Week 14: vocabulary (etymology)

1) Manicured adjective

Well cared for and looking very tidy

e.g. Jim has a very well manicured lawn.

2) Unkempt adjective

Not neat or cared for; messy

e.g. Unkempt fair is not very attractive because it looks dirty and messy.

3) Hold off phrasal verb

To stop something from happening, or to be delayed

e.g. We have to hold off on our trip to Hawaii until we save some more money.

4) Naïve adjective

Too ready to believe someone or something, or to trust that someone’s intensions are good, especially because of a lack of experience

e. g. Janice can be very naïve sometimes. She believes everything you tell her.

5) Protocol noun

Specific rules or an exact method to be followed

e.g. Make sure to follow the protocol for this experiment.

6) Come down to (something) phrasal verb

To have a particular thing as the most important matter

e.g. Winning the championship comes down to who can keep up their energy the longest.

7) Impenetrable adjective

Impossible to enter or go through

e.g. The impenetrable castle walls prevented the invading army from getting through.

8) Intervention noun

The act of intervening in a situation

e.g. The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.

9) Anoint verb

To put oil or water on a part of their body, usually for religious reasons

e.g. You anoint my head with oil, my cup over flows.

10) Illicit adjective

Not allowed by law or the social customs of a country.

e.g. Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.

11) Back up phrasal verb

To make a copy of information in a computer that is stored separately

e.g. Stacy forgot to back up her files, so now she has to start everything from the beginning.

12) Secondhand adverb

Owned or used in the past by someone else

e.g. Do you like my shirt? I got it secondhand at that little shop on the corner.

13) Vise noun

A tool having two flat sides that can be moved closer together to hold something firmly while it is being worked on

e.g. Kristin tightened the vise on the piece of wood before she turned on the electric saw.

14) Stimulation noun

The process of encouraging something to grow, develop or become active

e.g. Mrs. Sunny has many activities in her class to promote creative stimulation among her students.

15) Receptor noun

Any of various devices designed to receive electronic signals

e.g. The satellite receptor on my TV is broken, so I can only watch local channels.

16)  Viability noun

Ability to work as intended or to succeed

e.g. The viability of this project is very low, so it will probably fail.

17)  Commence verb

To begin something

e.g. We will commence the meeting in 15 minutes.

18)  Dementia noun

A disease or condition that exists especially among older people, and that results in the gradual loss of mental abilities, such as the ability to think, reason and remember things

e.g. Kara’s grandmother has dementia and can no longer remember her children’s names.

19)  Mimic verb

To have the same behavior or qualities as something else

e.g. Candy’s parrot likes to mimic the sounds of other animals.

20)  Abstainer noun

One who chooses not to do something

e.g. The group for alcohol abstainers meets on Tuesday.

21)  For starters idiom

As a beginning, with more to follow (informal)

e.g. For starters, Tina will need to start washing her own laundry.

22)  Legion noun

A large number of people

e.g. A legion of voters was already waiting outside the polling location.

23)  Brain imaging noun

The process of using computer equipment to produce a complete or detailed picture of the brain for use in clinical diagnosis

e.g. Doctors and scientists have made many advances in brain-imaging techniques.

24)  Scanner noun

A device that changes images or text into electric form

e.g. Cheryl used a scanner to load the printed documents onto her computer.

25)  Drift off phrasal verb

To gradually start to sleep

e.g. Nick started to drift off after studying for three hours.