English - Vocab From Books

Front 1

cagey

Back 1

cautious, wary, or shrewed

Front 2

solder

Back 2

any of various alloys fused and applied to the joint between metal objects to unite them without heating the objects to the melting point

Front 3

dumb

Back 3

to not be able to speak

Front 4

lapel

Back 4

The part of a garment, such as a coat or jacket, that is an extension of the collar and folds back against the breast

Front 5

libido

Back 5

Psychoanalysis. all of the instinctual energies and desires that are derived from the id.

Front 6

whir

Back 6

noun
–verb (used without object)
1. to go, fly, revolve, or otherwise move quickly with a humming or buzzing sound: An electric fan whirred softly in the corner.
–verb (used with object)
2. to move or transport (a thing, person, etc.) with a whirring sound: The plane whirred them away into the night.

Front 7

insubordinate

Back 7

- adjective
not submitting to authority; disobedient: an insubordinate soldier.
—Related forms
in·sub·or·di·nate·ly, adverb
in·sub·or·di·na·tion, noun

Front 8

insinuate

Back 8

–verb (used with object)
1. to suggest or hint slyly: He insinuated that they were lying.
related forms:
insinuative, insinuatory - adjective
in·sin·u·a·tive·ly, adverb
in·sin·u·a·tor, noun

Front 9

fracas

Back 9

–noun
a noisy, disorderly disturbance or fight; riotous brawl; uproar.

Front 10

passel

Back 10

n. Informal
A large quantity or group: "The President faces a passel of domestic issues" (Christian Science Monitor).

Front 11

coiffure

Back 11

–noun
1. a style of arranging or combing the hair.
2. a head covering; headdress.

Front 12

irate

Back 12

–adjective
1. angry; enraged: an irate customer

Front 13

sans

Back 13

prep. Without.

Front 14

juggernaut

Back 14

–noun
1. (often lowercase) any large, overpowering, destructive force or object, as war, a giant battleship, or a powerful football team.
2. (often lowercase) anything requiring blind devotion or cruel sacrifice.
3. Also called Jagannath. an idol of Krishna, at Puri in Orissa, India, annually drawn on an enormous cart under whose wheels devotees are said to have thrown themselves to be crushed.
—Related forms
Jug·ger·naut·ish, adjective

Front 15

hitherto

Back 15

–adverb
1. up to this time; until now: a fact hitherto unknown.
2. to here.

Front 16

fiend

Back 16

–noun
1. Satan; the devil.
2. any evil spirit; demon.
3. a diabolically cruel or wicked person.
4. a person or thing that causes mischief or annoyance: Those children are little fiends.
5. Informal. a person who is extremely addicted to some pernicious habit: an opium fiend.
6. Informal. a person who is excessively interested in some game, sport, etc.; fan; buff: a bridge fiend.
7. a person who is highly skilled or gifted in something: a fiend at languages.
—Related forms
fiendlike, adjective

Front 17

impregnable

Back 17

–adjective
1. strong enough to resist or withstand attack; not to be taken by force, unconquerable: an impregnable fort.
2. not to be overcome or overthrown: an impregnable argument
—Related forms
im·preg·na·bil·i·ty, im·preg·na·ble·ness, noun
im·preg·na·bly, adverb

Front 18

latrine

Back 18

–noun
a toilet or something used as a toilet, as a trench in the earth in a camp, or bivouac area.

Front 19

forlorn

Back 19

adjective
1. desolate or dreary; unhappy or miserable, as in feeling, condition, or appearance.
2. lonely and sad; forsaken.
3. expressive of hopelessness; despairing: forlorn glances.
4. bereft; destitute: forlorn of comfort.

Front 20

commence

Back 20

- verb (used without object), verb (used with object), -menced, -menc·ing.
to begin; start.

Front 21

garish

Back 21

–adjective
1. crudely or tastelessly colorful, showy, or elaborate, as clothes or decoration.
2. excessively ornate or elaborate, as buildings or writings.
3. dressed in or ornamented with bright colors.
4. excessively bright; glaring.

Front 22

lacerate

Back 22

–verb (used with object)
1. to tear roughly; mangle: The barbed wire lacerated his hands.
2. to distress or torture mentally or emotionally; wound deeply; pain greatly: His bitter criticism lacerated my heart.
–adjective
3.

Front 23

castor

Back 23

–noun
1. Also, castoreum. a brownish, unctuous substance with a strong, penetrating odor, secreted by certain glands in the groin of the beaver, used in medicine and perfumery.
2. a hat made of beaver or rabbit fur.
3. a heavy woolen cloth used mainly for coats.
4. a beaver.

Front 24

corrugate

Back 24

–verb (used with object)
1. to draw or bend into folds or alternate furrows and ridges.
2. to wrinkle, as the skin or face.
3. Western U.S. to make irrigation ditches in (a field).
–verb (used without object)
4. to become corrugated; undergo corrugation.
–adjective
5. corrugated; wrinkled; furrowed

Front 25

veer

Back 25

–verb (used without object)
1. to change direction or turn about or aside; shift, turn, or change from one course, position, inclination, etc., to another: The speaker kept veering from his main topic. The car veered off the road.
2. (of the wind)
a. to change direction clockwise (opposed to back).
b. Nautical. to shift to a direction more nearly astern (opposed to haul).
–verb (used with object)
3. to alter the direction or course of; turn.
4. Nautical. to turn (a vessel) away from the wind; wear.
–noun
5. a change of direction, position, course, etc.: a sudden veer in a different direction.

Front 26

prattle

Back 26

verb, -tled, -tling, noun
–verb (used without object)
1. to talk in a foolish or simple-minded way; chatter; babble.
–verb (used with object)
2. to utter by chattering or babbling.
–noun
3. the act of prattling.
4. chatter; babble: the prattle of children.
5. a babbling sound: the prattle of water rushing over stones.

Front 27

camphor

Back 27

(kam-fer)
–noun Chemistry, Pharmacology.
1. a whitish, translucent, crystalline, pleasant-odored terpene ketone, C10H16O, obtained from the camphor tree, used chiefly in the manufacture of celluloid and in medicine as a counter-irritant for infections and in the treatment of pain and itching.
2. any substance having medicinal or aromatic characteristics similar to those of camphor.
[Origin: 1275–1325; < ML, NL camphora ≪ Ar kāfūr < Malay kapur chalk, lime, camphor; r. ME caumfre < AF < ML]

—Related forms
cam·phor·a·ceous [kam-fuh-rey-shuhs] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation, adjective
cam·phor·ic [kam-fawr-ik, -for-], adjective

Front 28

uncouth

Back 28

–adjective
1. awkward, clumsy, or unmannerly: uncouth behavior; an uncouth relative who embarrasses the family.
2. strange and ungraceful in appearance or form.
3. unusual or strange.
—Related forms
un·couth·ly, adverb
un·couth·ness, noun

Front 29

scour

Back 29

–verb (used with object)
1. to remove dirt, grease, etc., from or to cleanse or polish by hard rubbing, as with a rough or abrasive material: to scour pots and pans.

Front 30

amble

Back 30

(am-buhl)
verb, -bled, -bling, noun
–verb (used without object)
1. to go at a slow, easy pace; stroll; saunter: He ambled around the town.
2. (of a horse) to go at a slow pace with the legs moving in lateral pairs and usually having a four-beat rhythm.
–noun
3. an ambling gait.
4. a slow, easy walk or gentle pace.
5. a stroll.

Front 31

filch

Back 31

–verb (used with object)
to steal (esp. something of small value); pilfer: to filch ashtrays from fancy restaurants.
—Related forms
filcher, noun
filch·ing·ly, adverb

Front 32

infernal

Back 32

adjective
1. hellish; fiendish; diabolical: an infernal plot.
2. extremely troublesome, annoying, etc.; outrageous: an infernal nuisance.
3. of, inhabiting, or befitting hell.
4. Classical Mythology. of or pertaining to the underworld.
—Related forms
in·fer·nal·i·ty, noun
in·fer·nal·ly, adverb

Front 33

ornery

Back 33

[awr-nuh-ree]
–adjective, -ner·i·er, -ner·i·est. Dialect.
1. ugly and unpleasant in disposition or temper: No one can get along with my ornery cousin.
2. stubborn: I can't do a thing with that ornery mule.
3. low or vile.
4. inferior or common; ordinary.
—Related forms
or·ner·i·ness, noun

Front 34

covey

Back 34

–noun, plural -eys.
1. a brood or small flock of partridges or similar birds.
2. a group, set, or company

Front 35

maudlin

Back 35

–adjective
1. tearfully or weakly emotional; foolishly sentimental: a maudlin story of a little orphan and her lost dog.
2. foolishly or mawkishly sentimental because of drunkenness

Front 36

folio

Back 36

noun, plural -li·os, adjective, verb, -li·oed, -li·o·ing.
–noun
1. a sheet of paper folded once to make two leaves, or four pages, of a book or manuscript.
2. a volume having pages of the largest size, formerly made from such a sheet.
3. a leaf of a manuscript or book numbered only on the front side.
4. Printing.
a. (in a book) the number of each page.
b. (in a newspaper) the number of each page together with the date and the name of the newspaper.
5. Bookkeeping. a page of an account book or a left-hand page and a right-hand page facing each other and having the same serial number.
6. Law. a certain number of words, in the U.S. generally 100, taken as a unit for computing the length of a document.
–adjective
7. pertaining to or having the format of a folio: a folio volume.
–verb (used with object)
8. to number each leaf or page of.
9. Law. to mark each folio in (a pleading or the like) with the proper number.

Front 37

buoy

Back 37

–noun
1. Nautical. a distinctively shaped and marked float, sometimes carrying a signal or signals, anchored to mark a channel, anchorage, navigational hazard, etc., or to provide a mooring place away from the shore.
2. a life buoy.
–verb (used with object)
3. to keep afloat or support by or as if by a life buoy; keep from sinking (often fol. by up): The life jacket buoyed her up until help arrived.
4. Nautical. to mark with a buoy or buoys.
5. to sustain or encourage (often fol. by up): Her courage was buoyed by the doctor's assurances.
–verb (used without object)
6. to float or rise by reason of lightness

Front 38

contrive

Back 38

verb, -trived, -triv·ing.
–verb (used with object)
1. to plan with ingenuity; devise; invent: The author contrived a clever plot.
2. to bring about or effect by a plan, scheme, or the like; manage: He contrived to gain their votes.
3. to plot (evil, treachery, etc.).
–verb (used without object)
4. to form designs; plan.
5. to plot

Front 39

lien

Back 39

n. The right to take and hold or sell the property of a debtor as security or payment for a debt or duty.

Front 40

sorrel

Back 40

–noun
1. light reddish-brown.
2. a horse of this color, often with a light-colored mane and tail.
–adjective
3. of the color sorre

Front 41

riffle

Back 41

verb, -fled, -fling, noun
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
1. to turn hastily; flutter and shift: to riffle a stack of letters; to riffle through a book.
2. Cards. to shuffle by dividing the deck in two, raising the corners slightly, and allowing them to fall alternately together.
3. to cause or become a riffle.
–noun
4. a rapid, as in a stream.
5. a ripple, as upon the surface of water.
6. Mining. the lining of transverse bars or slats on the bed of a sluice, arranged so as to catch heavy minerals, as gold or platinum.
7. a hopper for distributing bulk material.
8. the act or method of riffling cards.

Front 42

platoon

Back 42

–noun
1. a military unit consisting of two or more squads or sections and a headquarters.
2. a small unit of a police force.
3. a company or group of persons: a platoon of visitors.
4. Football. a group of players specially trained in one aspect of the game, as offense or defense, and used as a unit: a halfback on the offensive platoon.
–verb (used with object)
5. Sports.
a. to use (a player) at a position in a game alternately with another player or players.
b. to alternate (two different teams or units), as separate offensive and defensive squads.
–verb (used without object)
6. Sports.
a. to alternate at a position with another player or players.
b. to use players alternately at the same position.
c. to alternate different teams.

Front 43

rivet

Back 43

noun, verb, -et·ed, -et·ing or (especially British) -et·ted, -et·ting.
–noun
1. a metal pin for passing through holes in two or more plates or pieces to hold them together, usually made with a head at one end, the other end being hammered into a head after insertion.
–verb (used with object)
2. to fasten with a rivet or rivets.
3. to hammer or spread out the end of (a pin, bolt, etc.) in order to form a head and secure something; clinch.
4. to fasten or fix firmly.
5. to hold (the eye, attention, etc.) firmly.
[Origin: 1350–1400; (n.) ME revette, rivette < OF rivet, deriv. of river to attach; (v.) ME revetten, deriv. of the n.]

—Related forms
riv·et·er, noun
riv·et·less, adjective

Front 44

silhouette

Back 44

noun, verb, -et·ted, -et·ting.
–noun
1. a two-dimensional representation of the outline of an object, as a cutout or configurational drawing, uniformly filled in with black, esp. a black-paper, miniature cutout of the outlines of a famous person's face.
2. the outline or general shape of something: the slim silhouette of a skyscraper.
3. a dark image outlined against a lighter background.
–verb (used with object)
4. to show in or as if in a silhouette.
5. Printing. to remove the background details from (a halftone cut) so as to produce an outline effect.

Front 45

caisson

Back 45

–noun
1. a structure used in underwater work, consisting of an airtight chamber, open at the bottom and containing air under sufficient pressure to exclude the water.
2. a boatlike structure used as a gate for a dock or the like.
3. Nautical.
a. Also called camel, pontoon. a float for raising a sunken vessel, sunk beside the vessel, made fast to it, and then pumped out to make it buoyant.
b. a watertight structure built against a damaged area of a hull to render the hull watertight; cofferdam.
4. a two-wheeled wagon, used for carrying artillery ammunition.
5. an ammunition chest.
6. a wooden chest containing bombs or explosives, used formerly as a mine.
7. Architecture. coffer (def. 4).
[Origin: 1695–1705; < F, MF < OPr, equiv. to caissa box (see case2) + -on aug. suffix]

—Related forms
caissoned, adjective

Front 46

Anzio

Back 46

–noun
a town in Italy, S of Rome on the Tyrrhenian coast: site of Allied beachhead in World War II. 23,42

Front 47

dago

Back 47

–noun, plural -gos, -goes. (often initial capital letter) Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.
a person of Italian or sometimes Spanish origin or descent

Front 48

lope

Back 48

verb, loped, lop·ing, noun
–verb (used without object)
1. to move or run with bounding steps, as a quadruped, or with a long, easy stride, as a person.
2. to canter leisurely with a rather long, easy stride, as a horse.
–verb (used with object)
3. to cause to lope, as a horse.
–noun
4. the act or the gait of loping.
5. a long, easy stride

Front 49

rimrock

Back 49

–noun Geology.
1. rock forming the natural boundary of a plateau or other rise.
2. bedrock forming the natural boundary of a placer or of a gravel deposit.