Spelling Skills Development

absence - noun failure to be present; the state of being absent; the time interval during which something or somebody is away; epilepsy characterized by paroxysmal attacks of brief clouding of consciousness (a possible other abnormalities)

acceptable - adj. worthy of acceptance or satisfactory; adequate for the purpose; judged to be in conformity with approved usage; meeting requirements

accidentally - adv. without advance planning; without intention; in an unintentional manner; in an incidental manner

accommodate - verb make compatible with; provide with something desired or needed; have room for; hold without crowding; make fit for, or change to suit a new purpose; provide a service or favour for someone; provide housing for; be agreeable or acceptable to

achieve - verb to gain with effort

acknowledge - verb accept (someone) to be what is claimed or accept his power and authority; accept as legally binding and valid; express obligation, thanks, or gratitude for; report the receipt of; declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of; express recognition of the presence or existence of, or acquaintance with

acquaintance - noun personal knowledge or information about someone or something; a person with whom you are acquainted; a relationship less intimate than friendship

acquire - verb win something through one's efforts; locate (a moving entity) by means of a tracking system such as radar; come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and attributes); take on a certain form, attribute, or aspect; gain through experience; gain knowledge or skills; come into the possession of something concrete or abstract

acquit - verb pronounce not guilty of criminal charges; behave in a certain manner

acreage - noun an area of ground used for some particular purpose (such as building or farming)

address - noun the stance assumed by a golfer in preparation for hitting a golf ball; (computer science) the code that identifies where a piece of information is stored; written directions for finding some location; written on letters or packages that are to be delivered to that location; a sign in front of a house or business carrying the conventional form by which its location is described; the manner of speaking to another individual; the act of delivering a formal spoken communication to an audience; the place where a person or organization can be found or communicated with; social skill; verb adjust and aim (a golf ball) at in preparation of hitting; speak to; give a speech to; speak to someone; put an address on (an envelope); direct a question at someone; address or apply oneself to something, direct one's efforts towards something, such as a question; access or locate by address; greet, as with a prescribed form, title, or name; deal with verbally or in some form of artistic expression

adultery - noun extramarital sex that wilfully and maliciously interferes with marriage relations

advisable - adj. worthy of being recommended or suggested; prudent or wise

affect - noun the conscious subjective aspect of feeling or emotion; verb act physically on; have an effect upon; have an effect upon; have an emotional or cognitive impact upon; make believe with the intent to deceive; connect closely and often incriminatingly

aggression - noun violent action that is hostile and usually unprovoked; deliberately unfriendly behaviour; the act of initiating hostilities; a disposition to behave aggressively; a feeling of hostility that arouses thoughts of attack

aggressive - adj. having or showing determination and energetic pursuit of your ends; characteristic of an enemy or one eager to fight; tending to spread quickly

allegiance - noun the loyalty that citizens owe to their country (or subjects to their sovereign); the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action

almost - adv. (of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished

a lot - adv. to a very great degree or extent

amateur - adj. engaged in as a pastime; lacking professional skill or expertise; noun someone who pursues a study or sport as a pastime; does not play for pay

annually - adv. without missing a year; by the year; every year (usually with reference to a sum of money paid or received)

apparent - adj. clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment; appearing as such but not necessarily so

arctic - adj. extremely cold; of or relating to the Arctic; at or near the north pole; noun a waterproof overshoe that protects shoes from water or snow; the regions north of the Arctic Circle centred on the North Pole

argument - noun a variable in a logical or mathematical expression whose value determines the dependent variable; if f(x)=y, x is the independent variable; a summary of the subject or plot of a literary work or play or movie; a fact or assertion offered as evidence that something is true; a discussion in which reasons are advanced for and against some proposition or proposal; a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement

atheist - adj. related to or characterized by or given to atheism; noun someone who denies the existence of god

awful - adj. causing fear or dread or terror; exceptionally bad or displeasing; inspiring awe or admiration or wonder; offensive or even (of persons) malicious; extreme in degree or extent or amount or impact; inspired by a feeling of fearful wonderment or reverence; adv. used as intensifiers

