| apprehensive |
feeling fearful about future events. |
| attenuate |
to cause to be thin, rarefied, or fine. |
| boudoir |
a woman's private sitting room or bedroom. |
| dearth |
a shortage or scarcity of something; lack. |
| despoil |
to forcefully take belongings or goods from; plunder. |
| espouse |
to take up, hold, or commit oneself to (a cause, idea, or belief); embrace. |
| heinous |
extremely wicked or despicable; atrocious. |
| kibbutz |
an Israeli farming settlement whose ownership is shared by those who live and work there. |
| otiose |
having no purpose or use; unnecessary or futile. |
| peremptory |
not permitting refusal or disobedience. |
| peroration |
the concluding part of a speech in which there is a summing up of the principal points. |
| salvo |
the firing of guns or other firearms simultaneously or in succession, especially as a salute. |
| sudorific |
causing or increasing sweat, as a medication. |
| triage |
a system of determining priority of medical treatment, on the basis of need, chances of survival, and the like, to victims on a battlefield or in a hospital emergency ward. |
| virago |
a shrewish, domineering woman; nag or scold. |