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Abut. When something borders something else, it is said to abut it. The term is often used in real estate to refer to a lot line. Wouldn't it be nice to have your backyard abut a forest preserve or park? Example: Concerned Middleburg Heights residents who live nearby want to preserve the woodlands abutting their properties on the 9-acre site. |
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Quaint. Quaint means strange and unusual in an old-fashioned and charming way. It's a word you'd use to describe a little store that sells tea cozies and antique tea services, or your grandmother's habit of calling the radio the "wireless". There is commonly used sarcastic sense of quaint - when something is run down or shabby and you're trying to say something positive, you might substitute "How... quaint" for "How... interesting." In Middle English, this adjective meant "clever" or "cunning." The quaint sign marking its entrance is a recurring image on national news. Alice from the Wonderland is a quaint little girl. Quaint means strange in a charming, old-fashioned and attractive way. You can use the word "Quaint" to describe the owner of the Vintage Inns, or the Vintage Inns themselves. |
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Cozy. The adjective cozy describes being comfortable and warm, like when feel cozy curled up on the couch under a soft blanket, in front of a roaring fire. "Isn't this cozy?" If you hear these words, you might be in a friendly, casual place where everyone feels welcome. Or, perhaps you are in a small cabin that is warm and dry as the rain pours down outside. Enjoying or affording comforting warmth and shelter especially in a small space. |
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Shabby. The adjective shabby describes something that is threadbare or worn out. Your last apartment was clean, but the furniture and carpets were so shabby that you were embarrassed to invite your friends over. The adjective shabby also describes a manner of acting that is mean or contemptible. If you spent your whole childhood treating your younger brother in a shabby way, you can't expect him to be your friend when you're older. In modern slang, if you say something is "not too shabby," you mean that it was good. You might compliment your brother by telling him his soda can sculpture isn't too shabby. |
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Dilapidate. To dilapidate is to bring into a condition of decay or partial ruin. Furniture might be dilapidated by use. This verb can be easily replaced with synonyms: to decay, deteriorate, or fall into partial ruin through neglect or misuse. On the one hand, the structure is dilapidated and inaccessible to people with disadvantages - a significant problem when a good portion of your regulars are senior citizens. There's a sparkly new grocery store and dozens of the greystones that were near the complex and were once dilapidated have been renovated and modernized. |
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Deteriorate. When something gets worse due to neglect or an unfortunate health problem, stuff starts to deteriorate - or fall apart. The word deteriorate describes anytime something gets worse. Due to neglect, a relationship can deteriorate but so can the American highway system. Sadly, there seems to be no end to applications for the word deteriorate. And, the truth is at a certain age we all start deteriorating too. You should be prepared for the possibility that things may deteriorate and force you to seek other employment in the near term. According to Guerra's son, Jack, the relationship between the original partners had deteriorated beyond repair and it was decided the restaurant would be sold. |
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Neglect. Neglect is worse than ignoring something, it's ignoring it, falling to care for it, and probably harming it in the process. The word neglect comes from the Latin verb "neglegere", which means "disregarded." You can neglect to do your chores, meaning fail to do them, but this word is usually reserved for cases when you willingly refuse to care for something appropriately. Child neglect is what parents get charged with when they fail to provide for their child's basic needs. If you go on vacation and neglect your plants, they may wither and die due to your lack of attention. Neglect is to give little attention or respect to: DISREGARD Example: The building has been neglected for years. To leave undone or unattended to especially through carelessness. Example: The prison guard neglected his duty. Example: Her client, Dj Drew Taggart-better known as one half of The Chainsmokers - had bought the West Hollywood home two years prior, but as his career took off, it was left somewhat neglected. |
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Undertone. An undertone is literally a muted tone of voice, but it can also refer to an unspoken, implied meaning or emotion: "I thought there were undertones of hostility in her supposed apology." An undertone is a muted color or sound, like the blue undertones in your your gray wallpaper or the undertones of murmured conversations in a busy restaurant. When someone speaks in an undertone, it means that they whisper or talk very softly. You might tell you sister about your dad's surprise party in an undertone, so he doesn't overhear. These days, the word is most commonly used to refer to a subtle or implied meaning in an utterance. |
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Tip out. To empty a vessel of its contents by tipping it over. A noun or pronoun is used between "tip" and "out". Example: The waiter wasn't watching what he was doing and tipped water out onto our table. Example: As she approached the traffic light the driver in front of her tipped out fast food boxes, polystyrene cups and chip bags. |
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Tip. The pointed or tapered end of something is its tip. There's the tip of your dog's wagging tail, the tips of your finger, or the tip of the continent of South America. When you can almost remember someone's name, you might say it's on the tip of your tongue, and when something's just "the tip of the iceberg", it's only on small bit of a much larger problem. Other meanings of tip include "tilt," like when you tip your hat as you stroll down the street, and "gratuity," or the extra money you give to a waiter or barber in change for good service. To impart a piece of information or advice about. Tip one's hand or less commonly tip one's mitt is to declare one's intentions or reveal one's opinions or resources Example: the Justice Department wouldn't tip its hand by saying what its next move would be |
