| abut |
to adjoin or press against; be next to; border on. |
| blandishment |
(often plural) flattering or coaxing remarks or stratagems intended to persuade. |
| 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. |
| convoluted |
complex; intricate. |
| deracinate |
to pull up by or as if by the roots; uproot; isolate; exile. |
| descant |
a secondary, usually higher, melody that is played or sung at the same time as the chief melody. |
| Draconian |
(often lower case) harshly cruel or rigorous. |
| facetious |
not serious; humorous or frivolous. |
| forbear |
to keep or abstain from (an action or utterance). |
| imprimatur |
any official permission or sanction. |
| invidious |
tending to arouse feelings of resentment or animosity, especially because of a slight; offensive or discriminatory. |
| peroration |
the concluding part of a speech in which there is a summing up of the principal points. |
| relict |
a plant, animal, or geological feature that has survived in a considerably changed environment. |
| tyro |
one who is beginning to learn a business, trade, sport, or the like; novice; neophyte. |