| amity |
friendly and peaceful relations; good will. |
| avow |
to assert or affirm. |
| cantankerous |
irritable, stubborn, and quarrelsome. |
| cyst |
a small pouch within body tissue that is filled with fluid or air. Some cysts are connected with serious disease, but most are not harmful at all. |
| deracinate |
to pull up by or as if by the roots; uproot; isolate; exile. |
| extort |
to extract or obtain (money or the like) by force, threats, or abuse of authority. |
| foible |
a minor flaw or weakness in personality, character, or behavior. |
| gossamer |
delicately fine, gauzelike, or filmy. |
| mendicant |
living on charity; begging. |
| nostrum |
a favorite but unproven scheme or theory, offered as a remedy for social or political problems; panacea. |
| obviate |
to prevent or eliminate in advance; render unnecessary or irrelevant. |
| peremptory |
not permitting refusal or disobedience. |
| pungency |
sharpness or bite in taste or smell. |
| tamp |
to compress and pack tightly by repeated light taps. |
| uxorious |
excessively or foolishly devoted to one's wife, and often thereby submissive to her. |