because - conj. For the reason that; on account of

beautiful - adj. aesthetically pleasing; delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration; (of weather) highly enjoyable

becoming - adj. displaying or setting off to best advantage; according with custom or propriety

beginning - adj. serving to begin; noun the act of starting something; the first part or section of something; the event consisting of the start of something; the place where something begins, where it springs into being; the time at which something is supposed to begin

believe - verb accept as true; take to be true; credit with veracity; follow a credo; have a faith; be a believer; be confident about something; judge or regard; look upon; judge

bellwether - noun sheep that leads the herd often wearing a bell; someone who assumes leadership of a movement or activity

buoy - noun bright-coloured; a float attached by rope to the seabed to mark channels in a harbour or underwater hazards; verb mark with a buoy; keep afloat; float on the surface of water

buoyant - adj. characterized by liveliness and light-heartedness; tending to float on a liquid or rise in air or gas

business - noun incidental activity performed by an actor for dramatic effect; the volume of commercial activity; a rightful concern or responsibility; an immediate objective; business concerns collectively; a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it; the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money; the activity of providing goods and services involving financial and commercial and industrial aspects; customers collectively

calendar - noun a list or register of events (appointments or social events or court cases etc); a tabular array of the days (usually for one year); a system of timekeeping that defines the beginning and length and divisions of the year; verb enter into a calendar

camouflage - noun device or stratagem for concealment or deceit; fabric dyed with splotches of green and brown and black and tan; intended to make the wearer of a garment made of this fabric hard to distinguish from the background; the act of concealing the identity of something by modifying its appearance; an outward semblance that misrepresents the true nature of something; verb disguise by camouflaging; exploit the natural surroundings to disguise something

Caribbean - noun region including the Caribbean islands; an arm of the Atlantic Ocean between North and South America; the origin of the Gulf stream

category - noun a general concept that marks divisions or coordinations in a conceptual scheme; a collection of things sharing a common attribute

caught - verb the past form of catch

cemetery - noun a tract of land used for burials

changeable - adj. such that alteration is possible; having a marked tendency to change; varying in colour when seen in different lights or from different angles; subject to change; capable of or tending to change in form or quality or nature

chief - adj. most important element; noun a person who exercises control over workers; a person who is in charge

colleague - noun a person who is member of your class or profession; an associate you work with

column - noun (architecture) a tall cylindrical vertical upright and used to support a structure; a vertical cylindrical structure standing alone and not supporting anything (such as a monument); a vertical glass tube used in column chromatography; a mixture is poured in the top and washed through a stationary substance where components of the mixture are adsorbed selectively to form coloured bands; an article giving opinions or perspectives; a line of (usually military) units following one after another; a linear array of numbers one above another; anything tall and relatively thin that approximates the shape of a column or tower

coming - adj. yet to come; of the relatively near future; noun arrival that has been awaited (especially of something momentous); the moment of most intense pleasure in sexual intercourse; the act of drawing spatially closer to something; the temporal property of becoming nearer in time

committed - adj. bound or obligated, as under a pledge to a particular cause, action, or attitude; associated in an exclusive sexual relationship

comparison - noun examining resemblances or differences; qualities that are comparable; relation based on similarities and differences

concede - verb be willing to concede; admit, make a clean breast of; acknowledge defeat; give over; surrender or relinquish to the physical control of another

congratulate - verb express congratulations; say something to someone that expresses praise; pride or congratulate (oneself) for an achievement; be proud of

conscientious - adj. characterized by extreme care and great effort; guided by or in accordance with conscience or sense of right and wrong

conscious - adj. (followed by `of') showing realization or recognition of something; knowing and perceiving; having awareness of surroundings and sensations and thoughts; intentionally conceived

consensus - noun agreement in the judgment or opinion reached by a group as a whole

controversy - noun a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement

coolly - adv. in a composed and unconcerned manner

daiquiri - noun a cocktail made with rum and lime or lemon juice

deceive - verb cause someone to believe an untruth; be false to; be dishonest with

definite - adj. known for certain; precise; explicit and clearly defined

definitely - adv. without question and beyond doubt

desperate - adj. showing extreme courage; especially of actions courageously undertaken in desperation as a last resort; fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless; showing extreme urgency or intensity especially because of great need or desire; desperately determined; (of persons) dangerously reckless or violent as from urgency or despair; arising from or marked by despair or loss of hope; noun a person who is frightened and in need of help

difference - noun the quality of being unlike or dissimilar; a significant change; a disagreement or argument about something important; a variation that deviates from the standard or norm; the number that remains after subtraction; the number that when added to the subtrahend gives the minuend

dilemma - noun state of uncertainty or perplexity especially as requiring a choice between equally unfavourable options

disappoint - verb fail to meet the hopes or expectations of

disastrous - adj. (of events) having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences; bringing ruin

drunkenness - noun a temporary state resulting from excessive consumption of alcohol; the act of drinking alcoholic beverages to excess; habitual intoxication; prolonged and excessive intake of alcoholic drinks leading to a breakdown in health and an addiction to alcohol such that abrupt deprivation leads to severe withdrawal symptoms

dumbbell - noun an exercising weight; two spheres connected by a short bar that serves as a handle; an ignorant or foolish person

embarrass - verb cause to be embarrassed; cause to feel self-conscious; hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of

equipment - noun an instrumentality needed for an undertaking or to perform a service

exceed - verb go beyond; go beyond; be or do something to a greater degree

exhilarate - verb fill with sublime emotion; tickle pink

existence - noun everything that exists anywhere; the state or fact of existing

experience - noun the accumulation of knowledge or skill that results from direct participation in events or activities; the content of direct observation or participation in an event; an event as apprehended; verb go through (mental or physical states or experiences); go or live through; undergo; have first-hand knowledge of states, situations, emotions, or sensations; undergo an emotional sensation

extreme - adj. most distant in any direction; of the greatest possible degree or extent or intensity; far beyond a norm in quantity or amount or degree; to an utmost degree; beyond a norm in views or actions; noun the furthest or highest degree of something; the point located farthest from the middle of something

fascinating - adj. capturing interest as if by a spell; capable of arousing and holding the attention

fiery - adj. like or suggestive of fire; very intense; characterized by intense emotion

fluorescent - adj. emitting light during exposure to radiation from an external source; brilliantly coloured and apparently giving off light; noun a lighting fixture that uses a fluorescent lamp

foreign - adj. relating to or originating in or characteristic of another place or part of the world; of concern to or concerning the affairs of other nations (other than your own); not contained in or deriving from the essential nature of something; not belonging to that in which it is contained; introduced from an outside source

friend - noun a member of the Religious Society of Friends founded by George Fox (the Friends have never called themselves Quakers); a person you know well and regard with affection and trust; a person with whom you are acquainted; an associate who provides assistance; a person who backs a politician or a team etc.

fulfil - verb fill or meet a want or need; put in effect; fulfil the requirements or expectations of

gauge - noun a measuring instrument for measuring and indicating a quantity such as the thickness of wire or the amount of rain etc.; the thickness of wire; the distance between the rails of a railway or between the wheels of a train; accepted or approved instance or example of a quantity or quality against which others are judged or measured or compared; diameter of a tube or gun barrel; verb mix in specific proportions; adapt to a specified measurement; measure precisely and against a standard; determine the capacity, volume, or contents of by measurement and calculation; rub to a uniform size; judge tentatively or form an estimate of (quantities or time)

grateful - adj. feeling or showing gratitude; affording comfort or pleasure

guarantee - noun a written assurance that some product or service will be provided or will meet certain specifications; a pledge that something will happen or that something is true; a collateral agreement to answer for the debt of another in case that person defaults; verb give surety or assume responsibility; make certain of; stand behind and guarantee the quality, accuracy, or condition of; promise to do or accomplish

