TOEFL wordlist 33

1. scourge [skɜːdʒ]

(1). n. A scourge is something that causes a lot of trouble or suffering to a group of people.

(2). v. If something scourges a place or group of people, it causes great pain and suffering to people.

Little Tommy was scourged by guilt.

2. aberrant [æˈberənt]

adj. Aberrant means unusual and not socially acceptable.

Any aberrant behavior was forbidden between men and women in the old days.

3. disperse [dɪˈspɜːs]

(1). v. When something disperses or when you disperse it, it spreads over a wide area.

(2). v. When a group of people disperses or when someone disperses them, the group splits up and the people leave in different directions.

The wind dispersed the clouds, and the Sun came out again.

4. charismatic [ˌkærɪzˈmætɪk]

(1). adj. A charismatic person attracts, influences, and inspires people by their personal qualities.

(2). adj. The charismatic church is the part of the Christian Church that believes that people can obtain special gifts from God, for example the power to heal sick people.

His charismatic personality made him have a lot of friends.

5. arrogant [ˈærəɡənt]

adj. Someone who is arrogant behaves in a proud, unpleasant way towards other people because they believe that they are more important than others.

Maggie is so arrogant that no one wants to make friends with her.

6. smear [smɪə(r)]

(1). v. If you smear a surface with an oily or sticky substance or smear the substance onto the surface, you spread a layer of the substance over the surface.

(2). n. A smear is a dirty or oily mark.

(3). v. To smear someone means to spread unpleasant and untrue rumours or accusations about them in order to damage their reputation.

(4). n. A smear is an unpleasant and untrue rumour or accusation that is intended to damage someone's reputation.

(5). n. A smear or a smear test is a medical test in which a few cells are taken from a woman's cervix and examined to see if any cancer cells are present.

Let's smear the paint with the brush on the wall.

7. tenet [ˈtenɪt]

n. The tenets of a theory or belief are the main principles on which it is based.

The basic tenets of the Christian faith are from the Bible.

8. wretch [retʃ]

(1). n. You can refer to someone as a wretch when you feel sorry for them because they are unhappy or unfortunate.

(2). n. You can refer to someone as a wretch when you think that they are wicked or if they have done something you are angry about.

The wretch who stole the purse didn't admit what he had done.

9. reddish [ˈredɪʃ]

adj. Reddish means slightly red in colour.

They often appear as a solid reddish mass when viewed from a ship or from the air.

10. clan [klæn]

(1). n. A clan is a group which consists of families that are related to each other.

(2). n. You can refer to a group of people with the same interests as a clan.

In history, clan warfare was always followed by great loss in both population and money.

11. lobby [ˈlɒbi]

(1). v. If you lobby someone such as a member of a government or council, you try to persuade them that a particular law should be changed or that a particular thing should be done.

(2). n. A lobby is a group of people who represent a particular organization or campaign, and try to persuade a government or council to help or support them.

(3). n. In a hotel or other large building, the lobby is the area near the entrance that usually has corridors and staircases leading off it.

Sally is waiting for the man in the lobby.

12. toed [təʊd]

Although they are quite slow in trees, three-toed sloths are agile swimmers.

13. vigilance [ˈvɪdʒɪləns]

The police cannot afford to relax their vigilance for a minute.

14. legislature [ˈledʒɪslətʃə(r)]

n. The legistlature of a particular state or country is the group of people in it who have the power to make and pass laws.

Senators are designated by their respective state legislatures rather than by the voters themselves.

15. glean [ɡliːn]

v. If you glean something such as information or knowledge, you learn or collect it slowly and patiently, and perhaps indirectly.

Most of the methods he gleaned were of no practical use in our daily life.

16. tally [ˈtæli]

(1). n. A tally is a record of amounts or numbers which you keep changing and adding to as the activity which affects it progresses.

(2). v. If one number or statement tallies with another, they agree with each other or are exactly the same. You can also say that two numbers or statements tally.

(3). v. If you tally numbers, items, or totals, you count them.

The cowboy kept a tally book for keeping count of the cattle.

17. curl [kɜːl]

(1). n. If you have curls, your hair is in the form of tight curves and spirals.

