Vocab 67

1.       Crawl (v): To move slowly or with difficulty, especially (of a person) with the body stretched out long the ground or on hands and knees.

E.g: The injured soldier crawled to the safety.

2.       Lilt (n): A gentle and pleasant rising and falling sound in a person’s voice.

E.g: He’s got that lovely Irish lilt in his voice.

3.       Warble (v): To warble is to sing in an uneven, quavering voice. You won’t win any singing contests if you warble the songs.

Think of the class of songs birds known as warblers. They have great songs, but they don’t sound quite human. They thrill, whistle, vibrate and constantly change pitch. That’s wrabble.

E.g: Was that you I heard warbling in the bathroom this morning?

4.       Wring (v): To wring something is to twist or squeeze it, usually out of its originally shape. If you annoy someone enough, they might threaten to wring your neck.

If you do laundry by hand, then you most likely wring out your shirts to get rid of excess water before hanging them out to dry. You can also wring out someone’s hair after washing it.

5.       Doomed (adj): Certain to fail, die or to be destroyed.

E.g: This is a doomed city.

6.       Cultivate (v): To cultivate is to nurture and help grow. Farmers cultivate crops, fundraising professionals cultivate donors, and celebrities cultivate their images.

When you cultivate something, you work to make it better. Originally, the word referred tilling, but the meaning has widened. Sometimes friendship comes naturally and sometimes you have to cultivate it.

7.       Expedition (n): An expedition is an organized journey that is undertaken for a particular purpose, like a group of scientists launching an expedition to South America to seek out a new medicinal herb.

An expedition is no walk in the park. It’s a serious journey, often with a very specific purpose undertaken by several people and lots of equipments. Sometimes, it can be even be dangerous, like when the arctic adventurer was attacked by polar bears during an expedition to the Arctic.

E.g: We are going on a shopping expedition on Sunday.

8.       Scar (n): A mark left on part of the body after an injury, such as cut, has healed.

E.g: That burn will leave a nasty scar.

9.       Beaters (n): A person paid by hunters to force birds and animals into a place where they can be seen and therefore shot.

10.   Primeval (adj): Use primeval when you want to suggest something has existed from the beginning. The Big Bang? Dinosaur bones? Ancient trees? Yep – primeval.

E.g: Primeval forests.

11.   Glaze (v): To put a piece of glass into a window or the windows of a building.

E.g: The house is nearly finished but it hasn’t been glazed yet.

12.   Sling (v): To throw or drop something carelessly.

E.g: Don’t just sling your bag on the floor.

13.   Poach (v): To cook something such as fish, or an egg with its shell removed, by putting it in gently boiling water or other liquid.

E.g: We had poached eggs for breakfast.

14.   Decimate (v): If something is drastically reduced or killed, especially in number, you can say it was decimated.

E.g: Populations of endangered animals have been decimated.

15.   Maul (v): If an animal mauls someone, it attacks them and injures them with its teeth or claws (= long sharp nails).

E.g: A small boy had been mauled by the neighbour’s dog.

Source: Cambridge Dictionary, Vocabulary.com

Compiled By: Chaudhary Amit V.