torpid [ TAWR-pid ] | | [ adjective ] | | MEANING : | | 1. numb or having no sensation of motion 2. hibernating or dormant 3. inactive or sluggish | | USAGE EXAMPLE 1 : | | Her torpid fingers were frozen solid because of the cold.
| | USAGE EXAMPLE 2 : | | Despite his generosity, Stump's bitterness over the torpid pace of rebuilding is evident. CNN, Recovery in New Orleans big but not easy, By Eliott C. McLaughlin, August 28, 2006 | | sarcophagus [ sahr-KOF-uh'-guh' s ] | | [ noun ] | | MEANING : | | a coffin made of stone that usually bears sculptures or inscriptions | | USAGE EXAMPLE 1 : | | The sarcophagus was found surrounded by artefacts made of gold and silver.
| | USAGE EXAMPLE 2 : | | In an operation lasting around eight hours, pathologists removed the body of Wladyslaw Sikorski from its two-ton marble sarcophagus in the crypt of Krakow's Wawel Cathedral, the resting place of many of Poland's national heroes. BBC, The state of play in Singapore, By Andrew Fraser BBC Sport in Singapore, 4 July, 2005 | | smattering [ SMAT-er-ing ] | | [ noun, adjective ] | | MEANING : | | 1. (n.) superficial, piecemeal or slight knowledge 2. (n.) a small amount or number 3. (adj.) superficial or slight | | USAGE EXAMPLE 1 : | | The smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose was quite distinctive on her fair skin.
| | USAGE EXAMPLE 2 : | | The Cass program takes business executives, as well as a smattering of foreign diplomats, through much of English and British culture, everything from the way the country is governed to how its people tend to view themselves. CNN, Negotiating the cultural maze, By Peter Walker for CNN, January 9, 2007 | | quack [ kwak ] | | [ noun, intransitive verb ] | | MEANING : | | 1. (n.) the call or cry of a duck 2. (n.) an untrained person who pretends to be a doctor 3. (intr. v.) to utter a 'quack' or make the sound of a duck call 4. (intr. v.) to act as a physician despite being unqualified | | USAGE EXAMPLE 1 : | | He went into the marshland only to record the quack of a wild duck for his environmental project.
| | USAGE EXAMPLE 2 : | | He's only had one encounter with Carhart -- when the doctor drove his car by protesters and "quacked like a duck." CNN, Protests to focus on doctor who performed 60,000 abortions, Wayne Drash, 28 August 2009 | | contrivance [ kuh'n-TRAHY-vuh'ns ] | | [ noun ] | | MEANING : | | 1. a mechanical device or machine 2. an engineered feat 3. a plan or scheme | | USAGE EXAMPLE 1 : | | Before the advent of the steam engine the horse carriage was a contrivance which people found suitable for travel.
| | USAGE EXAMPLE 2 : | | Though voters may like his warmth and lack of contrivance, he will have to beware the potentially fatal blandishments of his rivals. The Telegraph, Nick Clegg: kingmaker of a hung parliament, 6 February 2010. | |
Spelled Pronunciation Key Stress marks: [ CAPS ] indicates the primary stressed syllable, as in newspaper [NOOZ-pey-per ] and information [ in-fer-MEY-shuh' n ] CONSONANTS | [b] | boy, baby, rob | [d] | do, ladder, bed | [f] | food, offer, safe | [g] | get, bigger, dog | [h] | happy, ahead | [j] | jump, budget, age | [k] | can, speaker, stick | [l] | let, follow, still | [m] | make, summer, time | [n] | no, dinner, thin | [ng] | singer, think, long | [p] | put, apple, cup | [r] | run, marry, far, store | [s] | sit, city, passing, face | [sh] | she, station, push | [t] | top, better, cat | [ch] | church, watching, nature, witch | [th] | thirsty, nothing, math | [th'] | this, mother, breathe | [v] | very, seven, love | [w] | wear, away | [hw] | where, somewhat | [y] | yes, onion | [z] | zoo, easy, buzz | [zh] | measure, television, beige | | | VOWELS | [a] | apple, can, hat | [ey] | aid, hate, day | [ah] | arm, father, aha | [air] | air, careful, wear | [aw] | all, or, talk, lost, saw | [e] | ever, head, get | [ee] | eat, see, need | [eer] | ear, hero, beer | [er] | teacher, afterward, murderer | [i] | it, big, finishes | [ahy] | I, ice, hide, deny | [o] | odd, hot, woffle | [oh] | owe, road, below | [oo] | ooze, food, soup, sue | [oo'] | good, book, put | [oi] | oil, choice, toy | [ou] | out, loud, how | [uh] | up, mother, mud | [uh'] | about, animal, problem, circus | [ur] | early, bird, stirring | | | FOREIGN SOUNDS | [a*] | Fr. ami | [kh*] | Scot. loch, Ger. ach or ich | [œ] | Fr. feu, Ger. schön | [r*] | Fr. au revoir, Yiddish rebbe | [uh*] | Fr. oeuvre | [y*] | Fr. tu, Ger. über | | | SAMPLE NASALIZED VOWELS | [an*] | Fr. bien | [ahn*] | Fr. croissant | [awn*] | Fr. bon | [œn*] | Fr. parfum | [in*] | Port. Principe | | |
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