Vocabulary Unit 1 "Greetings from the WPA" Set A: bonanza, churlish, collaborate, excerpt, grope, jostle, laggard, plaudits, revert, vigil

Churlish (adj.) - lack of politeness and manners; rude A waiter must avoid churlish behavior with his guests. Mr. Wentz had to scold Rob for his churlish attitude toward his classmates.

Collaborate (v): to work together The students will collaborate on an astronomy project for the annual science fair. Rogers and Hammerstein collaborated on many famous musicals like The Sound of Music and Cinderella.

Excerpt (n): a passage taken from a book, article, etc. I used an excerpt from Theodore Geisel in my speech to the class. My favorite excerpt from The Diary of a Young Girl is, "I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart".

Grope (v): to feel about hesitantly; to search blindly The blindfolded children groped at the poster to pin the tail on the  donkey. Hearing a noise in the middle of the night, Melissa stumbled out of bed and began to grope for the light switch.

Jostle (v): to push, shove, or force your way Kevin jostled his way through the huge concert crowd to take a picture. Moments before Best Buy opened anxious customers jostled each other to be the first in line.

Laggard (n): an individual or group that falls behind others Jenna and Kyle are the laggards of our group who arrive late to every gathering we have. The cheetah was able to run down the laggard antelope. As far as technology goes, my uncle is a laggard who doesn't own a cell phone.

Plaudits (n): applause; enthusiastic praise The Golden State Warriors accepted the plaudits of their fans at the victory parade. Kelly received plaudits from her friends after becoming class president.

Revert (v): to return; go back My dad stuck to his diet for one week, but then reverted to his old ice cream eating habits. Many people wish they could revert to an earlier time in their lives.

Vigil (n): a period of watchful attention A military sentry keeps a vigil at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The concerned parents kept a vigil by their sick child's bedside.

Bonanza (n): something very valuable or rewarding; a sudden profit or gain The blockbuster movie was a box-office bonanza. The salesman received a bonanza of cash as a bonus for  his hard work.