gre vocabulary c2
Terms
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- cerebral
- pertaining to the brain or intellect. The content of philosophical works is crebral in nature and requires much thought
- centurion
- Roman army officer. Because he was in command of a company of one hundred soldiers, he was called acenturion
- centripetal
- tending toward the center. Does centripetal force or the force of gravity bring orbiting bodies to the earth's surface?
- centrifuge
- machine that separates substances by whirling them. At the dairy, we employ a centrifuge to separate cream from milk
- centrifugal
- radiating; departing from the center. many automatic drying machines remove excess moisture from clothin by centrifugal force
- centigrade
- denoting a widely used temperature scale (basically same as Celsius). On the centigrade thermoemter, the freezing point of water is zero degrees
- centaur
- mythical figure, half man and half horse. I was particularly impressed by the stattue of the centaur in the Roman Hall of the museum
- censorious
- critical. Censorious people delight in casting blame
- censor
- overseer of morals person who eliminates inappropriate matter. soldiers dislike having their mail read by a censor but understand the need for this precaution
- celibate
- abstaining fro sexual intercourse; unmarried.
- celestial
- heavenly. She spoke of the celestial joys that awaited vrtuous souls in the hereafter
- celerity
- speed; rapidity. Hamlet resented his mother's celerity in remarryiing within a month after his father's death
- cede
- yield (title, territory) to; surrender formally. Eventually the descendants of England's Henry II were forced to cede their French territories to the king of france. cession
- cavil
- make frivolous objections. I respect your sensible criticisms, but I dislike the way you cavil about unimportant details
- cavalier
- casual and offhand; arrogant. Sensitive about having her ideas taken lightly, Marcia felt insulted by Mark's cavalier dismissal of her suggestion
- cavalcade
- procession; parade. As described by Chaucer, the cavcalcade of Canterbury pilgrims was a motley group
- cauterize
- burn with hot iron or caustic. In order to prevent infection, the doctor cauterized the wound
- caustic
- burning'ssarcastically biting. The critic's caustic remarks angered the hapless actors who were the subjects of his sarcasm
- causal
- implying a cause-effect reationship. The psychologist maintained there was a causal relationship between the nature of one's early childhood experiences and one's adult personality. casuality
- caulk
- to make watertight (by plugging semas)> When water from the shower leaked into the basement, we knew it was time to caulk the tiles at the edges of the shower stall
- caucus
- private meeting of members of a party to select officers or determine policy. At the opening of Congress the members of the Democratic Party held a caucus to elect the majority leader of the HOuse and the party whip
- catholic
- universal; wide ranging liberal. He was extremely catholic in his taste and read everything he could find in the library
- cathartic
- purgative. Some drugs act as laxatives when taken in small doses but act as cathartics when taken in much larger doses
- catharsis
- purging or cleansing of any passage of the body. Aristotle maintained that tragedy created a catharsis by purging the soul of base concepts
- categorical
- without exceptions; unqualified; absolute. Though the captain claimed he was never, never sick at sea, he finally qualified his categorical deniall he was 'hardly ever' sick at sea
- catechism
- book for religious instruction; instruction by question and answer. He taught by engaging his pupils in a catechism until they gave him the correct answer
- catcall
- shout of disapproval; boo. Every major league pitcher has off days during which he must learn to ignore catcalls and angry hisses from the crowd
- catastrophe
- calamity; disaster. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake was a catastrophe that destroyedmost of the city. A similar earthquake striking today could have even more catastrophic results
- cataract
- great waterfall; eye abnormality. She gazed with awe at the mighty cataract known as Niagara Falls
- catapult
- slingshot; hurling machine. Airplanes are sometimes launched from battleships by catapults
- catalyst
- agent that influences the pace of a chemical reaction whie it remains unaffected and unchanged; person or thing that cuauses action
- cataclysm
- deluge; upheaval. A cataclysm such as the French Revolution affects all countries. cataclysmic adj
- casualty
- serious or fatal accident. The no. of automotive casualties on this holiday weekend was high
- castigation
- punishment; severe criticism
- caste
- one of the hereditary classes in Hindu society; social stratification; prestige
- cascade
- small waterfall. we were too tired to appreciate the beauty of the many cascades because we had to detour around them to avoid being drenched by the torrens cascading down
- cartographer
- map-maker. Though not a professional cartographer, tolkien was able to construct a map of his fictional world
- carrion
- rotting flesh of a dead body, Buzzards are nature's scavengers; they eat the carrion left behind by other predators
- carping
- petting criticism; fault-finding. Welcoming constructive criticism, LExy appreciated her editor's comment,s finding them free of carping
- carosual
- drunken revel. Once the beer chugging contests started, the drinking got out of control, and the party degenerated into an ugly carousal
- carnivorous
- meat-eating. The lion's a carnivorous beast; a hunk of meat makes up his feast. A cow is not a carnivore; she likes the taste of grain, not gore
- carnal
- fleshly. Is the public more interested in carnal pleasure s than in spiritual matters? Compare the no. of ppl wo read playbody daily to the no of those who read the bible every day
- carnage
- destruction of life. The film 'THe Killing Fields vividly depicts the carnage wreaked by Pol Pot's followers in Cambodia
- carillon
- a set of bells capable of being played. The carillon in the bell tower of the coca cola pavillion at the NY world's fair provided musical entertainment every hour
- caricature
- distortion; bulesque. The caricatures he drew always emphsized personal weaknesses of the people he burlesqued
- careen
- lurch; sway from side to side. The taxicab careened wildly as it rounded the corner
- cardiologist
- doctor specializing in ailments of the heart
- cardinal
- chief. If you want to increase your word power, the cardinal rule of vocabulary building is to read
- carcinogenic
- causing cancer
- carat
- unit of weight for precious stones; measure of fineneess of gold. eg 3 carat of diamond
- carapace
- shell covering the back (of a turtle, crab) . At the children's zoo, RIchard perched on top of the giant turtle's hard carapace as the creature slowly made its way around te enclosure
- captious
- faultfinding. His criticisms were always captious and frivolous, never offering constructive suggestions
- caption
- title; chapter heading; text under illustration
- capricious
- unpredictable; fickle. The storm was capricious; it changed course contstantly. Jill was capricious, too; she change bfs almost as often as she changed clothes. (me!)
