VENOM, n
(Their venom is 15 times more poisonous than rattlesnake venom.)
Meanings:
· 1. the poison produced by some snakes, scorpions etc, transmitted by biting or stinging (e.g. the venom of a cobra)
· 2. great ill-feeling, anger etc; feeling a need to see others suffer (e.g. he spoke with venom; the venom of jealousy)
Synonyms:
· 1. poison, toxin, virus
· 2. malice, maliciousness, spite, spitefulness, malignity, acrimony, bitterness, acerbity, spleen, hate, rancor
- Antonyms: benevolent, good-will
Related: venomous, adj.
DEBRIS, n plural debris
(The black widow spider spins her web in woodpiles and under rocks, porches, plants, or debris.)
Meanings:
· the remains of something broken, destroyed etc (e.g. the fireman found a corpse among the debris; storm debris; war debris;
· rubbish (e.g. there was a lot of debris in the house after the builder had left)
Synonyms:
· detritus, litter, trash, wreckage
Antonyms:
· cleanliness, neatness, purity
Notes: debris is the remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up; garbage is food that is discarded or useless rubbish or a receptacle where rubbish is discarded; trash is worthless material that is to be disposed or a worthless or contemptible person
PREY, n
(Like most spiders, the black widow preys on insects.)
Meaning:
· v. (used without object) to hunt, catch, or eat as prey, as an animal does (usually follow by on or upon) (e.g. Foxes prey on rabbits; Owls prey on mice.)
· n. 1. an animal caught, killed, and eaten by another animal as food 2. one that is defenseless, especially in the face of attack; a victim (e.g. his gullibility makes him easy prey)
Synonyms:
· n. quarry, target, victim
· v. raven, predate
Antonyms:
· hunter, predator
Related: [pray; play]
Analogy: [predator : prey] = [owl : mice]
PUNCTURE, n, vb.
(When an insect gets trapped in her web, the spider makes a small puncture in the insect’s body.)
Meanings:
· n. a small hole or wound made by a sharp object (e.g. My car has had two punctures this week.)
· vb. to sustain a small hole or wound in something such as a tire or the skin, or cause such a hole (e.g. Some glass on the road punctured my new tire.)
Synonyms:
· n. break, rupture, perforation
· vb. break, perforate, penetrate, pierce
- Antonyms: inflate, sew
Related: [acupuncture]
NUMB, adj., vb.
(Other symptoms include a numb feeling, sweating, dry mouth, and swollen eyelids.)
Meaning:
· n. 1. not able to feel or move (e.g. My arm has gone numb; She was numb with cold.) 2. being emotionally unresponsive; indifferent (e.g. She was numb to their pleas for mercy.)
· v. to make numb (e.g. The cold numbed her fingers.)
Synonyms:
· adj. 1. asleep, dead, insensible, insensitive, unfeeling 2. dull, insensible, insensitive, torpid, unresponsive, wooden, deadened, indifferent, senseless, paralyzed, stupefied
- Antonyms: responsive, sensitive
· vb. deaden, desensitize, dull, benumb
- Antonyms: sensitize, enliven
Related: numbness, n
RESISTANT adj., n [rĭ-zĭs'tənt]
(Black widow spiders are resistant to most insect sprays.)
Meaning:
· adj. resisting (e.g. his breed of cattle is resistant to disease; heat-resistant table-mats)
· n. a person or thing that resists
Synonyms:
· adj. immune, impervious, imperviable, insusceptible, unsusceptible, proof, resistive,
· n. opposition, renitence
Related: resistance, n; resist, vb.
