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Question 1

to disintegrate

Answer 1

1 break up into small parts as the result of impact or decay: our shoes had to last until they disintegrated on our feet.
• Physics undergo or cause to undergo disintegration at a subatomic level. [ no obj. ] : a meson can spontaneously disintegrate. [ with obj. ] : it has become a relatively easy matter to disintegrate almost any atom.
2 lose strength or cohesion and gradually fail: their marriage disintegrated.

Question 2

to subvert

subversive

Answer 2

undermine the power and authority of (an established system or institution): an attempt to subvert democratic government;

seeking or intended to subvert an established system or institution: subversive literature.

Question 3

to insulate

Answer 3

1 protect (something) by interposing material that prevents the loss of heat or the intrusion of sound: insulate and draught-proof your home | (as adj. insulated) : an insulated loft.
• prevent the passage of electricity to or from (something) by covering it in non-conducting material: the case is carefully insulated to prevent short circuits.
• protect (someone or something) from unpleasant influences or experiences: the service is insulated from outside pressures.
2 archaic make (land) into an island: the village was insulated by every flood of the river.

Question 4

attrition

Answer 4

1 the process of reducing something’s strength or effectiveness through sustained attack or pressure: the council is trying to wear down the opposition by attrition | the squadron suffered severe attrition of its bombers.
• chiefly N. Amer. & Austral./NZ the gradual reduction of a workforce by employees leaving and not being replaced rather than by redundancy. the company said that it will reduce its worldwide employment by about 10% through attrition.
• wearing away by friction; abrasion: the skull shows attrition of the edges of the teeth.
2 (in scholastic theology) sorrow for sin, falling short of contrition.

Question 5

retribution

Answer 5

punishment inflicted on someone as vengeance for a wrong or criminal act: employees asked not to be named, saying they feared retribution | Minos threatened war against Athens in retribution for his son’s death | divine retribution.

Question 6

to dissipate

Answer 6

1 (with reference to a feeling or emotion) disappear or cause to disappear: [ no obj. ] : the concern she’d felt for him had wholly dissipated | [ with obj. ] : he wanted to dissipate his anger.
• disperse or scatter: the cloud of smoke dissipated.
2 [ with obj. ] waste or fritter away (money, energy, or resources). he inherited, but then dissipated, his father’s fortune.
• Physics cause (energy) to be lost through its conversion to heat. no power is dissipated in this sort of control element.

Question 7

containment

Answer 7

the action of keeping something harmful under control or within limits: the containment of the AIDS epidemic.
• the action or policy of preventing the expansion of a hostile country or influence: a policy of containment and negotiation was the appropriate course of action.