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Taper. Taper is to gradually grow smaller or more narrow or less intense. Taper is often used with the word "off." Part of the power of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is how the two walls appear to taper off into infinity. As a verb, taper can refer not just to physical objects that narrow: the weather forecast might call for heavy snow that will taper off at the end of the day, and public interest in a political scandal might taper off over time. As a noun, taper refers to a shape that narrows at one end, and it's also another word for a candle that is smaller at one end than the other. "Narrow candle" is the original meaning of the word, and it seems to derive from Latin papyrus, which was once used to make candle wicks. |
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Stroll. As a noun, a stroll is a leisurely walk. After a heavy meal, you may want to go out for a stroll to help you work off some of the calories. You also will take a stroll on your day off and the weather is nice. The word stroll originally came to English through the German word strollen, which means to wander aimlessly. The word stroll can also be used as a verb meaning to take a leisurely walk in the park, along the beach, or down the city streets - take your time. |
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Thoroughfare. A thoroughfare is a public road that can get you from one place to another. When it snows, plows try to remove the snow from the thoroughfares so the school buses can take everyone to school. You're welcome. This somewhat old-fashioned word has a very common word has a very common meaning - a public road that goes from point a to point b. The word is made up of thorough, Old English for basically, "through" and fare for "journey." (Fare also now means a payment, but not in thoroughfare.) If a road is private, like a driveway, it's not a thoroughfare.) If a road is private, like a driveway, it's not a thoroughfare.) This word often appears in the phrase "no thoroughfare," which means there isn't a public route available. |
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Eclectic. She listens to hip-hop, Gregorian chant, and folk music from the '60s'. He's been seen wearing a handmade tuxedo jacket over a thrift-store flannel shirt. They both have eclectic tastes. The English word eclectic first appeared in the seventeenth century to describe philosophers who did not belong to a particular school of thought, but instead assembled their doctrines by picking and choosing from a variety of philosophical systems. Today, the word can refer to any assemblage of varied parts. You can have an eclectic group of friends (friends from diverse groups), eclectic taste in furniture (a mixture of 18th-century French chairs, Andy Warhol paintings, and Persian rugs), or enjoy eclectic cuisine (fusion cooking that uses ingredients from different national cuisines). |
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Solicitor. If you get into trouble in England, don't ask for a lawyer. Find a solicitor. England has two levels of attorneys: for big problems, you'll need a barrister, but for your hypothetical legal troubled, a solicitor should do nicely. Some highly placed attorneys in the U.S. are also called solicitors. The lawyer in charge of government cases that come before the Supreme Court is the Solicitors General, and that was Elena Kagan's job before President Barack Obama appointed her to the Supreme Court. Solicitor isn't always a privileged position. The person who knocks on your door asking you to contribute to some worthy cause is also a solicitor - someone who asks for - or solicits - donation. |
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Sliver. A very thin slice or bit of something is a sliver. A sliver of hope is better than a sliver of doubt, but having a sliver of wood in your foot is the worst. That's called a splinter, and it hurts! You'll want to watch out for slivers of glass if you break a drinking glass in the sink, and machinists have to wear special protective goggles to guard against flying slivers of metal. If you just want a bite of dessert, you can ask for just a sliver of cheesecake. Sliver is also a verb, meaning "splinter", or "cut into thin pieces". It comes from a verb that's now obsolete, sliven, "to split". |
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Come before (someone or something). To be more important than someone or something else. Example: In these situations, your family comes before everything else. To be considered, discussed, or judged by someone in authority. Example: The case comes before the Magistrates again in June. |
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Immense. Immense means very large in size, amount, degree. You might describe the ocean as immense, or your homework load, or the slice of cake your brother took, leaving you a tiny sliver. |
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Liaison. Employ the French-sounding word liaison to refer to a relationship, a link between people or groups who aids communication. There are two main definitions for liaison that seem from Old French and before that, the Latin word for "to blind." The first definition refers in general to a connection or a relationship that serves effective communication. The second definition refers more specifically to an illicit relationship, or an affair, and can have a negative connotation. Example: Karen Rumsey of the Cincinnati Police Department's victim and witness liaison unit will speak at the event, set to begin at 1 p.m. at the church at 2950 Sidney Ave. Example: I had known Korologos when I was Solicitor General, and he was the Nixon White House's liaison to the Senate. He was a great support. |
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Threadbare. Those jeans you wear every day that have holes in the knees and thin patches in the rear? They're threadbare. Threadbare means thin from overuse. Furniture, clothing or a rug is threadbare if the fabric is thin and worn through. If your father tells the same jokes over and over again, you might accuse him of having a threadbare sense of humor. A friend who chooses to live a threadbare lifestyle doesn't have a lot of things, and what they do have is not in the best of shape. When you see this word, picture your childhood stuffed animal with the fur rubbed thin from too much cuddling. |
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