The reasoning behind a decision or something.
The fundamental reasons for something; the basis
Rationale is defined as the reasoning behind a decision or something.
The fundamental reasons, or rational basis, for something
noun
a set of reasons or a logical basis for a course of action or a particular belief: he explained the rationale behind the change.
— During the press conference, the spokesperson for NASA presented the rationale for attempting to return to the moon.
rationale
The rationale for something is the basic or underlying reason or explanation for it. This noun (pronounced “rash-uh-NAL”) is usually used in the singular: What was the rationale behind his decision to quit?
The related adjective rational means “based on facts or reason” or “having the ability to think clearly.” An example of a rational rationale? You add extra baking soda to pancake batter under the rationale that if you want them to be fluffier, you need more rising agent. Rationale is from Latin, from rationalis “relating to reason,” from ratio “calculation, reason,” from rērī “to consider, think.”
— Apple’s refusal, they wrote, “appears to be based on its concern for its business model and public brand marketing strategy,” not a legal rationale.
— The company offered a decidedly British rationale: It is easier to spread jam on the straight variety.
— What is Ted Cruz’s rationale for saving our mighty fighting forces from the scourge of exposure to dietary items for sufferers of celiac disease?
— His rationale was doing that could send him tumbling down a rabbit hole of Scott-related inquiries.
— The judge didn’t spell out her rationale in her three-page order, but the ruling comes amid a similar case in the U.S.
— His rationale for taking on this assignment was clear: “It’s always fun to work with the best people on the best projects,” he tells TIME.
— But how many mistakes we make using only the rationale of our hormonal responses.
— In such cultures, she argued, there can be a tendency to slowly and progressively create rationales that justify ever-riskier behaviors.
— But there is no discernible rationale for this particular updating, and no political content to speak of in the opera.
SELFDEPRECATING
ˈˌsɛlf ˈdɛprəˌkeɪdɪŋ |
Apologetic, tending to undervalue oneself.
Tending to undervalue oneself and one’s abilities.
adjective
modest about or critical of oneself, esp. humorously so: self-deprecating jokes.
— Mr. Smithers was most certainly a self-depreciating invidudual. He was alwas saying he was sorry for thi and sorry for that.
A self-deprecating person knows her own weaknesses and shortcomings and isn’t afraid to point them out, often in a humorous way.
Some people are egotistical, always talking about how great they are. The opposite type of person is self-deprecating, dwelling on his own faults and even joking about how he’s short, unsuccessful, or not that smart. Being self-deprecating is usually considered a good trait, a quality of someone with a wry sense of humor. When being self-deprecating goes too far, it can become self-loathing and self-sabotaging, which are less amusing forms of putting yourself down.
— As a public speaker with self-deprecating humor and plain-spoken goals, Odom has quickly endeared himself to boosters and the fan base.
— Perillo approaches mortality with a light touch and self-deprecating humor.
— The reader understands that this may be an aspect of Elena’s self-deprecating narration – she may simply feel dominated by Lila.
— Wright is sharp and self-deprecating, two qualities that come across strongly in her internet writing.
— Bush displayed the folksy charm he is known for — and his brother is not — recalling campaigning in South Carolina and making self-deprecating jokes about himself.
— The reception of this self-deprecating humor wasn’t exactly red-hot, though the crowd could be heard chuckling a bit.
— He’s parlayed a prepossessing personality into comically self-deprecating performances as himself on the TV shows “Entourage” and “How I Met Your Mother.”
— This turns out not to be only a self-deprecating metaphor.
— That may also be why Mann doesn’t display any of the practiced craftsman’s self-deprecating humor.
— And she has the self-deprecating humor to prove it.
— Sensitive and formidable, self-deprecating and brave, she elevates every role she’s in, as we know by now.
— Lopez thought America might eat up Sample’s self-deprecating charm – like, let’s say, a salad slathered in ranch dressing.
