| accretion |
the process of gradual increase or growth, especially by additions from the outside. |
| alluvium |
sand, soil, gravel, or the like deposited by moving water, as along a river bed. |
| ascertain |
to learn without question; determine. |
| decedent |
in law, one who has died. |
| desideratum |
something that is needed or wanted. |
| discountenance |
to embarrass or disconcert. |
| equivocal |
having at least two plausible alternative meanings, often intentionally so in order to deceive or avoid commitment; ambiguous. |
| feckless |
weak or incompetent; ineffective. |
| guttural |
articulated in the back of the mouth; velar. |
| jeremiad |
a long complaint about life or one's situation; lamentation. |
| malapropism |
the humorous or ridiculous misuse of a word, especially by using a word that sounds similar to the correct word, but whose meaning is inappropriate. |
| panegyric |
a formal speech or piece of writing devoted to publicly praising a person or thing. |
| prerogative |
an exclusive right or privilege derived from one's office, position, age, citizenship, birth, or the like. |
| regicide |
the murderer of a king. |
| symbiosis |
a close association, usually a mutually beneficial relationship, between two dissimilar organisms. |