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Usage

This set has sentences made of the words mentioned in "word crunchers"

Terms

undefined, object
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malediction \mal-uh-DIK-shun\, noun
There Justice Minister Bola Ige, confronted with the general incivility of local police, placed a malediction on the cads. Said the Hon. Bola Ige, "I pray that God will make big holes in their pockets."
apprise \uh-PRYZ\, transitive verb
When Tyler, tuning in to channel seven, became apprised of this news, he raised his eyebrows and smiled
Croupier KROO-pee-uhr, -pee-ay
"With a hotel and casino building boom under way since Macao ended a four-decade gambling monopoly six years ago, the city zoomed past Las Vegas in terms of gambling revenue in 2006. Some analysts estimate Macao will need 50,000 croupiers in the next couple of years, a tenth of the population."
fescennine (FES-uh-nyn, -nin) adjective
And while they're online, you can tap into another computer and view their fescennine photos, which are supposedly updated every six minutes
restaurateur \res-tuh-ruh-TER\ noun
Fred began his career in the food-service industry as a humble busboy, but today he is a successful restaurateur who recently opened his third eating establishment.
choler \KOLL-ur; KOLE-ur\, noun
And at last he seems to have found his proper subject: one that genuinely engages his intellect, truly arouses his characteristic choler and fills him with zest
Grammatolatry gram-uh-TOL-uh-tree
"The worship of words is more pernicious than the worship of images. Grammatolatry is the worst species of idolatry."
smithereens (smith-uh-REENZ) noun
[The heroine] finds herself being mistaken for someone else and falling, abruptly, down a rabbit hole -- her identity stolen, her daily life torpedoed, her most fundamental expectations about life blown to smithereens.
interpolate \in-TUR-puh-layt\, transitive verb
Twenty years earlier, Rodgers was not so pleased when, at the request of the star Belle Baker, Berlin had written a song for her to interpolate into an otherwise all-Rodgers-and-Hart score for the Broadway musical "Betsy."
parapraxis par-uh-PRAK-sis
Only one parapraxis suggested a little lingering Scottish resentment*. [Andrew Marr] pronounced Gough Square, where [Samuel] Johnson lived and wrote his dictionary, 'guff'. A good joke but not, I think, a deliberate one."
jog trot \JOG-TROT\ noun
The weekly Friday-night dances provided the townsfolk with a few hours of respite from the jog trot of life.
orthography or-THOG-ruh-fee
"The Spelling Society declared at the weekend that the apparently arbitrary and complicated orthography of the English language holds back children in acquiring writing skills, and costs the economy countless billions a year."
lingua franca LING-gwuh FRANGK-uh
"At one point, they were called to the front to sing Sierra Leone's national anthem in Krio, the country's lingua franca."
yeoman's service (YO-muhnz SUHR-vis)
Commissioner Ralph Carpenter, who sits on the reform commission, is a good man and hard worker. He has done yeoman's service for the governor
defenestrate \dee-FEN-uh-strayt\, transitive verb
Some of his apparent chums . . . would still happily defenestrate him if they caught him near a window
nocebo \noh-SEE-boh\ noun
Patients given the nocebo reported mild to severe headaches.
prink \PRINGK\, transitive verb
Tara has supermodel legs and is already getting used to being prinked and coiffed as she prepares for her first beauty contest in the autumn.
Popinjay POP-in-jay
"We Brits didn't really like the way in which Jose Mourinho introduced himself as the 'Special One' when he joined Chelsea as manager. Being a braggart is so un-British, don't you know -- even if you are gifted with a bit of flair. The 'Special One' ought to have been told we don't go in for flamboyance here. If we act the popinjay we can expect others to despise us behind their smiles."
sardonic (sahr-DON-ik) adjective
In no time the plot becomes less and less tangible as Merde Happens evolves into one long, sardonic diatribe by a Brit about the (exaggerated) strangeness of America -- when his French girlfriend isn't snarking about it.
decimate \DESS-uh-mayt\ verb
Farmers struggled to feed their families after their crops were decimated by blight.
harbinger \HAR-bin-juhr\, noun
Comets have been mistakenly interpreted by humans in times past as harbingers of doom, foretelling famine, plague, and destruction.
Atrabilious at-ruh-BIL-yuhs
"A couple of nights ago on BBC Two they scheduled an amusing programme, called Grumpy Old Women at Christmas, in which a lot of atrabilious female semi celebs of a certain age moaned about the festive season."
verdure \VUR-jur\, noun
A wide expanse of living verdure, cultivated gardens, shady groves, fertile cornfields, flowed round it like a sea
obeisance \oh-BEE-sunss\ noun
The people paid obeisance to their god by kneeling at the shrine.
conscientious \kahn-shee-EN-shus\ adjective
Carolyn was very conscientious in her research, exploring every possible influence and outcome before preparing her final report.
Iatrogenic eye-at-ruh-JEN-ik
"ICU care, provided to the most frail and sick patients, often results in the worst iatrogenic injuries."
Orthoepy or-THO-uh-pee, OR-tho-ep-ee
"'Splash a little guzzelean,' the crowd muttered.'Is it really all that difficult to assimilate orthoepy?'"
