VOA Special English Vocabulary (3)

J

K

• keep - v. to possess; to have for oneself
• kick - v. to hit with the foot
• kidnap - v. to seize and take away by force
• kill - v. to make dead; to cause to die
• kind - n. sort ("What kind of dog is that?"); ad. gentle; caring; helpful
• kiss - v. to touch with the mouth to show love or honor
• knife - n. a tool or weapon used to cut
• know - v. to understand something as correct; to have the facts about; to recognize someone because you have met and talked together before
• knowledge - n. that which is known; learning or understanding

L

• labor - n. work; workers as a group
• laboratory - n. a room or place where experiments in science are done
• lack - v. to be without; n. the condition of needing, wanting or not having
• lake - n. a large area of fresh water surrounded by land
• land - v. to come to the earth from the air ("Airplanes land at airports."); n. the part of the earth not covered by water; the ground
• language - n. words and their use; what people speak in a country, nation or group
• large - ad. big; being of more than usual size, amount or number; opposite small
• last - v. to continue ("The talks will last three days."); ad. after all others; the only one remaining ("She is the last person in line.")
• late - ad. after the correct time; near the end; opposite early
• laugh - v. to make sounds to express pleasure or happy feelings
• launch - v. to put into operation; to begin; to send into the air or space
• law - n. all or any rules made by a government
• lead - v. to show the way; to command; to control; to go first
• leak - v. to come out of or to escape through a small opening or hole (usually a gas or liquid)
• learn - v. to get knowledge about; to come to know a fact or facts
• leave - v. to go away from; to let something stay where it is
• left - ad. on the side that is toward the west when one is facing north; opposite right
• legal - ad. of or in agreement with the law
• legislature - n. a government lawmaking group
• lend - v. to permit someone to use a thing temporarily; to make a loan of money
• less - ad. smaller in amount; not as much
• let - v. to permit to do or to be; to make possible
• letter - n. a message written on paper; a communication in writing sent to another person
• level - n. the amount or height that something reaches or rises to; the position of something or someone
• liberal - ad. one who usually supports social progress or change
• lie - v. to have one's body on the ground or other surface; to say something that one knows is not true
• life - n. the time between being born and dying; opposite death; all living things
• lift - v. to take or bring up to a higher place or level
• light - n. a form of energy that affects the eyes so that one is able to see; anything that produces light; ad. bright; clear; not heavy
• lightning - n. light produced by electricity in the air, usually during a storm
• like - v. to be pleased with; to have good feelings for someone or something; ad. in the same way as; similar to
• limit - v. to restrict to a number or amount; n. the greatest amount or number permitted
• line - n. a long, thin mark on a surface; a number of people or things organized; one after another; the edge of an area protected by military forces
• link - v. to connect; to unite one thing or event with another; n. a relation between two or more things, situations or events
• liquid - n. a substance that is not a solid or gas, and can move freely, like water
• list - v. to put in writing a number of names of people or things; n. a written series of names or things
• listen - v. to try to hear
• literature - n. all the poems, stories and writings of a period of time or of a country
• little - ad. not tall or big; a small amount
• live - v. to have life; to exist; ad. having life; alive
• load - v. to put objects on or into a vehicle or container; n. that which is carried
• loan - n. money borrowed that usually must be returned with interest payments; something borrowed
• local - ad. about or having to do with one place
• lonely - ad. feeling alone and wanting friends; visited by few or no people ("a lonely man")
• long - ad. not short; measuring from beginning to end; measuring much; for much time
• look - v. to turn the eyes toward so as to see; to search or hunt for; to seem to be
• lose - v. to have no longer; to not find; to fail to keep; to be defeated
• loud - ad. having a strong sound; full of sound or noise
• love - v. to like very much; to feel a strong, kind emotion (sometimes involving sex); n. a strong, kind emotion for someone or something; opposite hate
• low - ad. not high or tall; below the normal height; close to the ground
• loyal - ad. showing strong friendship and support for someone or something
• luck - n. something that happens by chance

