EXERCISE H

This exercise concerns itself with common words that have more than one meaning. Make your procedure as follows. First, look up the word itself. Under it you will find a number of defining words. Then look up each of these in turn, until you have the requisite number and kind of synonyms. (The word is sure to have more synonyms than are called for.) You will have to use your dictionary tirelessly.

Find three synonyms for bare as applied to the body; three for it as applied to a room.

Give three other words that might be used instead of bear in the sentence "The pillar bears a heavy weight"; three in the sentence "He bore a heavy load on his back"; three in the sentence "He bore the punishment that was unjustly meted out to him"; three in the sentence "He bore a grudge against his neighbor"; two in the sentence "The field did not bear a crop last year."

Give ten synonyms for bold as applied to a warrior; ten as applied to a young girl. Observe that the synonyms in the first list are favorable in import and suggest the idea of bravery, whereas those in the second list are unfavorable and suggest the idea of brazenness. How do you account for this fact? Can you think of circumstances in which a young girl might be so placed that the favorable synonyms might be applied to her?

Give as many words as you can, at least twelve, that can be used instead of bright as applied to a light, a diamond, a wet pavement, or a live coal. Give three words for bright as applied to a child of unusual intelligence; two as applied to an occasion that promises to turn out well; two as applied to a career that has been signally successful.

Give five synonyms for clear as applied to water: ten as applied to a fact or a statement; three as applied to the sky or atmosphere; three as applied to the voice; two as applied to a passageway or a view; three as applied to one's judgment or thinking.

Give three words that could be substituted for close as applied to the atmosphere in a room; four as applied to a person who is uninclined to talk about a matter; three as applied to something not far off; four as applied to a friend; five as applied to a person who is reluctant to spend money; five as applied to a translation; five as applied to attention or endeavor.

Substitute in turn four words for discharge in the sentence "The judge discharged the prisoner"; two in the sentence "The foreman discharged the workman"; two in the sentence "The hunter discharged the gun"; three in the sentence "The sore discharged pus"; two in the sentence "My neighbor discharged the debt"; two in the sentence "He discharged his duty."

. Name three words besides dull_ that could be applied to a blade or a point; five to a person with slow intellect; three to indifference toward others; two to a color; three to a day that is not cheerful; five to talk or discourse that is not interesting.

. Substitute five words for fair in the sentence "He gave a fair judgment in the case"; three in the sentence "The son made a fair showing in his studies"; four in the sentence "She had a fair face"; two in the sentence "Her complexion was fair"; three in the sentence "Let no shame ever fall upon your fair name."

. Find two words that you can substitute for false as applied to a signature, to a report or a piece of news, to jewels or money, to a friend.

. Name two words I might substitute for fast in the sentence "Drive the stake until it is fast in the ground"; three in the sentence "He made a fast trip for the doctor"; six in the sentence "By leading a fast life he soon squandered his inheritance."

. Substitute four words for firm in the sentence "I made the board firm by nailing it to the wall"; three in the sentence "The water froze into a firm mass"; five in the sentence "He was firm in his determination to proceed."

. Instead of flat use in turn four other words in the sentence "This is a flat piece of ground"; five in the sentence "It was as flat a story as ever wearied company"; three in the sentence "The cook having forgotten the salt, the soup was flat"; four in the sentence "I am surprised by your flat refusal."

. Free may be applied to a person not subject to a tax or a disease, to a person who has been released from confinement or restraint, to a person who is not reserved or formal in his relations to others, to a person who is willing to give. Out of your own resources substitute as many words as you can for free in each of these sentences. Now look up free in a dictionary or book of synonyms. What proportion of its synonyms were you able to think up unaided?

. Give three synonyms for great as applied to size, to number, to a man widely known for notable achievement, to an error or crime, to price.

. Give six synonyms for hard as applied to a rock; six as applied to a task or burden; six as applied to a problem or situation; ten as applied to one's treatment of others.

. Give three words that can be applied instead of harsh to a sound; three that can be applied instead of harsh to the voice; five that can be applied to one's treatment of others; five that can be applied to one's disposition or nature.

. Substitute five words for just in the sentence "You are just in your dealings with others"; three in the sentence "A just punishment was meted out to him"; three in the sentence "They made a just division of the property"; two in the sentence "He had a just claim to the title."

. Give six words that can be substituted for plain, as applied to a fact or statement; four as applied to the decorations of a room; two as applied to the countenance; four as applied to a surface; three as applied to a statement or reply.

. Give five words that can be used instead of poor as applied to a person who is without money or resources; ten as applied to a person lacking in flesh; three as applied to clothing that is worn out; five as applied to land that will bear only small crops or no crops at all; two as applied to an occasion that does not promise to turn out well.

. Give six words that could be used instead of quick as applied to a train or a horse in travel; six as applied to the movements of a person about a room or to his actions in the performance of his work; four to a disposition or temper that is easily irritated.

. Give five synonyms for serious as applied to one's countenance or expression; three as applied to a problem or undertaking; two as applied to a disease or to sickness.

. Give two synonyms for sharp as applied to a blade or a point; six as applied to a pain or to grief; four as applied to a remark or reply; ten as applied to one's mind or intellect; three as applied to temper or disposition; three as applied to an embankment; three as applied to the seasoning of food; three as applied to a cry or scream.

. Give six synonyms for stiff as applied to an iron rod; three as applied to an adversary; six as applied to one's manner or bearing; two as applied to one's style of writing or speaking.

. Give three synonyms for strong as applied to a person in regard to his health; ten as applied to him in regard to his muscularity of physique; four as applied to a fortress; three as applied to a plea or assertion; three as applied to an argument or reason; three as applied to determination; two as applied to liquor; three as applied to a light; two as applied to corrective measures; two as applied to an odor.

. Give five synonyms for vain as applied to a man who overvalues himself or his accomplishments; six as applied to an attempt that comes to nothing; three as applied to hopes that have little chance of fulfilment.

. Substitute five synonyms for weak in the sentence "I was very weak after my illness"; four in the sentence "The fortress was especially weak on the side toward the plain"; three in the sentence "He made a weak attempt to defend his actions"; three in the sentence "Many of these arguments are weak"; three in the sentence "Hamlet is usually interpreted as being weak of will"; three in the sentence "The liquor was so weak it had no taste"; three in the sentence "The lace was weak and soon tore."

. Give two words instead of wild as applied to animals; two as applied to land; three as applied to people who have not been civilized; three as applied to a storm, an uncontrolled temper, or a mob; three as applied to a scheme that has no basis in reason or practicality.

EXERCISE I

In Exercise H you started with ideas and objects, and had to find words of a given meaning that could be applied to them. In this exercise you start with the words, and must find the ideas and objects.

. To what is base applied when inferior, cheap, worthless could be used as its synonyms? To what is it applied when debased, impure, spurious, alloyed, counterfeit could be used? When mean, despicable, contemptible, shameful, disgraceful, dishonorable, discreditable, scandalous, infamous, villainous, low-minded could be used? When ignoble, servile, slavish, groveling, menial could be used? When plebeian, obscure, untitled, vulgar, lowly, nameless, humble, unknown could be used?

. Can you properly contrast mortal with immortal existence? mortal with porcine existence? Is porcine existence also mortal? Is mortal existence also porcine? What adjective pertaining to mankind forms a true contrast to porcine? What is a synonym for mortal in its broad sense? in its narrow sense?

. To what is severe applied when harsh, stern, rigorous, drastic, austere, hard could be substituted for it? When plain, unembellished, unadorned, chaste could be substituted? When acute, violent, extreme, intense, sharp, distressing, afflictive could be substituted? When keen, cutting, biting, stinging, caustic, critical, trenchant could be substituted?

EXERCISE J

Reread the discussion of good and things in Many-sided Words. Then for each of the words listed below collect or compose twenty or more sentences in which the word is used. As largely as possible, take them from actual experience. In doing this you must listen to the use of the word in everyday talk. After you have made your list of sentences as varied and extensive as you can, try to substitute synonyms that will express the idea more accurately. Note whether a knowledge of the attendant circumstances is necessary to an understanding of the original word, to an understanding of the word substituted for it.

Bad Fine Matter Affair Nice Common Case Boost

EXERCISE K

Analyze each of the words given below into its various uses or applications. Then for it in each of these applications assemble as many synonyms as you can unaided. Finally, have recourse to a dictionary or book of synonyms for the further extension of your lists.

(By way of illustration, let us take the word quiet. Through meditation and analysis we discover that it may be applied (a) to water or any liquid not in motion, (b) to a place that is without sound, (c) to a place shut off from activity or bustle, (d) to a person who is not demonstrative or forward in manner. We then think of all the words we can that can be substituted for it in each of these uses. No matter how incompletely or unsatisfactorily we feel we are performing this task, we must not give it over until we have found every word we can summon. Then we turn to a dictionary or book of synonyms. Thus for quiet we shall assemble such synonyms as (a) calm, still, motionless, placid, tranquil, serene, smooth, unruffled, undisturbed, pacific, stagnant; (b) silent, still, noiseless, mute, hushed, voiceless; (c) secluded, sequestered, solitary, isolated, unfrequented, unvisited, peaceful, untrodden, retired; (d) demure, sedate, staid, reserved, meek, gentle, retiring, unobtrusive, modest, unassuming, timid, shrinking, shy.)

Barren Keep Pure Solid Certain Liberal Rare Sorry Cold Light (adjective) Rich Spread Cool Light (noun) Right Straight Deep Long Rude Still Dry Low Short Sure Easy Mean Simple Thick Foul Narrow Slow Thin Full New Small Tender Gentle Obscure Smooth True Grand Odd Sober Warm Heavy Particular Soft Yield Keen

<Literal vs. Figurative Applications>

One of the most interesting things to watch in the study of words is their development from a literal to a figurative application. The first man who broke away from the confines of the literal meaning of a word and applied the word to something that only in a figurative sense had qualities analogous to the original meaning, was creating poetry. He was making an imaginative flight comparable in daring to the Wright brothers' first aeronautic flight. But as the word was used over and over in this figurative way the imaginative flight became more and more commonplace. At last it ceased to be imaginative at all; through frequent repetition it had settled into the matter of course. A glance back at the Concise group above will show you that with time the comparison which was once the basis and the life of the figurative use of words is dulled, obscured, even lost.

As a further enforcement of this fact, let us analyze the word rough. In its literal application, it may designate any surface that has ridges, projections, or inequalities and is therefore uneven, jagged, rugged, scraggy, or scabrous. Now frequently a man's face or head is rough because unshaved or uncombed; also the fur of an animal is rough. Hence the term could be used for unkempt, disheveled, shaggy, hairy, coarse, bristly. "The child ran its hand over its father's rough cheek" and "The bear had a rough coat" are sentences that even the most unimaginative mind can understand. We speak of rough timber because its surface has not been planed or made smooth. We speak of a rough diamond because it is unpolished, uncut. Note that all these uses are literal, that in each instance some unevenness of surface is referred to.

But man, urged on by the desire to say what he means with more novelty, strikingness, or force, applied the word to ideas that have no surfaces to be uneven. He imagined what these ideas would be like if they had surfaces. Of course in putting these conceptions into language he was creating figures of speech, some of them startlingly apt, some of them merely far-fetched. He said a man had a rough voice, as though the voice were like a cactus in its prickly irregularities. By rough he meant what his fellows meant when they spoke of the voice as harsh, grating, jarring, discordant, inharmonious, strident, raucous, or unmusical. Going farther, that early poet said the weather was rough. He thought of clement weather as being smooth and even, but of inclement, severe, stormy, tempestuous, or violent weather as being full of projections to rend and harass one. Thus an everyday use of the term today was once wrenched and immoderate speech. Possibly the first man who heard of rough weather was puzzled for a moment, then amused or delighted as he caught the figure. It did not require great originality to think of a crowd as rough in its movements. But our poet applied the idea to an individual. To him a rude, uncivil, impolite, ungracious, uncourteous, unpolished, uncouth, boorish, blunt, bluff, gruff, brusk, or burly person was as the unplaned lumber or the unpolished gem; and we imitative moderns still call such a man rough. But we do not think of the man as covered with projections that need to be taken off, unless forsooth we receive rough treatment at his hands. And note how far we have journeyed from the original idea of the word when we say "I gave the report a rough glance," meaning cursory, hasty, superficial, or incomplete consideration.

Many very simple words, including several of those already treated in this chapter, are two-sided in that they are both literal and figurative.

EXERCISE L

Trace each of the following words from its literal to its figurative applications, giving synonyms for each of its uses.

Open Bright Stiff Hard Low Cool Sharp Flat Keen Strong Dull Raw Small Odd Warm Deep Eccentric

<Imperfectly Understood Facts and Ideas>

Thus far in this chapter we have been considering many-sided words. We must now turn to a certain class of facts and ideas that deserve better understanding and closer analysis than we usually accord them.

These facts and ideas are supposed to be matters of common knowledge. And in their broad scope and purport they are. Because acquaintance with them is taken for granted it behooves us to know them. Yet they are in reality complicated, and when we attempt to deal with them in detail, our assurance forsakes us. All of us have our "blind sides" intellectually— quake to have certain areas of discussion entered, because we foresee that we must sit idly by without power to make sensible comment. Unto as many as possible of these blind sides of ourselves we should pronounce the blessed words, "Let there be light." We have therefore to consider certain matters and topics which are supposed to belong to the common currency of social information, but with which our familiarity is less thoroughgoing than it should be.

What are these facts and topics? Take for illustration the subject of aeronautics. Suppose we have but the vaguest conception of the part played or likely to be played by aircraft in war, commerce, and pleasure. Suppose we are not aware that some craft are made to float and others to be driven by propellers. Suppose such terms as Zeppelin, blimp, monoplane, biplane, hydroplane, dirigible have no definite import for us. Does not our knowledge fall short of that expected of well-informed men in this present age?

Or take military terms. Everybody uses them—clergymen, pacifists, clubmen, social reformers, novelists, tramps, brick-layers, Big-Stickers. We cannot escape them if we would. We ourselves use them. But do we use them with precise and masterly understanding? You call one civilian colonel and another major; which have you paid the higher compliment? You are uncertain whether a given officer is a colonel or a major, and you wish to address him in such fashion as will least offend his sensitiveness as to rank and nomenclature; which title—colonel or major—is the less perilous? You are told that a major has command of a battalion; does that tell you anything about him? You are told that he has command of a squadron, of a brigade, of a platoon; do these changes in circumstances have any import for you? If not, you have too faltering a grasp upon military facts and terminology.

The best remedy for such shortcomings is to be insatiably curious on all subjects. This of course is the ideal; nobody ever fully attains it. Nevertheless Exercise M will set you to groping into certain broad matters relevant to ordinary needs. Thereafter, if your purpose be strong enough, you will carry the same methods there acquired into other fields of knowledge.

You may object that all this is as much mental as linguistic—that what is proposed will result in as large accessions of general information as of vocabulary. Let this be admitted. Deficiencies of language are often, perhaps almost invariably, linked with deficiencies of knowledge. To repair the one we must at the same time repair the other. This may seem a hard saying to those who seek, or would impart, mere glibness of phrase without regard for the substance—who worship "words, words, words" without thought of "the matter." There is such a thing as froth of utterance, but who has respect therefor or is deceived thereby? Speech that is not informed is like a house without a foundation. You should not desire to possess it. Abroad in this world of ours already are too many people who darken counsel by words without knowledge.

EXERCISE M

A second lieutenant is the commissioned officer of lowest grade in the United States army. Name all the grades from second lieutenant to the grade that is highest.

An admiral is the officer of highest grade in the United States navy. Name all the grades down to that which is lowest.

Name as many as possible of the different ranks of the clergy in the Roman Catholic Church, in the Church of England.

Give ascendingly the five titles in the British nobility.

Name the different kinds of vehicles.

Name the different kinds of schools.

Name all the different kinds of boats and ships (both ancient and modern) you can think of.

Give the nautical term for the right side of a ship, for the left side of a ship, for the front, for the rear, for the forward portion, for the rear portion.

Name the various kinds of bodies of water (oceans, rivers, lagoons, etc.)

Give all the terms of relationship of persons, both by blood and by marriage. What relation to you is your grandfather's brother? your cousin's daughter?

Name all the bones of the human head.

Give the names of the different parts of a typical flower.

Name as many elements as you can. What is the number usually given? What was the last element discovered, and by whom?

Name the elements of which water is composed. Name the principal elements in the composition of the air.

Make as long a list as possible (up to thirty) of words that appeal to the sense of sight (especially color words and motion words), to the sense of hearing, of smell, of taste, of touch.

Find words descriptive of various expressions in the human face.

Name all the terms you can associated with law, with medicine, with geology.

Name the planets, the signs of the zodiac, as many constellations as you can.

Name the seven colors of the spectrum, and for each name give all the synonyms you can. What are the primary colors? the secondary colors?

Give the various races into which mankind has been divided, and the color of each.

Name every kind of tree you can think of, every kind of flower, every kind of animal, every kind of bird.



X

SUPPLEMENTARY LIST OF WORDS

You have already mastered many words, but a glance at any page of the dictionary will convince you that you have not mastered all. Nor will you, ever. Their number is too great, and too many of them are abstrusely technical.

Nevertheless there remain many words that you should bring into your vocabulary. Most of them are not extremely usual; on the other hand they are not so unusual that you would encounter them but once in a lifetime. The majority of them are familiar to you, perhaps; that is, you will have a general feeling that you have seen them before. But this is not enough. Do you know exactly what they mean? Can you, when the occasion comes, use them?-use them promptly and well? This is the test.

Many of the words are absolutely new so far as this book is concerned. They have not been discussed or attached to any list. Many are not entirely new. They have appeared, but not received such emphasis that they are sure to stand fast in your memory. Or some cognate form of them may have been mastered, yet they themselves may remain unknown. Thus you may know commendation but not commendatory, credulous but not incredulity, invalid but not invalidate or invalidity. One of the best of all ways to extend your vocabulary is to make each word of your acquaintance introduce you to its immediate kinsmen, those grouped with it on the same page of the dictionary.

This chapter puts you on your mettle. Hitherto you have been given instructions as to the way to proceed, Now you must shift for yourself. The words, to be sure, are corraled for you. But you must tame them and break them, in order that on them you may ride the ranges of human intercourse. If you have not yet learned how to subdue them to your will and use, it would be futile to tell you how. You have been put in the way of mastering words. The task that henceforth confronts you is your own. You must have at it unaided.

It is true that, in the exercise that follows, specific help is given you on a limited number of the words. But this help is only toward discovering the words for yourself before you have seen them in a list. And for most of the words not even this meager assistance is given.

EXERCISE - Supplementary

Each of the following groups of words is preceded by sentences in which blanks should be filled by words from that group. But do your best to fill these blanks properly before you consult the group at all. You must learn to think of, or think up, the right word instead of having it pointed out to you.

These benefits were not inherent in the course he had taken; they were purely . Anything which existed before Noah's flood is called . His left hand, which had ceased, to grow during his childhood, was now withered from its long . Certain books once belonging to the Bible have been discarded by the Protestants as . When Shakespeare makes Hector quote Aristotle, who lived long after the siege of Troy, he is guilty of an . Whatever causes the lips to pucker, as alum or a green persimmon, is spoken of as .

