1.
Using
Definition and Synonym clue
a.
description
Sometimes
a writer will restate the meaning or give the synonym of a difficult word
within a sentence, defining it for us. Sometimes when the author uses an
unusual word, the writer provides a definition for that word in the text and
after some unusual words; authors sometimes use a more common synonym for that
word.
Sometimes
the writer will save us the trouble of looking up a word by defining it for us.
Underline the words in the following sentences that signal us that some sort of
a definition is going to follow. Often this kind of definition will not sound
much like a dictionary definition.
b.
Definitions
and Synonym are often signaled by:
or, which is,
that is, also called, also known as, in other words.
c.
Hint
When the unusual word is followed by a comma,
the definition may be right after that comma and if the unusual word is
followed by a comma and the word “or,” then the words that follow are likely
synonyms. The restatement or explanation may be in a different sentence. Read
the sentences before and after the unusual word.
d.
Example
of sentence
I can be quite
irascible; that is, it doesn’t take much to make me angry.
1)
Identify the unfamiliar word.
(we are not sure what the word
irascible means.)
2)
Read to see if there is a signal word.
(we see the phrase that is. What follows may include a
restatement or definition.)
3)
Find the restated information.
(The word that is point to the clause it does not take much to make me
angry.)
4)
Use this information to figure out what the
unfamiliar word means.
(Because the words that is point to a clause about getting
angry easily, we can guess the meaning that irascible must mean “easily
angered.”)
irascible: prone to
outbursts of temper, easily angeredsearch tag context clues, types of context clues, thesis,