Improve Your Vocabulary in Leisure Time!: February 2010

Saturday, February 27, 2010

GORE

gore:
- a small usually triangular piece of land (as where two roads diverge)
- a triangular piece (as a triangular piece of fabric in clothes)
- to cut into a triangular form
- to pierce or wound with a horn, tusk, or knife

SORGO

sorgo:
a sorghum cultivated for the sweet juice in its stems (to make sugar and syrup)

DELVE

delve:
- to dig (with a spade)
- to make a careful investigation for information (Example: He delved into the book to understand the complex algorithms.)

SHANK

shank:
- the part of leg between knee and ankle in human or other vertebrates
- a cut of meat from the upper or the lower part of the leg of animals
- a projection on the back of buttons by which they are sewn to fabric

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Review Items No. 1-100

pellucid:

- allowing for the passage of light without diffusion; transparent (Example: The air was strangely still, the sky pellucid and speckled with stars except where the swelling clouds massed to the west. [Reference: Conan and the Emerald Lotus by John C. Hocking])

- easy to understand; clear

coeval:
of the same age or antiquity; contemporary

affranchise:
to make or set free from obligation or service

eremite:
a religious recluse; hermit

de jure:
- by right
- in accordance with the laws or the actions of the state

gregarious:
- tending or enjoying to be in crowds and socializing
- traveling or living in herds, flock, or crowd (as animals)

brut:
- very dry
- a sweetness measure for dry sparkling wines

ides:
originally referred to the day of the full moon; but then, in the ancient Roman calendar, refers to the 15th day of March, May, July, or October, or the 13th of the other months

eddy:
- a current of water or air running contrary to the main current and with a circular motion; small whirlpool or whirlwind
- an unimportant contrary movement or trend
- a contrary current as of thought or policy

mortification:
- the control of physical desires and bodily passions and appetites by self-denial, abstinence, fasting, etc.
- something causing shame, humiliation, etc. as it wounds one's pride or self-respect
- the sense of shame and humiliation due to something that wounds one's pride or self-respect

jovial: good-humored, hearty convivial, or genial

abba:
- father
- title of a bishop in some Arabic churches

kame: an irregularly shaped hill or mound composed of sand, gravel and till

scuttlebutt: rumour; gossip

wordmonger
- a writer or speaker who uses words pretentiously
- a writer or speaker who uses words carelessly disregarding for meanings

wean:
- to cause a child or a young animal to get accustomed gradually to food other than its mother's milk
- to detach gradually from a source of dependence

elide:
leave out; suppress; omit; ignore; to strike out, e.g. some word written; slur over, e.g. a vowel, syllable, etc. (Example: "Did you know that dragons elide riders' names?" [Reference: The Chronicles of Pern written by Anne McCaffrey])

ewe - a female sheep especially when mature

drudge:
- a person who does hard, menial, tedious, or unpleasant work
- to do hard, menial, tedious, or unpleasant work
- to force to do hard, menial, tedious, or unpleasant work

sabotage:
- destruction of property or obstruction of normal operations in time of war
- destruction of an employer's equipments, tools and materials or hindering of production by discontented workers

hoodlum: a gangster; a thug; a ruffian

yowl:
- to utter a loud and long mournful cry of grief or distress; wail
- to complain with yowls

raver: a person who frequently speaks wildly and irrationally

sempre: always; used in music directions as without varying

turmoil: a state of extreme commotion; tumult

oblivion: the state of forgetting or being forgotten (Example: "Oblivion is a kind of annihilation." [Reference: The Life Of Johnson book])

pooh bah: a pompous ostentatious official especially one that holds many offices and jobs but fulfills none of them

epigrammatic: relating to or resembling an epigram; where an epigram is a short, witty poem expressing a single thought or observation, as an example the following is an epigram by John Donne entitled as A Lame Beggar:

I am unable, yonder beggar cries,
To stand, or move; if he say true, he lies.

