Punching above his heavyweight – The Hindu (June 06, 2016)

Punching above his heavyweight – The Hindu (June 06, 2016)

Spectator sport is at its riveting best when the script involves an underdog, virtually down and out, marshalling his last ounce of energy to turn the tables on a fancied opponent. Both within and outside the ring, Muhammad Ali embodied that never-say-die spirit. For further reading, visit “The Hindu”. 

Today’s Words:

1. Riveting (adjective) – compelling, fascinating, engrossing.
2. Underdog (noun) – predicted loser, weaker person/team.
3. Marshal (verb) – gather, collect, arrange, organize, group.
4. Turn the tables (idiom) – to change a situation to get an advantage over a person who had advantage previously.
5. Fancy (verb) – to think someone likely to succeed.
6. Embody (verb) – personify, symbolize, represent.
7. Square off (phrasal verb) – be ready to face/fight/compete.
8. Reigning (adjective) – to mention the most recent winner (of a game/competition).
9. Resilience (noun) – strength, toughness, ability to recover from tough time.
10. Weathered (adjective) – weather-beaten, suffered/damaged by the weather.
11. Last (verb) – go on, continue, withstand.
12. Pounding (noun) – hit/punch something again and again (continuously).
13. Debilitating (adjective) – weakening, to make somebody infirm/feeble.
14. Parkinson’s disease (noun) – a disease which affects someone’s nerve system & weakens muscles and making his limbs to shake.
15. Glib (talk) – simple, fluent and easy talk/speech without any thought/sincerity/carefulness.
16. Confront (verb) – oppose, challenge, resist, tackle.
17. Polemic (noun) – attack, verbal onslaught, argument, criticism.
18. Draft (verb) – to serve for US military compulsorily.
19. Relinquish (verb) – renounce, give up, leave, quit.
20. Conscientious (adjective) – diligent, rigorous, sedulous, meticulous.
21. Exhort (verb) – urge, encourage, spur, pressurize.
22. Transcend (verb) – excel, surpass, exceed, conquer, outshine.

Note:

• Click each one of the words above for their definition, more synonyms, pronunciation, example sentences, phrases, derivatives, origin and etc from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/ .
• Synonyms provided for the words above are my personal work and not that of Oxford University Press.