| aplomb |
great self-confidence, composure, or poise. |
| assail |
to attack with vigor or violence; assault. |
| austerity |
a tightened or stringent economy, as when there are high taxes, frozen wages, and shortages of consumer goods. |
| chary |
not dispensing freely. |
| coeval |
coinciding in time of origin or existence; contemporary. |
| constrict |
to pull or squeeze in; make smaller or more narrow; tighten. |
| emulous |
filled with the desire to equal or surpass. |
| expound |
to discuss or explain in detail (usually followed by "on" or "upon"). |
| nonplus |
to cause (someone) to be unable to think of what to say, do, or decide; perplex; bewilder. |
| pleonasm |
a redundant word, phrase, or expression. |
| pliant |
easily flexed; supple. |
| reprisal |
injury inflicted in retaliation for injury received, as in war; revenge. |
| shunt |
to turn or move aside or out of the way; divert. |
| symbiosis |
a close association, usually a mutually beneficial relationship, between two dissimilar organisms. |
| unscathed |
not hurt or harmed; completely uninjured. |