Held by the mob – The Hindu (Jan 26, 2018)

Held by the mob – The Hindu (Jan 26, 2018)

The attack on a bus carrying schoolchildren on Wednesday must serve to jolt State governments across north India out of their hands-off approach to acts of vandalism by way of protests against the film Padmaavat. For further reading, visit “The Hindu”.

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Courtesy: The Hindu

Word List-1 (To Improve English Vocabulary)

1. stand up to (phrasal verb) – defy, confront, resist/challenge.
2. vigilantism (noun) –  unofficial way of punishing crime by a self-appointed group of people.
3. jolt (noun) – shock, surprise, stun/shake.
4. hands-off (adjective) – non-interfering, non-restrictive, liberal/permissive.
5. presence of mind (phrase) – composure, self-control, nerve.
6. steer (verb) – guide, conduct, direct.
7. out of harm’s way (phrase) – protected from danger, sheltered/guarded, in a safe place.
8. foot soldier (noun) – a person works at lowest levels of an organisation/field who has no authority, but does important work.
9. purport (verb) – claim, profess, pretend.
10. uphold (verb) – maintain, preserve, protect.
11. duck (verb) – bob down, bend down, bow/stoop down (lower the head to avoid blow).
12. look away (phrasal verb) – avert/avoid/turn gaze away from someone/something.
13. abdication (noun) – disowning, rejection, refusal/avoidance.
14. in the face of (phrase) – when confronted with.
15. ragtag (adjective) – untidy, disorganized, disreputable.
16. heed (verb) – pay attention to, take notice of, consider.
17. bluff (noun) – deception, pretence, sham.
18. blurriness (noun) – indistinctness, unclearness.
19. rampage (verb) – rush wildly, run amok, go berserk.
20. hold to ransom (phrase) – seize, capture, run away with.
21. iterate (verb) – repeat, say again, restate/reiterate.
22. of the sort (phrase) – something like (just) mentioned.
23. outrage (noun) – fury, anger; violation/affront.
24. consolidate (verb) – strengthen, secure, reinforce/fortify.
25. credentials (noun) –  experience, history; aspect/quality.
26. hindsight (noun) – the ability to understand a situation or event only after it has happened.
27. given (noun) – established fact, reality, certainty.
28. sobering (adjective) –  practical, reasonable, sensible/thoughtful.
29. shortcomings (noun) – fault, flaw, imperfection/defect.
30. byword (noun) – perfect example of, classic case of, model of.

Note:   

1. 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/.

2. Definitions (elementary level) & Synonyms provided for the words above are my personal work and not that of Oxford University Press. Tentative definitions/meanings are provided for study purpose only and they may vary in different context. Use it with the corresponding article published on the source (website) via the link provided. 

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