| australopithecine | (noun) any of several extinct humanlike bipedal primates with relatively small brains of the genus Australopithecus; from 1 to 4 million years ago | - |
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| autobiographer | (noun) someone who writes their own biography | - |
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| autobiography | (noun) a biography of yourself | - |
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| autocracy | (noun) a political theory favoring unlimited authority by a single individual | - |
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| (noun) a political system governed by a single individual | Synonyms: autarchy |
| autocrat | (noun) a cruel and oppressive dictator | Synonyms: despot, tyrant |
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| autograft | (noun) tissue that is taken from one site and grafted to another site on the same person | Synonyms: autoplasty |
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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 |
| 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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| autostrada | (noun) an expressway in an Italian-speaking country | - |
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| avaram | (noun) evergreen Indian shrub with vivid yellow flowers whose bark is used in tanning; sometimes placed in genus Cassia | Synonyms: Cassia auriculata, Senna auriculata, tanner's cassia |
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| average | (noun) a statistic describing the location of a distribution | Synonyms: norm |
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| (noun) an intermediate scale value regarded as normal or usual | - |
| (noun) (sports) the ratio of successful performances to opportunities | - |
| averageness | (noun) ordinariness as a consequence of being average and not outstanding | Synonyms: mediocrity |
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| (noun) the state of being that is average; indicates normality but with connotations of mediocrity | - |
| azadirachtin | (noun) insecticide | - |
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| azedarach | (noun) tree of northern India and China having purple blossoms and small inedible yellow fruits; naturalized in the southern United States as a shade tree | Synonyms: azederach, China tree, chinaberry, chinaberry tree, Melia azedarach, Melia azederach, Persian lilac, pride-of-India |
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| azederach | (noun) tree of northern India and China having purple blossoms and small inedible yellow fruits; naturalized in the southern United States as a shade tree | Synonyms: azedarach, China tree, chinaberry, chinaberry tree, Melia azedarach, Melia azederach, Persian lilac, pride-of-India |
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| babygram | (noun) an X-ray of the entire body of an infant. | - |
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| baccarat | (noun) a card game played in casinos in which two or more punters gamble against the banker; the player wins who holds 2 or 3 cards that total closest to nine | Synonyms: chemin de fer |
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| bacitracin | (noun) a polypeptide antibiotic of known chemical structure effective against several types of Gram-positive organisms; usually applied locally | - |
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| backscratcher | (noun) a long-handled scratcher for scratching your back | - |
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| (noun) someone who is willing to trade favors or services for mutual advantage | - |
| ballistocardiogram | (noun) a graphical recording made by a ballistocardiograph | - |
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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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| balmoral | (noun) a sturdy laced walking shoe | - |
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| balustrade | (noun) a railing at the side of a staircase or balcony to prevent people from falling | Synonyms: balusters, banister, bannister, handrail |
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| baranduki | (noun) terrestrial Siberian squirrel | Synonyms: baronduki, barunduki, burunduki, Eutamius asiaticus, Eutamius sibiricus |
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| barbiturate | (noun) organic compound having powerful soporific effect; overdose can be fatal | - |
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| barmbrack | (noun) a rich currant cake or bun | - |
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| barograph | (noun) a recording barometer; automatically records on paper the variations in atmospheric pressure | - |
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| barrack | (noun) a building or group of buildings used to house military personnel | - |
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| barracking | (noun) shouting to interrupt a speech with which you disagree | Synonyms: heckling |
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| barracouta | (noun) a large marine food fish common on the coasts of Australia, New Zealand, and southern Africa | Synonyms: snoek |
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| barracuda | (noun) any voracious marine fish of the genus Sphyraena having an elongated cylindrical body and large mouth with projecting lower jaw and long strong teeth | - |
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| barrage | (noun) the heavy fire of artillery to saturate an area rather than hit a specific target | Synonyms: barrage fire, battery, bombardment, shelling |
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| (noun) the rapid and continuous delivery of linguistic communication (spoken or written) | Synonyms: bombardment, onslaught, outpouring |
| barramundi | (noun) a species of large perch noted for its sporting and eating qualities; lives in marine, estuary, and freshwater habitats | Synonyms: Asian seabass, giant perch, giant seaperch, Lates calcarifer, white seabass |
