Vocabulary list.

Technology and Progress

52

Sasha Nikolaeva,

Nouns
Attribute , a property, quality, or feature belonging to or
representative of a person or thing
o Organisational ability is an essential attribute for a good manager.
Computation , ; a calculation involving numbers or quantities
o By computation, I must be at least a hundred and fifty years old.
Computing ; the activity of using computers and writing
programmes for them
o Developments in mathematics and computing.
Cubicle , a partially or totally enclosed section of a room, as in a dormitory
o I was getting undressed in one of the cubicles.
Fad , ; an intense but short-lived fashion; craze (informal)
o The latest/newest fad.
Fugitive a person who flees
o Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were fugitives from justice.
Node an interconnection point on a computer network
o Source/destination node.
Pursuit ; when you follow someone or something to try to catch them
o The robbers fled the scene of the crime, with the police in hot pursuit.
Replica an exact copy of an object
o Each was the replica of the other in everything except colour.
Route the sequence of hosts, routers, bridges, gateways, and other devices that network traffic takes, or
could take, from its source to its destination
o How to trace route from your computer?
Subscriber , a person who receives a publication regularly by paying in
o I am a new subscriber to this podcast.
Technophobe a person who fears, dislikes, or avoids new technology
o Even technophobes will find this new software simple to use.
Traffic the messages or signals transmitted through a communications system
o Data traffic between remote workstations.
Wiring the system of wires that carry electricity in a building
o The club closed after the fire brigade declared its wiring to be unsafe.

Adjectives
Conceivable , ; capable of being understood, believed, or imagined; possible
o It's conceivable the hospital made a mistake.
Crestfallen , , dejected, depressed, or disheartened
o He looked crestfallen at their decision.
Detached , ; separated
o He is a detached observer of his own actions.
Far-fetched , , improbable in nature; unlikely
o Far-fetched arguments.
Foldable capable of being folded up and stored
o A foldable bed.
Impending , , unpleasant or unwanted, that is going to happen soon
o The storm was impending.
Indispensable , absolutely necessary; essential
o Indispensable to life.
Insolvent , bankrupt.
o The company became insolvent.
Mundane , , everyday, ordinary, or banal
o Mundane matters such as paying bills and shopping for food do not interest her.

 On-board , on or in a ship, boat, aeroplane, or other vehicle

o In the future, cars equipped with on-board computers will be able to detect and avoid traffic jams
automatically.
Outlandish ; grotesquely unconventional in appearance, habits, etc
o This idea is not as outlanidish as it sounds.
Unbreachable not able to be breached or overcome
o A virtually unbreachable position.

Verbs
To blow away to remove (files and directories) from permanent storage, generally by
accident
o He reformatted the wrong partition and blew away last night's netnews.
To break off , , to become severed
o The fuselage had broken off just behind the pilots seat.
To cater (to) , to try to satisfy a need, especially one which is not popular
or not generally acceptable
o This legislation simply caters to racism.
To convert ; to change in form, character, or opinion
o If two chemicals are put together and heated, they can be converted into a completely different substance.
To detonate (let off/set off) () to (cause something to) explode
o The device detonated unexpectedly.
To dial = dial up , to operate a telephone or make a telephone call to someone
o You just dial up Easynet, like any other telephone service, and enter a password.
To disintegrate (), () to break or be broken into fragments or constituent parts;
shatter
o The spacecraft disintegrated as it entered the Earth's atmosphere.
To dispose , ; to get rid of someone or something or deal with something
so that the matter is finished
o Well, that disposes of the difficulty of choosing a holiday place.
To emit , to send out a beam, noise, smell or gas
o The machine emits a high-pitched sound when you press the button.
To expand , to increase in size, number or importance, or to make something
increase in this way
o The air in the balloon expands when heated.
To frown upon , to have a dislike (of); look disapprovingly (upon)
o The government frowns upon any waste of taxpayers' money.
To install to put a computer program onto a computer so that the computer can use it
o Andrew, can you help me install this software?
To insulate , to cover and surround something with a material or substance in order to
stop heat, sound or electricity from escaping or entering
o You can insulate a house against heat loss by having the windows double-glazed.
To link (up) , ; to make a connection between two or more people, things or ideas
o She links up and maintains contact with various outside camera units, reporters, etc
To mull over , to think carefully about something for a long time
o I need a few days to mull things over before I decide if I'm taking the job.
To operate , to (cause to) work, be in action or have an effect
o How do you operate the remote control unit?
To originate , , to come from a particular place, time, situation, etc
o Although the technology originated in the UK, it has been developed in the US.
To put out , to make something that is burning stop burning
o Firefighters have been called to put out the fire in the city centre.
To reconcile , to find a way in which two situations or beliefs that are opposed to each other
can agree and exist together
o It is sometimes difficult to reconcile science and religion.
To regain ; to take or get possession of something again
o She made an effort to regain her self-control.