— It was an astonishing marriage of the self-deprecating comedy he finds so easy to access and the antiheroism of Don Draper.
TRACTABLE
ˈtraktəbəl |
Easy managed, taught, or controlled.
Easy to manage, control or handle.
adjective
(of a person or animal) easy to control or influence: tractable dogs that have had some obedience training.
• (of a situation or problem) easy to deal with: trying to make the mathematics tractable.
— Lee’s horse wasn’t always a tractable companion. In fact, it took many hours of patient work to train the horse.
— The Tupinoquins, the most tractable of the Brazilian tribes, made peace with the settlers, and the colony was founded without a struggle.
tractable
If your little brother quietly obeys your instructions and waits for you at the food court while you and your friends wander around the mall, he’s probably a tractable child, meaning he’s obedient, flexible, and responds well to directions.
Note the similarity between tractable and tractor. Both come from the Latin word tractare, which originally meant “to drag about.” You can think of a tractable person as someone who can be dragged about easily, like a plow being dragged by a tractor.
— This discovery and other advances in transplantation medicine made the problem seem more tractable to big pharmaceutical companies.
— The Austrian police say smugglers often seek to divide migrant families with such tricks, to keep them tractable.
— For nanotechnology, investment made those tractable; the pharmaceutical industry should likewise invest.
— See, as tractable as the cheese microbial communities are, we’re still missing a lot of traditional tools to study them.
— The second crisis rests in the strategic structure of Europe and is less tractable than the first.
— He says that he wants to inject rigour into Indian science and train scientists to work together on tractable problems.
— “The bacteria had something that was more tractable.”
— It is not a giant ‘put a man on the moon’ type project. It is a very tractable question.”
— No amount of improvement in computer hardware will ever make such a problem tractable.
— That is perhaps because for now it is pursuing what might be more tractable problems.
— These singers may or may not have tractable physiques, but they roused crowds to near-delirium.
— The question of earthquake prediction can be reduced to a more tractable and straightforward question: What triggers a large earthquake?
— Part of the reason for that is that Big Data has finally begun to produce some very real, tractable, monetizable techniques.
— He acknowledges, however, that large, cumbersome government institutions are less tractable.
UNDERMINE
ˌəndərˈmīn, ˈəndərˌmīn |
To injure, weaken, or impair, especially by subtle meants.
Dig beneath, weaken or injure.
To weaken by wearing away a base or foundation
verb [with obj.]
1 erode the base or foundation of (a rock formation).
• dig or excavate beneath (a building or fortification) so as to make it collapse.
2 damage or weaken (someone or something), esp. gradually or insidiously: this could undermine years of hard work.
undermine
To undermine literally means to dig a hole underneath something, making it likely to collapse. But we more often use the word to describe sabotage or the act of weakening someone else’s efforts.
Originally spelled with a ‘y’ instead of an ‘i’, undermine has Germanic roots and means to weaken, hinder, or impair. Accidentally undermine the foundation of a house by digging a tunnel to China beneath it and you might be forgiven. Undermine your teacher’s authority by speaking out of turn and throwing spitballs and odds are you’ll get in trouble.
— Despite the king’s best efforts, the enemy was able to secretly undermine the king’s defenses.
— Erosion is undermining the wall
— Water has undermined the stone foundations.
— Find a way to undermine the opponent.
— News and information that undermine their credibility or authority aren’t so welcome either.
— They had been strong enough to undermine the imperial power;
— Nor had he any wish to undermine established beliefs, except where he conceived that they conflicted with a truer religion and a purer morality.
ACCENTUATE
akˈsenCHo͞oˌāt |
To stress or emphasize
To make something more important or to highlight
— The doctor was always very direct with his patins and accentuated his advice as much as he needed to get the message across.
verb [with obj.]
make more noticeable or prominent: his jacket unfortunately accentuated his paunch.
To accentuate something is to emphasize it. If you use a lot of emphasis to describe part of a meal, as in “the steak was SOOO good, and I liked the salad too,” you “accent” what “-u” “-ate,” or accentuate, the highlight of the meal — the steak.