(2). n. If your hair has curl, it is full of curls.

(3). v. If your hair curls or if you curl it, it is full of curls.

(4). n. A curl of something is a piece or quantity of it that is curved or spiral in shape.

(5). v. If your toes, fingers, or other parts of your body curl, or if you curl them, they form a curved or round shape.

(6). v. If something curls somewhere, or if you curl it there, it moves there in a spiral or curve.

(7). v. If a person or animal curls into a ball, they move into a position in which their body makes a rounded shape.

Although these bats sleep during the day, they do so curled up with their heads exposed to the sun.

18. angiosperm ['ændʒɪə(ʊ)spɜːm]

In the last class we talked about the classification of trees and we ended up with a basic description of angiosperm.

19. cramped [kræmpt]

adj. A cramped room or building is not big enough for the people or things in it.

This place is nice but it seems pretty cramped.

20. gnaw [nɔː]

(1). v. If people or animals gnaw something or gnaw at it, they bite it repeatedly.

(2). v. If a feeling or thought gnaws at you, it causes you to keep worrying.

The dog was gnawing a bone.

21. seismic [ˈsaɪzmɪk]

(1). adj. Seismic means caused by or relating to an earthquake.

(2). adj. A seismic shift or change is a very sudden or dramatic change.

Seismic social changes have occurred.

22. barren [ˈbærən]

(1). adj. A barren landscape is dry and bare, and has very few plants and no trees.

(2). adj. Barren land consists of soil that is so poor that plants cannot grow in it.

(3). adj. If you describe something such as an activity or a period of your life as barren, you mean that you achieve no success during it or that it has no useful results.

(4). adj. If you describe a room or a place as barren, you do not like it because it has almost no furniture or other objects in it.

(5). adj. A barren woman or female animal is unable to have babies.

The farmer's soil was overworked and barren.

23. bellow [ˈbeləʊ]

(1). v. If someone bellows, they shout angrily in a loud, deep voice.

(2). v. When a large animal such as a bull or an elephant bellows, it makes a loud and deep noise.

(3). n. A bellows is or bellows are a device used for blowing air into a fire in order to make it burn more fiercely.

Bellows are widely used in industrial and mechanical appliances.

24. merchandise [ˈmɜːtʃəndaɪs , ˈmɜːtʃəndaɪz]

(1). n. Merchandise is goods that are bought, sold, or traded.

(2). v. to engage in the commercial purchase and sale of (goods or services); trade

The Olympic merchandise plays a positive role in widely displaying the image of Olympic brands.

25. devastate [ˈdevəsteɪt]

v. If something devastates an area or a place, it damages it very badly or destroys it totally.

The flood devastated countless houses.

26. seal [siːl]

(1). v. When you seal an envelope, you close it by folding part of it over and sticking it down, so that it cannot be opened without being torn.

(2). n. A seal is a large animal with a rounded body and flat legs called flippers. Seals eat fish and live in and near the sea, usually in cold parts of the world.

(3). v. If you seal a container or an opening, you cover it with something in order to prevent air, liquid, or other material getting in or out. If you seal something in a container, you put it inside and then close the container tightly.

(4). n. The seal on a container or opening is the part where it has been sealed.

(5). n. A seal is a device or a piece of material, for example in a machine, which loses an opening tightly so that air, liquid, or other substances cannot get in or out.

(6). n. A seal is something such as a piece of sticky paper or wax that is fixed to a container or door and must be broken before the container or door can be opened.

(7). n. A seal is a special mark or design, for example on a document, representing someone or something. It may be used to show that something is genuine or officially approved.

(8). v. If someone in authority seals an area, they stop people entering or passing through it, for example by placing barriers in the way.

(9). v. To seal something means to make it definite or confirm how it is going to be.

(10). phrase. If something sets or puts the seal on something, it makes it definite or confirms how it is going to be.

(11). phrase. If a document is under seal, it is in a sealed envelope and cannot be looked at, for example because it is private.

The oven was sealed shut until the bread was fully baked.

整理自《柯林斯词典》、《新东方托福词汇》，侵删歉。