Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster

Blue Wednesday

1. Awful :- Adjective (bad)

"Extremely bad or unpleasant"

-He suffered awful injuries in the crash.

-She's got an awful boss.

-We had awful weather.

-What an awful thing to say!

-Would life be so awful without a car?

-The food was awful.

She'd been ill and she looked awful.

2. Dread :- verb [T]

"to feel extremely worried or frightened about something that is going to happen or that might happen"

-He's dreading his driving test - he's sure he's going to fail.

-[+ -ing verb] I'm dreading having to meet his parents.

3. Endure :- verb (experience)

"[T] to suffer something difficult, unpleasant or painful"

-We had to endure a nine-hour delay at the airport.

-She's already had to endure three painful operations on her leg.

4. Haste :- Noun [U] Disapproving

"(too much) speed"

-Unfortunately the report was prepared in the haste and contained several inaccuracies.

-[+ to infinite] I her haste to get up from the table, she knocked over a cup.

- His father had just died and he didn't want to marry with indecent haste.

5. Squirm :- verb [I]

"to move from side to side in an awkward way because of nervousness, embarrassment  or pain"

-Nobody spoke for at least five minutes and Rachel squirmed in her chair with embarrassment.

-The fish squirmed on the ground for a few moments and then lay still.

6. Gingham :- Noun [U]

"a cotton cloth which has a pattern of colored squares on a whit surface"

-a gingham dress/tablecloth

7. Brunt :- Noun [S]

the brunt of sth

"the main force of something unpleasant"

-The infantry have taken/borne the brunt of the missile attacks.

-Small companies are feeling the full brunt of the recession.

7. Predecessor :- Noun [C]

"Someone who had a job or a position before someone else, or something which comes before another other thing in time or in a series"

- My predecessor worked in this job for twelve years.

-The latest Ferrari is not only faster than it's predecessors but also more comfortable.

8. Pantry :- Noun [C]

"a small room or large cupboard in a house where food is kept"

9. Tot :- Noun (child) [C]

"INFORMAL young child"

-These are good strong toys for tiny tots.  

10.Rumple :- verb [T]

"to make something become creased (= not smooth) or untidy"

-You'll rumple your jacket if you don't hang it up properly.

11. Prune pudding :-

12. Throb :- verb [I] (-bb-)

"to produce a strong, regular beat"

-Both records have a good throbbing bass which is great to dance to.

"If a part of your body throbs, you feel pain in it in a series of regular beats"

-His head throbbed, and his body ached.

-The throbbing pain in his leg was becoming unbearable.

13. Bidding :- noun (offer0 [U]

"When people offer to pay a particular amount of money for something"

-Most of the bidding was done by telephone.

14.Matron :- noun (school) [C]

"UK - OLD FASHIONED. a female nurse in a school"

15. Pompous :- Adjective DISAPPROVING

"to serious and full of importance"

-He's a pompous old prig who's totally incapable of taking a joke.

-He can sometimes sound a bit pompous when he talks about acting.

16. Paling :- Noun [C]

"a fence made from long thin pieces of wood"

-He has just put up a paling around the house.

17. Undulating :- Adjective  FORMAL

"describing or having small hills and slopes that look like waves"

-undulating roads.

-I love the gently undulating hills of the Dales.

"moving gently up and down"

-undulating waves.

18. Ridge :- Noun [C]

"a long narrow raised part of a surface, especially high edge along a mountain"

-We walked along the narrow mountain ridge.

-FIGURATIVE A ridge (=narrow area) of high pressure will bring good weather this afternoon.

"the part of a roof where the sloping sides join at the top"

19. Sprinkle :- verb [T]

"to drop a few pieces or drops of something over a surface"

-Sprinkle a few herbs on the pizza/Sprinkle the pizza with a few herbs.

-FIGURATIVE The speech was liberally sprinkled with (=contained many) jokes about the incident.

20. Estate :- Noun (Property)

"[C] a large area of land in the country which is owned by a family or an organization and is often used for growing corps or raising animals"

-It's a typical country estate with a large house for the owner, farm buildings and estate workers' houses.

