Monday, January 28, 2008

State of the Union 2008 - Useful Definitions

surge [surj] noun, verb, surged, surg·ing.


–noun 
1. a strong, wavelike, forward movement, rush, or sweep: the onward surge of an angry mob.


2. a strong, swelling, wavelike volume or body of something: a billowing surge of smoke. 

3. the rolling swell of the sea.

4. the swelling and rolling sea: The surge crashed against the rocky coast. 

5. a swelling wave; billow. 

6. Meteorology


a. a widespread change in atmospheric pressure that is in addition to cyclonic and normal diurnal changes.
b. storm surge. 
 
7. Electricity


a. a sudden rush or burst of current or voltage. 
b. a violent oscillatory disturbance. 
 
8. Nautical. a slackening or slipping back, as of a rope or cable.


9. Machinery


a. an uneven flow and strong momentum given to a fluid, as water in a tank, resulting in a rapid, temporary rise in pressure. 
b. pulsating unevenness of motion in an engine or gas turbine. 
 
 –verb (used without object)


10. (of a ship) to rise and fall, toss about, or move along on the waves: to surge at anchor.


11. to rise, roll, move, or swell forward in or like waves: The sea surged against the shore. The crowd surged back and forth.


12. to rise as if by a heaving or swelling force: Blood surged to his face.


13. Electricity


a. to increase suddenly, as current or voltage. 
b. to oscillate violently. 
 
14. Nautical


a. to slack off or loosen a rope or cable around a capstan or windlass. 
b. to slip back, as a rope.
 
 
15. Machinery


a. to move with pulsating unevenness, as something driven by an engine or gas turbine.


 –verb (used with object)


16. to cause to surge or roll in or as in waves.


17. Nautical. to slacken (a rope).
 
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cor·rec·tion  [kuh-rek-shuhn]
–noun


1. something that is substituted or proposed for what is wrong or inaccurate; emendation.


2. the act of correcting.


3. punishment intended to reform, improve, or rehabilitate; chastisement; reproof. 


4. Usually, corrections. the various methods, as incarceration, parole, and probation, by which society deals with convicted offenders.


5. a quantity applied or other adjustment made in order to increase accuracy, as in the use of an instrument or the solution of a problem: A five degree correction will put the ship on course.


6. a reversal of the trend of stock prices, esp. temporarily, as after a sharp advance or decline in the previous trading sessions.  


 


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tem·po·rar·y - [tem-puh-rer-ee] adjective, noun, plural -rar·ies.


–adjective


1. lasting, existing, serving, or effective for a time only; not permanent: a temporary need; a temporary job.


–noun


2. an office worker hired, usually through an agency on a per diem basis, for a short period of time.
 


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def·i·cit - [def-uh-sit; Brit. also di-fis-it]


–noun


1. the amount by which a sum of money falls short of the required amount.


2. the amount by which expenditures or liabilities exceed income or assets.


3. a lack or shortage; deficiency.


4. a disadvantage, impairment, or handicap: The team's major deficit is its poor pitching.


5. a loss, as in the operation of a business. 
 
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 ver·i·si·mil·i·tude - [ver-uh-si-mil-i-tood, -tyood]
–noun


1. the appearance or semblance of truth; likelihood; probability: The play lacked verisimilitude.


2. something, as an assertion, having merely the appearance of truth. 
 
 
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il·lu·sion - [i-loo-zhuhn]
–noun


1. something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality.


2. the state or condition of being deceived; misapprehension.


3. an instance of being deceived.


4. Psychology. a perception, as of visual stimuli (optical illusion), that represents what is perceived in a way different from the way it is in reality.


5. a very thin, delicate tulle of silk or nylon having a cobwebbed appearance, for trimmings, veilings, and the like.


6. Obsolete. the act of deceiving; deception; delusion. 
 
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