Words 0014

Question 0

levity

Answer 0

humour or lack of seriousness, especially during a serious occasion

• a brief moment of levity amid the solemn proceedings

Question 1

thwart

Answer 1

to stop something from happening or someone from doing something

• My holiday plans have been thwarted by the strike.

Question 2

ostentatious

Answer 2

too obviously showing your money, possessions, or power, in an attempt to make other people notice and admire you

• They criticized the ostentatious lifestyle of their leaders.
• an ostentatious gesture/manner
• The room was ostentatiously decorated in white and silver.
• He took out his gold watch and laid it ostentatiously (= very obviously so everyone would notice) on the table in front of him.

Question 3

unleavened

/ʌnˈlev.ənd/

Answer 3

describes bread or similar food that is made without yeast and is therefore flat

Question 4

reverberate

Answer 4

• If a loud, deep sound reverberates, it continues to be heard around an area, so that the area seems to shake

• The narrow street reverberated with/to the sound of the workmen’s drills.

• If an event or idea reverberates somewhere, it has an effect on everyone or everything in a place or group
• News of the disaster reverberated around the organization.
• The surge in US share prices reverberated across the globe.

Question 6

impound

Answer 6

If the police or someone in authority impounds something that belongs to you, they take it away because you have broken the law

• The police impounded cars and other personal property belonging to the drug dealers.
• The vehicle was impounded by customs.

Question 7

clef

Answer 7

a sign put at the beginning of a line of music to show how high or low the notes are

• the bass/treble/alto clef

Question 8

deplore

Answer 8

to say or think that something is very bad

• We deeply deplore the loss of life.
• He said that he deplored all violence.
• The attitude of the Minister is to be deplored (= is very bad).

∆ deplorable, deplorably

• I thought his behaviour absolutely deplorable.
• They are forced to live in deplorable conditions.
• He behaved deplorably

Question 9

predation

Answer 9

a biological interaction where a predator feeds on its prey

Question 10

exasperate, exasperating

Answer 10

extremely annoying

• It’s so exasperating when he won’t listen to a word that I say.

∆ exasperated, exasperatingly, exasperatedly
∆ exasperation = anger

• There is growing exasperation within the government at the failure of these policies to reduce unemployment.
• After ten hours of fruitless negotiations, he stormed out of the meeting in exasperation.

Question 11

irascible

/ɪˈræs.ə.bl̩/

Answer 11

made angry easily

• She’s becoming more and more irascible as she grows older.

∆ irascibly, irascibility,

Question 12

irate

/aɪˈreɪt/

Answer 12

very angry

• We have received some irate phone calls from customers.

Question 13

ire

Answer 13

anger

• Petty restrictions easily raised/aroused the ire of such a creative artist.

Question 14

short shrift

Answer 14

If you get or are given short shrift by someone, you are treated without sympathy and given little attention

• He’ll get short shrift from me if he starts complaining about money again, now that I know how much he earns!

Question 15

make a short shrift of something

idiom

Answer 15

to deal with or get rid of something quickly

• Williams made short shrift of her opponent, letting her win only two games in the match.

Question 16

make somebody’s heart flutter

idiom

Answer 16

If someone makes your heart flutter, you find them very physically attractive and you feel excited when you see or talk to them

• James has been making hearts flutter ever since he joined the company.

Question 17

no-holds-barred
no holds barred

(idiom)

Answer 17

without any limits or controls

• a no-holds-barred interview/account
• Mr Nixon may well have had a no-holds-barred approach to dealing with political adversaries.
• This is comedy with no holds barred.

Question 18

no great shakes

idiom, informal

Answer 18

not very good

• I’m afraid I am no great shakes as a cook/at cooking!

Question 19

upbraid

Answer 19

to forcefully or angrily tell someone they should not have done a particular thing and criticize them for having done it

• In newspaper articles she consistently upbraided those in authority who overstepped their limits.

Question 20

spawn

Answer 20

(1) a young animal or child
(2) the eggs of fish, frogs, etc

• She started screaming that I was a spawn of Satan because I was smoking a cigarette.
• The frogs haven’t spawned yet.

(3) to cause something new, or many new things, to grow or start suddenly

• The new economic freedom has spawned hundreds of new small businesses.
• Her death spawned countless films and books.

(4) spawning ground = a place where fish leave their eggs for fertilization

• Salmon and sea trout use the upper river as a spawning ground.