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abhor v To loathe or despise, to feel disgust for. I abhor the taste of liver, and I can't stand even a little bit mixed into a dish.
abstemious
adj Tending
to be very sparing or limited in the intake of food or drink. Because of her
naturally abstemious habits at the dinner table, she lost weight even when she
wasn't trying to.
advocate n/v 1) <short "a"> One who fights for or supports a person or a cause. Emerson was a staunch advocate of human rights, and he wrote hundreds of letters for Amnesty International. 2) <long "a"> To support or defend, to stand up for. Longworth found that he could not advocate the taking of a human life for a crime, even when that crime was a terrible one.
contentious adj Quarrelsome and troublesome, tending to argue. Melville, ever the disagreeably contentious one in our group, would argue the color of the sky if someone mentioned what a lovely shade of blue it was.
diligence n Attention to detail, hard work and application. Farnsworth was not a very brilliant student, but his constant diligence and attention to his studies got him an admission to Yale.
jocund adj Happy, lighthearted (related to "jocular" and "joke") "Now jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountaintops."--Milton. Emily's jocund disposition got her through many difficult times with a smile on her face.
plummet v To drop rapidly, as from a great height. I swear, officer, we were just standing in the field when all of a sudden we saw the plane just plummet from the sky and strike the ground.
precursor n
Someone or something that comes before, that acts as a lead-in for something
else. Small black and white televisions were the natural precursors to
today's immense HDTV receivers.
prescient adj Having an ability to almost see into the future, very wise and intelligent when forecasting events. Dan prided himself on having a good handle on the affairs of the day, but not even the most prescient newsman could have foreseen the disaster of 9/11.
virago
n
A harsh and ill-tempered woman. Petruchio found Kate
to be a vicious virago when first he met her, but he was able to "tame the
shrew," and she became a lovely and attentive wife.