11 English Words Meaning
The Portrait of a Lady
- A veritable bedlam of chirrupings –
refers to the noise and confusion caused by the chirrupings of the sparrows
- Absurd – Illogical
- Accepted her seclusion with
resignation- the grandmother accepted a lonely life as she accepted the
separation from her grandson without objection
- An expanse of pure white serenity –
refers to the calm, relaxed and peaceful character of the author’s grandmother
- Beads – a small piece of glass or
stone threaded with others to make a rosary or necklace
- Bedlam – confusion
- Blaze – a very large burning fire
- Bothered- to be concerned
- Cherished – hold something dear
- Chirrupings – the noise of a small
bird
- Clasped – hold tightly
- Contentment – a state of happiness
and satisfaction
- Corpse- dead body
- Courtyard- verandah
- Cremated – dispose of or burn a body
after it is dead
- Criss- cross – a pattern of
intersecting straight lines
- Crude – in a natural state, roughly
made
- Customary – traditional
- Dilapidated – in a state of despair
or ruin
- Distressed – suffer from extremely
sorrow, anxiety or pain
- Earthen- made of baked or fired clay
- Fables- fictitious stories with a
moral teaching
- Fetch – go for and then bring back
something for someone
- Frivolous – not having any serious
purpose, light-hearted
- Frivolous rebukes – light hearted
scoldings
- Gentlefolk – People of noble birth
- Growling – making a low guttural
sound in the throat
- Harlots – Prostitutes
- Hobbled – walked in an awkward way
- Imprint – impression or stamp
- Inaudible- unable to be heard
- Lewd Association – Indecent or
Obscene
- Locks- hair
- Mantelpiece- a structure of wood,
marble, or stone above and around a fireplace.
- Moist- wet
- Monotonous – dull and boring
- Omitted – leave out or exclude
something
- Overstraining- overdoing something
- Pallor – an unhealthy pale appearance
- Perched – alight or rest on something
- Persuade – to talk someone into doing
something, request
- Plastered- covered with a layer of
plaster
- Portrait- painting or picture
- Prophets- saints
- Protested – express an objection
against something or someone
- Puckered – a face contract into
wrinkles
- Rebuke – disapproval of something or
someone
- Revolting – unpleasant
- Rosary- a string of beads for keeping
count of number of chants made of a religious prayer
- Sagging – sinking downwards
- Scattered – disorganized
- Scriptures – the sacred writings of a
religion
- Seclusion – the state of being
private and away from the people
- Sentimental – a feeling of nostaglia,
sadness or tenderness; an emotional feeling
- Serenity – the state of being
peaceful and calm
- Shooed – make a person or animal go
away by shouting or saying ‘shoo’
- Shroud – a piece of cloth used to
wrap a dead person
- Slate- a flat plate of slate formerly
used for writing on in schools
- Snapped- break suddenly and
completely
- Spinning-wheel – a household machine
with a wheel attached to it for spinning yarn
- spotless white – she wore clean,
white coloured dresses
- Stale- no longer fresh and pleasant
to eat; hard, musty, or dry.
- Stoop – bend one’s body forward
- The sagging skins of the dilapidated
drum- The loose surface of the worn out drum
- The thought was almost revolting- it
was very hard for the author to believe
- Thumped- hit
- Undignified- disrespectful
- Untidily – not neat
- Veritable – use to describe something
which is very interesting or unusual
- Wrinkled- having lines or folds
- Years rolled by- time passed
We’re Not Afraid to Die… If We Can
All Be Together Word Meaning
- Abated – something unpleasant to
become less intense
- Aft – near the stern of the ship
- Anchored – moor a ship to the sea
bottom
- Ashore – on the shore of the land
- Atrocious – bad; of a very poor
quality
- Auxiliary engine – small secondary
engine used to board ships to operate a windlass in the ship
- Bashed – strike hard; hit
- Bleak – an area of land lacking
vegetation
- Boom – pole that controls the angle
and shape of the sail
- Bulged – swell
- Bunk – bed
- Canvas – a strong unbleached cloth
- Capsizing – be overturned in the
water
- Caricatures – picture of a person;
cartoon
- Crest – reach the top of a wave
- Debris – rubbish
- Deck – a floor of a ship
- Deflected: turned aside
- Deteriorate – get worse
- Dinghies – a small boat for
recreation with mast or sail
- Donned – put on, wore
- Dozed off – went off to sleep
- Enormous – a very large size
- Forestay – a rope to support ship’s
foremast
- Frightful – very unpleasant or
shocking
- Gales – A very strong wind
- Gigantic – huge; of a big size
- Hatch – door
- Heave to – to raise or lift with
effort
- Honing – sharpen, improving
- Honing our seafaring skills –
improving the skills required to travel by sea
- Hull – the framework of the vessel
- Hurled – throw with a great force
- Impending – about to happen
- Jib – a triangular staysail set
forward the mast in a ship
- Keel – steel structure along the base
of the ship
- Knots – a unit of speed equal to one
nautical mile per hour, used especially of ships, aircraft, or winds
- Lashed – to hit with a lot of force
- Leisure – free time
- Loop – a shape produced that bends
round and crosses; bent
- Mast – a tall upright structure on a
boat or ship
- Mayday calls –words used to signal
ships stuck in a disastrous situation through radio
- Mooring – the ropes, chains, or
anchors by or to which a boat, ship, or buoy is moored
- Offshore – situated at the sea some
distance from the shore
- Oilskins – heavy cotton cloth
waterproofed with oil
- Ominous silence – unpleasant or
threatening silence
- Optimistic – hopeful and confident
- Paraffin – colorless flammable oil
liquid
- Pinpricks – a prick caused by a pin
- Pinpricks in the vast ocean – the two
small islands in the vast ocean were very tiny like the prick caused by a pin
- Respite – a short period of rest
- Rigging – the ropes and wires
supporting the structure of the ship
- Scrambled – climb; claw one’s way
- Seafaring – regularly traveling by
sea
- Sextant – an instrument with
graduated arc of 60 degrees for taking altitudes and navigation
- Shook – past tense of shake (vibrate)
- Sloshed – move through liquid with a
splashing sound.
- Smashed – badly broken
- Smashed – shattered or violently
broken
- Starboard – side of a ship which is
on the right side when one is facing forward
- Stark – sharply defined
- Stern – the back part of a ship or a
boat
- Taut – stretched or pulled tightly
- Timbers – wood board used in building
of a ship
- Torrent – a fast moving stream of
water
- Tousled head – disarranged hair of
the narrator’s son, Jonathan
- Tremendous – very great in amount
- Voyage – a long journey by sea or
space
- Wooden-hulled – a watertight body of
a ship
- Wrenched – pull suddenly, removed
Discovering Tut: The Saga Continues
Word meaning
- Adorned – decorated
- Adornments – ornaments
- Afterlife- life after death, based on
the belief that the essential part of an individual’s identity continues to the
next life after the death of the physical body
- Aftermath – after-effects of an
unpleasant event
- Amulet – an ornament or small piece
of jewellery thought to give protection against evil, danger, or disease.
- Anatomy – the branch of science which
deals with the bodily structure of humans, animals or other living beings
- Antiquity – age, oldness
- Apron – a protective garment worn
over the front of one’s clothes and tied at the back.
- Astonishing – amazing
- Blazing – very hot
- Budged – moved or shifted; a slight
movement
- Burial – burying the dead
- Casket- a small ornamental box or
chest for holding jewels, letters, or other valued objects.
- Casket grey – It means that the grey
clouds were like a grey coloured casket which contained the stars. The stars
are like jewels which are kept in a casket.
- Cemetery- a large burial ground
- Chiselled away – to cut something
with a chisel
- Circumvented – find a way around;
thieves would have found a way to tackle the guards and remove the gold from
the tomb
- Computed Tomography – Also called a
CT scan, it is a three-dimensional scan of a body with the help of hundreds of
X-Rays in cross-section together
- Concealed- hid
- Cramped – very small to fit into
- Dark-bellied – dark in colour
- Death rattle – the gurgling sound
produced in the throat of a person who is about to die
- Demise – death
- Descended – moved or gathered
- Eerie detail – strange image of Tut’s
head as visible with the help of CT scan
- Forensic Reconstruction – the process
of recreating the face of an individual
- Forensics – the application of the
scientific method to investigate a crime
- Funerary Treasures – the valuable
things with which the king was buried
- Futile – pointless; incapable of
producing the result of something
- Garlands of willow – a wreath of
flowers and leaves
- Gazed – to look in surprise or in
admiration
- Ghostly – eerie and unnatural; unreal
- Gilded – covered with a thin sheet or
coating of gold
- Glided – quite, continuous motion
- Hastily – fast; swiftly
- Heir – Inheritor, successor
- Hydraulic lift – a lift that uses a
machine to lift or move heavy objects with a pressure
- Iconic – something or someone who is
a symbol or it represents some other thing
- Inlaid – a decorative pattern on a
surface
- Intervening – occur in the time
between events
- Intriguing – to arouse one’s
curiosity
- Laden – loaded
- Legitimate – reasonable
- Lingering – long-lasting
- Mummy- a body of a human being or
animal that has been ceremonially preserved by removal of the internal organs,
treatment with natron and resin, and wrapping in bandages.
