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Kathy's word list

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  1. accost
    approach and speak to someone aggressively or insistently
  2. admonition
    a firm rebuke
  3. admonition
    a firm rebuke
  4. adrenaline
    hormone secreted by the adrenal gland in response to stress
  5. alder
    north temperate shrubs or trees having toothed leaves and conelike fruit; bark is used in tanning and dyeing and the wood is rot-resistant
  6. aloft
    at or on or to the masthead or upper rigging of a ship
  7. amassed
  8. amble
    walk leisurely
  9. apex
    the highest point of something
  10. apogee
    the farthest point in an orbit around the Earth
  11. archaic
    so extremely old as seeming to belong to an earlier period
  12. assuage
    provide physical relief, as from pain
  13. atone
    turn away from sin or do penitence
  14. atrocious
    shockingly brutal or cruel
  15. aura
    distinctive but intangible quality around a person or thing
  16. aurora
    bands of light caused by charged solar particles
  17. azimuth
    the azimuth of a celestial body is the angle between the vertical plane containing it and the plane of the meridian
  18. benign
    kind in disposition or manner
  19. blithely
    in a joyous, carefree, or unconcerned manner
  20. bog
    wet spongy ground of decomposing vegetation
  21. bracken
    large coarse fern often several feet high
  22. caboose
    a car on a freight train for use of the train crew
  23. cache
    a hidden storage space
  24. cacophony
    loud confusing disagreeable sounds
  25. cagey
    characterized by great caution and wariness
  26. cantering
    riding at a gait between a trot and a gallop
  27. capacious
    large in the amount that can be contained
  28. careen
    move at high speed and in an uncontrolled way
  29. cherubic
    having a sweet nature befitting an angel
  30. chigger
    small tropical flea
  31. chink
    a narrow opening as e.g. between planks in a wall
  32. circuitous
    deviating from a straight course
  33. cirrus
    a wispy white cloud at a high altitude
  34. corona
    one or more circles of light seen around a luminous object
  35. cow
    female of domestic cattle
  36. cowlick
    a tuft of hair in a different direction from the rest
  37. culvert
    a transverse and enclosed drain under a road or railway
  38. cuneiform
    an ancient wedge-shaped script used in Mesopotamia
  39. deftly
    in an agile manner
  40. desiccated
    thoroughly dried out
  41. despondent
    without or almost without hope
  42. dispirited
    showing no enthusiasm
  43. ebb
    the outward flow of the tide
  44. eddy
    a miniature whirlpool or whirlwind
  45. egret
    a white waterbird with long legs
  46. eloquently
    with eloquence
  47. empyreal
    of or relating to the sky or heavens
  48. encumbrance
    an onerous or difficult concern
  49. equanimity
    steadiness of mind under stress
  50. essence
    the choicest or most vital part of some idea or experience
  51. essence
    the choicest or most vital part of some idea or experience
  52. facile
    arrived at without due care or effort; lacking depth
  53. facsimile
    an exact copy or reproduction
  54. fatalistic
    accepting that everything that happens is inevitable
  55. fervently
    with strong emotion or zeal
  56. fiddlehead
    tall fern of northern temperate regions having graceful arched fronds and sporophylls resembling ostrich plumes
  57. fissure
    a long narrow depression in a surface
  58. flagrantly
    in a flagrant manner
  59. flay
    strip the skin off
  60. fluke
    a stroke of luck
  61. flummox
    be a mystery or bewildering to
  62. fundament
    the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on
  63. gabble
    speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly
  64. gallivant
    wander aimlessly in search of pleasure
  65. glint
    a momentary flash of light
  66. gloaming
    the time of day immediately following sunset
  67. gluttonously
    in a gluttonous manner
  68. gout
    a painful inflammation of the big toe and foot caused by defects in uric acid metabolism resulting in deposits of the acid and its salts in the blood and joints
  69. hackles
    a feeling of anger and animosity
  70. halloo
    a shout to attract attention
  71. heliograph
    an apparatus for sending telegraphic messages by using a mirror to turn the sun's rays off and on
  72. hopper
    someone who leaps
  73. ineptitude
    unskillfulness resulting from a lack of training
  74. kisser
    someone who kisses
  75. laboriously
    in a laborious manner
  76. larder
    a small storeroom for storing foods or wines
  77. lax
    without rigor or strictness
  78. lepidopteran
    insect that in the adult state has four wings more or less covered with tiny scales
  79. lethargy
    inactivity; showing an unusual lack of energy
  80. lintel
    a horizontal beam over a door or window
  81. litany
    a prayer consisting of a series of invocations by the priest with responses from the congregation
  82. malaise
    a feeling of mild sickness or depression
  83. mangled
    having edges that are jagged from injury
  84. mastitis
    inflammation of a breast (or udder)
  85. maudlin
    very sentimental or emotional
  86. melange
    a varied mixture or assortment of things
  87. Mendelism
    the theory of inheritance based on Mendel's laws
  88. mirth
    great merriment
  89. monolith
