| astronavigation | (noun) navigating according to the positions of the stars | Synonyms: celestial navigation |
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| astronomer | (noun) a physicist who studies astronomy | Synonyms: stargazer, uranologist |
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| astronomy | (noun) the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the universe as a whole | Synonyms: uranology |
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| asynchronism | (noun) the relation that exists when things occur at unrelated times | Synonyms: asynchrony, desynchronisation, desynchronization, desynchronizing |
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| asynchrony | (noun) the relation that exists when things occur at unrelated times | Synonyms: asynchronism, desynchronisation, desynchronization, desynchronizing |
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| asyndeton | (noun) the omission of conjunctions where they would normally be used | - |
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| atomisation | (noun) separating something into fine particles | Synonyms: atomization, fragmentation |
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| (noun) annihilation by reducing something to atoms | Synonyms: atomization |
| atomization | (noun) separating something into fine particles | Synonyms: atomisation, fragmentation |
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| (noun) annihilation by reducing something to atoms | Synonyms: atomisation |
| atonalism | (noun) the absence of a key; alternative to the diatonic system | Synonyms: atonality |
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| atonality | (noun) the absence of a key; alternative to the diatonic system | Synonyms: atonalism |
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| atonement | (noun) the act of atoning for sin or wrongdoing (especially appeasing a deity) | Synonyms: expiation, propitiation |
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| (noun) compensation for a wrong | Synonyms: expiation, satisfaction |
| atonia | (noun) lack of normal muscular tension or tonus | Synonyms: amyotonia, atonicity, atony |
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| atonicity | (noun) lack of normal muscular tension or tonus | Synonyms: amyotonia, atonia, atony |
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| atony | (noun) lack of normal muscular tension or tonus | Synonyms: amyotonia, atonia, atonicity |
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| attention | (noun) the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something | Synonyms: aid, care, tending |
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| (noun) a courteous act indicating affection | - |
| (noun) a motionless erect stance with arms at the sides and feet together; assumed by military personnel during drill or review | - |
| (noun) the process whereby a person concentrates on some features of the environment to the (relative) exclusion of others | Synonyms: attending |
| (noun) the faculty or power of mental concentration | - |
| (noun) a general interest that leads people to want to know more | - |
| attenuation | (noun) the property of something that has been weakened or reduced in thickness or density | - |
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| (noun) weakening in force or intensity | Synonyms: fading |
| attestation | (noun) the action of bearing witness | - |
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| (noun) the evidence by which something is attested | - |
| attosecond | (noun) one quintillionth (10^-18) of a second; one thousandth of a femtosecond | - |
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| attraction | (noun) the quality of arousing interest; being attractive or something that attracts | Synonyms: attractiveness |
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| (noun) a characteristic that provides pleasure and attracts | Synonyms: attracter, attractive feature, attractor, magnet |
| (noun) an entertainment that is offered to the public | - |
| (noun) an entertainer who attracts large audiences | Synonyms: attracter, attractor, draw, drawing card |
| (noun) the force by which one object attracts another | Synonyms: attractive force |
| attribution | (noun) assigning to a cause or source | Synonyms: ascription |
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| (noun) assigning some quality or character to a person or thing | Synonyms: ascription |
| attrition | (noun) the act of rubbing together; wearing something down by friction | - |
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| (noun) a wearing down to weaken or destroy | - |
| (noun) sorrow for sin arising from fear of damnation | Synonyms: contriteness, contrition |
| (noun) the wearing down of rock particles by friction due to water or wind or ice | Synonyms: abrasion, detrition, grinding |
| (noun) erosion by friction | Synonyms: abrasion, corrasion, detrition |
| auction | (noun) the public sale of something to the highest bidder | Synonyms: auction sale, vendue |
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| (noun) a variety of bridge in which tricks made in excess of the contract are scored toward game; now generally superseded by contract bridge | Synonyms: auction bridge |
| auctioneer | (noun) an agent who conducts an auction | - |
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| audition | (noun) a test of the suitability of a performer | Synonyms: tryout |
