| Term | Definition |
| accelerate | to speed up, cause to move faster: to bring about more quickly |
| bystander | one who looks on or observes, a person present but not taking part |
| canvass | to go through an area in order to procure votes, sales, or opinions: to go over in detail: to discuss |
| casual | happening by chance or on an irregular basis: showing little concern: informal |
| downtrodden | treated unfairly and cruelly, opposed |
| entice | to attract, tempt |
| erode | to wear away gradually, eat away |
| flounder | to thrash about in a clumsy or ineffective way |
| graphic | life like, vivid: relating to the pictorial arts |
| gruesome | horrible, revolting, gastly |
| melancholy | sad, gloomy, unhappy; sadness, gloominess |
| ordeal | a difficult or painful experience, a trial |
| parch | to make dry and thirsty: to shrivel with heat |
| persist | to continue steadily in a course of action, refuse to stop or be changed: to last, remain |
| puny | of less than normal strength or size: weak, sickly: of no importance |
| quibble | to evade or belittle a point by twisting words or raising minor objections; a petty objection |
| ratify | to approve, give formal approval to, confirm |
| regal | royal, kinglike; fit for a king |
| stifle | to smother, prevent from breathing; to hold back or choke off |
| vital | having life, living; necessary to life, essential: key, crucial |