- caprice
- whim. She was an unpredictable creture; acting on caprice, never taking thought of the consequences
- capitulate
- surrender. The enemy was warned to capitulate or face annihilation.
- capillary
- having a very fine bore. The changes in surface tension of liquids in capillary vessels is of special interest to physicists.
- capacity
- mental or physical ability; role; ability to accommodate. Mike had the capacity to handle several jobs at once
- capacious
- spacious. In the capacious areas of the railroad terminal, thousands of travelers lingered while waiting for their trains
- canvass
- determine or seek opinonis, votes. After canvassing the sentiments of his constituents, the congressman was confident that he represented the majority opinion of his district
- canto
- division of a long poem. Dante's poetic master piece. The Divine COmedy is divided into cantos
- canter
- slow gallop. Because the racehorse had out distanced its competition so easily, the reporter wrote that the race was won in a canter.
- cantata
- story set to music. to be sung by a chorus.
- cantankerous
- ill-humored; irritable. Constantly complaining about his treatment and refusing to cooperate with the hospital staff, he was a cantakerous patient
- cant
- insincere expressions of piety; jargon of thieves. Shocked by news of the mnister's extramarital love affairs, the worshippers dismissed his talk about the sacredness of marriage as mere cant.
- canon
- collection or authoritative list of books. scholars hotly debated whether the newly discovered sonnet should be accepted as part of the shakespearean canon
- canny
- shrewd; thrifty, quick reaction. The canny scotsman was more than a match for the swindlers
- canker
- any ulcerous sore; any evil. Poverty is a canker in the body politic; it must be cured
- canine
- related to dogs; doglike. Some days the canine population of Berkeley seems almost to outnumber the human population
- candor
- frankness; open honesty. Jack can carry candor too far; when he told Jill his honest opinion of her, she nearly slapped his face. candid
- canard
- false or ufounded story; fabricated report. Rather than becoming upset by the National Enquirer story about tony's supposed infidelity, tina refused to take the canard seriously
- camouflage
- disguise; hide, conceal. in order to rescue Hansolo, princess leia camouflaged herself in the helmet and cloak of a space bandit
- cameo
- shell or jewel carved in relief; star's special appearance in a minro role in a film. Don't bother buying cameos from the street peddlers in Rome; the carvings they sell are clumsy job.
- camaraderie
- good fellowship. What he loved best about his job was the sense of camaraderie he and his coworkers shared
- calumny
- maliciou misrepresentation; slander. He could endure his financial failure, but he could not bear the calumny that his foes heaped upon him
- calorific
- heat producing. Coal is much more calorific than green wood
- callow
- youthful; immature; inexperienced. As a freshman, Jack was sure he was a man of the world; as a sophomore, he made fun of freshmen as callow youths
- callous
- hardened; unfeeling. He had worked in the hospital for so many years that he was callous to the suffering in the wards. callus N
- calligraphy
- beautiful writing; excellent penemanship. As we examine ancient manuscripts, we become impressed with the calligraphy of the scribes
- caliber
- ability; quality. Einstein's cleaning the blackboards again? Alber, quit it. A man of your caliiber shouldn't have to do such menial tasks
- caldron
- large kettle. 'Why mr. Crusoe,' said the savage hating the giant caldron. 'we'd love to have you for dinner'
- calculated
- deliberately planned; likely.
- calamity
- disaster; misery. As news of the calamity spread, offers of relief poured in to the striken community
- cajole
- coax; wheedle. Cher tried to cajole her fahter into letting her drive the family car. cajoery
- cadge
- beg; mooch; panhandle. While his car was in the shop, Bob had to cadge a ride to work each day.
- cadence
- rhtymic rise and fall (of words or sounds) beat. Marching down the road, the troops sand out, following the cadence set by the sergeant
- cadaver
- corpse. In some states, it is illegal to dissect cadavers
- cacophonous
- discordant; inharmonious. Do the students in the orchestra enjoy the cacophonous sounds they make when they're tuning up? I don't know how they can stand the racket.
- cache
- hiding place. The detectives followed the suspect until he led them to the cache wehere he had stored his loot