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abstruse
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adj 1: difficult to penetrate; incomprehensible to one of
ordinary understanding or knowledge; "the professor's
lectures were so abstruse that students tended to avoid
them"; "a deep metaphysical theory"; "some recondite
problem in historiography" [syn: abstruse, deep,
recondite]
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abuse
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n 1: cruel or inhumane treatment; "the child showed signs of
physical abuse" [syn: maltreatment, ill-treatment,
ill-usage, abuse]
2: a rude expression intended to offend or hurt; "when a student
made a stupid mistake he spared them no abuse"; "they yelled
insults at the visiting team" [syn: abuse, insult,
revilement, contumely, vilification]
3: improper or excessive use; "alcohol abuse"; "the abuse of
public funds" [syn: misuse, abuse]
v 1: treat badly; "This boss abuses his workers"; "She is always
stepping on others to get ahead" [syn: mistreat,
maltreat, abuse, ill-use, step, ill-treat]
2: change the inherent purpose or function of something; "Don't
abuse the system"; "The director of the factory misused the
funds intended for the health care of his workers" [syn:
pervert, misuse, abuse]
3: use foul or abusive language towards; "The actress abused the
policeman who gave her a parking ticket"; "The angry mother
shouted at the teacher" [syn: abuse, clapperclaw,
blackguard, shout]
4: use wrongly or improperly or excessively; "Her husband often
abuses alcohol"; "while she was pregnant, she abused drugs"
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adduce
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v 1: advance evidence for [syn: adduce, abduce, cite]
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caboose
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n 1: the area for food preparation on a ship [syn: galley,
ship's galley, caboose, cookhouse]
2: a car on a freight train for use of the train crew; usually
the last car on the train [syn: cabin car, caboose]
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conduce
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v 1: be conducive to; "The use of computers in the classroom
lead to better writing" [syn: contribute, lead,
conduce]
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deduce
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v 1: reason by deduction; establish by deduction [syn: deduce,
infer, deduct, derive]
2: conclude by reasoning; in logic [syn: deduce, infer]
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disuse
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n 1: the state of something that has been unused and neglected;
"the house was in a terrible state of neglect" [syn:
neglect, disuse]
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induce
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v 1: cause to arise; "induce a crisis" [syn: induce, bring
on]
2: cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner; "The ads
induced me to buy a VCR"; "My children finally got me to buy
a computer"; "My wife made me buy a new sofa" [syn: induce,
stimulate, cause, have, get, make]
3: cause to occur rapidly; "the infection precipitated a high
fever and allergic reactions" [syn: induce, stimulate,
rush, hasten]
4: reason or establish by induction
5: produce electric current by electrostatic or magnetic
processes [syn: induce, induct]
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introduce
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v 1: cause to come to know personally; "permit me to acquaint
you with my son"; "introduce the new neighbors to the
community" [syn: introduce, present, acquaint]
2: bring something new to an environment; "A new word processor
was introduced" [syn: introduce, innovate]
3: introduce; "Insert your ticket here" [syn: insert,
enclose, inclose, stick in, put in, introduce]
4: bring in a new person or object into a familiar environment;
"He brought in a new judge"; "The new secretary introduced a
nasty rumor" [syn: bring in, introduce]
5: bring in or establish in a new place or environment;
"introduce a rule"; "introduce exotic fruits"
6: put or introduce into something; "insert a picture into the
text" [syn: insert, infix, enter, introduce]
7: bring before the public for the first time, as of an actor,
song, etc. [syn: introduce, bring out]
8: put before (a body); "introduce legislation"
9: furnish with a preface or introduction; "She always precedes
her lectures with a joke"; "He prefaced his lecture with a
critical remark about the institution" [syn: precede,
preface, premise, introduce]
10: be a precursor of; "The fall of the Berlin Wall ushered in
the post-Cold War period" [syn: inaugurate, usher in,
introduce]
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misuse
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n 1: improper or excessive use; "alcohol abuse"; "the abuse of
public funds" [syn: misuse, abuse]
v 1: apply to a wrong thing or person; apply badly or
incorrectly; "The words are misapplied in this context";
"You are misapplying the name of this religious group"
[syn: misapply, misuse]
2: change the inherent purpose or function of something; "Don't