"[C] LEGAL - everything that a person owns when they die"

 -She left her entire state to her niece.

21.   :- Noun [C]

"a tall pointed structure on top of a building, especially on top of a church tower"

22. Bothersome :- Adjective OLD-FASHIONED

"annoying or causing trouble"

- a bothersome little man.

-bothersome noise.

23. Wistful :- Adjective

"sad and thinking about something that is impossible or in the past"

-a wistful smile.

-I thought about those days in Spain and grew wistful.

Wistfulness :- Noun [U]

24. Equipage :- Noun

a- a carriage

b- a carriage drawn by horses and attended by servants.

c- outfit, as of a ship, an army, or a soldier ; equipment.

d- Archaic

                 1- a set of small house hold articles, as of china.

                 2- a collection of articles for personal ornament or use.

Example sentence ;

Even in our democratic New England towns the accidental possession of wealth, and it's manifestations in dress and equipage alone, obtain for the possessor almost universal respect.

25. Dotted :- Adjective

"having objects scattered or placed in a random manner: a landscape dotted with small houses."

26. Trimmed :- Adjective (after verb)

"If clothes and other cloth things are trimmed, they are decorated, especially around the edges"

-She was wearing a black suite trimmed with white.

27. Nonchalant :- Adjective

"behaving in a calm manner, often in a way which suggests you are not interested or do not care"

-a nonchalant manner/shrug

Nonchalantly :- Adverb

28. Door-sill :- Noun

"the sill of a doorway.

29. Eager :- Adjective

"wanting very much to do or have something, especially something interesting or enjoyable"

-the children's eager faces.

-[+ to infinitive] She sounded very eager to meet you.

-They crowded round the spokesperson, eager for any news.

30. Undiscommoded :- You can see for its meaning here.

31. Choir :- Noun [C + singular or plural verb]

"a group of people who sing together, especially in a church"

-He sings in the church choir.

-choir practice.

32. Chant :- verb [I or T]

"to repeat or sing a word or phrase continuously, or to sing a religious prayer or song to a simple tune"

-The crowd were chanting the name of their football team.

-The demonstrators chanted anti-government slogans in the square.

-We could hear the monks chanting.

33. Wrench :- Verb

"[T + adverb or preposition] to pull and twist something suddenly or violently away from a fixed position"

-The photographer tripped over a lead, wrenching a microphone from its stand.

-The phone had been wrenched from/off the wall.

-The ball was wrenched out of his grasp by another player.

-His hands were tied but he managed to wrench himself free.

34. Pious :- Adjective (Religious)

"strong believing in religion, and living in a way which shows this belief"

-She is a follower of the faith, never missing her prayers.

Piously :- Adverb

35. Intone :- verb [T] FORMAL

"to say something slowly and seriously in a voice which does not rise or fall much"

-[+speech] "Let us pray," the priest intoned to his congregation.

36. Malicious :- Adjective

"intended to harm or upset other people"

-malicious gossip.

-a malicious look in his eyes.

-He complained that he'd been receiving malicious telephone calls.

-LEGAL He was charged with malicious wounding.

37. Err :- verb [I] FORMAL

"to make a mistake or to do something wrong"

-He erred in agreeing to her appointment.

38. Scrub verb (CLEAN) (-bb-)

"[I or T] to rub something hard in order to clean it, especially using a stiff brush, soap and water"

-She scrubbed (at) the mark on the wall for ages, but it wouldn't come off.

-[+object +adjective] He scrubbed the old saucepan clean, and it looked as good as new.

39. Cherubic :- Adjective

"having a round, attractive face like that of a child"

-a blonde-haired child with a cherubic face.

40. Sauced :- Adjective slang

"intoxicated; drunk"

41. Fleeting :- Adjective

"a short or quick"

-a fleeting glimpse.

-This is just a fleeting visit.

42. Sprang :- verb (US also Sprung, Sprung)

Past simple of SPRING :- verb (move quickly) [I usually + adverb or preposition)

"to move quickly and suddenly towards a particular place"

- I sprang out of bed to answer the door.