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| (noun) the ability to hear; the auditory faculty | Synonyms: auditory modality, auditory sense, hearing, sense of hearing |
| augmentation | (noun) the act of augmenting | - |
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| (noun) the statement of a theme in notes of greater duration (usually twice the length of the original) | - |
| (noun) the amount by which something becomes greater | - |
| auscultation | (noun) listening to sounds within the body (usually with a stethoscope) | - |
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| authentication | (noun) validating the authenticity of something or someone | Synonyms: certification |
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| (noun) a mark on an article of trade to indicate its origin and authenticity | Synonyms: assay-mark, hallmark |
| authorisation | (noun) the act of conferring legality or sanction or formal warrant | Synonyms: authorization, empowerment |
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| (noun) the power or right to give orders or make decisions | Synonyms: authority, authorization, dominance, potency, say-so |
| (noun) official permission or approval | Synonyms: authority, authorization, sanction |
| (noun) a document giving an official instruction or command | Synonyms: authorization, mandate |
| authorization | (noun) the act of conferring legality or sanction or formal warrant | Synonyms: authorisation, empowerment |
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| (noun) the power or right to give orders or make decisions | Synonyms: authorisation, authority, dominance, potency, say-so |
| (noun) official permission or approval | Synonyms: authorisation, authority, sanction |
| (noun) a document giving an official instruction or command | Synonyms: authorisation, mandate |
| autochthon | (noun) the earliest known inhabitants of a region | - |
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| autochthony | (noun) nativeness by virtue of originating or occurring naturally (as in a particular place) | Synonyms: endemism, indigenousness |
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| automation | (noun) the act of implementing the control of equipment with advanced technology; usually involving electronic hardware | Synonyms: mechanisation, mechanization |
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| (noun) equipment used to achieve automatic control or operation | - |
| (noun) the condition of being automatically operated or controlled | - |
| automaton | (noun) a mechanism that can move automatically | Synonyms: golem, robot |
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| (noun) a machine that operates on its own without the need for human control | - |
| (noun) someone who acts or responds in a mechanical or apathetic way | Synonyms: zombi, zombie |
| autonomy | (noun) immunity from arbitrary exercise of authority: political independence | Synonyms: liberty |
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| (noun) personal independence | Synonyms: self-direction, self-reliance, self-sufficiency |
| autoregulation | (noun) (physiology) processes that maintain a generally constant physiological state in a cell or organism | - |
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| autosuggestion | (noun) a system for self-improvement developed by Emile Coue which was popular in the 1920s and 1930s | Synonyms: auto-suggestion, self-suggestion |
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| aversion | (noun) the act of turning yourself (or your gaze) away | Synonyms: averting |
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| (noun) a feeling of intense dislike | Synonyms: antipathy, distaste |
| aviation | (noun) travel via aircraft | Synonyms: air, air travel |
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| (noun) the art of operating aircraft | Synonyms: airmanship |
| (noun) the aggregation of a country's military aircraft | Synonyms: air power |
| (noun) the operation of aircraft to provide transportation | - |
| avionics | (noun) science and technology of electronic systems and devices for aeronautics and astronautics | - |
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| avocation | (noun) an auxiliary activity | Synonyms: by-line, hobby, pursuit, sideline, spare-time activity |
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| avulsion | (noun) a forcible tearing or surgical separation of one body part from another | - |
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| (noun) an abrupt change in the course of a stream that forms the boundary between two parcels of land resulting in the loss of part of the land of one landowner and a consequent increase in the land of another | - |
| axon | (noun) long nerve fiber that conducts away from the cell body of the neuron | Synonyms: axone |
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| axone | (noun) long nerve fiber that conducts away from the cell body of the neuron | Synonyms: axon |
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| aztreonam | (noun) an antibiotic (trade name Azactam) used against severe infections; has minimal side effects | Synonyms: Azactam |
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| baboon | (noun) large terrestrial monkeys having doglike muzzles | - |
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| backbone | (noun) the part of a network that connects other networks together | - |