Abash, abbreviate, abduct, aberrant, aberration, abeyance, abhorrent, abject, abjure, aboriginal, abortive, abrade, abrasion, abrogate, absolution, abstemious, abstention, abstruse, accelerate, accentuate, acceptation, accessary, accession, accessory, acclamation, acclivity, accolade, accomplice, accost, acerbity, acetic, achromatic, acidulous, acme, acolyte, acoustics, acquiescence, acquisitive, acrimonious, acumen, adage, adamantine, addict, adduce, adhesive, adipose, adjudicate, adolescence, adulation, adulterate, advent, adventitious, aerial, affability, affidavit, affiliate, affinity, agglomerate, agglutinate, aggrandizement, agnostic, alignment, aliment, allegorical, alleviate, altercation, altruistic, amalgamate, amatory, ambiguity, ambrosial, ameliorate, amenable, amenity, amity, amnesty, amulet, anachronism, analytical, anathema, anatomy, animadversion, annotate, anomalous, anonymous, antediluvian, anterior, anthology, anthropology, antinomy, antiquarianism, antiseptic, aphorism, apocryphal, aplomb, apostasy, apparatus, apparition, appellate, appertain, appetency, apposite, approbation, appurtenance, aquatic, aqueous, aquiline, arbitrary, archaic, arduous, aromatic, arrear, articulate, ascetic, asperity, asphyxiate, asseverate, assiduity, assimilate, astringent, astute, atrophy, attenuate, auditory, augury, auscultation, austerity, authenticate, authenticity, auxiliary, avidity.

The man wished to fight; he was in mood. There is only a handful of these things; yes, a mere . Slight mishaps like these lead to quips and mutual . His conduct is odd, grotesque, .

Baccalaureate, badinage, bagatelle, baleful, ballast, banality, baneful, beatitude, bellicose, belligerent, benefaction, beneficent, benison, betide, bibulous, bigotry, bizarre, bombastic, burlesque.

This effect was not obtained all at once; it was . These subjects belong to the same general field of knowledge as those; the two sets are . He is a skilled judge of art, a . The Southern states were unwilling to remain in the Union; they could be kept only by . Monks take upon themselves the vow of . No, this animal does not live on vegetation; it is a animal.

Cacophonous, cadaverous, cadence, callow, calumny, capillary, captious, cardinal, carnal, carnivorous, castigate, cataclysm, catastrophe, category, causality, cavernous, celebrity, celibacy, censorious, ceramics, cerebration, certitude, cessation, charlatan, chimerical, chronology, circuitous, circumlocution, citation, clandestine, clarify, clemency, coadjutor, coagulate, coalesce, coercion, cogency, cognizant, cohesion, coincidence, collusion, colossal, comatose, combustible, commendatory, commensurate, commiserate, communal, compatibility, compendium, complaisant, comport, composite, compulsive, compulsory, computation, concatenate, concentric, concessive, concomitant, condign, condiment, condolence, confiscatory, confute, congeal, congenital, conglomerate, congruity, connivance, connoisseur, connubial, consensus, consistence, consort, constriction, construe, contentious, context, contiguity, contiguous, contingent, contortion, contravene, contumacious, contumacy, contumelious, convergent, conversant, convivial, correlate, corrigible, corroborate, corrosive, cosmic, covenant, crass, credence, crescent, criterion, critique, crucial, crucible, cryptic, crystalline, culmination, culpable, cumulative, cupidity, cursive, cursory, cutaneous, cynosure.

His course was not prescribed for him by superiors; his powers were _. The suppression of these anarchistic tendencies has required _ measures. She was just entering society, and was proving herself a popular _. Yes, this tree loses its leaves every year; it is a _ tree. He pretends that his _ are sound, because he can read the stars.

Debilitate, debonair, debutante, decadence, decapitate, deciduous, declivity, decompose, decorous, dedicatory, deduction, deferential, deficiency, deglutition, dehiscence, delectable, delete, deleterious, delineate, deliquescent, demarcation, demimonde, demoniac, denizen, denouement, deprecate, depreciate, derelict, derogatory, despicable, desuetude, desultory, deteriorate, diacritical, diagnosis, diaphanous, diatribe, didactic, diffusive, dilatory, dilettante, dipsomania, dirigible, discommode, discretionary, discursive, disintegrate, disparity, dispensable, disseminate, dissimulation, dissonant, distain, divagation, divination, divulge, dolor, dorsal, drastic, dubiety, duress, dynamic.

These facts do not circulate except among a limited group of people; they are therefore _. The departure of the children of Israel from Egypt was a general _. His philosophy, instead of conforming to a single system, was _. Lamb wrote admirable letters; he has a delightful _ style. The period at which our days and nights are of equal length is the _ period.

Ebullient, ecclesiastical, echelon, eclectic, ecstatic, edict, eerie, effervescent, efficacious, effrontery, effulgence, effusion, egregious, eleemosynary, elicit, elite, elucidate, embellish, embryonic, emendation, emissary, emission, emollient, empiric, empyreal, emulous, encomium, endue, enervate, enfilade, enigmatic, ennui, enunciate, environ, epicure, epigram, episode, epistolary, epitome, equestrian, equilibrium, equinoctial, equity, equivocate, eradicate, erosion, erotic, erudition, eruptive, eschew, esoteric, espousal, estrange, ethereal, eulogistic, euphonious, evanescent, evangelical, evict, exacerbate, excerpt, excommunicate, excoriate, excruciate, execrable, exegesis, exemplary, exhalation, exhilarate, exigency, exodus, exonerate, exorbitant, exotic, expectorate, expeditious, explicable, explicit, expunge, extant, extemporaneous, extrinsic.

He deceives himself by this argument, for the argument is utterly . No complicated action can be planned in absolute detail; much must depend on circumstance.

Fabricate, fabulous, facetious, factitious, fallacious, fallible, fastidious, fatuous, feasible, feculence, fecundity, felicitous, felonious, fetid, feudal, fiducial, filament, filtrate, finesse, flaccid, flagitious, floriculture, florid, fluctuate, foible, forfeiture, fortuitous, fractious, franchise, frangible, frontal, froward, furtive.

The advice was both unasked and unwelcome; it was purely _. Throughout the World War the _ of Germany over the other Central European powers was unquestioned. Buffaloes naturally go together in herds; they are _.

Galaxy, galleon, garrulity, gesticulate, gormand, granivorous, grandiloquent, gravamen, gratuitous, gregarious, habitue, hallucination, harbinger, hardihood, heckle, hectic, hedonist, hegemony, heinous, herbivorous, heretic, hermaphrodite, heterodox, heterogeneous, hibernate. histrionic, hoidenism, homiletics, homogeneous, hydraulic, hypothesis.

We cannot understand God's ways; they are . Nor need we expect to change them; they are . If an animal has no backbone, it is . A boy so confirmed in his faults that we cannot correct them is .

Idiosyncrasy, illicit, immaculate, immanent, imminent, immobile, immure, immutable, impalpable, impeccable, impecunious, imperturbable, impervious, implacable, implicit, impolitic, imponderable, importunate, imprecation, impromptu, improvise, imputation, inadvertent, inamorata, inanity, incarcerate, inchoate, incidence, incision, incongruent, inconsequential, incontinent, incorporeal, incorrigible, incredulity, incumbent, indecorous, indigenous, indigent, indite, indomitable, ineluctable, inexorable, inexplicable, inferential, infinitesimal, infinitude, infraction, infusion, inhibit, innocuous, innuendo, inopportune, insatiable, inscrutable, insidious, inspissated, insulate, intangible, integral, integument, interdict, internecine, intractable, intransigent, intrinsic, inure, invalidate, inveigh, inveigle, invertebrate, invidious, irrefragable, irrefutable, irrelevant, irreparable, irrevocable, iterate.

He overpraised people; he was always engaged in extravagant _ of somebody or other. The small man who has written a book becomes pretentious at once and regards himself as one of the _. Thatcher is always engaged in lawsuits; he is the most _ man I ever saw.

Jocose, jocund, jurisprudence, juxtaposition, kaleidoscopic, labyrinth, lacerate, lackadaisical, lacrimal, laity, lambent, lampoon, largess, lascivious, laudable, laudation, lavation, legionary, lethargic, licentious, lineal, lingual, literati, litigious, loquacity, lubricity, lucent, lucre, lucubration, lugubrious.

Those soldiers are fighting, not for principle, but for pay; they are . Iron that is not heated cannot be hammered into shape; it is not .

Machination, macrocosm, magisterial, magniloquent, maladroit, malfeasance, malignity, malleable, mandate, matutinal, medieval, mephitic, mercenary, mercurial, meretricious, metamorphose, meticulous, microcosm, misanthropic, misogyny, misprision, mitigate, monitor, mortuary, mundane, mutable.

It is a government by the few; therefore an _. All the men of influence in the state give offices to their kinsmen; the system is one of _. Yes, grandfather is eighty years old today; he has become an _.

Nebulous, nefarious, negation, neophyte, nepotism, neurotic, noisome, nomenclature, nonchalant, non sequitur, nucleus, nugatory, obdurate, objurgation, obligatory, obloquy, obsequious, obsession, obsolete, obstreperous, obtrusive, obtuse, obverse, obviate, occult, octogenarian, officious, olfactory, oleaginous, oligarchy, ominous, onomatopceia, opacity, opaque, opprobrious, oracular, orthodox, oscillate, osculate, ostensible, ostentation, ostracize, outre, ovation, overture.

In England the eldest son inherits the title and the estate, but Americans do not take to a system of . You are always putting off until tomorrow what you could do today; do you think it pays to thus? An ambassador whose powers are unlimited is called an ambassador . Beasts or men that are given to plundering are .

