| | contention [ kuh'n-TEN-shuh'n ] | | [ noun ] | | MEANING : | | 1. the act of striving in opposition 2. a competition or contest 3. an assertion or an affirmation put forward in an argument | | USAGE EXAMPLE 1 : | | Having survived the round-robin stage and the semi-finals, the two teams were now in fierce contention to win the prestigious trophy. | | USAGE EXAMPLE 2 : | | Five photographers from Birmingham and the Black Country are in contention to have their picture chosen for the basis of the world's biggest photo mosaic. BBC, The Big Picture, 4 February 2010. | | squelch [ skwelch ] | | [ noun, intransitive verb, transitive verb ] | | MEANING : | | 1. (tr. v.) to squash by walking upon 2. (tr. v.) to silence with a smart retort or suppress 3. (intr. v.) to produce a squishing sound 4. (n.) the sound of squishing | | USAGE EXAMPLE 1 : | | They took off their boots climbed into the vat and squelched the grapes. | | USAGE EXAMPLE 2 : | | We squelched towards my dad and boyfriend who cleverly remained undercover throughout the whole rain/hail scenario. BBC, My Story - A Comedy of Errors, Wallis, 16 October 2009. | | improvise [ IM-pruh'-vahyz ] | | [ intransitive verb, transitive verb ] | | MEANING : | | 1. (tr. v.) extemporize or perform without previous preparation 2. (tr. v.) to provide from what is available 3. (intr. v.) to perform something on the spur of the moment or without previously preparing for it 4. (intr. v.) to make do with what is available | | USAGE EXAMPLE 1 : | | The professor told the student that he should improvise instead of complaining the lack of proper equipment to conduct the experiment.
| | USAGE EXAMPLE 2 : | | In many work places you dare not improvise. BBC, Can comedy and rock 'n roll help business? Arlene Gregorius, 17 December 2009. | | sham [ sham ] | | [ noun, verb, adjective ] | | MEANING : | | 1. (n.) something false that is alleged to be genuine 2. (n.) a person who feigns illness or pretends 3. (n.) a cover up or giving a false outward appearance 4. (adj.) feigned or pretended 5. (v.) to pretend or put on false appearances | | USAGE EXAMPLE 1 : | | The investigation was a sham as the detectives were not keen on catching the culprit. | | USAGE EXAMPLE 2 : | | A man jailed for arranging sham marriages in Northern Ireland has launched a legal bid to avoid deportation to Nigeria. BBC, Sham marriage scammer to fight deportation, 4 February 2010. | | pharisee [ FAR-uh'-see ] | | [ noun ] | | MEANING : | | 1. a member of an ancient Jewish sect that adhered to a strict interpretation and observance of the Mosaic law in its written and oral forms 2. a sanctimonious or self-righteous individual | | USAGE EXAMPLE 1 : | | His holier-than-thou attitude earned him the title of Pharisee.
| | USAGE EXAMPLE 2 : | | These hypocritical newspaper Pharisees have had to give up attacking gay marriage and other arrangements, and so they turn their fire – as usual – on the eternal question of when it is right for women to have babies. The telegraph, Britain's oldest mother deserves congratulation not disapproval, Boris Johnson, 18 May 2009. | |
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] | boy, baby, rob | [d] | do, ladder, bed | [f] | food, offer, safe | [g] | get, bigger, dog | [h] | happy, ahead | [j] | jump, budget, age | [k] | can, speaker, stick | [l] | let, follow, still | [m] | make, summer, time | [n] | no, dinner, thin | [ng] | singer, think, long | [p] | put, apple, cup | [r] | run, marry, far, store | [s] | sit, city, passing, face | [sh] | she, station, push | [t] | top, better, cat | [ch] | church, watching, nature, witch | [th] | thirsty, nothing, math | [th'] | this, mother, breathe | [v] | very, seven, love | [w] | wear, away | [hw] | where, somewhat | [y] | yes, onion | [z] | zoo, easy, buzz | [zh] | measure, television, beige | | | VOWELS | [a] | apple, can, hat | [ey] | aid, hate, day | [ah] | arm, father, aha | [air] | air, careful, wear | [aw] | all, or, talk, lost, saw | [e] | ever, head, get | [ee] | eat, see, need | [eer] | ear, hero, beer | [er] | teacher, afterward, murderer | [i] | it, big, finishes | [ahy] | I, ice, hide, deny | [o] | odd, hot, woffle | [oh] | owe, road, below | [oo] | ooze, food, soup, sue | [oo'] | good, book, put | [oi] | oil, choice, toy | [ou] | out, loud, how | [uh] | up, mother, mud | [uh'] | about, animal, problem, circus | [ur] | early, bird, stirring | | | FOREIGN SOUNDS | [a*] | Fr. ami | [kh*] | Scot. loch, Ger. ach or ich | [œ] | Fr. feu, Ger. schön | [r*] | Fr. au revoir, Yiddish rebbe | [uh*] | Fr. oeuvre | [y*] | Fr. tu, Ger. über | | | SAMPLE NASALIZED VOWELS | [an*] | Fr. bien | [ahn*] | Fr. croissant | [awn*] | Fr. bon | [œn*] | Fr. parfum | [in*] | Port. Principe | | | |
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