| Term | Definition |
|---|
| allay | (v.) diminish or put at rest (fear, suspicion, or worry) : the report attempted to educate the public and ___ fears. |
| allege | (v.) claim or assert that someone has done something illegal or wrong; he ____ed that he had been assaulted |
| allegory | (n.) a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political : Pilgrim's Progress is an ____ of the spiritual journey. |
| alluvion | (n.) the action of the sea or a river in forming new land by depositing things. |
| altercate | (v.) dispute or argue noisily and publicly. : in the square, the gangsters did ____. |
| amalgamate | (v.) combine or unite to form one organization or structure : he _____ed his company with another. |
| ambrosia | (n.) the food of the gods. : the tea was ____ after the slop I'd been drinking. |
| ambulate | (v.) walk; move about : making use of crutches to ____ |
| ameliorate | (v.) make (something bad or unsatisfactory) better : the reform did much to ____ living standards. |
| amicable | (adj.) (of relations between people) having a spirit of friendliness; without serious disagreement or rancor : there will be an ____ settlement of the dispute. |
| ampersand | (n.) the sign & (standing for and, as in Smith & Co., or the Latin et, as in &c.). |
| anachronism | (n.) a thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, esp. a thing that is conspicuously old-fashioned : everything was as it would have appeared in centuries past apart from one ____, a bright yellow construction crane. |
| anarchy | (n.) absence of government and absolute freedom of the individual, regarded as a political ideal. |
| anathema | (n.) something or someone that one vehemently dislikes : racial hatred was ___ to her. |
| Anglophobia | (n.) a person who greatly hates or fears England or Britain |
| anhydrous | (adj.) (of a substance, esp. a crystalline compound) containing no water. : the desert shrubbery looked especially _____. |
| animadversion | (n.) criticism or censure : her _____ against science. |
| animalcule | (n.) a microscopic animal such as an amoeba. |
| antediluvian | (adj.) of or belonging to the time before the biblical Flood : gigantic bones of _____ animals. |
| anthracite | (n.) coal of a hard variety that contains relatively pure carbon and burns with little flame and smoke. Also called hard coal . |
| anthropomorphous | (adj.) (of a god, animal, or object) human in form or nature. : the stuffed tiger hobbes in calvin and hobbes is an _____ character |
| anticlimax | (n.) a disappointing end to an exciting or impressive series of events : the rest of the journey was an _____ by comparison |
| antilogy | (n., logic) A contradiction either in terms or ideas. |
| antiphony | (n.) singing, playing, or chanting by two groups alternately : the beautiful brass ____ resounded from the choir balcony and the front at St. Marks. |
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