There is an old song with the lyrics “Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative.” The drawn-out pronunciation of the word accentuate (ack-SEN-chew-ate) draws attention to the word, which is exactly what accentuate does: it draws attention to something. Sometimes, though, a negative quality gets the focus, as in “his bad mood did a lot to accentuate his reputation as a grump,” but the negative is usually an unintentional way to get attention.
— Learning about the derivation of plant varieties through generations of crossbreeding accentuated his longstanding fascination with his own genetic origins.
— “But she knows what accentuates her assets and how to work it.”
— So Stephen Hicks, a neuroscientist at Oxford University, has developed “smart glasses” that accentuate the contrast between light and dark objects.
— In Jeremy Corbyn the party now has a leader who accentuates both of the weaknesses which, evidence suggests, lost the party the election.
— That essence means making sure the photos accentuate each horse’s best strengths.
ACCESSORY
(also accessary )
akˈses(ə)rē |
An assistant, and also refers to an add-on.
A person who assists someone else to break the law or commit a crime but who doesn’t participate in committing the crime himself.
— Though Bob didn’t actually carry out the robbery, he made himself an accessory to the crime by driving the getaway car.
noun ( pl. accessories )
1 a thing that can be added to something else in order to make it more useful, versatile, or attractive: a range of bathroom accessories.
• a small article or item of clothing carried or worn to complement a garment or outfit: among the hottest items are hair accessories such as rhinestone-studded barrettes.
2 Law someone who gives assistance to the perpetrator of a crime, without directly committing it, sometimes without being present: she was charged as an accessory to murder.
adjective [attrib.] chiefly technical
contributing to or aiding an activity or process in a minor way; subsidiary or supplementary: functionally the maxillae are a pair of accessory jaws.
Whether we’re talking about a fog light for your boat or just a nice hat to go with your boating outfit, an accessory is something you add to something else to make it better.
An accessory can be any piece of clothing that you wear or carry as long as it isn’t part of the main outfit. You can also use the word to refer to someone who helps someone else commit a crime. So the guy who distracted the old lady while another guy grabbed her purse? He was the accessory to the theft of an accessory.
— LG made this possible thanks to a bottom that slides off, which also allows users to attach accessories like a camera grip.
— She told T before the show: “I brought seven trunks of accessories from my home.”
— Accessories and peripherals are picking up the slack, offering greater potential for hardware differentiation and profit, both in the short and long term.
—
ACCOMMODATE
əˈkäməˌdāt |
To make room for something, to help out, ot go well with, or to do a favor for someone.
— The flight attendant saw that the old woman was having a difficult time with her bags, so she accommodated her by placing it in the overhead compartment for her.
verb [with obj.]
1 (of physical space, esp. a building) provide lodging or sufficient space for: the cabins accommodate up to 6 people.
2 fit in with the wishes or needs of: any language must accommodate new concepts.
• [no obj.] (accommodate to) adapt to: making consumers accommodate to the realities of today’s marketplace.
accommodate
If you accommodate, you are making an adjustment to suit a particular purpose. If you accommodate your brother’s demand for the attic room, then you give in and let him take over that space.
Accommodate entered English in the mid-16th century from the Latin word accommodat-, meaning “made fitting.” Whether it refers to changing something to suit someone’s wishes or providing someone with something he needs, accommodate typically involves making something fit. You might change your lunch plans, for example, to accommodate your best friend’s schedule. Accommodate can also refer to providing housing or having enough space for something. You might need to open up the extra bedroom to accommodate your out-of-town guests.
— Near the stage, the space opens up to accommodate about a dozen tables with chairs.
— Those on board the vehicle were the first refugees to be accommodated at the shelter in the village.
— It is built to accommodate 18 guests and a staff of about 50.
ACCOUTER
(also accouter )
əˈko͞otər |
To give clothing and equipment to someone, especially for military service.
