New Vocabulary 1

• inch (v): to move very slowly or in a lot of short stages.

“Senator Barack Obama, inching closer to the Democratic nomination, seized on the occasion while speaking in Navada about the mortgage crisis.”

(“McCain accepts a hand from Bush – with a reservation.” International Herald Tribune, May 28, 2008. http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/28/america/bush.php )


• allude (v): allude to sb/sth; to mention someone or something in an indirect way.

“More than once, though, he alluded to Bush’s “heavy” and “busy” schedule,” which in hingsight perhaps had more significance than might have appeared. (Ibid. )


• munitions (n): military weapons such as guns and bombs.

“A sudden change of British policy by Prime Minister Gordon Brown has lent momentum to negotiations on an international treaty to bun claster munitions and created…”

(“Britain drops opposition to cluster bomb ban.” International Herald Tribune, May 28, 2008. http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/28/europe/cluster.php )


• outright (adv, adj): complete

“The United States has been joined in its outright opposition to the ban.” (Ibid.)


• incursion (n): 1. A sudden attack on or entry into a place, especially across a border. 2. When people involve themselves in another person’s private situation.

“Cluster weapons used by the United States and Britain in Iraq during the invasion of 2003, and by Israel in its incursion into Lebanon in 2006, have been blamed for the death of hundreds of civilian.” (Ibid.)


• signatory (n): a person, organization or country which has signed an agreement.

“…the treaty could still be derailed or diluted by an unresolved dispute over responsibilities and potential legal liabilities of signatory states that co-operate war with nations that have not joined the ban.” (Ibid.)

• snarl (v): (especially dogs) to make a deep rough sound while showing the teeth, usually in anger or (of people) to speak or say something angrily and fiercely.

“Another issue that could snarl negotiations is provisions affecting the stockpiles of cluster munitions at American bases in countries that plan to join the ban, including Britain and Germany.” (Ibid.)