Vocabulary

 1. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Zoology) relating to or consisting of mother-of-pearl2. (Earth Sciences / Minerals) having the lustre of mother-of-pearl nacreous minerals

 The 15th-century period of Italian art and literature.

 1. very hard

 1. A pharmacological agent added to a drug to increase or aid its effect.2. An immunological agent that increases the antigenic response.

 1. To turn attention. Used with to: The board next adverted to compensation issues.2. To call attention

 1. rural

 1. Law To punish by a fine imposed arbitrarily at the discretion of the court. 2. To punish by imposing an arbitrary penalty.

 An ambiguous or equivocal statement.

 (Cookery) an appetizer before a meal

 adj.1. Capable of soothing or eliminating pain. 2. Relaxing: anodyne novels about country life.n.1. A medicine, such as aspirin, that relieves pain.2. A source of soothing comfort

 1. Of or relating to anthropogenesis.2. Caused by humans: anthropogenic degradation of the environment.

 1. a. Free of pathogenic microorganisms: aseptic surgical instruments. b. Using methods to protect against infection by pathogenic microorganisms: aseptic surgical techniques.2. Lacking animation or emotion: an aseptic smile.

 Subjective and limited, as in viewpoint or perception: "The characters have a blinkered view and, misinterpreting what they see, sometimes take totally inexpedient action" (Pauline Kael).

 A puritanical person.

 A woman with strong scholarly or literary interests.

 1 : bully, intimidate2 : to use or consume without sharing

 b: gripped with emotion c: intense, gripping d: very rapid or strenuous

 To beg or get by begging.

 Something made or put together using whatever materials happen to be available: "Even the decor is a bricolage, a mix of this and that" (Los Angeles Times).

 1. A projecting structure, such as a beam, that is supported at one end and carries a load at the other end or along its length.2. A member, such as a beam, that projects beyond a fulcrum and is supported by a balancing member or a downward force behind the fulcrum. 3. A bracket or block supporting a balcony or cornice.

 1. Marked by a disposition to find and point out trivial faults: a captious scholar. 2. Intended to entrap or confuse, as in an argument: a captious question.

 1. Specious or excessively subtle reasoning intended to rationalize or mislead. 2. The determination of right and wrong in questions of conduct or conscience by analyzing cases that illustrate general ethical rules.

 1. The misapplication of a word or phrase, as the use of blatant to mean "flagrant."2. The use of a strained figure of speech, such as a mixed metaphor.

 v.tr. To cause distaste or disgust by supplying with too much of something originally pleasant, especially something rich or sweet

 Swiftness of action or motion

 1. To tie or group together.2. Logic To bring (isolated facts) together by an explanation or hypothesis that applies to them all.

 Censorship of literature and other forms of expression and communication because of perceived immorality or obscenity.

 1. To prove to be wrong or in error

 A collection

 1. A sequence or succession.2. Logic The relation of consequent to antecedent

 A thicket of small trees or shrubs

 tr.v. cos·set·ed, cos·set·ing, cos·sets To pamper.n. A pet, especially a pet lamb.

 v.tr.1. To mislead by means of a petty trick or fraud

 A very wealthy man.

 adj. Serving to soothe or soften. n. A soothing, usually mucilaginous or oily substance, such as glycerin or lanolin, used especially to relieve pain in inflamed or irritated mucous membranes.

 1. Having no set plan

 1. Loose fragments or grains that have been worn away from rock.2. a. Disintegrated or eroded matter: the detritus of past civilizations.b. Accumulated material

 Hungry

 adj. 1. Intended to instruct.2. Morally instructive.3. Inclined to teach or moralize excessively.

 To establish a single grammatical or semantic interpretation for.

 1. Seeming beyond consolation

 A formal discourse on a subject, often in writing.

  Marked by or exhibiting sorrow, grief, or pain.

  A deterioration of mental faculties.

 A man who is the eldest or senior member of a group.

 1. a. To omit or slur over (a syllable, for example) in pronunciation.b. To strike out (something written).2. a. To eliminate or leave out of consideration.b. To cut short

 adj. Given to or characterized by disputatious, often specious argument.n.1. One given to or expert in dispute or argument.2. The art or practice of disputation and polemics.

