Verb

verb

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Good / Big

Url audio

billow - To cause the sky or an object to be filled with smoke, air, or steam.

During the early 20th century, the skies above many cities were filled with billowing clouds of smoke coming from factory chimneys.

verb

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Bad / Attack

Url audio

aggravate - To intensify the seriousness or severity of something.

Scratching the rash will only aggravate it.

verb

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Bad / Weak

audio

deteriorate - To gradually get worse

The empty house deteriorated because there was no one to fix things that broke.

verb

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Bad / Small

Url audio

winnow - To remove or eliminate less important or undesirable parts.

The committee had to winnow down the list of candidates to just two finalists.

verb

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Other / Sound

audio

muffle - To make (a sound) quieter : to decrease the noise made by (something)

Anna muffled her ears with her hands so she wouldn't have to hear the loud noises from the construction workers.

verb

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Bad / Dislike

Url audio

abhor - To hate something

Gail and Samantha were sisters who loved to do things together, except that Gail loved the opera, and Samantha abhorred going to the opera.

verb

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Bad / Hostile

audio

haggle - To dispute or bargain persistently, especially over the cost of something

After 20 minutes Mary finally agreed not to haggle any more and bought the car at a slight discount.

verb

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Bad / Attack

audio

overwhelm - To overcome resistance with tremendous force

The German army overwhelmed the French's Maginot line by going through its weak point in the Ardennes forest.

verb

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Bad / Hostile

audio

heckle - To interrupt (a public speaker) with derisive or aggressive comments or abuse

When the woman heckled the comedian, he stopped his routine to insult her so cleverly, that she regretted starting up with him.

verb

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Other / Slow

audio

deflect - To direct attention away from a topic

At the press conference the Mayor didn't want to talk about the issue being asked, so he deflected the question and talked about a different subject.

verb

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Bad / Hostile

audio

glower - To have an angry or sullen look on one's face; scowl

Ron glowered at Ben when Ben criticized the mayor of Ron's home town.

verb

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Bad / Weak

Url audio

derail - To obstruct or divert from an expected or intended course.

The train was derailed by a fallen tree during the storm.