guidance - noun the act of guiding or showing the way; something that provides direction or advice as to a decision or course of action; the act of setting and holding a course

harass - verb exhaust by attacking repeatedly; annoy continually or chronically

height - noun the vertical dimension of extension; distance from the base of something to the top; (of a standing person) the distance from head to foot; elevation especially above sea level or above the earth's surface; the highest level or degree attainable; the highest stage of development

hierarchy - noun the organization of people at different ranks in an administrative body; a series of ordered groupings of people or things within a system

hors d'oeuvres - noun dishes served as appetizers before main meal

humorous - adj. full of or characterized by humour

hygiene - noun the science concerned with the prevention of illness and maintenance of health; a condition promoting sanitary practices

hypocrisy - noun insincerity by virtue of pretending to have qualities or beliefs that you do not really have; an expression of agreement that is not supported by real conviction

hypocrite - noun a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives

ignorance - noun the lack of knowledge or education

imitate - verb make a reproduction or copy of; reproduce someone's behaviour or looks; appear like, as in behaviour or appearance

immediately - adv. without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening; near or close by; bearing an immediate relation

indict - verb accuse formally of a crime

independent - adj. not dependent on or conditioned by or relative to anything else; not contingent; free from external control and constraint; (of a clause) capable of standing syntactically alone as a complete sentence; not controlled by a party or interest group; (of political bodies) not controlled by outside forces; noun a writer or artist who sells services to different employers without a long-term contract with any of them; a neutral or uncommitted person (especially in politics)

indispensable - adj. unavoidable; not to be dispensed with; essential; absolutely necessary; vitally necessary

inoculate - verb impregnate with the virus or germ of a disease in order to render immune; insert a bud for propagation; introduce a microorganism into; introduce an idea or attitude into the mind of; perform vaccinations or produce immunity in by inoculation

intelligence - noun the operation of gathering information about an enemy; the ability to comprehend; to understand and profit from experience; secret information about an enemy (or potential enemy); a unit responsible for gathering and interpreting information about an enemy; new information about specific and timely events

jewellery - noun an adornment (as a bracelet or ring or necklace) made of precious metals and set with gems (or imitation gems)

kernel - noun the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; a single whole grain of a cereal; the inner and usually edible part of a seed or grain or nut or fruit stone

leisure - noun freedom to choose a pastime or enjoyable activity; time available for ease and relaxation

liaison - noun a channel for communication between groups; a usually secretive or illicit sexual relationship

library - noun a depository built to contain books and other materials for reading and study; a room where books are kept; a building that houses a collection of books and other materials; (computing) a collection of standard programs and subroutines that are stored and available for immediate use; a collection of literary documents or records kept for reference or borrowing

licence - noun a legal document giving official permission to do something; freedom to deviate deliberately from normally applicable rules or practices (especially in behaviour or speech); excessive freedom; lack of due restraint; verb authorize officially

lightning - noun the flash of light that accompanies an electric discharge in the atmosphere (or something resembling such a flash); can scintillate for a second or more; abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light

lose - verb fail to win; suffer the loss of a person through death or removal; allow to go out of sight; miss from one's possessions; lose sight of; fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense; fail to get or obtain; fail to make money in a business; make a loss or fail to profit; be set at a disadvantage; retreat; place (something) where one cannot find it again; fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind

maintenance - noun the unauthorized interference in a legal action by a person having no interest in it (as by helping one party with money or otherwise to continue the action) so as to obstruct justice or promote unnecessary litigation or unsettle the peace of the community; means of maintenance of a family or group; activity involved in maintaining something in good working order; the act of sustaining life by food or providing a means of subsistence; court-ordered support paid by one spouse to another after they are separated

medieval - adj. as if belonging to the Middle Ages; old-fashioned and unenlightened; relating to or belonging to the Middle Ages; characteristic of the time of chivalry and knighthood in the Middle Ages

