< V > TOEFL Vocabulary (177)

Routine (noun) 

a sequence of actions regularly followed; a fixed unvarying program

This is important in sports such as track and field and football, as well as routine

activities such as lifting groceries or moving furniture.

Rubbish (noun) 

waste material; refuse or litter  

It lays its eggs in rubbish heaps, rotting trees trunks, sawdust, and other vegetative

matter.

Rubble (noun) 

broken fragments, especially of a building

During the San Francisco earthquake at the beginning of the 20th century, many

buildings were reduced to nothing more but a pile of rubble.

Rudimentary (adjective) 

involving or limited to basic principles To show why the chimpanzees signaling system is not homologous to human language,

Zachary says that chimpanzees require massive regimented teaching sequences

contrived by humans to acquire quite rudimentary abilities.

Rule out (verb) 

to keep from being admitted, included, or considered

Eventually, experimental tests by Army Majors William Gorgas and Walter Reed ruled

out dirt and poor sanitation conditions as causes of Yellow Fever, and a mosquito was

the suspected carrier.

Run (verb) 

to do in a formal manner or according to prescribed ritual: do

Picking up on Safronov's general ideas, Hartmann and Davis ran calculations of the rate

of growth of the 2nd-largest, 3rd largest, etc., bodies in the general vicinity of Earth, as

the Earth itself was growing. 

Runoff (noun) 

the portion of precipitation on land that ultimately reaches streams often with dissolved or 

suspended material 

The ground is completely saturated, so everything is runoff. We could have flash floods

just about any time.

Rural (adjective) 

relating to or characteristic of the countryside rather than the town

Marriage patterns in rural Turkey are noticeably influenced by endogamous

preferences within both villages and kinship groups.

Rush (verb) 

move or act with urgent haste; transport or produce with urgent haste

In the mid-1870s, gold was discovered, and press reports brought a rush of prospectors.

Rustle (verb) 

to act or move with energy or speed; to forage food

The big ears of a bat detect the returning echoes, as well as the sounds of prey, such as

insects rustling in the leaves.