| abeyance |
temporary suspension or cessation. |
| centripetal |
forced or moving inward toward a center point or axis. |
| coalesce |
to grow together or unite to form a single body or organization; unify; fuse. |
| coddle |
to simmer in water that is almost at the boiling point. |
| deadeye |
an expert shooter. |
| effete |
marked by excessive refinement or delicateness of taste. |
| glut |
a greater supply or amount than is needed. |
| inadvertent |
not planned or intended; unintentional. |
| intersperse |
to place or scatter among other things. |
| oblique |
not direct or straightforward in intent, means, or achievement; indirect or devious. |
| parvenu |
a person who has suddenly acquired wealth or status, without acquiring the tastes, manners, customs, or the like of his or her new station. |
| precursory |
coming before and serving to indicate what will follow; premonitory. |
| revetment |
a facing of stone, masonry, or the like to support or protect a wall, embankment, or mound of earth. |
| solipsism |
the self-centered habit of interpreting and judging all things exclusively according to one's own concepts of meaning and value. |
| 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. |