 To consider or think (something) out carefully and thoroughly.

 With the authority derived from one's office or position: the pope speaking ex cathedra

 Of, given to, characterized by, or having the nature of digression.

 Extremely scanty

 Relating to or characterized by prophecy

 1. Lacking purpose or vitality

 1. Admirably suited

 1. Flushed with rosy color

 1. Mathematics To be opposite to and delimit: The side of a triangle subtends the opposite angle. 2. To underlie so as to enclose or surround: flowers subtended by leafy bracts.

 1. Foolishness

 1. To declare false

 A finish in a contest or race in which the winner comes from behind at the last moment.

 1. Gray or white with or as if with age.2. Covered with grayish hair or pubescence: hoary leaves. 3. So old as to inspire veneration

 That cannot undergo mixing or blending: immiscible elements.

 1. Devoid of or not subject to emotion.2. Revealing no emotion

 1. To beset with insistent or repeated requests

 Blithe lack of concern

 1. To insert or introduce between other elements or parts.2. a. To insert (material) into a text.b. To insert into a conversation. See Synonyms at introduce.3. To change or falsify (a text) by introducing new or incorrect material.

 1. Lack of physical or mental energy

 1. A hall in which public lectures, concerts, and similar programs are presented. 2. An organization sponsoring public programs and entertainment.

 That can be mixed in all proportions. Used of liquids.

 A written message

 1. Absence of knowledge or awareness

 The present or particular occasion: "Her tendency to discover a touch of sadness had for the nonce disappeared" (Theodore Dreiser).

 1. A person or thing that has no equal

 1. A medicine whose effectiveness is unproved and whose ingredients are usually secret

 1. Facing or turned toward the observer: the obverse side of a statue. 2. Serving as a counterpart or complement.n.1. The side of a coin, medal, or badge that bears the principal stamp or design. 2. The more conspicuous of two possible alternatives, cases, or sides: the obverse of this issue.3. Logic The counterpart of a proposition obtained by exchanging the affirmative for the negative quality of the whole proposition and then negating the predicate: The obverse of "Every act is predictable" is "No act is unpredictable."

 1. Of or relating to oil.2. Falsely or smugly earnest

 Unusually large, weighty, or extensive.

 1. A formal eulogistic composition intended as a public compliment.2. Elaborate

praise or laudation

 A fallacious or illogical argument or conclusion.

 Excessively sparing or frugal.

 Hypocritically benevolent

 Of, relating to, or living in open oceans or seas rather than waters adjacent to land or inland waters: pelagic birds.

 1. Foreign

 1. To conclude a speech with a formal recapitulation.2. To speak at great length, often in a grandiloquent manner

 1. A block or slab on which a pedestal, column, or statue is placed.2. The base block at the intersection of the baseboard and the vertical trim around an opening.3. A continuous course of stones supporting a wall. Also called plinth course.4. A square base, as for a vase.

 A word formed by merging the sounds and meanings of two different words, as chortle, from chuckle and snort.

 v.tr. To separate or divide in thought

 1. Rashly or wastefully extravagant: prodigal expenditures on unneeded weaponry

Conciliatory

 1. Tediously prolonged

 Characterized by or having great physical beauty and appeal.

 Tending to irritate

 To regard or treat (an abstraction) as if it had concrete or material existence.

 n.1. A morally unprincipled person.2. One who is predestined to damnation.adj.1. Morally unprincipled

 The act, an instance, or an expression of reproving

 A grid or pattern placed in the eyepiece of an optical instrument, used to establish scale or position.

 1. a. The secret publication and distribution of government-banned literature in the former Soviet Union.b. The literature produced by this system.2. An underground press.

 1. Retired or ineffective because of advanced age: "Nothing is more tiresome than a superannuated pedagogue" (Henry Adams). 2. Outmoded

 1. a. A trumpet or horn fanfare.b. A sound resembling such a fanfare.2. A hunting cry.

 Boastful

 1. A short stick carried by police

 1. Devoid of matter

 Nacre, also known as mother of pearl, is an organic-inorganic composite material produced by some mollusks. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent. Pearls and the inside layer of the pearl oyster shells and the freshwater pearl mussel shells are made of nacre.

