Collection 3: A Modest Proposal

As you read Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal," learn this word list. Here are links to lists for texts in Grade 12's Collection 3: On the Vietnam War, 1967, The Crisis, Civil Disobedience, The Clan of One-Breasted Women, A Modest Proposal, Imagine the Angels of Bread
35 words 4930 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. importune
    beg persistently and urgently
  2. alms
    money or goods contributed to the poor
  3. want
    the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable
  4. Pretender
    a claimant to the throne or to the office of ruler
  5. Barbados
    easternmost of the West Indies about 300 miles to the north of Venezuela
  6. prodigious
    great in size, force, extent, or degree
  7. scheme
    an elaborate and systematic plan of action
  8. dam
    female parent of an animal especially domestic livestock
  9. doubt
    lack confidence in
  10. rudiments
    a statement of fundamental facts or principles
  11. commodity
    any good that can be bought and sold
  12. fricassee
    pieces of chicken or other meat stewed in gravy with e.g. carrots and onions and served with noodles or dumplings
  13. ragout
    well-seasoned stew of meat and vegetables
  14. reserve
    hold back or set aside, especially for future use
  15. breed
    have young (animals) or reproduce (organisms)
  16. eminent
    standing above others in quality or position
  17. prolific
    bearing in abundance especially offspring
  18. Lent
    a period of 40 weekdays from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday
  19. collateral
    serving to support or corroborate
  20. popish
    of or relating to or supporting Romanism
  21. papist
    of or relating to or supporting Romanism
  22. shambles
    a building where animals are butchered
  23. scrupulous
    having ethical or moral principles
  24. expedient
    a means to an end
  25. Formosa
    an island in southeastern Asia 100 miles off the coast of mainland China in the South China Sea
  26. gibbet
    an instrument of public execution
  27. groat
    a former English silver coin worth four pennies
  28. tithe
    a levy of one tenth of something
  29. curate
    a person authorized to conduct religious worship
  30. distress
    the seizure of property as security for payment of a debt
  31. procure
    get by special effort
  32. inducement
    a positive motivational influence
  33. parsimony
    extreme stinginess
  34. animosity
    a feeling of ill will arousing active hostility
  35. common stock
    stock other than preferred stock
Created on Thu Jul 10 12:20:22 EDT 2014 (updated Thu Jul 10 13:30:53 EDT 2014)

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