I bring you part 5 of my Writing to Learn series. These posts aim to expand vocabulary to gain mastery of the English language and enhance thinking. Writing improves thinking by forcing the writer to organize thoughts and meticulously think about the words used. Below is the list of terms I found interesting and decided to study for this part of the series.
- Demo. 1 (noun) Informal for demonstration, a political march. 2 (noun) An example of a product, especially a computer program or piece of recorded music, given or shown to someone to make them support or buy it.
- Trial. 1 (noun) The hearing of statements and showing of objects, etc., in law or court to judge if a person is guilty of a crime or to decide a case or a legal matter. 2 (noun) A test, usually over a limited period, to discover how effective or suitable someone or something is.
- Advertisement. 1 (noun) A picture, short film, song, etc., that tries to persuade people to buy a product or service. 2 (noun) A piece of text that tells people about a job, event, etc. 3 (noun) A paid notice that tells people about a product or service.
- Publicity. The activity of making sure that someone or something attracts a lot of interest or attention from many people, or the attention received as a result of this activity. 2 (noun) The attention that a person, product, or organization receives from newspapers, television, etc. when something happens that people are interested in.
- Promotion. 1 (noun) Activities to advertise something. 2 (noun) The act of encouraging something to happen or develop. 3 (noun) The act of raising someone to a higher or more important position or rank.
- Disruptive. 1 (adjective) Causing trouble and therefore stopping something from continuing as usual. 2 (adjective) Changing the traditional way that an industry operates, especially in a new and effective way. 3 (adjective) Tending to damage the orderly control of a situation.
- Foreigner. (noun) A person who comes from another country.
- Breadcrumb. (noun) One of many tiny pieces of dried bread, mainly used in cooking. 2 (noun) A piece of information, often separated from other similar information by the sign >, shown at the top of a website to help you find your way around the site by providing a link to the last page you looked at.
- Feed. 1 (verb) To give food to a person, group, or animal. 2 (verb) If a baby or animal feeds, it eats or drinks milk. 3 (verb) To supply something to a person or thing, or put something into a machine or system, especially regularly or continuously.
- Club. 1 (noun) An organization of people with a common purpose or interest, who meet regularly and take part in shared activities. 2 (noun) A building in which a club meets. 3 (noun) A private social organization that offers its members, who often have a common interest, do similar work, have been to the same university, etc., somewhere to meet, eat, and sometimes a place to stay; the building where an organization like this is based.
- Pledge. 1 (noun) A serious or formal promise, especially one to give money or to be a friend, or something that you give as a sign that you will keep a promise. 2 (noun) Something valuable that is given to a person or organization that has lent you money, which they can keep if you fail to pay back the loan.
- Collateral. 1 (noun) Valuable property owned by someone who wants to borrow money, that they agree will become the property of the company or person who lends the money if the debt is not paid back. 2 (noun) A smaller blood vessel or nerve that grows out of the main part. 3 (adjective) Connected but less important, or of the same family although not directly related.
- Keynote. 1 (noun) The most important or most emphasized part of something. 2 (noun) The most important part, esp. of an event, or something that is emphasized strongly.
- Forum. 1 (noun) A situation or meeting in which people can talk about a problem or matter especially of public interest. 2 (noun) A place on the internet where people can leave messages or discuss particular subjects with other people at the same time. 3 (noun) In ancient Rome, the area in the middle of the town used for public business.
- Watch Party. 1 (noun) An occasion when people watch a broadcast event together, for example a sports game or the results of an election, often in a public place. 2 (noun) An occasion when people in different places watch a television show, video, etc. at the same time and discuss it using the internet.
- Comfort food. 1 (noun) Food that is simply prepared and associated with a sense of home of contentment. 2 (noun) Food that one eats to feel comfort or alleviate stress rather than to receive nutrition. 3 (noun) The type of food that people eat when they are sad or worried, often sweet food or food that people ate as children.
- Binge-watch. (verb) To watch several episodes of a television series or programme, one after another.
