| affidavit |
a written statement that is sworn in the presence of an authorized official to be true, used as legal evidence. |
| apocryphal |
of dubious authorship or authority. |
| augury |
the art or practice or an instance of predicting the future or obtaining hidden knowledge by interpreting omens. |
| derelict |
failing to fulfill one's responsibilities or obligations; remiss. |
| deter |
to stop or discourage from some action by creating doubt or fear. |
| élan |
enthusiasm or vigor. |
| impinge |
to encroach. |
| incursion |
a raid or sudden invasion. |
| inflection |
change that occurs in the form of words to show a grammatical characteristic such as the tense of a verb, the number of a noun, or the degree of an adjective or adverb. |
| intelligentsia |
the elite class of highly learned people within a society, or those who consider themselves part of such a class. |
| preferment |
the act of promoting or being promoted to a higher position or office. |
| rapacious |
capable of capturing and eating live prey; predacious. |
| recant |
to withdraw from commitment to (a former position or statement), especially publicly; retract. |
| revetment |
a facing of stone, masonry, or the like to support or protect a wall, embankment, or mound of earth. |
| salvo |
the firing of guns or other firearms simultaneously or in succession, especially as a salute. |