Equip, esp. for military service.
— Upon entering the army, the young recruit was accoutered with a new uniform.
verb ( accoutres, accoutring, accoutred or accouters, accoutering, accoutered ) [with obj.] (usu. be accoutred)
clothe or equip, typically in something noticeable or impressive.
To accouter a soldier is to dress her in military garb and provide her with the equipment she needs. A boy who runs away to join the army might first accouter himself in a camouflage jacket and steel-toed boots.
The verb accouter most commonly describes a soldier being outfitted for battle or a person dressing in some impressive uniform or outfit. You could, for example, say that your friends like to accouter themselves in feathers and sequins before they march in the Mardi Gras parade. The word can also be spelled accoutre, and both versions come from acostrer, “arrange, put on clothing, or sew up,” from the Latin roots ad, “to,” and consutura, “a sewing together.”
— So armed and so accoutered they were ready to war upon the frogs.
— Also they had to be accoutered in their dress uniforms, which were issued about this time.
— The two men advanced to the starting-line, each accoutered for the race.
— He was accoutered for the real work of war, not its spectacular effects.
— So armed and so accoutered they were ready to meet the grand attack of the mice.
— The men, with pale faces, wild eyes, compressed lips, quickly accoutered themselves for battle.
— Properly accoutered in his velvet cap, red silken jacket, buckskin breeches, and long spurs, his Lordship bore away the prize on many a well-contested field.
BARB
bärb |
A spike, a sharp point, or a mean comment or remark.
A very strong insult or criticism.
Asharp point curving or projecting in an opposite direction from the main point of a fishhook, arrow, etc.
The barbs on a fishing lure are supposed to snag any fish that happen to bite it.
noun
1 a sharp projection near the end of an arrow, fishhook, or similar item, angled away from the main point so as to make extraction difficult.
• a cluster of spikes on barbed wire.
• a deliberately hurtful remark: his barb hurt more than she cared to admit.
2 a beardlike filament at the mouth of some fish, such as barbel and catfish.
• each of the fine hairlike filaments growing from the shaft of a feather, forming the vane.
3 a freshwater fish that typically has barbels around the mouth, popular in aquariums.
Whether it is a spike on the wire atop a security fence or a mean remark someone said about you, a barb can hurt. When you encounter either kind of barb, you should stay away.
Barb comes from the Latin word barba, which means “beard.” Beards offer protection from things like cold and wind, but as Mommy found out when she kissed Santa Claus, they can also be quite scratchy. Perhaps this is why, when it comes to talking about beards, some people speak nothing but barbs.
— In the 1990s, thousands of Haitian and Cuban refugees were held in camps ringed by barbed wire, a grim foreshadowing.
— In the last two weeks, several of the Republican candidates have traded barbs over the use of robocalls in the South Carolina race.
— They could be ordinary children; but some are cradling babies, and they are surrounded by high walls topped with barbed wire.
— During oral arguments, the voluble Scalia often aimed sarcastic verbal barbs at lawyers.
— Look for the toughest barbs yet when the remaining contenders meet on stage in Greenville for a CBS News debate.
— An enormous concrete wall, topped with barbed wire, demarcates the perimeter of the facility.
— Since that vote, they have been exchanging barbs over who boasts the stronger liberal credentials.
BARRICADE
ˈbariˌkād |
A brrier thrown up quickly for a devense.
noun
an improvised barrier erected across a street or other thoroughfare to prevent or delay the movement of opposing forces.
verb [with obj.]
block or defend with such a barrier: he barricaded the door with a bureau | (as adj. barricaded) : the heavily barricaded streets.
• shut (oneself or someone) into a place by blocking all the entrances: detainees who barricaded themselves into their dormitory.
BASK
bask |
To enjoy a happy or very comfortable situation.
To relax in warmth or be satisfied.
— Teh beach is a great place if you love to bask in the sun.
