< V > TOEFL Vocabulary (155)

Pamphlet (noun) 

a small unbound booklet or leaflet

A pamphlet entitled A Dissertation on the Canon and the Feudal Law and town

instructions denouncing the Stamp Act (1765) marked him as a vigorous, patriotic

penman, and, holding various local offices, he soon became a leader among

Massachusetts radicals.

Paradigm (noun) 

example of a pattern or ideas of particular theories about a given subject

Cognitive Psychology is an empirical science and depends on careful experimental

procedures and paradigms to test theories about these mental processes.

Paralyze (verb) 

to render powerless or motionless by inflicting severe injury; to render helpless, as by 

emotion

The hiker was paralyzed with fear after seeing the mountain lion face to face.

Parameter (noun) 

constant element or factor, especially one serving as a limit or boundary

19th century astronomers made very careful observations of Mercury's orbital

parameters but could not adequately explain those using Newtonian mechanics. 

Parasite (noun) 

an organism living in, with, or on another organism 

A new theory suggests that human hairlessness evolved as a strategy to shed the ticks,

lice, fleas and other parasites that nestle deep in fur.

Pare (verb)  

to diminish or reduce by or as if by trimming off an outside, excess, or irregular part of 

something

Under new CEO Paul Tellier, a proven cost cutter, Bombardier Inc., the parent company

of Bombardier Aerospace, is paring down its operations to become nimbler and more

focused on its core businesses, making trains and planes. 

Parody (noun) 

a false, mocking, or disrespectful imitation of something

Many writers make a distinction between poetic truth and historical truth and attempt,

through the use of parody, to set their boundaries.

Particle (noun) 

a tiny amount

The introduction of more compression causes the new helium particles inside of the core

to collide hard enough so that they can stick together and fuse.

Partisan (adjective) 

showing an inclination for or against something that inhibits impartial judgment

Divisive and partisan politics is quite common among governmental offices in many

countries.

Pass (noun) 

a narrow passage through mountains

Sitting just west of the Nevada boundary in the basin and range district of the Mojave

Desert, Death Valley is all but surrounded by mountain ranges, with a few roads

connecting the valley to the outside world through narrow passes.