February Word of the Day 2012 2/1 nocturnal (NAUK turn awl) adj.

. of or occurring at night When a bat was found in the basement, Kendall used the broom to oust the nocturnal creature! clamor (KLAM er) n. uproar Coming down the hallway, I knew the clamor was coming from Tatiyana or Terrence. throttle (THRAH tul) v. to choke or strangle; to enlarge or reduce the flow of fuel in an engine Sometimes we have to use the throttle to get the old truck going.

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desist (di ZIST) v. to stop doing something; cease With a determined look on the teachers face, she told the rowdy boys, Marcus and Max, to desist. 2/7 retire. 2/8 intricate (IN truh kit) adj. hard to understand in detail; having many complexly interrelated parts Mrs. Penningtons art students created intricate designs for the wood prints which were amazing! 2/9 reminisce (rem uh NISS) v. to recall the past, usually pleasantly Alyssa and James reminisced about their days in middle school together. vituperation (vy too puh RAY shun) n. abusive language Mr. Giles explained that Reggies vituperations needed to stop immediately or face detention annuity (uh NOO uh tee) n. any income paid at fixed intervals The students were told to put money into an annuity; it will come in handy later when you

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floe (FLOW) n. ice floating in sheets on the surface of a body of water Being very brave, Jovan and Silas slid onto the ice floe and drifted out to sea with the penguins. 2/14 somber (SOM bur) adj. depressing; gloomy; dark After receiving the tragic news about the explosion, everyone was in a somber mood. 2/15 unsavory (un SAY vuh ree) adj. unpleasant in taste or smell; distasteful Going to the new restaurant was a disappointment for Isaac since the food was unsavory. 2/16 omnivorous (awm NIV uh rus) adj. eating any food Ravens, like Charles Dickens pet raven named Grip, are omnivorous; they will eat anything. 2/17 bilk (bilk) v. swindle, cheat, defraud Do not listen to those get rich schemes; Shay says they will bilk you for lots of money. 2/21 depict (di PIKT) v. to represent or portray, as in a painting, sculpture, or written work The oil painting depicted Bre and Shayan receiving their awards for outstanding students at CHS. 2/22 ratify (RAT uh fye) v. to officially approve; endorse; agree to Christa agreed that the members of the club needed to ratify its new constitution. 2/23 betroth (bih TROTHED) v. to promise to marry; to become engaged

High school is certainly too early to consider being betrothed, the counselor told the student. 2/24 parody (PARE uh dee) n. humorous or satirical imitation of serious writing If you check the wall outside Room 212, you should discover some fine parodies. 2/27 verbatim (ver BAY tym) adj. using exactly the same words; It was annoying and boring when Mrs. Jones read verbatim from the textbook. 2/28 terminate (TUR muh nayt) v. to bring to an end Junior class members are always relieved and joyful when the research was finally terminated. 2/29 pugnacious (pug NAY shus) adj. ready or eager to fight; overly aggressive or quarrelsome Pierce did not seem like the type of student who would be involved with pugnacious activities.