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English > Vocab 4 (M-P) > Flashcards

Vocab 4 (M-P) Flashcards

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Proverbs and Idioms flashcards
1
Q

Macrame

A

The art of weaving pieces of string together in knots to form a decorative pattern, or something made this way.

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2
Q

Magnanimous

A

Very kind and generous towards an enemy or someone you have defeated.

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3
Q

Magnum

A

a type of gun with bullets which are fired with more power than is usual for a gun of that size.
1.5 litres of wine, or a bottle containing this.

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4
Q

Malevolence

A

causing or wanting to cause harm or evil

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5
Q

Mandala

A

a symbolic circular figure, usually with symmetric divisions and figures of deities etc. in the centre, used in Buddhism and other religions as a representation of the universe.
an archetype of a similar cycle, held to symbolise a striving for unity of self and completeness.

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6
Q

Mansard

A

more fully mansard roof - a roof in which each face has two slopes, the lower one steeper than the upper, a curb roof.
a storey or apartment under a mansard roof.

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7
Q

Matriculation

A

to be formally admitted to study at a university or college

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8
Q

Mausoleum

A

a building in which the bodies of dead people are buried

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9
Q

Maverick

A

a person who thinks and acts in an independent way, often behaving differently from the expected or usual way.

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10
Q

Medley

A

a mixture of different items, especially tunes put together to form a longer piece of music.
a swimming competition in which each of four swimmers in a team uses a different method of swimming

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11
Q

Melange

A

a mixture, a group of different things or people

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12
Q

Meritorious

A

Deserving great praise

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13
Q

Mesa

A

A high rocky tableland or plateau; a flat topped hill with precipitous suites. Earliest in names of particular plateaux or hills

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14
Q

Microcosm

A

A small place, society or situation which has the same characteristics as something much larger

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15
Q

Militate

A

To make something less likely to happen or succeed.

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16
Q

Minatory

A

Expressing or conveying a threat; threatening, menacing.

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17
Q

Mirth

A

Laughter, amusement or happiness.

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18
Q

Misanthropy

A

Someone who dislikes other people and avoids involvement with society.

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19
Q

Misapprehension

A

A failure to understand something or an understanding or belief about something that is not correct.

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20
Q

Mitigation

A

To make something less harmful, unpleasant or bad

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21
Q

Modish

A

Be fashionable at a particular time

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22
Q

Monolithic

A

Too large, too regular or without interesting differences and unwilling or unable to be changed.

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23
Q

Monotheism

A

The belief that there is only one God.

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24
Q

Moot

A

To suggest something for discussion;

Tending to be discussed or argued about and having no definite answer .

A mock trial at court with an imaginary case for students studying law

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25
Q

Morass

A

Something that is extremely complicated and difficult to deal with and makes any progress almost impossible

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26
Q

Moratorium

A

A stopping of an activity for an agreed amount of time.

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27
Q

Mordant

A

Cruel, criticizing, in an amusing way.

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28
Q

Mosey

A

To walk or go slowly, usually without a special purpose

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29
Q

Mote

A

Something, especially a bit of dust, that is so small it is impossible to see

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30
Q

Motif

A

An idea that is used many times in a piece of writing or music

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31
Q

Mötley

A

Consisting of many different types and therefor appearing strange or of low quality

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32
Q

Mounte-bank

A
  1. An itinerant quack, esp a vendor of medicines, appealing to an audience from a raised platform and using stories, juggling etc. and often the assistance of a professional clown or fool
  2. A false pretender to skill or knowledge, a charlatan; a person incurring contempt or ridicule through efforts to acquire something esp. Social distinction and glamor
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33
Q

Mulct

A

A fine imposed for an offense; a penalty of any kind

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34
Q

Murky

A

Describes a situation that is complicated and unpleasant, and about which many facts are unclear

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35
Q

Nadir

A

The worst moment, or the moment of least hope and least achievement.

