Vocab Flashcards-A journey by bus (DescriptionWriting GCSE-Engl)

Front

scrum

Back

a crowd of people who are pushing each other

The doors flap open and the scrum of waiting passengers, faces grey and empty after a long day in the city, shuffles forward...

Front

refract

Back

to make waves, such as those of light, sound or energy, change direction when they go through at an angle

• Light is refracted when passed through a prism.

Front

lurch

Back

to make a sudden, unsteady movement forward or to one side

• Suddenly the horse lurched to one side and the child fell off.

• The plane lurched unsteadily.

• (figurative) Their relationship seems to lurch from one crisis to the next.

Front

buffet (verb)

Back

to knock or push somebody/something roughly from side to side

• to be buffeted by the wind

• (figurative, formal) The nation had been buffeted by a wave of strikes.

Front

brusque

Back

using very few words and sounding rude

• The doctor spoke in a brusque tone.

Front

vow of silence

Back

a solemn promise or oath to voluntarily refrain from speaking for a specific period of time or, in some cases, for the rest of one's life. This practice is often undertaken for spiritual, religious, or personal reasons, such as to show discipline, focus on meditation, or as a form of protest.

Front

earnest

Back

very serious and sincere

• Despite her earnest efforts, she could not find a job.

• When I looked over, he was in earnest conversation with his father.

• She was nice enough, but perhaps a little too earnest.

Front

balmy

Back

of the air, weather, etc. warm and pleasant

• We met on a balmy summer evening.

Front

disperse

Back

to move apart and go away in different directions; to make somebody/something do this.

The fog began to disperse.

• The crowd dispersed quickly.

Front

exquisite

Back

​extremely beautiful or carefully made