Words 0012 Flashcards
Indomitable
describes someone strong, brave, determined, and difficult to defeat or frighten
- The indomitable Mrs Furlong said she would continue to fight for justice.
- indomitably cheerful
- to fight indomitably
Haunch
- one of the back legs of an animal with four legs that is used for meat
• a haunch of venison
- haunches [plural]: the top of a person’s legs and their bottom
• She was sitting/squatting on her haunches.
Vindictive
having or showing a wish to harm someone because you think that they have harmed you; unwilling to forgive
- In the film ‘Cape Fear’, a lawyer’s family is threatened by a vindictive former prisoner.
- vindictively, vindictiveness
Assuage
to make unpleasant feelings less strong
• The government has tried to assuage the public’s fears.
Accost
to go up to or stop and speak to someone in a threatening way:
• I’m usually accosted by beggars and drunks as I walk to the station.
Tattered
- (especially of cloth or paper) badly torn
- The flag was tattered and threadbare.
- a tattered old letter
- Her clothes were old and in tatters.
- badly damaged or completely spoiled
• After the newspaper story appeared his reputation was in tatters.
Venison
Meat that comes from a deer
Unkempt
Untidy, not cared for
• an unkempt lawn
Lumbago
General pain in the lower part of the back
Suss
to realize, understand, or discover
- [+ that] He never sussed (out) that they’d tricked him.
- She thinks she’s got me sussed (out) (= she thinks she understands me), but she’s wrong.
- I’ll visit the college and suss it out before I decide whether to apply or not.
Gape
- to look in great surprise at someone or something, especially with an open mouth
• They stood gaping at the pig in the kitchen.
- to be or become wide open
• Peter’s jacket gaped at the seams.
Pertinent
relating directly to the subject being considered
- a pertinent question/remark
- Chapter One is pertinent to the post-war period.
Note: The opposite is irrelevant. Do not confuse with impertinent (= rude).
Abscond
- to go away suddenly and secretly in order to escape from somewhere:
- Two prisoners absconded last night.
- She absconded from boarding school with her boyfriend.
- An absconder
- to go away suddenly and secretly because you have stolen something, usually money
• They absconded with £10,000 of the company’s money.
Vie
to compete with other people to achieve or get something
- Six candidates are currently vying for the Democratic presidential nomination.
- The two older children tend to vie with the younger one for their mother’s attention.
- [+ to infinitive] The two groups of scientists are vying to get funding for their research projects.
- vying, vied
- c’est la vie: used to say that situations of that type happen in life, and you cannot do anything about them
• I can’t go to the football on Saturday - I’ve got to work. Oh well, c’est la vie.
Exude
- If you exude love, confidence, pain, etc., you show that you have a lot of that feeling
• She just exudes confidence.
- to produce a smell or liquid substance from inside
• Some trees exude from their bark a sap that repels insect parasites.