M

• machine - n. a device with moving parts used to do work
• magazine - n. a publication of news, stories, pictures or other information
• mail - n. letters, papers and other things sent through an official system, such as a post office
• main - ad. the most important or largest
• major - ad. great in size, importance or amount
• majority - n. the greater number; more than half
• make - v. to produce; to create; to build; to do something or to carry out an action; to cause to be or to become
• male - n. a man or boy; the sex that is the father of children; ad. of or about men
• man - n. an adult male human
• manufacture - v. to make goods in large amounts
• many - ad. a large number or amount of
• map - n. a picture of the earth's surface or a part of it
• march - v. to walk in a group like soldiers; to walk together in a large group to protest about something
• mark - v. to make a sign or cut on something
• market - n. a place or area where goods are sold, bought or traded; an economic system in which the prices of things are decided by how many there are and how much money people are willing to pay for them
• marry - v. to join a man and woman together as husband and wife; to become husband and wife (usually in a religious or civil ceremony)
• mass - n. an amount of matter having no special form and usually of a large size
• mate - v. to bring together a male and a female to create another creature
• material - n. the substance, substances or matter of which something is made or from which something can be made, such as wood, cloth or stone; anything that can be made into something else
• mathematics - n. the science dealing with amounts, sizes and shapes, as explained by numbers and signs
• matter - n. anything that can be seen or felt; what things are made of
• may - v. a word used with an action word to mean permit or possible ("May I go?" "They may leave tomorrow.")
• mayor - n. the chief official of a city or town government
• meal - n. food eaten to satisfy hunger, such as dinner
• mean - v. to want to; to give the idea of; to have the idea of
• measure - v. to learn the amount, size or distance of something; n. an action taken; a legislative proposal
• meat - n. the part of a dead animal used for food
• media - n. all public information organizations, including newspapers, television and radio
• medicine - n. a substance or drug used to treat disease or pain; the science or study of treating and curing disease or improving health
• meet - v. to come together with someone or something at the same time and place
• melt - v. to make a solid into a liquid by heating it
• member - n. one of a group
• memorial - n. something done or made to honor the memory of a person or event
• memory - n. a picture in the mind of past events; the ability to remember; a thing remembered
• mental - ad. about or having to do with the mind
• mercy - n. kindness toward those who should be punished; the power to be kind or to pardon
• message - n. written or spoken news or information; a note from one person to another person or group
• metal - n. a hard substance such as iron, steel or gold
• method - n. the way something is done
• microscope - n. a device used to make very small things look larger so they can be studied
• middle - n. the center; a place or time of equal distance from both sides or ends; ad. in the center
• militant - n. someone active in trying to cause political change, often by the use of force or violence
• military - n. the armed forces of a nation or group; ad. of or about the armed forces
• milk - n. the white liquid produced by female animals to feed their young
• mind - n. the thinking, feeling part of a person
• mine - v. to dig useful or valuable substances out of the earth; n. a place in the earth where such substances are found; a bomb placed under the ground or under water so it cannot be seen
• mineral - n. a substance found in nature that is not an animal or a plant, such as coal or salt
• minister - n. a member of a cabinet; a high government official ("prime minister,"foreign minister")
• minor - ad. small in size; of little importance
• minority - n. the smaller number; opposite majority
• minute - n. a measure of time; one of the sixty equal parts of an hour; sixty seconds
• miss - v. to fail to hit, see, reach or meet
• missile - n. any weapon that can be thrown or fired through the air and explodes when it reaches its target
• missing - ad. lost; not found
• mistake - n. a wrong action or decision; an action done without the knowledge that it was wrong
• mix - v. to put different things together to make one thing
• mob - n. a large group of wild or angry people
• model - n. an example; something, usually small, made to show how something will look or work
• moderate - ad. not extreme
• modern - ad. of the present or very recent time; the most improved
• money - n. pieces of metal or paper used to pay for things
• month - n. one of the twelve periods of time into which a year is divided
• moon - n. the bright object often seen in the night sky that orbits the earth about every twenty-nine days
• moral - ad. concerning what is right or wrong in someone's actions
• more - ad. greater in size or amount
• morning - n. the early part of the day, from sunrise until noon
• most - ad. greatest in size or amount
• mother - n. the female parent; a woman who has a child or children
• motion - n. a movement; a continuing change of position or place
• mountain - n. a part of the earth's surface that rises high above the area around it
• mourn - v. to express or feel sadness
• move - v. to change position; to put or keep in motion; to go
• movement - n. the act of moving or a way of moving; a series of acts or efforts to reach a goal
• movie - n. a motion picture; a film
• much - ad. great in amount
• murder - v. to kill another person illegally; n. the crime of killing another person
• music - n. the making of sounds by singing or using a musical instrument
• must - v. a word used with an action word to mean necessary ("You must go to school.")
• mystery - n. something that is not or cannot be explained or understood; a secret

N

• name - v. to appoint; to nominate; to give a name to; n. a word by which a person, animal or thing is known or called
• narrow - ad. limited in size or amount; not wide; having a short distance from one side to the other
• nation - n. a country, together with its social and political systems
• native - n. someone who was born in a place, not one who moved there
• natural - ad. of or about nature; normal; common to its kind
• nature - n. all the plants, animals and other things on earth not created by humans; events or processes not caused by humans
• navy - n. the part of a country's military force trained to fight at sea
• near - ad. not far; close to
• necessary - ad. needed to get a result or effect; required
• need - v. to require; to want; to be necessary to have or to do
• negotiate - v. to talk about a problem or situation to find a common solution
• neither - ad. not one or the other of two
• neutral - ad. not supporting one side or the other in a dispute
• never - ad. at no time; not ever
• new - ad. not existing before; not known before; recently made, built, bought or grown; another; different
• news - n. information about any recent events, especially as reported by the media
• next - ad. coming immediately after; nearest
• nice - ad. pleasing; good; kind
• night - n. the time between when the sun goes down and when it rises, when there is little or no light
• no - ad. used to reject or to refuse; not any; not at all
• noise - n. sound, especially when loud
• nominate - v. to name someone as a candidate for an election; to propose a person for an office or position
• noon - n. the middle of the day; twelve o'clock in the daytime
• normal - n. the usual condition, amount or form; ad. usual; what is expected
• north - n. the direction to the left of a person facing the rising sun
• not - ad. a word showing that something is denied or untrue ("She is not going.")
• note - v. to talk about something already known; n. a word or words written to help a person remember; a short letter
• nothing - n. not anything; no thing
• now - ad. at this time; immediately
• nowhere - ad. not in, to or at any place
• nuclear - ad. of or about the energy produced by splitting atoms or bringing them together; of or about weapons that explode by using energy from atoms
• number - n. a word or sign used to show the order or amount of things