
Explanation of bane (noun) destruction; poison; misfortune
Sample of bane The till was now 20 deep with impatient customers clutching their coffee pots and blenders - and then I discovered the real bane of the shop assistant's life: The Haggler.
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Explanation of bombast (noun) pompous speech; pretentious words; trite cliches
Sample of bombast After he delivered his bombast at the podium, he arrogantly left the meeting. The presenter ended his bombast with a prediction of his future success.
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Explanation of divisibility (noun) ability to be separated or divided
Sample of divisibility As can be seen, these are all fairly small, and in practice the lack of asset divisibility is not a major problem, although it does mean that a completely riskless arbitrage transaction may be impossible.
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Explanation of chauvinist (noun) extreme patriot; person who is excessively devoted
Sample of chauvinist Jews complain that the Times betrays Israel, feminists that it is chauvinist, southerners that it is pro-Yankee, priests that it is anti-Catholic.
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Explanation of cantankerous (adjective) ill-natured; quarrelsome; contentious; irritable
Sample of cantankerous It is hard not to sympathize with his desire to knock off managing director Duncan, a hammy, cantankerous old fool in Kevin Stoney's playing.
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Explanation of dictum (noun) formal statement of either fact or opinion; maxim; pronouncement; saying
Sample of dictum Computer programmers have a dictum: garbage in, garbage out.
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Explanation of heresy (noun) opinion contrary to popular belief
Sample of heresy In this town it is considered heresy to want parking with meters.
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Explanation of temerity (noun) foolhardiness; impetuosity; rashness; boldness
Sample of temerity For the first few days we kept the family shut into the cow-shed, to protect them from the cats; but I really think that if any cat had had the temerity to put in an attack, the hen would have chased it half-way to Gloucester. Many, it is true, shouted enthusiastically that we were right and to be congratulated, but many others were up in arms at our intrepid temerity.
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Explanation of fathom (noun) nautical unit of depth; unit of length equal to six feet
Sample of fathom The submarine cruised at 17 fathoms below the surface.
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Explanation of facade (noun) front or face, especially of a building; illusion; deceptive appearance
Sample of facade This even applies to listed buildings: there is still a worryingly widespread general belief that listing only covers the facade, or perhaps just the exterior, whereas it is of course expressly designed to protect the whole building.
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