| ashcake | (noun) corn bread wrapped in cabbage leaves and baked in hot ashes (southern) | Synonyms: ash cake, corn tash |
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| aside | (noun) a line spoken by an actor to the audience but not intended for others on the stage | - |
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| (noun) a message that departs from the main subject | Synonyms: digression, divagation, excursus, parenthesis |
| asparaginase | (noun) antineoplastic drug (trade name Elspar) sometimes used to treat lymphoblastic leukemia | Synonyms: Elspar |
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| asparagine | (noun) a crystalline amino acid found in proteins and in many plants (e.g., asparagus) | - |
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| aspartame | (noun) an artificial sweetener made from aspartic acid; used as a calorie-free sweetener | - |
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| aspirate | (noun) a consonant pronounced with aspiration | - |
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| (noun) a speech sound having as an obvious concomitant an audible puff of breath, as initial stop consonants or initial h -sounds. | - |
| assemblage | (noun) the social act of assembling | Synonyms: assembly, gathering |
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| (noun) a system of components assembled together for a particular purpose | Synonyms: hookup |
| (noun) a group of persons together in one place | Synonyms: gathering |
| (noun) several things grouped together or considered as a whole | Synonyms: accumulation, aggregation, collection |
| assessee | (noun) a person (or property) that is assessed | - |
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| asshole | (noun) vulgar slang for anus | Synonyms: arse, arsehole, bunghole |
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| (noun) insulting terms of address for people who are stupid or irritating or ridiculous | Synonyms: bastard, cocksucker, dickhead, mother fucker, motherfucker, prick, shit, SOB, son of a bitch, whoreson |
| assignee | (noun) (law) the party to whom something is assigned (e.g., someone to whom a right or property is legally transferred) | - |
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| assistance | (noun) the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose | Synonyms: aid, assist, help |
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| (noun) a person or thing that is a resource that helps make something easier or possible to do | Synonyms: aid, help |
| (noun) gift of money or other material help to support a person or cause | Synonyms: aid, economic aid, economic assistance, financial aid, financial assistance |
| assize | (noun) an ancient writ issued by a court of assize to the sheriff for the recovery of property | - |
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| (noun) the regulation of weights and measures of articles offered for sale | - |
| associate | (noun) a degree granted by a two-year college on successful completion of the undergraduates course of studies | Synonyms: associate degree |
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| (noun) any event that usually accompanies or is closely connected with another | - |
| (noun) a person who joins with others in some activity or endeavor | - |
| (noun) a friend who is frequently in the company of another | Synonyms: companion, comrade, familiar, fellow |
| (noun) a person with subordinate membership in a society, institution, or commercial enterprise | - |
| assonance | (noun) the repetition of similar vowels in the stressed syllables of successive words | Synonyms: vowel rhyme |
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| assurance | (noun) freedom from doubt; belief in yourself and your abilities | Synonyms: authority, confidence, self-assurance, self-confidence, sureness |
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| (noun) a statement intended to inspire confidence | - |
| (noun) a binding commitment to do or give or refrain from something | Synonyms: pledge |
| (noun) a British term for some kinds of insurance | - |
| astatine | (noun) a highly unstable radioactive element (the heaviest of the halogen series); a decay product of uranium and thorium | Synonyms: At, atomic number 85 |
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| asthenosphere | (noun) the lower layer of the crust | - |
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| astilbe | (noun) any plant of the genus Astilbe having compound leaves and showy panicles of tiny colorful flowers | - |
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| astringence | (noun) a sharp astringent taste; the taste experience when a substance causes the mouth to pucker | Synonyms: astringency |
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| astrocyte | (noun) comparatively large neuroglial cell | - |
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| astrodome | (noun) a transparent dome on top of an airplane where the navigator can make celestial observations | - |
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| astrolabe | (noun) an early form of sextant | - |
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| asymptote | (noun) a straight line that is the limiting value of a curve; can be considered as tangent at infinity | - |
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| asystole | (noun) absence of systole; failure of the ventricles of the heart to contract (usually caused by ventricular fibrillation) with consequent absence of the heart beat leading to oxygen lack and eventually to death | Synonyms: cardiac arrest, cardiopulmonary arrest |
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| atherodyde | (noun) a simple type of jet engine; must be launched at high speed | Synonyms: athodyd, flying drainpipe, ramjet, ramjet engine |
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| athlete | (noun) a person trained to compete in sports | Synonyms: jock |
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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 |
| atole | (noun) eaten as mush or as a thin gruel | - |
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| atrazine | (noun) a synthetic compound derived from triazine that is widely used as an agricultural herbicide | - |
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| atropine | (noun) a poisonous crystalline alkaloid extracted from the nightshade family; used as an antispasmodic and to dilate the eye pupil; also administered in large amounts as an antidote for organophosphate nerve agents or organophosphate insecticides | - |
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| attache | (noun) a shallow and rectangular briefcase | Synonyms: attache case |
