Sat - Set 5

Front 1

EXPUNGE

verb

Back 1

1. To erase or strike out
2. To eliminate completely


NYT:
But as with Mr. Yuan, the result is sometimes devastating in a country where the law does not allow people to expunge their credit card debts by declaring bankruptcy.

Front 2

EXCISE

noun and verb

Back 2

1. A tax, licensing charge or a fee levied for certain privileges.
2. To remove by or as if by cutting

NYT:
The Senate bill would impose an excise tax of 40 percent on the cost of employer-sponsored insurance policies above $8,500 for individuals and $23,000 for families.

Front 3

EXPURGATE

verb

Back 3

To remove erroneous, vulgar, obscene, or otherwise objectionable material from (a book, for example) before publication.

NYT:
Delegates will have the right to expurgate their remarks before a record of the meeting is published.

Front 4

EXTRICATE

verb

Back 4

Get (a person) out of a difficulty, entanglement, etc.

NYT:
Denver Fire Department personnel had to extricate several people from the three vehicles.

Front 5

ENUMERATE

verb

Back 5

To count off or to name one by one; to list out

NYT:
Earlier on Monday we noted an effort by The Times of London to enumerate the 100 best films of the 2000s....

Front 6

ELUSIVE

adj

Back 6

1. Difficult to find, capture or attain
2. Difficult to define or understand

NYT:
With the prospect of a quick victory increasingly elusive, a rising chorus of voices on both sides of the border is questioning the cost and the fallout of the assault on the cartels.

Front 7

EXORBITANT

adj

Back 7

Far in excess of what is reasonable or appropriate.

NYT:
A seedy underground system transported illegal immigrants all over the country and sometimes held them captive until their relatives paid exorbitant fares, officials said.

Front 8

RECANT

verb

Back 8

Withdraw or retract (a promise, statement, vow, etc.)

NYT:
On the witness stand, she recanted the accusations against him, blamed the violence on herself and said she was injured by a fall in a closet.

Front 9

RENOUNCE

verb

Back 9

To give up (a title, a privilege, for example), especially by formal announcement.

NYT:
The Guatemalan Government and rebel leaders formally renounced the use of arms today, ending an armed conflict that has claimed more than 100,000 lives over 35 years.

Front 10

RESILIENT

adj

Back 10

1 Able to return to an original shape; springing back, recoiling
2 Able to recover readily

NYT:
Resilient children are not invulnerable to trauma or immune to suffering. But they bounce back.

Front 11

REBUFF

verb and noun

Back 11

(n)
A blunt or abrupt repulse or refusal

(v)
To reject bluntly, often disdainfully; snub.

NYT:
Obama received a nasty rebuff and a stern reminder that the rest of the world doesn’t necessarily care what he thinks.

Front 12

RESURGENT

adj

Back 12

1. That rises, or tends to rise, again
2. experiencing renewal or revival

NYT:
Sunday reinforced increasingly confident assessments of the Obama administration that the latest job numbers reveal a resurgent economy.

Front 13

DECRY

verb

Back 13

Cry out against; disparage openly; belittle; condemn

NYT:
Environmentalists decry the practice as a disaster for surrounding waterways and landscapes.

Front 14

DERIDE

verb

Back 14

Laugh contemptuously or scornfully at; treat with scorn; mock

NYT:
The governor had no choice but to talk like one of the “economic girly men” he used to deride.

Front 15

IMPLACABLE

adj

Back 15

Unable to be appeased; irreconcilable; inexorable.

NYT:
The implacable Republican opposition to reform, and obstruction from a handful of Democrats, have made this bill less effective and less fair than it might have been.

Front 16

INEXORABLE

adj

Back 16

Unable to be moved or persuaded by entreaty or request (esp. for mercy), rigidly severe; immovable, relentless , unstoppable.

NYT:
Apple’s stock has nearly doubled in the last six months, largely on the iPhone’s inexorable momentum, although it is still down 28 percent from its high in December 2007.

Front 17

INSURMOUNTABLE

adj

Back 17

Unable to be surmounted or overcome.

NYT:
Hillary Clinton, however, anticipated no such ordeal, expecting instead to coast through the early primaries and build up an insurmountable lead.

Front 18

IRREVERENT

adj

Back 18

Disrespectful.

NYT:
“Family Guy,” the Fox animated comedy series, is either irreverent or crass, depending on your tolerance for unmannerly humor.

Front 19

CIRCUMSPECT

adj

Back 19

Showing caution; cautious, wary; taking everything into account.

NYT:
Both governors denounced the A.I.G. bonuses, while Mr. Bloomberg was far more circumspect.

Front 20

CIRCUITOUS

adj

Back 20

Going a long way round, indirect, roundabout.

NYT:
Professor Spar said she had taken “an undeniably circuitous route” to get to Barnard but felt it was the perfect place for her.

Front 21

CIRCUMVENT

verb

Back 21

1. To go around; bypass
2. To avoid or get around by artful maneuvering

NYT:
Some major utilities, oil companies and other heavy emitters are working closely with Congress to ensure that a climate bill would circumvent E.P.A. regulation by substituting a market-based cap-and-trade system.

Front 22

CIRCUMSCRIBE

verb

Back 22

1. Lay down the limits of, confine; restrict; mark off, define logically.

2. Draw a line round; form the boundary of; encircle, encompass.

NYT:
Americans have long been fearful of corporate power, and companies with clout in Washington have assembled to urge elected officials to circumscribe Google’s power.

Front 23

MAGNANIMOUS

adj

Back 23

1. Courageously noble in mind and heart.
2. Generous in forgiving.

NYT:
Mr. Leno, who was magnanimous at first, has grown defensive and even somewhat surly, which clashes with his Teflon comic persona....

Front 24

MELLIFLUOUS

adj

Back 24

Flowing with sweetness or honey.

NYT:
John Forsythe, the debonair actor whose matinee-idol looks, confident charm and mellifluous voice helped make him the star of three hit television series, including ABC’s glamour soap “Dynasty,” died on Thursday at his home in Santa Ynez, Calif.

Front 25

MALODOROUS

adj

Back 25

Having a bad odor; foul.

NYT:
Even my enthusiasm for urban foraging, coupled with a poor sense of smell because of seasonal allergies, cannot entirely disarm the malodorous assault of ginkgo nuts.