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66.67.68.69.70
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- preempt
- v. to seize something by prior right [when the air force launched a ___ strike against the missile base, the air force was attacking the missiles in order to prevent the missiles from attacking the air force.]
- prerogative
- n. a right or privilege connected exclusively with a position, a person, a class, a nation, or some other group or classification [giving traffic tickets to people he didn't like was one of hte ____ of Junior's job as a policeman.]
- prevail
- v. to triumph, to overcome rivals [the prosecutor _ed in the murder trial, the defendant was found guilty.]
- qualify
- v. to modify or restrict. [susan _-ied her praise of Judith by saying that her kind words applied only to Judith's skillful cooking and not to her abhorrent personality.]
- proscribe
- v. to outlaw, to prohibit [spitting on the sidewalk and shooting at road signs were both ____d activities under the new administration]
- propensity
- n. a natural inclination or tendency, a predilection [jesse has a ________ for saying stupid things, every time she opens her mouth, something stupid comes out.]
- proponent
- n. an advocate, a supporter of a position [the _______s of a tax increase will probably not be re-elected next fall.]
- profuse
- adj. flowing, extravagant [when ew gave her our house, our car, and all our clothes, her gratitude was _____]
- proliferate
- v. to spread or grow rapidly [honey bees _______d when we filled our yard with flowering plants]
- provident
- adj. preparing for the future, providing for the future, frugal [we were ____ with our limited food supplies, konwing that the winter ahead would be long and cold.]
- profane
- adj. not having to do with religion, irreverent, blasphemous [sticking out your tongue in church would be a ___ gesture.]
- preeminent
- adj. better than anyone else, outstanding, supreme [the nation's _____ harpsichordist would be the best harpsichordist in the nation.]
- propitious
- adj. marked by favorable signs or conditions [rush hour is not a ______- time to drive into the city.]
- quixotic
- adj. romantic or idealistic to a foolish or impractical degree [for manyt years, ms morris had led a ______ effort to repeal the federal income tax.]
- proselytize
- v. to vert someone from one religion or doctrine to another. [the former Methodist had been _________d by a lutheran deacon.]
- prodigious
- adj. extraordinary, enourmous [to fill the grand canyon with pingpong balls wouuld be a _ ____undertaking, it would be both extraordinary and enormous
- promulgate
- v. to proclaim, to publicly or formally declare something [the principal ______d a new dress code over the loudspeaker system.]
- premise
- n. an assumption, the basis for a conclusion [in deciding to eat all the ice cream in the freezer, my _____ was that if I didn't do it, you would.
- profligate
- adj. extravagantly wasteful and usually wildly immoral [the young heir was ___ with his fortune, spending millions on champagne and racehorses]
- precursor
- n. forrerunner, something that goes before and anticipates or paves the way for whatever it is that follows. [the arrival of a million-dollar check in the mail mihgt be the _____ of a brand new car.]
- profound
- adj. deep (in several senses) [to say something _ is to say something deeply intelligent or discerning]
- proprietary
- adj. characteristic of an owner of property, constituting property [george felt ___ about the choclate cookie recipe; he had invented it himself.
- purported
- adj. rumored, claimed [the heiress is _________ to have been kidnapped by adventurers and buried in a concrete vault.]
- prosaic
- adj. dull, unimaginative, like prose (as opposed to poetry) [the little boy's ambitions were all ___: he said he wanted to be an accountant, an auditor, or a claims adjuster.]
- preclude
- v. to prevent something from ever happening [anne feared that her abysmal academic career might _____ her becoming a brain surgeon.]
- quantitative
- having to do with the quantity of something. [the school achieved a _______ improvement;; the school was being attended by more students.
- proficient
- adj. thoroughly competent, skillful, good at something [i fiddled around at the piano for many years but never became ________ at playing.]
- prepossess
- v. to preoccupy, to influence beforehand or prejudice, to make a good impression on beforehand [the new girl int he class was extremely _______. the minute she walked into hte room, her classmates rushed over to introduce themselves.
- prolific
- adj. abundantly productive, fruitful or fertile [the old man had been extraordinarily ____-_, he had thirty children and more than a hundred grandchildren]
- protract
- v. to prolong [the trial was so _______ed that one of the jurors died of old age and another gave birth.]
- proximity
- n. nearness [ i can't stand being in the _____ of a nuclear explosion. the radiation leaves my hair a mess. ]
- proletariat
- n. the industrial working class, laboring class
- provisional
- adj. conditional, temporary, tentative [louis had been accepted as a ____ membe of the club. he wouldn't become a permanent member until the other membes had had a chance to see what he was really like]
- putative
- adj. commonly accepted, supposed, reputed [the _____ reason for placing the monument downtown is that nobody had wanted it uptown.]
- propriety
- n. properness, good manners [the old lady viewed the little girl's failure to curtsy as a flagrant breach of _____. ]
- prodigy
- n. an extremely talented child, an extraordinary accomplishment or occurrence [the 3 year old _ could play all of the beethoven and most of brahms on his harmonica.]
- prudent
- adj. careful, having foresight [joe is a _____ money manager. he doesn't invest heavily in racehorses, and he puts only a small part of his savings in the office football pool.]
- pristine
- adj. original, unspoiled, pure [an antique in _______ condition is one that hasn't been tampered with over the years. it's still in its original condition.]
- provincial
- adj. limited in outlook to one's own small corne of the world, narrow [the farmers were ___; they had no opinions about anything but the price of corn and no interest in anything except growing more of it.]
- profess
- v. to declare, to declare falsely or pretend [jackson ____ed to have taught himself calculus]
- predilection
- n. a natural preference for something [the impatient judge had a ___ for well-prepared lawyers who said what they meant and didn't waste his time.]
- qualitative
- adj. having to do with the quality or qualities of something [the school achieved a __ improvement in enrollment; the school is being attended by better students.]
- prodigal
- adj. wastefully extravagant. [the chef was ____ with his employers money, spending thousands of dollars on ingredients for what was supposed to be a simple meal.]
- protagonist
- n. the leading character in a novel, play, or other work; a leader or champion [MLKjk. was a ______ in the long and continuing struggle for racial equality.[]
- querulous
- adj. complaining, grumbling, whining [the exasperated mother finally managed to hush her _____ child.]