[b]infrastructure [/b]
n.
1. An underlying base or foundation especially for an organization or system.
2. The basic facilities, services, and installations needed for the functioning of a community or society, such as transportation and communications systems, water and power lines, and public institutions including schools, post offices, and prisons.
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[b]adequate[/b]
adj.
1. Sufficient to satisfy a requirement or meet a need. See synonyms at sufficient.
2. Barely satisfactory or sufficient: The skater's technique was only adequate.
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[b]breakeven[/b]
adj.
Marked by or indicating a balance, especially between investment and return.
n. In both senses also called break-even point.
1. The point, especially the level of sales of a good or service, at which the return on investment is exactly equal to the amount invested.
2. The point at which the energy put into a system is equalled by the energy produced by that system: reaching breakeven in controlled fusion reactions.
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[b]impose [/b]
v., -posed, -pos•ing, -pos•es.
v.tr.
1. To establish or apply as compulsory; levy: impose a tax.
2. To apply or make prevail by or as if by authority: impose a peace settlement. See synonyms at dictate.
3. To obtrude or force (oneself, for example) on another or others.
4. Printing. To arrange (type or plates) on an imposing stone.
5. To offer or circulate fraudulently; pass off: imposed a fraud on consumers.
v.intr.
To take unfair advantage: You are always imposing on their generosity.
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[b]stain [/b]
v., stained, stain•ing, stains.
v.tr.
1. To discolor, soil, or spot.
2. To bring into disrepute; taint or tarnish.
3. To color (glass, for example) with a coat of penetrating liquid dye or tint.
4. To treat (specimens for the microscope) with a reagent or dye that makes visible certain structures without affecting others.
v.intr.
To produce or receive discolorations.
n.
1. A discolored or soiled spot or smudge.
2. A blemish on one's moral character or reputation.
3. A liquid substance applied especially to wood that penetrates the surface and imparts a rich color.
4. A reagent or dye used for staining microscopic specimens.
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[b]conscience [/b]
n.
1.
a. The awareness of a moral or ethical aspect to one's conduct together with the urge to prefer right over wrong: Let your conscience be your guide.
b. A source of moral or ethical judgment or pronouncement: a document that serves as the nation's conscience.
c. Conformity to one's own sense of right conduct: a person of unflagging conscience.
2. The part of the superego in psychoanalysis that judges the ethical nature of one's actions and thoughts and then transmits such determinations to the ego for consideration.
3. Obsolete. Consciousness.
idiom:
in (all good) conscience
1. In all truth or fairness.
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[b]posterity [/b]
n.
1. Future generations: “Everything he writes is consigned to posterity” (Joyce Carol Oates).
2. All of a person's descendants.
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[b]gobbledygook also gobbledegook [/b]
n.
Unclear, wordy jargon.
[b]mumbo jumbo [/b]
n., pl. -bos.
1. Unintelligible or incomprehensible language; gibberish.
2. Language or ritualistic activity intended to confuse.
3. A complicated or obscure ritual.
4. An object believed to have supernatural powers; a fetish.
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[b]certify [/b]
v., -fied, -fy•ing, -fies.
v.tr.
1.
a. To confirm formally as true, accurate, or genuine.
b. To guarantee as meeting a standard: butter that was certified Grade A. See synonyms at approve.
2. To acknowledge in writing on the face of (a check) that the signature of the maker is genuine and that there are sufficient funds on deposit for its payment.
3. To issue a license or certificate to.
4. To declare to be in need of psychiatric treatment or confinement.
5. Archaic. To inform positively; assure.
v.intr.
To testify: certify to the facts
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[b]abiotic [/b]
adj.
Nonliving: The abiotic factors of the environment include light, temperature, and atmospheric gases.