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| (noun) a specialist assigned to the staff of a diplomatic mission | - |
| attendance | (noun) the act of being present (at a meeting or event etc.) | Synonyms: attending |
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| (noun) the number of people that are present | - |
| (noun) the frequency with which a person is present | - |
| attendee | (noun) a person who is present and participates in a meeting | Synonyms: attendant, attender, meeter |
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| attire | (noun) clothing of a distinctive style or for a particular occasion | Synonyms: dress, garb |
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| attitude | (noun) a theatrical pose created for effect | - |
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| (noun) the arrangement of the body and its limbs | Synonyms: position, posture |
| (noun) a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings and values and dispositions to act in certain ways | Synonyms: mental attitude |
| (noun) position of aircraft or spacecraft relative to a frame of reference (the horizon or direction of motion) | - |
| attribute | (noun) an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of an entity | - |
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| (noun) a construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished | Synonyms: dimension, property |
| auberge | (noun) a hotel providing overnight lodging for travelers | Synonyms: hostel, hostelry, inn, lodge |
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| aubergine | (noun) egg-shaped vegetable having a shiny skin typically dark purple but occasionally white or yellow | Synonyms: eggplant, mad apple |
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| (noun) hairy upright herb native to southeastern Asia but widely cultivated for its large glossy edible fruit commonly used as a vegetable | Synonyms: brinjal, eggplant, eggplant bush, garden egg, mad apple, Solanum melongena |
| audible | (noun) a football play is changed orally after both teams have assumed their positions at the line of scrimmage | - |
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| audience | (noun) a conference (usually with someone important) | Synonyms: consultation, interview |
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| (noun) a gathering of spectators or listeners at a (usually public) performance | - |
| (noun) the part of the general public interested in a source of information, entertainment, or a product/service | - |
| (noun) an opportunity to state your case and be heard | Synonyms: hearing |
| audile | (noun) one whose mental imagery is auditory rather than visual or motor | - |
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| audiocassette | (noun) a cassette for audiotape | - |
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| audiotape | (noun) magnetic tape for use in recording sound | - |
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| (noun) a tape recording of sound | - |
| augite | (noun) dark-green to black glassy mineral of the pyroxene group containing large amounts of aluminum and iron and magnesium | - |
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| auntie | (noun) the sister of your father or mother; the wife of your uncle | Synonyms: aunt, aunty |
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| aureole | (noun) an indication of radiant light drawn around the head of a saint | Synonyms: aura, gloriole, glory, halo, nimbus |
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| (noun) the outermost region of the sun's atmosphere; visible as a white halo during a solar eclipse | Synonyms: corona |
| auricle | (noun) a small conical pouch projecting from the upper anterior part of each atrium of the heart | Synonyms: atrial auricle, auricula atrii |
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| (noun) the externally visible cartilaginous structure of the external ear | Synonyms: ear, pinna |
| auriculare | (noun) the craniometric point at the center of the opening of the external acoustic meatus | Synonyms: auricular point |
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| auriscope | (noun) medical instrument consisting of a magnifying lens and light; used for examining the external ear (the auditory meatus and especially the tympanic membrane) | Synonyms: auroscope, otoscope |
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| auroscope | (noun) medical instrument consisting of a magnifying lens and light; used for examining the external ear (the auditory meatus and especially the tympanic membrane) | Synonyms: auriscope, otoscope |
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| auspice | (noun) a favorable omen | - |
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| austenite | (noun) a solid solution of ferric carbide or carbon in iron; cools to form pearlite or martensite | - |
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| 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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| autoclave | (noun) a device for heating substances above their boiling point; used to manufacture chemicals or to sterilize surgical instruments | Synonyms: steriliser, sterilizer |
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| autocue | (noun) a device that displays words for people to read | Synonyms: prompter |
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| autofluorescence | (noun) self-induced fluorescence | - |
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| automobile | (noun) a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine | Synonyms: auto, car, machine, motorcar |
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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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| autosome | (noun) any chromosome that is not a sex chromosome; appear in pairs in body cells but as single chromosomes in spermatozoa | Synonyms: somatic chromosome |
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| autostereotype | (noun) the standardized mental picture held in common by members of a cultural group depicting an oversimplified image of themselves and their behaviour. | - |
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| autotype | (noun) an exact copy or reproduction | Synonyms: facsimile |
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| (noun) process for producing permanent prints in a carbon pigment | Synonyms: autotypy |
| avalanche | (noun) a slide of large masses of snow and ice and mud down a mountain | - |