— The seals were basking in the sun.
— She relished her fame and basked in her glory.
verb [no obj.]
lie exposed to warmth and light, typically from the sun, for relaxation and pleasure: sprawled figures basking in the afternoon sun.
• (bask in) revel in and make the most of (something pleasing): he went on basking in the glory of his first book
To bask in something is to take it in, receive its warmth, or bathe in its goodness. On the first warm day of the spring, you may bask in the sunshine. When you win the Pulitzer, you bask in your own glory.
In Shakespeare’s “As You Like It,” Jaques says: “…As I do live by food, I met a fool; Who laid him down and bask’d him in the sun,; And rail’d on Lady Fortune in good terms…” That was most likely the first time bask was used in the way that we most often use it now: to bask is to warm yourself, either literally or figuratively, in the glow of the sun, good fortune, happiness, or a job well done.
— In the West, Arizona and California basked in heat.
— Boston, which plunged to minus-9 degrees on Sunday, basked in 50 degrees Tuesday.
— She basked in being petted and kissed by passers-by.
— A day or so after their baby is born they can rock back up to work and bask in the high fives and dadly glory.
— Sitting side by side, they stretched out and took a long breath, basking in a rare moment of quiet, sunlight and togetherness.
— As he colourfully put it, the griddle had been heated up for the president to make the bread - not to bask in its warmth.
— But for a few minutes, they were all able to bask in the victory together.
— A clip of the 18-year-old male basking in the Washington, D.C. snow went viral on Saturday as a massive blizzard swept through the U.S.
— From 2012 until last summer, investors basked in a market where the Standard & Poor’s 500 rarely had a bad day.
— Big parts of the country are basking in above-average temperatures, especially east of the Mississippi River and across the Northern Plains.
— He basked in the win, said how satisfying it was.
— Gruden got to bask in the success, if only for a brief while.
—
BEDLAM
ˈbedləm |
A scene of great confusion and wildness or great uproar.
A scene of noise and confusion.
noun
1 a scene of uproar and confusion: there was bedlam in the courtroom.
2 • archaic an asylum for the insane.
Bedlam is a scene of madness, chaos or great confusion. If you allow football fans onto the field after the big game, it will be pure bedlam.
The term bedlam comes from the name of a hospital in London, “Saint Mary of Bethlehem,” which was devoted to treating the mentally ill in the 1400’s. Over time, the pronunciation of “Bethlehem” morphed into bedlam and the term came to be applied to any situation where pandemonium prevails. The trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange appears to be bedlam, but the traders insist it’s organized chaos.
— As might be expected, throwing open the doors of any school to every freshman in Chicago threatened to create bedlam.
— It was fun to see the singer loosen up and threaten Jeff Goldblum with a gun, or create bedlam in a fight scene.
— Three more weeks remain in the season, which means three more chances for bedlam.
— Atmosphere seems to have quieted from the bedlam between the goals.
— Mr Trump, who has announced his wish to be US president, said the referendum campaign in Scotland had been “turmoil and bedlam for so long”.
— Reporters’ reputations are hardly enhanced by viewers’ ability to watch the bedlam and aggression of many news conferences.
BEELINE
ˈbēˌlīn |
A straight line or direct route.
— Rather than taking the long way around, Stephen decided to make a beeline for the building.
noun
a straight line between two places.
PHRASES
make a beeline for hurry directly to.
A beeline is the swiftest, most direct route between two points. If you are shopping at the mall on a weekend afternoon and you see an empty parking space, you should make a beeline for it or risk circling the lot for hours.
The word beeline combines the words bee and line. The idea behind the word is the belief that a bee, when it is done feeding, will take the shortest path back to its hive without delay or meandering. So beeline not only has the sense of being a direct route, but also that there is some haste behind the action. If you make a beeline for the chocolate at a party, you went straight to the dessert table without eating dinner first.
— One tiny older woman made a beeline for him.
