| aberration |
a deviation from what is considered normal or right; irregularity. |
| adulteration |
the act or process of making worse or impure by adding unnecessary or inferior ingredients. |
| avow |
to assert or affirm. |
| canard |
a deliberately false story or rumor, usually defamatory to someone. |
| cloture |
in U.S. parliamentary procedure, a method of ending debate and causing an immediate vote on the matter being discussed. |
| cognomen |
a last name; surname. |
| disquisition |
a formal, often lengthy, oral or written discussion of a subject. |
| extenuate |
to reduce the magnitude or seriousness of (a fault or offense) by offering partial excuses. |
| festoon |
a decorative chain or strip of ribbons, flowers, leaves, or the like, suspended at the ends and hung in a curve. |
| macerate |
to soften (food or the like) by soaking, as in digestion. |
| pastiche |
a work of visual art, music, or literature that consists mostly of materials and techniques borrowed from other works, sometimes done as an exercise to learn the technique of others. |
| 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. |
| tummler |
an entertainer or social director who encourages participation by guests or audience. |
| vitiate |
to harm the quality of; mar; spoil. |