memento - noun a reminder of past events

millennium - noun a span of 1000 years; the 1000th anniversary (or the celebration of it); (New Testament) in Revelations it is foretold that those faithful to Jesus will reign with Jesus over the earth for a thousand years; the meaning of these words have been much debated; some denominations (e.g. Jehovah's Witnesses) expect it to be a thousand years of justice and peace and happiness

miniature - adj. being on a very small scale; noun copy that reproduces something in greatly reduced size; painting or drawing included in a book (especially in illuminated medieval manuscripts)

minuscule - adj. very small; of or relating to a small cursive script developed from uncial; 7th to 9th centuries; lowercase; noun a small cursive script developed from uncial between the 7th and 9th centuries and used in medieval manuscripts; the characters that were once kept in bottom half of a compositor's type case

mischievous - adj. badly behaved; deliberately causing harm or damage; naughtily or annoyingly playful

misspell - verb spell incorrectly

necessary - adj. unavoidably determined by prior circumstances; absolutely essential; noun anything indispensable

niece - noun a daughter of your brother or sister

neighbour - noun a nearby object of the same kind; a person who lives (or is located) near another; verb be located near or adjacent to; live or be located as a neighbour

noticeable - adj. capable or worthy of being perceived; readily noticed; undesirably noticeable; capable of being detected

occasion - noun reason; an opportunity to do something; the time of a particular event; an event that occurs at a critical time; a vaguely specified social event; verb give occasion to

occasionally - adv. now and then or here and there

occurrence - noun an instance of something occurring; an event that happens

occurred - verb the past form of the verb to occur; (of an event) came to pass

omission - noun a mistake resulting from neglect; neglecting to do something; leaving out or passing over something; any process whereby sounds are left out of spoken words or phrases; something that has been omitted

original - adj. not derived or copied or translated from something else; preceding all others in time or being as first made or performed; being or productive of something fresh and unusual; or being as first made or thought of; (of e.g. information) not second-hand or by way of something intermediary; noun an original model on which something is patterned; an original creation (i.e., an audio recording) from which copies can be made

outrageous - adj. greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation; grossly offensive to decency or morality; causing horror

parliament - noun a legislative assembly in certain countries; a card game in which you play your sevens and other cards in sequence in the same suit as the sevens; you win if you are the first to use all your cards

pastime - noun a diversion that occupies one's time and thoughts (usually pleasantly)

perceive - verb become conscious of; to become aware of through the senses

perseverance - noun the act of persisting or persevering; continuing or repeating behaviour; persistent determination

personnel - noun the department responsible for hiring and training and placing employees and for setting policies for personnel management; group of people willing to obey orders

plagiarize - verb take without referencing from someone else's writing or speech; of intellectual property

playwright - noun someone who writes plays

possession - noun anything owned or possessed; the act of having and controlling property; (sport) the act of controlling the ball (or puck); a territory that is controlled by a ruling state; being controlled by passion or the supernatural; the trait of resolutely controlling your own behaviour; a mania restricted to one thing or idea

potatoes - noun  edible tubers native to South America; Annuals native to South America having underground stolons bearing edible starchy tubers; widely cultivated as a garden vegetable; vines are poisonous

precede - verb furnish with a preface or introduction; move ahead (of others) in time or space; be the predecessor of; come before; be earlier in time; go back further

presence - noun the act of being present; the impression that something is present; the immediate proximity of someone or something; an invisible spiritual being felt to be nearby; the state of being present; current existence; dignified manner or conduct

principle - noun a basic truth or law or assumption; a rule or law concerning a natural phenomenon or the function of a complex system; a basic generalization that is accepted as true and that can be used as a basis for reasoning or conduct; a rule or standard especially of good behaviour; rule of personal conduct; (law) an explanation of the fundamental reasons (especially an explanation of the working of some device in terms of laws of nature)

privilege - noun a special advantage or immunity or benefit not enjoyed by all; (law) the right to refuse to divulge information obtained in a confidential relationship; a right reserved exclusively by a particular person or group (especially a hereditary or official right); verb bestow a privilege upon

professor - noun someone who is a member of the faculty at a college or university

