Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. urban
    located in or characteristic of a city or city life
    System Map for the Metro (Washington, DC’s urban rail system)
  2. scale
    the ratio between the size of a thing and its representation
    The scale for all of the following maps is the same.
  3. satellite
    man-made equipment that orbits around the earth or the moon
    Google Map of New York City with live traffic layer (satellite view)
  4. transit
    a facility for the movement of passengers or goods
    Google Map of New York City with transit layer (satellite view)
  5. orientation
    position or alignment relative to points of the compass
    Source A: San Diego and Eastern Suburbs (scale: approximately 6 miles wide by 4 miles high; orientation: north)
  6. represent
    take the place of or be parallel or equivalent to
    Red states represent electoral votes for the Republican candidate.
  7. evacuate
    move out of an unsafe location into safety
    Photograph of Hurricane Katrina survivors at a temporary Red Cross Shelter set up in the Astrodome in Houston, TX, after being evacuated from New Orleans, August 31, 2005
  8. port
    where people and merchandise can enter or leave a country
    I mean I’ve lived all over the United States and come back here. This was the home port as we called it. Now, no more home.
  9. indirect
    not as an immediate effect or consequence
    Source C: Fatalities directly or indirectly caused by Hurricane Katrina, compiled by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) in the years after the hurricane
  10. compile
    get or gather together
    Source C: Fatalities directly or indirectly caused by Hurricane Katrina, compiled by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) in the years after the hurricane
  11. submerged
    beneath the surface of the water
    Four-fifths of the city lay submerged as residents frantically signaled for help from their rooftops and thousands were stranded at the Superdome, a congregation of the desperate and poor.
  12. congregation
    an assemblage of people or things collected together
    Four-fifths of the city lay submerged as residents frantically signaled for help from their rooftops and thousands were stranded at the Superdome, a congregation of the desperate and poor.
  13. desperate
    arising from or marked by anguish or loss of hope
    Four-fifths of the city lay submerged as residents frantically signaled for help from their rooftops and thousands were stranded at the Superdome, a congregation of the desperate and poor.
  14. surge
    a sudden forceful flow
    From the moment the storm surge of Hurricane Katrina dismantled a fatally defective levee system, New Orleans became a global symbol of American dysfunction and government negligence.
  15. dismantle
    tear down so as to make flat with the ground
    From the moment the storm surge of Hurricane Katrina dismantled a fatally defective levee system, New Orleans became a global symbol of American dysfunction and government negligence.
  16. defective
    not working properly
    From the moment the storm surge of Hurricane Katrina dismantled a fatally defective levee system, New Orleans became a global symbol of American dysfunction and government negligence.
  17. levee
    an embankment built to prevent a river from overflowing
    From the moment the storm surge of Hurricane Katrina dismantled a fatally defective levee system, New Orleans became a global symbol of American dysfunction and government negligence.
  18. symbol
    something visible that represents something invisible
    From the moment the storm surge of Hurricane Katrina dismantled a fatally defective levee system, New Orleans became a global symbol of American dysfunction and government negligence.
  19. negligence
    failure to act with the prudence of a reasonable person
    From the moment the storm surge of Hurricane Katrina dismantled a fatally defective levee system, New Orleans became a global symbol of American dysfunction and government negligence.
  20. engineering
    applying scientific knowledge to practical problems
    At every level and in every duty, from engineering to social policy to basic logistics, there were revelations of malfunction and failure before, during, and after Katrina.
  21. policy
    a plan of action adopted by an individual or social group
    At every level and in every duty, from engineering to social policy to basic logistics, there were revelations of malfunction and failure before, during, and after Katrina.
  22. logistics
    supplying an operation with labor and materials as needed
    At every level and in every duty, from engineering to social policy to basic logistics, there were revelations of malfunction and failure before, during, and after Katrina.
  23. revelation
    the act of making something evident
    At every level and in every duty, from engineering to social policy to basic logistics, there were revelations of malfunction and failure before, during, and after Katrina.
  24. malfunction
    a failure to work normally
    At every level and in every duty, from engineering to social policy to basic logistics, there were revelations of malfunction and failure before, during, and after Katrina.
  25. population
    the number of inhabitants in a given place
    The white population decreased by about 11,000, but it is wealthier.
  26. institutional
    relating to an organization founded for a specific purpose
    The city that exists in 2015 has been altered, by both a decade of institutional re-engineering and the artless rearrangement that occurs when people are left to fend for themselves.
  27. proportional
    properly related in size or degree
    Proportional symbol map of FEMA data of those displaced by Hurricane Katrina
  28. displace
    cause to move, usually with force or pressure
    Proportional symbol map of FEMA data of those displaced by Hurricane Katrina
  29. diaspora
    the dispersion of something that was originally localized
    Katrina's Diaspora
  30. distribution
    the property of being scattered about over a range or area
    The map shows the distribution and number of the 1.36 million individual assistance applications as of Sept. 23.
  31. exodus
    a journey by a large group to escape from a hostile environment
    Katrina's Exodus
  32. register
    record in a public office or in a court of law
    A look at the distribution of 1.36 million individual applicants who registered with FEMA:
Created on Fri May 31 08:54:41 EDT 2019 (updated Mon Jun 17 13:19:00 EDT 2019)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.