Page 218 - WEBSTER Essential vocabulary
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                                                                         S: SAT Words
                          • Scientists divide their numbers into life scientists (botanists and zoologists),
                             physical scientists (chemists and physicists), and earth/space scientists
                             (geologists, meteorologists, and astronomers).
                        scrutinize (SKROOT in YZ) vt. to look at very carefully; examine closely
                          • If a deal sounds too good to be true, scrutinize it because almost invariably
                             it will prove to be so.
                          • A jeweler uses a loupe to scrutinize diamonds and other gemstones.
                             [-d, scrutinizing] [Syn. examine, inspect]
                        sculpture (SKUHLP chir) n. 1. the art of carving wood, chiseling stone, molding
                      metal or clay, etc. into three-dimensional figures, statues, etc.; 2. any figure so
                      made or collection of same —vt. 1. to cut, carve, mold, chisel, etc. into figures,
                      statuary, etc.; 2. to change a form by erosion
                          • Sculptures can be as small as cameos that women wear as jewelry or as large
                             as the presidential faces that adorn Mount Rushmore.
                          • Rodin’s “The Thinker” is one of the best-known sculptures of nineteenth-
                             century Europe.
                          • Michelangelo preferred to sculpture in marble and insisted that the statue
                             had always been in the marble; he had just removed the excess stone.
                          • The forces of wind and water have served to sculpture the thousands of
                             natural sculptures that adorn Utah’s Bryce Canyon National Park.
                             [-d, sculpturing, sculptural adj., sculpturally adv.]
                        séance (SAY ahns) n. a meeting at which a medium or psychic attempts to
                      communicate with the dead
                          • Morticia went to séances to attempt to communicate with her dead uncle
                             Fester.
                          • After Morticia’s sixth unsuccessful try at contacting Uncle Fester at a
                             séance, it became clear that he was not going to say “Boo!” to her.
                        secrecy (SEE kri see) n. 1. the condition of being concealed or secret; 2. the
                      practice of keeping things hushed up
                          • A veil of secrecy surrounded the building of the first atomic bomb.
                          • The secrecy surrounding the just-referenced Manhattan Project could not
                             approach the secrecy of the formula for Coca-Cola syrup.
                          • The government maintains secrecy of things it does not want the public to
                             know about by categorizing such events as classified.
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