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| (noun) a sudden appearance of an overwhelming number of things | - |
| avarice | (noun) reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth (personified as one of the deadly sins) | Synonyms: avaritia, covetousness, greed, rapacity |
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| (noun) extreme greed for material wealth | Synonyms: avariciousness, covetousness, cupidity |
| aventurine | (noun) a translucent quartz spangled with bits of mica or other minerals | Synonyms: sunstone |
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| avenue | (noun) a line of approach | - |
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| (noun) a wide street or thoroughfare | Synonyms: boulevard |
| 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 | - |
| avoidance | (noun) deliberately avoiding; keeping away from or preventing from happening | Synonyms: dodging, shunning, turning away |
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| awe | (noun) a feeling of profound respect for someone or something | Synonyms: fear, reverence, veneration |
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| (noun) an overwhelming feeling of wonder or admiration | - |
| axe | (noun) an edge tool with a heavy bladed head mounted across a handle | Synonyms: ax |
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| axle | (noun) a shaft on which a wheel rotates | - |
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| axletree | (noun) a dead axle on a carriage or wagon that has terminal spindles on which the wheels revolve | - |
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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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| azathioprine | (noun) an immunosuppressive drug (trade name Imuran) used to prevent rejection of a transplanted organ | Synonyms: Imuran |
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| azide | (noun) a chemical compound containing the azido group combined with an element or radical | - |
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| azoimide | (noun) a colorless explosive liquid that is volatile and poisonous and foul-smelling | Synonyms: HN, hydrazoic acid, hydrogen azide |
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| azote | (noun) an obsolete name for nitrogen | - |
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| azure | (noun) a light shade of blue | Synonyms: cerulean, lazuline, sapphire, sky-blue |
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| azurite | (noun) blue carbonate of copper; blue malachite | - |
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| babble | (noun) gibberish resembling the sounds of a baby | Synonyms: babbling, lallation |
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| babe | (noun) a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk | Synonyms: baby, infant |
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| baccalaureate | (noun) an academic degree conferred on someone who has successfully completed undergraduate studies | Synonyms: bachelor's degree |
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| (noun) a farewell sermon to a graduating class at their commencement ceremonies | - |
| bacchante | (noun) (classical mythology) a priestess or votary of Bacchus | - |
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| bachelorette | (noun) a young unmarried woman who lives alone | Synonyms: bachelor girl |
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| backache | (noun) an ache localized in the back | - |
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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 |
| backfire | (noun) a miscalculation that recoils on its maker | Synonyms: boomerang |
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| (noun) a loud noise made by the explosion of fuel in the manifold or exhaust of an internal combustion engine | - |
| (noun) the backward escape of gases and unburned gunpowder after a gun is fired | Synonyms: blowback |
| (noun) a fire that is set intentionally in order to slow an approaching forest fire or grassfire by clearing a burned area in its path | - |
| backhoe | (noun) an excavator whose shovel bucket is attached to a hinged boom and is drawn backward to move earth | - |
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| backplate | (noun) plate armor protecting the back; worn as part of a cuirass | - |
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| backside | (noun) the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on | Synonyms: arse, ass, behind, bottom, bum, buns, butt, buttocks, can, derriere, fanny, fundament, hind end, hindquarters, keister, nates, posterior, prat, rear, rear end, rump, seat, stern, tail, tail end, tooshie, tush |
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| (noun) the side of an object that is opposite its front | Synonyms: back end, rear |
| backspace | (noun) the typewriter key used for back spacing | Synonyms: backspace key, backspacer |
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| backstage | (noun) a stage area out of sight of the audience | Synonyms: offstage, wing |
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| backstroke | (noun) a swimming stroke that resembles the crawl except the swimmer lies on his or her back | - |
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| bacteriacide | (noun) any chemical agent that destroys bacteria | Synonyms: bactericide |
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| bactericide | (noun) any drug that destroys bacteria or inhibits their growth | Synonyms: antibacterial, antibacterial drug |
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| (noun) any chemical agent that destroys bacteria | Synonyms: bacteriacide |
| bacteriophage | (noun) a virus that is parasitic (reproduces itself) in bacteria | Synonyms: phage |
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| baddeleyite | (noun) a mineral consisting of zirconium oxide | - |
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| baddie | (noun) the principal bad character in a film or work of fiction | Synonyms: villain |
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| badge | (noun) any feature that is regarded as a sign of status (a particular power or quality or rank) | - |
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| (noun) an emblem (a small piece of plastic or cloth or metal) that signifies your status (rank or membership or affiliation etc.) | - |
| badinage | (noun) frivolous banter | - |
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| baffle | (noun) a flat plate that controls or directs the flow of fluid or energy | Synonyms: baffle board |
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