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36
Q

Nary

A

Not a, not a single; no.

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37
Q

Née

A

Used after a woman’s married name to introduce the family name by which she was known before she got married.

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38
Q

Neologism

A

Expression, or a new meaning for an existing word

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39
Q

Nexus

A

An important connection between the parts of a system or a group of things

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40
Q

Nibelung

A

Any of a race of subterranean dwarfs whose horde of riches and magic ring were taken from then by Siegfried.

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41
Q

Niche

A

A hollow in a wall, especially one made to put a statue in so that it can be seen

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42
Q

Nike

A

The goddess of victory in Ancient Greece. She was honored by Zeus because she fought on the side of the gods against the titans.

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43
Q

Nip and tuck.

A

If a competition is nip and tick, first one side seems to be winning and then the other, so that the result is uncertain.
A series of small reductions.
Plastic surgery

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44
Q

Non sequitur

A

A statement which does not correctly follow from the meaning of the precious statement

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45
Q

Nuance

A

A very slight difference in appearance, meaning, sound etc.

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46
Q

Nuclear family

A

A family consisting of two parents and their children, but not including aunts, uncles, grandparents etc.
extended family?

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47
Q

Obeisance

A

Obedience and respect, or something you do which expresses this

48
Q

Obi

A

A sash worn round the waist with Japanese clothing

In Nigeria: a hut, a house esp. one for ceremonial purposes

49
Q

Obsequious

A

Too eager to praise or obey someone

50
Q

Obstreperous

A

Too eager to have an argument; difficult to deal with and noisy

51
Q

Odometer

A

A device in a vehicle that measures and shows the distance it travels.

52
Q

Onerous

A

Difficult to do or needing a lot of effort

53
Q

Onslaught

A

A very powerful attack

54
Q

Onyx

A

A valuable stone with white and grey strips that is used in jewellery and decorations.

55
Q

Opaque

A

Describes writing or speech that is difficult to understand

56
Q

Orthotic

A

Serving as or applying as an artificial external device, as a brace or splint, serving to prevent or assist relative movement in the limbs or spine

57
Q

Otiose

A

Describes a word or phrase or sometimes an idea that is unnecessary of has been used several times.

58
Q

Overdraft

A

An amount of money that a customer with a bank amount is temporarily allowed to owe to the bank, or the agreement which allows this.

59
Q

Paddy

A

An Irish person

A very angry state

60
Q

Palatable

A

Describes food or fink that has a pleasant taste

Acceptable

61
Q

Palaver

A

Inconvenience and trouble

Idle, incessant or unintelligible talk.

62
Q

Palazzo

A

A palatial mansion; a large imposing building

63
Q

Pampas

A

The large flat areas of land covered in grass in parts of the South America

64
Q

Pan

A

An area sunk below its surroundings

To sort into differed parts.

65
Q

Pandemic

A

Existing disease in almost all of an area or in almost all of a group of people, animals or plants

66
Q

Paper tiger

A

Something such as en enemy or foreign country, which seems very strong and very dangerous but which is really weak and harmless

67
Q

Paragon

A

A person or think that is perfect or has an unusually large amount of a particular good characteristic

68
Q

Parcel

A

To divide something and give the separate parts to people

An assemblage of entities making up a unit

69
Q

Pare

A

To cut away the outer later of something, especially a vegetable.

To reduce something, especially a large town

70
Q

Parlous

A

Very bad, dangerous or uncertain.

71
Q

Paroxysm

A

A sudden and powerful expression of a strong feeling, especially one that you cannot control

72
Q

Pathos

A

The power of a situation, piece of writing, work of art or person to cause feelings of sympathy.

73
Q

Peccadillo

A

A small fault or a not very bad action

An inappropriate act of statement

74
Q

Peerless

A

Describes something that is better than any other of its type

75
Q

Peninsula

A

A long piece of land which sticks out from a larger area of land into the sea or into a lake

76
Q

Penultimate

A

Second from the last

77
Q

Perfidious

A

Unable to be trusted, or showing a lack of loyalty.

