| adumbration | (noun) a sketchy or imperfect or faint representation | - |
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| (noun) the act of providing vague advance indications; representing beforehand | Synonyms: foreshadowing, prefiguration |
| advection | (noun) (meteorology) the horizontal transfer of heat or other atmospheric properties | - |
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| advowson | (noun) the right in English law of presenting a nominee to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice | - |
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| aeon | (noun) (Gnosticism) a divine power or nature emanating from the Supreme Being and playing various roles in the operation of the universe | Synonyms: eon |
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| (noun) an immeasurably long period of time | Synonyms: eon |
| (noun) the longest division of geological time | Synonyms: eon |
| aeration | (noun) the act of charging a liquid with a gas making it effervescent | - |
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| (noun) the process of exposing to air (so as to purify) | - |
| aerodontalgia | (noun) pain in the teeth that results from a change in air pressure (as in flying or mountain climbing) | - |
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| aeronaut | (noun) someone who operates an aircraft | Synonyms: aviator, flier, flyer |
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| aeronautics | (noun) the theory and practice of navigation through air or space | Synonyms: astronautics |
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| aestivation | (noun) (botany) the arrangement of sepals and petals in a flower bud before it opens | Synonyms: estivation |
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| (noun) (zoology) cessation or slowing of activity during the summer; especially slowing of metabolism in some animals during a hot or dry period | Synonyms: estivation |
| affectation | (noun) a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display | Synonyms: affectedness, mannerism, pose |
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| affection | (noun) a positive feeling of liking | Synonyms: affectionateness, fondness, heart, philia, tenderness, warmheartedness, warmness |
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| affectionateness | (noun) a quality proceeding from feelings of affection or love | Synonyms: fondness, lovingness, warmth |
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| (noun) a positive feeling of liking | Synonyms: affection, fondness, heart, philia, tenderness, warmheartedness, warmness |
| affiliation | (noun) the act of becoming formally connected or joined | - |
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| (noun) a social or business relationship | Synonyms: association, tie-up, tie |
| affirmation | (noun) a judgment by a higher court that the judgment of a lower court was correct and should stand | - |
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| (noun) a statement asserting the existence or the truth of something | Synonyms: avouchment, avowal |
| (noun) (religion) a solemn declaration that serves the same purpose as an oath (if an oath is objectionable to the person on religious or ethical grounds) | - |
| (noun) the act of affirming or asserting or stating something | Synonyms: assertion, statement |
| affixation | (noun) formation of a word by means of an affix | - |
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| (noun) the act of attaching or affixing something | Synonyms: attachment |
| (noun) the result of adding an affix to a root word | - |
| affliction | (noun) a cause of great suffering and distress | - |
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| (noun) a condition of suffering or distress due to ill health | - |
| (noun) a state of great suffering and distress due to adversity | - |
| afforestation | (noun) the conversion of bare or cultivated land into forest (originally for the purpose of hunting) | - |
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| affrication | (noun) the conversion of a simple stop consonant into an affricate | - |
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| affront | (noun) a deliberately offensive act or something producing the effect of deliberate disrespect | Synonyms: insult |
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| affusion | (noun) the act of baptizing someone by pouring water on their head | - |
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| aficionado | (noun) a serious devotee of some particular music genre or musical performer | - |
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| (noun) a fan of bull fighting | - |
| afternoon | (noun) a conventional expression of greeting or farewell, used to wish someone a good afternoon | Synonyms: good afternoon |
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| (noun) the part of the day between noon and evening | - |
| aftersensation | (noun) an image (usually a negative image) that persists after stimulation has ceased | Synonyms: afterimage |
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| agglomeration | (noun) the act of collecting in a mass; the act of agglomerating | - |
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| (noun) a jumbled collection or mass | - |
| agglutination | (noun) the building of words from component morphemes that retain their form and meaning in the process of combining | - |
