| Term | Definition |
|---|
| n canto | division of a long poem |
| n canvass | determine or seek opinions, votes, etc.; go through (a region) to solicit votes or orders; conduct a survey; N. |
| capacious | spacious |
| n capacity | mental or physical ability; role; position or duty; ability to accommodate; Ex. in my capacity as president |
| n capillary | having a very fine bore; resembling a hair; fine and slender; Ex. capillary attraction; N: very fine hairlike tube; CF. capillarity |
| n capitulate | surrender; give up all resistance; recapitulate = summarize, the words hv diff meanings |
| caprice | whim; sudden change of mind without any real cause |
| capricious | unpredictable; fickle |
| caption | title; chapter heading; text under illustration |
| n captious | faultfinding; too critical |
| n carafe | glass water bottle; decanter |
| n carapace | shell covering the back (of a turtle, tortoise, crab, etc.) |
| n carat(karat) | unit of weight for precious stones; measure of the purity of gold |
| n carcinogenic | causing cancer; N. carcinogen |
| n cardinal | chief; most important; N: priest; cardinal number: number that shows quantity rather thatn order |
| cardiologist | doctor specializing in ailments of the heart |
| n careen | lurch; sway from side to side; move with irregular swinging movement; stagger |
| s career | rush wildly; go at full speed |
| s sway | swing from side to side; influence (someone) to change one's opinion; N. |
| caricature | distortion; burlesque |
| carillon | a set of bells (often in a tower) capable of being played |
| carnage | destruction of life; slaughter; killing of large numbers of people or animals; massacre; pogrom;genocide |
| carnal | fleshly; sensual; concerning the desires of the body |
| carnivorous | meat-eating; N. carnivore; CF. herbivore |
| n carousal | drunken revel; V. carouse; carousel=merrigoround |
| n carping | petty criticism; fault-finding; fretful complaining; quibble; quibble about neighbour's car parking- carping |
| n carrion | rotting flesh of a dead body; CF. vulture |
| n cartographer | map-maker |
| cascade | small waterfall |
| n caste | one of the hereditary classes in Hindu society; social stratification; prestige |
| castigation | punishment; severe criticism or disapproval |
| casualty | serious or fatal accident; person killed or wounded in an accident or battle |
| s casual | happening by chance; irregular; occasional; informal; showing or feeling little interest; Ex. casual reader/labor/remark |
| n cataclysm | deluge; upheaval; earthquake; violent and sudden event or change |
| n catalyst | agent which brings about a chemical change while it remains unaffected and unchanged; CF. catalysis |
| catapult | slingshot; hurling machine; V: fire from catapult |
| s hurl | throw forcefully; shout out violently |
| n cataract | great waterfall; eye abnormality (causing a gradual loss of eyesight) |
| catastrophe | calamity ; disaster |
| n catcall | shout of disapproval or displeasure (made at the theater or a sports match); boo; V. |
| n catechism | book for religious instruction in question-and-answer form; religious instruction by question and answer; V. catechize |
| categorical | without exceptions; made without any doubt in mind; unqualified; absolute |
| s qualify | reach a necessary standard; limit the meaning of something stated |
| catharsis | purging or cleansing of any passage of the body; purging and weakening of strong emotions as a result of experiencing a dramatic work of art |
| cathartic | purgative; medicine that causes the bowels to empty; ADJ. |
| n catholic | (of likings and interests) universal; general; broad; including many different parts; wide-ranging liberal; Ex. catholic opinions/tastes |
| n caucus | private meeting of a group of people in a political party to select officers or determine policy; CF. the Caucus club of Boston |
| n caulk(calk) | make watertight (by blocking up cracks as in a ship) |
| causal | implying a cause-and-effect relationship; N. causality |
| caustic | burning; corrosive; able to burn by chemical action; sarcastically biting; (of remarks) intended to hurt; bitter; harmful; OP. harmless |
| n cauterize | burn (a wound or snakebite, etc.) with hot iron or caustic substance to stop bleeding and prevent infection |
| n cavalcade | procession of riders or horse-drawn carriages; parade; CF. cavalry; motorcade-procession of motorcars |
| n cavalier | casual and offhand; arrogant; N: knight |
| n cavil | quibble; make frivolous objections; find fault unnecessarily |
| n cede | yield (title or territory) to (esp. after losing a war); surrender formally; N. cession OP-annex |
| celerity | speed; rapidity |
| celestial | heavenly |
| s hereafter | life after death |
| s afterlife | life after death; later part of one's life |
| n celibate | abstaining from sexual intercourse; unmarried; N. celibacy |
| censor | (in ancient Rome) overseer of morals (also taking the census); person who eliminates inappropriate matter; V. ... censer-a container in which incense is burned, typically during a religious ceremony. |
| n censorious | severely critical |
| censure | blame; criticize; express strong disapproval; N: severe criticism; strong disapproval |
| centaur | mythical figure, half man and half horse |
| centigrade | denoting a widely used temperature scale (basically same as Celsius) |
| centrifugal | radiating; departing from the center |
| centrifuge | machine that separates substances by whirling them |
| centripetal | tending toward the center |
| centurion | Roman army officer (commanding a company of about 100 soldiers) |
| cerebral | pertaining to the brain or intellect; intellectual rather than emotional; CF. cerebrum |
| cerebration | thought; working of the brain |
| n ceremonious | marked by formality; extremely formal and polite; CF. ceremony: conventional social courtesy |
| s unceremonious | not done politely without due formalities |
| n certitude | certainty |
| cessation | stoppage |
| n cession | yielding to another; ceding; secession=withdrawal |
| n chafe | warm by rubbing; make sore by rubbing; N. |
| n chaff | worthless products of an endeavor; husk(outer seed cover) separated from grain; Ex. separate the wheat from the chaff |
| n chaffing | bantering; joking |
| n chagrin | annoyance and disappointment; vexation (caused by humiliation or injured pride) |
| n chalice | goblet; consecrated cup |
| chameleon | lizard that changes color in different situations |
Combine with other sets
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace
!