Monthly Archives: July 2013
1. to move, lift, open, or otherwise force, with something that acts as a lever.
example: We pried the door open with a crowbar.
2. to get or obtain only with great difficulty.
example: He could not pry the secrets out of her.
definition 1: the act or process of responding.
example: The government’s response to the problem came too late for many.
definition 2: a written or spoken answer; reply.
example: She got a quick response to her letter.
example: It seemed like a neutral question, and he was surprised at the angry response he received.
definition 3: the reaction of a living organism to a stimulus.
example: The doctor was pleased with the patient’s response to the drug.
definition 1: characterized by lack of pattern or predictability, or carried out or occurring in a way that cannot be predicted and without being based on any reason or purpose.
example: The noise occurred in a random fashion and kept me awake all night.
example: I didn’t have any information on these dentists, so I just made a random choice.
example: The police wondered if these crimes were truly random or if they were linked in some way.
an angry, resentful, and offended state of mind.
example: After we confronted him about the theft, he withdrew in dudgeon to his room.
Usage note: “Dudgeon” usually appears in the phrase “in dudgeon,” and often in the expression “in high dudgeon.”
Quotation from literature: “From less to more, I worked him up to considerable irritation; then, after he had retired, in dudgeon, quite to the other end of the room, I got up, and saying, “I wish you good-night, sir,” in my natural and wonted respectful manner, I slipped out by the side-door and got away. The system thus entered on, I pursued during the whole season of probation; and with the best success.” (Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre)
aem bIg yu @s
definition: having two or more possible meanings or interpretations.
example: Because the statement was ambiguous, it was understood differently by different people.
definition 2: unclear; uncertain; obscure.
example: His face wore an ambiguous expression.
example: This sentence is ambiguous and leaves the reader confused.