Pabulum, pageantry, paginate, palatial, palliate, palpable, panacea, panegyric, panorama, paradoxical, paramount, parasite, parochial, paroxysm, parsimonious, parturition, patois, patriarchal, patrician, patrimony, peccadillo, pecuniary, pedantic, pellucid, pendulous, penultimate, penurious, peregrination, perfunctory, peripatetic, periphery, persiflage, perspicacious, perspicuity, pertinacious, pharmaceutic, phenomenal, phlegmatic, phraseology, pictorial, piquant, pique, plagiarize, platitudinous, platonic, plebeian, plenipotentiary, plethora, pneumatic, poignant, polity, poltroon, polyglot, pontifical, portentous, posterior, posthumous, potent, potential, pragmatic, preamble, precarious, precocious, precursor, predatory, predestination, predicament, preemptory, prelate, preliminary, preposterous, prerequisite, prerogative, presentiment, primogeniture, probation, probity, proclivity, procrastinate, prodigal, prodigious, prodigy, profligate, progenitor, proletarian, prolific, prolix, promiscuous, promissory, propaganda, propensity, prophylactic, propinquity, propitiatory, propitious, proprietary, prorogue, proselyte, prototype, protuberant, provender, proximity, prurient, psychical, psychological, puerile, pug-nacious, puissant, punctilious, pungent, punitive, pusillanimous, putrescent, pyrotechnics.

The coil of wire, being , instantly resumed its original shape. Some one must arrange these papers for publication; will you be their ? Poe's mind had a bent toward : it could reason out a whole chain of circumstances from one or two known facts. He showed a disposition not to comply with these instructions; yes, he was .

Rabbinical, rancorous, rapacious, ratiocination, rational, raucous, recalcitrant, recant, recapitulate, recession, reciprocal, reciprocate, recluse, recondite, recreant, recrudescence, rectilinear, rectitude, recumbent, redactor, redress, redound, refractory, refulgent, rejuvenate, relevant, rendezvous, rendition, reparation, repercussion, repertory, replenish, replete, replevin, reprehend, reprobate, repulsive, requisite, rescind, residue, residuum, resilient, resplendent, resurgence, resuscitate, reticulate, retribution, retrograde, retrospect, rigorous, risible, rodomontade, rudimentary, ruminate.

His position carries no responsibility; it is a . The moon revolves about the earth, and is therefore the earth's . His work keeps him at his desk all day; it is work. Your words incite men to disorder and rebellion; they are .

Saccharine, sacerdotal, sacrament, sacrilege, salient, salubrious, sardonic, satellite, saturnine, schism, scurrilous, sectarian, secular, sedative, sedentary, seditious, sedulous, segregate, seismograph, senescent, sententious, septuagenarian, sequester, sibilant, similitude, sinecure, sinuous, solicitous, solstice, somnolent, sophisticated, sophistry, sorcery, spasmodic, specious, spirituelle, splenetic, spontaneity, sporadic, spurious, stipend, stipulate, stoical, stricture, stringency, stultify, stupendous, sublimity, suborn, subpoena, subsidiary, subsidy, substratum, subtend, subterfuge, subterranean, subvention, subvert, sudorific, supercilious, supernal, supervene, supine, supposititious, surreptitious, surrogate, surveillance, susceptible, sustenance, sycophantic, syllogism, sylvan, symmetrical, symposium, synchronize, synonymous, synopsis, synthesis.

The small stream flows into the larger one and is its _. The thick glass roof lets through sufficient light for us to see by; it is _. You will not find him hard to manage; he has spirit enough, yet is _.

Tactile, tangible, tantamount, temerity, tenable, tenacious, tentative, tenuous, termagant, terrestrial, testimentary, thaumaturgic, therapeutic, titular, torso, tortuous, tractable, traduce, transcendent, transfiguration, transient, transitory, translucent, transverse, travesty, tribulation, tributary, truculent, truncate, turbid, turpitude, tyro.

He is so extravagantly fond of his wife that I should call him _. Christ died for others; it was a _ death. The most notable quality in Defoe's narrative is its likeness to actual facts, or in a word, its _.

Ubiquity, ulterior, ululation, umbrage, unanimous, undulate, urbanity, usurious, uxorious, vacillate, vacuous, vandalism, variegate velocity, venal, venereal, venial, venous, veracious, verdant, verisimilitude, vernacular, versatile, vestal, vibratory, vicarious, vicissitude, virulence, viscid, viscous, vitiate, vitreous, vituperate, vivacious, volatile, volition, voluminous, voluptuary, voluptuous, voracious, votive, vulnerable, whimsical, zealot.



XI

RETROSPECT

DO you never, while occupying a dental chair and deploring the necessity that drives you to that uncomfortable seat, admire the skill of the dentist in the use of his instruments? A great many of these instruments lie at his hand. To you they appear bewildering, so slightly different are they from each other. Yet with unerring readiness the dentist lays hold of the one he needs. Now this facility of his is not a blessing with which a gracious heaven endowed him. It is the consequence and reward of hard study, and above all of work, hard work.

You have been ambitious of like skill in the manipulation of words. Had you not been, you would never have undertaken this study. You have perceived that when you speak or write, words are your instruments. You have wished to learn how to use them. Now for every idea you shall ever have occasion to express await throngs of vocables, each presenting its claims as a fit medium. These you must pass in instantaneous review, these you must expertly appraise, out of these you must choose the words that will best serve your purpose. With practice, you will make your selections unconsciously. You will never, of course, quite attain the infallibility of the dentist; for linguistic instruments are more numerous than dental, and far more complex. But you will more and more nearly approximate the ideal, will more and more nearly find that right expression has become second nature with you.

All this is conditioned upon labor faithful and steadfast. Without labor you will never be adept. At the outset of our study together we warned you that, though we should gather the material and point the way, you yourself must do the work. This book is not one to glance through. It is one to dwell with, to toil with. It exacts much of you-makes you, for each page you turn, pay with the sweat of your brain.

But, assuming that you have done your part, what have you gained? Without answering this question at all fully, we may at this juncture engage in a brief retrospect.

First of all, you have rid yourself of the notion that words are dead things, unrealities worthy of no more than wooden and mechanical employment. As much as anything else in the world, words are alive and responsive, are fraught with unmeasured possibilities of good or ill. You have taken due cognizance of the fact that words must be considered in the aggregate as well as individually, and have reckoned with the pitfalls and dangers as well as with the advantages of their use in combination. But the basis of everything is a keener knowledge of words severally. You have therefore come to study words with the zest and insight you exhibit (or should exhibit) in studying men. Incidentally, you have acquired the habit of looking up dictionary definitions, not merely to satisfy a present need, but also to add permanently to your linguistic resources.

You have carried the study of individuals farther. You have come to know words inside and out. Such knowledge not only assists you in your dealings with your contemporaries; it illuminates for you great literature of the past that otherwise would remain obscure. How much keener, for example, is your understanding of Shakespeare's passage on the Seven Ages of Man because of your thorough acquaintance with the single word _pantaloon_! How quickly does the awe for big words slip from you when you perceive that _precocious is_ in origin the equivalent of _half-baked!_ What intimacy of insight into words you feel when you find that a _companion is_ a _sharer of one's bread_! What a linking of language with life you discover when you learn the original signification of _presently_, of _idiot_, of _rival_, of _sandwich_, of _pocket handkerchief_! And what revelations as into a mystic fraternalism with words do you obtain when you confront such a phrase as "the bank _teller_" or "cut to the _quick"!

_Not only have words become more like living beings to you; you have learned to think of them in relations analogous to the human. You can detect the blood kinship, for example, between _prescribe_ and _manuscript_, and know that the strain of _fact_ or fie or fy in a word is pretty sure to betoken making or doing. You know that there are elaborate intermarriages among words. You recognize _phonograph_, for example, as a married couple; you even have confidential word as to the dowry brought by each of the contracting parties to the new verbal household.

You have discovered, further, that the language actually swarms with "pairs"—words joined with each other not in blood or by marriage but through meaning. You have so familiarized yourself with hundreds of these pairs that to think of one word is to call the other to mind.

Finally, and in many respects most important of all, you have acquired a vast stock of synonyms. You have had it brought to your attention that the number of basic ideas in the world is surprisingly small; that for each of these ideas there is in our language one generic word; that most people use this one word constantly instead of seeking the subsidiary term that expresses a particular phase of the idea; and that you as a builder of your vocabulary must, while holding fast to the basic idea with one hand, reach out with the other for the fit, sure material of specific words. Nor have you rested in the mere perception of theory. You have had abundant practice, have yourself covered the ground foot by foot. You can therefore proceed with reasonable freedom from the commoner ideas of the human mind to that expression of definite aspects of them which is anything but common.

You have not, of course, achieved perfection. There still is much for you to do. There always will be. Nevertheless in the ways just reviewed, and in various other ways not mentioned in this chapter, you have made yourself verbally rich. You are one of the millionaires of language. When you speak, it is not with stammering incompetence, but with confident readiness. When you write, it is with energy and assurance in the very flow of the ink. Where you had long been a slave, you have become a freeman and can look your fellows in the eye. You have the best badge of culture a human being can possess. You have power at your tongue's end. You have the proud satisfaction of having wrought well, and the inspiration of knowing that whatever verbal need may arise, you are trained and equipped to grapple with it triumphantly.



APPENDICES

Appendix I

THE DRIFT OF OUR RURAL POPULATION CITYWARD (An editorial)

To an individual who from whatever motives of personal advantage or mere curiosity has made himself an observer of current tendencies, the drift of our rural population cityward gives food for serious reflection. This drift is one of the most pronounced of the social and economic phenomena of the day. Its consequences upon the life, welfare, and future of the great nation to which we are proud to acknowledge our whole-hearted allegiance are matters of such paramount importance to all concerned that we should turn aside more often than we do from the distracting exactions of our ordinary activities to give them prolonged and earnest consideration.

