Admonish

Verb

3

The librarian had to admonish the noisy students several times before they settled down.

to caution or advise against something; to scold mildly; to remind of a duty

Syn: warn, call on the carpet

Ant: praise, pat on the back

Breach

Noun, Verb

1

Because of a serious breach of the rules, two players

were ejected from the game. 

Our troops were unable to breach the enemy's lines

during the battle.

(n.) an opening, gap, rupture, rift; a violation or infraction; (v.) to create an opening, break through

Ant: (v.) close, seal

Brigand

Noun

2

Ancient caravans passing through desolate areas were somtimes attacked by brigand.

a bandit, robber, outlaw, highwayman

Circumspect

Adj

3

It is important for a diplomat to behave in a manner that is both discreet and circumspect.

careful, cautious

Syn: wary, prudent, guarded

Ant: incautious, rash, reckless, heedless

Commandeer

Verb

3

Under a certain circumstances the U.S. government has the right to commandeer private property.

to seize for military or official use

Syn: take over, requisition, expropriate

Cumberstone

Adj

3

The bus was filled to capacity with holiday shoppers carrying large and cumberstone packages.

clumsy, hard to handle; slow-moving

Syn: unwieldly, ponderous

Ant: manageable, easy to handle

Deadlock

Noun, Verb

2

After fifteen innings, the score remaineda frustrating 3-to-3 deadlock.

The refusal of labor and management to modify their demands deadlock the contract negotiations.

(n.) a standstill resulting from the opposition of two equal forces or fractions: (v.) to bring to such a standstill

Syn: (n.) standoff, stalement, impasse

Ant: (n.) agreement. accord, breakthrough

Debris

Noun

2

After the storm, the beach was litered with driftwood and other debris.

scattered fragments, wreckage

Syn: rubble, detritus, flotsam and jetsam

Diffuse

Verb, Adj

2

The scent of lilacs slowly diffuse through the open window.

The speech was so long and diffuse that most member of the audience were thoroughly confused by it.

(v.) to spread or scatter freely or widely; (adj.) wordy, long-winded, or unfocused; scattered or widely spread

Syn: (v.) disperse; (adj.) rambling, verbose, prolix

Ant: (v.) concentrate; (adj.) brief, concise, succinct

Dilemma

Noun

3

During the crisis the President found himself caight in a painful dilemma.

a difficult or perplexing situation or problem

Syn: predicament, quandary, pickle, bind

Ant: cinch

Efface

Verb

2

Time had effaced almost all signs of the struggle that took place on that famous battle field.

to wipe out; to keep oneself from being noticed

Syn: blot out, erase, obliterate, expunge

Muddle

Verb, Noun

2

Too much strees and too little sleep will almost certainly muddle a person's ability to concentrate.

The muddle was principally caused by their failure to carry out the general's orders properly.

(v.) to make a mess of; muddle through: tp get by; (n.) a hopeless mess

Syn: (v.) jumble, mess up; (n.) confusion, disorder

Ant: (n.) orderliness, tidiness, neatness

Opinionated

Adj

5

My boss is not too opinionated to listen to a reasonable proposal.

stubborn and often unreasonable in holding to one's own ideas, having a closed mind

Syn: obstinate, pigheaded, inflexible

Ant: open-minded, reasonable

Perennial

Adj, Noun

4

Pizza is a perennial favorite of young and old alike in the United States.

A garden of perennial is relatively easy to maintain.

(adj.) lasting for a long time, persistent; (n.) a plant that lives for many years

Syn: (adj.) enduring, recurring

Ant: (adj.) brief, short-lived, fleeting, ephemeral

Predispose

Verb

3

My genetic makeup seems to predispose me to colds and sore throats.

to incline to beforehand

Syn: make susceptible to

Ant: immunize against, shield from

Relinquish

Verb

3

Severe illness forced me to relinquish my role in the school play.

to let go, give up

Syn: surrender, abandon

Ant: hold on to, keep, retain, cling to

Salvage

Verb, Noun

2

Fortunately, we were able to salvage a few things from the fire.

Salvage from sunken ships can be of great value to archaeologists and historians.

(v.) to save from fire or shipwreck; (n.) property thus saved

Syn: (v.) rescue, recover, retrieve, reclaim

Ant: (v.) abandon, scrap, junk

Spasmodic

Adj

3

Spasmodic flashes of lightning and booming thunderclaps were accompanied by torrential rain.

sudden and violent but brief; fitful; intermittent

Syn: irregular, occasional

Ant: steady, continuous, chronic

Spurious

Adj

3

Manufactures who make spurious  claims for their products may face fines if lawsuits.

not genuine, not true, not valid

Syn: false, counterfeit, fraudulent, bogus

Ant: genuine, authentic, bona fide, valid

Unbridled

Adj

3

Sometimes the unbridled enthusiasm of sports fans can get a little out of hand.

uncontrolled, lacking in restraint

Syn: unrestrained, unchecked

Ant: restrained, held in check, muted

matter

anything that occupies space and has mass

element

pure substance that cannot be broken down into other substances by chemical or physical means

trace element

element critical to health that makes up less than 0.01 percent of body mass

compound

substance containing two or more elements chemically combined in a fixed ratio

atom

smallest particle of an element

proton

 subatomic particle with a single unit of positive electric charge (+)

electron

subatomic particle with a single unit of negative electric charge

(-)

neutron

subatomic particle that has no charge (is electrically neutral)

nucleus

in an atom, the central core that contains protons and neutrons; in a cell, the part that houses the cell's genetic material in the form of DNA

atomic number

number of protons in an atom's nucleus; is unique for each element

isotope

one of several forms of an element, each containing the same number of protons in their atoms but a different number of neutrons

radioactive isotope

isotope in which the nucleus decays (breaks down) over time, giving off radiation in the form of matter and energy

ionic bond

chemical bond that occurs when an atom transfers an electron to another atom

ion

atom that has become electrically charged as a result of gaining or losing an electron

covalent bond

chemical bond that forms when two atoms share electrons

molecule

two or more atoms held together by covalent bonds

chemical reaction

breaking of old and formation of new chemical bonds that result in new substances

reactant

starting material for a chemical reaction

product

material created as a result of a chemical reaction

polar molecule

molecule in which opposite ends have opposite electric charges

hydrogen bond

bond created by the weak attraction of a slightly positive hydrogen atom to a slightly negative portion of another molecule

cohesion

tendency of molecules of the same kind to stick to one another

adhesion

attraction between unlike molecules

thermal energy

total amount of energy associated with the random movement of atoms and molecules in a sample of matter

temperature

measure of the average energy of random motion of particles in a substance

solution

uniform mixture of two or more substances

solvent

substance in a solution that dissolves the other substance and is present in the greater amount

solute

substance in a solution that is dissolved and is present in a lesser amount

aqueous solution

solution in which water is the solvent

acid

compound that donates H⁺ ions to an aqueous solution and measures less than 7 on the pH scale

base

compound that removes H⁺ ions from an aqueous solution and that measures more than 7 on the pH scale

pH scale

a range of numbers used to describe how acidic or basic a solution is; ranges from 0 (most acidic) to 14 (most basic)

buffer

substance that maintains a fairly constant pH in a solution by accepting H⁺ ions when their levels rise and donating H⁺ ions when their levels fall