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| (noun) a clumping of bacteria or red cells when held together by antibodies (agglutinins) | - |
| (noun) the coalescing of small particles that are suspended in solution; these larger masses are then (usually) precipitated | Synonyms: agglutinating activity |
| aggravation | (noun) unfriendly behavior that causes anger or resentment | Synonyms: irritation, provocation |
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| (noun) action that makes a problem or a disease (or its symptoms) worse | Synonyms: exacerbation |
| (noun) an exasperated feeling of annoyance | Synonyms: exasperation |
| aggregation | (noun) the act of gathering something together | Synonyms: assembling, collecting, collection |
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| (noun) several things grouped together or considered as a whole | Synonyms: accumulation, assemblage, collection |
| aggression | (noun) violent action that is hostile and usually unprovoked | Synonyms: hostility |
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| (noun) deliberately unfriendly behavior | - |
| (noun) the act of initiating hostilities | - |
| (noun) a disposition to behave aggressively | - |
| (noun) a feeling of hostility that arouses thoughts of attack | Synonyms: aggressiveness |
| agitation | (noun) disturbance usually in protest | Synonyms: excitement, hullabaloo, turmoil, upheaval |
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| (noun) the act of agitating something; causing it to move around (usually vigorously) | - |
| (noun) the feeling of being agitated; not calm | - |
| (noun) a state of agitation or turbulent change or development | Synonyms: ferment, fermentation, tempestuousness, unrest |
| (noun) a mental state of extreme emotional disturbance | - |
| agnation | (noun) line of descent traced through the paternal side of the family | Synonyms: patrilineage |
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| agon | (noun) a festivity in ancient Greece at which competitors contended for prizes | - |
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| agonist | (noun) (biochemistry) a drug that can combine with a receptor on a cell to produce a physiological reaction | - |
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| (noun) a muscle that contracts while another relaxes | - |
| (noun) someone involved in a contest or battle (as in an agon) | - |
| (noun) the principal character in a work of fiction | Synonyms: protagonist |
| agony | (noun) intense feelings of suffering; acute mental or physical pain | Synonyms: torment, torture |
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| (noun) a state of acute pain | Synonyms: excruciation, suffering |
| agraphon | (noun) (usually plural) a saying of Jesus not in the canonical gospels but found in other New Testament or early Christian writings. | - |
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| agrimonia | (noun) a plant of the genus Agrimonia having spikelike clusters of small yellow flowers | Synonyms: agrimony |
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| agrimony | (noun) a plant of the genus Agrimonia having spikelike clusters of small yellow flowers | Synonyms: agrimonia |
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| agronomist | (noun) an expert in soil management and field-crop production | - |
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| agronomy | (noun) the application of soil and plant sciences to land management and crop production | Synonyms: scientific agriculture |
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| aileron | (noun) an airfoil that controls lateral motion | - |
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| aitchbone | (noun) a cut of beef including the H-shaped rump bone | - |
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| alcapton | (noun) an acid formed as an intermediate product of the metabolism of tyrosine and phenylalanine | Synonyms: alkapton, homogentisic acid |
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| alcaptonuria | (noun) a rare recessive metabolic anomaly marked by ochronosis and the presence of alkapton in the urine | Synonyms: alkaptonuria |
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| aldosterone | (noun) a corticosteroid hormone that is secreted by the cortex of the adrenal gland; regulates salt (sodium and potassium) and water balance | - |
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| aldosteronism | (noun) a condition caused by overproduction of aldosterone | Synonyms: hyperaldosteronism |
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| alendronate | (noun) a tablet (trade name Fosamax) prescribed to prevent or treat osteoporosis in women after menopause | Synonyms: Fosamax |
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| aleurone | (noun) granular protein in outermost layer of endosperm of many seeds or cereal grains | - |
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| alienation | (noun) the action of alienating; the action of causing to become unfriendly | - |
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| (noun) (law) the voluntary and absolute transfer of title and possession of real property from one person to another | - |
| (noun) the feeling of being alienated from other people | Synonyms: disaffection, estrangement |
| (noun) separation resulting from hostility | Synonyms: estrangement |
| alimentation | (noun) the act of supplying food and nourishment | Synonyms: feeding |
