abacus deflate gawk grandiloquent tame

abacus

ab·a·cus /ˈæbəkəs/ noun [countable]

a frame with small balls that can be slide along on thick wires, used for counting and calculating.

deflate

de·flate /ˌdiːˈfleɪt, dɪ-/ verb

1. [intransitive and transitive] if a tyre, BALLOON etc deflates, or if you deflate it, it gets smaller because the gas inside it comes out
   • In everyday British English, people usually say an object goes down rather than deflates:
     • It looks like the air bed has gone down.
2. [transitive] to make someone feel less important or less confident:
   1. She was deflated when Fen made no comment on her achievement.
3. [transitive] to show that a statement, argument etc is wrong:
   1. Simkin hoped to find a way to deflate his opponent's argument.
4. [intransitive and transitive] technical to change economic rules or conditions in a country so that prices fall or stop rising

gawk

gawk /ɡɔːk $ ɡɒːk/ verb [intransitive]

informal to look at something for a long time, in a way that looks stupid

gawk at

• Don't just stand there gawking at those girls

grandiloquent

gran·dil·o·quent /ɡrænˈdɪləkwənt/ adjective formal

using words that are too long and formal in order to sound important.

tame

tame1 /teɪm/ adjective

1. a tame animal or bird is not wild any longer, because it has been trained to live with people
   • tame elephants
2. informal dull and disappointing:
   1. Most of the criticism has been pretty tame.
   2. I decided that teaching was too tame for me.
3. [only before noun] British English used to describe a person who is willing to do what other people ask, even if it is slightly dishonest:
   • If you have a tame doctor, he might give you a sick note.

References

• Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English