v. to caution or advise against something; to scold mildly; to remind of a duty

Example: I admonished my friend for her poor conduct in regards to the prank call.

n. an opening, gap, rupture, rift; a violation or infraction; v. to create an opening, break through

Example: The breach in the dam allowed water to flood the ill-prepared city.

n. a bandit, robber, outlaw, highwayman

Example: In many respects, Robin Hood was a brigand.

adj. careful, cautious

Example: When investing in the stock market, a person must be circumspect regarding what to companies to trust with their money.

v. to seize for military or official use

Example: The police commandeered the elderly woman's vehicle in order to catch the cheese thief.

adj. clumsy, hard to handle; slow-moving

Example: The cumbersome giant turtle accidentally stepped on a person and made him as flat as a penny.

n. a standstill resulting from the opposition of two equal forces or factions; v. to bring to such a standstill

Example: The wrestlers were in a deadlock, and appeared to be angry to see their skill levels were so similar.

n. scattered fragments, wreckage

Example: The debris resulting from the storm began to rot, and the fumes were tremendous.

v. to spread or scatter freely or widely; adj. wordy, long-winded, or unfocused; scattered or widely spread

Example: The longer I listened to the grammar lesson, the more I felt my brain starting to diffuse.

n. a difficult or perplexing situation or problem

Example: The dilemma I was facing was a serious one: would I choose the good friends or the dangerous ones?

v. to wipe out; to keep oneself from being noticed

Example: The wall-flower did a very impressive job of effacing himself at the pep rally.

v. to make a mess of; muddle through: to get by; n. a hopeless mess

Example: Sometimes life is hard and you have to just muddle through even the worst of circumstances.

adj. stubborn and often unreasonable in holding to one's own ideas, having a closed mind.

Example: The new student in our English class was fairly opinionated.

adj. lasting for a long time, persistent; n. a plant that lives for many years

Example: My mother loves plants, especially brightly-colored perennials.

v. to incline to beforehand

Example: Since I was predisposed to the findings, I was not as shocked as the others in the class after the professor's announcement.

v. to let go, give up

Example: As Americans, the Constitution ensures that we shall never be forced to relinquish our right to speak freely our opinions.

v. to save from fire or shipwreck; n. property thus saved

Example: We made our way through the remains of our house in a feeble attempt to salvage our few possessions that had not been scorched.

adj. sudden and violent but brief; fitful; intermittent

Example: His spasmodic seizures were a clear sign that his blood sugar was at a dangerous level.

adj. not genuine, not true, not valid

Example: Atheists claim the Bible to be spurious; personally, I completely disagree with their theory.

adj. uncontrolled, lacking in restraint

Example: The unbridled teenager kept on acting recklessly due to the lack of consequences he encountered.

v. to make shorter

Example: the abridged dictionary contained only a fraction of the words in the complete, original edition. 

n. a follower

adj. attached, sticking to

Example: The adherents of the religion were tricked by the director into believing ridiculous things.

n. an angry argument

Example: That altercation between you and Casey was not necessary; it was your fault, so you had better apologize.

adj. resembling an angel portrayed as a little child; sweet and innocent

Example: One of the belongings left in her will to me was a cherubic sculpture she had loved dearly.

v. to pardon or overlook

Example: While I certainly didn't support his behavior, I condoned it in the right setting.

v. to disagree

n. disagreement

Example: The noisy dissent between the two members of the congregation made the visitors in the next pew question their choice to attend that church.

adj. famous, outstanding, distinguished; projecting

Example: The Statesmen was distinguished for his good sportsmanship and athletic skills.

v. to drive out by magic

Example: The woman claimed the ability to exorcise ghosts and spirits from "haunted" houses.

v. to make, manufacture; make up

Example: The fabricated evidence led further investigation of the witness-turned-suspect.

adj. angry

Example: The three bears were irate when they returned to their house to find their bowls of porridge empty.

n. a raider, plunderer

Example: The marauder planned to eventually dishonor the king by stealing his crown while he was asleep.

n. excessive fatness

Example: Though there are a few overweight teenagers, obesity is not common in our area.

n. an extremely poor person

Example: Robin Hood dedicated his life to saving paupers from the poverty engulfing them.

v. to steal in small quantities

Example: Though I didn't realize anything missing at first, over time it became apparent that a few of my medications had been pilfered by the young woman.

n. a split, break, breach

Example: The rift between the two cliffs was no trouble for adults, but quite dangerous for small children.

n. a likeness; an outward appearance, an apparition

Example: The piano recital frightened the little girl, and her semblance only reassured us of her terror.

v. to overcome, rise above

Example: His faith helped him surmount the sadness of his disabling illness and find joy in the life he had.

v. to bring to an end

Example: The operation was terminated soon after the patient had a bad reaction to the anesthetic.

adj. commonplace, overused, stale

Example: The trite sayings made her inspired her to create an all new one that she used wherever it could be successfully applied.

v. to seize and hold a position by force or without right

Example: The dictator usurped power over the country from the president.