Unit18 Flashcards
capitalism
An economic system based on private ownership, private decisions, and open competition in a free market.
eg. In the 1980s, the leaders of the free world had faith that capitalism and a free-market economy would solve all our problems.
capitulate
To surrender or stop resisting; give up.
eg. At 2:00 a.m. the last three senators finally capitulated, allowing the bill to move forward.
decapitate
(1) To cut off the head; behead.
(2) To destroy or make useless.
eg. The leaders of the uprising were decapitated, and their heads were mounted on long poles on London Bridge as a warning to the people
recapitulate
To repeat or summarize the most important points or stages.
eg. At the end of his talk, the president carefully recapitulated the main points in order.
anthropoid
Any of several large, tailless apes.
eg. The chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, gibbons, and bonobos are all classified as anthropoids.
anthropology
The science and study of human beings.
eg. By studying the cultures of primitive peoples, anthropology may give us a better understanding of our own culture.
misanthropic
Hating or distrusting humans.
eg. Few characters in literature are more misanthropic than Ebenezer Scrooge, who cares for nothing but money.
lycanthropy
(1) A delusion that one has become a wolf.
(2) Transformation into a wolf through witchcraft or magic.
eg. The local farmers avoided the residents of the village in the next valley, who had long been suspected of grave robbing and lycanthropy.
kinesiology
The scientific study of human movement.
eg. With a kinesiology degree in hand, she landed a job as a rehab therapist for patients following heart surgery.
hyperkinetic
(1) Relating to or affected with hyperactivity.
(2) Characterized by fast-paced or frantic activity.
eg. Noises Off is a hyperkinetic stage farce that moves at a breathless pace for a full hour and a half.
kinescope
A motion picture made from an image on a picture tube.
eg. In the archives she turned up several kinescopes of Ernie Kovacs’s 1950s show, which she thought had been dumped into New York Harbor decades ago.
telekinesis
The movement of objects without contact or other physical means, as by the exercise of an occult power.
eg. Fascinated by telekinesis as a boy, he’d spent hours in his room trying to push a pencil off the table using only his mind.
dynamic
(1) Relating to physical force or energy.
(2) Continuously and productively active and changing; energetic or forceful.
eg. The situation has entered a dynamic phase, and what we knew about it last week has changed considerably by now.
dynamo
(1) A power generator, especially one that produces direct electric current.
(2) A forceful, energetic person.
eg. Even as they entered the power plant, the roar of the water covered the sound of the immense dynamos.
aerodynamics
(1) A science that studies the movement of gases such as air and the way that objects move through such gases.
(2) The qualities of an object that affect how easily it is able to move through the air.
eg. Early automobile designs were based on the boxlike carriages drawn by horses, back when no one was even thinking about aerodynamics.
hydrodynamic
Having to do with the science that studies fluids in motion and the forces that act on bodies surrounded by fluids.
eg. Building levees to contain a flood presents complicated hydrodynamic problems.
gradation
(1) A series made up of successive stages.
(2) A step in an ordered scale.
eg. In the fall, the leaves show gradations of color from deepest red to brightest yellow.
degrade
(1) To treat someone or something poorly and without respect.
(2) To make the quality of something worse.
eg. They had feared for years that television was degrading the mental capacities of their children.
gradient
(1) Slope, grade.
(2) A continuous change in measure, activity, or substance.
eg. Steep temperature gradients in the atmosphere are usually associated with unstable conditions.
retrograde
(1) Moving or performed in a direction that is backward or opposite to the usual direction.
(2) Moving toward a worse or earlier state.
For the government to cover up the findings of its scientific research institutes was clearly a retrograde step.
regimen
A regular course of treatment, usually involving food, exercise, or medicine.
eg. As part of his training regimen, he was now swimming two miles, running seven miles, and bicycling 15 miles every day.
interregnum
(1) The time during which a throne is vacant between two successive reigns or regimes.
(2) A period during which the normal functions of government or control are suspended.
eg. During the weeklong interregnum between the CEO’s death and the appointment of a new CEO, she felt that she was really running the whole show.
regalia
(1) The emblems and symbols of royalty.
(2) Special or official dress.
eg. The governor seems to enjoy life in the governor’s mansion and all the regalia of office more than actually doing his job.
regency
A government or period of time in which a regent rules in place of a king or queen.
eg. Since the future king was only four when Louis XIV died, France spent eight years under a regency before he took the throne at 13 as Louis XV.