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| (noun) the part of a book's cover that encloses the inner side of the book's pages and that faces outward when the book is shelved | Synonyms: spine |
| (noun) fortitude and determination | Synonyms: grit, gumption, guts, moxie, sand |
| (noun) the series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord | Synonyms: back, rachis, spinal column, spine, vertebral column |
| (noun) a central cohesive source of support and stability | Synonyms: anchor, keystone, linchpin, lynchpin, mainstay |
| backgammon | (noun) a board game for two players; pieces move according to throws of the dice | - |
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| backwardation | (noun) the market condition wherein the price of a forward or futures contract is trading below the expected spot price at contract maturity. | - |
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| bacon | (noun) back and sides of a hog salted and dried or smoked; usually sliced thin and fried | - |
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| badminton | (noun) a game played on a court with light long-handled rackets used to volley a shuttlecock over a net | - |
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| balcony | (noun) a platform projecting from the wall of a building and surrounded by a balustrade or railing or parapet | - |
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| (noun) an upper floor projecting from the rear over the main floor in an auditorium | - |
| balloon | (noun) large tough nonrigid bag filled with gas or heated air | - |
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| (noun) small thin inflatable rubber bag with narrow neck | - |
| balloonfish | (noun) similar to but smaller than porcupinefish | Synonyms: Diodon holocanthus |
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| ballooning | (noun) flying in a balloon | - |
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| balloonist | (noun) someone who flies a balloon | - |
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| baloney | (noun) pretentious or silly talk or writing | Synonyms: bilgewater, boloney, bosh, drool, humbug, taradiddle, tarradiddle, tommyrot, tosh, twaddle |
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| bandoneon | (noun) a type of concertina popular in South America | - |
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| bandwagon | (noun) a large ornate wagon for carrying a musical band | - |
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| (noun) a popular trend that attracts growing support | - |
| barbarisation | (noun) an act that makes people primitive and uncivilized | Synonyms: barbarization |
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| barbarization | (noun) an act that makes people primitive and uncivilized | Synonyms: barbarisation |
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| barbitone | (noun) a barbiturate used as a hypnotic | Synonyms: barbital, diethylbarbituric acid, diethylmalonylurea, veronal |
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| baritone | (noun) the second lowest brass wind instrument | Synonyms: baritone horn |
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| (noun) the second lowest adult male singing voice | Synonyms: baritone voice |
| (noun) a male singer | Synonyms: barytone |
| baron | (noun) a British peer of the lowest rank | - |
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| (noun) a very wealthy or powerful businessman | Synonyms: big businessman, business leader, king, magnate, mogul, power, top executive, tycoon |
| (noun) a nobleman (in various countries) of varying rank | - |
| baronage | (noun) the peers of a kingdom considered as a group | Synonyms: peerage |
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| baronduki | (noun) terrestrial Siberian squirrel | Synonyms: baranduki, barunduki, burunduki, Eutamius asiaticus, Eutamius sibiricus |
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| baroness | (noun) a noblewoman who holds the rank of baron or who is the wife or widow of a baron | - |
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| baronet | (noun) a member of the British order of honor; ranks below a baron but above a knight | Synonyms: Bart |
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| baronetage | (noun) the state of a baronet | - |
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| (noun) the collective body of baronets | - |
| baronetcy | (noun) the title of a baron | - |
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| (noun) the rank or dignity or position of a baronet or baroness | Synonyms: barony |
| barong | (noun) a knife resembling a cleaver; used in the Philippines | - |
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| barony | (noun) the domain of a baron | - |
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| (noun) the estate of a baron | - |
| (noun) the rank or dignity or position of a baronet or baroness | Synonyms: baronetcy |
| bartonia | (noun) annual grown especially for its fragrant golden nocturnal flowers | Synonyms: Mentzelia lindleyi |
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| baryon | (noun) any of the elementary particles having a mass equal to or greater than that of a proton and that participate in strong interactions; a hadron with a baryon number of +1 | Synonyms: heavy particle |
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| barytone | (noun) a male singer | Synonyms: baritone |
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| bassoon | (noun) a double-reed instrument; the tenor of the oboe family | - |
