| antheridiophore | (noun) gametophore bearing antheridia as in certain mosses and liverworts | - |
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| anthophyllite | (noun) a dark brown mineral of the amphibole group; magnesium iron silicate | - |
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| anthropomorphism | (noun) the representation of objects (especially a god) as having human form or traits | Synonyms: theanthropism |
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| anthropophagite | (noun) a person who eats human flesh | Synonyms: anthropophagus, cannibal, man-eater |
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| anthropophagus | (noun) a person who eats human flesh | Synonyms: anthropophagite, cannibal, man-eater |
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| anthropophagy | (noun) human cannibalism; the eating of human flesh | - |
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| anthroposophy | (noun) a system of beliefs and practices based on the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner; it claims to integrate the practical and psychological in child-centered education | - |
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| antiphon | (noun) a verse or song to be chanted or sung in response | Synonyms: antiphony |
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| antiphonal | (noun) bound collection of antiphons | Synonyms: antiphonary |
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| antiphonary | (noun) bound collection of antiphons | Synonyms: antiphonal |
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| antiphony | (noun) alternate (responsive) singing by a choir in two parts | - |
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| (noun) a verse or song to be chanted or sung in response | Synonyms: antiphon |
| antiphrasis | (noun) the use of a word in a sense opposite to its normal sense (especially in irony) | - |
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| antistrophe | (noun) the section of a choral ode answering a previous strophe in classical Greek drama; the second of two metrically corresponding sections in a poem | - |
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| antisyphilitic | (noun) a drug (or other chemical agent) that is effective against syphilis | - |
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| aphaeresis | (noun) (linguistics) omission at the beginning of a word as in `coon' for `raccoon' or `till' for `until' | Synonyms: apheresis |
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| aphagia | (noun) loss of the ability to swallow | - |
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| aphakia | (noun) absence of the natural lens of the eye (usually resulting from the removal of cataracts) | - |
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| aphakic | (noun) someone afflicted by aphakia; someone lacking the natural lenses of the eyes | - |
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| aphanite | (noun) fine-grained homogeneous rock (such as basalt) containing minerals undetectable by the naked eye | - |
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| aphasia | (noun) inability to use or understand language (spoken or written) because of a brain lesion | - |
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| aphasic | (noun) someone affected by aphasia or inability to use or understand language | - |
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| aphelion | (noun) apoapsis in solar orbit; the point in the orbit of a planet or comet that is at the greatest distance from the sun | - |
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| apheresis | (noun) a procedure in which blood is drawn and separated into its components by dialysis; some are retained and the rest are returned to the donor by transfusion | Synonyms: pheresis |
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| (noun) (linguistics) omission at the beginning of a word as in `coon' for `raccoon' or `till' for `until' | Synonyms: aphaeresis |
| aphesis | (noun) the gradual disappearance of an initial (usually unstressed) vowel or syllable as in `squire' for `esquire' | - |
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| aphid | (noun) any of various small plant-sucking insects | - |
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| aphonia | (noun) a disorder of the vocal organs that results in the loss of voice | Synonyms: voicelessness |
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| aphorism | (noun) a short pithy instructive saying | Synonyms: apophthegm, apothegm |
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| aphorist | (noun) someone who formulates aphorisms or who repeats aphorisms | - |
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| aphrodisia | (noun) a desire for heterosexual intimacy | - |
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| aphrodisiac | (noun) a drug or other agent that stimulates sexual desire | - |
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| aplacophoran | (noun) deep-water wormlike mollusks lacking calcareous plates on the body but having fine slimy spicules on the covering mantle | Synonyms: solenogaster |
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| apocryphalness | (noun) The property of being of doubtful authenticity, of lacking authority, or of not being regarded as canonical. | - |
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| (noun) The property of being of dubious veracity; of questionable accuracy or truthfulness. | - |
| apomorphine | (noun) a morphine derivative that is not as strong as morphine; used as an emetic and in small doses as a sedative | - |
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| apophasis | (noun) mentioning something by saying it will not be mentioned | - |
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| apophatism | (noun) the religious belief that God cannot be known but is completely `other' and must be described in negative terms (in terms of what God is not) | - |