 1. Unnaturally pale, as from physical or emotional distress.2. Suggestive or indicative of weariness, illness, or unhappiness

 2 : a theater drop that appears opaque when a scene in front is lighted and transparent or translucent when a scene in back is lighted3 : something likened to a theater scrim

  1 : to draw or paint on a surface 2 : to outline in clear sharp detail : delineate 3 : describe

 tr.v. gild·ed or gilt (glt), gild·ing, gilds 1. To cover with or as if with a thin layer of gold. 2. To give an often deceptively attractive or improved appearance to.

 2. A coffin, especially one being carried to a grave or tomb.3. a. A covering that darkens or obscures: a pall of smoke over the city.b. A gloomy effect or atmosphere: "A pall of depressed indifference hung over Petrograd during February and March 1916" (W. Bruce Lincoln).

 1. A narrow band for the hair.2. A brassiere.

  To disarrange or rumple

 A rail and the row of balusters or posts that support it, as along the front of a gallery.

 1. Of or relating to a burial vault or a receptacle for sacred relics. 2. Suggestive of the grave

 adj.1. Covered with gold or gilt.2. Resembling gold, as in color or luster.n.1. A thin layer of gold or something simulating gold that is applied in gilding. 2. Superficial brilliance or gloss.

 Vanishing or likely to vanish like vapor.

 1. A cloudy radiance said to surround a classical deity when on earth. 2. A radiant light that appears usually in the form of a circle or halo about or over the head in the representation of a god, demigod, saint, or sacred person such as a king or an emperor. 3. A splendid atmosphere or aura, as of glamour, that surrounds a person or thing. 4. A rain cloud, especially a low dark layer of clouds such as a nimbostratus.

 1. a. A length of thread or yarn wound in a loose long coil.b. Something suggesting the coil of a skein

 The central part of a church, extending from the narthex to the chancel and flanked by aisles.

 A room in a church housing the sacred vessels and vestments

 n. Roman Catholic ChurchA receptacle in which the host is held.

 1. a. A place where rooks nest or breed.b. A colony of rooks. 2. The breeding ground of certain other birds or animals, such as penguins and seals.

 A stringed instrument of the harp family having two curved arms connected at the upper end by a crossbar, used to accompany a singer or reciter of poetry, especially in ancient Greece.

 holy water

 1. A cheerful or lively manner of speaking, in which the pitch of the voice varies pleasantly.2. A light, happy tune or song.3. A light or resilient manner of moving or walking. v. lilt·ed, lilt·ing, lilts v.tr. To say, sing, or play (something) in a cheerful, rhythmic manner.v.intr.1. To speak, sing, or play with liveliness or rhythm. 2. To move with lightness and buoyancy.

 A twilled cloth of worsted or worsted and wool, often used for suits.

 Any of various sturdy cotton fabrics of plain weave, used especially for sheets.

 A widely cultivated ornamental plant (Narcissus jonquilla) native chiefly to southern Europe, having long narrow leaves and short-tubed yellow flowers.

 1 : to feel or express dejection or discontent : complain *2 : to long for something

 absolute insight acquired through study.

 acquired or occurring in a hospital

 The enclosed area immediately surrounding a house or dwelling.

 A word or expression that is being defined.

 1. a. Having hooves.b. Resembling hooves

 1 : enlargement and thickening of tissues

 1 : of, relating to, or resembling yeast 2 a : immature, unsettled *b : marked by change  c : full of vitality  d : frivolous

 womanly nature or qualities.

 Wear away by rubbing.

 1. To spread here and there

 1. Characterized by many curves or turns

 1. Medicine A surgical knife with a short, wide, pointed double-edged blade, used especially for making punctures and small incisions. Also called lance. 2. Architecture a. A lancet arch.b. A lancet window.

