(v) to make gestures while speaking

"Some people can hardly talk without ______ing wildly with their hands."

(n) gradation of color; shout of pursuit

"In the meadows are many different ____s of green."

(n) predicament with no obvious escape; deadlock; standstill

"Neither of the men will listen to the other; their dispute has reached an ______."

(adj) not to be avoided, changed, or resisted; inevitable

"The evidence was so clear that the conclusion was _______."

(adj) refusing to compromise; stubborn

"No use asking him to change his mind; he's ______."

(n) range of perception or knowledge

"I'm only a scientist; political matters are beyond my ______."

(adj) clear to the understanding; intelligible

"His explanation of the invention was so ______ that we could all understand how it worked."

(v) to evade duty or work; to shirk

"The sergeant thought the soldiers were ________ing, but actually they were coming down with the measles."

(adj) relating to or assisting the memory

"A common ______ device reminds us of the number of days in each month."

(adj) countless; innumerable

(n) an immense number

"_______ stars are visible on a clear night."

(adj) self-centered; egotistical

"He had a __________ habit of staring at his own face in a mirror."

(adj) hateful, disgusting, offensive

"He is such an ________ person, with his sneers and cruel remarks, that no one can stand him."

(v) beat rapidly, pound, flutter

"At the sight of the famous actor, the young girl's heart _________ed with excitement."

(n)(v) restatement of a passage

"I can't remember her exact words, but I'll give you an accurate _________."

(adj) emphasizing minutiae in knowledge; stilted; affected

"John is such a _____ that he insists on relating all the facts, important or not."

(n) conclusion of an oration; a highly rhetorical speech

"John brought his speech to a close with an emotion-packed _______."

(adj) relating to Plato; idealistic, not sensual

"His idea of love was too ______ for her, too cold and high-minded."

(adj) relating to what is practical or what works, often excluding the intellectual or artistic

"Never mind the theory; let's be _______-- will the idea work?"

(adj) casual, irrecular, esp. in sexual relations; loose; wanton

"In his respectable marriage, he has lived down his __________ path."

(adj) obstinantly defiant, unruly, uncooperative

"The witness is ________ and will not tell what we know he knows, but we shall try to make him testify."