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| apophthegm | (noun) a short pithy instructive saying | Synonyms: aphorism, apothegm |
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| apophysis | (noun) (anatomy) a natural outgrowth or projection on an organ or body part such as the process of a vertebra | - |
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| (noun) (botany) a natural swelling or enlargement: at the base of the stalk or seta in certain mosses or on the cone scale of certain conifers | - |
| apostrophe | (noun) address to an absent or imaginary person | - |
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| (noun) the mark (') used to indicate the omission of one or more letters from a printed word | - |
| aquaphobia | (noun) a morbid fear of drowning | - |
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| arachnophobia | (noun) a morbid fear of spiders | - |
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| arteriography | (noun) roentgenographic examination of arteries | - |
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| arthrography | (noun) roentgenographic examination of a joint after injection of radiopaque contrast medium; produces an arthrogram | - |
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| asphalt | (noun) a dark bituminous substance found in natural beds and as residue from petroleum distillation; consists mainly of hydrocarbons | Synonyms: mineral pitch |
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| (noun) mixed asphalt and crushed gravel or sand; used especially for paving but also for roofing | - |
| asphodel | (noun) any of various chiefly Mediterranean plants of the genera Asphodeline and Asphodelus having linear leaves and racemes of white or pink or yellow flowers | - |
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| asphyxia | (noun) a condition in which insufficient or no oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged on a ventilatory basis; caused by choking or drowning or electric shock or poison gas | - |
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| asphyxiation | (noun) killing by depriving of oxygen | Synonyms: suffocation |
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| (noun) the condition of being deprived of oxygen (as by having breathing stopped) | Synonyms: suffocation |
| asphyxiator | (noun) a manually operated device for extinguishing small fires | Synonyms: extinguisher, fire extinguisher |
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| asthenosphere | (noun) the lower layer of the crust | - |
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| astraphobia | (noun) a morbid fear of thunder and lightning | - |
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| astrophysicist | (noun) an astronomer who studies the physical properties of celestial bodies | - |
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| astrophysics | (noun) the branch of astronomy concerned with the physical and chemical properties of celestial bodies | - |
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| atmoradiograph | (noun) a device which measures the frequency of occurrence of atmospherics. | - |
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| atmosphere | (noun) a distinctive but intangible quality surrounding a person or thing | Synonyms: air, aura |
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| (noun) the mass of air surrounding the Earth | Synonyms: air |
| (noun) the envelope of gases surrounding any celestial body | - |
| (noun) a unit of pressure: the pressure that will support a column of mercury 760 mm high at sea level and 0 degrees centigrade | Synonyms: atm, standard atmosphere, standard pressure |
| (noun) the weather or climate at some place | Synonyms: atmospheric state |
| (noun) a particular environment or surrounding influence | Synonyms: ambiance, ambience |
| atmospherics | (noun) a crackling or hissing noise caused by electrical interference | Synonyms: atmospheric static, static |
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| atrophedema | (noun) recurrent large circumscribed areas of subcutaneous edema; onset is sudden and it disappears within 24 hours; seen mainly in young women, often as an allergic reaction to food or drugs | Synonyms: angioedema, giant hives, periodic edema, Quincke's edema |
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| atrophy | (noun) any weakening or degeneration (especially through lack of use) | Synonyms: withering |
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| (noun) a decrease in size of an organ caused by disease or disuse | Synonyms: wasting, wasting away |
| autobiographer | (noun) someone who writes their own biography | - |
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| autobiography | (noun) a biography of yourself | - |
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| autograph | (noun) something written by one's own hand | - |
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| (noun) a person's own signature | Synonyms: John Hancock |
| automysophobia | (noun) a morbid fear of being dirty | - |
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| autophyte | (noun) plant capable of synthesizing its own food from simple organic substances | Synonyms: autophytic plant, autotroph, autotrophic organism |
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| autoradiograph | (noun) a radiogram produced by radiation emitted by the specimen being photographed | - |
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| autoradiography | (noun) producing a radiograph by means of the radiation emitted from the specimen being photographed | - |
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| autotroph | (noun) plant capable of synthesizing its own food from simple organic substances | Synonyms: autophyte, autophytic plant, autotrophic organism |
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| axerophthol | (noun) any of several fat-soluble vitamins essential for normal vision; prevents night blindness or inflammation or dryness of the eyes | Synonyms: A, antiophthalmic factor, vitamin A |
