abominable

abominable - adjective

1. Unequivocally detestable; loathsome: abominable treatment of prisoners.
2. Thoroughly unpleasant or disagreeable: abominable weather.

RD Special Edition 2012: 8

Readers Digest (RD) Special Edition 2012 page 8

How a little magazine went around the world

vast - adjective

• Very great in size, number, amount, or quantity. 
• Very great in area or extent; immense. 
• Very great in degree or intensity. 
• Synonyms at enormous.

apostrophe - noun

• The direct address of an absent or imaginary person or of a personified abstraction, especially as a digression in the course of a speech or composition. 
• The superscript sign ( ' ) used to indicate the omission of a letter or letters from a word, the possessive case, or the plurals of numbers, letters, and abbreviations.

grease - noun

• Soft or melted animal fat, especially after rendering. 
• A thick oil or viscous substance, especially when used as a lubricant. 
• a. The oily substance present in raw wool; suint. b. Raw wool that has not been cleansed of this oily substance. 
• Slang Something, such as money or influence, that facilitates the attainment of an object or a desire: accepted some grease to fix the outcome of the race. 

greased, greas·ing, greas·es - tr.verb

• To coat, smear, or soil with grease: greased the pie pan. 
• To lubricate with grease. 
• To facilitate the progress of. 
• Slang To kill. See Regional Note at greasy. 
• Idiom: grease (someone's) palm/hand 
• Slang To bribe.

tucked, tuck·ing, tucks- verb tr.

• To make one or more folds in: tucked the pleats before sewing the hem. 
• To gather up and fold, thrust, or turn in so as to secure or confine: She tucked her scarf into her blouse. 
• a. To put in a snug spot. b. To put in an out-of-the-way, snug place: a cabin that was tucked among the pines. c. To store in a safe spot; save: tuck away a bit of lace; tuck away millions. 
• a. To draw in; contract: He tucked his chin into his chest. b. Sports To bring (a body part) into a tuck position.

tuck - noun

• The act of tucking. 
• A flattened pleat or fold, especially a very narrow one stitched in place. 
• Nautical The part of a ship's hull under the stern where the ends of the bottom planks come together. 
• Sports a. A bodily position used in some sports, such as diving, in which the knees are bent and the thighs are drawn close to the chest, with the hands often clasped around the shins. b. A position in skiing in which the skier squats while holding the poles parallel to the ground and under the arms. 
• Chiefly British Food, especially sweets and pastry. 
• Phrasal Verbs: tuck away/into Informal To consume (food) heartily. tuck in To make (a child, for example) secure in bed for sleep, especially by tucking bedclothes into the bed.

duffel - noun

• A blanket fabric made of low-grade woolen cloth with a nap on both sides. 
• Clothing and other personal gear carried by a camper.

flea - noun

• Any of various small, wingless, bloodsucking insects of the order Siphonaptera that have legs adapted for jumping and are parasitic on warm-blooded animals. 
• Any of various small crustaceans that resemble or move like fleas, such as the water flea. 
• Idiom: a flea in (one's) ear An annoying hint or a stinging rebuke.

recluse - noun

• A person who withdraws from the world to live in seclusion and often in solitude. 

recluse - adjective

• Withdrawn from the world; reclusive. voyage

ribbing - noun

• Ribs considered as a group. 
• An arrangement of ribs, as in a boat. 
• Informal The act or an instance of joking or teasing.

tilt·ed, tilt·ing, tilts -  v.tr.

• To cause to slope, as by raising one end; incline: tilt a soup bowl; tilt a chair backward. 
• 2. a. To aim or thrust (a lance) in a joust. b. To charge (an opponent); attack. 
• 3. To forge with a tilt hammer.

v.intr.

• To slope; incline. See Synonyms at slant. 
• To favor one side over another in a dispute; lean: "His views tilt unmistakably to the Arab position" (William Safire). 
• a. To fight with lances; joust. b. To engage in a combat or struggle; fight: tilting at injustices. 

tilt - noun

• The act of tilting or the condition of being tilted. 
• a. An inclination from the horizontal or vertical; a slant: adjusting the tilt of a writing table. b. A sloping surface, as of the ground. 
• a. A tendency to favor one side in a dispute: the court's tilt toward conservative rulings. b. An implicit preference; a bias: "pitilessly illuminates the inaccuracies and tilts of the press" (Nat Hentoff). 
• a. A medieval sport in which two mounted knights with lances charged together and attempted to unhorse one another. b. A thrust or blow with a lance. 
• A combat, especially a verbal one; a debate. 
• A tilt hammer. 
• New England See seesaw. 
• See Regional Note at teeter-totter. 
• Idiom: at full tilt Informal At full speed: a tank moving at full tilt. 

pivot - noun

• A short rod or shaft on which a related part rotates or swings. 
• A person or thing on which something depends or turns; the central or crucial factor. 
• The act of turning on or as if on a pivot. 
• Basketball a. A position taken by an offensive player usually facing away from the basket near the foul line to relay passes, attempt a shot, or set screens. b. The stationary foot around which the ball handler is allowed to pivot without dribbling. 

piv·ot·ed, piv·ot·ing, piv·ots - verb

• To mount on, attach by, or provide with a pivot or pivots. 
• To cause to rotate, revolve, or turn. 
• v.intr. To turn on or as if on a pivot: