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90 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
cerebral
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pertaining to the brain or intellect. The content of philosophical works is crebral in nature and requires much thought
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centurion
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Roman army officer. Because he was in command of a company of one hundred soldiers, he was called acenturion
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centripetal
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tending toward the center. Does centripetal force or the force of gravity bring orbiting bodies to the earth's surface?
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centrifuge
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machine that separates substances by whirling them. At the dairy, we employ a centrifuge to separate cream from milk
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centrifugal
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radiating; departing from the center. many automatic drying machines remove excess moisture from clothin by centrifugal force
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centigrade
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denoting a widely used temperature scale (basically same as Celsius). On the centigrade thermoemter, the freezing point of water is zero degrees
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centaur
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mythical figure, half man and half horse. I was particularly impressed by the stattue of the centaur in the Roman Hall of the museum
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censorious
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critical. Censorious people delight in casting blame
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censor
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overseer of morals person who eliminates inappropriate matter. soldiers dislike having their mail read by a censor but understand the need for this precaution
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celibate
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abstaining fro sexual intercourse; unmarried.
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celestial
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heavenly. She spoke of the celestial joys that awaited vrtuous souls in the hereafter
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celerity
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speed; rapidity. Hamlet resented his mother's celerity in remarryiing within a month after his father's death
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cede
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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
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cavil
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make frivolous objections. I respect your sensible criticisms, but I dislike the way you cavil about unimportant details
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cavalier
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casual and offhand; arrogant. Sensitive about having her ideas taken lightly, Marcia felt insulted by Mark's cavalier dismissal of her suggestion
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cavalcade
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procession; parade. As described by Chaucer, the cavcalcade of Canterbury pilgrims was a motley group
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cauterize
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burn with hot iron or caustic. In order to prevent infection, the doctor cauterized the wound
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caustic
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burning'ssarcastically biting. The critic's caustic remarks angered the hapless actors who were the subjects of his sarcasm
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causal
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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
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caulk
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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
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caucus
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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
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catholic
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universal; wide ranging liberal. He was extremely catholic in his taste and read everything he could find in the library
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cathartic
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purgative. Some drugs act as laxatives when taken in small doses but act as cathartics when taken in much larger doses
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catharsis
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purging or cleansing of any passage of the body. Aristotle maintained that tragedy created a catharsis by purging the soul of base concepts
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categorical
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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
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catechism
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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
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catcall
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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
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catastrophe
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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
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cataract
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great waterfall; eye abnormality. She gazed with awe at the mighty cataract known as Niagara Falls
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catapult
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slingshot; hurling machine. Airplanes are sometimes launched from battleships by catapults
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catalyst
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agent that influences the pace of a chemical reaction whie it remains unaffected and unchanged; person or thing that cuauses action
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cataclysm
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deluge; upheaval. A cataclysm such as the French Revolution affects all countries. cataclysmic adj
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casualty
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serious or fatal accident. The no. of automotive casualties on this holiday weekend was high
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castigation
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punishment; severe criticism
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caste
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one of the hereditary classes in Hindu society; social stratification; prestige
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cascade
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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
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cartographer
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map-maker. Though not a professional cartographer, tolkien was able to construct a map of his fictional world
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carrion
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rotting flesh of a dead body, Buzzards are nature's scavengers; they eat the carrion left behind by other predators
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carping
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petting criticism; fault-finding. Welcoming constructive criticism, LExy appreciated her editor's comment,s finding them free of carping
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carosual
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drunken revel. Once the beer chugging contests started, the drinking got out of control, and the party degenerated into an ugly carousal
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carnivorous
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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
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carnal
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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
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carnage
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destruction of life. The film 'THe Killing Fields vividly depicts the carnage wreaked by Pol Pot's followers in Cambodia
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carillon
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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
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caricature
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distortion; bulesque. The caricatures he drew always emphsized personal weaknesses of the people he burlesqued
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careen
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lurch; sway from side to side. The taxicab careened wildly as it rounded the corner
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cardiologist
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doctor specializing in ailments of the heart
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cardinal
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chief. If you want to increase your word power, the cardinal rule of vocabulary building is to read
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carcinogenic
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causing cancer
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carat
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unit of weight for precious stones; measure of fineneess of gold. eg 3 carat of diamond
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carapace
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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
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captious
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faultfinding. His criticisms were always captious and frivolous, never offering constructive suggestions
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caption
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title; chapter heading; text under illustration
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capricious
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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!)
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caprice
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whim. She was an unpredictable creture; acting on caprice, never taking thought of the consequences
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capitulate
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surrender. The enemy was warned to capitulate or face annihilation.
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capillary
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having a very fine bore. The changes in surface tension of liquids in capillary vessels is of special interest to physicists.
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capacity
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mental or physical ability; role; ability to accommodate. Mike had the capacity to handle several jobs at once
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capacious
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spacious. In the capacious areas of the railroad terminal, thousands of travelers lingered while waiting for their trains
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canvass
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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
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canto
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division of a long poem. Dante's poetic master piece. The Divine COmedy is divided into cantos
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canter
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slow gallop. Because the racehorse had out distanced its competition so easily, the reporter wrote that the race was won in a canter.
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cantata
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story set to music. to be sung by a chorus.
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cantankerous
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ill-humored; irritable. Constantly complaining about his treatment and refusing to cooperate with the hospital staff, he was a cantakerous patient
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cant
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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.
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canon
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rule or principle; frequently religious. 'one catastrophe, one locality, one day' these are aristotles' rules for tragedy, and calssic french plays strictly follow them
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canon
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collection or authoritative list of books. scholars hotly debated whether the newly discovered sonnet should be accepted as part of the shakespearean canon
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canny
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shrewd; thrifty, quick reaction. The canny scotsman was more than a match for the swindlers
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canker
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any ulcerous sore; any evil. Poverty is a canker in the body politic; it must be cured
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canine
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related to dogs; doglike. Some days the canine population of Berkeley seems almost to outnumber the human population
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candor
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frankness; open honesty. Jack can carry candor too far; when he told Jill his honest opinion of her, she nearly slapped his face. candid
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canard
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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
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camouflage
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disguise; hide, conceal. in order to rescue Hansolo, princess leia camouflaged herself in the helmet and cloak of a space bandit
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cameo
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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.
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camaraderie
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good fellowship. What he loved best about his job was the sense of camaraderie he and his coworkers shared
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calumny
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maliciou misrepresentation; slander. He could endure his financial failure, but he could not bear the calumny that his foes heaped upon him
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calorific
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heat producing. Coal is much more calorific than green wood
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callow
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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
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callous
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hardened; unfeeling. He had worked in the hospital for so many years that he was callous to the suffering in the wards. callus N
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calligraphy
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beautiful writing; excellent penemanship. As we examine ancient manuscripts, we become impressed with the calligraphy of the scribes
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caliber
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ability; quality. Einstein's cleaning the blackboards again? Alber, quit it. A man of your caliiber shouldn't have to do such menial tasks
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caldron
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large kettle. 'Why mr. Crusoe,' said the savage hating the giant caldron. 'we'd love to have you for dinner'
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calculated
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deliberately planned; likely.
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calamity
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disaster; misery. As news of the calamity spread, offers of relief poured in to the striken community
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cajole
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coax; wheedle. Cher tried to cajole her fahter into letting her drive the family car. cajoery
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cadge
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beg; mooch; panhandle. While his car was in the shop, Bob had to cadge a ride to work each day.
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cadence
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rhtymic rise and fall (of words or sounds) beat. Marching down the road, the troops sand out, following the cadence set by the sergeant
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cadaver
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corpse. In some states, it is illegal to dissect cadavers
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cacophonous
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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.
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cache
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hiding place. The detectives followed the suspect until he led them to the cache wehere he had stored his loot
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