Vocabulary #3b

 

1.        amend: to change for the better, or improve

a.       The rough draft had to be amended before it could be handed in.

2.        arbitrate: to judge or to decide

a.       When the students could not come to an agreement, they took their problem to a friend to arbitrate.

3.        martyr: one who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce his beliefs (one who always sacrifices himself)

a.       When Saddam Hussein was executed, some worried he would become a martyr and inspire insurgents.

4.        inundate: to completely submerge underwater

a.       The poor teacher was inundated with essays; it would take her weeks to grade them all.

5.        pensive: dreamily and deeply thoughtful

a.       The pensive girl daydreamed all day in class.

6.        prostrate: stretched out on the ground

a.       When the king passed, all the peasants fell prostrate on dirt.

7.        shroud: to conceal or protect (verb or noun)

a.       In the cave, her face was shrouded in darkness.

8.        spite: intense hatred, petty ill-will

a.       The girl was so full of spite that she filled the old lady’s bed with rattlesnakes.

9.        valor: courage and boldness as in battle; bravery

a.       The soldier’s great valor was rewarded with the Presidential Cross.

10.    wane: to decrease gradually in size, amount, intensity

a.       The students’ desire to go to Disneyland waned once they realized it would be a 24 hour drive.