WordMasters

Word List 3

Cache

The squirrel hid his collection of nuts in a small cache in the tree.

CACHE

Noun (and verb-to put in cache)1. a hiding place, especially one in the

ground, for ammunition, food, treasures, etc.

2. anything so hidden3. a small shed elevated on poles above

the reach of animals and used for storing food, equipment, etc.

Subside

For reasons that scientists still do not comprehend, every few years the trade winds subside or even disappear.

SUBSIDE

Verb1. to sink to a low or lower level. 2. to become quiet, less active, or less

violent; abate.3. to sink or fall to the bottom; settle;

precipitate

Caustic

Lye is a caustic substance traditionally used to make soap.

CAUSTIC

Adjective1. capable of burning, corroding, or

destroying living tissue.2. severely critical or sarcastic.

Gourmet

The owner and chef is a slow food fan and specializes in gourmet presentation.

GOURMET

Noun1. a connoisseur of fine food and drink (noun).

Adjective2. of or characteristic of a gourmet, especially in

involving or purporting to involve high-quality or exotic ingredients and skilled preparation (adjective).

3. elaborately equipped for the preparation of fancy, specialized, or exotic meals (adjective).

Elude

With luck and quick maneuvering he was able to elude them, but just barely.

ELUDE

Verb1. to avoid or escape by speed,

cleverness, trickery, etc.; evade (verb).

2. to escape the understanding, perception, or appreciation of.

Prudent

In any case, it's prudent to limit your intake of high-sodium processed and prepared food.

PRUDENT

1. wise or judicious in practical affairs; sagacious; discreet or circumspect; sober (adjective).

2. careful in providing for the future; provident.

Bazaar

The traders converge on the annual bazaar with feed for their beasts and food for themselves.

BAZAAR

Noun1. a marketplace or shopping quarter, especially

one in the Middle East (noun). 2. a sale of miscellaneous contributed articles

to benefit some charity, cause, organization, etc. (noun).

Vacillate

He may vacillate awhile longer, perhaps even ultimately settling on a third school, but he has begun his applications to college.

VACILLATE

Verb1. to waver in mind or opinion; be

indecisive or irresolute (verb).2. to waver in mind or opinion; be

indecisive or irresolute.

Corrosive

• Check that water destined for re-use is not contaminated so that it becomes corrosive or causes excessive build-up of scale.

• The loops which pass through the padlock of your chastity device are fashioned with brass ferrules and are non corrosive.

Corrosive

• adjective 1. having the quality of corroding or eating away; erosive. 2. harmful or destructive; deleterious: the corrosive effect of poverty on their marriage. 3. sharply sarcastic; caustic: corrosive comments on the speaker's integrity.

• noun • 4. something corrosive, as an acid or drug.

Rhapsody

• I'm going to be playing some rhapsody so that I can annoy Alex.

• Rhapsody on the piano backstage and didn't realize the audience had come in.

Rhapsody• noun, plural rhap·so·dies.

1. Music. an instrumental composition irregular in form and suggestive of improvisation.

2. an ecstatic expression of feeling or enthusiasm.

3. an epic poem, or a part of such a poem, as a book of the Iliad, suitable for recitation at one time.

4. a similar piece of modern literature.

5. an unusually intense or irregular poem or piece of prose.

Lure

• Lure the shoppers into their stores.• Lenders could not resist the lure of what in

fact was fool's gold.• Lured away from the show with an offer to do

his own series on rival ABC.

Lure• Noun

1. anything that attracts, entices, or allures.

2. the power of attracting or enticing.

3. a decoy; live or especially artificial bait used in fishing or trapping.

4. Falconry. a feathered decoy for attracting a hawk, swung at the end of a long line and sometimes baited with raw meat.

5. a flap or tassel dangling from the dorsal fin of pediculate fishes, as the angler, that attracts prey to the mouth region.

Apathetic

• Early in their routine at center court, the crowd seemed to be unimpressed, almost apathetic.

• At least they're engaged and not apathetic.• The reaction among voters has

been apathetic or downright hostile.• If this requires them to be made angry, that is

better than remaining in ignorance, uninformed and apathetic.

Apathetic

• adjective 1. having or showing little or no emotion:

apathetic behavior.

2. not interested or concerned; indifferent or unresponsive: an apathetic audience.

