WK10 Vocabulary Definitions
aspire [uh-spahyuh r] verb
1. to long, aim, or seek ambitiously; be eagerly desirous, especially for something great or of high value.
dense [dens] adjective
1. having the component parts closely compacted together; crowded or compact: a dense forest.
2. stupid; slow-witted; dull.
3. intense; extreme: dense ignorance.
4. relatively opaque; transmitting little light, as a photographic negative, optical glass, or color.
5. difficult to understand or follow because of being closely packed with ideas or complexities of style.
emulate [em-yuh-leyt; em-yuh-lit] verb, adjective
1. to try to equal or excel; imitate with effort to equal or surpass: to emulate one's father as a concert violinist.
2. to rival with some degree of success: Some smaller cities emulate major capitals in their cultural offerings.
grotesque [groh-tesk] adjective
1. odd or unnatural in shape, appearance, or character; fantastically ugly or absurd; bizarre.
2. fantastic in the shaping and combination of forms, as in decorative work.
inextricable [in-ek-stri-kuh-buh l, in-ik-strik-uh-] adjective
1. from which one cannot extricate oneself: an inextricable maze.
2. incapable of being disentangled, undone, loosed, or solved: an inextricable knot.
3. hopelessly intricate, involved, or perplexing: inextricable confusion.
intrinsic [in-trin-sik, -zik] adjective
1. belonging to a thing by its very nature: the intrinsic value of a gold ring.
2. belonging to or lying within.
overt [oh-vurt, oh-vurt] adjective
1. open to view or knowledge; not concealed or secret: overt hostility.
rail [reyl] noun
1. a bar of wood or metal fixed horizontally for various purposes, as for a support, barrier, fence, or railing.
2. one of two fences marking the inside and outside boundaries of a racetrack.
3. one of a pair of steel bars that provide the running surfaces for the wheels of locomotives and railroad cars.
4. the railroad as a means of transportation: to travel by rail.
reconcile [rek-uh n-sahyl] verb
1. to cause (a person) to accept or be resigned to something not desired: He was reconciled to his fate.
2. to win over to friendliness; cause to become amicable: to reconcile hostile persons.
3. to compose or settle (a quarrel, dispute, etc.).
4. to bring into agreement or harmony; make compatible or consistent: to reconcile differing statements.
5. to reconsecrate (a desecrated church, cemetery, etc.).
unprecedented [uhn-pres-i-den-tid] adjective
1. without previous instance; never before known or experienced; unexampled or unparalleled.