
ashamed | ashamed: adj. embarrassed, abashed, humiliated, chagrined, mortified, blushing, shamefaced, sheepish, red-faced: I was ashamed to have to admit that it was I who had written the nasty letter.
ask | ask: v. 1 question, interrogate, query, quiz; inquire or enquire (of): Let''s ask the policeman for information. Just ask directions of any passer-by. I merely asked if you were going my way. 2 demand, require, expect, request: Doing his laundry is a lot to ask. 3 beg, apply (to), appeal (to), seek (from), solicit (from), petition, plead (to), beg, beseech, pray, entreat, implore: In the streets, thousands of beggars ask passers-by for alms. 4 invite, bid, summon: Nellie asked me to dinner. 5 ask after or about. inquire or enquire after or about: My sister asked after you - wanted to know how you were getting along. 6 ask for. a invite, attract, encourage, provoke: You''re asking for trouble if you walk alone through that neighbourhood after dark. b request, seek: We asked for more time to finish the project.
aspect | aspect: n. 1 viewpoint, point of view, position, standpoint, side: Looked at from a different aspect, the problem did not seem insurmountable after all. 2 complexion, light, angle, interpretation, mien, face: His conviction for robbery put a different aspect on hiring him as a security guard. 3 exposure, prospect, outlook, orientation: The western aspect of the room made it sunny in the afternoons. 4 side, feature, attribute, characteristic, quality, detail, angle, facet, manifestation, element, circumstance: There are many aspects of Buddhism that you do not understand.
aspersion | aspersion: n. slander, libel, false insinuation, calumny, imputation, allegation, detraction, slur, obloquy, defamation, disparagement: He resented my casting aspersions on the legitimacy of his birth.
aspiration | aspiration: n. desire, longing, yearning, craving, hankering, wish, dream, hope; ambition, aim, goal, objective, purpose, intention, plan, scheme, plot: It was his lifelong aspiration to marry someone with money.
aspire | aspire: v. aspire to. desire, hope, long, wish, aim, yearn; dream of: I''d never aspire to anything higher. He still aspired to being a full professor.
assailant | assailant: n. attacker, assaulter, mugger: My assailant threatened me with a knife.
assault | assault: n. 1 attack, onslaught, onset, charge, offensive, blitzkrieg, blitz, strike, raid, incursion, sortie; aggression, invasion: At dawn we launched the assault on the fort. 2 beating, battering, hold-up, mugging; rape, violation, molestation; Law battery: The defendant is accused of assault. --v. 3 attack, assail, set or fall upon, pounce upon, storm, beset, charge, rush, lay into: The elderly couple were assaulted near their home. 4 rape, violate, molest: Three women were assaulted in that neighbourhood last night. 5 beat (up), batter, bruise, harm, hit, strike, punch, smite: She complained that her husband continually assaulted the children.
assemble | assemble: v. 1 convene, gather, call or bring or get together, convoke, summon, muster, marshal, rally, levy, round up, collect, congregate, forgather or foregather; meet: The forces were assembled along the waterfront. A small crowd assembled at the airport. 2 accumulate, gather, amass, collect, bring or group or lump together, compile, unite, join or draw together: The paintings were assembled from many sources. 3 construct, put together, erect, set up, fit or join or piece together, connect, fabricate, manufacture, make: The sculpture was assembled from so-called objets trouv�s , or ''found'' objects.
assembly | assembly: n. 1 gathering, group, meeting, assemblage, body, circle, company, congregation, flock, crowd, throng, multitude, host; horde: A huge assembly of well-wishers greeted the candidate. 2 convocation, council, convention, congress, association, conclave; diet, synod: The assembly voted to re-elect the incumbent officers. 3 construction, putting together, erection, connection, setting up, set-up, fitting or joining or piecing together, fabrication; manufacture, making: Assembly of the bicycle can be completed in an hour.
assertion | assertion: n. 1 statement, declaration, affirmation, contention, asseveration, averment, avowal, pronouncement; Law affidavit, deposition: He made the assertion that he had never seen the defendant before. 2 insistence, proclamation, representation, affirmation, confirmation: The kings exercised their jurisdiction in the assertion of their regal power.
