Monthly Archives: September 2013

shIft

intransitive verb
definition:  to change position or direction, or to move from one place to another.
example:  Bored with the lecture, the students shifted restlessly in their seats.
example:  His family shifted from town to town during the Depression.
example:  The photographer asked her to shift a little to the left.
example:  Public opinion seems to be shifting on this issue.

transitive verb
definition:  to remove or abandon and replace with another; change.
example:  It’s not always easy to shift another person’s opinion.
(more…)

sto ihk

adjective

1. showing little or no reaction to painful or pleasant experiences; unmoved; impassive.
example: The defendant was stoic throughout his trial.

2. (cap.) of or pertaining to the philosophy of the Stoics.

noun

1. one who shows little or no reaction to painful or pleasant experiences.
example: He’s such a stoic; he simply bears his sadness without a tear or lament.

2. (cap.) an adherent of an ancient Greek school of philosophy that advocated not being overly moved by the inevitable fortunes and misfortunes of life.

taesk

noun
definition 1:  a specific item of work assigned to one; duty.
example:  Each volunteer worker was assigned a task.
example:  The children were given the task of clearing off the table.

definition 2:  any duty or item of work that one must carry out.
example:  Doing the laundry is one of the tasks I need to accomplish this morning.
example:  Being a parent is not always an easy task.
example:  The subjects of the experiment were asked to carry out the tasks again after having no sleep.

(more…)

@ daept

transitive verb
definition:  to make fit or suitable for a particular need or condition; adjust.
example:  They adapted the reading room so they could hold meetings there.
example:  The school water fountains are adapted for children.

intransitive verb
definition: to become adjusted; to change in ways that allow one to survive or be at ease in new circumstances.
example:  The children of the immigrants adapted quickly to their new surroundings.
(more…)

skep tih sih zəm

noun

1. distrust or disbelief, or a general tendency to doubt and question.
example: The nutritionist’s claim of finding a cure for the disease was met with intense skepticism in the medical community.

2. doubt of the possibility of real or absolute knowledge, especially as a philosophical doctrine.
example: Descartes confronts skepticism and then defeats it with his conclusion that because he thinks, he must exist.

3. doubt or disbelief of religious claims to truth; agnosticism or atheism.
example: Religious skepticism produced philosophies based in reason.