1. cookie might crumble - break of fall apart into fragments
2. pittance - zilch
3. bete noir - object of dislike
4. in the eye of storm - centre of controversy
Mubarak and his political shell game
1. belie - misrepresent; contradict
2.scoff at - flout; jeer; show contempt or derision; rebuke
3. whiff of - a short light gust of air; sniff;
4. henchmen - conspirers or collaborators (of a plot)
5. short shrift - brief and unsympathetic treatment(often rejection)
6. embers - hot smouldering of wood or coal left from a fire
France looks to firm up ties with India
1. rapprochement - reestablishing cordial relations
2. preclude - prevent
3. doldrums - state of stagnation
4. predicated - affirm or declare; necessary condition; imply
5. consternation - fear resulting from awareness of danger
6. fillip - anything that tends to arouse
7. rudderless - aimlessly drifting
America bids farewell to the rule of law
1. edifice - building
2. incarcerate - lock up or confine(as in a jail)
3. limbo - prison;
4. detention - state of being confined
5. covenants - agreement
6. habeas corpus - writ requiring a person to be brought before a judge or into court esp. to investigate the lawfulness of his or her detention
Flat tax is economic nonsense
1. batty - (slang) mentally irregular
2. badge of virility - feature of manliness
3. atrophying - degeneration; wasting
4. undergirds - lend moral support to
5. trailbalzing - ground breaking; innovative
6. silver lining in the cloud - consolation in a difficult situation
Imaginary Friends
1. warren - a colony of rabbits (they are underconnected ground tunnels occupied by rabbits)
Infighting as a way of life
1. wreathed - wrapped
2. pique - feeling of resentment and indignation
3. distraught - dissatisfied
4. l' affaire - the business
5. virulent - venomous
6. score brownie points - done to please or win favour
7. pander - cater to other's wishes for selfish ends
Growing economies, tardy progress
1. tardy - delayed; sluggish
2. decries - express strong disapproval of
3. perverse - depraved;
4. slackening - become slow or less active
It's time for boldness on the Siachen issue
1. belittling - denigrate; disparage
2. nitpicking - quibble over petty things
3. pedantic - academic; insisting on rules
4. wrangling - instance of intense argument
5. fly in the ointment - an inconvenience that detracts from the usefulness of sthg.
Who benefits from the cultivation of Bt cotton?
1. plummeted - drop sharply
The anthropic principle
1. antrhopic - related to mankind
2. primordial - primitive
3. tweaked - fine-tuned; pull out sharply
Call to halt CIA "terror flights"
1. rendition - interpretation
2. harrowing - extremely painful
An old debate reopened
1. domino effect - cascading effect
When Jaswant took Indian politics to foreign shores
1. captive - confined
2. belie - misrepresent; be in contradiction with
3. flak - criticism
4. imprimatur - formal and explicit approval
Power regulation — time to get back to the basics
1. legion - a vast multitude
2. arcane - discreet
3. unto - (archaic) to
4. lacuna - loophole
5. quasi-judicial - semi-judicial
quasi - having some resemblance; patly, to some degree
6. nay - not this merely but also (usage: each of us is peculiar, nay, in a sense unique)
A Maoist threat and the political implications
1. queered - put in a dangerous position; hinder or prevent
2. meted out - given out in portions; administer or bestow
3. overture - prelude; a formal proposal or offer
Betrayal of the people
1. stricken - grievously affected ; afflicted
2. klutz - a clumsy and dull person
3. apocalyptic - prophetic of devastation or doom
4. pugilism - fighting with fists;
5. caliphate - territorial jurisdiction of a caliph
caliph - chief muslim civil and religious ruler.
Thanks for the help guys.... -
17-09-2005, 12:53 PM
Thanks Vamsi for starting a wonderful thread......this thread is truly a treasure trove when it comes to VOCAB and Idiomatic english.... also the various links provided are excellent reading material....
great work guys(everybody posting )........ truly appreciate ur thread....