TOEFL wordlist 21

1. hoard [hɔːd]

(1). v. If you hoard things such as food  or money, you save or store them, often in secret, because they are valuable or important to you.

(2). n. A hoard is a store of things that you have saved and that are valuable or important to you or you do not want other people to have.

It is better to hoard money in the bank for tomorrow than spend it today.

2. futile [ˈfjuːtaɪl]

adj. If you say that something is futile, you mean there is no point in doing it, usually because it has no chance of succeeding.

If something does not belong to you, it's going to be futile no matter how hard you try.

3. lumber [ˈlʌmbə(r)]

(1). n. Lumber consists of trees and large pieces of wood that have been roughly cut up.

(2). v. If someone or something lumbers from one place to another, they move there very slowly and clumsily.

A family of elephants lumbered by.

4. fervor [ˌfɜːvə]

n. Fervor for something is a very strong feeling for or belief in it.

The political leaders are always speaking with great fervor.

5. upheaval [ʌpˈhiːvl]

n. An upheaval is a big change which causes a lot of trouble, confusion, and worry.

As the Indo-Europeans encroached on Old Europe from the east, the Continent underwent upheavals.

6. realtor [ˈrɪəltə]

n. A realtor is a person whose job is to sell houses, buildings, and land, and who is a member of the National Association of Realtors.

The realtor has assured us that it will be no problems to sell the house.

7. aerobics [eəˈrəʊbɪks]

n. Aerobics is a form of exercise which increases the amount of oxygen in your blood, and strengthens your heart and lungs. The verb that follows aerobics may be either singular or plural.

I have to take an aerobics class now.

8. filament [ˈfɪləmənt]

n. A filament is a very thin piece or thread of something, for example the piece of wire inside a light bulb.

I can see that the filament in the bulb is already broken.

9. hitch [hɪtʃ]

(1). n. A hitch is a slight problem or difficulty which causes a short delay.

(2). v. If you hitch, hitch a lift, or hitch a ride, you hitchhike.

(3). v. If you hitch something to something else, you hook it or fasten it there.

(4). phrase. If you get hitched, you get married.

I stopped the car to pick up a young man who wanted to hitch a ride.

10. pragmatic [præɡˈmætɪk]

adj. A pragmatic way of dealing with something is based on practical considerations, rather than theoretical ones. A pragmatic person deals with things in a practical way.

It's said that American people are pragmatic by nature.

11. grump [ɡrʌmp]

The once obedient kid has turned into a teenage grump.

12. indigent [ˈɪndɪdʒənt]

adj. Someone who is indigent is very poor.

Mike's persistence was forged in an indigent childhood.

13. knack [næk]

n. A knack is a particularly clever or skilful way of doing something successfully, especially something most people find difficult.

It's said that humans have the knack of changing the natural environment.

14. lighthearted [ˌlaɪt'hɑː(r)tɪd]

It was a lighthearted card with a cartoon inside.

15. necessitate [nəˈsesɪteɪt]

v. If something necessitates an event, action, or situation, it makes it necessary.

Your mistakes necessitate doing this task once again.

16. pedestrian [pəˈdestriən]

(1). n. A pedestrian is a person who is walking, especially in a town or city, rather than travelling in a vehicle.

(2). adj. If you describe something as pedestrian, you mean that it is oridinary and not at all interesting.

The car knocked into a pedestrian, and drove away.

17. ramble [ˈræmbl]

(1). n. A ramble is a long walk in the countryside.

(2). v. If you ramble, you go on a long walk in the countryside.

(3). v. If you say that a person rambles in their speech or writing, you mean they do not make much sense because they keep going off the subject in a confused way.

The mother told her boy not to ramble on the street after school.

18. hull [hʌl]

(1). n. The hull of a boat or tank is the main body of it.

(2). n. The hull of a soft fruit such as a strawberry is the stalk and ring of leaves at the base.

(3). v. If you hull soft fruit such as strawberries, you remove the hulls.

The popcorn, with its special hull, doesn't always pop.

19. taut [tɔːt]

(1). adj. Something that is taut is stretched very tight.

(2). adj. If a person or their body is taut, they are very lean with firm muscles.

(3). adj. If someone has a taut expression, they look very worried and tense.

(4). adj. If you describe a piece of writing or a film as taut, you mean that it is good because it is exciting and has no unnecessary details.

Tom pulled hard at the taut tow-rope to bring the boat alongside.

20. sleigh [sleɪ]

n. A sleigh is a vehicle which can slide over snow. Sleighs are usually pulled by horses.

Santa Claus will come to my house riding a sleigh pulled by the reindeer.

21. excavate [ˈekskəveɪt]

(1). v. When archaeologists or other people excavate a piece of land, they remove earth carefully from it and look for things such as pots, bones, or buildings which are buried there, in order to discover information about the past.

(2). v. To excavate means to dig a hole in the ground, for example in order to build there.

The deepest bone-bearing deposit was excavated in 1914.

