The Editorial Vocab - 12th April 2015 (International Day for Human Space Flight)

Soaring
  •  (noun)
    1. the activity of flying a glider.  [syn]  glide, gliding, sail-planing, sailing
  • (adjective)
    1. ascending to a level markedly higher than the usual.  "soaring prices".  [similar]  high
    2. of imposing height; especially standing out above others.  "an eminent peak".  "lofty mountains".  "the soaring spires of the cathedral".  "towering icebergs".  [syn]  eminent, lofty, towering;  [similar]  high
Crisis
  • (noun)
    1. an unstable situation of extreme danger or difficulty.  "they went bankrupt during the economic crisis"
    2. a crucial stage or turning point in the course of something.  "after the crisis the patient either dies or gets better"
Beleaguer
  • (verb)
    1. annoy persistently.  "the children teased the boy because of his stammer".  [syn]  tease, badger, pester, bug
    2. surround so as to force to give up.  "the Turks besieged Vienna".  [syn]  besiege, surround, hem in, circumvent 
Assail
  • (verb)
    1. attack someone physically or emotionally.  "the mugger assaulted the woman".  "nightmares assailed him regularly".  [syn]  assault, set on, attack
    2. launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with "Hitler attacked Poland on September 1, 1939 and started World War II".  "Serbian forces assailed Bosnian towns all week".  [syn]  attack
    3. attack in speech or writing.  "the editors of the left-learning paper attacked the new House Speaker".  [syn]  attack, round, lash out, snipe, assault
Gloomy
  • (adjective)
    1. depressingly dark.  "the gloomy forest".  "the glooming interior of an old inn".  [syn]  glooming, gloomful, sulky;  [similar]  dark
    2. filled with melancholy and despondency.  "gloomy at the thought of what he had to face".  "gloomy predictions".  "a gloomy silence".  "took a grim view of the economy".  "the darkening mood".  "lonely and blue in a strange city".  "depressed by the loss of his job".  "a dispirited and resigned expression on her face".  "downcast after his defeat".  "feeling discouraged and downhearted".  [syn]  grim, blue, depressed, dispirited, down, downcast, downhearted, down in the mouth, low, low-spirited;  [similar] dejected
    3. causing dejection.  "a blue day".  "the dark days of the war".  "a week of rainy depressing weather".  "a disconsolate winter landscape".  "the first dismal dispiriting days of November".  "a dark gloomy day".  "grim rainy weather".  [syn]  blue, dark, dingy, disconsolate, dismal, grim, sorry, drab, drear, dreary;  [similar]  depressing
Mind-blowing
  • (adjective) 
    1. intensely affecting the mind especially in producing hallucinations.  [syn]  mind-bending;  [similar]  psychoactive
    2. intensely affecting the mind or emotions.  "spending a week in the jungle was a mind-blowing experience".  "a mind-blowing horror story";  [similar]  emotional
Spectre
  • (noun)
    1. a ghostly appearing figure.  "we were unprepared for the apparition tat confronted us".  [syn]  apparition, phantom, phantasm, phantasma, fantasm, specter
    2. a mental representation of some haunting experience.  "he looked like he had seen a ghost".  "it aroused specters from his past".  [syn]  ghost, shade, spook, wraith, specter
Conjure
  • (verb)
    1. summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic.  "raise the specter of unemployment".  "he conjured will birds in the air".  "call down the spirits from the mountain".  [syn]  raise, conjure up, invoke, evoke, stir, call down, arouse, bring up, put forward, call forth
    2. ask for or request earnestly.  "the prophet bid all people to become good persons".  [syn]  bid, beseech, entreat, adjure, press
    3. engage in plotting or enter into a conspiracy, swear together.  "they conspired to overthrow the government"  [syn]  conspire, cabal, complot, machinate
Chasm
  • (noun)
    1. a deep opening in the earth's surface.
Chaos
  • (noun)
    1. a state of extreme confusion and disorder.  [syn]  pandemonium, bedlam, topsy-turvydom, topsy-turvyness
    2. the formless and disordered state of matter before the creation of the cosmos.
    3. (Greek mythology) the most ancient of gods; the personification of the infinity of space preceding creating of the universe.
    4. (physics) a dynamical system that is extremely sensitive to its initial conditions.
Manifesto
  • (noun)
    1. a public declaration of intentions (as issued by a political party or government)  [syn]  pronunciamento
Glimmer
  • (noun)
    1. a flash of light (especially reflected light)  [syn]  gleam, gleaming
    2. a sight suggestion or vague understanding.  "he had no inkling what was about to happen".  [syn]  inkling, intimation, glimmering
  • (verb)
    1. shine brightly, like a star or a light.  [syn]  gleam
Cue
  • (noun)
    1. an actor's line that immediately precedes and serves as a reminder for some action or speech.
    2. evidence that helps to solve a problem.  [syn]  clue, clew
    3. a stimulus that provides information about what to do.  [syn]  discriminative stimulus
    4. sports implement consisting of a tapering rod used to strike a cue ball in pool or billiards.  [syn]  cue stick, pool cue, pool stick
  • (verb)
    1. assist (somebody acting or reciting) by suggesting the next words of something forgotten or imperfectly learned.  [syn]  prompt, remind
Fortnight
  • (noun)
    1. a period of fourteen consecutive days.  "most major tennis tournaments last a fortnight".  [syn]  two weeks
Swath
  • (noun)
    1. the space created by the swing of a scythe or the cut of a mowing machine.
    2. a path or strip (as cut by one course of mowing).  [syn]  belt
Nudge
  • (noun)
    1. a slight push or shake.  [syn]  jog
  • (verb)
    1. to push against gently.  "she nudged my elbow when she saw her friend enter the restaurant".  [syn]  poke at, prod
    2. push into action by pestering or annoying gently
Renege
  • (noun)
    1. the mistake of not following suit when able to do so.  [syn]  revoke
  • (verb) 
    1. fail to fulfill a promise or obligation.  "she backed out of her promise".  [syn]  renege on, renegue on, go back on
Relent
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