Page 258 - WEBSTER Essential vocabulary

23_571656 ch18.qxd 11/10/04 12:42 PM Page 249
A: GRE Words
apprehension (AP ri HEN shin) n. 1. arrest or capture; 2. mental grasp (of); 249
3. anxiety; dread; 4. judgment; opinion
• The bank robber’s apprehension was the number one priority of the Boston
police.
• Carl had no apprehension of the effort that had been put into writing the
computer program.
• Harvey looked forward to his day in court with considerable apprehension.
• Apprehension is a very strange word, in my apprehension.
arabesque (a ruh BESK) n. 1. a complex decorative design found in Moorish
architecture, with intertwined lines suggesting foliage, flowers, and so on; 2. a bal-
let position in which one leg is extended straight back, one arm is stretched for-
ward, and the other arm is stretched backward; 3. a light musical composition
• Moorish architecture is distinguished by its arabesques, which might be
carved into the stonework or might be in relief.
• A ballet dancer’s arabesque is a pose that I would not have attempted even
when I was 17 years old.
• Pianists are likely to have encountered the arabesques of Robert Schumann.
arboreal (ahr BAW re uhl) adj. having to do with trees; living in trees or
designed for trees
• Most botanical gardens have their arboreal sections.
• Tree sloths are among the arboreal creatures that like to just hang out.
[-ly adv.]
archaeology (ahr kee AHL ij ee) n. the scientific study of the past (especially of
past civilizations and cultures through excavation of their cities, their artifacts, and
so on)
• Archaeology is responsible for most of what we know about the pharoahs of
Egypt.
• Archaeology is relatively new in America, and yet it is amazing what it can
tell us about the early inhabitants of the western United States.
[archaeological adj.]
archaic (ahr KAY ik) adj. 1. belonging to an earlier period; antiquated; 2. old
fashioned; 3. no longer in use, except for special occasions
• Oar-powered galleys were in fashion in ancient times, but today would be
thought of as archaic.
• Some would say that wearing a tie and jacket in the workplace is an archaic
custom.
• The use of Latin in Catholic Church services has been ruled by Vatican II
to be archaic.
[-ly adv.] [Syn. old]