panache [ puh’-NASH, -NAHSH ]
[noun]
MEANING:
1. flair, style or flamboyance
2. a tuft or plume of tassels or feathers esp. on a cap or helmet
a pendentive’s surface (in architecture)
USAGE EXAMPLE 1:
The count had panache which attracted people from different walks of life.
USAGE EXAMPLE 2:
A disc containing CIA material, Malkovich’s character is using to write his memoirs, falls into the hands of Pitt and McDormand who set out to blackmail him with all the panache of the Keystone Kops.
exegesis [ ek-si-JEE-sis ]
[noun]
MEANING:
explanation, interpretation or exposition esp. of the Holy Bible
USAGE EXAMPLE 1:
Mr. Bridges took it upon himself to distribute copies of exegesis of the commandments.
USAGE EXAMPLE 2:
He does give one purely technical reading of a poem, John Donne’s “A Nocturnall upon St Lucies Day”, and gives no exegesis or paraphrase of any kind.
condone [ kuh’ n-DOHN ]
[transitive verb]
MEANING:
1. excuse, pardon or forgive
2. to over, disregard or approve in a tacit manner
USAGE EXAMPLE 1:
Society was not about to forget or condone their misdemeanor merely on the basis of adolescents being foolishly impressionable.
USAGE EXAMPLE 2:
It is also insulting to say that the Bishop would condone the persecution of homosexuals.
harping [ HAHR-ping ]
[noun,intransitive verb]
MEANING:
1. (n.) a horizontal member at the ends of a boat or ship for holding cant frames in position until the shell planking is fixed
2. (intr. v.) to play on a harp.
USAGE EXAMPLE 1:
His hobby and favourite pastime was harping.
USAGE EXAMPLE 2:
His tedious harping upon the past sufferings of the Sudeten Germans is completely irrelevant to the present issue between peace and war.
compile [ kuh’m-PAHYL ]
[transitive verb]
MEANING:
1. to put together in a single book
2. to compose a book using material from various sources
3. to convert a program into machine language
USAGE EXAMPLE 1:
He compiled a book on the natural resources of the earth.
USAGE EXAMPLE 2:
A very detailed administrative record is compiled, which includes open-source and classified information.