| austerity |
a tightened or stringent economy, as when there are high taxes, frozen wages, and shortages of consumer goods. |
| belabor |
to continue excessive efforts on or excessive discussion of. |
| debauch |
to lead or seduce into immorality or intemperance; corrupt. |
| effluvium |
an outflow of usually invisible, foul-smelling vapor or gas. |
| entreat |
to beg for something, or to do something. |
| expound |
to discuss or explain in detail (usually followed by "on" or "upon"). |
| harrow |
to go over or break up with a harrow. |
| imprimatur |
any official permission or sanction. |
| inflection |
change that occurs in the form of words to show a grammatical characteristic such as the tense of a verb, the number of a noun, or the degree of an adjective or adverb. |
| intersperse |
to place or scatter among other things. |
| parsimonious |
excessively frugal; stingy. |
| quadrant |
any of the four parts that result when an area is divided by two lines, real or imaginary, that intersect each other at right angles. |
| raffish |
carelessly unconventional or disreputable, sometimes appealingly so. |
| shyster |
a person, usually a lawyer, who uses underhanded, unethical methods. |
| tort |
in law, any civil rather than criminal harm or injury that violates the implicit duty of each citizen not to harm others, and for which one may bring a civil suit and collect compensation. |