Annals

• There is a new installment in the annals of loneliness.• But this is simply an unusually blatant example to add

to the annals of journalistic collusion with government.• In the annals of inventing, ingenuity and eccentricity

often seem to go hand in hand.• It is easier to navigate the rectum, sigmoid, and left

colon as discussed in the annals article.• In the annals of science fiction, humans and non-avian

dinosaurs have been brought together in a variety of ways.

Annals

• noun ( used with a plural verb ) 1. a record of events, especially a yearly record, usually in chronological order.

2. historical records generally: the annals of war.

3. a periodical publication containing the formal reports of an organization or learned field.

Yield

• Because the earnings yield is a rate of return, it can be directly compared with other rates of return.

• It was evident no reaction engine would ever yield true space travel.

• Even if the boat holds, I wonder when my stomach will yield to seasickness.

• Standard strawberries yield 5 to 10 quarts of berries per 10 ft.

• The view from above can yield insights on the ground.

Yield• verb (used with object)

1. to give forth or produce by a natural process or in return for cultivation: This farm yields enough fruit to meet all our needs. 2. to produce or furnish (payment, profit, or interest): a trust fund that yields ten percent interest annually; That investment will yield a handsome return. 3. to give up, as to superior power or authority: They yielded the fort to the enemy. 4. to give up or surrender (oneself): He yielded himself to temptation. 5. to give up or over; relinquish or resign: to yield the floor to the senator from Ohio.

Clarion

• Clarion has been making dashboards glow green with car stereos for years.

• The military's record of answering those clarion calls has been uneven, however.

• At the other end, you have the clarion call to treat cyberspace as a theater in a war.

• But two studies released this fall added a sour note to the clarion call.

• His voice rises, a crescendo of persuasion, a clarion for the cause.

Clarion

• adjective 1. clear and shrill: the clarion call of a battle trumpet.

• noun 2. an ancient trumpet with a curved shape. 3. the sound of this instrument. 4. any similar sound.

Pundit

• Read any tech pundit's review and it is easy to see that the iPhone changed the game.

• On the other hand, try to find a politician or political pundit who admits that their biases were wrong in the slightest way.

• The average stock market pundit isn't typically this wrong.

Pundit

• noun 1. a learned person, expert, or authority.

2. a person who makes comments or judgments, especially in an authoritative manner; critic or commentator.

Muffle

• He turned from side to side and tried to muffle his ears with the pillow.

• In their declamations and speeches they made use of words to veil and muffle their design.

• Muffle any peripheral truck noise, as needed, with the blankets.

• Enormous, well-padded ear cups can muffle critical sounds, regardless of whether the noise-canceling feature is activated.

• The percussion also served to muffle the footsteps of her husband.

Muffle• verb (used with object), muf·fled, muf·fling.

1. to wrap with something to deaden or prevent sound: to muffle drums.

2. to deaden (sound) by wrappings or other means.

3. to wrap or envelop in a cloak, shawl, coat, etc., especially to keep warm or protect the face and neck (often followed by up ): Muffle up the children before they go out.

4. to wrap (oneself) in a garment or other covering: muffled in silk.

5. to alter temporarily the profile of (a plaster mold) in order to run a base coat of plaster that will later be covered by a finish coat having the true profile.

Unbridled

• Several other governments have felt the lash of his unbridled tongue.

• Changing diet, with a growing emphasis on meat, illustrates the environmental and societal toll exacted by unbridled consumption.

• Greenspan's retirement should be viewed as a serious risk factor, not as an opportunity for unbridledprosperity.

• Audrey will be remembered for her tireless energy and unbridled enthusiasm for life.

Unbridled

• adjective

1. not controlled or restrained: unbridled enthusiasm.

Foray

• Now, however, it is making a determined foray into online friendships.

• But as companies continue their foray into personalised medicine, the courts will remain rather busy.

• But his foray into the humanities never left his side.• It's another foray into the field of bomb-hunting

technology.• His free speech foray was rewarded with regular

visits to the principal's office.

Foray• noun

1. a quick raid, usually for the purpose of taking plunder: Vikings made a foray on the port.

2. a quick, sudden attack: The defenders made a foray outside the walls.

3. an initial venture: a successful foray into politics. • verb (used without object)

4. to make a raid; pillage; maraud.

5. to invade or make one's way, as for profit or adventure: foreign industries foraying into U.S. markets.

Dwindle

• But after the first couple of years, production tends to drop off precipitously, and the royalty checks will dwindle.

• Tuition will increase across all higher-education sectors and state-financed student aid will continue to dwindle or remain flat.

• The expedition's food supplies soon began to dwindle.• As food supplies dwindle populations sustained by aid

will have to fend for themselves.• When blood supplies dwindle a solution must be found.

Dwindle

• verb (used without object), dwin·dled, dwin·dling.

1. to become smaller and smaller; shrink; waste away: His vast fortune has dwindled away.

2. to fall away, as in quality; degenerate.

• verb (used with object), dwin·dled, dwin·dling.

3. to make smaller and smaller; cause to shrink: Failing health dwindles ambition.

Superficial

• Do not be swayed by political conformity or accept superficial sources of information regardless of the trust you feel for them.

• But the superficial reasonableness of a claim isn't enough to be confident that it is true.

• And indeed there is a superficial similarity between the two movements of population.

• The superficial interest of the media in this is itself startling.• The target audience is likely to have an interest

in superficial knowledge of a widely diverse array of topics.

Superficial

• adjective 1. being at, on, or near the surface: a superficial wound.

2. of or pertaining to the surface: superficial measurement.

3. external or outward: a superficial resemblance.

4. concerned with or comprehending only what is on the surface or obvious: a superficial observer.

5. shallow; not profound or thorough: a superficial writer.

Venture

• But venture capitalists spread their risk and raise new capital by selling part of the investment early.

• We need to praise any and all efforts that attempt to establish such an accessible venture.

• Many guests never even venture out to the rest of the island.

• Then you venture into the water up to your ankles, and your feet promptly go numb.

• But in the end, the much-touted venture did not yield enough of the stuff for a single belt buckle.

Venture• noun

1. an undertaking involving uncertainty as to the outcome, especially a risky or dangerous one: a mountain-climbing venture. 2. a business enterprise or speculation in which something is risked in the hope of profit; a commercial or other speculation. 3. the money, ship, cargo, merchandise, or the like, on which risk is taken in a business enterprise or speculation. 4. Obsolete . hazard or risk.

• verb (used with object), ven·tured, ven·tur·ing. 5. to expose to hazard; risk: to venture one's fortune; to venture one's life. 6. to take the risk of; brave the dangers of: to venture a voyage into space. 7. to undertake to express, as when opposition or resistance appears likely to follow; be bold enough; dare: I venture to say that you are behaving foolishly. 8. to take the risk of sending.

Plead

• It is true that defense counsel usually end up advising clients to plead guilty.

• If editors and publishers plead poverty in this era of declining circulation, he.

• If the police stopped him, he'd plead poverty and tiny mouths to feed, and send them home with an armload of fruit.

Plead

• verb (used without object), plead·ed or pled, plead·ing. 1. to appeal or entreat earnestly: to plead for time. 2. to use arguments or persuasions, as with a person, for or against something: She pleaded with him not to take the job. 3. to afford an argument or appeal: His youth pleads for him. 4. Law.

– a. to make any allegation or plea in an action at law. – b. to put forward an answer on the part of a defendant to a legal

declaration or charge. – c. to address a court as an advocate. – d. Obsolete . to prosecute a suit or action at law.

Intrepid

• And the sea's silty, cold waters made visibility almost nonexistent for the intrepid few who wanted to explore the medieval ruins.

• Only time and more fossils will reveal who these intrepid travelers were and why they left their motherland.

• Intrepid biologists attach a digital acoustic tag to a pilot whale.

• It's a great book that combines biography, natural history, and intrepid on-the-ground reporting.

Intrepid

• adjective

resolutely fearless; dauntless: an intrepid explorer.

Whim

• The difference between a brilliant idea and an utter failure is that squishiest benchmark in business: the whim of customers.

• He should have an entourage of hangers-on jumping at his every whim.

• Creatures like jellyfish lack their own way to get around and are mostly left to the whim of the wind and currents.

• It's quick and easy to take your picture in a booth on a whim.

• Most prosecutors can still be fired on a political whim.

Whim

• noun 1. an odd or capricious notion or desire; a sudden or freakish fancy: a sudden whim to take a midnight walk.

2. capricious humor: to be swayed by whim.