Confusing Words Clarified: Group L; Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs, Synonyms, Polysemes, etc. +
(lists of "L" sections that are organized into what for some people are confusing groups of words)
If you have any problems understanding the pronunciation symbols, go to this Pronunciation Chart for clarifications.
2. Soil which is a mixture of clay, sand, and silt: The gardener was happy with the new loam for the flower beds.
The lone farmer went to the bank to ask for a loan so he could purchase some loam for his flower beds and field crops.
Green beans are something Todd will loathe; however, because he is a guest for dinner, he is loath to say anything about it.
2. Serving or representing a limited and specific area: Lenora tries to buy local produce during the summer and not any vegetables and fruit from other countries.
The famous local author wrote an excellent description of the locale of the mining village.
2. A gate which closes off a section of a waterway, such as a canal, in which vessels in transit are raised or lowered by raising or lowering the water level of that part: After Shelby and Fred paid their fees, the master of the lock allowed them to move their boat into the lock and raised them to the next level of the river.
3. A ringlet or small bunch of hair: Craig carried a lock of Estella's hair to remind himself how much he missed her.
The controller of the lock used an electric key to unlock the lock between the river and the loch.
2. Gates used in waterway navigation, between sections of water of different heights, for lowering or raising watercraft: The tourists entered a series of locks on the river to travel from one lake to the next.
3. A person's hair: People couldn't help but appreciate, or envy, Marissa's curly locks.
2. Liquid oxygen, especially when used as a rocket fuel oxidizer or for medical treatment [l(liquid) + ox(yen)]: LOX is a common liquid oxidizer propellant for spacecraft rocket applications, usually in combination with liquid hydrogen or kerosene.
The dermatologist used lox to get rid of the warts on Susan's feet.
The fish dealer kept the lox behind the doors with special locks.
2. One of several hard wood, leguminous trees: Marla has a locust in her garden to provide shade.
The locus of the invasion of the locust, and its multitudes of relatives, was the grain fields and each tree that is a locust which grows along the river.
2. To appear in an impressively large or great form: The magnificent mountains loom above the little valley below.
3. To happen soon: A workers' strike is about to loom, since a raise in wages for the workers has been turned down again.
4. To have great importance or influence: Rising tuition costs loom large in the minds of many parents and those students who want to go to colleges or universities.
Before Toyota started to manufacture automobiles, the company developed, and used, an automatic loom invented by Sakichi Toyoda, founder of the Toyota Group.
The automatic loom was a machine that could spin thread for cloth and it weaved textiles automatically. In those early days, back-strap looms, ground looms, and high-warp looms were used to manually weave cloth.
In 1896, Sakichi Toyoda invented Japan's first self-powered loom called the "Toyoda Power Loom". Later, he incorporated numerous revolutionary inventions into his looms, including the weft-breakage automatic stopping device, which automatically stopped the loom when a thread breakage was detected, the warp supply device, and the automatic shuttle changer.
Since the loom stopped when a problem arose, no defective products were produced. This meant that a single operator could be put in charge of numerous looms, resulting in a tremendous improvement in productivity.
2. Anything shaped like a crescent: There are examples of figures that are lune in shape, for example, a half-moon!
Trish spent the day working on her loom and was so tired that she walked to the window where she could see a loon swimming in the lake. As she watched, a man with a hawk on a lune strolled along the beach. Trish thought that the man must be a complete loon to be walking in such a strong wind.
2. Unrestrained: "Foot loose and fancy free" is an expression to suggest someone is unattached and can enjoy him or herself.
3. Not compact or dense: The loose gravel on the road made driving difficult.
4. Descriptive of a free interpretation: That is not a literal, but a loose translation of the President’s speech.
2. To fail in keeping something under constraint or to confine; failure to maintain a thing: Myrna is afraid that she will lose control and start to cry at the movie.
When Jill is hiking, she is always afraid that she will lose her balance and fall.
3. Failure to stay focused on a subject or idea: Jack asked, "Did Lucy lose your attention when she was speaking?"An example of how some people misuse lose and loose:
"I just got my kindle 2 last week and it is wonderful for reading. I suffer from double vision and even with corrective lenses I often loose my place in print books. The Kindle allows me to increase the font size so that I can read easily and fast without loosing my place."
It is easy to lose one's keys; especially, if they are dropped on the loose gravel in the driveway. When that happens, Wayne is always afraid that he will lose his temper and give a loose rendition of a speech that is filled with indecorous (improper) terms.
2. A casual expression referring to gifts which can be taken away by children from a party: Each child had a bag of loot to take home after the birthday party.
2. Clay or a similar substance which, when packed around pipes, etc., is used to protect against the leakage of liquid or gas: When Henry, the plumber, had completed his work, he coated the nipples and joints with lute to prevent moisture from leaking out of them.
Included in the loot from the break in was an ancient lute which was worth a fortune.
2. The small distance between the eyes of a bird and the bill or similarly in reptiles or fish: The scientist developed specialized instruments to measure the lore of the parrot in comparison to the lore of snakes.
2. To let down; to reduce in height: It is time to lower the flag, not to raise it!
2. A comparative description of rank, order, or physical location that is under or below something or someone else: Jillian's chair is lower than the others because she is short and her feet would not touch the floor otherwise.
The lore of the lower river valley was rich and varied.
The looter took a valuable latten plate and tried to sell it for lucre before he was caught by the police.
Wearing heavy lugubrious clothing on a hot day is not salubrious for one's life.
When he tried to lift a heavy load of lumber, he pulled a muscle in the lumbar area of his back and so he had to go for physiotherapy.
The people standing on the bridge could see the crocodile lunge, or plunge, at its prey.
2. To move forward suddenly: Phillip made a desperate lunge to catch the ball.To monitor the health of Janine's lung, which had a touch of pneumonia, the doctor listened to it before and after he had her lunge forward and backward several times.
Sabina feels very luxurious whenever she goes to the spa.
Whenever Mark went to the luxurious spa, he noticed the luxuriant growth of tropical flowers in the garden.
Confusing Words: Homonyms, Homophones, and Homographs; explained and demonstrated.
Confusing Words: Units, Groups A to Z.
Confusing Words: Vocabulary Quizzes Listed.