topsy-turvy:
- with the head downward; upside down; in a reversed condition
- in confusion or disorder

beleaguerment:
- surrounding with troops; besiege
- harassment

algorithm:
- a step by step procedure to solve a problem
- a set of instructions for solving a problem on a computer in a finite number of steps

lexicon: dictionary; a dictionary especially for of an ancient language

vex: disturb; annoy (Eample: "Vex not your mind on that," the prince answered, smiling. [Reference: The White Company book])

maim: to deprive of a necessary part of the body; cripple (Example: I couldn't, didn't, couldn't believe that Ellis could maim - and effectively kill - a child's pony and three young racehorses. [Reference: Come To Grief book])

womanizer:
- a man who philanders
- to be sexually promiscuous with women
- to make effeminate

duad: pair; couple; unit of two objects

downtrodden: figuratively oppressed; subjugated (Example: He is not a spokesman for the downtrodden, much less those who seek just solutions to real dilemmas [Reference: America and the War by Tony Judt])

oodles: - a great quantity; a great amount; lots; an unspecified large number (Example: I just met her this morning and I could already think of oodles of stuff that I wanted to tell her about.)

foreknowlege: - prescience - awareness of something before its existence or occurrence

looby: someone awkward and clumsy

novemdecillion: The number equal to 10⁶⁰; one with 60 zeros

foolhardy: heady, reckless

goo goo:
- loving (mostly used in the phrase: goo-goo eyes)
- an advocate of a political reform movement

umpirage: mediation by an umpire; the act of umpiring; refereeing

vorticity:
- the state of a fluid in swirling or vortical motion
- a measure of vortical motions

quackery:
- charlatanism
- medical practice and advice based on observation and experience and ignoring scientific findings

mooch:
- ask for and get free as being a parasite
- someone who cadges and tries to get something free

ultramundane: being beyond the world or the limits of the universe

almsgiving: something such as money, food, etc. given freely to relieve the poor

lorn: desolate; forsaken

idiographic: relating to or concerned with concrete or unique

facts or events

cade: left by its mother and reared by hand (e.g. a cade lamb)

zoolatry: animal worship

baksheesh: munificence (baksheesh is originally a Persian word)

kabbalah (variant of cabala):
- a medieval and modern system of Jewish theosophy, mysticism and thaumaturgy marked by belief in creation through emanation and a cipher method of interpreting Scripture
- a traditional esoteric matter
- esoteric doctrine or mysterious art

cabala:
- a medieval and modern system of Jewish theosophy, mysticism and thaumaturgy marked by belief in creation through emanation and a cipher method of interpreting Scripture
- a traditional esoteric matter
- esoteric doctrine or mysterious art

iconoclast:
- someone who destroys religious images or opposes their veneration
- someone who attacks settled beliefs or institutions

amulet: a small object worn to ward off evil, harm, or illness or to bring

good fortune

balk: to refuse abruptly

----------------------
Detailed Definition:

noun
- a ridge of land left unplowed as a dividing line or through carelessness
- a hindrance
- a ridge between furrows
- a wooden beam or rafter
- failure of a player to complete a motion, especially an illegal motion of the pitcher

in baseball while in position

intransitive verb
- to refuse abruptly [is used with 'at'] (e.g. He balked at putting up the promised

money)
- to stop and refuse to proceed
- to commit a balk in sports

transitive verb
- to check or stop by or as if by an obstacle

artiodactyl: having an even number of toes on each foot (as

camel or pig)

neuston: minute organisms that float in the surface film of water

vatic:
- of or related to a prophet or a prophecy
- prophetic

gelid: extremely cold, icy

litany:
- a liturgical prayer consisting of a series of petitions recited by a leader alternating

with fixed responses by the congregation
- a repetitive or incantatory recital

rorqual: any of a family of large baleen whales having the skin of

the throat marked with deep longitudinal furrows

endocarp: the inner, usually woody, layer of the pericarp of a

fruit, such as the stone of a cherry or peach

pedantic:
- like a pedant, overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning
- being showy of one’s knowledge, often in a boring manner
- being finicky or picky with language

euphemism: the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive

expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant

derision:
- the use of ridicule or scorn to show contempt
- an object of ridicule or scorn

doppelganger (Doppelgänger): the ghostly double of a living

person

subintelligitur:

- something that is implied even though not expressed
- something that is not stated but understood

endemic: native to a particular region

----------------------
Detailed Definition:

adjective
- constantly present in a particular region
- native to a particular country, nation, or region

noun
- an endemic organism

pneuma: - soul - spirit

interdigitate: to become interlocked like the fingers of folded

hands

nanocephalous: having abnormally small head

firmament: - the arch of the sky - the heavens

magniloquent: bombastic in style or expression

----------------------
Detailed Definition:

adjective
- speaking by a bombastic style or manner
- characterized by a bombastic style or manner
- inflated in style or expression
- pompous in style or expression

sapid: - having a strong pleasant flavor - pleasing to the mind

lumpen: one cut off from his/her normal socioeconomic class

----------------------
Detailed Definition:

adjective
- relating to displaced people who have been cut off from the socioeconomic class

with which they would ordinarily be identified (e.g. lumpen intellectuals unable to

find jobs in their fields)
- plebeian
- stupid
- unthinking

noun
- a member of the uneducated lowest class of society

socioeconomic: relating to, or involving both economic and

social factors

gadabout: one roaming about in search of amusement or social

activity

languor: mental or physical weariness or fatigue

----------------------
Detailed Definition:

noun
- mental or physical weariness or fatigue
- physical or mental laziness or weariness
- weakness or weariness of body or mind
- listless indolence
- indolence of one satiated by a luxury life

obtrude: to impose oneself or one's idea on others without

request

----------------------
Detailed Definition:

transitive verb
- to impose oneself or one's idea without request
- to force oneself or one's idea without warrant or invitation
- to thrust out

intransitive verb
- to become unduly prominent
- to interfere unduly
- to intrude

exemplar: one that serves as a model or example

----------------------
Detailed Definition:

noun
- one that serves as a model or example
- a copy of a book or writing
- a model to be copied
- a model to be imitated
- a pattern to be copied
- a pattern to be imitated
- a typical or standard specimen
- an ideal model or type

penchant: - a strong liking - a strong inclination

incongruous: - not harmonious - inconsistent

precarious: dependent on circumstances beyond one's control

----------------------
Detailed Definition:

adjective
- depending on the will or pleasure of another
- dependent on uncertain premises
- dubious
- having insufficient foundation (a precarious belief)

esoteric: intended only for a particular group

----------------------
Detailed Definition:

adjective
- limited to a small circle
- private
- confidential (an esoteric target)
- of rare interest (esoteric construction materials)

vexatious: distressing

----------------------
Detailed Definition:

adjective
- full of stress
- full of disorder
- full of annoyance
- causing vexation
- annoying
- intended to vex
- intended to annoy

pecuniary: monetary

----------------------
Detailed Definition:

adjective
- relating to money
- consisting of or measured in money
- requiring payment of money (e.g. a pecuniary offense)

propitious: presenting favorable conditions

----------------------
Detailed Definition:

adjective
- favorable
- being a good omen
- auspicious
- benevolent

chicanery: deception by trickery or sophistry

jocund: merry

----------------------
Detailed Definition:

adjective
- full of high-spirited merriment
- marked by high spirits
- marked by lively mirthfulness
- of a humorous temperament
- showing high-spirited merriment

languish: to be or become feeble

----------------------
Detailed Definition:

intransitive verb
- to be or become feeble
- to be or become weak
- to be or become enervated
- to be or live in a state of depression
- to be or live in a state of decreasing vitality
- to lose strength or vigor

machination: a crafty action intended to accomplish a sinister

end

surcease: to desist from action

----------------------
Detailed Definition:

1. intransitive verb
- to desist from action
- to come to an end
- to cease
- to stop

2. transitive verb
- to put an end to
- to discontinue

3. noun
- cessation
- a temporary respite or end
- intermission

chapfallen: cast down in spirit

----------------------
Detailed Definition:

adjective
- dejected
- downhearted
- crestfallen
- depressed

heliolatry: worship of the sun

wrangle: to dispute something angrily

----------------------
Detailed Definition:

1. intransitive verb
- to dispute angrily, noisily or peevishly
- to engage in argument or controversy
- to quarrel noisily or angrily

2. transitive verb
- to win or obtain by argument
- to herd livestock, especially horses

3. noun
- the act of wrangling
- an angry, noisy dispute or argument

PELLUCID

COEVAL

coeval:
of the same age or antiquity; contemporary

AFFRANCHISE

affranchise:
to make or set free from obligation or service

EREMITE

eremite:
a religious recluse; hermit

DE JURE

de jure:
- by right
- in accordance with the laws or the actions of the state

GREGARIOUS

gregarious:
- tending or enjoying to be in crowds and socializing
- traveling or living in herds, flock, or crowd (as animals)

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

BRUT

brut:
- very dry
- a sweetness measure for dry sparkling wines

IDES

ides:
originally referred to the day of the full moon; but then, in the ancient Roman calendar, refers to the 15th day of March, May, July, or October, or the 13th of the other months

EDDY

MORTIFICATION

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Answer for Word Fragment Puzzle No. 1

1. lorn

2. cade

3. cabala

4. oomph

5. abba

6. idiographic

7. zoolatry

8. amulet

9. esoteric

10. baksheesh

11. iconoclast

12. surcease

13. kabbalah

14. magniloquent

15. vex

16. artiodactyl

17. womanizer

18. turmoil

19. elide

20. derision

21. propitious

22. euphemism

23. rorqual

24. mooch

25. heliolatry

26. sabotage

27. nanocephalous

28. hoodlum

29. endocarp

30. languish

31. duad

32. goo goo

33. balk

34. ultramundane

35. vexatious

36. downtrodden

37. wordmonger

38. subintelligitur

39. machination

40. neuston

41. pecuniary

42. oblivion

43. wean

44. penchant

45. yowl

46. quackery

47. pedantic

48. gelid

49. vatic

50. interdigitate

51. lumpen

52. chapfallen

53. endemic

54. precarious

55. pneuma

56. vorticity

57. algorithm

58. maim

59. litany

60. foreknowlege

61. lexicon

62. jocund

63. drudge

64. gadabout

65. doppelganger

66. languor

67. sapid

68. incongruous

69. firmament

70. socioeconomic

71. pooh bah

72. chicanery

73. obtrude

74. exemplar

75. jovial

76. ewe

77. sempre

78. kame

79. almsgiving

80. oodles

81. umpirage

82. looby

83. novemdecillion

84. topsy-turvy

85. wrangle

86. foolhardy

87. beleaguerment

88. epigrammatic

89. raver

90. scuttlebutt

Word Fragment Puzzle No. 1

Review the items posted and try to solve the following Word Fragment Puzzle! In this way you could memorize the words easier and improve your vocabulary in leisure time!