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| (noun) a source of materials to nourish the body | Synonyms: aliment, nourishment, nutriment, nutrition, sustenance, victuals |
| alimony | (noun) court-ordered support paid by one spouse to another after they are separated | Synonyms: maintenance |
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| alkapton | (noun) an acid formed as an intermediate product of the metabolism of tyrosine and phenylalanine | Synonyms: alcapton, homogentisic acid |
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| alkaptonuria | (noun) a rare recessive metabolic anomaly marked by ochronosis and the presence of alkapton in the urine | Synonyms: alcaptonuria |
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| alkylbenzenesulfonate | (noun) sulfonate of alkyl benzene | - |
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| allegation | (noun) (law) a formal accusation against somebody (often in a court of law) | - |
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| (noun) statements affirming or denying certain matters of fact that you are prepared to prove | Synonyms: allegement |
| alleviation | (noun) the act of reducing something unpleasant (as pain or annoyance) | Synonyms: easement, easing, relief |
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| (noun) the feeling that comes when something burdensome is removed or reduced | Synonyms: assuagement, relief |
| alliteration | (noun) use of the same consonant at the beginning of each stressed syllable in a line of verse | Synonyms: beginning rhyme, head rhyme, initial rhyme |
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| allocation | (noun) the act of distributing by allotting or apportioning; distribution according to a plan | Synonyms: allotment, apportioning, apportionment, assignation, parceling, parcelling |
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| (noun) (computer science) the assignment of particular areas of a magnetic disk to particular data or instructions | Synonyms: storage allocation |
| (noun) a share set aside for a specific purpose | Synonyms: allotment |
| allocution | (noun) (rhetoric) a formal or authoritative address that advises or exhorts | - |
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| allophone | (noun) (linguistics) any of various acoustically different forms of the same phoneme | - |
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| allusion | (noun) passing reference or indirect mention | - |
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| alluviation | (noun) the phenomenon of sediment or gravel accumulating | Synonyms: deposit, sedimentation |
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| alluvion | (noun) clay or silt or gravel carried by rushing streams and deposited where the stream slows down | Synonyms: alluvial deposit, alluvial sediment, alluvium |
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| (noun) the rising of a body of water and its overflowing onto normally dry land | Synonyms: deluge, flood, inundation |
| (noun) gradual formation of new land, by recession of the sea or deposit of sediment | - |
| almond | (noun) oval-shaped edible seed of the almond tree | - |
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| (noun) small bushy deciduous tree native to Asia and North Africa having pretty pink blossoms and highly prized edible nuts enclosed in a hard green hull; cultivated in southern Australia and California | Synonyms: Amygdalus communis, Prunus amygdalus, Prunus dulcis, sweet almond |
| almoner | (noun) an official in a British hospital who looks after the social and material needs of the patients | Synonyms: medical social worker |
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| aloneness | (noun) a disposition toward being alone | Synonyms: loneliness, lonesomeness, solitariness |
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| alphabetisation | (noun) the act of putting in alphabetical order | Synonyms: alphabetization |
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| alphabetization | (noun) the act of putting in alphabetical order | Synonyms: alphabetisation |
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| alteration | (noun) the act of revising or altering (involving reconsideration and modification) | Synonyms: revision |
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| (noun) the act of making something different (as e.g. the size of a garment) | Synonyms: adjustment, modification |
| (noun) an event that occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another | Synonyms: change, modification |
| altercation | (noun) noisy quarrel | Synonyms: affray, fracas |
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| alternation | (noun) successive change from one thing or state to another and back again | - |
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| amalgamation | (noun) the combination of two or more commercial companies | Synonyms: merger, uniting |
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| amazon | (noun) mainly green tropical American parrots | - |
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| (noun) a large strong and aggressive woman | Synonyms: virago |
| ambition | (noun) a strong drive for success | Synonyms: ambitiousness |
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| (noun) a cherished desire | Synonyms: aspiration, dream |
| ambiversion | (noun) (psychology) a balanced disposition intermediate between extroversion and introversion | - |
