Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Thursday Thirteen 251: Spelling Bee/Time Machine

This week is the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC. There were 278 spellers who qualified this year, including the youngest speller ever to appear at the event at age 6 (she went out in round two on Wednesday). The preliminaries were held Wednesday morning, with semifinals being held Thursday morning on ESPN2, and finals Thursday night on ESPN. Check your local listings for times if interested in watching the event.

Since I am currently reading The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, I thought I would get you in the spelling bee mood with a few vocabulary words from this classic science fiction novel. These are taken from the first half of the book.


precipitous [pri-sip-i-tuhs] adjective
extremely or impassably steep: precipitous mountain trails.

precocious [pri-koh-shuhs] adjective
unusually advanced or mature in development, especially mental development: a precocious child.

expound [ik-spound] verb (used with object)
1. to set forth or state in detail: to expound theories.
2. to explain; interpret.

recondite [rek-uhn-dahyt, ri-kon-dahyt] adjective
1. dealing with very profound, difficult, or abstruse subject matter: a recondite treatise.
2. beyond ordinary knowledge or understanding; esoteric: recondite principles.
3. little known; obscure: a recondite fact.

connubial [kuh-noo-bee-uhl, -nyoo-] adjective
of marriage or wedlock; matrimonial; conjugal: connubial love.

etiolate [ee-tee-uh-leyt] etiolated, etiolating. verb (used with object)
1. to cause (a plant) to whiten or grow pale by excluding light: to etiolate celery.
2. to cause to become weakened or sickly; drain of color or vigor.

halitus [hal-i-tuhs] noun, plural: halituses. 
breath; exhalation; vapor.

monomania [mon-uh-mey-nee-uh, -meyn-yuh] noun
1. (no longer in technical use) a psychosis characterized by thoughts confined to one idea or group of ideas.
2. an inordinate or obsessive zeal for or interest in a single thing, idea, subject, or the like.

cicerone [sis-uh-roh-nee, chich-uh-; It. chee-che-raw-ne] noun, plural: cicerones
a person who conducts sightseers; guide.

stolid [stol-id] adjective
not easily stirred or moved mentally; unemotional; impassive.

stanch [stawnch, stanch, stahnch] verb (used with object)
1. to stop the flow of (a liquid, especially blood).
2. to stop the flow of blood or other liquid from (a wound, leak, etc.).
3. Archaic. to check, allay, or extinguish.

putrefaction [pyoo-truh-fak-shuhn] noun  
1. the act or process of putrefying; the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter by bacteria and fungi that results in obnoxiously odorous products; rotting.
2. the state of being putrefied; decay.

frugivorous [frü-jiv-ə-rəs] adjective
feeding on fruit; a frugivorous people



Read a Teaser Tuesday excerpt HERE.

Find more Thursday Thirteen participants HERE.




18 comments:

Shelley Munro said...

Good grief. I only knew a few of these.

The Gal Herself said...

Etiolate. I must remember that. Etiolate. Cool!

CountryDew said...

Wow. Good words. I was excited for the little speller from VA - she did well to get there at all at that age. I imagine she will put in an appearance again at the spelling bee.

colleen said...

I was doing pretty good and then it got hard. I learned a few new words, but I don't ever want to be in spelling bee. A Scrabble tournament was enough.

Alice Audrey said...

Is Recondite itself not recondite? Just a thought.

Heather said...

Shelley: Though most looked familiar to me, I admit that I wasn't a hundred percent sure on any of them myself.

Gal: 'Etiolate' is one of my favorites on this list, too--and one I have seen before.

Heather said...

Anita: I was interested in seeing how far Lori Anne would go as well, and impressed she made it past round one. She has nine more years to compete, so I am sure we will see her there again.

Heather said...

Colleen: Much as I love learning new words, I don't know if I would enjoy competing in spelling bees. There's a lot of pressure on these kids!

Alice: So true! LOL

I am Harriet said...

Reasons why I like to carry a pocket dictionary :)

Have a great Thursday!
http://harrietandfriends.com/2012/05/t-13-and-two-questions/

Heather said...

Harriet: LOL...they do come in handy.

Jana said...

My head hurts.

:-D

i beati said...

great sounds they have

Heather said...

Jana: Need some Tylenol? lol... I take it this means you won't be watching the spelling bee finals on TV tonight? *g*

I beati: Yes, I love the sound of some of these words. :)

ShannonW said...

I always enjoy learning new words. This is an excellent list. I found one or two I didnt really know.

Jennifer Leeland said...

Oh, there's a bunch there I didn't know!!! I love getting new words to play with.

Heather said...

Shannon: Thanks, I'm glad you liked and have added a few to your own vocabulary. :)

Jennifer: Hehe...I hope you have playing with your new words! *G*

Jana said...

Uh, no, ma'am. I will not be watching any spelling bees any time soon. I'd rather watch paint dry. LOL

BTW, I think your word verification thingy just called me a hootchie. These things are getting mean!

Heather said...

You're no fun. *snicker*

And ROFL...you loose woman, you! ;-D