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| barrater | (noun) someone guilty of barratry | Synonyms: barrator |
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| barrator | (noun) someone guilty of barratry | Synonyms: barrater |
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| barratry | (noun) the offense of vexatiously persisting in inciting lawsuits and quarrels | - |
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| (noun) (maritime law) a fraudulent breach of duty by the master of a ship that injures the owner of the ship or its cargo; includes every breach of trust such as stealing or sinking or deserting the ship or embezzling the cargo | - |
| (noun) the crime of a judge whose judgment is influenced by bribery | - |
| (noun) traffic in ecclesiastical offices or preferments | Synonyms: simony |
| batrachian | (noun) any of various tailless stout-bodied amphibians with long hind limbs for leaping; semiaquatic and terrestrial species | Synonyms: anuran, frog, salientian, toad, toad frog |
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| batrachomyomachia | (noun) a silly altercation | - |
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| bedframe | (noun) the framework of a bed | Synonyms: bedstead |
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| bedstraw | (noun) any of several plants of the genus Galium | - |
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| benzofuran | (noun) a colorless oily compound extracted from coal tar and used in manufacturing synthetic resins | Synonyms: coumarone, cumarone |
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| berating | (noun) a severe rebuke | Synonyms: blowing up |
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| betrayal | (noun) an act of deliberate betrayal | Synonyms: perfidy, treachery, treason |
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| (noun) the quality of aiding an enemy | - |
| betrayer | (noun) a person who says one thing and does another | Synonyms: double-crosser, double-dealer, traitor, two-timer |
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| (noun) one who reveals confidential information to the police or other authority | Synonyms: blabber, informer, rat, squealer |
| betweenbrain | (noun) the posterior division of the forebrain; connects the cerebral hemispheres with the mesencephalon | Synonyms: diencephalon, interbrain, thalmencephalon |
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| beverage | (noun) any liquid suitable for drinking | Synonyms: drink, drinkable, potable |
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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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| bigarade | (noun) any of various common orange trees yielding sour or bitter fruit; used as grafting stock | Synonyms: bitter orange, bitter orange tree, Citrus aurantium, marmalade orange, Seville orange, sour orange |
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| bigram | (noun) a word that is written with two letters in an alphabetic writing system | - |
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| bilateralism | (noun) the property of being symmetrical about a vertical plane | Synonyms: bilateral symmetry, bilaterality |
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| bilaterality | (noun) the property of being symmetrical about a vertical plane | Synonyms: bilateral symmetry, bilateralism |
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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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| biopiracy | (noun) biological theft; illegal collection of indigenous plants by corporations who patent them for their own use | - |
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| biquadrate | (noun) an algebraic equation or function of the fourth degree | Synonyms: biquadratic, fourth power, quartic |
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| biquadratic | (noun) a polynomial of the fourth degree | Synonyms: biquadratic polynomial, quartic polynomial |
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| (noun) an equation of the fourth degree | Synonyms: biquadratic equation |
| (noun) an algebraic equation or function of the fourth degree | Synonyms: biquadrate, fourth power, quartic |
| birdbrain | (noun) a person with confused ideas; incapable of serious thought | Synonyms: addle-head, addlehead, loon |
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| birthrate | (noun) the ratio of live births in an area to the population of that area; expressed per 1000 population per year | Synonyms: birth rate, fertility, fertility rate, natality |
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| bitartrate | (noun) an acid tartrate; a hydrogen tartrate | - |
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| bladderwrack | (noun) a common rockweed used in preparing kelp and as manure | Synonyms: black rockweed, bladder fucus, Fucus vesiculosus, tang |
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| (noun) similar to and found with black rockweed | Synonyms: Ascophyllum nodosum |
| bluegrass | (noun) a type of country music played at a rapid tempo on banjos and guitars | - |
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| (noun) any of various grasses of the genus Poa | Synonyms: blue grass |
| bologram | (noun) record or recording made by a bolometer | Synonyms: bolograph |
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| bolograph | (noun) record or recording made by a bolometer | Synonyms: bologram |
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| boomerang | (noun) a miscalculation that recoils on its maker | Synonyms: backfire |
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| (noun) a curved piece of wood; when properly thrown will return to thrower | Synonyms: throw stick, throwing stick |
| bootstrap | (noun) a strap that is looped and sewn to the top of a boot for pulling it on | - |
