AP Lang Vocab - Unit 4

belie

verb 

1 (of an appearance) fail to give a true notion or impression of (something); disguise or contradict : his lively alert manner belied his years.

2 fail to fulfill or justify (a claim or expectation); betray : the notebooks belie Darwin's later recollection.

vortex

noun ( pl. -texes or -tices)

a mass of whirling fluid or air, esp. a whirlpool or whirlwind.

• figurative something regarded as a whirling mass : the vortex of existence.

winnow

Verb

1. blow a current of air through (grain) in order to remove the chaff.

• remove (chaff) from grain : women winnow the chaff from piles of unhusked rice.

• reduce the number in a set of (people or things) gradually until only the best ones are left : the contenders had been winnowed to five.

• find or identify (a valuable or useful part of something) : amidst this welter of confusing signals, it's difficult to winnow out the truth.

• identify and remove (the least valuable or useful people or things) : guidelines that would help winnow out those not fit to be soldiers.

2. poetic/literary (of the wind) blow : the autumn wind winnowing its way through the grass.

• (of a bird) fan (the air) with wings.

parabola

noun ( pl. -las or -lae)

a symmetrical open plane curve formed by the intersection of a cone with a plane parallel to its side. The path of a projectile under the influence of gravity ideally follows a curve of this shape.

nonsectarian

Adjective

not involving or relating to a specific religious sect or political group.

interpolate

verb [ trans. ]

insert (something) between fixed points : illustrations were interpolated in the text.

• insert (words) in a book or other text, esp. in order to give a false impression as to its date.

• make such insertions in (a book or text).

• interject (a remark) in a conversation : [with direct speech ] “I dare say,” interpolated her employer.

• Mathematics insert (an intermediate value or term) into a series by estimating or calculating it from surrounding known values.

precipitous

adjective

1. dangerously high or steep : the precipitous cliffs of the North Atlantic coast.

• (of a change to a worse situation or condition) sudden and dramatic : the end of the war led to a precipitous decline in exports.

2. (of an action) done suddenly and without careful consideration : precipitous intervention.

abrogate

verb [ trans. ] formal

repeal or do away with (a law, right, or formal agreement) : a proposal to abrogate temporarily the right to strike.

oxidize

verb

combine or become combined chemically with oxygen : when coal is burned any sulfur is oxidized to sulfur dioxide OR the fats in the food will oxidize, turning it rancid.

• Chemistry: undergo or cause to undergo a reaction in which electrons are lost to another species. The opposite of reduce.

jejune

Adjective

1. naive, simplistic, and superficial : their entirely predictable and usually jejune opinions

2. (of ideas or writings) dry and uninteresting : the poem seems to me rather jejune.