100 Words Every High School Freshman Should Know

By Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries

Following the success of 100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know, the editors of the American Heritage® Dictionaries have developed this new book of 100 words tailored especially to high school freshmen. This second book in the 100 Words series focuses on the kinds of words that a successful middle school graduate can learn from rigorous coursework in a variety of subjects and that nearly every freshman will encounter over the course of the school year.

The words have been chosen with various criteria in mind. Some represent key concepts in important areas of the curriculum, while others are more familiar in meaning but present challenges of spelling or usage. All are words that students can expect to see regularly in their high school reading and beyond. And each word is fully defined as well as shown in typical contexts with example sentences and quotations, many of which are taken from award-winning authors such as Harper Lee, George Orwell, Katherine Paterson, and John Knowles.

Together, these 100 words represent the increasingly sophisticated and complex vocabulary that freshmen must master as they continue their education at the next level. To learn them is not only to gain useful knowledge — it is to step into a broader world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Sep 27, 2016
• ISBN: 9780547350240

Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries

The Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries are a team of professional lexicographers with advanced degrees in various scholarly fields. The editors familiarize themselves with the vocabulary in specific subject areas, collect materials on new developments and usage, and work with expert consultants to ensure that the content of our publications is as accurate and as up-to-date as possible.

Book preview

title page

Contents

---

Title Page

Contents

Copyright

Staff

Preface

Guide to the Entries

Pronunciation Guide

Pronunciation Key

One Hundred Words Every High School Freshman Should Know

Exercises to Improve and Enrich Your Vocabulary

THE 100 WORDS ® is a registered trademark of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Copyright © 2004 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

All rights reserved.

No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law. Address inquiries to Reference Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 222 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116.

Visit our websites: hmhco.com and ahdictionary.com

ISBN-13: 978-0-544-79118-3

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGED THE PRINT EDITION AS FOLLOWS:

100 words every high school freshman should know / by the editors of the American heritage dictionaries.

p. cm.

ISBN 0-618-44379-7

1. Vocabulary—Juvenile literature. I. Title: One hundred words every high school freshman should know.

PE1449.A144 2004

428.1—dc22

2003067539

Drawings on pages 14 (top) and 44–45 by Robin Storesund.

Drawing on page 14 (bottom) by Academy Artworks.

Drawing on page 25 by Laurel Cook Lhowe.

Cover design by Christopher Moisan ® Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

eISBN 978-0-547-35026-4

v1.0916

EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE

American Heritage® Dictionaries

MARGERY S. BERUBE, Vice President, Publisher of Dictionaries

JOSEPH P. PICKETT, Vice President, Executive Editor

DAVID R. PRITCHARD, Editorial Project Director

STEVEN R. KLEINEDLER, Senior Editor

SUSAN SPITZ, Editor

VALI TAMM, Editor

KIRSTEN PATEY HURD, Associate Editor

PATRICK TAYLOR, Associate Editor

UCHENNA C. IKONNÉ, Assistant Editor

Preface

The editors of the American Heritage dictionaries are pleased to present the second book in our 100 Words series, 100 Words Every High School Freshman Should Know. The words we’ve chosen are ones that students entering high school should have mastered or are likely to encounter in their studies during their freshman year based on our analysis of textbooks and vocabulary books used in grades seven and eight. The items constitute a well-balanced mix of terms from A to Z, combining straightforward vocabulary items, such as eclectic, formidable, and impertinent, with words taken directly from areas of study, such as polygon and ellipse from mathematics and antibody and marsupial from biology.

Entries, based on the content of the American Heritage dictionaries, are presented in an expanded layout that is easy to read and comprehend. In addition to the definitions, we have included additional example sentences to provide greater context. Similarly, we show quotations from a mix of widely assigned works by contemporary authors like Gary Paulsen (Hatchet), Maya Angelou (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings), and John Knowles (A Separate Peace) as well as classic novelists such as Charlotte Brontë (Jane Eyre), Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist), and Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland). Engaging notes provide background information for some of the scientific vocabulary and delve into the fascinating histories of many other words. To encourage study skills, we have provided exercises at the end of this book for improving vocabulary and encouraging active use of the dictionary.

The first book in the 100 Words series, 100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know, has generated an enormous amount of interest—visitors to our website, www.ahdictionary.com, have viewed the selected words