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English Synonyms and Antonyms

<h3>TIP.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>cant,</td><td>dip,</td><td>incline,</td><td>list,</td><td>slope,</td></tr> <tr><td>careen,</td><td>heel over,</td><td>lean,</td><td>slant,</td><td>tilt.</td></tr> </table> To tilt or tip is to throw out of a horizontal position by raising one side or end or lowering the other; the words are closely similar, but tilt suggests more of fluctuation or instability. Slant and slope are said of things somewhat fixed or permanent in a position out of the horizontal or perpendicular; the roof slants, the hill slopes. Incline is a more formal word for tip, and also for slant or slope. To cant is to set slantingly; in many cases tip and cant might be interchanged, but tip is more temporary, often momentary; one tips a pail so that the water flows over the edge; a mechanic cants a table by making or setting one side higher than the other. A vessel careens in the wind; lists, usually, from shifting of cargo, from water in the hold, etc. Careening is always toward one side or the other; listing may be forward or astern as well. To heel over is the same as to careen, and must be distinguished from "keel over," which is to capsize. <hr /> <h3>TIRE.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>exhaust,</td><td>fatigue,</td><td>harass,</td><td>jade,</td><td>wear out,</td><td>weary.</td></tr> <tr><td colspan="6">fag,</td></tr> </table> To tire is to reduce strength in any degree by exertion; one may be tired just enough to make rest pleasant, or even unconsciously tired, becoming aware of the fact only when he ceases the exertion; or, on the other hand, he may be, according to the common phrase, "too tired to stir;" but for this extreme condition the stronger words are commonly used. One who is fatigued suffers from a conscious and painful lack of strength as the result of some overtaxing; an invalid may be fatigued with very slight exertion; when one is wearied, the painful lack of strength is the result of long-continued demand or strain; one is exhausted when the strain has been so severe and continuous as utterly to consume the strength, so that further exertion is for the time impossible. One is fagged by drudgery; he is jaded by incessant repetition of the same act until it becomes increasingly difficult or well-nigh impossible; as, a horse is jaded by a long and unbroken journey. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>invigorate,</td><td>recreate,</td><td>refresh,</td><td>relax,</td><td>relieve,</td><td>repose,</td><td>rest,</td><td>restore.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>TOOL.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>apparatus,</td><td>implement,</td><td>machine,</td><td>utensil,</td></tr> <tr><td>appliance,</td><td>instrument,</td><td>mechanism,</td><td>weapon.</td></tr> </table> A tool is something that is both contrived and used for extending the force of an intelligent agent to something that is to be operated upon. Those things by which pacific and industrial operations are performed are alone properly called tools, those designed for warlike purposes being designated weapons. An instrument is anything through which power is applied and a result produced; in general usage, the word is of considerably wider meaning than tool; as, a piano is a musical instrument. Instrument is the word usually applied to tools used in scientific pursuits; as, we speak of a surgeon's or an optician's instruments. An implement is a mechanical agency considered with reference to some specific purpose to which it is adapted; as, an agricultural implement; implements of war. Implement is a less technical and artificial term than tool. The paw of a tiger might be termed a terrible implement, but not a tool. A utensil is that which may be used for some special purpose; the word is especially applied to articles used for domestic or agricultural purposes; as, kitchen utensils; farming utensils. An appliance is that which is or may be applied to the accomplishment of a result, either independently or as subordinate to something more extensive or important; every mechanical tool is an appliance, but not every appliance is a tool; the traces of a harness are appliances for traction, but they are not tools. Mechanism is a word of wide meaning, denoting any combination of mechanical devices for united action. A machine in the most general sense is any mechanical instrument for the conversion of motion; in this sense a lever is a machine; but in more commonly accepted usage a machine is distinguished from a tool by its complexity, and by the combination and coordination of powers and movements for the production of a result. A chisel by itself is a tool; when it is set so as to be operated by a crank and pitman, the entire mechanism is called a machine; as, a mortising-machine. An apparatus may be a machine, but the word is commonly used for a collection of distinct articles to be used in connection or combination for a certain purpose—a mechanical equipment; as, the apparatus of a gymnasium; especially, for a collection of appliances for some scientific purpose; as, a chemical or surgical apparatus; an apparatus may include many tools, instruments, or implements. Implement is for the most part and utensil is altogether restricted to the literal sense; instrument, machine, and tool have figurative use, instrument being used largely in a good, tool always in a bad sense; machine inclines to the unfavorable sense, as implying that human agents are made mechanically subservient to some controlling will; as, an instrument of Providence; the tool of a tyrant; a political machine. <hr /> <h3>TOPIC.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>division,</td><td>issue,</td><td>motion,</td><td>proposition,</td><td>subject,</td></tr> <tr><td>head,</td><td>matter,</td><td>point,</td><td>question,</td><td>theme.</td></tr> </table> A topic (Gr. topos, place) is a head of discourse. Since a topic for discussion is often stated in the form of a question, question has come to be extensively used to denote a debatable topic, especially of a practical nature—an issue; as, the labor question; the temperance question. In deliberative assemblies a proposition presented or moved for acceptance is called a motion, and such a motion or other matter for consideration is known as the question, since it is or may be stated in interrogative form to be answered by each member with a vote of "aye" or "no;" a member is required to speak to the question; the chairman puts the question. In speaking or writing the general subject or theme may be termed the topic, tho it is more usual to apply the latter term to the subordinate divisions, points, or heads of discourse; as, to enlarge on this topic would carry me too far from my subject; a pleasant drive will suggest many topics for conversation. <hr /> <h3>TRACE.