1. Desolate; forsaken: _ or_

2. Left by its mother and reared by hand (e.g. a cade lamb): _ ad_

3. Esoteric doctrine or mysterious art: _ aba_ _

4. Physical or sexual attractiveness, magnetism or personal charm; glamour : _ omp_

5. Father (also title of a bishop in some Arabic churches): _ bb_

6. Relating to or concerned with concrete or unique: _ _ _ ograp_ _ _

7. Animal worship: _ _ olat_ _

8. Good fortune: _ mul_ _

9. Intended only for a particular group: _ _ oter_ _

10. Munificence : _ _ kshee_ _

11. Someone who destroys religious images or opposes their veneration: _ _ onocl_ _ _

12. To desist from action: _ _ rcea_ _

13. Variant of cabala: _ _ bbal_ _

14. Bombastic in style or expression: _ _ _ niloq_ _ _ _

15. Disturb; annoy : _ e_

16. camel or pig)": _ _ _ iodac_ _ _

17. A man who philanders; to be sexually promiscuous with women: _ _ maniz_ _

18. A state of extreme commotion; tumult: _ urmo_ _

19. Leave out; suppress; omit; ignore; to strike out: _ lid_

20. The use of ridicule or scorn to show contempt: _ _ risi_ _

21. Presenting favorable conditions: _ _ opiti_ _ _

22. The substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant: _ _ phemi_ _

23. the throat marked with deep longitudinal furrows": _ orqu_ _

24. Ask for and get free as being a parasite: _ ooc_

25. Worship of the sun: _ _ liola_ _ _

26. Destruction of property or obstruction of normal operations in time of war: _ _ bota_ _

27. Having abnormally small head: _ _ _ _ cepha_ _ _ _

28. A gangster; a thug; a ruffian : _ oodl_ _

29. The inner, usually woody, layer of the pericarp of a fruit, such as the stone of a cherry or peach: _ _ doca_ _

30. To be or become feeble: _ _ ngui_ _

31. Pair; couple; unit of two objects: _ ua_

32. Loving; an advocate of a political reform movement : _ o_ _ o_

33. To refuse abruptly: _ al_

34. Being beyond the world or the limits of the universe: _ _ _ ramun_ _ _ _

35. Distressing: _ _ xatio_ _

36. Figuratively oppressed; subjugated : _ _ _ ntrod_ _ _

37. A writer or speaker who uses words pretentiously: _ _ rdmon_ _ _

38. Something that is implied even though not expressed: _ _ _ _ ntell_ _ _ _ _ _

39. A crafty action intended to accomplish a sinister end: _ _ _ hinat_ _ _

40. Minute organisms that float in the surface film of water: _ eust_ _

41. Monetary: _ _ cunia_ _

42. The state of forgetting or being forgotten : _ _ livi_ _

43. To cause a child or a young animal to get accustomed gradually to food other than its mother's milk: _ ea_

44. A strong liking; a strong inclination: _ _ ncha_ _

45. To utter a loud and long mournful cry of grief or distress; wail: _ ow_

46. Charlatanism: _ _ acke_ _

47. Being showy of one’s knowledge, often in a boring manner: _ _ dant_ _

48. Extremely cold; icy: _ eli_

49. Of or related to a prophet or a prophecy: _ ati_

50. To become interlocked like the fingers of folded hands: _ _ _ _ rdigi_ _ _ _

51. One cut off from his/her normal socioeconomic class: _ ump_ _

52. Cast down in spirit: _ _ apfal_ _ _

53. Native to a particular region: _ ndem_ _

54. Dependent on circumstances beyond one's control: _ _ ecari_ _ _

55. Soul; spirit: _ neu_ _

56. The state of a fluid in swirling or vortical motion: _ _ rtici_ _

57. A step by step procedure to solve a problem: _ _ gorit_ _

58. To deprive of a necessary part of the body: _ ai_

59. A liturgical prayer consisting of a series of petitions recited by a leader alternating: _ ita_ _

60. Prescience; awareness of something before its existence or occurrence: _ _ _ eknow_ _ _ _

61. A dictionary especially for of an ancient language: _ exic_ _

62. Merry: _ ocu_ _

63. A person who does hard, menial, tedious, or unpleasant work: _ rud_ _

64. One roaming about in search of amusement or social activity: _ _ dabo_ _

65. The ghostly double of a living person: _ _ _ pelga_ _ _ _

66. Mental or physical weariness or fatigue: _ angu_ _

67. Having a strong pleasant flavor: _ api_

68. Not harmonious; inconsistent: _ _ _ ongru_ _ _

69. The arch of the sky; the heavens: _ _ rmame_ _

70. Relating to, or involving both economic and social factors: _ _ _ _ oecon_ _ _ _

71. A pompous ostentatious official especially one that holds many offices and jobs but fulfills none of them: _ oo_ _ a_

