| abut |
to adjoin or press against; be next to; border on. |
| appose |
to place next to or side by side; juxtapose. |
| benign |
causing little or no harm. |
| demotic |
of or relating to the common people; popular. |
| derision |
mockery or ridicule. |
| descant |
a secondary, usually higher, melody that is played or sung at the same time as the chief melody. |
| disallow |
to refuse to allow or admit; reject. |
| discountenance |
to embarrass or disconcert. |
| encomium |
a formal expression of praise. |
| fledge |
to grow flight feathers. |
| forbear |
to keep or abstain from (an action or utterance). |
| impinge |
to encroach. |
| 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. |
| pandemic |
a widespread outbreak of disease that afflicts many people over different continents. |
| salvo |
the firing of guns or other firearms simultaneously or in succession, especially as a salute. |