A generation or so ago human beings were content to spend the full term of their earthly existence amid rural surroundings, or if in their declining days they longed for more of the comforts and associations which are among the cravings of mortality, it was an easy proposition to move to the nearest village or, if they were too high and mighty for this simple measure to satisfy them, they could indulge in the more grandiose performance of residing in the county seat. But nowadays our people want more. Rich or poor, tall or dumpy, tottering grandmothers or babies in swaddling-clothes, they long for ampler pastures. Their brawny arms or hoary heads must bedeck nothing less than the metropolis itself, and perchance put shoulders to the wheel in the incessant grind of the urban treadmill. Can you beat it? Unquestioned profit does not attend the migration. It stands to reason that some of the very advantages sought have been sacrificed on the altar of the drift cityward. Let us say you have your individual domicile or the cramped and sunless apartment you dub your habitation within corporate limits. Does that mean that the privileges of the city are at your disposal, so that you have merely to reach forth your hand and pluck them? Well, hardly! You certainly do not reside in the downtown section, or if you do, you wish to heaven you didn't. And you can reach this section only with delay and inconvenience, whether in the hours of business or in the subsequent period devoted to the glitter of nocturnal revelry and amusement.

But whatever the disadvantages of the city, the people who endure them are convinced that to go back to the vines and figtrees of their native heath would be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. Why? Well, for one thing, there is no such thing as leisure in the areas that lie beyond those vast aggregations of humanity which constitute our cities. Not only are there innumerable and seemingly interminable chores that must follow the regular occupations of the day, but a thousand emergencies due to chance, weather, or the natural cussedness of things must be disposed of as they arise, regardless of what plans the rustic swain cherishes for the use of his spare time. Urban laborers have contrived by one means or another to bring about a limitation of the number of hours per diem they are forced to toil. To the farmers such an alleviation of their hardships is not within the realm of practicability. They kick about it of course. They say it's a blooming nuisance. But neither their heartburnings nor their struggles can efface it as a fact.

Again, the means of entertainment are more limited, and that by a big lot, with the farmer than with those who dwell in the cities. It is all very well to talk about the blessings of the rural telephone, rural free delivery, and the automobile. These things do make communication easier than it used to be, but after all they're only a drop in the bucket and do little to stop the drift cityward. We may remark just here that if you live a thousand miles from nowhere and are willing to drive your Tin Lizzie into town for "the advantages," you aren't likely to get much even along the line of the movies, and you'll get less still if what you're after is an A-1 school for your progeny.

Finally, the widespread impression that the farmer is a bloated and unscrupulous profiteer has done much to disgust him with his station and employment in life. We don't say he's the one and only when it comes to the virtues. Maybe he hasn't sprouted any wings yet. What if he hasn't? The cities, with their brothels, their big business, and their municipal governments—you wouldn't have the face to say that there's anything wrong with them, now would you? Oh, no! Of course not! The farmer pays high for his machinery and goes clear to the bottom of his pocketbook when he has to buy shoes or a sack of flour, but let him have a steer's hide or a wagon load of wheat to sell, and it's somebody else's ox that's gored. Consumers pay big prices for farm products, goodness knows, but they don't pay them to the farmer. Not on your tintype. The middleman gets his, you needn't question that. We beg pardon a thousand times. We mean the middlemen. There's no end to those human parasites.

And so farmer after farmer breaks up the old homestead and contributes his mite to the drift cityward. What will be the result that comes out of it all? The effect upon the farmer deserves an editorial all to itself. Here we must limit ourselves to the effects on the future of our beloved American nation. And even these we can now do no more than mention; we lack space to elaborate them. One effect, if the tendency continues, will be such a reduction in home-produced foodstuffs that we shall have to import from other countries lying abroad a good portion of the means of our physical sustenance, and shall face such an increase in the cost of the same that thousands and thousands of our people will find it increasingly harder as the years pass by to maintain their relative economic position. Another effect will be that our civilization, which to this point has sprawled over broad acres, will become an urban civilization, penned in amid conditions, restraints, privations, and perhaps also opportunities unprecedented in our past history and unknown to the experience we have had hitherto. A final effect will be that our most conservative class, the rural populace, will no longer present resistance that is formidable to the innovations which those who hold extreme views are forever exhorting us to embrace; and the result may well be that the disintegration of this staying and stabilizing element in our citizenship—one that retards and mollifies if it does not inhibit change—will produce consequences in its train which may be as dire as they are difficult to foretell.

Appendix 2

CAUSES FOR THE AMERICAN SPIRIT OF LIBERTY (From the Speech on Conciliation with the Colonies) By EDMUND BURKE

In this character of the Americans, a love of freedom is the predominating feature which marks and distinguishes the whole; and as an ardent is always a jealous affection, your Colonies become suspicious, restive, and untractable whenever they see the least attempt to wrest from them by force, or shuffle from them by chicane, what they think the only advantage worth living for. This fierce spirit of liberty is stronger in the English Colonies probably than in any other people of the earth, and this from a great variety of powerful causes; which, to understand the true temper of their minds and the direction which this spirit takes, it will not be amiss to lay open somewhat more largely.

First, the people of the Colonies are descendants of Englishmen. England, Sir, is a nation which still, I hope, respects, and formerly adored, her freedom. The Colonists emigrated from you when this part of your character was most predominant; and they took this bias and direction the moment they parted from your hands. They are therefore not only devoted to liherty, but to liberty according to English ideas, and on English principles. Abstract liberty, like other mere abstractions, is not to be found. Liberty inheres in some sensible object; and every nation has formed to itself some favorite point, which by way of eminence becomes the criterion of their happiness. It happened, you know, Sir, that the great contests for freedom in this country were from the earliest times chiefly upon the question of taxing. Most of the contests in the ancient commonwealths turned primarily on the right of election of magistrates; or on the balance among the several orders of the state. The question of money was not with them so immediate. But in England it was otherwise. On this point of taxes the ablest pens, and most eloquent tongues, have been exercised; the greatest spirits have acted and suffered. In order to give the fullest satisfaction concerning the importance of this point, it was not only necessary for those who in argument defended the excellence of the English Constitution to insist on this privilege of granting money as a dry point of fact, and to prove that the right had been acknowledged in ancient parchments and blind usages to reside in a certain body called a House of Commons. They went much farther; they attempted to prove, and they succeeded, that in theory it ought to be so, from the particular nature of a House of Commons as an immediate representative of the people, whether the old records had delivered this oracle or not. They took infinite pains to inculcate, as a fundamental principle, that in all monarchies the people must in effect themselves, mediately or immediately, possess the power of granting their own money, or no shadow of liberty can subsist. The Colonies draw from you, as with their life-blood, these ideas and principles. Their love of liberty, as with you, fixed and attached on this specific point of taxing. Liberty might be safe, or might be endangered, in twenty other particulars, without their being much pleased or alarmed. Here they felt its pulse; and as they found that beat, they thought themselves sick or sound. I do not say whether they were right or wrong in applying your general arguments to their own case. It is not easy, indeed, to make a monopoly of theorems and corollaries. The fact is, that they did thus apply those general arguments; and your mode of governing them, whether through lenity or indolence, through wisdom or mistake, confirmed them in the imagination that they, as well as you, had an interest in these common principles.

They were further confirmed in this pleasing error by the form of their provincial legislative assemblies. Their governments are popular in an high degree; some are merely popular; in all, the popular representative is the most weighty; and this share of the people in their ordinary government never fails to inspire them with lofty sentiments, and with a strong aversion from whatever tends to deprive them of their chief importance.

If anything were wanting to this necessary operation of the form of government, religion would have given it a complete effect. Religion, always a principle of energy, in this new people is no way worn out or impaired; and their mode of professing it is also one main cause of this free spirit. The people are Protestants; and of that kind which is the most adverse to all implicit submission of mind and opinion. This is a persuasion not only favorable to liberty, but built upon it. I do not think, Sir, that the reason of this averseness in the dissenting churches from all that looks like absolute government is so much to be sought in their religious tenets, as in their history. Every one knows that the Roman Catholic religion is at least coeval with most of the governments where it prevails; that it has generally gone hand in hand with them, and received great favor and every kind of support from authority. The Church of England too was formed from her cradle under the nursing care of regular government. But the dissenting interests have sprung up in direct opposition to all the ordinary powers of the world, and could justify that opposition only on a strong claim to natural liberty. Their very existence depended on the powerful and unremitted assertion of that claim. All Protestantism, even the most cold and passive, is a sort of dissent. But the religion most prevalent in our Northern Colonies is a refinement on the principle of resistance; it is the dissidence of dissent, and the protestantism of the Protestant religion. This religion, under a variety of denominations agreeing in nothing but in the communion of the spirit of liberty, is predominant in most of the Northern Provinces, where the Church of England, notwithstanding its legal rights, is in reality no more than a sort of private sect, not composing most probably the tenth of the people. The Colonists left England when this spirit was high, and in the emigrants was the highest of all; and even that stream of foreigners which has been constantly flowing into these Colonies has, for the greatest part, been composed of dissenters from the establishments of their several countries, who have brought with them a temper and character far from alien to that of the people with whom they mixed.

