(v) To cause sickness, pain, or trouble.
?What ails you?? the doctor asked.
ailment (n) An illness; a disease.
The flu is a common childhood ailment.
ailing (adj) In poor health.
I have been ailing all winter.
(v) 1. To force someone out of the country.
After the revolution, France banished the royal family.
2. To get rid of completely.
Joe was such a cheerful person, he banished gloom wherever he went.
(v) To make known; to give or exchange information.
Because I hate to write letters, we communicate mostly by telephone.
communication (n) The exchange of information between people.
The fight was caused by a lack of communication between us.
communicative (adj) Willing to speak; eager to talk.
When I asked her where she had been, she was not very communicative, replying only, ?Out.?
(v) To make less sad; to comfort.
My parents tried to console me when my best friend moved away.
consolation (n) Comfort.
I knew I could always turn to my aunt for consolation whenever I was upset.
(v) To shrink from, as if from fear.
Our poor dog cowers every time Dad turns the vacuum cleaner on.
(adj) Carefully thought out; not hasty.
Although my mother was angry, she spoke in a calm and deliberate manner.
(v) To think carefully in order to make up one?s mind.
We deliberated a long time before deciding to move to Arizona.
(n) Distance from top to bottom or front to back; deepness.
The floodwaters reached a depth of several feet.
depths (n, pl) The innermost part or the deepest part.
The treasure chest lay buried in the depths of the sea.
(v) To wish for; to want very much.
A person who is famished desires just one thing?food!
(n) A strong wish.
Pizarro?s desire for gold was so great he ordered the Inca king, Atahualpa, to fill three rooms with it.
desirable (adj) Pleasing, agreeable.
My new school is in a very desirable location.
n. The means of supporting oneself.
The store owners in my neighborhood depend on shoppers for their livelihood.
(n) 1. Bad luck; trouble.
He had the misfortune to break his leg right before the big game.
2. An unlucky event.
Hurricane Sandy in 2012 was New Jersey?s worst misfortune in many years.
(n) A child whose parents are dead.
Tom Sawyer lived with his Aunt Polly because he was an orphan.
(n) A very high and steep cliff.
We stood watchfully on the edge of the precipice and looked down.
precipitous (adj) 1. Very steep.
The waterfall hiking trail has many precipitous slopes.
2. Hasty; abrupt; done without careful thought.
Getting a kitten so suddenly was a precipitous act.
(v) To get back.
By following the doctor?s orders, I slowly regained my health.
(v) To kill violently. (slain, past participle)
The scene where George slays the dragon comes right at the end of the play.
(n) A sign of something.
Headaches can be a symptom of not enough sleep.