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.