Unit 1: Vocabulary from Readings 2

This list covers Always Running, "'Race' Politics," "WMDs," and "Chuck Liddell."
12 words 36 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. ceremony
    any activity performed in a solemn, elaborate, or formal way
    So without ceremony, we started over the tracks, climbing over discarded market carts and tore-up sofas, across Alameda Street, into South Gate: all-white, all-American.
  2. shrill
    having or emitting a high-pitched and sharp tone or tones
    I remember the shrill, maddening laughter of one of the kids on a bike, this laughing like a raven’s wail, a harsh wind’s shriek, a laugh that I would hear in countless beatings thereafter.
  3. disdain
    lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
    Up until then my brother had never shown any emotion to me other than disdain.
  4. imposed
    set forth authoritatively as obligatory
    We entered the forbidden
    narrow line of hate,
    imposed,
    transposed,
    supposed
  5. abdomen
    the region of the body between the thorax and the pelvis
    those lines that crisscross
    the abdomen of this land,
    that strangle you
    in your days, in your nights.
  6. meddling
    intrusive in a nosy or interfering manner
    He forced me to swear to God,
    to Jesus Christ, to our long-dead
    Indian Grandmother—
    keepers of our meddling souls.
  7. mosh
    dance the slam dance
    WHO IS THE NEW AMERICAN FIGHTER? For starters, he resembles Chuck Liddell: With a thick coil of a neck and a close-cropped Mohawk, the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) light-heavyweight title-holder looks like a Marine who’d take great delight in clearing a mosh pit.
  8. submission
    the act of surrendering power to another
    As a mixed martial artist (the technical term for Ultimate Fighting Championship competitors), Liddell, aka “The Iceman,” combines fisticuffs, kickboxing, wrestling, and choke holds to either knock out his opponent or force him to “tap out,” indicating a submission.
  9. context
    the set of facts or circumstances that surround a situation
    In any other context, of course, this behavior would pass for felonious assault, so being within arm’s length of Liddell for a day imparts a clarifying effect.
  10. deference
    a courteous expression of esteem or regard
    The sound of backslapping and the hushed murmur of awe and deference fill the air.
  11. gilded
    made from or covered with gold
    The SUV stops and Liddell exits toward the gilded entrance...where a small pack of fans congregate.
  12. alma mater
    a school you graduated from
    Chuck “the Iceman” Liddell still lives in the town of his alma mater. That’s right: This trained lethal weapon earned a B.A. in accounting at Cal Poly before claiming the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title in 2005.
Created on Tue Jan 12 08:37:27 EST 2021 (updated Thu Jan 14 10:22:53 EST 2021)

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