— McClaren had made a beeline for a television screen in the tunnel as soon as the first goal was scored.
— Bonus: on a powder day, as most skiers beeline up the mountain, you can easily get first tracks in the Thunderbowl area.
— After leaving the stage, Mr. Sanders made a beeline for Ms. Darland.
— The chief packer made a beeline for the German journalist’s globe to see whether it was politically correct.
— When he returned home on college vacations, Dan used to make a beeline for Allen’s in order to repair a serious barbecue deprivation.
— Photograph: Gabi Moskowitz I headed to my local organic store, and made a beeline for the refrigerated soy milk and fake meat section.
— On a high school football field in Texas, one player made a beeline for the referee, slamming into him from behind and knocking him down.
— On the heels of a diagnosis of Stage 3 melanoma, David makes a beeline for the tanning salon, cigarette in hand.
BEHEST
biˈhest |
An order, a directive or a strong request.
An authoritative command or request.
A command or a strong request.
— At my mother’s behest, I went to my room to clean it up.
noun literary
a person’s orders or command: they had assembled at his behest | the slaughter of the male children at the behest of Herod.
behest
Behest is an authoritative command or request. If your boss or principal asks to see you, you go to their office at their behest.
Behest rhymes with “request” and they almost mean the same thing, if you give your request a little authoritative oomph, just a tad bit of “or else.” Another difference between these words is that you can’t use behest as a verb: You can’t behest someone. You act according to their behest. The root word here is the Old English hehaes, means “a vow.”
— “Let us take it as the lifeline and the key point to implement the behests of the great leaders!”
— Less than a thousand turned out, many of them at the behest of their unions.
— Yahoo has also considered selling its core business at the behest of investors like Starboard Value , Bloomberg reports.
— The Transportation Department is barred from imposing its own ban under a 2012 law Congress passed at the behest of industry.
— State and federal employees working at the behest of their own political leadership are no substitute.
— FBI officials have said that the couple acted on their own, not at the behest of another organization.
— In most normal states, the legislative leaders are elected by the chambers they lead, not at the behest of the governor.
— The executive later backtracked and said the statement didn’t come at the behest of regulators.
— At the behest of established neighborhood associations, for instance, the city is tightening regulations on short-term rental properties.
BELIE
biˈlī |
To tell lies, to misrepresent, or to prove false.
To contradict or misrepresent.
While being questioned by the police, Greg’s outwardly calm demeanor belied the fact that he was actually very nervous.
verb ( belies, belying , belied ) [with obj.]
1 (of an appearance) fail to give a true notion or impression of (something); disguise or contradict: his lively alert manner belied his years.
2 fail to fulfill or justify (a claim or expectation); betray: the notebooks belie Darwin’s later recollection.
To belie means to contradict. If you are 93 but look like you are 53, then your young looks belie your age.
We get belie from the Old English beleogan, which meant “to deceive by lying.” It suggests characteristics or behavior that inadvertently or deliberately hide the truth. To remember it, just think “be lying.” Snow White’s decision to barge into the Seven Dwarfs’ home without invitation belied her gentle nature.
— His balletic inner life belies the gravity at its core.
— Dictionaries belie the extent of variation by presenting a single spelling of each word.
— It is tempting to describe Muji’s goods as basic, but that would belie the sophistication and premeditation at work.
— That display reflected his fun-loving, good-natured personality, but the goofiness belied a desire to prove himself after years of languishing in pro golf.
— Politics and regional differences, too, appear to be influencing Americans’ opinions of the economy, often in a way that belies the actual situations, state-by-state.
— It was imaginative and kind of wacky, in a freeform way that mostly belied how carefully it was put together.
— BlackBerry’s statement seems to belie that report, but nevertheless does confirm more layoffs happened recently.
— It belies the essential nature of the trade.
CATACLYSM
ˈkatəˌklizəm |
A disaster, great upheaval that causes sudden and often violent changes.