Sir, I can perceive by their manner that some gentlemen object to the latitude of this description, because in the Southern Colonies the Church of England forms a large body, and has a regular establishment. It is certainly true. There is, however, a circumstance attending these Colonies which, in my opinion, fully counterbalances this difference, and makes the spirit of liberty still more high and haughty than in those to the northward. It is that in Virginia and the Carolinas they have a vast multitude of slaves. Where this is the case in any part of the world, those who are free are by far the most proud and jealous of their freedom. Freedom is to them not only an enjoyment, but a kind of rank and privilege. Not seeing there, that freedom, as in countries where it is a common blessing and as broad and general as the air, may be united with much abject toil, with great misery, with all the exterior of servitude; liberty looks, amongst them, like something that is more noble and liberal. I do not mean, Sir, to commend the superior morality of this sentiment, which has at least as much pride as virtue in it; but I cannot alter the nature of man. The fact is so; and these people of the Southern Colonies are much more strongly, and with an higher and more stubborn spirit, attached to liberty than those to the northward. Such were all the ancient commonwealths; such were our Gothic ancestors; such in our days were the Poles; and such will be all masters of slaves, who are not slaves themselves. In such a people the haughtiness of domination combines with the spirit of freedom, fortifies it, and renders it invincible.

Permit me, Sir, to add another circumstance in our Colonies which contributes no mean part towards the growth and effect of this untractable spirit. I mean their education. In no country perhaps in the world is the law so general a study. The profession itself is numerous and powerful; and in most provinces it takes the lead. The greater number of the deputies sent to the Congress were lawyers. But all who read, and most do read, endeavor to obtain some smattering in that science. I have been told by an eminent bookseller, that in no branch of his business, after tracts of popular devotion, were so many books as those on the law exported to the Plantations. The Colonists have now fallen into the way of printing them for their own use. I hear that they have sold nearly as many of Blackstone's Commentaries in America as in England. General Gage marks out this disposition very particularly in a letter on your table. He states that all the people in his government are lawyers, or smatterers in law; and that in Boston they have been enabled, by successful chicane, wholly to evade many parts of one of your capital penal constitutions. The smartness of debate will say that this knowledge ought to teach them more clearly the rights of legislature, their obligations to obedience, and the penalties of rebellion. All this is mighty well. But my honorable and learned friend on the floor, who condescends to mark what I say for animadversion, will disdain that ground. He has heard, as well as I, that when great honors and great emoluments do not win over this knowledge to the service of the state, it is a formidable adversary to government. If the spirit be not tamed and broken by these happy methods, it is stubborn and litigious. Abeunt studia in mores. This study renders men acute, inquisitive, dexterous, prompt in attack, ready in defence, full of resources. In other countries, the people, more simple, and of a less mercurial cast, judge of an ill principle in government only by an actual grievance; here they anticipate the evil, and judge of the pressure of the grievance by the badness of the principle. They augur misgovernment at a distance, and snuff the approach of tyranny in every tainted breeze.

The last cause of this disobedient spirit in the Colonies is hardly less powerful than the rest, as it is not merely moral, but laid deep in the natural constitution of things. Three thousand miles of ocean lie between you and them. No contrivance can prevent the effect of this distance in weakening government. Seas roll, and months pass, between the order and the execution; and the want of a speedy explanation of a single point is enough to defeat a whole system. You have, indeed, winged ministers of vengeance, who carry your bolts in their pounces to the remotest verge of the sea. But there a power steps in that limits the arrogance of raging passions and furious elements, and says, So far shalt thou go, and no farther. Who are you, that you should fret and rage, and bite the chains of nature? Nothing worse happens to you than does to all nations who have extensive empire; and it happens in all the forms into which empire can be thrown. In large bodies the circulation of power must be less vigorous at the extremities. Nature has said it. The Turk cannot govern Egypt and Arabia and Kurdistan as he governs Thrace; nor has he the same dominion in Crimea and Algiers which he has at Brusa and Smyrna. Despotism itself is obliged to truck and huckster. The Sultan gets such obedience as he can. He governs with a loose rein, that he may govern at all; and the whole of the force and vigor of his authority in his center is derived from a prudent relaxation in all his borders. Spain, in her provinces, is, perhaps, not so well obeyed as you are in yours. She complies, too; she submits; she watches times. This is the immutable condition, the eternal law of extensive and detached empire.

Then, Sir, from these six capital sources—of descent, of form of government, of religion in the Northern Provinces, of manners in the Southern, of education, of the remoteness of situation from the first mover of government-from all these causes a fierce spirit of liberty has grown up. It has grown with the growth of the people in your Colonies, and increased with the increase of their wealth; a spirit that unhappily meeting with an exercise of power in England which, however lawful, is noc reconcilable to any ideas of liberty, much less with theirs, has kindled this flame that is ready to consume us.

Appendix 3

PARABLE OF THE SOWER (Matthew 13:3,8 and 18-23)

And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

Some fell upon stony places, where they bad not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

But be that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it.

Yet he hath not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Appendix 4

THE SEVEN AGES OF MAN (As You Like It, II, vii, 139-166) By WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. And then the whaling school-boy, with his satchel, And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lin'd, With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side, His youthful hose well say'd, a world too wide For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

Appendix 5

THE CASTAWAY (From Robinson Crusoe) By Daniel Defoe

And now our case was very dismal indeed; for we all saw plainly that the sea went so high that the boat could not escape, and that we should be inevitably drowned. As to making sail, we had none, nor, if we had, could we have done anything with it; so we worked at the oar towards the land, though with heavy hearts, like men going to execution; for we all knew that when the boat came near the shore, she would be dashed in a thousand pieces by the beach of the sea. However, we committed our souls to God in the most earnest manner; and the wind driving us towards the shore, we hastened our destruction with our own hands, pulling as well as we could towards land.

What the shore was, whether rock or sand, whether steep or shoal, we knew not; the only hope that could rationally give us the least shadow of expectation, was if we might happen into some bay or gulf, or the mouth of some river, where by great chance we might have run our boat in, or got under the lee of the land, and perhaps made smooth water. But there was nothing of this appeared; but as we made nearer and nearer the shore, the land looked more frightful than the sea.

After we had rowed, or rather driven, about a league and a half, as we reckoned it, a raging wave, mountain-like, came rolling astern of us, and plainly bade us expect the coup de grace. In a word, it took us with such a fury that it overset the boat at once; and separating us as well from the boat as from one another, gave its not time hardly to say, "O God!" for we were all swallowed up in a moment.

Nothing can describe the confusion of thought which I felt, when I sank into the water; for though I swam very well, yet I could not deliver myself from the waves so as to draw breath, till that wave having driven me, or rather carried me, a vast way on towards the shore, and having spent itself, went back, and left me upon the land almost dry, but half dead with the water I took in. I had so much presence of mind, as well as breath left, that seeing myself nearer the mainland than I expected, I got upon my feet, and endeavored to make on towards the land as fast as I could, before another wave should return and take me up again; but I soon found it was impossible to avoid it; for I saw the sea come after me as high as a great hill, and as furious as an enemy, which I had no means or strength to contend with: my business was to hold my breath, and raise myself upon the water, if I could; and so by swimming to preserve my breathing, and pilot myself towards the shore if possible; my greatest concern now being that the wave, as it would carry me a great way toward the shore when it came on, might not carry me back again with it when it gave back towards the sea.

The wave that came upon me again buried me at once twenty or thirty feet deep in its own body, and I could feel myself I carried with a mighty force and swiftness towards the shore a very great way; but I held my breath, and assisted myself to swim still forward with all my might. I was ready to burst with holding my breath, when as I felt myself rising up, so, to my immediate relief, I found my head and hands shoot out above the surface of the water; and though it was not two seconds of time that I could keep myself so, yet it relieved me greatly, gave me breath and new courage. I was covered again with water a good while, but not so long but I held it out; and finding the water had spent itself, and began to return, I struck forward against the return of the waves, and felt ground again with my feet. I stood still a few moments to recover breath, and till the waters went from me, and then took to my heels, and ran with what strength I had, farther towards the shore. But neither would this deliver me from the fury of the sea, which came pouring in after me again; and twice more I was lifted up by the waves and carried forwards as before, the shore being very flat.

The last time of these two had well-nigh been fatal to me; for the sea having hurried me along, as before, landed me, or rather dashed me, against a piece of a rock, and that with such force as it left me senseless, and indeed helpless, as to my own deliverance; for the blow, taking my side and breast, beat the breath as it were quite out of my body; and had it returned again immediately, I must have been strangled in the water; but I recovered a little before the return of the waves, and seeing I should be covered again with the water, I resolved to hold fast by a piece of the rock, and so to hold my breath, if possible, till the wave went back. Now, as the waves were not so high as at first, being nearer land, I held my hold till the wave abated, and then fetched another run, which brought me so near the shore that the next wave, though it went over me, yet did not so swallow me up as to carry me away; and the next run I took I got to the mainland; where, to my great comfort, I clambered up the cliffs of the shore, and sat me down upon the grass, free from danger and quite out of the reach of the water. I was now landed, and safe on shore, and began to look up and thank God that my life was saved, in a case wherein there was some minutes before scarce any room to hope. I believe it is impossible to express, to the life, what the ecstasies and transports of the soul are when it is so saved, as I may say, out of the very grave: and I do not wonder now at that custom, when a malefactor, who has the halter about his neck, is tied up, and just going to be turned off, and has a reprieve brought to him—I say, I do not wonder that they bring a surgeon with it, to let him blood that very moment they tell him of it, that the surprise may not drive the animal spirits from the heart, and overwhelm him.

"For sudden joys, like griefs, confound at first."

I walked about on the shore, lifting up my hands, and my whole being, as I may say, wrapt up in a contemplation of my deliverance; making a thousand gestures and motions, which I cannot describe; reflecting upon all my comrades that were drowned, and that there should not be one soul saved but myself; for, as for them, I never saw them afterwards, or any sign of them, except three of their bats, one cap, and two shoes that were not fellows.

I cast my eyes to the stranded vessel, when, the breach and froth of the sea being so big, I could hardly see it, it lay so far off; and considered, Lord! how was it possible I could get on shore?