72. Deception by trickery or sophistry: _ _ icane_ _

73. To impose oneself or one's idea on others without request: _ btru_ _

74. One that serves as a model or example: _ _ empl_ _

75. Good-humored, hearty convivial, or genial : _ ovi_ _

76. A female sheep especially when mature : _ w_

77. Always; used in music directions as without varying : _ emp_ _

78. An irregularly shaped hill or mound composed of sand, gravel and till: _ am_

79. Something such as money, food, etc. given freely to relieve the poor: _ _ msgiv_ _ _

80. A great quantity; a great amount; lots: _ odl_ _

81. Mediation by an umpire; refereeing : _ _ pira_ _

82. Someone awkward and clumsy: _ oob_

83. One with 60 zeros: _ _ _ _ mdeci_ _ _ _ _

84. Upside down; in confusion or disorder: _ _ _ sy-tu_ _ _

85. To dispute something angrily: _ rang_ _

86. Heady; reckless : _ _ olhar_ _

87. Surrounding with troops; harassment: _ _ _ _ aguer_ _ _ _

88. Relating to or resembling an epigram: _ _ _ gramm_ _ _ _

89. A person who frequently speaks wildly and irrationally : _ ave_

90. Rumour; gossip : _ _ _ ttleb_ _ _

JOVIAL

jovial: good-humored, hearty convivial, or genial

ABBA

abba:
- father
- title of a bishop in some Arabic churches

KAME

kame: an irregularly shaped hill or mound composed of sand, gravel and till

SCUTTLEBUTT

scuttlebutt: rumour; gossip

Thursday, February 18, 2010

WORDMONGER

wordmonger
- a writer or speaker who uses words pretentiously
- a writer or speaker who uses words carelessly disregarding for meanings

WEAN

wean:
- to cause a child or a young animal to get accustomed gradually to food other than its mother's milk
- to detach gradually from a source of dependence

ELIDE

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

OOMPH

oomph: physical or sexual attractiveness, magnetism or personal charm; glamour

EWE

ewe - a female sheep especially when mature

DRUDGE

drudge:
- a person who does hard, menial, tedious, or unpleasant work
- to do hard, menial, tedious, or unpleasant work
- to force to do hard, menial, tedious, or unpleasant work

SABOTAGE

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

HOODLUM

hoodlum: a gangster; a thug; a ruffian

YOWL

yowl:
- to utter a loud and long mournful cry of grief or distress; wail
- to complain with yowls

RAVER

raver: a person who frequently speaks wildly and irrationally

SEMPRE

sempre: always; used in music directions as without varying

Monday, February 15, 2010

Answer for Crossword Puzzle No. 2

Crossword Puzzle No. 2

Review the items posted and try to solve the following crossword!
In this way you could memorize the words easier and improve your vocabulary in leisure time!

Across
2. Animal worship
4. Loving; an advocate of a political reform movement
7. Extremely cold; icy
10. The state of a fluid in swirling or vortical motion
11. Having an even number of toes on each foot
15. The inner, usually woody, layer of the pericarp of a fruit, such as the stone of a cherry or peach
17. Soul; spirit
18. To refuse abruptly
20. Esoteric doctrine or mysterious art
21. Pair; couple; unit of two objects
22. Variant of cabala
23. A liturgical prayer consisting of a series of petitions recited by a leader alternating
26. Native to a particular region
27. Good fortune
30. A great quantity; a great amount; lots
31. Relating to or concerned with concrete or unique
32. Bombastic in style or expression
34. To desist from action
36. Dependent on circumstances beyond one's control

Down
1. Someone awkward and clumsy
3. A state of extreme commotion; tumult
5. To impose oneself or one's idea on others without request
6. Minute organisms that float in the surface film of water
8. Merry
9. Of or related to a prophet or a prophecy
12. Someone who destroys religious images or opposes their veneration
13. Any of a family of large baleen whales having the skin of the throat marked with deep longitudinal furrows
14. Having a strong pleasant flavor
16. Being showy of one’s knowledge, often in a boring manner
18. Munificence
19. To deprive of a necessary part of the body
24. One cut off from his/her normal socioeconomic class
25. Not harmonious; inconsistent
28. Charlatanism
29. Desolate; forsaken
32. Ask for and get free as being a parasite
33. Left by its mother and reared by hand
35. Disturb; annoy

Review Items No. 1-75