Page 198 - WEBSTER Essential vocabulary

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P – Q: SAT Words
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precocious (pri KOH shis) adj. 1. matured to a level beyond that which is nor-
mal for one of that age (a precocious child); 2. of or demonstrating premature
development
• Geoffrey was so precocious that he was walking at 8 months of age.
• Mathew was precocious enough to be taking college-level math courses
while still in junior high school.
• Mozart’s precocious musical skill is well documented.
[-ly adv.]
predators* (PRED uh TAWRZ) n. 1. ones who live by exploiting and robbing
others; 2. ones who capture and feed on other animals; 3. birds or creatures of prey
• Predators often take advantage of older or disadvantaged people.
• Lions, like most predators, are at the top of their food chain.
• Predators of the bird family are known as raptors.
predecessor (PRE di CES oer) n. 1. a person who held the same office before the
one currently occupying it; 2. an ancestor; 3. something that was used before it was
replaced by a newer thing
• Lyndon Johnson’s predecessor as president was John F. Kennedy.
• Cro-Magnon man is believed to have been a predecessor of Homo sapiens.
• The ice box, which contained a block of ice, was the predecessor of the
refrigerator.
predict (pri DIKT) vt. foretell; to know and state what a future event will be
• If fortune tellers can predict the future, why aren’t they all rich?
• It is easy to predict that the next word you look at after predict will be
prehensile.
[-able* adj., -ably adv.]
prehensile (pree HEN sil) adj. adapted for grabbing, such as the tails of many
monkeys; grasping
• If you’ve ever gone to the monkey house, then you’ve seen monkeys
swinging by their prehensile tails.
• Unlike most humans, monkeys and lemurs have prehensile feet and can use
them to pick things up.
premise* (PREM is) n. a prior statement or condition that serves as the basis for
an argument or procedure; the underlying assumption
• The premise of your asking whether I enjoyed the movie Gladiator is in
error because I never saw the film.
• When Dawn asked Cathy how she’d enjoyed college chemistry, her premise
was that Cathy had taken the course, and she was correct.
[Syn. presumption]