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amenities
N. convenient features; courtesies. In addition to the customary amenities for the business traveler-fax machines, modems, a health club-the hotel offers the services of a butler versed in the social amenities.
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amiable
ADJ. agreeable; lovable; warmly friendly. In Little Women, Beth is the amiable daughter whose loving disposition endears her to all who know her.
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amicable
ADJ. politely friendly; not quarrelsome. Beth's sister Jo is the hot-tempered tomboy who has a hard time maintaining amicable relations with those around her. Jo's quarrel with her friend Laurie finally reaches an amicable settlement, but not because Jo turns amiable overnight.
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amiss
ADJ. wrong; faulty. Seeing her frown, he wondered if anything were amiss. also ADV.
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amity
N. friendship. Student exchange programs such as the Experiment in International Living were established to promote international amity.
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amnesia
N. loss of memory. Because she was suffering from amnesia, the police could not get the young girl to identify herself.
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amnesty
N. pardon. When his first child was born, the king granted amnesty to all in prison.
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amoral
ADJ. nonmoral. The amoral individual lacks a code of ethics; he cannot tell right from wrong. The immoral person can tell right from wrong; he chooses to do something he knows is wrong.
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amorous
ADJ. moved by sexual love; loving. "Love them and leave them" was the motto of the amorous Don Juan.
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amorphous
ADJ. formless; lacking shape or definition. As soon as we have decided on our itinerary, we shall send you a copy; right now, our plans are still amorphous.
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amphibian
ADJ. able to live both on land and in water. Frogs are classified as amphibian. also N.
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amphitheater
N. oval building with tiers of seats. The spectators in the amphitheater cheered the gladiators.
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ample
ADJ. abundant. Bond had ample opportunity to escape. Why did he let us catch him?
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amplify
V. broaden or clarify by expanding; intensify; make stronger. Charlie Brown tried to amplify his remarks, but he was drowned out by jeers from the audience. Lucy was smarter: she used a loudspeaker to amplify her voice.
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amputate
V. cut off part of body; prune. When the doctors had to amputate the young man's leg to prevent the spread of cancer, he did not let the loss of a limb keep him from participating in sports.
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amulet
N. charm; talisman. Around her neck she wore the amulet that the witch doctor had given her.
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anachronistic
ADJ. having an error involving time in a story. The reference to clocks in Julius Caesar is anachronistic: clocks did not exist in Caesar's time. anachronism, N.
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analgesic
ADJ. causing insensitivity to pain. The analgesic qualities of this lotion will provide temporary relief.
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analogous
ADJ. comparable. She called our attention to the things that had been done in an analogous situation and recommended that we do the same.
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analogy
N. similarity; parallelism. A well-known analogy compares the body's immune system with an army whose defending troops are the lymphocytes or white blood cells.
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anarchist
N. person who seeks to overturn the established government; advocate of abolishing authority. Denying she was an anarchist, Katya maintained she wished only to make changes in our government, not to destroy it entirely. anarchy, N.
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anarchy
N. absence of governing body; state of disorder. The assassination of the leaders led to a period of anarchy.
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anathema
N. solemn curse; someone or something regarded as a curse. The Ayatolla Khomeini heaped anathema upon "the Great Satan," that is, the United States. To the Ayatolla, America and the West were anathema; he loathed the democratic nations, cursing them in his dying words. anathematize,V.
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ancestry
N. family descent. David can trace his ancestry as far back as the seventeenth century, when one of his ancestors was a court trumpeter somewhere in Germany. ancestral,ADJ.
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anchor
V. secure or fasten firmly; be fixed in place. We set the post in concrete to anchor it in place. anchorage, N.
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