assertive | assertive: adj. declaratory, affirmative, asseverative; definite, certain, sure, positive, firm, emphatic, bold, aggressive, confident, insistent; dogmatic, doctrinaire, domineering, opinionated, peremptory, Colloq bossy, pushy: Harold won''t obey unless his mother adopts an assertive tone with him.
asset | asset: n. 1 Also, assets. property, resources, possessions, holdings, effects, capital, means, valuables, money, wealth: We have to pay a tax on the company''s assets. Her only liquid asset was some shares in the Suez Canal Company. 2 talent, strength, advantage, resource, benefit: His main asset is that he speaks fluent Japanese.
assign | assign: v. 1 allot, allocate, apportion, consign, appropriate, distribute, give (out), grant: A water ration was assigned to each person. 2 fix, set (apart or aside), settle (on), determine, appoint, authorize, designate, ordain, prescribe, specify: Have they really assigned Thursday as the day of worship? Please sit in the seats assigned to you. 3 appoint, designate, order; name, delegate, nominate, attach; choose, select; Brit second: The men have been assigned to their posts. I assigned David to look after the champagne. 4 attribute, ascribe, accredit, put down; refer: To which century did the curator assign this vase?
assignment | assignment: n. 1 allotment, allocation, apportionment, giving (out), distribution: Assignment of posts in the Cabinet is the responsibility of the Prime Minister. 2 task, obligation, responsibility, chore, duty, position, post, charge, job, mission, commission; lesson, homework: Every agent is expected to carry out his assignment. The school assignment for tomorrow is an essay on Alexander Pope. 3 appointment, designation, naming, nomination: The assignment of Neil Mackay to the post was a stroke of genius. 4 designation, specification, ascription: In ancient medicine, the assignment of the functions of the organs was often wrong.
assist | assist: v. 1 aid, help, second, support: He could walk only if assisted by the nurse. 2 further, promote, abet, support, benefit, facilitate: The rumours will not assist his election. 3 help, succour, serve, work for or with; relieve: She has always assisted the poor.
assistance | assistance: n. help, aid, support, succour, backing, reinforcement, relief, benefit: Can you get up without my assistance? The scholarship fund offered financial assistance.
assistant | assistant: n. 1 helper, helpmate or helpmeet, aid, aide; aide-de-camp, second: These systems make use of rhymes as assistants to the memory. 2 deputy, subordinate, subsidiary, auxiliary; underling: He is now the assistant to the sales manager.
associate | associate: v. 1 associate (with). a ally with, link, join or unite (with), combine or confederate (with), connect (with), conjoin (with): In the 1930s Abe was associated with Dutch and Louis in Murder, Incorporated. I always associate him with fast cars and hard drinking. b see, be seen with, socialize or fraternize (with), mix or mingle (with), go (out) with, consort with, have to do with, Colloq hang out with, Brit pal with or about, pal up (with), US pal around (with): Mother told me not to associate with boys who use that kind of language. --n. 2 colleague, partner; fellow, fellow-worker: I''d like you to meet my associate, Ian Lindsay. 3 confederate, ally, collaborator; accomplice, accessory: He and his associates have been sent to prison for conspiracy. 4 comrade, companion, friend, mate, buddy; confidant(e): We have been close associates for many years. --adj. 5 subsidiary, secondary: She is an associate professor at an American university. 6 allied, affiliate, affiliated, associated; accessory: Publication is under the direction of an associate company.
association | association: n. 1 society, organization, confederation, confederacy, federation, league, union, alliance, guild, coalition, group; syndicate, combine, consortium, cooperative: The society later became known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science. 2 connection, link, affiliation, relationship, bond, tie, linkage, linking, pairing, joining, conjunction, bonding: The association between princes and frogs is probably lost on anyone so literal-minded. 3 fellowship, intimacy, friendship, camaraderie, comradeship, relationship: There has been a long-standing association between Peter and Wendy.