 1. A natural brown earth containing ferric oxide and manganese oxides, used as pigment.2. Any of the shades of brown produced by umber in its various states.

 v.tr. To say or plead in protest, objection, or reproof.v.intr. To reason or plead in protest

 1. Flowing with sweetness or honey. 2. Smooth and sweet: "polite and cordial, with a mellifluous, well-educated voice"

 1. Of such fine texture as to be transparent or translucent: diaphanous tulle.2. Characterized by delicacy of form. 3. Vague or insubstantial: diaphanous dreams of glory.

 n.1. A structure of open latticework, especially one used as a support for vines and other creeping plants.2. An arbor or arch made of latticework.

 n.1. A strongbox. 2. often coffersa. Financial resources

 1. An often homeless girl who roams about the streets

 1. A dais, pulpit, or other elevated platform for public speaking.

 A woman's garment having capelike arm pieces.

 1. A small entrance hall or passage between the outer door and the interior of a house or building.2. An enclosed area at the end of a passenger car on a railroad train. 3. Anatomy A cavity, chamber, or channel that leads to or is an entrance to another cavity: the vestibule to the ear.

 1. a. A handrail, especially on a staircase.b. Such a handrail together with its supporting structures.2. One of the vertical supports of a handrail

 1. A mixture: "[a] building crowned with a mélange of antennae and satellite dishes" (Howard Kaplan).

 n.1. A girth for a pack or saddle. 2. A firm grip. 3. Something easy to accomplish.4. A sure thing

 Showing the effects of worry, anxiety, or burdensome responsibility: the parent's careworn face.

 1. A work consisting of three painted or carved panels that are hinged together. 2. A hinged writing tablet consisting of three leaves, used in ancient Rome.

 A roll or knot of hair worn at the back of the head or especially at the nape of the neck.

 Exhibiting a milky iridescence like that of an opal.

 1. Rose-colored: the roseate glow of dawn. 2. Cheerful or bright

 Slender and elongated, especially in a way that suggests weakness.

 1. Producing a display of lustrous, rainbowlike colors: an iridescent oil slick

 An area of irregular limestone in which erosion has produced fissures, sinkholes, underground streams, and caverns.

 A very small particle

 v.tr.1. To dry out thoroughly. 2. To preserve (foods) by removing the moisture. See Synonyms at dry.3. To make dry, dull, or lifeless.v.intr. To become dry

 n.1. A bright red mercuric sulfide used as a pigment. 2. A vivid red to reddish orange. Also called Chinese red, cinnabar.

 having or marked by grooves

 1. A writing table

 1. To make or shape with or as if with an ax: hew a path through the underbrush. 2. To cut down with an ax

 Spotted or blotched with different shades or colors.

 A cosmetic preparation, such as powdered antimony sulfide, used especially in the Middle East to darken the rims of the eyelids.

 1. Material, such as waterproofed canvas, used to cover and protect things from moisture.2. A sheet of this material.

 1. Chiefly British A sheet of writing or printing paper measuring approximately 13 by 16 inches.

 A two-handled jar with a narrow neck used by the ancient Greeks and Romans to carry wine or oil.

 1. Nautical The forward part of a ship's hull

 A small glass vial that is sealed after filling and used chiefly as a container for a hypodermic injection solution.

 1. Music To play (a stringed instrument) idly or monotonously: thrummed a guitar. 2. To speak, repeat, or recite in a monotonous tone of voice

 Roman Catholic Church A recitation of prayers and devotions for a special purpose during nine consecutive days.

 Extremely loud: a stentorian voice.

 1. Capable of producing offspring or vegetation

 1. The period of being a novice.2. A place where novices live.

 1. Angular deviation from a vertical or horizontal plane or surface

 A state of perplexity, confusion, or bewilderment.

 1. Soil composed of a mixture of sand, clay, silt, and organic matter. 2. A mixture of moist clay and sand, and often straw, used especially in making bricks and foundry molds.

 a textbook of sorcery and magic

 1. Any of various perennial herbs or small shrubs of the genus Acanthus, native to the Mediterranean and having pinnately lobed basal leaves with spiny margins and showy spikes of white or purplish flowers. Also called bear's breech.2. Architecture A design patterned after the leaves of one of these plants, used especially on the capitals of Corinthian columns.

 1. A rivulet

 fruitful

  unbecomingly bold or saucy.

