Page 333 - WEBSTER Essential vocabulary

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Essential Vocabulary
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rationale (RA shuh NAL) n. 1. the fundamental reasons or logical basis for
something; 2. a statement of the reasons for something’s being done or having
been done
• The rationale for building a bridge is to ford a stream or river.
• Paying off the bonds that raised the money to build a bridge or road is the
rationale for charging tolls to use it.
• A modern recasting of the saying “the ends justify the means” might be
“Just do it, whatever it is, and come up with your rationale later.”
reagent (ree AY jint) n. a chemical substance used to detect the presence of
another or to react so as to change one substance to another
• The reagent on a piece of litmus paper turns from blue to red when an acid
is present.
• Luminol is a reagent that glows when it comes in contact with blood.
recalcitrant (ri KAL si trint) adj. 1. refusing to obey authority, custom, and so
on; defiant; 2. hard to handle; difficult —n. a person with the preceding qualities
• Most of today’s criminals started out as yesterday’s recalcitrant children.
• Recalcitrant Israelites rebelled against Rome in A.D. 67.
• Many a recalcitrant has been sent to the principal’s office.
[-ly adv., recalcitrance n.] [Syn. defiant]
recede (ri SEED) vt. 1. to move back; draw away from; 2. to distance oneself
from; 3. to slope backward; 4. to become less; diminish
• Flood waters almost always recede.
• Looking out the rear window of a car, you can watch landmarks recede into
the distance.
• Most men and women do not appreciate being the owners of a receding
hairline.
• During the Clinton administration, the national debt receded temporarily.
[-d, receding]

QUICK REVIEW #118
Match the word from column 2 with the word from column 1 that means most
nearly the same thing.
1. quaff a. drink
2. quiescent b. predatory
3. quixotic c. withdraw
4. raconteur d. spread out
5. radiate e. reasons
6. rapacious f. defiant
7. rationale g. impractical
8. reagent h. chemical
9. recalcitrant i. latent
10. recede j. storyteller