| debouch |
to advance out of a confined or narrow space such as a canyon into open country. |
| demotic |
of or relating to the common people; popular. |
| derision |
mockery or ridicule. |
| discomfit |
to upset or confuse. |
| figurehead |
a person whose title sounds important but who has no real power. |
| harbinger |
someone or something that signals or foreshadows a later arrival or occurrence; herald; forerunner. |
| heterodox |
deviating from an officially approved belief or doctrine, especially in religion. |
| immaculate |
not dirty; completely clean. |
| 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. |
| mélange |
a mixture, usually of very dissimilar elements. |
| otiose |
having no purpose or use; unnecessary or futile. |
| precursory |
coming before and serving to indicate what will follow; premonitory. |
| revetment |
a facing of stone, masonry, or the like to support or protect a wall, embankment, or mound of earth. |
| supine |
lying with the face upward. |
| tort |
in law, any civil rather than criminal harm or injury that violates the implicit duty of each citizen not to harm others, and for which one may bring a civil suit and collect compensation. |