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| bacteriochlorophyll | (noun) a substance in photosensitive bacteria that is related to but different from chlorophyll of higher plants | - |
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| bacteriophage | (noun) a virus that is parasitic (reproduces itself) in bacteria | Synonyms: phage |
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| ballistocardiograph | (noun) a medical instrument that measures the mechanical force of cardiac contractions and the amount of blood passing through the heart during a specified period by measuring the recoil of the body as blood is pumped from the ventricles | Synonyms: cardiograph |
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| barograph | (noun) a recording barometer; automatically records on paper the variations in atmospheric pressure | - |
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| basophil | (noun) a leukocyte with basophilic granules easily stained by basic stains | Synonyms: basophile |
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| basophile | (noun) a leukocyte with basophilic granules easily stained by basic stains | Synonyms: basophil |
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| basophilia | (noun) the tendency of cells to stain with basic dyes | - |
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| bathyscaph | (noun) navigable deep diving vessel for underwater exploration | Synonyms: bathyscape, bathyscaphe |
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| bathyscaphe | (noun) navigable deep diving vessel for underwater exploration | Synonyms: bathyscape, bathyscaph |
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| bathysphere | (noun) spherical deep diving apparatus (lowered by a cable) for underwater exploration | - |
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| bibliographer | (noun) someone trained in compiling bibliographies | - |
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| bibliography | (noun) a list of writings with time and place of publication (such as the writings of a single author or the works referred to in preparing a document etc.) | - |
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| bibliophile | (noun) someone who loves (and usually collects) books | Synonyms: book lover, booklover |
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| biogeography | (noun) dealing with the geographical distribution of animals and plants | - |
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| biographer | (noun) someone who writes an account of a person's life | - |
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| biographism | (noun) reduction of textual meaning to authorial biography. | - |
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| biography | (noun) an account of the series of events making up a person's life | Synonyms: life, life history, life story |
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| biophysicist | (noun) a physicist who applies the methods of physics to biology | - |
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| biophysics | (noun) physics as applied to biological problems | - |
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| biosphere | (noun) the regions of the surface and atmosphere of the Earth (or other planet) where living organisms exist | - |
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| blasphemer | (noun) a person who speaks disrespectfully of sacred things | - |
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| blasphemy | (noun) blasphemous behavior; the act of depriving something of its sacred character | Synonyms: desecration, profanation, sacrilege |
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| (noun) blasphemous language (expressing disrespect for God or for something sacred) | - |
| blastosphere | (noun) early stage of an embryo produced by cleavage of an ovum; a liquid-filled sphere whose wall is composed of a single layer of cells; during this stage (about eight days after fertilization) implantation in the wall of the uterus occurs | Synonyms: blastula |
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| blepharism | (noun) condition in which a person blinks continuously | - |
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| blepharitis | (noun) inflammation of the eyelids characterized by redness and swelling and dried crusts | - |
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| blepharospasm | (noun) spasm of the eyelid muscle resulting in closure of the eye | - |
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| bolograph | (noun) record or recording made by a bolometer | Synonyms: bologram |
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| boustrophedon | (noun) an ancient writing system: having alternate lines written in opposite directions; literally `as the ox ploughs' | - |
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| brachycephalic | (noun) an adult with a short broad head | - |
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| brachycephalism | (noun) the quality of being brachycephalic | Synonyms: brachycephaly |
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| brachycephaly | (noun) the quality of being brachycephalic | Synonyms: brachycephalism |
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| bryophyte | (noun) any of numerous plants of the division Bryophyta | Synonyms: nonvascular plant |
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| bumph | (noun) reading materials (documents, written information) that you must read and deal with but that you think are extremely boring | Synonyms: bumf |
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| cacography | (noun) poor handwriting | Synonyms: scratch, scrawl, scribble |
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| cacophony | (noun) loud confusing disagreeable sounds | - |
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| (noun) a loud harsh or strident noise | Synonyms: blare, blaring, clamor, din |