-The organization is ready to spring into action (=start taking action) the moment it receives its funding.

-He always springs to his feet when she walks in the room.

-FIGURATIVE - I noticed the way you sprang to his defence when Caroline started joking about his clothes.

-The lid of the box sprang shut.

43. Grotesque :- Adjective

"strange and unpleasant, especially in a silly or slightly frightening way"

-By now she'd had so much cosmetic surgery that she looked quite grotesque.

-Gothic churches are full of devils and grotesque figures.

Grotesquely :- adverb

-a grotesquely fat man.

-My views were grotesquely (= extremely) misrepresented.

44. Waver :- verb [I]

"to lose strength, purpose or determination, especially temporarily"

-I'm afraid my concentration began to waver as lunch approached.

-He has never wavered in his support for the leader.

"If you waver between two possibilities, you cannot decide which of them to choose or you keep choosing one way and then the other"

-"What are you having?" "Er, I'm wavering between the fish soup and the mushroom tart."

Wavering :-adjective

-It's the party's last attempt to persuade some of the nation's wavering voters to support them.

45. Amused :- Adjective

"showing that you think something is funny"

-an amused smile.

-She was very amused by/at your comments.

46. Derive  :-  verb

Derive sth from sth

"to get something from something else"

-The institute drives all its money from foreign investments.

-She derives great pleasure/satisfaction from playing the violin.

47. Oppressive :- Adjective (Cruel)

"Cruel and unfair"

-an oppressive government/military regime.

48. Affable :- Adjective

"friendly and easy to talk"

-He struck me as an affable sort of man.

-She was quite affable at the meeting.

49. Don :- verb [T] (-nn-) FORMAL

"to put on a piece of clothing"

-He donned his finest coat and hat.

50. Affluential :-

Part of speech : Adjective

Definition : Wealthy and influential; rich and powerful.

Example : The sons and daughters of magnates are affluential.

Etymology : A blend of affluent and influential.

Usage : Affluential  (noun) --- an affluent person who do not display his or her wealth in the form of material possessions.

51. Expressly :- Adverb

"in a way that is clear"

-I expressly told you to be home by midnight.

"for a particular purpose"

-The farmer put up the fence expressly to stop people walking across his field.

52. Stipulate :- verb [T] FORMAL

"to state exactly how something must be or must be not"

-She agreed to buy the car, but stipulated racing tyres and turbo-powered engine.

53. Eccentricity :- Noun

"[U] the sate of being eccentric"

-His eccentricity now extends to never washing or changing his clothes.

"[C] an eccentric action"

-Her eccentricities get stranger by the day.

-[+ that] The law stipulates that new cars must have seat belts for the driver and every passenger.

-[+ question word] We have signed a contract which stipulates when the project must be completed.

54. Expend :- verb [T] slightly formal

"to use or spend especially time, effort or money"

-You expend so much effort for so little return.

-Governments expend a lot of resources on war.

55. Heretofore :- Adverb - FORMAL or LEGAL

"before this point in time; previously"

56. Philanthropist :- Noun [C]

"a person who helps the poor, especially by giving them money"

-a donation from a wealthy 19th-century philanthropist. 

Philanthropy :- Noun [U]

57. Placid :- Adjective

"having a calm appearance or characteristics"

-a slow moving and placid river.

-the placid pace of village life

-She was a very placid (=calm and not easily excited) child who slept all night and hardly ever cried.

58. Trying :- Adjective

"annoying and difficult"

-I've had a very trying day at work.

-He can be rather trying at times.

59. Rhetoric :- Noun [U]

"speech or writing which is intended to be effective and influence people"

-How far the president will be able to translate his campaign rhetoric into action remains to be seen.

-I always swayed by her rhetoric into donating all my savings to the charity.

"SPECIALIZED - the study of the ways of using language effectively"

"DISAPPROVING - clever language which sounds good but is not sincere or has no real meaning"

-In reply to the question, he just produced a lot of empty (=meaningless) rhetoric.

