common second meanings and addendum

Affect

(V) to take on, assume; (adj) behave in an artificial or pretentious way

Afford

Grant (e.g., an opportunity)

Appreciate

1) To take into account the merits of OR 2) to increase in value

Appropriate

To allocate for OR to take from, steal

Arrest

To stop (not just handcuff a criminal)

Assume

To take on responsibility for, acquire (e.g., to take on a new position)

Austerity

Extreme financial restraint, eliminating all excess spending

Badger

(V) to pester or annoy

Bent

(N) liking or preference for

Capacity

Ability

Chance

(V) to attempt

Check

To control, as a vaccine halts the spread of disease

Coin

To invent, as to create a phrase

Compromise

(V) to endanger of make vulnerable, (e.g, your beliefs)

Constitution

(N) build, as in an athlete's solid physique and health

Conviction

Strong belief

Couch

(V) to hide

Currency

Acceptance or approval (of an idea)

Discriminating

Able to make fine distinctions

Dispatch

Speed, efficiency (e.g., She completed the project promptly and with great ____.)

Doctor

(v) tamper with, alter

Economy

thrift (e.g., a writer using few words exercises this)

Embroider

to embellish, to falsify, make up stories about

Execute

to carry out

Exploit

make use of, take advantage of (this connotation is POSITIVE)

Facility

ability to do something (e.g., ease or ability at learning languages or playing an instrument)

Foil

to put a stop to (as in a robbery) OR a secondary character who shows contrast with the main character, something which highlights through contrast

Grave/gravity

serious(ness)

Grill

To question intensely and repeatedly -- heatedly! (e.g., The police officers ___ the suspect thoroughly.)

Hamper

to get in the way of, to hinder

Harbor

to possess, hold (e.g., to harbor a belief)

Hobble

prevent, impede (A ___ed horse's feet are tied. He can walk well because the rope ___s him.)

Mint

(adj) in perfect condition, like new; to produce or make, as in coins

Pedestrian

unremarkable, uninteresting

Plastic/plasticity

malleable, able to be changed (e.g., brain ____)

Provoke

Elicit (e.g., a reaction)

Qualify

to provide more information or detail about which explains or limits the subject

Realize

to achieve (a goal)

Reconcile

to bring together opposing or contradictory ideas; to balance (When you balance your checkbook, you ___ the difference in debits and credits)

Relate/relay

to pass on information, give an account of

Reservations

misgivings

Reserve

To hold off on (e.g., to withold judgment)

Ruffled

flustered, nonplussed (un____ = calm)

Sap

to drain, as of energy

Scrap

(v) to eliminate

Shelve/table

(V) to remove from discussion or debate by setting aside; to reject or discard , as an idea or proposal

Sound

firm, stable, reliable, valid (as in a ____ argument)

Spare, Severe

plain, unadorned

Static

unchanging, in a state of stasis

Store

(n) reserve

Sustain

(v) to withstand; to suffer damage or injury

Temper

to moderate, make less harsh

Train

to fixate or focus on (e.g., to ____ one's eyes on something)

Uniform

constant, unvarying

Unqualified

absolute

Upset

(v) to interfere with an expected outcome

Want

lack

Yield

to reveal, to produce (e.g., an experiment ___ results)

Stem

staunch, stop (as in a tide or flood or flow)

Tender

(v) to present or to offer something up, as your resignation or payment for a bill (that's why money's called legal ___)

Intimate

to suggest something subtly.

Becoming

(adj) Suitable; appropriate; proper; matching nicely and flattering

Fleece

(v) to deceive. to charge someone too much money for something, especially by trick If you are thinking Mary Had a Little Lamb (...you know, white as snow), you have been ___ed by a secondary meaning. To to deceive.

Telling

significant; showing the true character of

Wax

to increase; (opposite of wane)

Flag

to lessen in intensity ( usually modifies interest, attention, energy, etc.)

List

to tilt over. (e.g. The tree ____ed in the wind.)

Essay

attempt

Comb

look for, search thoroughly

Mushroom

(v) to grow and spread fast

Raft

a large number of something

Checkered

marked by disreputable happenings (as a politician with a _____ past)

Involved

complicated and difficult to comprehend

Retiring

reserved or shy

Moment

significant, important (Think momentous)

Expansive

communicative and prone to talking in a sociable manner.

Base

low class

Galvanize

energize, spur on

Flush

(1) To turn red; (2) To be in abundance; (3) To spray or wash away with water; (4) To drive out of hiding

Hedge

(v) play it safe (as ____ing a bet); to equivocate or avoid making a direct statement

Beg (as begs the question)

1-to evade a question

2-invite an obvious question

3-to ask a question that in itself makes unwarranted assumptions.

The quick and dirty tip is to remember that when something begs the question, it begs the question: what is your support for that premise?

*Begging the question is a logical fallacy in which a conclusion is based on an assumption that is as much in need of proof as the premise. Because that phrase is out there, and because many people are unfamiliar with the fallacy, beg the question is widely used to mean raise the question. This use of beg the question is a common peeve among people who care about English usage, but the phenomenon is so widespread that we should probably just accept that begging the question has multiple meanings.

Start

To suddenly move or dart in a particular direction.