| ascertain |
to learn without question; determine. |
| astute |
keen in understanding and judgment; shrewd. |
| barrage |
a great number of things coming one after another very quickly. |
| conversant |
familiar; acquainted; practiced (usually followed by "with" or "in"). |
| dawdle |
to waste time; be slow. |
| declivity |
a downward or descending slope. |
| deign |
to consider some act to be appropriate or in keeping with one's dignity; condescend. |
| diurnal |
occurring or active during, or belonging to, the daytime rather than nighttime. |
| erratic |
not expected or predicted; not regular. |
| lien |
a legal claim on a piece of property when the current owner is in default on a debt or obligation. |
| maunder |
to speak in an aimless or foolish way; babble. |
| 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. |
| mélange |
a mixture, usually of very dissimilar elements. |
| peroration |
the concluding part of a speech in which there is a summing up of the principal points. |
| stanch1 |
to cause (a liquid, especially blood) to stop flowing. |