aggrandize(uh GRAN dyz) vt. 1. to make greater, richer, more powerful; 2. to
make seem richer
- By certifying the landfill as a suitable building site, the county helped to
further aggrandizeits owner. - Although not earning a dollar from the transaction, its very happening
aggrandizedOtto’s reputation.
[-d, aggrandizing] [Syn. enrich]
agronomy(uh GRAHN uh mee) n. management of farmland; the science of
producing crops - For a farmer to get the most from his land, he needs to have some under-
standing of agronomy. - Agronomyteaches that rotating crops allows the land to replenish its essen-
tial nutrients after they’ve been used.
allegory(AL ig AWR ee) n. a story in which people, things, and ideas have hid-
den meanings, often used as a way of teaching values - Aesop’s fables are probably the best-known allegoriesin all literature.
- An allegoryalways has a message apart from its obvious one, which in
Aesop’s case is provided in the moral at the end.
[allegories pl.]
alleviate(uh LEEV ee AYT) vt. 1. to lighten; make less hard to bear; 2. to reduce
or lessen pain - Lloyd took one of the boxes of books from Arlene to alleviatethe load that
she was carrying. - Tears often alleviatethe burden of emotional stress.
[-d, alleviating] [Syn. reduce]
allocate(AL uh KAYT) vt. 1. to earmark or set aside for a specific purpose; 2. to
distribute; mete out - The city allocated$200 million to improve mass-transit facilities.
- Having collected hundreds of donated winter coats, it was now up to the
lodge to allocatethem among the less fortunate.
[-d, allocating] [Syn. allot]
alloy(uh LOY for vt., A loy for n.) vt.1. to fuse two or more metals to form one
that possesses new properties; 2. to reduce the pureness of a rare metal by fusing it
with a less precious one —n. a metallic substance derived from the chemical fusion
of two or more metals - Wrapping a strip of copper arround tin does not make an alloy;the tin and
copper must be smelted at high heat to form the new metal, bronze. - Iron is alloyedwith carbon and several other metals to produce steel.
- Fourteen-karat gold is produced by alloying24-karat pure gold with other
metals.
[-ed, -ing]
246 Essential Vocabulary