- Murals – a painting or other artwork
executed directly on the wall
- Pallbearers – a person who helps to
escort a coffin at a funeral
- Pharaoh- a ruler in ancient Egypt
- Pixels – a pixel is a single point in
a graphic image
- Pondering – think about something
carefully
- Probe – to investigate, find out
- Ransacked – raid; go through a place
to steal or damage something
- Resins – a sticky flammable substance
that is insoluble in water
- Resting place- here, the grave
- Resurrection – restoration to life
- Ritual – here, the resins used in the
ceremony of mummification
- Rock-cut – made in a rock by cutting
it
- Scudded across – moving quickly; it
refers to the movement of the dark-bellied clouds
- Sheaths – a close-fitting cover
- Shrine – holy place
- Shroud – a length of cloth in which a
dead person is wrapped
- Speculated- form a theory without
evidence
- Sprinted – ran at a high speed
- Spun – to turn around
- Startling – unexpected or surprising
- Stirred – move or cause to move
slightly
- Striking- prominent
- Swirling – to spin or twist
- Three nested coffin- three coffins
placed one in another in order of decreasing size. The innermost coffin houses
the body of the deceased.
- Tomb- an enclosure to bury the dead
- Veiling – to cover something
- Vertebrae – series of small bones
which form a backbone
- Wacky –amusing in a slightly odd way
- Whisper- to speak in a low voice
The Ailing Planet: The Green
Movement’s Role
- Ailing – in poor health
- Anguish – pain; suffering
- Barren wastelands – barely
inhabitable piece of land
- Beget – give life to
- Casteism – discrimination on the
grounds of caste
- Catalogued – classify; characterise
- Catastrophic Depletion – a harmful
reduction in a number of something
- Coercion – force
- Condemns – find guilty of something
- Dawned – begin
- Decimated – to reduce in number
- Decisively – clear and definitive
- Demise – death
- Deprives – prevent a person from using
something
- Deteriorate – become progressively
worse; decline
- Distorting – deform; disfigure
- Endeavour – trying hard to achieve
something
- Ethical Obligation – when someone is
required to do something based on a righteous standard of rules
- Felicitous – well-chosen
- Freehold – permanent tenure of land
or property
- Green Movement – It is a movement
which stresses people to follow environmentally friendly practices.
- Gripped – clutch; hold
- Holistic and Ecological View – It
means a view for the preservation of the environment. It also refers to the
understanding of importance of earth’s resources for the use of future
generations
- Hutments – collection of huts
- Ignominious darkness – disgraced as
no one has knowledge about them
- Impaired – weakened or damaged
- Impoverished – made poor
- Inter Alia – among other things
- Irrevocably – in a way that cannot be
changed or reversed
- Languish – lose or lack of vitality
of a person or plant or animal; grow weak
- Metabolic needs – needs of a living
organism that enables them to have a chemical process that causes food to be
used for growth and energy
- Patrimony – property inherited from
father or ancestor
- Perpetuation – keep going
- Precede – come before in order or
position
- Procure – obtain with care or effort
- Reckon – calculate
- Revolutionary – evolving a complete
change
- Scorched – burn the surface with heat
of fire
- Sterilised – make free from bacteria
or other micro organisms
- Stewards – manage or to look after
- Sustainable Development – economic
development without depletion of natural resources
- Synthetics – artificial substance
- Tenancy – possession of the land
- Transcending Concern – a concern that
existed for a very long time and has passed down from one generation to another
- Ushered – guide someone somewhere
- Voluntary – done or given of one’s
free will
The Adventure difficult word meaning
- Amok – to behave uncontrollably
- Armour – shell
- Assertion – a confident statement of
a fact
- Astute – smartness; quick-witted
- Avidly – with great interest
- Bifurcation – division
- Blow – by – blow account – a detailed
account
- Catastrophe theory – it is a branch
of mathematics concerned with systems displaying discontinuous changes
- Converged – met
- De facto – existing in fact with or
without any lawful authority
- Determinism – a doctrine that all the
events are caused by the external will
- Dismay – shock
- Disparity – difference
- Doctored accounts – manipulated
accounts related to history
- Dumbfounded – amazed
- Emerged – developed; begin
- Expansionist – a follower of the
policy of territorial or economic expansion
- Figurehead – a carving; image
- Flourishing – to grow successfully
- Frugal – less costly and simple
- Gave vent to – to express one’s
feelings
- Grave – serious
- Hostile – unfriendly
- Ignoramus – an ignorant person
- Impetus – the force with which body
moves
- Imposing – Impressive
- Inadvertently – unintentionally
- Manifestation – the action of showing
something; demonstration
- Marshall – to gather something
- Melee – a confused fight
- Morale booster – anything which
boosts self- confidence
- Outpost – a small military camp used
as a guard
- Permits – authorize to do something
- Political acumen – political
smartness
- Precise – error-free; correct
- Precise – exact; accurate
- Proclaimed – to announce something
officially
- Quantum theory – a theory of matter
and energy based on quantum mechanics.
