English Synonyms and Antonyms Part 180

Hesiod exhorted the husbandman to ---- for a harvest, but to do so with his hand upon the plow.

I kneel, and then ---- her blessing.

PRECARIOUS (page 282).

QUESTIONS.

1. To what is the term _uncertain_ applied? 2. What did _precarious_ originally signify? How is it now used, and how does it differ from _uncertain_?

EXAMPLES.

... Thou know'st, great son, The end of war's ----.

Life seems to be ---- in proportion to its value.

PRECEDENT (page 282).

QUESTIONS.

1. What is a _precedent_? 2. How does _case_ fall short of the meaning of _precedent_? 3. What is an _obiter dictum_? How does it differ from a _precedent_?

EXAMPLES.

Where freedom broadens slowly down From ---- to ----.

Let us consider the reason of the ----, for nothing is law that is not reason.

PREDESTINATION (page 282).

QUESTIONS.

1. What is _predestination_? 2. How does _fate_ differ from _predestination_? 3. What does _necessity_ signify in the philosophical sense? 4. What is _foreknowledge_? Does it involve _foreordination_ or _predestination_?

EXAMPLES.

For ---- has wove the thread of life with pain.

All high truth is the union of two contradictories. Thus ---- and free-will are opposites; and the truth does not lie between these two, but in a higher reconciling truth which leaves both true.

PREJUDICE (page 283).

QUESTIONS.

1. What is a _presumption_? On what is it founded? 2. On what are _prejudice_ and _prepossession_ based? How do these two words differ from each other?

EXAMPLES.

When the judgment's weak, the ---- is strong.

The ---- is always in favor of what exists.

His fine features, manly form, and perfect manners awakened an instant ---- in his favor.

PRETENSE (page 283).

QUESTIONS.

1. What is a _pretense_? How does it differ from a _pretext_? 2. What is a _ruse_?

EXAMPLES.

The claim of a stronger nation to protect a weaker has commonly been but a ---- for conquest.

It is not poverty so much as ---- that hara.s.ses a ruined man--the struggle between a proud mind and an empty purse.

The independent English n.o.bility conspired to make an insurrection, and to support the prince's ----s.

PREVENT (page 284).

QUESTIONS.

1. What is the original meaning of _prevent_? 2. What word is now commonly used in that sense? 3. What is the meaning of _obviate_?

_preclude_? 4. How is _prevent_ at present used?

EXAMPLES.