— Large waves assaulted the tiny village as the cataclysm continued to rage trough the night.
noun
a large-scale and violent event in the natural world.
• a sudden violent upheaval, esp. in a political or social context: the cataclysm of the First World War.
cataclysm
The hurricane battered the coast, causing the city to flood, and tens of thousands of people were stranded without food or water. When an event causes great suffering, we call it a cataclysm.
Cataclysm comes from the Greek word kataklysmos which means “a deluge or flood.” So saying something was “a disaster of cataclysmic proportions” is particularly apt when you’re talking about a tsunami. Still, people use the word cataclysmic to describe non-watery disasters, too, like stock market crashes, painful breakups, and failed grammar tests.
— Croft sincerely aspires to shield the world from cataclysm, often at great personal sacrifice.
— Who knows what cataclysm might be lurking round the corner?
— It anticipates a cataclysm of worldwide proportions that could be World War III, pollution overkill or an invasion from outer space.
CATEGORICAL
ˌkatəˈgôrikəl |
Absolute, direct, without conditions.
Absolute or without conditions.
The mother’s categorical love for her newborn child was evident in the way she held the small child.
adjective
unambiguously explicit and direct: a categorical assurance.
If someone accuses you of stealing their lunch and you give a categorical denial, it means that you absolutely deny having anything to do with the theft. Categorical means absolute, unqualified, unconditional.
If you ask someone to marry you and she says maybe, you might be able to persuade her. If it’s no, you might still have a chance. But if she gives you a categorical no, she will never change her mind. Less often, categorical is used to describe something that is part of a certain category or group. A Doberman at the Westminster Dog Show might be the categorical winner, meaning it is the best Doberman but not the winner of the show.
— “We still cannot be categorical, but there is a distinct and credible possibility that there was a bomb,” one source said.
— Former Vice President Walter Mondale is categorical on this point: ‘‘We are not paying a dime of American money for the return of these hostages.’’
— The researchers wondered if the auditory system might be similarly organized to make sense of the soundscape through a categorical screen.
— I always encourage a holistic approach to the scholarship search process, but there are also proven categorical approaches that can help.
— Environmental groups have been critical of the use of the categorical exclusion over such a large area of land.
— The decision upholds “categorical bans on firearms that millions of Americans commonly own for lawful purposes,” they wrote.
— In a note to investors, he described the financial results as a “categorical disaster.”
— It will no longer be about the rhetoric of categorical distinction, but rather, what the best wearable device actually, truly, is.
— Law Society chief executive Lorna Jack gave an “absolute and categorical assurance” last week that the election played no part in the delay.
— Wilson was categorical in his interview with the Post-Dispatch that Edwards played no role in the murder.
— He talked about the deaths being avoidable, while the researchers say you cannot be so categorical.
— “The government has a categorical duty to pay just compensation when it takes your car,” it said, “just as when it takes your home.”
CAUCUS
ˈkôkəs |
A meeting of leaders to decide on policy, pick candidates, etc.
A private meeting of leaders or a committee of a political party or faction to decide on policy, pick candidates, etc., esp. prior to a general, open meeting.
Meet to select a candidate or promote a policy.
— Caucus also refers to a specific faction of the larger gathering.
— The Democratic black caucus met during the Democratic National Conventions.
noun ( pl. caucuses )
1 a meeting of the members of a legislative body who are members of a particular political party, to select candidates or decide policy.
• the members of such a body.
2 a group of people with shared concerns within a political party or larger organization.
verb ( caucuses, caucusing, caucused ) [no obj.]
hold or form such a group or meeting.
The noun caucus is a closed meeting of members from the same political party. The Iowa caucuses get a lot of attention during the presidential primary season.
Who knows how we got the noun caucus? One theory is that it comes from an Algonquin word that means an elder or leader of the tribe. Another theory is that the word comes from a social and political club in Boston in the 1700s that was perhaps named for the Greek word for drinking cup. However the word slipped into American English, today it refers to a closed political meeting, often used to choose party leaders.