promise - noun grounds for feeling hopeful about the future; a verbal commitment by one person to another agreeing to do (or not to do) something in the future; verb make a promise or commitment; promise to undertake or give; give grounds for expectations; make a prediction about; tell in advance

pronunciation - noun the way a word or a language is customarily spoken; the manner in which someone utters a word

proof - adj. (used in combination or as a suffix) able to withstand; noun a trial photographic print from a negative; any factual evidence that helps to establish the truth of something; (printing) an impression made to check for errors; a formal series of statements showing that if one thing is true something else necessarily follows from it; a measure of alcoholic strength expressed as an integer twice the percentage of alcohol present (by volume); the act of validating; finding or testing the truth of something; verb make resistant (to harm); activate by mixing with water and sometimes sugar or milk; knead to reach proper lightness; make or take a proof of, such as a photographic negative, an etching, or typeset; read for errors

publicly - adv. in a manner accessible to or observable by the public; openly; by the public or the people generally

quarantine - noun isolation to prevent the spread of infectious disease; enforced isolation of patients suffering from a contagious disease in order to prevent the spread of disease; verb place into enforced isolation, as for medical reasons

queue - noun a braid of hair at the back of the head; (information processing) an ordered list of tasks to be performed or messages to be transmitted; a line of people or vehicles waiting for something; verb form a queue, form a line, stand in line

questionnaire - noun a form containing a set of questions; submitted to people to gain statistical information

readable - adj. easily deciphered

really - adv. used as intensifiers; `real' is sometimes used informally for `really'; `rattling' is informal; in accordance with truth or fact or reality; in fact (used as intensifiers or sentence modifiers); in actual fact

receive - verb convert into sounds or pictures; receive a specified treatment (abstract); regard favourably or with disapproval; accept as true or valid; partake of the Holy Eucharist sacrament; express willingness to have in one's home or environs; get something; come into possession of; have or give a reception; bid welcome to; greet upon arrival; register (perceptual input); go through (mental or physical states or experiences); receive as a retribution or punishment; experience as a reaction

receipt - noun an acknowledgment (usually tangible) that payment has been made; the act of receiving; verb mark or stamp as paid; report the receipt of

recommend - verb make attractive or acceptable; push for something; express a good opinion of

referred - verb past form of the verb refer;  think of, regard, or classify under a subsuming principle or with a general group or in relation to another; send or direct for treatment, information, or a decision; have to do with or be relevant to; seek information from

reference - noun the act of referring or consulting; the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to; the relation between a word or phrase and the object or idea it refers to; a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to; a book to which you can refer for authoritative facts; a formal recommendation by a former employer to a potential future employer describing the person's qualifications and dependability; a short note recognizing a source of information or of a quoted passage; a remark that calls attention to something or someone; an indicator that orients you generally; verb refer to

relevant - adj. having a bearing on or connection with the subject at issue

religious - adj. having or showing belief in and reverence for a deity; concerned with sacred matters or religion or the church; extremely scrupulous and conscientious; noun a member of a religious order who is bound by vows of poverty and chastity and obedience

repetition - noun the act of doing or performing again; the repeated use of the same word or word pattern as a rhetorical device; an event that repeats

restaurant - noun a building where people go to eat

rhyme - noun correspondence in the sounds of two or more lines (especially final sounds); a piece of poetry; verb compose rhymes; be similar in sound, especially with respect to the last syllable

rhythm - noun recurring at regular intervals; the arrangement of spoken words alternating stressed and unstressed elements; the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music; natural family planning in which ovulation is assumed to occur 14 days before the onset of a period (the fertile period would be assumed to extend from day 10 through day 18 of her cycle); an interval during which a recurring sequence of events occurs

secretary - noun a desk used for writing; an assistant who handles correspondence and clerical work for a boss or an organization; a person who is head of an administrative department of government; a person to whom a secret is entrusted

