transitive verb definition 1:  to do or observe habitually or customarily. example:  All of her family members practice yoga.

definition 2:  to repeatedly do or perform (something) to become skillful. example:  The band practiced the song until they could play it well. example:  If you practice your serve, your tennis game will improve. example:  You should practice parking the car a few more times before you take the driver’s test. example:  Another actor helped him practice saying his lines for the play.

definition 3:  to pursue (an occupation or activity) example:  She practices law and her sister practices medicine.

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Collocations:  Words frequently used in combination with the verb “practice” (definition 1)

practice + NOUN:   ~ religion (.e.g, They sought the freedom to practice their religion),  ~ yoga,  ~ meditation, ~ astrology,   ~ witchcraft,  ~ polygamy

Grammar note (definition 2):

Words that follow “practice” are always nouns, so when another verb follows “practice,” that verb needs to be in its noun form; that is, its -ing form.  For example, we say “They practiced throwing and catching the ball” not “They practiced to throw and catch the ball.”

noun definition 1: a tall, narrow, cone-shaped roof or upward projection on a building or outer wall; steeple; pinnacle. example: Construction crews at the World Trade Center hoisted a flag-bedecked spire to the top of the site’s signature One World Trade Center building Thursday. definition 2: a similarly shaped natural growth, as in a new shoot of grass. “An ook comth of a litel spire” (Chaucer, Troilus ii, 1335 [Middle English]) “How humble ought man to be, who cannot make a single spire of grass.” (unknown)

intransitive verb definition: to conceal one’s true motives, opinions, or feelings by a pretense. example: “The spy must dissemble, must pretend to embrace a different opinion, laugh about a forbidden joke, must tell one himself.”

It is often remarked, sometimes bemoaned, that young people get all their news from “The Daily Show“, the “fake news” show on the Comedy Channel. But Jon Stewart’s writers sometimes monitor word usage as well, especially when it offers an opportunity to mock a public figure. In this excerpt from a show that aired a number of years ago, Jon Stewart catches President G.W. Bush in a video clip, confusing two similar-sounding words:

JON STEWART, host, “The Daily Show”: President Bush in particular was scornful of the Amnesty International report. GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It seemed like to me they based some of their decisions on the word of — in the allegations by people who were held in detention, people who hate America, people that have been trained in some instances to disassemble (sic), that means not tell the truth. (LAUGHTER) STEWART: Actually, Mr. President, ” dissemble ” means to not tell the truth. Disassemble is what we did to Iraq.

“Disassemble” means “to take something apart.” Stewart not only calls out Bush’s use of the wrong word, but also provides a definition of “disassemble” (“what we did to Iraq,” i.e., we took it apart) that strikes a blow at the moral

definition:             the sum of the language, customs, beliefs, and art considered characteristic of a particular group of people. example:               The Catholic church has played a large role in the development of French culture. example:               The drive-in movie was a part of American culture that seems lost now. 

Collocations:    Words often used in combination with the noun culture….

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ADJECTIVE + culture:    popular ~ , different ~ , western ~ , native ~ , dominant ~ , traditional ~ , corporate ~ , mass ~ , contemporary ~ , indigenous ~ ,  common ~ , modern ~ , ancient ~ , diverse ~ , mainstream ~ , ethnic ~

VERB + culture:    influence ~ , preserve ~ , shape ~ , permeate ~

intransitive verb

definition 1: to become involved or entangled, often overwhelmingly. example: He is weltering in paperwork. definition 2. to roll about or wallow, as in mud or the open seas. example: The ship weltered in the waves lashed up by the violent winds. noun

definition 1: a disorderly mass or turmoil; jumble. example: Southern Sudan is a welter of tribes and sub-tribes.(MacKenzie Funk, “Will Global Warming, Overpopulation, Floods, Droughts, and Food Riots Make This Man Rich?,” Rolling Stone Magazine, May 27, 2010) example: I plunged into the internet’s welter of information.

definition 2: a turbulent rolling and tossing, as of the sea. example: Ideally, one would like to freeze the welter of the sea surface and bring it back to the laboratory for detailed study. (Blair Kinsman, Wind Waves: Their Generation and Propagation on the Ocean Surfaces)

transitive verb definition:  to talk together about; confer on. example:  We discussed plans for the new building at the meeting today. example:  Let’s discuss this matter further before we make a decision. example:  These are some of the topics we’ll be discussing in class this semester. example:  We discussed redecorating the apartment, but we never made a decision.