— About half the Democratic voters said yes, according to the entrance poll of caucus participants.
— The GOP candidates are setting their sights on Nevada for that state’s caucuses on Tuesday.
— This started in Iowa, where turnout hit a record in 2008 when Obama attracted young voters, independents, and even Republicans to caucus for him.
— Democrat turnout in Nevada caucuses Saturday was off 33 percent from 2008.
— That’s a markedly more liberal electorate than the one that showed up for the last contested Democratic caucus, eight years ago.
— Nevada Democrats caucused on Saturday and gave Hillary Clinton a clear victory over Bernie Sanders.
— According to a poll of voters entering caucus sites around the state, Clinton beat Sanders 57% to 41% among women.
— But in the days leading up to the caucus vote, immigration was the main point of argument between the two campaigns.
CHAFF
CHaf |
1) Material consisting of seed coverings and small pieces of stem or leaves that have been separated from the seeds.
2) Be silly or tease one another
Waste or debris; the word can also be used as a verb, meaning to tease good-naturedly.
Useless things, grain husks and fine-cut straw, or light-hearted spoken exchanges.
Anything regarded as worthless.
Good-natured teasing or joking.
— As the artist continued to work on his sculpture, a large amount of chaff accumulated on the floor.
— The two comedians chaffed one another throughout the entire performance, much to the delight of the audience.
noun
the husks of corn or other seed separated by winnowing or threshing.
• chopped hay and straw used as fodder.
• worthless things; trash.
• strips of metal foil or metal filings released in the atmosphere from aircraft, or deployed as missiles, to obstruct radar detection or confuse radar-tracking missiles.
PHRASES
separate the wheat from the chaff distinguish valuable people or things from worthless ones.
chaff
The proverbial phrase “separate the wheat from the chaff” may not be terribly meaningful to you — unless you happen to be a grain farmer. Then, it is good to know that chaff is the husk surrounding a seed, and that it is generally thrown away.
In cereal crops like rice, barley, oats, and wheat, the seed — the part of the plant that we eat — is surrounded by a husk. This waste material has been called chaff since the twelfth century at least, but the word has a long history as a metaphor meaning “objects and ideas of little or no value,” as well. The Internet is full of misinformation as well as facts so you might have a hard time separating the wheat from the chaff. Their nasty comments are just a lot of chaff — don’t even listen to them.
— But there’s nothing to help you sort the wheat from the house’s volumes of static chaff.
— Google’s spam filters are already the best at clearing the chaff from the wheat.
— He was sweeping chaff off a mill floor.
— Phone interviews begin to separate the wheat from the chaff.
— “However, these new products will not add much value if schools cannot accurately separate the wheat from the chaff.”
— She was silent for a moment as though sifting the words she needed from the chaff of her thoughts.
— Toward the end of the interview, Hewitt returned again to the Mid-East and Mr Trump’s obvious chaffing at the detailed nature of the questioning.
— A single pound of pith and chaff, in fact, will soak up some four pounds of water.
— In electrics, they are used to stop cables chaffing when they run through whatever they’re run through.
— “Our contribution is going to be sorting through the chaff and saying ‘here’s the wheat’”, says Edwards.
— The chaos subsided; we knew the wheat, we knew the chaff.
— Meanwhile, information about schools’ academic quality will be sparse, and many parents will be ill equipped to distinguish the wheat from the chaff.
— Unless you’ve been awfully choosy with your friends, there’s bound to be far more chaff than wheat in your feed.
— It’s impossible to sift the wheat from the chaff, though someone here has surely monetised the chaff.
— What we need is a reliable way to separate the immaterial chaff from the essential wheat.
— Once the new models get into the hands of reviewers, the wheat is separated from the chaff.
— Unfortunately, consumers, or voters, including the best-educated ones, are poorly positioned to separate the wheat from the chaff.
— Investors need to separate the wheat from the chaff, too.
