| decree |
an official order or decision by a ruler or government. |
| delve |
to make a careful, thoroughgoing search, as for information. |
| demographic |
of or relating to the study of human populations, involving statistical analysis of size, distribution, density, migration, fertility, and the like. |
| dwindle |
to become or cause to become gradually smaller or less until almost nothing remains; shrink. |
| ecology |
the scientific study of the relationships between living things and their environments. |
| fictional |
existing only in a made-up story and not existing in real life. |
| gallant |
brave and dashing. |
| genre |
a category of artistic work marked by a particular specified form, technique, or content. |
| instinct |
natural behavior in an animal that is not taught by parents or experience but is simply part of what an animal is born with. |
| intermediate |
being or happening between two things, stages, positions, or persons; being in the middle. |
| jubilant |
having or showing great joy; having a happy feeling of success. |
| membrane |
a thin layer of tissue found in living things. Some kinds of membranes cover the outside or inside of organs. Other membranes separate or connect different parts of the body. |
| retract |
to pull back in. |
| skew |
to turn or go off at an angle; swerve. |
| subtle |
difficult to detect or define; elusive or ambiguous. |