the Hebrew patriarch who saved himself and his family and the animals by building an ark in which they survived 40 days and 40 nights of rain; the story of Noah and the flood is told in the Book of Genesis
aberrant: Markedly different from an accepted norm.
aberration: Deviation from a right, customary, or prescribed course.
abet: To aid, promote, or encourage the commission of (an offense).
abeyance: A state of suspension or temporary inaction.
abjure: To recant, renounce, repudiate under oath.
ablution: A washing or cleansing, especially of the body.
abrogate: To abolish, repeal.
abscond: To depart suddenly and secretly, as for the purpose of escaping arrest.
subjected to a penalty (as pain or shame or restraint or loss) for an offense or fault or in order to coerce some behavior (as a confession or obedience)
Quixotic: Chivalrous or romantic to a ridiculous or extravagant degree.
quotidian: Of an everyday character; ordinary.
raconteur: A person skilled in telling stories.
ramify: To divide or subdivide into branches or subdivisions.
rapacious: Sieze by force, avaricious
raucous: Harsh.
reactionary: Pertaining to, of the nature of, causing, or favoring reaction.
rebuff: A peremptory or unexpected rejection of advances or approaches.