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| bassoonist | (noun) a musician who plays the bassoon | - |
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| bastardisation | (noun) an act that debases or corrupts | Synonyms: bastardization |
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| bastardization | (noun) an act that debases or corrupts | Synonyms: bastardisation |
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| (noun) declaring or rendering bastard | - |
| bastion | (noun) projecting part of a rampart or other fortification | - |
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| (noun) a stronghold into which people could go for shelter during a battle | Synonyms: citadel |
| (noun) a group that defends a principle | - |
| baton | (noun) a thin tapered rod used by a conductor to lead an orchestra or choir | Synonyms: wand |
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| (noun) a hollow cylinder passed from runner to runner in a relay race | - |
| (noun) a hollow metal rod that is wielded or twirled by a drum major or drum majorette | - |
| (noun) a short staff carried by some officials to symbolize an office or an authority | - |
| (noun) a short stout club used primarily by policemen | Synonyms: billy, billy club, billystick, nightstick, truncheon |
| battalion | (noun) an army unit usually consisting of a headquarters and three or more companies | - |
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| (noun) a large indefinite quantity | Synonyms: large number, multitude, pack, plurality |
| battlefront | (noun) the line along which opposing armies face each other | Synonyms: front, front line |
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| battlewagon | (noun) large and heavily armoured warship | Synonyms: battleship |
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| bayonet | (noun) a knife that can be fixed to the end of a rifle and used as a weapon | - |
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| bazillion | (noun) a very large indefinite number (usually hyperbole) | Synonyms: billion, gazillion, jillion, million, trillion, zillion |
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| beachfront | (noun) a strip of land running along a beach | - |
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| beacon | (noun) a radio station that broadcasts a directional signal for navigational purposes | Synonyms: radio beacon |
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| (noun) a tower with a light that gives warning of shoals to passing ships | Synonyms: beacon light, lighthouse, pharos |
| (noun) a fire (usually on a hill or tower) that can be seen from a distance | Synonyms: beacon fire |
| beatification | (noun) (Roman Catholic Church) an act of the Pope who declares that a deceased person lived a holy life and is worthy of public veneration; a first step toward canonization | - |
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| (noun) the action of rendering supremely blessed and extremely happy | - |
| (noun) a state of supreme happiness | Synonyms: beatitude, blessedness |
| beautification | (noun) the act of making something more beautiful | - |
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| begonia | (noun) any of numerous plants of the genus Begonia grown for their attractive glossy asymmetrical leaves and colorful flowers in usually terminal cymes or racemes | - |
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| belladonna | (noun) an alkaloidal extract or tincture of the poisonous belladonna plant that is used medicinally | - |
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| (noun) perennial Eurasian herb with reddish bell-shaped flowers and shining black berries; extensively grown in United States; roots and leaves yield atropine | Synonyms: Atropa belladonna, belladonna plant, deadly nightshade |
| bellybutton | (noun) a scar where the umbilical cord was attached | Synonyms: belly button, navel, omphalos, omphalus, umbilicus |
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| belonging | (noun) happiness felt in a secure relationship | - |
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| belongings | (noun) something owned; any tangible or intangible possession that is owned by someone | Synonyms: holding, property |
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| benediction | (noun) the act of praying for divine protection | Synonyms: blessing |
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| (noun) a ceremonial prayer invoking divine protection | Synonyms: blessing |
| benefaction | (noun) an act intending or showing kindness and good will | Synonyms: benevolence |
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| (noun) a contribution of money or assistance | - |
| beneficiation | (noun) crushing and separating ore into valuable substances or waste by any of a variety of techniques | Synonyms: mineral dressing, mineral extraction, mineral processing, ore dressing, ore processing |
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| benison | (noun) a spoken blessing | - |
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| bentonite | (noun) an absorbent aluminum silicate clay formed from volcanic ash | - |
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| benzoquinone | (noun) any of a class of aromatic yellow compounds including several that are biologically important as coenzymes or acceptors or vitamins; used in making dyes | Synonyms: quinone |
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