airborne
airborne: adj.
1 transported by air.
2 (of aircraft) in the air after taking off.

armpit
armpit: n.
1 the hollow under the arm at the shoulder.
2 US colloq. a place or part considered disgusting or contemptible (the armpit of the world).

amphitheater
athenaeum
athenaeum: n. (US atheneum.
1 an institution for literary or scientific study.
2 a library. [LL Athenaeum f. Gk Athenaion temple of Athene (used as a place of teaching)]

airbrush
airbrush: n. & v. --n. an artist's device for spraying paint by means of compressed air. --v.tr. paint with an airbrush.

anticoagulant
anticoagulant: n. & adj. --n. any drug or agent that retards or inhibits coagulation, esp. of the blood. --adj. retarding or inhibiting coagulation.

analytical
analytical: adj.
1 using analytic methods.
2 Philol. using separate words instead of inflections (cf. SYNTHETIC). øanalytical geometry geometry using coordinates. øøanalytically adv.

agnostic
agnostic: n. & adj. --n. a person who believes that nothing is known, or can be known, of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena. --adj. of or relating to agnostics. øøagnosticism n. [A-(1) + GNOSTIC]

antiquity
antiquity: n. (pl. -ies.
1 ancient times, esp. the period before the Middle Ages.
2 great age (a city of great antiquity).
3 (usu. in pl.) physical remains or relics from ancient times, esp. buildings and works of art.
4 (in pl.) customs, events, etc., of ancient times.
5 the people of ancient times regarded collectively. [ME f. OF antiquit÷ f. L antiquitas -tatis f. antiquus: see ANTIQUE]

accoutrement
accoutrement: n. (US accouterment) (usu. in pl..
1 equipment, trappings.
2 Mil. a soldier's outfit other than weapons and garments. [F (as ACCOUTRE)]

appetizer
appetizer: n. (also -iser) a small amount, esp. of food or drink, to stimulate an appetite. [appetize (back-form. f. APPETIZING)]

asian
Asian: n. & adj. --n.
1 a native of Asia.
2 a person of Asian descent. --adj. of or relating to Asia or its people, customs, or languages. [L Asianus f. Gk Asianos f. Asia]

amenity
amenity: n. (pl. -ies.
1 (usu. in pl.) a pleasant or useful feature.
2 pleasantness (of a place, person, etc.). øamenity-bed Brit. a bed available in a hospital to give more privacy for a small payment. [ME f. OF amenit÷ or L amoenitas f. amoenus pleasant]

attention
attention: n. & int. --n.
1 the act or faculty of applying one's mind (give me your attention; attract his attention).
2 a consideration (give attention to the problem). b care (give special attention to your handwriting).
3 (in pl.) a ceremonious politeness (he paid his attentions to her). b wooing, courting (she was the subject of his attentions).
4 Mil. an erect attitude of readiness (stand at attention). --int. (in full stand at attention!) an order to assume an attitude of attention. [ME f. L attentio (as ATTEND, -ION)]

aspirator
aspirator: n. an apparatus for aspirating fluid. [L aspirare (as ASPIRATE, -OR(1))]

antiperspirant
antiperspirant: n. & adj. --n. a substance applied to the skin to prevent or reduce perspiration. --adj. that acts as an antiperspirant.

animation
animation: n.
1 vivacity, ardour.
2 the state of being alive.
3 Cinematog. the technique of filming successive drawings or positions of puppets to create an illusion of movement when the film is shown as a sequence.

america