 To relay , , to repeat something you have heard, or to broadcast a signal,

message or programme on television or radio
o TV pictures of the war were relayed around the world by satellite.
To supersede ; , to take the place of (something old-fashioned); to replace
o Most of the old road has been superseded by the great Interstate highways.
To withhold (from) , to refuse to give something or to keep back something
o During the trial, the prosecution was accused of withholding crucial evidence from the defence.
Computer sharing network a collection of hardware components and computers
interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information
o A resource computer sharing network consists of autonomous, independent computer systems.
Computer time , the time required for an electronic computer to complete
a certain set of computational operations
o Algorithm to economise the computer time requirement in the calculation.
Daring decision brave decision
o From Courageous Conversations to Daring Decisions.
Electronic postal service service providing the distribution of letters by
electronic means from one computer user to one or more recipients via a network
o The electronic postal service handles billions of items every day.
Genetic enhancement the use of genetic engineering to modify a person's
non-pathological human traits
o The high cost of genetic enhancement could prevent all but the wealthy from gaining access to enhancement
procedures.
High capacity ; a high amount that can be contained or
produced
o The need for expensive storage and separate high capacity networks.
Host machine a computer with a virtual machine installed on it, running as the host for the
virtual machine
o A host machine may have more than one virtual machines installed on it.
Internet backbone high-speed networks that carry Internet traffic
o The Internet backbone is a conglomeration of multiple, redundant networks owned by numerous companies.
Mailing list ; a list of the names and addresses of people to whom
advertising matter, information, or other material may be mailed regularly
o In legitimate (non-spam) mailing lists, individuals can subscribe or unsubscribe themselves.
Public domain ; the state of belonging or being available to the
public as a whole, and therefore not subject to copyright
o The state of their marriage has been put into the public domain.
Technical advancement , the development or improvement of technology
o The fast technological and technical advancement produces fast changing trends in website design.
Dexterously , ; , with technical skill, skillfully
o The young wife worked easily, merrily, and dexterously.
Irrevocably ; in a manner that shows that something is impossible to change
o I remained firmly and irrevocably fixed in my first resolution.
Up and running in operation; functioning
o The new computer is up and running.
Give or take , - to within a specified amount
o It will take you ten hours to go, give or take a few minutes.
Under surveillance , under close observation, especially of a suspected spy or
criminal
o The police have kept the nightclub under surveillance because of suspected illegal drug activity.
Down to the ground (informal) , completely; totally
o That suits me down to the ground.
De rigueur , required by etiquette or current
fashion
o T-shirts now seem almost de rigueur in the West End.

 Few and far between , infrequent

o Flats which are both comfortable and reasonably priced are few and far between.
Odd one out () a person or thing differing from all other members of a particular group or set in
some way
o She was always the odd one out at school - she didn't have many friends.
The other way around in the opposite position or direction
o It was he who was attacking her, not the other way around.
In person , with the personal presence or action of the individual specified
o My only wish is that I could have met him in person.
In tatters ; () , badly torn, badly damaged or
completely spoiled
o After the newspaper story appeared his reputation was in tatters.
Off the hook (of a telephone receiver) not on its rest, and so preventing incoming calls (
)
o Things got so busy that at times I would take my phone off the hook just to get finished.
Suit yourself (), [] ! ! an expression used either humorously or angrily
to mean 'do what you want to do'
o Im not going to help you. Suit yourself.
Not to have a leg to stand on ; to be in a situation where you
cannot prove something
o If you haven't got a witness, you haven't got a leg to stand on.
Not to lift a finger , not to make the slightest effort to do
something, especially to help someone
o He never once lifted a finger to get Jimmy released from prison.
Not to move a muscle , to be completely motionless
o He stood without moving a muscle, unable to believe what his eyes saw so plainly.
Not to put a foot wrong not to make a mistake in performing an action
o He never puts a foot wrong.
Not to turn a hair to not show any emotion when you are told something bad or when
something bad happens
o I was expecting him to be horrified when he heard the cost but he didn't turn a hair.
To assert oneself ; ; to behave or
speak in a confident and forceful manner
o It was time to assert himself.
To commit oneself to assume (undertake) a commitment (an obligation)
o To commit oneself to a period of employment, education, or in the armed forces.
To help oneself to smth , , to take something without permission
o He helped himself to the wages she had brought home.
To lend itself ; to possess the right characteristics or qualities for
o The novel lends itself to filming.
To put/lift a block on , to prevent from doing smth
o They put a block on his phone again!