seize - verb affect; take hold of; grab; take or capture by force; hook by a pull on the line; capture the attention or imagination of; take possession of by force, as after an invasion; take temporary possession of as a security, by legal authority; seize and take control without authority and possibly with force; take as one's right or possession

separate - adj. separated according to race, sex, class, or religion; independent; not united or joint; standing apart; not attached to or supported by anything; have the connection undone; having become separate; characteristic of or meant for a single person or thing; not living together as man and wife; noun a garment that can be purchased separately and worn in combinations with other garments; a separately printed article that originally appeared in a larger publication; verb divide into components or constituents; force, take, or pull apart; come apart; go one's own way; move apart; make a division or separation; discontinue an association or relation; go different ways; act as a barrier between; stand between; divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork; become separated into pieces or fragments; mark as different; arrange or order by classes or categories; separate into parts or portions; treat differently on the basis of sex or race

sergeant - noun any of several non-commissioned officer ranks in the army or air force or marines ranking above a corporal; a lawman with the rank of sergeant; an English barrister of the highest rank

similar - adj. marked by correspondence or resemblance; (of words) expressing closely related meanings; resembling or similar; having the same or some of the same characteristics; often used in combination; having the same or similar characteristics; capable of replacing or changing places with something else; permitting mutual substitution without loss of function or suitability

skilful - adj. having or showing knowledge and skill and aptitude

speech - noun (language) communication by word of mouth; the exchange of spoken words; something spoken; the mental faculty or power of vocal communication; a lengthy rebuke; words making up the dialogue of a play; your characteristic style or manner of expressing yourself orally; the act of delivering a formal spoken communication to an audience

successful - adj. having succeeded or being marked by a favourable outcome

supersede - verb take the place or move into the position of

surprise - noun the act of surprising someone; a sudden unexpected event; the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you; verb cause to be surprised; come upon or take unawares; attack by storm; attack suddenly

than - conj. conjunction used in comparatives

their - pronoun of them or themselves; his or her

tomatoes - noun mildly acid red or yellow pulpy fruits eaten as vegetables; natives to South America; widely cultivated in many varieties

tomorrow - adv. the next day, the day after, following the present day; noun the day after today; the near future

twelfth - adj. coming next after the eleventh and just before the thirteenth in position; noun position 12 in a countable series of things; one part in twelve equal parts

tyranny - noun a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.); dominance through threat of punishment and violence

underrate - verb make too low an estimate of

until - prep. up to now; before the time; conj. up to a time that

upholstery - noun the craft of upholstering; covering (padding and springs and webbing and fabric) on a piece of furniture

vacuum - noun an electrical home appliance that cleans by suction; a region that is devoid of matter; the absence of matter; an empty area or space; verb clean with a vacuum cleaner

vehicle - noun a conveyance that transports people or objects; a medium for the expression or achievement of something; a substance that facilitates the use of a drug or pigment or other material that is mixed with it; any inanimate object (as a towel or money or clothing or dishes or books or toys etc.) that can transmit infectious agents from one person to another

vicious - adj. marked by deep ill will; deliberately harmful; (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering; bringing or deserving severe rebuke or censure; having the nature of vice

weather - adj. towards the side exposed to wind; noun the meteorological conditions: temperature and wind and clouds and precipitation; verb change under the action or influence of the weather; sail to the windward of; cause to slope; face or endure with courage

weird - adj. strikingly odd or unusual; suggesting the operation of supernatural influences; noun Fate personified; one of the three Weird Sisters

welfare - noun governmental provision of economic assistance to persons in need; something that aids or promotes well-being; a contented state of being happy and healthy and prosperous

whether - conj. expresses a doubt or question; introduces two alternatives

wilful - adj. habitually disposed to disobedience and opposition; done by design

withhold - verb hold back; refuse to hand over or share; retain and refrain from disbursing; of payments

writing - noun the activity of putting something in written form; the act of creating written works; letters or symbols written or imprinted on a surface to represent the sounds or words of a language; the work of a writer; anything expressed in letters of the alphabet (especially when considered from the point of view of style and effect); (usually plural) the collected work of an author