assortment | assortment: n. 1 group, class, category, batch, set, lot, classification, grouping: Which assortment contains only plain chocolates? 2 collection, pot-pourri, mixture, m�lange, array, agglomeration, conglomeration, medley, farrago, variety, miscellany, jumble, salmagundi, gallimaufry, mishmash, Colloq mixed bag: That hat looks like something from the assortment at a jumble sale. A bizarre assortment of people attended the meeting.
assume | assume: v. 1 accept, adopt, take, use, employ; arrogate, appropriate, take over or up, undertake: Who will assume the leadership of the party? 2 take on (oneself), take upon (oneself), put or try on, don, adopt; acquire: Whenever she delivered the information, she assumed the disguise of an old man. That trivial dispute has assumed gargantuan proportions. 3 presume, suppose, believe, fancy, expect, think, presuppose, take, take for granted, surmise, Chiefly US guess: When I saw the knife in his hand, I assumed the chef was going to slice a lemon. The king assumed he had the cooperation of Parliament. 4 pretend to, feign, sham, counterfeit, simulate, sham, affect, fake: Though she cared deeply, she assumed a devil-may-care attitude.
assumed | assumed: adj. 1 appropriated, taken, usurped, expropriated, pre-empted, usurped, seized: He functions in his assumed capacity as a judge. 2 pretended, put on, sham, false, feigned, affected, counterfeit, simulated, spurious, bogus, fake; pseudonymous, made-up, Colloq phoney or US also phony: She morosely stared at the floor in assumed contrition. He wrote poetry under an assumed name. 3 taken, taken for granted, presumed, supposed, accepted, expected, presupposed; hypothetical, theoretical, suppositional: The payment depends materially on the assumed rate of interest.
assurance | assurance: n. 1 promise, pledge, guarantee or guaranty, warranty, commitment, bond, surety; word, word of honour, oath, vow: You have the bank''s assurance that the money will be on deposit. 2 insurance, indemnity: His life assurance is barely enough to cover the costs of his funeral. 3 certainty, confidence, trust, faith, reassurance, surety, assuredness, certitude; security: There is no assurance that Herr Kleister will get the job done. 4 audacity, impudence, presumption, boldness, brazenness, nerve, effrontery, insolence , Colloq brass, gall, cheek, chutzpah: With an air of assurance they quote authors they have never read. 5 self-confidence, self-reliance, confidence, steadiness, intrepidity, self-possession, poise, aplomb, coolness, control, self-control, resolve, Colloq gumption, guts, gutsiness: He has the assurance of one born to command.
assure | assure: v. 1 secure, stabilize, settle, establish, confirm, certify, warrant, guarantee, ensure, be confident of, make or be sure or certain: Force, fear, and the multitude of his guard do less to assure the estate of a prince than the good will of his subjects. 2 encourage, inspirit, reassure, hearten: Your humanity assures us and gives us strength. 3 convince, persuade, reassure, make (someone) certain; ensure: What can I do to assure you of my love? 4 assert, state, asseverate, promise: I assure you that we shall do everything possible to find your dog.
astonish | astonish: v. amaze, surprise, shock, astound, stun, stagger, dumbfound or dumfound, bowl over, floor, stupefy, daze, Colloq flabbergast: She astonished the audience with her gymnastic skill. I was astonished when told my wife had given birth to quintuplets.
astonishment | astonishment: n. amazement, surprise, shock, stupefaction, wonder, wonderment: I''ll never forget that look of astonishment on his face when he learned he had won.
astound | astound: v. surprise, shock, astonish, stun, stagger, dumbfound or dumfound, bowl over, floor, stupefy, bewilder, overwhelm, Colloq flabbergast: We were astounded to learn that he had survived all those years on a desert island. The Great MacTavish performs astounding feats of magic and levitation!
astute | astute: adj. 1 shrewd, subtle, clever, ingenious, adroit, wily, cunning, calculating, canny, crafty, artful, arch, sly, foxy, guileful, underhand, underhanded; Rare astucious: He had the reputation of being an astute businessman. 2 sharp, keen, perceptive, observant, alert, quick, quick-witted, sage, sagacious, wise, intelligent, insightful, perspicacious, discerning, knowledgeable: That was a very astute comment, Smedley.
