< V > TOEFL Vocabulary (190)

Stretching (verb) 

pull an object in different directions

Increasing body heat also reduces the risk of muscular damage when stretching that

can happen to 'cold' muscles.

   

Striated (verb) 

to mark with a line or band of different color or texture 

To the east of the Amargosa Range is the Amargosa Desert, striated by the wide washes

of the Amargosa River which intermittently flows south from Beatty, Nevada, through

Death Valley Junction, curving to the west and then north to enter Death Valley.

Strife (noun) 

a state of disagreement and disharmony

The late 1780's were years of great strife on the Island of Hawaii. Kamehameha, who

later became the first king of the Hawaiian Islands, was at war with his rival Keoua.

Strike (noun) 

to set upon with violence force  

More important, the records allow researchers to predict the impact of significant events

from volcanic eruptions to global warming that could strike us today. 

Strip (verb) 

to remove clothing, covering, or surface matter from; to deprive of possessions

But the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) says the new rules would strip overtime from

millions of other middle-income jobholders.

Stroke (noun)  

sudden diminution or loss of consciousness, sensation, and voluntary motion caused by 

rupture or obstruction (as by a clot) of an artery of the brain  

Insufficient angiogenesis can occur following stroke.

Stumble (verb) 

to make an error

Too many job seekers stumble through interviews as if the questions are coming out of

left field. 

        

Subdivisions (noun) 

one of the parts into which something is divided

Another way of identifying the thesis is to ask, "What is the unifying principle of this

essay"? Or "What idea does everything in this essay talk about"? Or "Under what single

main statement could all the subdivisions fit"?

Subdue (verb) 

to make or become less severe or extreme

Intent on using the land for raising cattle and growing crops, early pioneers did not

subdue nature’s rawness. 

Subliminal (adjective) 

existing or functioning outside the area of conscious awareness

In 1957, a controversy developed in the United States over subliminal stimuli in which a

movie theater over a period of six weeks flashed messages for 1/3,000 of a second:

“Hungry? Eat popcorn!” A sixty percent increase in the sale of popcorn was reported.