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n. very handsome mad (Adonis was a very handsome youth who was loved by Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty.)
Emily's escort was just ordinary-looking, and mine was no _________ either. |
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n. book of maps (Atlas, an earth giant, was forced to support the heavens on his shoulders. A representation of Atlas in this task used to appear on the front page of map collections.)
I would like to check on the boundaries of Hungary. Do you have a recent _______? |
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n. guidebook; handbook [Karl Baedeker (1801-1859) published in Germany a series of guidebooks to foreign countries.]
If I had not misplaced by ____________, I would have visited more of the truly important places in Paris. |
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v. expurgate; clear of objectionable words or passages [Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825) published an expurgated edition of Shakespeare's works.]
Some of the classics studied in high school have been _________________, as you may discover when you later read the unexpurgated editions. |
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v. join with others to refuse to use, buy, or deal with [Charles C. Boycott (1832-1897), agent in Ireland for an English landlord, treated the tenants so unfairly that they refused to pay their rents to him.]
If the fare goes up any more, many riders will walk or form car pools. They will __________ the transit system. |
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n. fanatical patriot; jingoist (Nicolas Chauvin, a legendary French soldier, was excessively devoted to Napoleon I.)
We must guard against being dragged into conflicts by _____________; their patriotism is blind. |
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n. guide who explains to tourists the history and special feature of a place [Cicero (106-43 B.C.)was a Roman orator. Cicerones are usually talkative.]
Thanks to the loquacious ___________, we learned a great deal about art and art history on our tour of Florence. |
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adj. involving imminent disaster (In ancient Syracuse, Damocles, who had overpraised the king's happiness, was allegedly forced to sit under a sword suspended by a single hair to teach him the insecurity of the king's position.)
Some of the residents in the neighborhood of the nuclear power plant regard it as a ______________ threat; others feel no imminent danger. |
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adj. enormous; gigantic; prodigious (Gargantau, the amiable giant king in Gargantua by Rabelais, has an enormous capacity for food and drink.)
If your cousin gets to the food first, there will be very little for the rest of us; he has a _______________ appetite. |
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n. person's signature [On the Declaration of Independence, the signature of the American statesman John Hancock (1737-1793) is the first, the largest, and the most legible.]
Read the document carefully. Then affix your _________________ on the dotted line. |
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adj. crafty; deceitful; cunning [Nicolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) wrote about the use of deceit and cunning to gain and hold power, with morality subordinated to political expediency.]
He did not hesitate to use lies, fraud, bribery, character assassination, spies, and even thugs to stay in office; he was ____________________. |
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n. humorous misuse of words by a person unaware of the error (Mrs. Malaprop, a character in Sheridan's play The Rivals, makes many such errors.)
Pat said she has a "ravaging" appetite for pizza. Of course, she meant "ravenous," but I did not want to embarrass her by pointing out the _____________. |
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n. wise, trusted adviser or teacher (In the Odyssey, Mentor is the trusted friend of Odysseus and the tutor of Odysseus's son Telemachus.)
The father began teaching his daughter the piano when she was only three; he was an excellent _________. |
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v. hypnotize; spellbind; enthrall [Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815) was a German physician who used hypnotism.]
The show is spellbinding: it will ________________ you. |
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n. long, wandering journey (Homer's Odyssey describes the wanderings of Odysseus on his way home from the Trojan War, a journey that took ten years.)
Nowadays most tourists do not have the time for an eighty-four-day _____________ through the Middle East and the Orient. |
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n. bitter denunciatory speech; tirade [In his Philippics, the orator Demosthenes (382-22 B.C.) denounced Philip II of Macedon.]
In an impassioned ______________, the former cabinet official rebuked the prime minister and demanded his resignation. |
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n. traitor; collaborator [Vidkun Quisling (1887-1945), a Norwegian, betrayed his country to the Nazis and was installed by them as its puppet ruler.]
The ___________ who gave military secrets to our potential enemies has been living abroad. |
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adj. impractically idealistic; visionary (Don Quixote, hero of a novel by Cervantes, is a naive idealist who tries to combat evil in a hopelessly unrealistic manner.)
Any plan for the instant rehabilitation of career criminals is ___________; it will not work. |
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adj. deriving pleasure by inflicting pain on others; deliberately cruel [The Marquis de Sade (1740-1814) described such abnormal behavior in his writings.]
The enraged captain whipped the rebellious sailor with __________ glee. |
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adj. very loud (In Homer's Iliad, Stentor, a Greek herald, speaks with the loudness of fifty voices.)
Without a microphone, I would have needed a _____________ voice to be heard at the outdoor rally. |
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