"WMDs"

You won't find weapons of mass destruction in the nonfiction article by Brian O'Connor. But you may find in this list words of martial diversion (hint: the article appeared in a magazine about men's fitness).

Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 9 Unit 1's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: Speak, Marigolds, Always Running, 'Race' Politics, WMDs, Chuck Liddell, Address to America's Schoolchildren, An Early Start on College, Why College Isn't for Everyone, Actually, College Is Very Much Worth It
10 words 26 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. ultimate
    furthest or highest in degree or order; utmost or extreme
    With a thick coil of a neck and a close-cropped Mohawk, the Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) light-heavyweight title-holder looks like a Marine who'd take great delight in clearing a mosh pit.
  2. surpass
    be greater in scope or size than some standard
    Obviously his threshold for pain far surpasses that of the average Joe--and Jim, Bill, and Bob combined.
  3. submission
    the act of surrendering power to another
    As a mixed martial artist (the technical term for Ultimate Fighting Championship competitors), Liddell, aka "The Iceman," combines fisticuffs, kickboxing, wrestling, and choke holds to either knock out his opponent or force him to "tap out," indicating a submission.
  4. assault
    a threatened or attempted physical attack
    In any other context, of course, this behavior would pass for felonious assault
  5. ferocity
    the property of being aggressive or forceful
    Or he could deliver a flying kick to your face that floors you, or land a haymaker with such ferocity that your brain trickles out your nose.
  6. primal
    having existed from the beginning
    And then it becomes clear that Liddell, like most professional fighters, has made a decision: to reject the life of the suit and the cubicle and revert to the most primal of instincts.
  7. maximize
    make the most of
    And somewhere in the balance, he's maximizing his youthful exuberance and finding his own sense of manhood.
  8. grueling
    characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion
    In a few weeks, he'll return to his grueling training schedule, walking a wheelbarrow filled with 150 pounds of concrete up and down a steep San Luis Obispo driveway.
  9. tactics
    branch of military science dealing with detailed maneuvers
    You have to defend against guys who are coming at you with all sorts of new tactics, new martial arts.
  10. supplant
    take the place or move into the position of
    You're competing in a global economy against younger guys looking to supplant you.
Created on Fri Sep 19 11:00:54 EDT 2014 (updated Fri Sep 19 15:28:17 EDT 2014)

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