abuse the system"; "The director of the factory misused the
funds intended for the health care of his workers" [syn:
pervert, misuse, abuse]
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obtuse
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adj 1: of an angle; between 90 and 180 degrees [ant: acute]
2: (of a leaf shape) rounded at the apex
3: lacking in insight or discernment; "too obtuse to grasp the
implications of his behavior"; "a purblind oligarchy that
flatly refused to see that history was condemning it to the
dustbin"- Jasper Griffin [syn: obtuse, purblind]
4: slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity; "so
dense he never understands anything I say to him"; "never met
anyone quite so dim"; "although dull at classical learning,
at mathematics he was uncommonly quick"- Thackeray; "dumb
officials make some really dumb decisions"; "he was either
normally stupid or being deliberately obtuse"; "worked with
the slow students" [syn: dense, dim, dull, dumb,
obtuse, slow]
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overproduce
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v 1: produce in excess; produce more than needed or wanted
2: produce in excess; "The country overproduces cars"
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produce
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n 1: fresh fruits and vegetable grown for the market [syn:
produce, green goods, green groceries, garden
truck]
v 1: bring forth or yield; "The tree would not produce fruit"
[syn: produce, bring forth]
2: create or manufacture a man-made product; "We produce more
cars than we can sell"; "The company has been making toys for
two centuries" [syn: produce, make, create]
3: cause to happen, occur or exist; "This procedure produces a
curious effect"; "The new law gave rise to many complaints";
"These chemicals produce a noxious vapor"; "the new President
must bring about a change in the health care system" [syn:
produce, bring about, give rise]
4: bring out for display; "The proud father produced many
pictures of his baby"; "The accused brought forth a letter in
court that he claims exonerates him" [syn: produce, bring
forth]
5: cultivate by growing, often involving improvements by means
of agricultural techniques; "The Bordeaux region produces
great red wines"; "They produce good ham in Parma"; "We grow
wheat here"; "We raise hogs here" [syn: grow, raise,
farm, produce]
6: bring onto the market or release; "produce a movie"; "bring
out a book"; "produce a new play" [syn: produce, bring
on, bring out]
7: come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and
attributes); "He grew a beard"; "The patient developed
abdominal pains"; "I got funny spots all over my body";
"Well-developed breasts" [syn: grow, develop, produce,
get, acquire]
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profuse
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adj 1: produced or growing in extreme abundance; "their riotous
blooming" [syn: exuberant, lush, luxuriant,
profuse, riotous]
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recluse
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adj 1: withdrawn from society; seeking solitude; "lived an
unsocial reclusive life" [syn: recluse, reclusive,
withdrawn]
n 1: one who lives in solitude [syn: hermit, recluse,
solitary, solitudinarian, troglodyte]
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reduce
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v 1: cut down on; make a reduction in; "reduce your daily fat
intake"; "The employer wants to cut back health benefits"
[syn: reduce, cut down, cut back, trim, trim
down, trim back, cut, bring down]
2: make less complex; "reduce a problem to a single question"
3: bring to humbler or weaker state or condition; "He reduced
the population to slavery"
4: simplify the form of a mathematical equation of expression by
substituting one term for another
5: lower in grade or rank or force somebody into an undignified
situation; "She reduced her niece to a servant"
6: be the essential element; "The proposal boils down to a
compromise" [syn: reduce, come down, boil down]
7: reduce in size; reduce physically; "Hot water will shrink the
sweater"; "Can you shrink this image?" [syn: shrink,
reduce]
8: lessen and make more modest; "reduce one's standard of
living"
9: make smaller; "reduce an image" [syn: reduce, scale down]
[ant: blow up, enlarge, magnify]
10: to remove oxygen from a compound, or cause to react with
hydrogen or form a hydride, or to undergo an increase in the
number of electrons [syn: deoxidize, deoxidise,
reduce] [ant: oxidate, oxidise, oxidize]
11: narrow or limit; "reduce the influx of foreigners" [syn:
reduce, tighten]
12: put down by force or intimidation; "The government quashes
any attempt of an uprising"; "China keeps down her
dissidents very efficiently"; "The rich landowners
subjugated the peasants working the land" [syn: repress,
quash, keep down, subdue, subjugate, reduce]
13: undergo meiosis; "The cells reduce"
14: reposition (a broken bone after surgery) back to its normal
site
15: destress and thus weaken a sound when pronouncing it
16: reduce in scope while retaining essential elements; "The
manuscript must be shortened" [syn: abridge,