- Relegated to – assigned to a lower
rank
- Riddle – mystery or puzzle
- Roared – to move at a high speed
while making a loud noise
- Rout – a defeat
- Sacrilege – disrespect
- Seldom – not often
- Shoved – to push someone roughly
- Smugly – to show excess
satisfaction
- Speculating – wondering
- Startling – surprising
- Stroll – to wander
- Suburban – residential area
- Supremacy – the condition of being
superior to others
- Swarmed – move somewhere in a large
number
- Throng – a large pack of crowd
- Townships – Towns or villages
- Trajectory – the path followed by a
projectile flying
- Triumphant – Successful
- Triumphantly – to win a battle
- Valiantly – bravely
- Valour – great courage in battle
- Ventured – to say something that
might be considered as an apology
- Viable – practical
Silk Road meaning of difficult words
- Accumulated – gathered
- Arid – having little or no rain
- Ascent – climb on an upward slope
- Billowed – filled with air; swelled
out
- Bounding – jump; hop; bounce
- Brackish – slightly salty water
- Brook – a small stream
- Cairn of rocks – the pile of stone on
the top of the mountain, especially where someone is buried.
- Careered down – sinking the slope
- Cavernous – vast
- Clambered – move or climb in an
awkward way
- Clung – hold tightly onto something
- Confinement – detention; captivity
- Cosmology – science about the origin
and development of the universe
- Daubed – spread a thick sticky
substance on a surface carelessly
- Derelict – ruined
- Devout – deep
- Drokba – Shepherd
- Ducking Back – going inside and then
coming out
- En masse – in a group
- Encrusted – decorated with a hard
surface layer
- Envisaged – predicted
- Evasive – slippery
- Ferocious – cruel or violent
- Festooned – decorated
- Filthy – dirty
- Flanks – sides
- Fling – throw
- Flocks – a group of birds
- Forge – put together; build-up
- Frown – to disapprove of something
- Galloping – progressing in an
uncontrollable manner
- Gasping – breathlessness
- Gazelles – an African or Asian mammal
with large eyes that moves quickly and hoofs
- Glinting – sparkle or twinkle
- Grim – ugly or grey
- Heaps – loads
- Herd – a large group of animal
- Incongruous – strange
- Kora – meditation performed by
Buddhist believers
- Laden – loaded
- Lichen – a slow-growing plant which
grows on walls, trees or rocks
- Loaves – bread shaped and baked in
one piece which is usually sliced before being eaten
- Lurching – listing
- Manoeuvres – military exercises
- Mastiffs – a dog who is a strong
breed with dropping ears saggy ears
- Meanders – to follow a winding course
of a river or road
- Nibbling – take a small bite from
- Nocturnal – night time
- Paraphernalia – miscellaneous
articles
- Pastures – land covered with grass
- Pellets – shots
- Petered out – to diminish gradually
and stop
- Plumes – Trails
- Pockmarked – disfigured with a scar
- Pondering – thinking
- Propping – to hold up
- Prostrating – lying down
- Rag – scrap cloth
- Rickety – unstable
- Rudimentary – basic or primary
- Salt flats – thatched roof covered
with snow
- Sanctity – pure
- Shaggy – bushy or hairy
- Size me up – to look at someone
attentively
- Slither – to move smoothly over a
surface
- Solitary – private
- Solitary – private
- Stark – plain
- Stout – firm
- Swathe – a long strip of land
- Swerve – change direction suddenly
- Throb – pulsate
- Tiresome – dull and boring
- Transpired – leaked
- Veering – to change direction
suddenly
- Venerated – respected
- Vestiges – a trace of something that
is disappearing
- Well-trodden – much frequented by
travellers
- Wild ass – an animal who have ears
shorter than a horse and smaller in size
- Wilderness – wasteland
- Wisp – a small amount of something
- Wreathed – twisted
-
