Vocabulary Assignment 3.

1. Friction: the force which makes it difficult for one object to slide along the surface of another or to move through a liquid or gas
When two objects are rubbed together the friction produces heat.

2. Clump: to form a group, or to put things into a group
Everybody clumped together in doorways.

3. Rostrum: a small platform on which a person making a speech or a music conductor (= leader) stands
Candidates for the post stood on a rostrum.

4. Nuclei: specialized the central part of an atom, usually made up of protons and neutrons
Nuclei energy helps to prevent stars’ matter instability.

5. Shun: to avoid something
The President shuns publicity since yesterday’s press conference.

6. Swell: to become larger and rounder than usual; to (cause to) increase in size or amount
Attracting huge amounts of matter, a black hole inevitably swells.

7. Foreshadow: to act as a warning or sign of a future event
Nothing foreshadowed the catastrophe.

8. Grandiose: larger and containing more detail than necessary, or intended to seem important or splendid
They developed grandiose plans to avoid the financial collapse.

9. Gist: the most important pieces of information about something, or general information without details
The very gist of the article was unclear.

10. Pun: an amusing use of a word or phrase which has several meanings or which sounds like another word
The definitions were very similar to a kind of puns.

11. Digress: to move away from the main subject you are writing or talking about and to write or talk about something else
The orator digressed from his subject to discuss related ideas.

12. Pendulum: a device consisting of a weight on a stick or thread which moves from one side to the other, especially one which forms a part of some types of clocks
There is a famous theory in physics, which concerns mathematical pendulums.

13. Merge: to combine or join together, or to cause things to do this
Management decided to merge the companies.

14. Vanish: to disappear or stop being present or existing, especially in a sudden, surprising way
The boy vanished while on his way home.

15. Impalpable: difficult to feel or understand
Most quantum physics’ laws are impalpable.