extenu'ation
World English Dictionary
extenuate (ɪkˈstɛnjʊˌeɪt) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | to represent (an offence, a fault, etc) as being less serious than it appears, as by showing mitigating circumstances |
| 2. | to cause to be or appear less serious; mitigate |
| 3. | to underestimate or make light of |
| 4. | archaic |
| a. to emaciate or weaken | |
| b. to dilute or thin out | |
| [C16: from Latin extenuāre to make thin, from tenuis thin, frail] | |
| ex'tenuating | |
| —adj | |
| extenu'ation | |
| —n | |
| ex'tenuator | |
| —n | |
| ex'tenuatory | |
| —adj | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
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Extenu'ation
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
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