Daily Wordlist 22-Nov-09

	22-Nov-09 Daily Wordlist infinitesimal [ in-fin-i-TES-uh'-muh'l ]   [ noun, adjective ]   MEANING :   1. (adj.) minute or negligible in quantity 2. (adj.) pertaining to or involving extremely small quantities 2. (n.) a negligible quantity   USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :   Though the leakage of the poisonous gas from the canister was infinitesimal, many people in the vicinity died.   USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :   No matter how dreadful the terrorists are, it is infinitesimal compared to the strength of Londoners. BBC, Met chief warns of another attack, 7 July 2006.   ostracize [ OS-truh'-sahyz ]   [ transitive verb ]   MEANING :   1. (tr. v.) to exclude from 2. (tr. v.) to banish 3. (tr. v.) to shun or avoid   USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :   He was ostracized by the community because he had AIDS.   USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :   He denies suggestions that he has been behind moves to ostracize the Duchess of York. BBC, UK: Prince Philip: I am misunderstood, 16 May 1999.   colossus [ kuh'-LOS-uh's ]   [ noun ]   MEANING :   1. (n.) anything gigantic or very powerful 2. (n.) a statue of gigantic size 3. (n.) the legendary bronze statue of Helios which is at Rhodes   USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :   The Statue of Liberty is America's own colossus.   USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :   The US military colossus has moved into Afghanistan's most dangerous and turbulent province, moving troops, aircraft and armoured vehicles in numbers which British commanders could only dream of through their years of frustrating battle against a determined and deadly enemy. The Telegraph, American military colossus arrives in a fleet of helicopters which British lack, Ben Farmer, 18 July 2009.   mingle [ MING-guh'l ]   [ intransitive verb, transitive verb ]   MEANING :   1. (tr. v.) to mix 2. (tr. v.) to merge 3. (intr. v.) to become mixed 4. (intr. v.) to join with others   USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :   The police wore normal clothes and mingled with the people in the marketplace in an attempt to trap the drug dealers.   USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :   Ignoring threats that anyone chanting anything except "death to America" would be arrested, they mingled among the loyalists before breaking out in calls of "death to the dictator". The Telegraph, Iran protests: opposition clashes with security forces, Adrian Blomfield, 4 November 2009.   gruel [ GROO-uh'l ]   [ noun ]   MEANING :   1. (n.) a thin or watery porridge 2. (n.) severe punishment   USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :   The children at the boarding school were served gruel everyday for breakfast.   USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :   Dickens described Oliver's typical workhouse diet as consisting of three meals of "thin" gruel a day, an onion twice a week, half a bread roll on a Sunday. The Telegraph, Oliver Twist 'did not need any more food' claim doctors, Kate Devlin, 17 December 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] 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