Daily Wordlist 26-Nov-09

	26-Nov-09 Daily Wordlist homespun [ HOHM-spuhn ]   [ noun, adjective ]   MEANING :   1. (adj.) made at home 2. (adj.) simple or unsophisticated 3. (n.) a plain woven cloth   USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :   She earned a living by selling homespun shawls in the market.   USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :   Given that the fashionable elite will spend thousands of rupees on his homespun saris, and that new collections leave the shop shelves in minutes flat, it's a trickle-down effect that he thinks may actually work. BBC, Indian designer champions homespun, Catriona Luke, 15 September 2009.   sear [ seer ]   [ noun, intransitive verb, transitive verb ]   MEANING :   1. (tr. v.) to burn the surface of 2. (tr. v.) to cause to wither 3. (intr. v.) to become withered 4. (n.) the catch or lever in the firing mechanism of a gun which keeps the hammer either half cocked or fully cocked   USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :   The village medicine man would sear the arm of children with a hot copper strip to protect them from jaundice.   USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :   Instead of baking your chicken, we'll sear it or grill it CNN, The lowdown on airline food, Andrea Bennett, 29 September 2009.   impair [ im-PAIR ]   [ intransitive verb, transitive verb ]   MEANING :   1. (tr. v.) to cause to diminish in strength or value 2. (intr. v.) to become worse   USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :   The doctor said it was cataract that had impaired his vision.   USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :   The research, details of which were announced at the British Association's Festival of Science in Sheffield, UK, indicates that drastic dieting can impair memory and slow reaction times. BBC, Crash dieting 'makes you thick, 16 September 1999.   squalor [ SKWOL-er ]   [ noun ]   MEANING :   1.(n.) a dirty or wretched condition 2. (n.) a miserable state   USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :   People commented on the squalor of the slum but no one did anything to uplift the people living there.   USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :   Except that the dirty secret lies not in Home Office archives but in the numbers of asylum seekers' children held in captivity and in the migrant workers living in squalor and penury because the law allows gangmasters to exploit them. The Telegraph, Gordon Brown should say the unsayable: immigration has been a boon, Mary Riddell, 9 November 2009.   legislature [ LEJ-is-ley-cher ]   [ noun ]   MEANING :   1. (n.) an officially elected body of people vested with the responsibility and authority to make laws 2. (n.) the branch of government having the authority to make laws   USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :   As a member of the legislature, he wielded a lot of influence in the state.   USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :   But the Law Lords dealt exclusively with points of law, and it was to the betterment of justice that they were also members of the legislature. The Telegraph, The Supreme Court is an unnecessary attack on the constitution, 1 October 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