 1 : a hoisting apparatus employing a tackle rigged at the end of a beam 2 : a framework or tower over a deep drill hole (as of an oil well) for supporting boring tackle or for hoisting and lowering

 *1 : the act or an instance of embezzling 2 : a failure to meet a promise or an expectation

 Persevering and constant in effort or application

 Originating or existing during the same period

 1. Not inherent but added extrinsically. 2. Biology Of or belonging to a structure that develops in an unusual place:

 Slavery

 1. A nonstandard usage or grammatical construction. 2. A violation of etiquette. 3. An impropriety, mistake, or incongruity.

 Literary study or classical scholarship.

 Deserved

 1. Proximity

 1. To enmesh in or as if in a fishing net. 2. To hinder the activity or free movement of.

 : a trap in which concealed persons lie in wait to attack by surprise

 : marked by scandalous crime or vice : villainous

 the study of flags

1 : roughness *2 : harshness of manner or of temper

A form of reproduction in which an unfertilized egg develops into a new individual, occurring commonly among insects and certain other arthropods.

Defying imitation; matchless.

Greater in power, influence, or force than another or others; predominant.

Having pistils and stamens that mature at different times, thus promoting cross-pollination rather than self-pollination.

• 1. Of the nature of or constituting a portent; foreboding. "The present aspect of society is portentous of great change" (Edward Bellamy).
• 2. Full of unspecifiable significance; exciting wonder and awe. "Such a portentous and mysterious monster roused all my curiosity" (Herman Melville).
• 3. Marked by pompousness; pretentiously weighty.

Slang. a woman who yields readily to sexual intercourse

• 1. Adapted for seizing, grasping, or holding, especially by wrapping around an object. a monkey's prehensile tail.
• 2. Having keen intellect; insightful.
• 3. Greedy; grasping.

• 1. Concerned with food, nutrition, or digestion.
• 2. Providing nourishment.

• 1. a. Of, relating to, located at, or forming a base.
• b. Botany Located at or near the base of a plant stem, or at the base of any other plant part - basal placentation.
• 2. Of primary importance; basic.

• 1. Thick and adhesive. Used of a fluid.
• 2. Covered with a sticky or clammy coating.

The act or process of giving birth; childbirth.

• 1. A spiral scroll-like ornament such as that used on an Ionic capital.
• 2. a. A spiral formation, such as one of the whorls of a gastropod shell.
• b. Any of various marine gastropod mollusks of the family Volutidae, having a spiral, often colorfully marked shell.

• 1. The soft internal organs of the body, especially those contained within the abdominal and thoracic cavities.
• 2. The intestines.

To undergo thickening or cause to thicken, as by boiling or evaporation; condense.

To cause to adhere, as with glue.

• 1. Of or relating to lakes.
• 2. Living or growing in or along the edges of lakes.

Suitable for eating; edible.

• 1. Biology Intermediate in characteristics between two similar or related taxonomic groups.
• 2. Closely adhering or joined; embracing.

Carrying developing young or eggs: a gravid uterus; a gravid female.

• 1. Of, relating to, or dependent on charity.
• 2. Contributed as an act of charity; gratuitous.

• 1. Related by blood; having a common ancestor.
• 2. Related in origin, as certain words in genetically related languages descended from the same ancestral root; for example, English name and Latin nmen from Indo-European *n-men-.
• 3. Related or analogous in nature, character, or function.

• 1. Flickering lightly over or on a surface: lambent moonlight.
• 2. Effortlessly light or brilliant: lambent wit.
• 3. Having a gentle glow; luminous.

• 1. Of, relating to, or situated on the opposite side or sides of the earth: Australia and Great Britain occupy antipodal regions.
• 2. Diametrically opposed; exactly opposite.

• 1. To pull up by the roots.
• 2. To destroy totally; exterminate.
• 3. To remove by surgery.

• 1. a. A gentle slope; an incline.
• b. A slope extending down from a fortification.

2. A neutral area separating conflicting forces.

Great. Greatly. (Scottish)

1. Nautical Having a trim, streamlined appearance. "We were schooner-rigged and rakish, with a long and lissome hull" (John Masefield).

2. Dashingly or sportingly stylish; jaunty.

Any of various types of small cranes that project over the side of a ship and are used to hoist boats, anchors, and cargo.