After I had solaced my mind with the comfortable part of my condition, I began to look round me, to see what kind of place I was in, and what was next to be done: and I soon found my comforts abate, and that, in a word, I bad a dreadful deliverance: for I was wet, had no clothes to shift me, nor anything either to eat or drink, to comfort me; neither did I see any prospect before me but that of perishing with hunger, or being devoured by wild beasts: and that which was particularly afflicting to me was, that I had no weapon, either to hunt and kill any creature for my sustenance, or to defend myself against any other creature that might desire to kill me for theirs. In a word, I had nothing about me but a knife, a tobacco-pipe, and a little tobacco in a box. This was all my provision; and this threw me into terrible agonies of mind, that for awhile I ran about like a madman. Night coming upon me, I began with a heavy heart, to consider what would be my lot if there were any ravenous beasts in that country, seeing at night they always come abroad for their prey.

All the remedy that offered to my thoughts, at that time, was to get up into a thick busby tree, like a fir, but thorny, which grew near me, and where I resolved to sit all night, and consider the next day what death I should die, for as yet I saw no prospect of life. I walked about a furlong from the shore, to see if I could find any fresh water to drink, which I did to my great joy; and having drunk, and put a little tobacco in my mouth to prevent hunger, I went to the tree, and getting up into it, endeavored to place myself so that if I should sleep I might not fall. And having cut me a short stick, like a truncheon, for my defense, I took up my lodging; and being excessively fatigued, I fell fast asleep, and slept as comfortably as, I believe, few could have done in my condition, and found myself more refreshed with it than I think I ever was on such an occasion.

When I waked it was broad day, the weather clear, and the storm abated, so that the sea did not rage and swell as before; but that which surprised me most was, that the ship was lifted off in the night from the sand where she lay, by the swelling of the tide, and was driven up almost as far as the rock which I at first mentioned, where I had been so bruised by the wave dashing me against it. This being within about a mile from the shore where I was, and the ship seeming to stand upright still, I wished myself on board, that at least I might save some necessary things for my use.

When I came down from my apartment in the tree, I looked about me again, and the first thing I found was the boat, which lay, as the wind and sea had tossed her up, upon the land, about two miles on my right hand. I walked as far as I could upon the shore to have got to her; but found a neck, or inlet, of water between me and the boat, which was about half a mile broad; so I came back for the present, being more intent upon getting at the ship, where I hoped to find something for my present subsistence.

A little after noon I found the sea very calm and the tide ebbed so far out, that I could come within a quarter of a mile of the ship. And here I found a fresh renewing of my grief; for I saw evidently that if we had kept on board, we had been all safe: that is to say, we had all got safe on shore, and I had not been so miserable as to be left entirely destitute of all comfort and company, as I now was. This forced tears to my eyes again; but as there was little relief in that, I resolved, if possible, to get to the ship-, so I pulled off my clothes, for the weather was hot to extremity, and took the water. But when I came to the ship, my difficulty was still greater to know how to get on board; for, as she lay aground, and high out of the water, there was nothing within my reach to lay hold of. I swam round her twice, and the second time I espied a small piece of rope, which I wondered I did not see at first, hanging down by the fore-chains so low that, with great difficulty, I got hold of it, and by the help of that rope got up into the forecastle of the ship. Here I found that the ship was bulged, and had a great deal of water in her hold; but that she lay so on the side of a bank of hard sand, or rather earth, that her stern lay lifted up upon the bank, and her head low, almost to the water. By this means all her quarter was free, and all that was in that part was dry; for you may be sure my first work was to search, and to see what was spoiled and what was free. And, first, I found that all the ship's provisions were dry and untouched by the water, and being very well disposed to eat, I went to the bread-room, and filled my pockets with biscuit, and ate it as I went about other things, for I had no time to lose. I also found some rum in the great cabin, of which I took a large dram, and which I had, indeed, need enough of to spirit me for what was before me. Now I wanted nothing but a boat, to furnish myself with many things which I foresaw would be very necessary to me.

It was in vain to sit still and wish for what was not to be had; and this extremity roused my application. We had several spare yards, and two or three large spars of wood, and a spare topmast or two in the ship: I resolved to fall tp work with these, and I flung as many of them overboard as I could manage for their weight, tying every one with a rope, that they might not drive away. When this was done I went down the ship's side, and pulling them to me I tied four of them together at both ends, as well as I could, in the form of a raft, and laying two or three short pieces of plank upon them, crossways, I found I could walk upon it very well, but that it was not able to bear any great weight, the pieces being too light. So I went to work, and with the carpenter's saw I cut a spare topmast into three lengths, and added them to my raft, with a great deal of labor and pains. But the hope of furnishing myself with necessaries encouraged me to go beyond what I should have been able to have done upon another occasion.

My raft was now strong enough to bear any reasonable weight. My next care was what to load it with, and how to preserve what I laid upon it from the surf of the sea: but I was not long considering this. I first laid all the planks or boards upon it that I could get, and having considered well what I most wanted, I first got three of the seamen's chests, which I had broken open and emptied, and lowered them down upon my raft; the first of these I filled with provisions—viz., bread, rice, three Dutch cheeses, five pieces of dried goat's flesh (which we lived much upon), and a little remainder of European corn, which had been laid by for some fowls which we brought to sea with us, but the fowls were killed. There had been some barley and wheat together; but, to my great disappointment, I found afterwards that the rats had eaten or spoiled it all. As for liquors, I found several cases of bottles belonging to our skipper, in which were some cordial waters; and, in all, about five or six gallons of arrack. These I stowed by themselves, there being no need to put them into the chest, nor any room for them. While I was doing this, I found the tide began to flow, though very calm; and I had the mortification to see my coat, shirt, and waistcoat, which I had left on shore upon the sand, swim away. As for my breeches, which were only linen, and open-kneed, I swam on board in them and my stockings. However, this put me upon rummaging for clothes, of which I found enough, but took no more than I wanted for present use, for I had other things which my eye was more upon; as, first, tools to work with on shore: and it was after long searching that I found out the carpenter's chest, which was indeed a very useful prize to me, and much more valuable than a ship-lading of gold would have been at that time. I got it down to my raft, whole as it was, without losing time to look into it, for I knew in general what it contained.

My next care was for some ammunition and arms. There were two very good fowling-pieces in the great cabin, and two pistols. These I secured first, with some powder-horns, a small bag of shot, and two old rusty swords. I knew there were three barrels of powder in the ship, but knew not where our gunner had stowed them; but with much search I found them, two of them dry and good, the third had taken water. Those two I got to my raft, with the arms. And now I thought myself pretty well freighted, and began to think how I should get to shore with them, having neither sail, oar, nor rudder; and the least capful of wind would have overset all my navigation.

I had three encouragements: first, a smooth, calm sea; secondly, the tide rising, and setting in to the shore; thirdly, what little wind there was blew me towards the land. And thus, having found two or three broken oars, belonging to the boat, and besides the tools which were in the chest, two saws, an axe, and a hammer, with this cargo I put to sea. For a mile, or thereabouts, my raft went very well, only that I found it drive a little distant from the place where I had landed before: by which I perceived that there was some indraught of the water, and consequently, I hoped to find some creek or river there, which I might malze use of as a port to get to land with my cargo.

As I imagined, so it was. There appeared before me a little opening of the land. I found a strong current of the tide set into it; so I guided my raft as well as I could, to keep in the middle of the stream.

But here I had like to have suffered a second shipwreck, which, if I had, I think verily would have broken my heart; for, knowing nothing of the coast, my raft ran aground at one end of it upon a shoal, and not being aground at the other end, it wanted but a little that all my cargo had slipped off towards the end that was afloat, and so fallen into the water. I did my utmost, by setting my back against the chests, to keep them in their places, but could not thrust off the raft with all my strength; neither durst I stir from the posture I was in; but holding up the chests with all my might, I stood in that manner near half an hour, in which time the rising of the water brought me a little more upon a level; and a little after, the water still rising, my raft floated again, and I thrust her off with the oar I had into the channel, and then driving up higher, I at length found myself in the mouth of a little river, with land on both sides, and a strong current or tide running up. I looked on both sides for a proper place to get to shore, for I was not willing to be driven too high up the river; hoping in time to see some ship at sea, and therefore resolved to place myself as near the coast as I could.

At length I spied a little cove on the right shore of the creek, to which, with great pain and difficulty, I guided my raft, and at last got so near, that reaching ground with my oar, I could thrust her directly in. But here I had like to have dipped all my cargo into the sea again; for that shore lying pretty steep-that is to say, sloping—there was no place to land but where one end of my float, if it ran on shore, would lie so high, and the other sink lower, as before, that it would endanger my cargo again. All that I could do was to wait till the tide was at the highest, keeping the raft with my oar like an anchor, to hold the side of it fast to the shore, near a flat piece of ground, which I expected the water would flow over; and so it did. As soon as I found water enough, for my raft drew about a foot of water, I thrust her upon that flat piece of ground, and there fastened or moored her, by sticking my two broken oars into the ground-one on one side, near one end, and one on the other side, near the other end; and thus I lay till the water ebbed away, and left my raft and all my cargo safe on shore.



Appendix 6

READING LISTS

One of the best ways to know words is through seeing them used by the masters. For this reason, as well as for many others, you should read extensively in good literature. The following lists of prose works may prove useful for your guidance. They are not intended to be exclusive, not intended to designate "the hundred best books." Rather do they name some good books of fairly varied types. These are not all of equal merit, even in their use of words. Some use words with nice discrimination, some with splendid vividness and force. For each author only one or two books are named, but in many instances you will wish to read further in the author, perhaps indeed his entire works.

