- The bargain diamond ring turned out to be spurious,made not of diamond
and gold but of glass and gold plate.
[-ly adv.] [Syn. artificial]
squelch(SKWELCH) vt. 1. to crush or squash by smashing or stamping on; 2. to
suppress or silence fully with a demoralizing effect —n. 1. a crushed mass of some-
thing; 2. the act of silencing or putting down; 3. the sound made by walking
through mud or slush - Peter tried to squelchthe invasion of cockroaches by stomping all over
them. - Dictators often try to squelchopposition by making massive reprisals after a
slight insurrection. - Suzanne squelcheda pile of potatoes for tomorrow morning’s hash browns.
- Her boots went “squelch” as she slogged through the mud.
[-ed, -ing, -er n.]
stemming(STEM ing) vt. 1. stopping or checking (especially the flow of a river
by damming); 2. closing, plugging, or tamping a hole; 3. removing the stem from a
vegetable or piece of fruit - Damming the river was an attempt at stemmingits repeated flooding of the
town. - The little Dutch boy’s thumb was stuck into the dike in hopes of stemming
the hole’s enlargement by the water eroding it further. - Stemmingstrawberries before serving them is always a good idea.
stimulant(STIM yoo lint) n. any drug, medication, experience, sight, etc. that
temporarily stimulates or excites some organ or the central nervous system to
increase activity - Many people can’t start the day without a cup of coffee, which acts as a
stimulantto get them up and running. - Caffeine, the stimulantin coffee, is also in tea, cola, and other soft drinks.
straddle (STRA dil) vt. 1. to have one’s legs on either side of (a chair, saddle,
fence, etc.); 2. to come down on both sides of an issue; to avoid or appear to avoid
committing oneself; 3. to walk with one’s legs wide apart; 4. to refuse to commit
oneself; hedge —n.the act or position of straddling - Tom turned the chair around and straddledit while leaning his chin on the
chair’s back. - It is customary to straddlethe saddle when seated on a horse.
- Politicians often find that they risk alienating fewer constituents by strad-
dlingan issue rather than coming down on one side or the other of it. - Severely bowlegged people walk with a straddle,as if they had a saddle
between their legs. - It doesn’t pay to straddlethe question of whether or not to allow the state
to infringe on your freedoms. - Straddlingis a favorite occupation of many politicians, known as
fence sitters.
[-d, straddling]
S: SAT Words 217