Page 264 - WEBSTER Essential vocabulary

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B: GRE Words
broach (BROHCH) vt. 1. to start a discussion of; bring up; introduce; 2. to drill
a hole (in a cask); to tap (a keg) —n. a tool for drilling
• Peggy broached the subject of going to the movies tomorrow evening.
• Given how hot it had been all day, someone was bound to broach the idea
of going swimming.
• Tom broached the cask of root beer using a tool known (appropriately
enough) as a broach.
[-ed, -ing] [Syn. utter]
buoyant (BOY int) adj. 1. having or showing the ability to float; 2. having the
ability to lift one’s spirits
• A life vest makes one buoyant so that should you accidentally fall from a
boat, you would float.
• Spiritual songs are often buoyant, lifting one’s spirits.
[-ly adv., buoyancy n.]
burnish (BOER nish) vt. to make or become shiny by rubbing; polish —n. a
gloss or a polished finish
• Verna burnished the silverware in preparation for the big dinner.
• After being polished, the mirror had a nice burnish.
[-ed, -ing]

QUICK REVIEW #91

Match the word from column 2 with the word from column 1 that means most
nearly the same thing.

1. baste a. conventional
2. benevolent b. pomposity
3. benign c. utter
4. bigotry d. oaf
5. bland e. intolerance
6. boggle f. uplifting
7. bogus g. impudent
8. boisterous h. confuse
9. bolster i. vociferous
10. bombast j. insipid
11. boor k. support
12. bourgeois l. false
13. brazen m. tack
14. broach n. polish
15. buoyant o. kind
16. burnish p. nonmalignant