Vocabulary List 6 Flashcards
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Crepitation
n. a crackling or rattling sound (pistol-like crepitations)
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Nominal
adj. (of a role or status) existing in name only
adj. relating to names
adj. (of a price or amount) very small; far below the value or real cost
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Nirvana
n. a state of near-perfect bliss
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Lien
n. a right to keep possession of property belonging to another person until a debt owed by that person is discharged
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Cogitation
n. the action of thinking deeply about something
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Coup de grace
n. a final blow or shot to kill a wounded person or animal
n. an action or event that serves as the culmination of a bad or deteriorating situation
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Prim
adj. stiffly formal and respectable; feeling or showing disapproval towards anything regarded as improper
v. purse the mouth or lips in a prim expression (he primmed up his mouth)
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Tawdry
adj. showy but cheap and of poor quality
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Recidivist
n. a former convict who reoffends
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Quarry
n. an animal pursued by a hunter, hound, predatory animal, or bird of prey
n. a thing or person that is chased or sought
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Mote
n. a tiny piece of a substance
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Slalom
v. move or race in a winding path, avoiding obstacles
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Agog
adj. very eager or curious to hear or see something
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Anemic
adj. lacking in color, spirit, or vitality
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Passé
adj. bygone, out of fashion
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Gentry
n. people of good position, specifically (in the UK) the class below the nobility in position or birth (a member of the landed gentry)
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Sheaf
n. a bundle of objects of one kind, typically papers
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Opulent
adj. ostentatiously rich and luxurious or lavish
adj. rich
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Gilt
adj. layered or covered in gold leaf (a thin sheet of gold) or gold paint
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Vaulted
adj. having a hemispherical vault or dome (a vaulted ceiling; a vaulted tent of white fabric)
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Sumptuous
adj. splendid and expensive-looking
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Somnambulism
n. sleepwalking
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Pad
v. walk with steady steps making soft, steady sounds
v. traveling along on foot (he padded the streets)
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Trounce
v. defeat heavily in a contest
v. rebuke or punish severely
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Whicker
v. utter a half suppressed laugh, snigger
v. (of a horse) give a soft breathy whinny
v. move with the sound of something hurtling through or beating the air (the soft whicker of the wind through the corn)
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Snigger
n. a smothered or half-suppressed laugh
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Vim
n. energy, enthusiasm
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Swaddle
v. wrap (someone, especially a baby) in garments or cloth
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Dendritic
adj. having a branched form resembling a tree
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Lexicon
n. the vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge (the English lexicon)
n. a dictionary
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Saccade
n. a rapid movement of the eyes between fixation points
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Bucolic
adj. of or relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life
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Copse
n. a small group of trees
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Pitch
v. throw or fling casually or roughly (he crumpled the page up and pitched it into the fireplace)
v. fall heavily especially headlong (she pitched forward into darkness)
v. (of vehicles) move in a vigorous jogging motion: the jeep came pitching over the hill
v. cause (a roof) to slope downward: the roof was pitched at an angle of 75 degrees
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Deltoid
adj. triangular (deltoid leaves)
n. a triangular muscle located at the shoulders
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Mook
n. a stupid or incompetent person
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Farrier
n. a craftsman who trims and shoes horses’ hooves
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Ballast
n. something that gives stability or balance (the film was a comedy with some serious ideas thrown in for ballast)
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Burg
n. an ancient or medieval fortress or walled city
n. a town or city
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Clout
n. a heavy blow with the hand or heavy object
n. influence or power, especially in business
v. hit hard with the hand or heavy object
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Menial
adj. (of work) not requiring much skill and lacking prestige
n. a person with a menial job
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Languish
v. lose or lack vitality; grow weak or feeble
v. fail to make progress or succeed
v. pine with love or grief
v. suffer from being forced to remain in an uncomfortable place or situation
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Seneschal
n. the steward or major-domo of a medieval great house
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Queue
n. a line or sequence of people or vehicles waiting to be attended to or to proceed
v. (queuing up) be extremely keen to have or do something: companies are queuing up to move to the bay
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Cussed
adj. stubborn; annoying
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Flinty
adj. very hard and unyielding (a flinty stare)
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Empirical
n. based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic
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Canvass
v. solicit votes from electors in a constituency (two workers canvassed some 2,000 voters)
v. question someone in order to ascertain their opinion on something
v. try to obtain, request
v. discuss thoroughly, deliberate
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Stigmatize
v. describe or regard as worthy of disgrace or great approval
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Miscreant
n. a person who behaves badly or breaks the law
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Gravitas
n. dignity, solemnity, or seriousness of a matter
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Epigraph
n. an inscription on a building, statue, or coin
n. a quote at the beginning of a book or chapter, intending to suggest its theme
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Milieu
n. a person’s social environment (he grew up in a military milieu)
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Anomie (or anomy)
n. lack of the usual social or ethical standards in an individual or group: the theory that high-rise architecture leads to anomie among the residents
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Jeremiad
n. a long, mournful complaint or lamentation; a list of woes
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Fusty
adj. feeling stale, damp, or stuffy
adj. old-fashioned in attitude or style
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Epistemology
n. the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion
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Rube
n. a country bumpkin
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Quorum
n. the minimum number or amount of people present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings valid
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Parcel
v. make (something) into a parcel by wrapping it (he parceled up his only winter suit to sell to the pawnbroker)
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Luminary
n. a person who inspires or influences others
n. an artificial light
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Pointillist
adj. painted using tiny dots of various colors, which become blended in the viewer’s eye
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Jettison
v. abandon or discard
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Octogenarian
n. someone between 80-90 years in age
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Incipient
adj. in an initial stage, beginning to form or develop
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Pierrot
n. a French male character in traditional pantomime with a sad white-painted face, a loose white costume, and a pointed hat
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Harlequin
n. a mute character in traditional pantomime, typically masked and dressed in a diamond-patterned costume
adj. in varied colors; variegated
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Signet
n. a small seal, usually set in a ring, used instead of or with a signature to give authentication to an official document
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Afebrile
adj. without fever
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Astraphobia
n. a fear of lightning and thunder
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Ibidem
adj. in the same book, chapter, page, etc.
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Intercut
v. alternate (scenes or shots) with contrasting scenes or shots to make one composite scene in a film (pieces of film are intercut with brief interviews)
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Sachet
n. a small bag used to hold herbs
n. dried, scented material for use in scented clothes
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Moue
n. a pouting expression used to convey annoyance or distaste
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Deontology
n. the philosophy of analyzing the rightness or wrongness of someone by looking at their actions, as opposed to looking at the consequences (consequentialism)
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Nary
adj. not
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Rise
v. to continue to blow or blow more strongly: the wind continued to rise
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Allegory
n. a symbol
n. a story, picture, or poem that can be used to interpret a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one
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Superlative
adj. of the highest quality or degree
n. (the superlative) the highest degree of comparison
n. someone or something embodying excellence
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Charnel
adj. associated with death
n. also charnel house; a place associated with death