Definition: (noun) An important or self-important person.
Synonyms: dignitary, high muckamuck, high-up, VIP.
Usage: A word from my boss, a panjandrum of the filmmaking industry, can make or break a person’s Hollywood career.
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Source: The Free Dictionary
For three weeks in October 2002, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo terrorized the Washington, DC, metropolitan area by shooting random victims from a distance. Ten people were killed and three others wounded in the spree, which was later linked to earlier shootings. Two days after killing their final victim, Muhammad and Malvo were arrested after being found sleeping in the car from which they had shot their victims. Before the arrest, the pair had planned to travel to Canada to do what? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
This annual tribute to roses is held in Tyler, Texas, the center of the region that produces more than a third of the field-grown roses in the United States. Tyler’s Municipal Rose Garden, one of the largest rose gardens in the country, covers 14 acres and has some 30,000 rose bushes. They blossom among pines, fountains, gazebos, and archways. The festival features the coronation of a Rose Queen, a rose show, a parade of floats decorated with roses, and tours of the rose gardens. There are also arts and crafts shows, a square-dance festival, and a symphony concert. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Liszt was a revolutionary figure of romantic music. Born in Hungary, he made his debut at age 9 and studied in Vienna with Salieri. After his father’s death and a disastrous love affair, he almost gave up music for the priesthood. Nevertheless, “Lisztomania” swept Europe in the 1840s, and Liszt enthralled audiences with his astounding technique and grand, dramatic style of playing. Thereafter, he taught and composed prolifically. In 1861, he nearly married a princess but was thwarted—by what? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The Bolshevik-backed Red Army, formed in the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution, was named for the traditional color of the workers’ movement. After the subsequent Russian Civil War resolved in favor of the Bolsheviks and the Red Army, the iconic red flag of the USSR, identified with Communism, was adopted. Fighting against the Bolsheviks in the Revolution, and against the Red Army in the Civil War, was a movement named for a different color—the White Movement. Why white? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (adjective) Invulnerable to fear or intimidation.
Synonyms: audacious, dauntless, fearless, brave, hardy.
Usage: The intrepid climber, undeterred by the knowledge that none had yet survived an attempt to summit this peak, eagerly set out from base camp.
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Source: The Free Dictionary
Following the assassination of Somalia’s president in 1969, a military coup installed Major General Mohamed Siad Barre as leader. His dictatorial administration was marked by human rights abuses and civil strife. Though he sought to end pervasive clan loyalties, warfare among rival factions intensified. In 1991, he was ousted. The country plunged into a civil war and has had no effective central government since. How did Siad Barre’s regime terrorize the Majeerteen clan in particular? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Considered one of the main innovators of bebop along with Charlie Parker, Gillespie was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. His virtuosity and comic wit—in addition to his trademark puffed cheeks and 45-degree upturned trumpet bell—made him one of the most charismatic and influential musicians in jazz. Gillespie was once struck by a car while riding his bicycle. Though he was injured only slightly, a jury awarded him $1,000 because he could no longer do what? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
In cryptography, secret sharing is a method of guarding information by distributing pieces of it to a number of people or entities. Each participant has a share of the secret, but no share is useful on its own. Some shares may even be decoys that are not useful at all. In certain scenarios, multiple participants may collaborate to try to reconstruct the original secret. How can they be certain that no one is misrepresenting himself just to gain access to more shares? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (adjective) So extremely old as seeming to belong to an earlier period.
Synonyms: antiquated, archaic.
Usage: My grandfather’s antediluvian ideas about relationships and marriage are frequently at odds with my views.
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Source: The Free Dictionary