abase V. Iower; humiliate. Defeated, Queen Zenobia was
forced to abase herself before the conquering Romans, who made her march in chains before the emperor in the procession celebrating his triumph. abasement, N.
abash V. embarrass. He was not at all abashed by her open admiration.
• abate V. subside; decrease, lessen. Rather than leaving
immediately, they waited for the storm to abate. abate-
ment, N.
abbreviate V. shorten. Because we were running out of time, the lecturer had to abbreviate her speech.
abdicate V. renounce; give up. When Edward VIII abdi-
cated the British throne to marry the woman he loved, he surprised the entire world.
abduction N. kidnapping. The movie Ransom describes the attempts to rescue a multimillionaire’s son after the child’s abduction by kidnappers. abduct, V.
aberrant N. abnormal or deviant. Given the aberrant nature of the data, we doubted the validity of the entire experiment. also N.
abet V. aid, usually in doing something wrong; encourage.
She was unwilling to abet him in the swindle he had planned.
abeyance N. suspended action. The deal was held in
abeyance until her arrival.
abhor V. detest; hate. She abhorred all forms of bigotry. abhorrence, N.
abject ADJ. wretched; lacking pride. On the streets of New York the homeless live in abject poverty, huddling in door-
ways to find shelter from the wind.
abjure V. renounce upon oath. He abjured his allegiance to the king. abjuration, N.
ablution N. washing. His daily ablutions were accompa-
nied by loud noises that he humorously labeled “Opera in
the Bath.”
abnegation N. repudiation; self-sacrifice. Though Rudolph
and Duchess Flavia loved one another, their love was
doomed, for...
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