| aberration |
a deviation from what is considered normal or right; irregularity. |
| cyst |
a small pouch within body tissue that is filled with fluid or air. Some cysts are connected with serious disease, but most are not harmful at all. |
| encomium |
a formal expression of praise. |
| glabrous |
having no hair or fuzz; bald; smooth. |
| goad |
something that spurs a person to action; stimulus. |
| indistinct |
not clearly perceived or perceiving. |
| lenitive |
mitigating pain, discomfort, or distress; soothing. |
| malapropism |
the humorous or ridiculous misuse of a word, especially by using a word that sounds similar to the correct word, but whose meaning is inappropriate. |
| maverick |
a person who thinks and behaves independently, especially one who refuses to adhere to the orthodoxy of the group to which he or she belongs. |
| ontogeny |
the process of biological growth and development of a particular living organism. |
| opiate |
something that induces relaxation, calm, or stupor. |
| recurve |
to bend or curve back or backward, as the ends of certain shooting bows. |
| repose2 |
to put or place (confidence, hope, or the like) in someone or something. |
| solecism |
a gross violation of convention in grammar, etiquette, or the like; impropriety. |
| tort |
in law, any civil rather than criminal harm or injury that violates the implicit duty of each citizen not to harm others, and for which one may bring a civil suit and collect compensation. |