paroxysm

par·ox·ysm (prk-szm)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Noun

1.

paroxysm – a sudden uncontrollable attack; “a paroxysm of giggling”; “a fit of coughing”; “convulsions of laughter” convulsion, fit attack – a sudden occurrence of an uncontrollable condition; “an attack of diarrhea”

adduce

ad·duce (-ds, -dys)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Verb

1.

adduce – advance evidence for abduce, cite bear witness, evidence, testify, prove, show – provide evidence for; “The blood test showed that he was the father”; “Her behavior testified to her incompetence”

vivisection

viv·i·sec·tion (vv-skshn, vv-sk-)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

sanguine

san·guine (snggwn)

lancet

lan·cet (lnst)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Noun	1.	lancet – an acutely pointed Gothic arch, like a lance lancet arch Gothic arch – a pointed arch; usually has a joint (instead of a keystone) at the apex
	2.	lancet – a surgical knife with a pointed double-edged blade; used for punctures and small incisions lance surgical knife – a very sharp knife used in surgery

gambol

gam·bol (gmbl)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Noun	1.	gambol – gay or light-hearted recreational activity for diversion or amusement; “it was all done in play”; “their frolic in the surf threatened to become ugly” frolic, romp, caper, play diversion, recreation – an activity that diverts or amuses or stimulates; “scuba diving is provided as a diversion for tourists”; “for recreation he wrote poetry and solved crossword puzzles”; “drug abuse is often regarded as a form of recreation” coquetry, flirtation, flirting, toying, dalliance, flirt – playful behavior intended to arouse sexual interest foolery, tomfoolery, lunacy, craziness, folly, indulgence – foolish or senseless behavior game – frivolous or trifling behavior; “for actors, memorizing lines is no game”; “for him, life is all fun and games” horseplay – rowdy or boisterous play teasing – playful vexation; “the parody was just a form of teasing” word play – playing on words or speech sounds
Verb	1.	gambol – play boisterously; “The children frolicked in the garden”; “the gamboling lambs in the meadows”; “The toddlers romped in the playroom” frisk, frolic, lark, lark about, rollick, romp, run around, skylark, cavort, disport, sport play – be at play; be engaged in playful activity; amuse oneself in a way characteristic of children; “The kids were playing outside all day”; “I used to play with trucks as a little girl”

embrasure

em·bra·sure (m-brzhr)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Noun

1.

embrasure – an opening (in a wall or ship or armored vehicle) for firing through porthole, port opening – a vacant or unobstructed space that is man-made; “they left a small opening for the cat at the bottom of the door” ship – a vessel that carries passengers or freight

prosaic

pro·sa·ic (pr-zk)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Adj.	1.	prosaic – not fanciful or imaginative; “local guides describe the history of various places in matter-of-fact tones”; “a prosaic and unimaginative essay” matter-of-fact unrhetorical – not rhetorical
	2.	prosaic – lacking wit or imagination; “a pedestrian movie plot” pedestrian, prosy, earthbound uninteresting – arousing no interest or attention or curiosity or excitement; “a very uninteresting account of her trip”
	3.	prosaic – not challenging; dull and lacking excitement; “an unglamorous job greasing engines” humdrum, unglamorous, unglamourous, commonplace unexciting – not exciting; “an unexciting novel”; “lived an unexciting life”

disgorge

dis·gorge (ds-gôrj)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Verb	1.	disgorge – cause or allow (a solid substance) to flow or run out or over; “spill the beans all over the table” shed, spill seed – go to seed; shed seeds; “The dandelions went to seed” slop, spill, splatter – cause or allow (a liquid substance) to run or flow from a container; “spill the milk”; “splatter water” move, displace – cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense; “Move those boxes into the corner, please”; “I’m moving my money to another bank”; “The director moved more responsibilities onto his new assistant”
	2.	disgorge – eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth; “After drinking too much, the students vomited”; “He purged continuously”; “The patient regurgitated the food we gave him last night” barf, be sick, puke, regorge, throw up, upchuck, vomit, vomit up, retch, sick, spue, cat, spew, chuck, honk, regurgitate, purge, cast egest, excrete, eliminate, pass – eliminate from the body; “Pass a kidney stone”