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>footmark,</td><td>impression,</td><td>remains,</td><td>token,</td><td>trail,</td></tr> <tr><td>footprint,</td><td>mark,</td><td>remnant,</td><td>track,</td><td>vestige.</td></tr> <tr><td>footstep,</td><td>memorial,</td><td colspan="3">sign,</td></tr> </table> A memorial is that which is intended or fitted to bring to remembrance something that has passed away; it may be vast and stately. On the other hand, a slight token of regard may be a cherished memorial of a friend; either a concrete object or an observance may be a memorial. A vestige is always slight compared with that whose existence it recalls; as, scattered mounds containing implements, weapons, etc., are vestiges of a former civilization. A vestige is always a part of that which has passed away; a trace may be merely the mark made by something that has been present or passed by, and that is still existing, or some slight evidence of its presence or of the effect it has produced; as, traces of game were observed by the hunter. Compare CHARACTERISTIC. <hr /> <h3>TRANSACT.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>accomplish,</td><td>carry on,</td><td>do,</td><td>perform,</td></tr> <tr><td>act,</td><td>conduct,</td><td>negotiate,</td><td>treat.</td></tr> </table> There are many acts that one may do, accomplish, or perform unaided; what he transacts is by means of or in association with others; one may do a duty, perform a vow, accomplish a task, but he transacts business, since that always involves the agency of others. To negotiate and to treat are likewise collective acts, but both these words lay stress upon deliberation with adjustment of mutual claims and interests; transact, while it may depend upon previous deliberation, states execution only. Notes, bills of exchange, loans, and treaties are said to be negotiated, the word so used covering not merely the preliminary consideration, but the final settlement. Negotiate has more reference to execution than treat; nations may treat of peace without result, but when a treaty is negotiated, peace is secured; the citizens of the two nations are then free to transact business with one another. Compare DO. <hr /> <h3>TRANSACTION.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>act,</td><td>action,</td><td>affair,</td><td>business,</td><td>deed,</td><td>doing,</td><td>proceeding.</td></tr> </table> One's acts or deeds may be exclusively his own; his transactions involve the agency or participation of others. A transaction is something completed; a proceeding is or is viewed as something in progress; but since transaction is often used to include the steps leading to the conclusion, while proceedings may result in action, the dividing line between the two words becomes sometimes quite faint, tho transaction often emphasizes the fact of something done, or brought to a conclusion. Both transactions and proceedings are used of the records of a deliberative body, especially when published; strictly used, the two are distinguished; as, the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London give in full the papers read; the Proceedings of the American Philological Association give in full the business done, with mere abstracts of or extracts from the papers read. Compare ACT; BUSINESS. <hr /> <h3>TRANSCENDENTAL.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>a priori,</td><td>intuitive,</td><td>original,</td><td>primordial,</td><td>transcendent.</td></tr> </table> Intuitive truths are those which are in the mind independently of all experience, not being derived from experience nor limited by it, as that the whole is greater than a part, or that things which are equal to the same thing are equal to one another. All intuitive truths or beliefs are transcendental. But transcendental is a wider term than intuitive, including all within the limits of thought that is not derived from experience, as the ideas of space and time. "Being is transcendental.... As being can not be included under any genus, but transcends them all, so the properties or affections of being have also been called transcendental." K.-F. Vocab. Philos. p. 530. "Transcendent he [Kant] employed to denote what is wholly beyond experience, being neither given as an a posteriori nor a priori element of cognition—what therefore transcends every category of thought." K.-F. Vocab. Philos. p. 531. Transcendental has been applied in the language of the Emersonian school to the soul's supposed intuitive knowledge of things divine and human, so far as they are capable of being known to man. Compare MYSTERIOUS. <hr /> <h3>TRANSIENT.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>brief,</td><td>fleeting,</td><td>fugitive,</td><td>short,</td></tr> <tr><td>ephemeral,</td><td>flitting,</td><td>momentary,</td><td>temporary,</td></tr> <tr><td>evanescent,</td><td>flying,</td><td>passing,</td><td>transitory.</td></tr> </table> Transient and transitory are both derived from the same original source (L. trans, over, and eo, go), denoting that which quickly passes or is passing away, but there is between them a fine shade of difference. A thing is transient which in fact is not lasting; a thing is transitory which by its very nature must soon pass away; a thing is temporary (L. tempus, time) which is intended to last or be made use of but a little while; as, a transient joy; this transitory life; a temporary chairman. Ephemeral (Gr. epi, on, and hemera, day) literally lasting but for a day, often marks more strongly than transient exceeding brevity of duration; it agrees with transitory in denoting that its object is destined to pass away, but is stronger, as denoting not only its certain but its speedy extinction; thus that which is ephemeral is looked upon as at once slight and perishable, and the word carries often a suggestion of contempt; man's life is transitory, a butterfly's existence is ephemeral; with no solid qualities or worthy achievements a pretender may sometimes gain an ephemeral popularity. That which is fleeting is viewed as in the act of passing swiftly by, and that which is fugitive (L. fugio, flee) as eluding attempts to detain it; that which is evanescent (L. evanesco, from e, out, and vanus, empty, vain) as in the act of vanishing even while we gaze, as the hues of the sunset. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>abiding,</td><td>eternal,</td><td>immortal,</td><td>lasting,</td><td>perpetual,</td><td>undying,</td></tr> <tr><td>enduring,</td><td>everlasting,</td><td>imperishable,</td><td>permanent,</td><td>persistent,</td><td>unfading.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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