foreshorten, abbreviate, shorten, cut, contract,
reduce] [ant: dilate, elaborate, enlarge, expand,
expatiate, exposit, expound, flesh out, lucubrate]
17: be cooked until very little liquid is left; "The sauce
should reduce to one cup" [syn: boil down, reduce,
decoct, concentrate]
18: cook until very little liquid is left; "The cook reduced the
sauce by boiling it for a long time" [syn: reduce, boil
down, concentrate]
19: lessen the strength or flavor of a solution or mixture; "cut
bourbon" [syn: dilute, thin, thin out, reduce,
cut]
20: take off weight [syn: reduce, melt off, lose weight,
slim, slenderize, thin, slim down] [ant: gain,
put on]
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reintroduce
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v 1: introduce anew; "We haven't met in a long time, so let me
reintroduce myself" [syn: reintroduce, re-introduce]
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reproduce
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v 1: make a copy or equivalent of; "reproduce the painting"
2: have offspring or produce more individuals of a given animal
or plant; "The Bible tells people to procreate" [syn:
reproduce, procreate, multiply]
3: recreate a sound, image, idea, mood, atmosphere, etc.; "this
DVD player reproduces the sound of the piano very well"; "He
reproduced the feeling of sadness in the portrait"
4: repeat after memorization; "For the exam, you must be able to
regurgitate the information" [syn: regurgitate,
reproduce]
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reuse
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v 1: use again after processing; "We must recycle the cardboard
boxes" [syn: recycle, reprocess, reuse]
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seduce
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v 1: induce to have sex; "Harry finally seduced Sally"; "Did you
score last night?"; "Harry made Sally" [syn: seduce,
score, make]
2: lure or entice away from duty, principles, or proper conduct;
"She was seduced by the temptation of easy money and started
to work in a massage parlor"
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sluice
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n 1: conduit that carries a rapid flow of water controlled by a
sluicegate [syn: sluice, sluiceway, penstock]
v 1: pour as if from a sluice; "An aggressive tide sluiced
across the barrier reef" [syn: sluice, sluice down]
2: irrigate with water from a sluice; "sluice the earth" [syn:
sluice, flush]
3: transport in or send down a sluice; "sluice logs"
4: draw through a sluice; "sluice water"
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spruce
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adj 1: marked by up-to-dateness in dress and manners; "a dapper
young man"; "a jaunty red hat" [syn: dapper, dashing,
jaunty, natty, raffish, rakish, spiffy,
snappy, spruce]
n 1: light soft moderately strong wood of spruce trees; used
especially for timbers and millwork
2: any coniferous tree of the genus Picea
v 1: make neat, smart, or trim; "Spruce up your house for
Spring"; "titivate the child" [syn: spruce up, spruce,
titivate, tittivate, smarten up, slick up, spiff
up]
2: dress and groom with particular care, as for a special
occasion; "He spruced up for the party" [syn: spruce up,
spruce, slick up, smarten up]
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truce
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n 1: a state of peace agreed to between opponents so they can
discuss peace terms [syn: armistice, cease-fire,
truce]
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bruce
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n 1: Australian physician and bacteriologist who described the
bacterium that causes undulant fever or brucellosis
(1855-1931) [syn: Bruce, David Bruce, Sir David
Bruce]
2: king of Scotland from 1306 to 1329; defeated the English army
under Edward II at Bannockburn and gained recognition of
Scottish independence (1274-1329) [syn: Bruce, Robert the
Bruce, Robert I]
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duce
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n 1: leader; "Mussolini was called Il Duce"
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nous
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n 1: common sense; "she has great social nous"
2: that which is responsible for one's thoughts and feelings;
the seat of the faculty of reason; "his mind wandered"; "I
couldn't get his words out of my head" [syn: mind, head,
brain, psyche, nous]
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boose
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cheuse
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coos
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cruce
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deuss
0
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doose
0
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druce
0
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foose
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fuoss
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asmus
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damoose
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