Because of Mr. Terupt
By Rob Buyea
VOCABULARY
September - November
syndrome
 Definition: a number of symptoms occurring
together and characterizing a specific disease or
condition
 Sample Sentence: The receptionist was troubled
with carpal tunnel syndrome from typing on the
computer for long periods of time.
gazebo
 Definition: a small, open building with a roof,
typically located in a garden park designed for gazing
at the surrounding scenery
 Sample Sentence: Since I didn’t want to get
sunburned, I read my book in the gazebo at the
park.
reassure
 Definition: to restore to confidence
 Sample Sentence: When Billy lost his favorite video
game in his basement, his dad reassured him that
it will turn up eventually.
hesitation
 Definition: a pausing or delaying because of
uncertainty; indecision
 Sample Sentence: My hesitation to spend money
caused me to miss out on getting the new PS3 game;
it’s sold out now.
shun
 Definition: To avoid deliberately; keep away from
 Sample Sentence: The new student was shunned
by his peers because he dressed differently than
they did.
stampeded
 Definition: a confused, headlong rush or flight of a
large group of people
 Sample Sentence: When the doors to Walmart
opened on Black Friday, the customers stampeded
into the store looking for great deals.
betray
 Definition: to break faith with; fail to meet the hopes
of
 Sample Sentence: Tim betrayed his mother’s trust
when he stayed out past curfew.
relatively
 Definition: In comparison or close to something else;
not absolutely
 Sample Sentence: The cost of living in rural areas
are relatively inexpensive when compared to
living in the city.
rookie
 Definition: An inexperienced person
 Sample Sentence: The rookie replaced the injured
player at center ice.
corresponding
 Definition: having the same or nearly the same
relationship; accompanying another
 Sample Sentence: Color is used to indicate wave
intensity, red corresponding to strong waves,
blue corresponding to weak waves.
strutted
 Definition: to walk with a vain or pompous way
 Sample Sentence: The boy strutted down the
boulevard with his friends hoping to impress the
ladies.
billowing
 Definition: To swell out or bulge
 Sample Sentence: On the warm spring day, the
sheets were billowing in the gentle breeze.
ostracized
 Definition: To exclude from a group
 Sample Sentence: The girl was ostracized from
her friends when she admitted she didn’t like One
Direction.
gauntlet
 Definition: 1. A protective glove worn with medieval
armor, 2. a challenge
 Sample Sentence: The small dog scurries across the
beach through a gauntlet of mature seagulls,
dodging frantically whenever one snaps at it, which
happens a lot.
December - February
collaborated
 Definition: to work, one with another; cooperate
 Sample Sentence: The classmates collaborated on
the poster to make sure it would be done on time.
antics
 Definition: a playful trick or prank
 Sample Sentence: After receiving an in school
suspension, Billy has since managed to avoid
teenage antics in school.
shenanigans
 Definition: a mischievous or deceitful trick, practice
 Sample Sentence: The recession is uncovering many
of the shenanigans brought on by the government
politicians.
infamous
 Definition: having an extremely bad reputation
 Sample Sentence: There has been talks of the
infamous Justin Bieber being deported back to
Canada because of his poor antics.
bluntness
 Definition: abrupt in address or manner; to the point
 Sample Sentence: Excuse my bluntness, but this
situation is getting out of control.
genuine
 Definition: authentic; real
 Sample Sentence: After Billy’s grandma died, Sam
expressed genuine sympathy by bringing the
family flowers and a home cooked meal.
adjourned
 Definition: to suspend the meeting to a future time,
another place, or indefinitely
 Sample Sentence: Due to a lack of attendance, the
meeting was adjourned to the following
Wednesday.
prejudge
 Definition: to judge beforehand
 Sample Sentence: Don't prejudge a book or story,
but judge it based on your experience with it.
inoculate
 Definition: to implant (a disease agent or antigen) in
a person, animal, or plant to produce a disease for
study or to stimulate disease resistance
 Sample Sentence: After a bad outbreak of the flu,
the doctor said, “The idea is to inoculate them, and
stockpile vaccine to protect the rest of the
population.”
retaliate
 Definition: to return like for like, especially evil for
evil
 Sample Sentence: After Brendan changed the
channel on Emily unexpectedly, Emily retaliated
by grabbing the remote and shutting the TV off.
seized
 Definition: to take hold of suddenly or forcibly; grasp
 Sample Sentence: Once the police noticed the man’s
weapon on his waist, they were quick to seize it
and take the man into custody.
tolerate
 Definition: to endure without repugnance; put up
with
 Sample Sentence: I can tolerate 80 degrees with
the windows open, but once it hits 85, I need to turn
on the air conditioner.
contorted
 Definition: twisted in a violent manner; distorted
 Sample Sentence: After the serious car accident, the
car was contorted and unrecognizable.
clamored
 Definition: a loud uproar, as from a crowd of people
 Sample Sentence: In Among the Hidden, Jen and
the other “Shadow Children” clamored outside the
president’s house.
March - June
coma
 Definition: a state of prolonged unconsciousness
 Sample Sentence: After the serious accident, George
was put in a medically induced coma in hopes his
body will be able to recover and heal.
dominated
 Definition: to rule over; govern; control
 Sample Sentence: The Caldwell Chiefs basketball
team dominated Cedar Grove on the court,
winning the game 54-16.
predicament
 Definition: an unpleasantly difficult or dangerous
situation
 Sample Sentence: Madison found it was hard to
make her friend understand her predicament,
skip school so she can study for her test, or go and
take the test she didn’t study for.
antidote
 Definition: a medicine or other remedy for
counteracting the effects of poison, disease, etc.
 Sample Sentence: After my little brother swallowed
a cleaning product, the Poison Control hotline told
my mom to give him milk as an antidote, which
would help him bring up the poison.
intervene
 Definition: to come between disputing people,
groups, etc.; to mediate
 Sample Sentence: When Chris and Dave got in a
fight in the hallway, the teacher intervened and
sent both boys to the principal’s office.
looming
 Definition: a mirage in which objects below the
horizon seem to be raised above their true positions
 Sample Sentence: While we drove to the large city,
we could see the enormous buildings looming in
the distance.
palindrome
 Definition: words, lines, verse, number, sentence,
etc., reading the same backward as forward
Ex: A nut for a jar of tuna
racecar
 Sample Sentence: My teacher had us think of as
many palindromes as possible in 10 minutes, and
my favorite was “racecar”.
amid
 Definition: in the middle of; surrounded by; among
 Sample Sentence: My sister snapped pictures of me
amid the chaos of my bedroom during spring
cleaning.
nemesis
 Definition: something that a person cannot conquer,
achieve, etc
 Sample Sentence: The biology midterm proved to be
my nemesis, despite all my studying, I still got a
73%.
anticlimactic
 Definition: a disappointing or ineffective conclusion
to a series of events
 Sample Sentence: The boy did not recommend the
book to his friend because the story line was
anticlimactic.
transpire
 Definition: to occur; happen; take place
 Sample Sentence: The trips that transpired after
having won the lottery were amazing!
encompass
 Definition: to form a circle about; encircle; surround
 Sample Sentence: The king built a moat to
encompass the castle.
clinches
 Definition: to settle (a matter) decisively
 Sample Sentence: After the New York Yankees
clinched the title as World Series Champions, the
crowd went bananas.
redundant
 Definition: repetitive and unneeded
 Sample Sentence: The meeting could have been
over in 10 minutes, but it took two hours since the
presenter was quite redundant.