Category: Word of the Day

Definition: (verb) To increase, enlarge, or intensify.
Synonyms: intensify, step up.
Usage: Tensions escalated as the politicians refused to compromise.
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Source: The Free Dictionary

Definition: (noun) Distinctive and stylish elegance.
Synonyms: dash, elan, flair, style.
Usage: He wooed her with the confident panache of a cavalry officer.
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Source: The Free Dictionary

Definition: (adjective) Characterized by quickness, lightness, and ease of movement; nimble.
Synonyms: nimble, spry, quick.
Usage: She moved quickly and was agile as a gymnast.
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Source: The Free Dictionary

Definition: (verb) To shrink back in fear; cower.
Synonyms: cringe, flinch, recoil, wince.
Usage: The little boy quailed at the teacher's angry voice.
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Source: The Free Dictionary

Definition: (noun) The distance around something; the circumference.
Synonyms: circumference, perimeter.
Usage: It was an enormous tree, its girth twice as great as what a man could embrace.
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Source: The Free Dictionary

Definition: (noun) A person who withdraws from the world to live in seclusion and often in solitude.
Synonyms: solitudinarian, troglodyte, hermit, solitary.
Usage: He was regarded by the townspeople as a recluse, since no one ever saw him receive visitors.
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Source: The Free Dictionary

Definition: (verb) To anticipate and dispose of effectively; render unnecessary.
Synonyms: rid of, eliminate.
Usage: Her discovery of an old wedding dress in the attic obviated the need for her to buy a costume for the party.
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Source: The Free Dictionary

Definition: (adjective) Having or showing penetrating mental discernment; clear-sighted.
Synonyms: sagacious, sapient.
Usage: She was much too perspicacious to be taken in by such a spurious argument.
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Source: The Free Dictionary

Definition: (adjective) A light purplish blue.
Synonyms: cerulean, lazuline, sapphire, sky-blue.
Usage: The large silver kite gleamed against the azure expanse of sky.
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Source: The Free Dictionary

Definition: (noun) Obscene language or literature, especially that dealing pruriently or humorously with excrement and excretory functions.
Synonyms: vulgarism, obscenity.
Usage: She hated to encounter scatology in her reading, believing it to be the lowest form of humor.
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Source: The Free Dictionary