Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
57 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Citadel
|
a fortress occupying a commanding height.
|
|
Contiguous
|
joined together by common borders.
|
|
Folklore
|
the common traditions and stories of a people.
|
|
Immunity
|
freedom or exemption from some imposition.
|
|
Irrigation
|
watering land artificially, through canals, pipes, or other means.
|
|
loan shark
|
a person who lends money at an exorbitant or illegal rate of interest.
|
|
Nomadic
|
a way of life characterized by frequent movement from place to place for economic sustenance.
|
|
Probationary
|
concerning a period of testing or trial, after which a decision is made based on performance.
|
|
Prophet
|
a person believed to speak with divine power or special gifts, sometimes including predicting the future.
|
|
Reservation
|
public lands designated for use by Indians.
|
|
safety valve
|
anything, such as the American frontier, that allegedly serves as a necessary outlet for built-up pressure, energy, and so on.
|
|
Serfdom
|
the feudal condition of being permanently bound to land owned by someone else.
|
|
Ward
|
someone considered incompetent to manage his or her own affairs and therefore placed under the legal guardianship of another person or group.
|
|
war of attrition
|
form of warfare based on deprivation of food, shelter, and other necessities; if successful, it drives opponents to surrender out of hunger or exposure.
|
|
|
|
|
Censure
|
an official statement of condemnation passed by a legislative body against one of its members or some other official of government. While severe, a censure itself stops short of penalties or expulsion, which is removal from office.
|
|
civil service
|
referring to regular employment by government according to a standardized system of job descriptions, merit qualifications, pay, and promotion, as distinct from political appointees who receive positions based on affiliation and party loyalty.
|
|
Coalition
|
a temporary alliance of political factions or parties for some specific purpose.
|
|
Consensus
|
common or unanimous opinion.
|
|
Contraction
|
in finance, reducing the available supply of money, thus tending to raise interest rates and lower prices.
|
|
Deflation
|
an increase in the value of money in relation to available goods, causing prices to fall.
|
|
fraternal organization
|
a society of men drawn together for social purposes and sometimes to pursue other common goals.
|
|
Kickback
|
the return of a portion of the money received in a sale or contract, often secretly or illegally, in exchange for favors.
|
|
laissez-faire
|
the doctrine of noninterference, especially by the government, in matters of economics or business (literally, "leave alone.")
|
|
lien
|
a legal claim by a lender or another party on a borrower's property as a guarantee against repayment, and prohibiting any sale of the property.
|
|
pork barrel
|
in American politics, government appropriations for political purposes, especially projects designed to please a legislator's local constituency.
|
|
unsecured loans
|
money loaned without identification of collateral (existing assets) to be forfeited in case the borrower defaults on the loan.
|
|
|
|
|
Anarchist
|
political belief that all organized, coercive government is wrong in principle, and that society should be organized solely on the basis of free cooperation.
|
|
Cooperative
|
an organization for producing, marketing, or consuming goods in which the members share the benefits.
|
|
free enterprise
|
an economic system that permits unrestricted entrepreneurial business activity; capitalism.
|
|
Lockout
|
the refusal by an employer to allow employees to work unless they agree to his or terms.
|
|
Plutocracy
|
government by the wealthy.
|
|
Pool
|
in business, an agreement to divide a given market in order to avoid competition.
|
|
Rebate
|
a return of a portion of the amount paid for goods or services.
|
|
regulatory commission
|
in American government, any of the agencies established to control a special sphere of business or other activity; members are usually appointed by the president and confirmed by Congress.
|
|
Social Darwinism
|
philosophical argument, inspired by Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, that competition in a human society produced the "survival of the fittest" and therefore benefited society as a whole. Social Darwinism opposes efforts to regulate competitive practices.
|
|
Socialist
|
political belief in promoting social and economic equality through the ownership and control of the major means of production by the whole community rather than by individuals or corporations.
|
|
Syndicate
|
an association of financiers organized to carry out projects requiring very large amounts of capital.
|
|
Trust
|
a combination of corporations, usually in the same industry, in which stockholders trade their stock to a central board in exchange for trust certificates.
|
|
vertical integration
|
a single company's control of the activities in the process of creating a manufactured product--from raw materials to the selling of the final product.
|
|
yellow dog contract
|
a labor contract in which an employee must agree not to join a union as a condition of holding the job.
|
|
|
|
|
Agnostic
|
one who believes that there can be no human knowledge of any God or gods.
|
|
Assimilation
|
among immigrants, the process of adapting to the new society in which they found themselves.
|
|
behavioral psychology
|
the branch of psychology that examines human action, often considering it more important than mental or inward states.
|
|
Feminist
|
one who promotes complete political, social, and economic equality of opportunity for women.
|
|
Fundamentalism
|
a conservative Protestant who rejects religious modernism and adheres to a strict and literal interpretation of Christian doctrine and Scriptures.
|
|
holding company
|
company that exists to own other companies, usually through controlling interest in their stocks.
|
|
Megalopolis
|
an extensive, heavily populated area, containing several dense urban centers.
|
|
Parochial
|
concerning a religious parish or small district. (By extension, the term is used, often negatively, to refer to narrow or local perspectives as distinct from broad or cosmopolitan outlooks.)
|
|
Pauper
|
a poor person, often one who lives on tax-supported charity.
|
|
Prohibition
|
forbidding by law the manufacture, sale, or consumption of liquor.
|
|
Sweatshop
|
a factory where employees are forced to work long hours under difficult conditions for meager wages.
|
|
Syndicated
|
in journalism, material that is sold by an organization for publication in several newspapers.
|
|
Tenement
|
a multidwelling building, often poor or overcrowded.
|
|
Tycoon
|
a wealthy businessperson, especially one who openly displays power and position.
|