a.The haughty salesclerk made rude remarks under his breath. 

b.Disdainfully proud; snobbish; scornfully arrogant; supercilious

c.[haw-tee]

d. Adjective

a. ... its battery pack hanging loose from an umbilicus of wires

b. A gathering of cords or wire; such as that of an umbilical cord.

c.[uhm-bil-i-kuh[image]s, uhm-buh-lahy-kuh[image]s]

d. Adjective

a. ... I leave Jacob sitting at the kitchen table with the remainders of his lunch while I do a cursory cleaning of his room.

b. Going rapidly over something, without noticing details; hasty; superficial.

c.[kur-suh-ree]

d. Adjective

a.You could say, actually, that this was the impetus behind what happened with Jess, too.

b. A moving force; impulse; stimulus.

c.[im-pi-tuh[image]s]

d. Noun

a. ... her bruised and batter body was lying lifeless in a culvert several hundred yards from her home.

b. A drain or channel crossing under a road, sidewalk, etc.; sewer; conduit.

c.[kuhl-vert]

d. Noun