Sat Vocabulary Pages 178

Front 1

dispatch

Back 1

1. speediness
2. prompt execution
3. message sent with all due speed
Napolean defeated the enemy with all possible dispatch; he then sent a dispatch to headquarters informing his commander of the great victory

Front 2

dispel

Back 2

1. scatter
2. drive away
3. cause to vanish
The bright sunlight eventually dispelled the morning mist.

Front 3

disputatious

Back 3

1. argumentative
2. fond of arguing
Convinced he knew more than his lawyers, Alan was a disputatious client; ready to argue about the best way to conduct the case.

Front 4

disquiet

Back 4

make uneasy or anxious
Holme's absense for a day, slightly disquieted Watson; after a week with no word, however, Watson's uneasinessa bout his missing friend had grown into a deep fear for his safety.

Front 5

dissemble

Back 5

1. disguise
2. pretend
Even though John tried to dissemble his motive for taking modern dance, we all knew he wast ehre not to dance but to meet girls.

Front 6

disseminate

Back 6

1. distribute
2. spread
3. scatter (like seeds)
By their sue of the internet, propagandists have been able to disseminate their pet doctrines to new audiences around the globe.

Front 7

dissent

Back 7

disagree
In the recent Supreme Court decision, Jusitce O'Conner dissented from the majority opinion.

Front 8

dissertation

Back 8

formal essay
In order to earn a graduate degree from many of our universities, a candidate is frequently required to prepare a dissertation on some scholarly subject.

Front 9

dissident

Back 9

1. dissenting
2. rebellious
In te purge that followed the studen tdemonstrations at Tiananmen Square, the government hunted down the dissident students and their supporters.

Front 10

dissimulate

Back 10

1. pretend
2. conceal by feigning
Although the governor tried to dissimulate his feelings about the opposing candidate, we all knew he despised his rival.

Front 11

dissipate

Back 11

1. squander
2. waste
3. scatter
He is a fine artist, but i fear he may dissipate his gifts if he keeps wasting his time playing games.

Front 12

dissolute

Back 12

loose in morals
The dissolute life led by the ancient Romans is indeed shocking.

Front 13

dissolution

Back 13

1. breaking of a union
2. decay
3. termination
Which caused King Lear more suffering: the dissolution of his kingdom into warring factions, or the dissolution of his aged, failing body?

Front 14

dissonance

Back 14

discord
Composer Charles Ives often used dissonance-clashing or unresolved chords-for special effects in his musical works.

Front 15

dissuade

Back 15

1. persuade not to do
2. discourage
Since Tom could not dissuade Huck from running away from home, he decided to run away with him.

Front 16

distend

Back 16

1. expand
2. swell out
I can tell when he is under stress by the way the veins distend on his forehand.

Front 17

distill

Back 17

1. extract the essence
2. purify
3. refine
A moonshiner distills mash into whisky; an epigrammatist distills thoughts into equips.

Front 18

distort

Back 18

twist out of shape
It is difficult to believe the newspaper accountsof the riots because of the way some reporters distort and exaggerate the actual events.

Front 19

distraught

Back 19

1. upset
2. distracted by anxiety
The distraught parents frantically searched the ravine for their lost child.

Front 20

diurnal

Back 20

daily
A farmer cannot neglect his diurnal tasks at any time; cows, for example. must be milked regularly.

Front 21

divergent

Back 21

1. differing
2. deviating
Since graduating from medical school , the two doctors have taken divergent paths, one going on to become a nationally prominent surgeon, the other dedicating himself to a small family practice in his home town.

Front 22

diversion

Back 22

1. act of turning aside
2. pastime
After studying for sever hours, he needed a diversion from work.

Front 23

divest

Back 23

1. strip
2. deprive
He was divested of his power to act and could no longer govern.

Front 24

divine

Back 24

1. perceive intuitively
2. forsee the future
Nothing infuriated Tom more than Aunt Polly's ability to divine when he was telling the truth.

Front 25

divulge

Back 25

reveal
No lover of gossip, Charlotee would never divulge anything that a friend told her in confidence.

Front 26

docile

Back 26

1. obedient
2. easily managed
As docile as he seems today, that old lion was once a ferocious, snarling beast.