<Biography and Autobiography>

Boswell, James: Life of Samuel Johnson Bradford, Gamaliel: Lee the American; American Portraits, 1875-1900 Franklin, Benjamin: Autobiography Grant, U. S.: Personal Memoirs Irving, Washington: Life of Goldsmith Paine, A. B.: Life of Mark Twain Walton, Izaak: Lives

<Essays, Adventure, etc.>

Addison, Joseph: Spectator Papers Bryce, Sir James: The American Commonwealth Burke, Edmund: Speech on Conciliation Burroughs, John: Wake Robin Chesterton, G. K.: Heretics Crothers, S. M.: The Gentle Reader Dana, R. H., Jr.: Two Years Before the Mast Darwin, Charles: Origin of Species Emerson, R. W.: Essays Irving, Washington: Sketch Book Lincoln, Abraham: Speeches and Addresses Lucas, E. V.: Old Lamps for New Macaulay, T. B.: Essays Muir, John: The Mountains of California Thoreau, H. D.: Walden Twain, Mark: Life on the Mississippi



Allen, James Lane: _The Choir Invisible_ Austen, Jane: _Pride and Prejudice_ Barrie, Sir James M.: _Sentimental Tommie_ Bennett, Arnold: _The Old Wives' Tale_ Blackmore, R. D.: _Lorna Doone_ Bunyan, John: _Pilgrim's Progress_ Cable, G. W.: _Old Creole Days_ Conrad, Joseph: _The Nigger of the Narcissus_ Defoe, Daniel: _Robinson Crusoe_ Dickens, Charles: _David Copperfield_ Eliot, George: _Adam Bede_ Galsworthy, John: _The Patrician_ Goldsmith, Oliver: _The Vicar of Wakefield_ Hardy, Thomas: _The Return of the Native_ Harte, Bret: _The Luck of Roaring Camp_ (short story) Hawthorne, Nathaniel: _The Scarlet Letter_ Hergesheimer, Joseph: _Java Head_ Hudson, W. H.: _Green Mansions_ Kingsley, Charles: _Westward Ho_! Kipling, Rudyard: _Plain Tales from the Hills_ (short stories) London, Jack: _The Call of the Wild_ Merrick, Leonard: _The Man Who Understood Women (volume of short stories); _The Actor Manager_ Mitchell, S. Weir: _Hugh Wynne, Free Quaker_ Norris, Frank: _The Octopus_ Poe, Edgar Allan: _The Fall of the House of Usher_ (short story) Poole, Ernest: _The Harbor_ Scott, Sir Walter: _Ivanhoe_ Smith, F. Hopkinson: _Colonel Carter of Cartersville_ Stevenson, R. L.: _Treasure Island_ Tarkington, Booth: _Monsieur Beaucaire_ Thackeray, W. M.: _Vanity Fair_ Twain, Mark: _Huckleberry Finn_ Wells, H. G.: _Tono Bungay_ Wharton, Edith: _Ethan Frome_ Wister, Owen: _The Virginian_

INDEX.

The index comprises, besides miscellaneous items, four large classes of matter: (1) topics, including many minor ones not given separate textual captions; (2) all individual words and members of pairs explained or commented on in the text; (3) the key syllables, but not the separate words, of family groups; (4) the first or generic term, but not the other terms, in all assemblies of synonyms; hence, this book can be used as a handbook of ordinarily used synonyms.

Abandon, Synonyms of, Abase, Synonyms of, Abettor, Synonyms of, Abolish, Synonyms of, Abridge Abstract vs. concrete terms. Also see Words Absurd Accumulate Acknowledge, Synonyms of, Acquit, Synonyms of, Act family Active, Synonyms of, Advise, Synonyms of, Aeronautics, Familiar terms in, Affair Affect Affecting, Synonyms of, Affront, Synonyms of, Afraid, Synonyms of, Ag family Agnostic, Synonyms of, Allay, Synonyms of, Allopath Allow, Synonyms of, Altitude Amicable Amuse, Synonyms of, Analysis. See Vocabulary and Synonyms Analysis, Rhetorical, Anglo-Saxon words in modern English. See Native words Anim family Anni, annu family Announce, Synonyms of, Answer, Synonyms of, Antipathy, Synonyms of, Antonyms Appreciate Apprehend Apricot Ardor Argument Artful Artifice, Synonyms of, Ascend Ascend, Synonyms of, Ascribe Ascribe, Synonyms of, Ask, Synonyms of, Assail Associate, Synonyms of, Attach, Synonyms of, Attack; Synonyms of, Attention Audi, auri family Audience, Adapting discourse to, Auto family Avert Awkward, Synonyms of,

Backhanded Bald heads Bare Base Bear Bedlam Beef Begin, Synonyms of, Belief, Synonyms of, Belittle, Synonyms of, Bind, Synonyms of, Bit, Synonyms of, Bite, Synonyms of, Blood relationships between words. Small groups of words so related. Also see Words Bluff, Synonyms of, Boast, Synonyms of, Body, Synonyms of, Bold Bombastic, Synonyms of, Books of synonyms, List of, Boor Boorish, Synonyms of, Booty, Synonyms of, Boys, Kinds of, Brand, brun family Break Break, Synonyms of, Breakfast Bridegroom Bright Brittle, Synonyms of, Brotherly Building, Synonyms of, Burke, Edmund. See Causes for the American Spirit of Liberty Burn family Burn, Synonyms of, Burn with indignation Busy, Synonyms of, By and by

Cad family Calf Call, Synonyms of, Calm, Synonyms of, Cant family Cap(t) family Capricious Care, Synonyms of, Careful, Synonyms of, Cart before the horse, Cas family "Castaway, The" (Defoe). Comments and assignments on, "Causes for the American Spirit of Liberty" (Burke). Comments and assignments on, Cede, ceed, cess family Ceive, ceit, cept family Celebrate, Synonyms of, Celibates, Verbal, Censure Cent family Cent family Charm (noun), Synonyms of, Charm (verb), Synonyms of, Chant family Cheat, Synonyms of, Child. See How a child becomes acquainted, etc. Choke, Synonyms of, Choose, Synonyms of, Chron family Church Churl Cid family Cide family Cigar Cip family Circumstances Cis(e) family Classes of words, in general, (also see Words); in your own vocabulary, Classic words, distinguished from native; in modern English, Clear Clodhopper Close Close the door to, Coax, Synonyms of, Cold Coleridge, S. T., Quotation from, Color, Synonyms of, Combine, Synonyms of, Comfort, Synonyms of, Common Companion Complain, Synonyms of, Conchology Concise, Synonyms of, Condescend, Synonyms of, Condition Confirm, Synonyms of, Confirmed, Synonyms of, Confound Congregate Connect, Synonyms of, Connotation Constable Contagious Continual, Synonyms of, Continuous, continual Contract, Synonyms of, Conversation Copy, Synonyms of, Cordiality Corp(s) family Corrode Corrupt, Synonyms of, Costly, Synonyms of, Coterie, Synonyms of, Counterfeit Courage, Synonyms of, Course family Coxcomb Crafty Crease, cresce, cret, crue family Cred, creed family Crestfallen Crisscross Critical, Synonyms of, Criticism Crooked, Synonyms of, Cross Cross, Synonyms of, Crowd, Synonyms of, Crowsfeet Crude Cruel, Synonyms of, Cry Cry, Synonyms of, Cunning Cur family Cure family Curious, Synonyms of, Cut, Synonyms of,

Daily Dainty, Synonyms of, Daisy Dandelion Danger, Synonyms of, Darken, Synonyms of, Dead, Synonyms of, Deadly, Synonyms of, Death, Synonyms of, Decay, Synonyms of, Deceit, Synonyms of, Deceptive, Synonyms of, Decorate, Synonyms of, Decorous, Synonyms of, Deface, Synonyms of, Defeat, Synonyms of, Defect, Synonyms of, Definitions, of words; Dictionary vs. informal; How to look up in a dictionary, Defoe, Daniel. See The Castaway Degrade Delay, Synonyms of, Demean Democrat Demon Demoralize, Synonyms of, Deny, Synonyms of, Deportment, Synonyms of, Deprive, Synonyms of, Description Despise, Synonyms of, Despondency, Synonyms of, Destroy, Synonyms of, Detach, Synonyms of, Determined, Synonyms of, Deviate Devilish Devout, Synonyms of, Dexterity Dic, dict family Dictionaries, List of; How to use, Die, Synonyms of, Differ Difficulty, Synonyms of, Dign family Dilapidated Dip, Synonyms of, Dirty, Synonyms of, Disaster Discernment, Synonyms of, Discharge Discords, Verbal Discourse, at first hand; adapted to audience, Disease, Synonyms of, Disgraceful, Synonyms of, Disgusting, Synonyms of, Dishonor, Synonyms of, Disloyal, Synonyms of, Dispel, Synonyms of, Dissatisfied, Synonyms of, Diurnal Divide, Synonyms of, Do, Synonyms of, Doctrine, Synonyms of, Doom, Doomsday Dream, Synonyms of, Dress, Synonyms of, "Drift of Our Rural Population Cityward, The" (Editorial), Comments and assignments, Drink, Synonyms of, Drip, Synonyms of, Drunk, Synonyms of, Dry, Synonyms of, Duc, duct family Dull Dur(e) family

Early, Synonyms of, Eat, Synonyms of, Editorial. See The Drift of Our Rural Population Cityward Effect Egregious Ejaculate Elicit, Synonyms of, Embarrass, Synonyms of, Embrace Encroach, Synonyms of, End, Synonyms of, Enemy Enemy, Synonyms of, Engine Enni family Enormity, enormousness Enough, Synonyms of, Entice, Synonyms of, Erase, Synonyms of, Error family Error, Synonyms of, Estimate, Synonyms of, Eternal, Synonyms of, Eu family Eugenics Ex family Examination Example, Synonyms of, Exceed, Synonyms of, Exclude Excuse, Synonyms of, Expand, Synonyms of, Expel, Synonyms of, Experiment, Synonyms of, Explain, Synonyms of, Explanation (Exposition) Explicit, Synonyms of, Expression