78
Q

Perfidy

A

Behavior that is not loyal

79
Q

Peripheral

A

Describes something that is not as important as something else.

80
Q

Periphery

A

The less important part of a group or activity

81
Q

Permutation

A

Any of the various ways in which a set of things can be ordered

One of several different forms

The process or result of marked change

82
Q

Peroration

A

Closing remarks, conclusion, summation

Length talk

To speak in a loud, pompous of prolonged manner

83
Q

Perpetuate

A

To cause something to continue

To cause to last endlessly

84
Q

Persnickety

A

Giving too much attention to small unimportant details in a way that annoys people.

85
Q

Perspicacious

A

Marked by or capable of keen insight or perception.

86
Q

Phalanx

A

A large group of people standing very close to each other, usually for the purpose of defence or attack.

87
Q

Piety

A

Religious devotion and reverence.

88
Q

Pilaster

A

A rectangular column or pillar, esp. one projecting from a wall. Formerly also, the square pier of an arch, bridge, shape etc.
A cylindrical shape.

89
Q

Platonic

A

confined to words, theories or ideals, and not leading to practical action.

90
Q

Pollex

A

The thumb; the first or innermost digit on the forefoot of a tetrapod vertebrate.

91
Q

Pomp

A

Splendid and colourful ceremony, especially the traditional ceremony on public occasions.

92
Q

Porcine

A

Of or pertaining to a pig or pigs

93
Q

Portmanteau

A

A large case for carrying clothes while travelling, especially one which opens out into two parts.
Consisting of or combining two or more separable aspects and qualities.

94
Q

Postulate

A

Something taken to be true without proof.

95
Q

Potable

A

Drinkable

96
Q

Potpourri

A

A miscellaneous assortment or collection of things.

97
Q

Precipitate

A

To make something happen suddenly or sooner than expected.
An action or state brought about by a cause.
To throw someone or something from a height with great force.

98
Q

Precis

A

A short form of a test which briefly gives only the important parts.

99
Q

Preclude

A

To prohibit/prevent from occurring.

100
Q

Precursor

A

Something which happened or existed before another thing, especially if it either developed into it or had an influence on it.

101
Q

Pre-emptive

A

Describes something that is done before other people can act, especially to prevent them from doing something else.

102
Q

Preplate

A

A high ranking member of the clergy, especially a bishop.

103
Q

Prevail

A

To achieve success or victory.
To get control or influence.
To be common among a group of people or area at a particular time.

104
Q

Prevalent

A

Existing very commonly or happening frequently.

Accepted by or adhered to by people in general.

105
Q

Prig

A

A person who is too much concerned with propriety, considers themselves to be morally better than other people.

106
Q

Primal

A

Relating to the time when human life on Earth began.

Basic and connected with an early stage of development.

107
Q

Privation

A

A lack of the basic things that are necessary for an acceptable standard of living.
The condition of being extremely poor.

108
Q

Pro forma

A

Describes words or actions that are usual or done in the usual way.
A list of items that have been ordered which is sent with their prices to a customer so that the items can be paid for before they are delivered.

109
Q

Procured

A

To acquire as a result of effort or action.

110
Q

Prodigious

A

Extremely great in ability, amount or strength.

111
Q

Prolific

A

Producing a great number of amount of something.

112
Q

Proponent

A

A person who speaks publicly of a particular idea or plan of action.

113
Q

Proscription

A

A restraint or restriction put upon an action.

114
Q

Provender

A

An edible, solid substance consumed to maintain life.

115
Q

Provident

A

Making arrangements for future needs, especially by saving money.

116
Q

Prowess

A

Great ability or skill.

The quality or state of being heroic.

117
Q

Prune

A

To make or become less dense or compact

English (6 decks)

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