| accretion |
the process of gradual increase or growth, especially by additions from the outside. |
| appellation |
a name, title, or other designation. |
| assuage |
to make less severe or more bearable; alleviate. |
| atavism |
the recurrence or reappearance of a particular trait, style, attitude, or behavior that seemed to have disappeared, or that which has recurred or reappeared after such an absence. |
| attune |
to adjust so as to be harmonious. |
| disinter |
to dig up or remove from a place of burial; exhume. |
| gossamer |
delicately fine, gauzelike, or filmy. |
| guru |
in a cult or religious movement, a spiritual guide or leader, sometimes believed to be divine. |
| impugn |
to call into question; challenge or try to discredit. |
| intersperse |
to place or scatter among other things. |
| lattice |
a flat framework made with strips of wood or other material. The strips cross each other and have open spaces in between. A lattice is often used as a screen on a porch or in a garden. |
| limn |
to paint or draw. |
| mésalliance |
marriage with someone of lower social standing than oneself. |
| rebarbative |
tending to irritate or repel; forbidding or unattractive. |
| salvo |
the firing of guns or other firearms simultaneously or in succession, especially as a salute. |