Definition: (noun) A person who renounces material comforts and leads a life of austere self-discipline, especially as an act of religious devotion.
Synonyms: abstainer.
Usage: His rough clothes and starved frame gave him the look of an ascetic, and he refused the food they tried to give him.
Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Fate alone saw the meaning of the web it wove, the might of it, and its place in the making of a world’s history. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The San are an indigenous people of Africa, mainly found in Botswana, Namibia, Angola, and South Africa. Once nomadic hunters and gatherers of wild food in desolate areas like the Kalahari Desert of southwest Africa, most of the San now live in settlements and work on cattle ranches or farms. The San have a rich folklore, are skilled in drawing, and have a remarkably complex language characterized by the use of clicks. What plant used by the San has been patented, and why? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Considered by many to be the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan ended his career with a regular-season scoring average of 30.1 points per game, the highest in NBA history. He won six NBA championships, was league MVP five times, and earned two Olympic gold medals. Jordan’s mid-air acrobatics and slam dunk skills are legendary and earned him the nickname “Air Jordan.” After retiring from basketball in 1993, Jordan surprised fans by beginning a career in what sport? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
At the Bonden (or Bonten) Festival at Yokote in the Akita Prefecture of Japan, each district of the city has a team of young men to carry its bonden in a race to the Asahiokayama-jinja shrine. The bonden is a 10-foot (3-m) bamboo pole, draped with heavy cloth and topped by a platform holding a figure of the Animal of the Year. Those carrying the bonden gradually increase their pace until they are running, often pushing members of competing teams to the ground to be the first to the top. The team that arrives first wins the privilege of offering its bonden to the kami, or god. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Garry Kasparov is a chess grandmaster and one of the strongest players in history. He was the youngest person to become the World Chess Federation’s World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1985 until 1993. In 1996, Kasparov played against a super-computer called “Deep Blue,” which was capable of evaluating 100 billion positions each turn. He lost the first game, but rebounded in the next five games to beat the machine. What happened when Kasparov faced the computer in a rematch a year later? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (verb) To make (something burdensome or painful) less intense or severe.
Synonyms: alleviate, relieve, palliate.
Usage: Food, however, became scarce, and I often spent the whole day searching in vain for a few acorns to assuage the pangs of hunger.
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Source: The Free Dictionary
In song and dance man expresses himself as a member of a higher community: he has forgotten how to walk and speak and is on the way toward flying up into the air, dancing. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Mombasa is the second largest city in Kenya, with a population of 900,000. Until the 16th century, Mombasa was a center of the Arab trade in ivory and slaves. The city was visited by Vasco da Gama on his first voyage to India, and it was burned three times by the Portuguese. Today, Mombasa serves as a chief port for Kenya, Uganda, and northeast Tanzania, and its beaches and resorts attract thousands of tourists annually. What tragic series of events happened here on November 28, 2002? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Despite rumors that he masterminded several terrorist bombings in the 1980s, Kim Jong-Il succeeded his late father as ruler of North Korea in 1994 and remained in power until his death in 2011. Although Kim took steps to improve international relations early in his rule, the country’s continued pursuit of nuclear weapons technology soured its dealings with the West. Kim had a reputation for personal extravagance. What are some examples that have been cited as evidence of his excesses? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary