annihilate
1 use
With a stamp of your foot, you annihilate first one, then a dozen, then a thousand, a million, a billion possible mice!†
annihilate = to completely destroy or defeat
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 2000 |
bacteria
2 uses
We wear these oxygen helmets so we can't introduce our bacteria into an ancient atmosphere.†
bacteria = microorganisms (living creatures so small it takes a microscope to see them)
Definition
Generally bacteria means:microorganisms (living creatures so small it takes a microscope to see them) that can both cause disease and be beneficial. They are different and larger than viruses.
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 7 uses in 10 avg bks |
bisect
1 use
Up ahead, We'll bisect his trail in sixty seconds.†
bisect = cut in half or cut in two
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
chaos
1 use
For want of a lion, all manner of insects, vultures, infinite billions of life forms are thrown into chaos and destruction.†
chaos = a state of extreme confusion and disorder
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 26 uses in 10 avg bks |
embedded
1 use
Embedded in the mud, glistening green and gold and black, was a butterfly, very beautiful and very dead.†
embedded = firmly within; or placed firmly within
Definition
Generally embedded means:firmly within
in various senses, including:
- firmly stuck into — as a thorn into a finger
- enclosed within — as a fossil within a rock
- implanted as a part — sometimes specifically of a reporter living with a military unit
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 9 uses in 10 avg bks |
Hitler
1 use
Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Hitler-none of them exists.†
Hitler = German Nazi dictator during World War II who murdered millions of Jews and others who were not of the Aryan race
Definition
Generally this sense of Hitler means:German Nazi dictator during World War II; murdered millions of Jews and others who were not of the Aryan race (1889-1945)
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 8 uses in 10 avg bks |
indicate
1 use
He indicated a metal path that struck off into green wilderness, over streaming swamp, among giant ferns and palms.†
indicated = showed
Definition
Generally indicate means:to show (point out, demonstrate, express, or suggest)
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 40 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 10 |
infinite
1 use
For want of a lion, all manner of insects, vultures, infinite billions of life forms are thrown into chaos and destruction.†
infinite = unlimited; without boundaries; or too numerous to count
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 14 uses in 10 avg bks |
primeval
1 use
Eckels turned slowly to regard the primeval garbage dump, that hill of nightmares and terror.
primeval = ancient
Definition
Generally primeval means:ancient (of or from a long time ago); or having existed from ancient times
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
proportion
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
respond in proportion
A little error here would multiply in sixty million years, all out of proportion.†
out of proportion = not appropriate in size, amount, or degree
Definition
Generally this sense of proportion means:appropriate in size, amount, or degree
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 5 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
Queen Elizabeth
1 use
Queen Elizabeth might never be born, Washington might not cross the Delaware, there might never be a United States at all.†
Queen Elizabeth = queen of England and Ireland from 1558 to 1603; daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn; succeeded Mary I (who was a Catholic) and restored Protestantism to England; during her reign Mary Queen of Scots was executed and the Spanish Armada was defeated (1533-1603)
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
resilient
1 use
It came on great oiled, resilient, striding legs.†
resilient = able to withstand strain and/or quickly recover from it
Definition
Generally resilient means:able to withstand strain and/or quickly recover from it — such as a person retaining a positive attitude, or a material returning to its shape after being bent, stretched, or pressed
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 3 uses in 10 avg bks |
revoke
1 use
They might revoke our license to travel.
revoke = cancel (take back)
Definition
Generally this sense of revoke means:to void, cancel, or take back — especially to do so in an official manner
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
species
1 use
Not knowing it, we might kill an important animal, a small bird, a roach, a flower even, thus destroying an important link in a growing species.†
species = a similar group of animals or plants
Definition
Generally species means:a group of animals or plants that are similar — typically identified as a group because they can procreate together (reproduce new members of the group)
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 14 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 2000 |
stagnate
1 use
They gazed back at the ruined Monster, the stagnating mound, where already strange reptilian birds and golden insects were busy at the steaming armor.†
stagnating = staying still or not developing
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 0 uses in 10 avg bks |
subliminal
1 use
Eckels stood smelling of the air, and there was a thing to the air, a chemical taint so subtle, so slight, that only a faint cry of his subliminal senses warned him it was there.
subliminal = in a manner not recognized by the conscious mind, but still of influence
Definition
Generally subliminal means:not recognized by the conscious mind, but still of influence
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
taint
1 use
Eckels stood smelling of the air, and there was a thing to the air, a chemical taint so subtle, so slight, that only a faint cry of his subliminal senses warned him it was there.
taint = contamination spoiling the air
Definition
Generally taint means:to spoil something so it is not desirable — as when bacteria contaminates a food; or as when a rumor makes people distrust a person
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 5 uses in 10 avg bks |
talon
1 use
It ran, its pelvic bones crushing aside trees and bushes, its taloned feet clawing damp earth, leaving prints six inches deep wherever it settled its weight.†
taloned = a sharp hooked claw — especially on a bird of prey
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 5 uses in 10 avg bks |
temperament
1 use
A dead mouse here makes an insect imbalance there, a population disproportion later, a bad harvest further on, a depression, mass starvation, and finally, a change in social temperament in far-flung countries.
temperament = usual mood and tendencies
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 4 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 2000 |
wary
1 use
It moved into a sunlit area warily, its beautifully reptilian hands feeling the air.†
warily = in a nervous or distrustful manner
Definition
Generally wary means:nervous about (or distrustful of) someone or something
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 22 uses in 10 avg bks |