Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. auction
    the public sale of something to the highest bidder
    The bread knife is an old one you picked up at an auction; it has the word BREAD carved into the wooden handle.
  2. famine
    a severe shortage of food resulting in starvation and death
    Imagine a famine.
  3. bloat
    become swollen or puff up
    She is starving, her belly is bloated, flies land on her eyes; you brush them off with your hand.
  4. filthy
    disgustingly dirty
    You have a cloth too, filthy but damp, and you press it to her lips and forehead.
  5. infest
    occupy in large numbers or live on a host
    You think of going out to see if you might find something that could be
    eaten, but outside the streets are infested with scavengers and the stink of
    corpses is everywhere.
  6. scavenger
    any animal that feeds on refuse and other decaying matter
    You think of going out to see if you might find something that could be
    eaten, but outside the streets are infested with scavengers and the stink of
    corpses is everywhere.
  7. comrade
    a friend who is frequently in the company of another
    If you tell, thirty or forty or a hundred of your friends, your comrades, will be caught and will die.
  8. withstand
    resist or confront with resistance
    If you could only hold the bowl in your hands,
    right here, you could withstand anything, you tell yourself.
  9. subversive
    in opposition to an established system or government
    The bread they offered you is subversive, it’s treacherous, it does not mean life.
  10. treacherous
    tending to betray
    The bread they offered you is subversive, it’s treacherous, it does not mean life.
  11. widow
    a woman whose husband is dead, especially if not remarried
    One was rich and had no children, the other had five children and was a widow, so poor that she no longer had any food left.
  12. conjure
    summon into action or bring into existence
    The loaf of bread I have conjured for you floats about a foot above your
    kitchen table.
  13. trap door
    a hinged or sliding entrance in a floor or ceiling
    The table is normal, there are no trap doors in it.
  14. hallucination
    illusory perception
    You don’t want to know whether the bread is real or whether it’s just
    a hallucination I’ve somehow duped you into seeing.
  15. dupe
    fool or hoax
    You don’t want to know whether the bread is real or whether it’s just
    a hallucination I’ve somehow duped you into seeing.
  16. yeast
    a single-celled fungus that reproduces asexually
    There’s no doubt that you can see the bread, you can even smell it, it smells like yeast, and it looks solid enough, solid as your own arm.
Created on Thu Aug 31 18:27:37 EDT 2017 (updated Mon Oct 16 13:11:02 EDT 2017)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.