60. Gratitude :- Noun [U] (also gratefulness)

"the feeling or quality of being grateful"

-deep/eternal gratitude.

-She sent them a present to show/express her gratitude.

-Take this as a token of my gratitude for all your help.

61. Hold up :- Phrasal verb

"to remain strong or successful"

-Will his alibi hold up (=continue to seem true) in court?

-I hope the repairs hold up until we can get to a garage.

62. Ridicule :- Noun [U]

"unkind words or actions that make someone or something look stupid"

-She was treated with scorn and ridicule by her colleagues when she applied for the job.

-He's become an object of ridicule (a person that everyone thinks is stupid and criticizes or laughs at).

63. Immoderate :- Adjective FORMAL

"too much or many, or more than is usual or reasonable"

-immoderate drinking

immoderate demands

64. Impertinent :- Adjective

"rude and not respectful, especially towards someone older or in a higher position than you"

-I hope he didn't think me impertinent when I asked him about his private life.

-an impertinent remark/question

65.Erratic :- Adjective

"not regular, uncertain or without organization in movement or behavior"

-He drove in an erratic course down the road.

-She can be very erratic, one day she is friendly and the next she'll hardly speak to you.

66. Superintend :- verb FORMAL

"to be in charge of something"

-Her job is to superintend the production process.

67. Outfit :- Noun (clothes)

"[C] a set of cloths worn for a particular occasion or activity"

I've got a cowboy outfit for the fancy dress party.

68. Standing :- Noun (reputation) [U]

"reputation, rank or position in an area of activity, system or organization"

-As a pathologist of considerable standing, his opinion will have a lot of influence.

-A financial scandal would shake the institute's standing in the international academic community.

69. Detest :- verb [T not continuous]

"to hate someone or something very much"

-I detest any kind of cruelty.

-[+ -ing verb] I detest having to get up when it's dark outside.

-her detested older brother

70. Imperative :- Adjective (urgent)

"extremely important or urgent; needing to be done or given attention immediately"

-[+that] The president said it was imperative that the release of all hostages be secured.

[+ to infinitive] It's imperative to act now before the problem gets really serious.

71. Punctilious :- adjective FORMAL

"very careful to behave correctly or to give attention to details"

-He was always punctilious in his manners.

72. Sought :- verb

PAST SIMPLE and PAST PARTICIPLE of Seek

73. Whirl :- verb [I or T]

"to (cause something to) turn around in circles"

-She saw a mass of bodies whirling round on the dance floor.

-He stepped out into the night and the whirling snow.

-He whirled her round until she felt quite sick.

74. Platitude :- Noun [C] DISAPPROVING

"a remark or statement that may be true but is boring and has no meaning because it has been said so many times before"

-He doesn't mouth platitudes about it not mattering who scores as long as the team wins.

75. Tentative :- Adjective

"(of a plan or idea) not certain or agreed, or(of a suggestion or action) said or done in a careful but uncertain way because you do not know if you are right"

-I have made tentative plans to take a trip to Seattle in July.

76. Oratory :- Noun [U] FORMAL

"skillful and effective public speaking"

-The prime minister has a reputation for powerful oratory.

Oratorical :- Adjective

-oratorical skill

77. Slight :- verb [T]

"to insult someone by not paying them any attention or treating them as if they are not important"

-I felt slighted  when my boss thanked everyone but me for their hard work.

Slighted :- Adjective

78. Befall :- verb [I or T] (befell, befallen) OLD USE

"if something bad or dangerous befalls you, it happens to you"

-Should any harm befall me on my journey, you may open this letter.

79. Peroration :-  Noun

a. a long speech characterized by lofty and often pompous language.

b. Rhetoric. The concluding part of a speech or discourse, in which the speaker or writer recapitulates the principal points and urges them with greater earnestness and force.

80. Mid-air :- Noun [U]

"a point in the air, not on the ground"

-She caught the ball in mid-air.

Mid-air :- Adjective

-a mid-air collision

Please Note :- Most the meanings given above are "CONTEXTUAL MEANINGS" only. Some of the words have other meanings too.