- Coupon. 1 (noun) A piece of paper that can be used to get something without paying for it, or at a reduced price. 2 (noun) A part of a printed bond that can be separated from it when the bond’s owner wants to be paid interest by the issuer.
- Junior. 1 (noun) Someone who has a job at a low level within an organization. 2 (noun) A student in a junior school. 3 (noun) A student in the third year of a course that lasts for four years at a school or college. 3 (noun) Used after a man’s name to refer to the younger of two men in the same family who have the same name.
- Senior. 1 (adjective) High or higher in rank. 2 (adjective) Older and more experienced than the other members of a team. 3 (adjective) Used after a man’s name to refer to the older of two people in the same family who have the same name.
- Chat. 1 (verb) To talk to someone in a friendly informal way. 2 (verb) To take part in a discussion that involves sending messages over the internet, by smartphone, etc.
- Smartphone. 1 (noun) A mobile phone that can be used as a small computer and that connects to the internet. 2 (noun) A mobile phone that has software like the software on a small computer, and that connects to the internet.
- Lifetime. (noun) The period during which someone lives or something exists.
- Dash. 1 (verb) To go somewhere quickly. 2 (noun) The symbol – used to separate parts of a sentence. 3 (noun) To get something with great force, especially causing damage.
- Hyphen. 1 (noun) The symbol -, used to join two words together, or to show a word has been divided into two parts at the end of one line and the beginning of the next.
- Prospect. 1 (noun) The possibility something good might happen in the future. 2 (noun) The idea of something that will or might happen in the future. 3 (noun) A person who might be chosen, for example as an employee. 4 (noun) A possible customer.
- Idiom. 1 (noun) A group of words in a fixed order that has a particular meaning that is different from the meanings of each word on its own. 2 (noun) The style of expression in writing, speech, or music that is typical of a particular period, person, or group. 3 (noun) A group of words whose meaning considered as a unit is different from the meanings of each sword considered separately.
- Edit. (verb) To make changes to a text, film, deciding what will be removed and what will be kept in, in order to prepare it for being printed or shown.
- Editorial. 1 (adjective) Relating to the editor or editors of a newspaper, magazine, television programme, etc. and to the power to decide what is published or shown in it. 2 (adjective) Relating to someone who writes, corrects, or changes pieces of text to be published, or their work. 3 (noun) A statement in a newspaper or magazine, or on radio or television, that expresses the opinion of the editors or the owners on a subject of particular interest.
- Countable. 1 (adjective) A countable noun can be used with “a” or “an” and can be made plural. 2 (adjective) If things are countable, it is possible to say how many there are of them.
- Uncountable. 1 (adjective) An uncountable noun is not used with “a” or “an” and cannot be made plural.
- Uncountable noun. A noun that has one form with no plural and names something that there can be more or less but cannot be counted.
- Countable noun. A noun that has both a singular and a plural form and names something that can be counted because there can be one or more of it.
- Intransitive. (of a verb) having or needing no object.
- Transitive. (of a verb) having or needing an object.
- Selfish. 1 (adjective) Someone who is selfish only thinks of their own advantage. 2 (adjective) Caring only about what you want or need without any thought for the needs or wishes of other people.
- Antonym. (noun) A word that means the opposite of another word.
- Synonym. (noun) A word or phrase that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word or phrase in the same language.
- Self-interest. (noun) The act of considering the advantages to yourself when making decisions and deciding to do what is best for you. 2 (noun) Consideration of advantages for yourself in making a decision, usually without worrying about its effects on others.
- Expertise. 1 (noun) A high level of knowledge or skill.
- Trustworthiness. (noun) The quality or fact of being trustworthy.
- Pennant. 1 (noun) A flag in the shape of a triangle.
Those are the words I have been thinking about lately to expand my vocabulary. I noticed that most of them are nouns, but also some adjectives and verbs. I knew some of the words already but wanted to revisit them and provide a definition I can use when using the words. What words did you find interesting? What words would you include if you did the same exercise? 🙌
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