receptor(ri SEP toer) n. 1. a receiver; 2. a sense organ; a group of nerve endings
specializing in receiving impulses
- A radar antenna is both a sender for putting out radio waves and a receptor
for receiving the signals when they bounce off something. - The nose contains the receptorsfor smell, while the taste buds are receptors
on the tongue. - Rods and cones are light receptorson the retina of the eye.
[Syn. receiver]
recitation(RES i TAY shin) n. 1. a public speaking of some memorized verse or
prose; 2. a gathering at which this occurs - Memorization and recitationof the works of Homer were the main pillars of
a classical Greek education. - Many tickets were sold for tonight’s Keats’ recitationat the Town Hall.
recluse(rik LOOS) n. one who lives a life of solitude and seclusion by choice - Howard Hughes chose to spend the last years of his life as a recluse.
•A reclusecan be considered an antisocial individual.
[reclusive adj., reclusively adv.] [Syn. hermit]
recondite(REK uhn dyt) adj. very profound; beyond the grasp of a normal
human mind; obscure; abstruse - Rocket science is as reconditeas, well, rocket science.
- Brain surgery is quite reconditebut less so than rocket science.
[-ly adv.] [Syn. abstruse]
redemptive(ri DEMP tiv) adj. 1. serving to redeem or get back, as in trading
paper money for silver or gold, or trading stamps; 2. serving to save one’s life or
soul by the sacrifice of paying a ransom - Richard made a redemptiveeffort with his silver certificates but was told the
time for cashing them in for metal had passed. - In the biblical narrative of Abraham’s sacrifice of his son Isaac, God
provides a ram as a redemptivesubstitute for Isaac’s life.
[-ly adv., redemption n.]
refractory(ri FRAK toer ee) adj. 1. hard to handle; stubborn (said about an
animal or person); 2. heat resistant; hard to work or melt (said about metal ore);
- resistant to disease
- A mule is a very refractoryanimal and must be handled with care.
- The iron age came about rather late in history because of the refractory
nature of the metal’s ore. - Botanists have worked for decades to produce refractorystrains of corn and
tomatoes.
[refractorily adv., refractoriness n.]
Q – R: GRE Words 325