22. gilding [ˈɡɪldɪŋ]

n. Gilding is a layer of gold or gold paint that is put on something.

Gilding has long signified an ostentatious display of wealth.

23. intoxication [ɪnˌtɒksɪˈkeɪʃn]

(1). n. Intoxication is the state of being drunk.

(2). n. You use intoxication to refer to a quality that something has that makes you feel very excited.

At a depth of 5 atmospheres nitrogen causes symptoms resembling alcohol intoxication.

24. spike [spaɪk]

(1). n. A spike is a long piece of metal with a sharp point.

(2). n.  Any long pointed object can be referred to as a spike.

(3). n. If there is a spike in the price, volume, or amount of something, the price, volume, or amount of it suddenly increases.

(4). n. Spikes are a pair of sports shoes with pointed pieces of metal attached to the soles. They help runners' feet to grip the ground when they are running.

(5). v. If your drink is spiked, someone has added alcohol or drugs to it without telling you.

This year has been a sudden spike in the price of agricultural products.

25. colony [ˈkɒləni]

(1). n. A colony is a country which is controlled by a more powerful country.

(2). n. You can refer to a place where a particular group of people lives as a particular kind of colony.

(3). n. The colonies means all the countries that used to be British colonies.

(4). n. The colonies means the 13 British colonies in North America which formed that original United States.

(5). n. A colony of birds, insects, or animals is a group of them that live together.

The MacDowell Colony, founded in 1907, is the oldest artists' colony in the United States.

26. mottled [ˈmɒtld]

adj. Something that is mottled is covered with patches of different colours which do not form a regular pattern.

Drinking water containing excessive amounts of fluorides may leave a mottled effect on the enamel of teeth.

27. stature [ˈstætʃə(r)]

(1). n. Someone's stature is their height.

(2). n. The stature of a person is the importance and reputation that they have.

She is small in stature.

28. livelihood [ˈlaɪvlihʊd]

n. Your livelihood is the job or other source of income that gives you the money to buy the things you need.

The experts guard their knowledge to prevent others from stealing their livelihood.

29. flux [flʌks]

(1). n. If something is in a state of flux, it is constantly changing.

(2). n. You can refer to a flowing mass as a flux.

Life on Earth has continually been in flux as slow physical and chemical changes have occurred on Earth.

30. veil [veɪl]

(1). n. A veil is a piece of thin soft cloth that women sometimes wear over their heads and which can also cover their face.

(2). n. You can refer to something that hides or partly hides a situation or activity as a veil.

(3). n. You can refer to something that you can partly see through, for example a mist, as a veil.

(4). phrase. If you draw a veil over something, you stop talking about it because it is too unpleasant to talk about.

Even nowadays, most women in this region wear veils in public places.

31. infest [ɪnˈfest]

(1). v. When creatures such as insects or rats infest plants or a place, they are present in large numbers and cause damage.

(2). v. If you say that people or things you disapprove of or regard as dangerous are infesting a place, you mean that there are large numbers of them in that place.

The waters are infested with sharks.

32. stash [stæʃ]

(1). v. If you stash something valuable in a secret place, you store it there to keep it safe.

(2). n. A stash of something valuable is a secret store of it.

Garbage has been stashed in the building's basement despite sanitation laws to the contrary.

33. amid [əˈmɪd]

(1). prep. If something happens amid noises or events of some kind, it happens while the other things are happening.

(2). prep. If something is amid other things, it is surrounded by them.

The katydid, a type of grasshopper, is active at night and rests amid foliage during the day.

34. chorus [ˈkɔːrəs]

(1). n. A chorus is a part of a song which is repeated after each verse.

(2). n. A chorus is a large group of people who sing together.

(3). n. A chorus is a piece of music written to be sung by a large group of people.

(4). n. A chorus is a group of singers or dancers who perform together in a show, in contrast to the soloists.

(5). n. When there is a chorus of criticism, disapproval, or praise, that attitude is expressed by a lot of people at the same time.

(6). v. When people chorus something, they say it or sing it together.

Her proposal received a chorus of praise.

35. profound [prəˈfaʊnd]

(1). adj. You use profound to emphasize that something is very great or intense.

(2). adj. A profound idea, work, or person shows great intellectual depth and understanding.

Globalization effects very profound changes in modern lifestyles.

36. attire [əˈtaɪə(r)]

n. Your attire is the clothes you are wearing.

We will attire him in fine clothing so he can make a good impression.

37. ornithology [ˌɔːnɪˈθɒlədʒi]

n. Ornithology is the study of birds.

I wish I'd seen it since that's what we're studying in my ornithology class.

38. palatable [ˈpælətəbl]

(1). adj. If you describe food or drink as palatable, you mean that it tastes pleasant.

(2). adj. If you describe something such as an idea or method as palatable, you mean that people are willing to accept it.

This soup isn't excellent, but it's palatable.

整理自《柯林斯词典》、《新东方托福词汇》，侵删歉。