jeopardize \JEP-er-dyze\ verb
I'm not willing to jeopardize my friendship with Camille by lying to her," said Luis.
waterloo (WOT-uhr-loo) noun
Even masters like Charles, Walcott, and Moore all met their Waterloos against hard-hitting Rocky Marciano, who retired undefeated in 1956.
boustrophedon boo-struh-FEED-n, -FEE-don
Tell me, am I wrong to mock vertigo from summit to abyss, to reveal the world as I see it? To scribe my destiny boustrophedon, from left to right then right to left."
impuissant \im-PWISS-unt\ adjective
Jonah was a relentless bully who sought to intimidate any impuissant student that he could find in the schoolyard.
costive (KOS-tiv)
"Mark Wahlberg, for example, is low-key to the point of costive."
Cockaigne \kah-KAYN\, noun
Outside, in the dark, a wobbly patch of life upon the blue snow, the deer perhaps browsed, her soft blob of a nose rapturously sunk in the chilly winter greenery, her modest brain-stem steeped in some dream of a Cockaigne for herbivores.
mansuetude \MAN-swih-tood\ noun
While her voice may have an air of mansuetude, she proved that she could easily cut above the din of the boys in her band...."
renascent \rih-NAS-uhnt\, adjective
Their goal: to give voters in theJune presidential elections a realistic choice between the rough-and-tumble reforms of President Boris Yeltsin and the Soviet-era nostalgia of Gennadi Zyuganov, leader of the renascent Russian Communist Party
sentient \SEN-shee-unt\ adjective
"Pets are sentient beings, just like you and me," explained Ted, "so it's important to treat them kindly."
widow's walk (WID-oz wok)
The second level of this home features a widow's walk that allows an open view to the great room and front foyer."
catachresis kat-uh-KREE-sis
"Our neighbors to the north aren't spared the disease of catachresis, either. A Canadian politician displayed this manifestation of the illness: 'If this thing starts to snowball, it will catch fire right across the country.'"
Misoneism mis-uh-NEE-izm
"The prevailing attitude was therefore one of extreme conservatism: may I indeed say of misoneism?"
Coprolite KOP-ruh-lyte
"Visitors to the centre can see genuine mineralised Viking excrement on permanent display. The coprolite was discovered in 1972."
fortitude \FOR-tuh-tood\ noun
Due to the hot weather, the road race was more a test of fortitude than of athletic ability.
balbriggan (bal-BRIG-uhn) noun
No, there you are, as sensible as ever you were, with a pair of good balbriggan stockings on and sensible shoes.
Callipygian kal-uh-PIJ-ee-uhn
"And it hasn't been lost on modern film directors that a nice set of tights can showcase the callipygian assets of a well-formed leading man."
Linctus LINGK-tuhs
"The audience emitted a few throaty cackles, as if they had collectively drunk too much cough linctus."
glutinous \GLOOT-nuhs\, adjective
What do you mean? I said, my mouth glutinous with melted marshmallow and caramel.
euphuism \YOO-fyuh-wiz-um\ noun
Cora, given to euphuism, exclaimed, "Oh, glorious auroral orb!" and Paul agreed, "Yeah, nice sunrise."
catholicon kuh-THOL-i-kuhn
"In the end, even the most intrusive measures will not be foolproof: there is no verification catholicon. But perfect verification is as illusory as it is unnecessary."
mazy \MAY-zee\, adjective
By now some 20 characters are caught in the turns and baffles of Mr. Dunne's mazy plot.
claque \KLACK\, noun
He cultivated the "Georgetown set" of leading journalists and columnists and had them cheering for him as if he had hired a claque.
litotes \LYE-tuh-teez\ noun
Jamie blushingly acknowledged her victory by litotes, saying that her scores were "not bad" and that she was "not displeased" with her performance.
deter \di-TER\ verb
To deter shoplifters, the store posted signs listing the legal penalties for the crime.
Queen regnant kween REG-nuhnt
"It's up to a queen regnant what title her husband will have, Cooper added."
sacrilegious \sak-ruh-LIJ-us\ adjective
My great-grandfather was a die-hard New Dealer who considered any criticism of Franklin D. Roosevelt to be sacrilegious.
forlorn \fur-LORN; for-\, adjective
Henry had felt guilty at abandoning his sister; he had married not once but twice, leaving Rose forlorn
Roborant ROB-uhr-uhnt
"'A roborant against the night air, dear fellow,' Renzi whispered, proffering hot negus*."
dilatory \DIL-uh-tor-ee\, adjective
I am inclined to be dilatory, and if I had not enjoyed extraordinary luck in life and love I might have been living with my mother at that very moment, doing nothing
cogent \KOH-juhnt\, adjective
One woman, Adrian Pomerantz, was so intelligent that the professors always lit up when Adrian spoke; her eloquent, cogent analyses forced them not to be lazy, not to repeat themselves
capacious \kuh-PAY-shuhs\, adjective
Litter was picked up non stop during the week (mostly by that nice governor with the capacious pockets).
deadman's hand (DED-manz hand)
Other [coffins] have been customized for fishermen, golfers, truck drivers (complete with an air horn from an 18-wheeler), and gamblers' coffins, which featured the traditional deadman's hand of aces 'n' eights."
brummagem (BRUM-uh-juhm) adjective
[My parents were] obsessed with their material possessions, investing them with moral righteousness: no synthetics, no veneer, no brummagem, nothing mass-produced or as seen on TV.

Deck Info

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