To change or make into glass or a glassy substance, especially through heat fusion.

Of a sickly yellowish hue or complexion.

1. Having or emitting fragrance; aromatic.

2. Suggestive; reminiscent: a campaign redolent of machine politics.

Mischievous; impish: a puckish grin; puckish wit.

• 1. Of or constituting a synopsis; presenting a summary of the principal parts or a general view of the whole.
• 2. a. Taking the same point of view.
• b. often Synoptic. Relating to or being the first three gospels of the New Testament, which share content, style, and order of events and which differ largely from John.
• 3. Meteorology Of or relating to data obtained nearly simultaneously over a large area of the atmosphere.

• 1. A sudden outburst of emotion or action. a paroxysm of laughter.
• 2. a. A sudden attack, recurrence, or intensification of a disease.
• b. A spasm or fit; a convulsion.

A moment of intense excitement; a shudder: The story's ending arouses a frisson of terror.

• 1. Electricity
• a. The rotating part of a dynamo, consisting essentially of copper wire wound around an iron core.
• b. The moving part of an electromagnetic device such as a relay, buzzer, or loudspeaker.
• c. A piece of soft iron connecting the poles of a magnet.
• 2. Biology A protective covering, structure, or organ of an animal or a plant, such as teeth, claws, thorns, or the shell of a turtle.
• 3. A framework serving as a supporting core for the material that is used to make a sculpture.

• 1. Easily angered; bad-tempered.
• 2. Showing or expressing anger.

• 1. Easily bent; supple.
• 2. Having the ability to move with ease; limber.

• n. A chip, fragment, or flake from a piece of stone or ore.
• v.tr. To break up into chips or fragments.
• v.intr. To chip or crumble.

• 1. One who cuts, polishes, or engraves gems.
• 2. A dealer in precious or semiprecious stones.

• adj.1. Of or relating to precious stones or the art of working with them.
• 2. a. Engraved in stone.
• b. Marked by conciseness, precision, or refinement of expression: lapidary prose.
• c. Sharply or finely delineated: a face with lapidary features.

• n.1. Geology A chemical sediment or crust, as of porous silica, deposited by a mineral spring.
• 2. A mass formed by sintering.

v.tr. To cause (metallic powder, for example) to form a coherent mass by heating without melting.

v.intr. To form a coherent mass by heating without melting.

• 1. Abusively detractive language or utterance; calumny. "I have had enough obloquy for one lifetime" (Anthony Eden).
• 2. The condition of disgrace suffered as a result of abuse or vilification; ill repute.

• 1.a. Attracting attention in a vulgar manner: meretricious ornamentation. See Synonyms at gaudy1.
• b. Plausible but false or insincere; specious: a meretricious argument.
• 2. Of or relating to prostitutes or prostitution: meretricious relationships.

Having an offensive odor.

An underlying layer of vegetation, especially the plants that grow beneath a forest's canopy.

One who is employed to take dictation or to copy manuscript.

The plug of tobacco ash left in the bowl of a pipe after it has been smoked.

• n.
• 1. Nautical
• a. The rounded portion of a ship's hull, forming a transition between the bottom and the sides.
• b. The lowest inner part of a ship's hull.
• 2. Bilge water.
• 3. Slang Stupid talk or writing; nonsense.
• 4. The bulging part of a barrel or cask.
• v. bilged, bilg·ing, bilg·es
• v.intr.
• 1. Nautical To spring a leak in the bilge.
• 2. To bulge or swell.
• v.tr.
• Nautical To break open the bilge of.

to break (rock) into fragments

dull or listless

The layer of loose rock resting on bedrock, constituting the surface of most land. Also called mantle rock.

• v.tr.
• 1. To cut with short strokes; snip: snicked off a corner of the material.
• 2. To make a small cut in; nick.
• 3. To cause (something) to click: I snicked the door shut.

• 1. To toil; slave.
• 2. To churn about continuously.

Frolicsome; playful.

An instrument, such as a cane, stick, or flat piece of wood, used in punishing children.

• 1. Readily taking on varied shapes, forms, or meanings.
• 2. Exhibiting considerable variety or diversity: "He loved to show off his protean talent" (William A. Henry III).