Unit6 Flashcards
(40 cards)
equable
(1) Tending to remain calm. (2) Free from harsh changes or extreme variation.
eg. Her friends thought it odd that such an equable woman had married a man so moody and unpredictable.
adequacy
Being equal to some need or requirement.
eg. Environmentalists doubt the adequacy of these regulations to protect the wilderness areas.
equilibrium
(1) A state in which opposing forces are balanced so that one is not stronger or greater than the other. (2) A state of emotional balance or calmness.
eg. The news had come as a shock, and it took him several minutes to recover his equilibrium.
equinox
A day when day and night are the same length.
eg. She and her friends got together for an equinox party twice a year to celebrate the arrival of the fall and the spring.
inquisition
A questioning or examining that is often harsh or severe.
eg. The President’s first choice for the job turned him down, fearing the Senate hearings would turn into an inquisition into her past.
perquisite
(1) A privilege or profit that is provided in addition to one’s base salary. (2) Something claimed as an exclusive possession or right.
eg. A new car, a big house, and yearly trips to Europe were among the perquisites that made the presidency of Wyndam College such an attractive position.
acquisitive
Eager to acquire; greedy.
eg. With each year the couple became more madly acquisitive, buying jewelry, a huge yacht, and two country estates.
requisition
A demand or request (such as for supplies) made with proper authority.
eg. The teachers had grown impatient with having to submit a requisition for even routine classroom supplies.
plenary
(1) Including all who have a right to attend. (2) Complete in all ways.
eg. For the convention’s plenary session, five thousand members gathered to hear a star speaker.
complement
(1) Something that fills up or makes perfect; the amount needed to make something complete. (2) A counterpart.
eg. On the committee, the two young people provided an energetic complement to the older members.
deplete
To reduce in amount by using up.
eg. Years of farming on the same small plot of land had left the soil depleted of minerals.
replete
Fully or abundantly filled or supplied.
eg. The professor’s autobiography was replete with scandalous anecdotes about campus life in the 1950s.
metric
(1) Relating to or based on the metric system. (2) Relating to or arranged in meter.
eg. Americans have resisted using the metric system for years, but are now slowly getting accustomed to a few of the metric units.
meter
(1) The basic metric unit of length, equal to about 39.37 inches. (2) A systematic rhythm in poetry or music.
eg. The basic meter of the piece was 3/4, but its rhythms were so complicated that the 3/4 was sometimes hard to hear.
odometer
An instrument used to measure distance traveled.
eg. Jennifer watched the odometer to see how far she would have to drive to her new job.
tachometer
A device used to measure speed of rotation.
eg. Even though one purpose of a tachometer is to help drivers keep their engine speeds down, some of us occasionally try to see how high we can make the needle go.
auditor
A person who formally examines and verifies financial accounts.
eg. It seems impossible that so many banks could have gotten into so much trouble if their auditors had been doing their jobs.
auditory
(1) Perceived or experienced through hearing. (2) Of or relating to the sense or organs of hearing.
eg. With the “surround-sound” systems in most theaters, going to a movie is now an auditory experience as much as a visual one.
audition
A trial performance to evaluate a performer’s skills.
eg. Auditions for Broadway shows attract so many hopeful unknown performers that everyone in the business calls them “cattle calls.”
inaudible
Not heard or capable of being heard.
eg. The coach spoke to her in a low voice that was inaudible to the rest of the gymnastics team.
sonic
(1) Having to do with sound. (2) Having to do with the speed of sound in air (about 750 miles per hour).
eg. A sonic depth finder can easily determine the depth of a lake by bouncing a sound signal off the bottom.
dissonant
(1) Clashing or discordant, especially in music. (2) Incompatible or disagreeing.
eg. Critics of the health-care plan pointed to its two seemingly dissonant goals: cost containment, which would try to control spending, and universal coverage, which could increase spending.
resonance
(1) A continuing or echoing of sound. (2) A richness and variety in the depth and quality of sound.
eg. The resonance of James Earl Jones’s vocal tones in such roles as Darth Vader made his voice one of the most recognizable of its time.
ultrasonic
Having a frequency higher than what can be heard by the human ear.
eg. My grandfather’s dog is always pricking up its ears at some ultrasonic signal, while he himself is so deaf he can’t even hear a bird singing.