    a single great stone, often in the form of a column
  90. morose
    showing a brooding ill humor
  91. mow
    cut with a blade or mower
  92. muck
    any thick, viscous matter
  93. mull
    reflect deeply on a subject
  94. mullein
    any of various plants of the genus Verbascum having large usually woolly leaves and terminal spikes of yellow or white or purplish flowers
  95. muzzle
    forward projecting part of the head of certain animals
  96. noxious
    injurious to physical or mental health
  97. obsidian
    glass formed by the cooling of lava without crystallization
  98. orgiastic
    used of frenzied sexual activity
  99. palpate
    examine (a body part) by tactual exploration
  100. panfish
    any of numerous small food fishes
  101. panoply
    a complete and impressive array
  102. pelt
    the dressed hairy coat of a mammal
  103. penance
    voluntary self-punishment in order to atone for something
  104. pilfer
    make off with belongings of others
  105. placate
    cause to be more favorably inclined
  106. pliability
    the quality of yielding or adapting readily
  107. postprandial
    following a meal, especially dinner
  108. pragmatist
    an adherent of a theory of observable practical consequences
  109. primordial
    having existed from the beginning
  110. pristine
    immaculately clean and unused
  111. rabid
    marked by excessive enthusiasm for a cause or idea
  112. rambunctious
    noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline
  113. ramshackle
    in poor or broken-down condition
  114. ransacked
    wrongfully emptied or stripped of anything of value
  115. rapacious
    living by preying on other animals
  116. renege
    fail to fulfill a promise or obligation
  117. reticent
    reluctant to draw attention to yourself
  118. retread
    use again in altered form
  119. reverie
    an abstracted state of absorption
  120. rivulet
    a small stream
  121. ropy
    of or resembling rope (or ropes) in being long and strong
  122. ruckus
    the act of making a noisy disturbance
  123. ruff
    a high tight collar
  124. sally
    a military action in which besieged troops burst forth
  125. sapling
    young tree
  126. sated
  127. scabrous
    rough to the touch, as if covered with scales or projections
  128. scimitar
    a curved saber used in Eastern countries
  129. scuttle
    move about or proceed hurriedly
  130. scythe
    an edge tool for cutting grass
  131. secant
    a straight line that intersects a curve at two or more points
  132. shanty
    a small crude shelter used as a dwelling
  133. silage
    fodder harvested while green and kept succulent by partial fermentation as in a silo
  134. sinuous
    curved or curving in and out
  135. skittish
    unpredictably excitable, especially of horses
  136. slack
    not tense or taut
  137. slobber
    let saliva dribble from the mouth
  138. smelt
    extract by heating, as a metal
  139. sojourn
    a temporary stay
  140. spigot
    a regulator for controlling the flow of a liquid
  141. spinnaker
    a large and usually triangular headsail
  142. splay
    widen or spread apart
  143. stanchion
    any vertical post or rod used as a support
  144. syncopation
    a musical rhythm accenting a normally weak beat
  145. tamp
    press down tightly
  146. tanker
    a cargo ship designed to carry crude oil in bulk
  147. tannin
    any of various complex phenolic substances of plant origin
  148. tendril
    slender structure by which some plants attach to an object
  149. throttle
    a valve that regulates the supply of fuel to the engine
  150. timothy
    grass with long cylindrical spikes grown in northern United States and Europe for hay
  151. trepidation
    a feeling of alarm or dread
  152. triangulation
    a trigonometric method of determining the position of a fixed point from the angles to it from two fixed points a known distance apart; useful in navigation
  153. twilight
    the time of day immediately following sunset
  154. twinge
    a sudden sharp feeling
  155. veering
    the act of turning aside suddenly
  156. vehemence
    intensity or forcefulness of expression
  157. vehemently
    in a forceful manner
  158. vestige
    an indication that something has been present
  159. vortex
    a powerful circular current of water
  160. whelp
    young of any of various canines such as a dog or wolf
  161. wick
    a loosely woven cord (in a candle or oil lamp) that draws fuel by capillary action up into the flame
  162. withers
    the highest part of the back at the base of an animal's neck
  163. writhing
    moving in a twisting or snake-like or wormlike fashion
  164. zenith
    the highest point of something
  165. frippery
    something of little value or significance
  166. mawkish
    very sentimental or emotional
  167. vicissitude
    a variation in circumstances or fortune
  168. senescence
    the property characteristic of old age
  169. ersatz
    an artificial or inferior substitute or imitation
  170. filigree
    delicate and intricate ornamentation
  171. capacious
    large in the amount that can be contained
  172. careen
    move at high speed and in an uncontrolled way
  173. reckoning
    problem solving that involves numbers or quantities
  174. maelstrom
    a powerful circular current of water
  175. execrable
    unequivocally detestable
Created on Fri May 01 09:54:11 EDT 2009 (updated Sat Aug 21 08:57:40 EDT 2010)

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