Page 332 - WEBSTER Essential vocabulary

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Q – R

quaff (KWAHF) vt. to drink deeply with gusto —n. 1. the act of quaffing; 2. the
drink that is quaffed
• Quaffing beer while eating pizza is a well-established sport in some
households.
• Harry quaffed his brew from a frozen mug.
• Sally stopped into the tavern for a pint of quaff.
[-ed, -ing]
quiescent (kwee ES int) adj. quiet and still; inactive
• After hours of standing uncovered, a carbonated drink loses its fizz and
becomes quiescent.
•A quiescent pond is a good place to look for tadpoles.
[-ly adv.] [Syn. latent]
quixotic (kwik SOT ik) adj. foolishly idealistic; visionary; impractical
• Tilting at windmills is the ultimate in quixotic behavior.
• Some say that draft-card burning is a quixotic act, while others call it heroic.
[-ly adv.] [Syn. impractical]
raconteur (RAK ahn TUR) n. a person who is very skilled at telling stories
• Aesop was a raconteur whose fables always ended in a moral.
• Hans Christian Anderson was a Danish raconteur of great skill.
radiate (RAY dee ayt) vt. 1. to send out rays of heat, light, and so on; 2. to
spread out in rays; 3. to branch out from a center as spokes; 4. to spread happiness
and good fortune
• In a hot-water or steam heating system, heat radiates outward from a (what
else?) radiator.
• As light radiates outward from its source, its intensity diminishes.
• Spokes radiate outward from the hub of a bicycle wheel.
• It’s the job of grandparents to radiate love and presents and to shower
them on their grandchildren.
[-d, radiating]
rapacious (ruh PAY shis) adj. 1. using force to conquer; looting; 2. taking all
one can get; voracious; 3. predacious
• Genghis Khan’s Golden Horde had a reputation, well deserved or not, for
being rapacious.
• Lumbermen have been rapacious with the tropical rain forests of South
America.
• The cross-country railroad builders were rapacious toward the herds of
American bison.
[-ly adv.]

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