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| borage | (noun) an herb whose leaves are used to flavor sauces and punches; young leaves can be eaten in salads or cooked | - |
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| (noun) hairy blue-flowered European annual herb long used in herbal medicine and eaten raw as salad greens or cooked like spinach | Synonyms: Borago officinalis, tailwort |
| borate | (noun) a salt or ester of boric acid | - |
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| borax | (noun) an ore of boron consisting of hydrated sodium borate; used as a flux or cleansing agent | - |
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| botheration | (noun) something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness | Synonyms: annoyance, bother, infliction, nuisance, pain, pain in the ass, pain in the neck |
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| (noun) the psychological state of being irritated or annoyed | Synonyms: annoyance, irritation, vexation |
| bra | (noun) an undergarment worn by women to support their breasts | Synonyms: bandeau, brassiere |
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| brace | (noun) a structural member used to stiffen a framework | Synonyms: bracing |
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| (noun) a carpenter's tool having a crank handle for turning and a socket to hold a bit for boring | Synonyms: bitstock |
| (noun) an appliance that corrects dental irregularities | Synonyms: braces, orthodontic braces |
| (noun) a support that steadies or strengthens something else | - |
| (noun) elastic straps that hold trousers up | Synonyms: gallus, suspender |
| (noun) a rope on a square-rigged ship that is used to swing a yard about and secure it | - |
| (noun) either of two punctuation marks ({ or }) used to enclose textual material | - |
| (noun) a set of two similar things considered as a unit | Synonyms: pair |
| (noun) two items of the same kind | Synonyms: couple, couplet, distich, duad, duet, duo, dyad, pair, span, twain, twosome, yoke |
| bracelet | (noun) jewelry worn around the wrist for decoration | Synonyms: bangle |
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| (noun) a band of cloth or leather or metal links attached to a wristwatch and wrapped around the wrist | Synonyms: watch bracelet, watchband, watchstrap, wristband |
| bracer | (noun) a tonic or restorative (especially a drink of liquor) | Synonyms: pick-me-up |
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| (noun) a protective covering for the wrist or arm that is used in archery and fencing and other sports | Synonyms: armguard |
| bracero | (noun) a Mexican laborer who worked in the United States on farms and railroads in order to ease labor shortages during World War II | - |
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| braces | (noun) an appliance that corrects dental irregularities | Synonyms: brace, orthodontic braces |
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| brachiation | (noun) swinging by the arms from branch to branch | - |
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| brachiopod | (noun) marine animal with bivalve shell having a pair of arms bearing tentacles for capturing food; found worldwide | Synonyms: lamp shell, lampshell |
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| brachistochrone | (noun) a curve between two points along which a body can move under gravity in a shorter time than for any other curve. | - |
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| brachium | (noun) (biology) a branching or armlike part of an animal | - |
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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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| brachydactylia | (noun) abnormal shortness of fingers and toes | Synonyms: brachydactyly |
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| brachydactyly | (noun) abnormal shortness of fingers and toes | Synonyms: brachydactylia |
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| brachyuran | (noun) typical crabs | - |
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| bracing | (noun) a structural member used to stiffen a framework | Synonyms: brace |
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| bracken | (noun) large coarse fern often several feet high; essentially weed ferns; cosmopolitan | Synonyms: brake, pasture brake, Pteridium aquilinum |
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| (noun) fern of southeastern Asia; not hardy in cold temperate regions | Synonyms: Pteridium esculentum |
| bracket | (noun) a support projecting from a wall (as to hold a shelf) | Synonyms: wall bracket |
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| (noun) either of two punctuation marks ([ or ]) used to enclose textual material | Synonyms: square bracket |
| (noun) either of two punctuation marks (`<' or `>') used in computer programming and sometimes used to enclose textual material | Synonyms: angle bracket |
| (noun) a category falling within certain defined limits | - |
| brackishness | (noun) the quality of being salty, as the saltiness of water | - |
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| bract | (noun) a modified leaf or leaflike part just below and protecting an inflorescence | - |
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| bracteole | (noun) a small bract | Synonyms: bractlet |
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| bractlet | (noun) a small bract | Synonyms: bracteole |
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| brad | (noun) a small nail | - |
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| bradawl | (noun) an awl for making small holes for brads or small screws | Synonyms: pricker |
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| bradycardia | (noun) abnormally slow heartbeat | - |
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| brae | (noun) a slope or hillside | - |
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