Daily Wordlist 23-Dec-09

	23-Dec-09 Daily Wordlist stellar [ STEL-er ]   [ adjective ]   MEANING :   1. like the stars or consisting of stars or pertaining to the stars 2. outstanding   USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :   Everyone was impressed by the stellar ambience of the new restaurant.   USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :   British canoeist David Florence, who learned just before the Beijing Olympics that he had failed in his application to become a European Space Agency astronaut, produced a stellar performance to claim Britain's fourth medal of the Games on the white-water slalom course at Shunyi. The Telegraph, Canoeing: Britain's David Florence has stellar run to take silver - Beijing Olympics 2008, Simon Hart, 12 August 2008.   mirage [ mi-RAHZH ]   [ noun ]   MEANING :   1. an optical illusion 2. an illusory phenomenon usually in the desert or at sea   USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :   He was disappointed when they told him that the city of gold was just a mirage.   USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :   He also said the Heritage Lottery Fund does not provide money for the private sector and English Heritage grants "are as ephemeral as a mirage in the desert". BBC, Barns: to save or not to save, 30 November 2009.   victuals [ VIT-l ]   [ noun, intransitive verb, transitive verb ]   MEANING :   1. (n.) provisions for human beings or food 2. (tr. v.) to provide with food 3. (intr. v.) to get food 4. (intr. v.) to eat   USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :   The hikers had to carry victuals as there were no shops on their route.   USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :   The problem of providing victuals for a vast army and keeping the population fed proved enormous. BBC, War and revolution in Russia, 2 November 1998.   exonerate [ ig-ZON-uh'-reyt ]   [ transitive verb ]   MEANING :   1. to excuse from fault or blame 2. to excuse or relieve 3. to discharge or free from   USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :   He was exonerated after the real culprit was apprehended.   USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :   Mr Salahi told NBC's Today show there was more to their side of the story – an explanation that would exonerate them from allegations of misconduct in the breach of White House security. The Telegraph, Salahis deny gatecrashing Obama White House dinner, 1 December 2009.   ingenue [ AN-zhuh'-noo; Fr. an-zhey-NY ]   [ noun ]   MEANING :   1. the actress who plays the part of an artless, innocent, unworldly girl or young woman 2. a naive, innocent girl or young woman   USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :   She had the perfect profile to act as an ingenue in the pantomime.   USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :   But with its carefully choreographed gravitas, this trip will go some way to reassuring US voters that he is not the foreign policy ingenue his critics claim he is. BBC, Is Obama's trip a hit back home? Jack Izzard, 24 July 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