Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know (MCQ Test + PDF) Week 4 - Day 1
NEW WORDS
- alacrity [ə lak´ rə tē]
“When the price of A.T.&T. dropped significantly, fund managers moved with alacrity to accumulate more shares.” Ted David, CNBC Financial News
- disdain [disdān´]
n “Hillary shows disdain for the idea that matters other than policy are anyone’s business.” Margaret Carlson, “Uh-Oh, the Real First Lady Shows Up,” TIME, 6/7/99
- belligerent [bə lij´ ər ənt]
“North Korea’s belligerence in planning to test a long-range missile has led to a dramatic change of course for Japan and South Korea.” Howard French, “Two Wary Neighbors Unite,” New York Times, 8/4/99
- intimidate [in tim´ ə dāt]
“New language could target loiterers with no apparent purpose other than to intimidate others from entering those areas.” Margaret Hornblower, “Ending the Roundups,” TIME, 6/21/99
- feint [fānt]
“Young as Oliver was, he had sense enough to make a feint of feeling great regret at going away.” Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist
TODAY’S IDIOM
to throw down the gauntlet—to challenge someone (when the gauntlet, or medieval glove, was thrown down, the challenged one was required to pick it up)
The principal of our rival school threw down the gauntlet, and we had no choice but to accept the challenge.