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| amblygonite | (noun) a white or grey mineral consisting of lithium aluminum phosphate; a source of lithium | - |
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| ambulation | (noun) walking about | - |
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| amelioration | (noun) the act of relieving ills and changing for the better | Synonyms: betterment, melioration |
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| amiodarone | (noun) an antiarrhythmic drug (trade name Cordarone) that has potentially fatal side effects and is used to control serious heart rhythm problems only when safer agents have been ineffective | Synonyms: Cordarone |
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| ammonal | (noun) Ammonal is an explosive made up of ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder. | - |
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| ammonia | (noun) a pungent gas compounded of nitrogen and hydrogen (NH3) | - |
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| (noun) a water solution of ammonia | Synonyms: ammonia water, ammonium hydroxide |
| ammoniac | (noun) the aromatic gum of the ammoniac plant | Synonyms: gum ammoniac |
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| ammonification | (noun) impregnation with ammonia or a compound of ammonia | - |
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| ammonite | (noun) one of the coiled chambered fossil shells of extinct mollusks | Synonyms: ammonoid |
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| ammonium | (noun) the ion NH4 derived from ammonia; behaves in many respects like an alkali metal ion | Synonyms: ammonium ion |
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| ammoniuria | (noun) excessive ammonia in the urine | - |
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| ammonoid | (noun) one of the coiled chambered fossil shells of extinct mollusks | Synonyms: ammonite |
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| ammunition | (noun) projectiles to be fired from a gun | Synonyms: ammo |
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| (noun) information that can be used to attack or defend a claim or argument or viewpoint | - |
| (noun) any nuclear or chemical or biological material that can be used as a weapon of mass destruction | - |
| amnion | (noun) thin innermost membranous sac enclosing the developing embryo of higher vertebrates (reptiles, birds and mammals) | Synonyms: amnios, amniotic sac |
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| amortisation | (noun) payment of an obligation in a series of installments or transfers | Synonyms: amortization |
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| (noun) the reduction of the value of an asset by prorating its cost over a period of years | Synonyms: amortization |
| amortization | (noun) payment of an obligation in a series of installments or transfers | Synonyms: amortisation |
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| (noun) the reduction of the value of an asset by prorating its cost over a period of years | Synonyms: amortisation |
| amphictyony | (noun) an association of neighboring states or tribes in ancient Greece; established originally to defend a common religious center | - |
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| amplification | (noun) (electronics) the act of increasing voltage or power or current | - |
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| (noun) addition of extra material or illustration or clarifying detail | Synonyms: elaboration |
| (noun) the amount of increase in signal power or voltage or current expressed as the ratio of output to input | Synonyms: gain |
| amputation | (noun) a surgical removal of all or part of a limb | - |
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| (noun) a condition of disability resulting from the loss of one or more limbs | - |
| amrinone | (noun) a drug (trade name Inocor) used intravenously in heart failure; increases strength of contraction of myocardium | Synonyms: Inocor |
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| amyotonia | (noun) lack of normal muscular tension or tonus | Synonyms: atonia, atonicity, atony |
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| anachronism | (noun) an artifact that belongs to another time | - |
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| (noun) a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age | - |
| (noun) something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred | Synonyms: misdating, mistiming |
| anacoluthon | (noun) an abrupt change within a sentence from one syntactic structure to another | Synonyms: anacoluthia |
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| anaconda | (noun) large arboreal boa of tropical South America | Synonyms: Eunectes murinus |
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| anathematisation | (noun) the formal act of pronouncing (someone or something) accursed | Synonyms: anathematization |
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| anathematization | (noun) the formal act of pronouncing (someone or something) accursed | Synonyms: anathematisation |
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| anchorperson | (noun) a television reporter who coordinates a broadcast to which several correspondents contribute | Synonyms: anchor, anchorman |
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