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Collocations:  Words often used in combination with the transitive verb “discuss”

discuss + NOUN:    ~ issue,  ~ matter,  ~ problem,  ~option,  ~ proposal,   ~idea,   ~concern,  ~question,   ~plan,  ~need, ~possibility,  ~implications,  ~aspect,  ~findings,  ~situation,  ~merit,  ~future,  ~role,  ~concept

discuss + ADVERB:  ~briefly (e.g., discuss the matter briefly),  ~in detail,  ~at length,  ~ in depth, ~ further (e.g., We’ll discuss the issue further at our next meeting),  ~seriously,  ~publicly, ~critically,  ~extensively,  ~openly

Grammar Note

The verb “discuss” is followed directly by a noun phrase, as in “discuss the matter,”  ”discuss the problem.”  The idea of “about” (as in “talk about”) is already included in the meaning of “discuss,” so it is not correct to say “discuss about something.”  Also, when a verb follows “discuss,” it takes its -ing form to become a noun.  That’s why in the example above, we say “discussed redecorating,” not “discussed to redecorate.”

adjective definition:  having resemblance or likeness. example:  Joan and Joanna are similar names. example:  The houses are quite similar to each other, but they’re painted different colors. example:  The two songs are similar in style.

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Collocations:  Words frequently used in combination with the adjective “similar”

similar + PREPOSITION:    ~ to  (e.g., French is more similar to Italian than to German;  The results of the second study were similar to those of the first), ~ in  (e.g.,  The novels are similar in style;  The cells are similar in shape and size;  The characters are similar in that they both feel angry and isolated.)

I would that I were an old beggar Rolling a blind pearl eye, For he cannot see my lady Go gallivanting by…. Or anything else but a rhymer Without a thing in his head But rhymes for a beautiful lady, He rhyming alone in his bed.

(W.B. Yeats, from “Two Songs Rewritten for the Tune’s Sake”)

intransitive verb definition 1:  to trust or depend (usually followed by “on” or “upon”). example:  I hope I can rely on your confidentiality in this matter. example:  I need a baby sitter that I can really rely on. example:  After her accident, she had to rely on her family to take care of her.

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Note on use:  How does the verb “rely” compare with the verb “depend”?

“Rely” and “depend” can be said to have the same meaning with respect to definition 1 above, but “rely”  is most comfortably used with respect to trusting in the honesty, discretion, or authority of another individual.  The first example above is a particularly apt one for “rely.”   “Depend”  seems to be used more often than “rely” in connection with receiving needed support or help from another.  It may simply be that “rely” tends to be used in connection with more abstract notions.  In general “depend” is a more common word than “rely,” but this is partly because it has an additional, very common meaning that “rely” does not have, as in the sentence “Arriving on time will depend on the weather.”  Both “depend” and “rely” must be followed by “on” or “upon” when followed by an object (e.g., rely on one’s friends, rely on one’s lawyer, rely on someone’s advice).

adjective definition 1: currently holding an office or position. example: No one is running against the incumbent senator in this election. definition 2: required or obligatory. example: As your superior, it is incumbent upon me to warn you against improper use of this equipment. definition 3: resting, leaning, or pressing on something. noun definition: one who currently holds a position or office. example: The popular incumbent will be difficult to beat in the upcoming election.

Incumbent meaning “currently holding an office or position” and its corresponding noun sense are the most frequent and important senses of this word to know. Adjective definition 3, “resting, leaning, or pressing on something,” is the closest to the earliest, Latin meaning of the word. The Latin verb incumbere means to lie down or lean on or against something. Contemporary use of incumbent, definition 3, seems limited to narrow, specialized contexts in botany and geology: inside the structure of a flower, the position of anthers and cotyledons are called “incumbent” when they rest on other flower parts; “incumbent rock strata” are supported by other strata.

More fruitful for your general vocabulary might be the ability to identify the family of words that contain this Latin verb root “cumb“: “recumbent,” as in the “recumbent bicycle” that allows the rider to lean back almost to the point of lying down and pedal.  I saw a recumbent bicycle rider today, while attending some crew races on an inlet of Cayuga Lake. He was sporting a belly, easy to notice with him in his recumbent position, but he was also making nice progress at a good clip by pedaling from an almost prostrate position.

Succumb is built on the same Latin root and consists of the prefix sub- (under, below)