w117(1-5) - Daily Wordlist Vocabulary Flashcards |...

01/07/2011
Daily Wordlist Vocabulary Flashcards | Vocabulary Test | Previous Wordlists
magnanimous [ mag-NAN-uh’-muh’ s ]
[ adjective ]
MEANING :
1. noble of mind and heart; high-minded
2. forgiving, not holding onto grudges; not
revengeful or vindictive
3. characterised by great generosity or nobility
of action
USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :
The magnanimous industrialist built many
educational institutes for the poor.
USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :
The Rs 70,000-crore debt waiver scheme for
farmers is, by all standards, magnanimous.
The Times Of India, Govt not OK with fence
eating farm loan waiver, Shishir Arya, 10 Jul
2008, TNN
carte blanche [ KAHRT BLANCH, BLAHNCH; Fr. Kar*t BLAHN*SH ]
[ noun ]
MEANING :
1. unconditional authority
2. unrestricted power to act at one's own
discretion
3. a blank paper with a person's signature, etc,
at the bottom, given to another person with
permission to superscribe what conditions he
pleases.
USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :
She gave her brother carte blanche to do as he
pleased in the company.
USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :
Being a free agent is exciting, rewarding and
gives you carte blanche to choose your own
hours and assignments.
CNN, Seven easy steps to a freelance life,
From Kate Lorenz, April 2, 2007
constrict [ kuh’ n-STRIKT ]
[ intransitive verb, transitive verb ]
MEANING :
1. (tr.v.) to compress, squeeze or clamp
2. (tr.v.) to inhibit, restrict or stultify
3. (intr.v.) to get constricted
USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :
The company profits were constricted because
of petty in-fighting between the company's

board of directors.
USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :
The Airbus A330-200 has a "rudder limiter"
which constricts how much the rudder - which
is attached to the vertical stabilizer - can move
at high speeds.
Telegraph, Air France crash: Investigators
recover 29 bodies in total, 09 Jun 2009
plight [ plahyt ]
[ noun, transitive verb ]
MEANING :
1. (n.) an unfortunate situation
2. (n.) a situation or predicament
3. (tr. v.) to pledge or to bind by a pledge
USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :
People donated in cash and kind after hearing
of the sorry plight of the victims of the
tsunami.
USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :
He describes the plight of villagers who lost
everything to the floods.
BBC, India floods: 'Misery everywhere', 5
October 2009.
whorl [ hwurl, hwawrl, wurl, wawrl ]
[ noun ]
MEANING :
1. a circular arrangement of like parts around a
point on an axis
2. shaped like a coil or spiral
3. a circular ridge or convolution of a
fingerprint
USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :
Fresh flowers were affixed to the backdrop in
decorative whorls.
USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :
It hides under bracken, and has finished
flowering now, but the leaves were quite
distinctive, an untidy whorl of bright green
smooth leaves.
BBC, Botany, 30 June 2008.
Spelled Pronunciation Key
Stress marks: [ CAPS ] indicates the primary stressed syllable,
as in newspaper [NOOZ-pey-per ] and information [ in-fer-MEY-shuh' n ]
CONSONANTS
[b] b oy, b a b y, ro b
[d] d o, la dd er, be d
[f] f ood, o ff er, sa f e
VOWELS
[a] a pple, c a n, h a t
[ey] ai d, h a te, d ay
[ah] a rm, f a ther, ah a

[g] g et, bi gg er, do g
[h] h appy, a h ead
[j] j ump, bud g et, a g e
[k] c an, spea k er, sti ck
[l] l et, fo ll ow, sti ll
[m] m ake, su mm er, ti m e
[n] n o, di nn er, thi n
[ng] si ng er, thi n k, lo ng
[p] p ut, a pp le, cu p
[r] r un, ma