Synonyms: Verbs About Communicating, Arguing, and Understanding - ISEE Middle Level Verbal Reasoning

"Gape" means stare with mouth open in surprise or wonder, so "stare" is the best match.

"Bilk" is a verb that means cheat or swindle, so "defraud" is the best match, as it means deprive of something by trickery or fraud.

To "nag" someone means to annoy and bother someone with constant criticism. To provide further help, "sanctify" means make holy, make sacred; "encounter" means meet, come across, find.

To "scrutinize" means to examine carefully and thoroughly. To provide further help, "allay" means soothe, calm, diminish in intensity; "locate" means find; "query" means question.

The word "discern" means find out. "Find out" is the best choice because it is a part of the definition of "discern." Considering the other options, "insult" means offend, "certify" means make true, and "lie" means fib or tell someone something that is not true as if it is true.

A "quarrel" is an argument. The best choice is "argument" as it is a part of the definition of "quarrel." Considering the other choices, a "quarry" is a pit from which stone is obtained,"calm" means peaceful,and an "announcement" is a formal message where information is made publically known for the first time.

To "negate" something, like a claim, means to invalidate it, cancel it out, or deny that it exists. So, "invalidate" is the correct answer.

"Debase" means humiliate or embarrass, so "humiliate" is the correct answer. To help you, "imperious" means superior, dominant, or arrogant; "peculiar" means weird or unusual, and "vivid" means clear and powerful.

To "equivocate" means to speak indirectly, or to be unclear. Someone might say, “Don’t equivocate, tell me how you really feel!” So, "be unclear" is the correct answer.

To "accost" someone means to confront, to approach someone and aggressively talk to him or her or physically assault them. To provide further help, "consider" means think about; "convene" means meet, get together; "contend" means argue; "compete" means (of a competition) take part in.

To "hesitate" means to pause or delay before saying or doing something. To provide further help, "deny" means refuse to accept the truth of, claim is not true; "dismiss" means send away; "summon" means call for, tell someone to come to you; "accelerate" means go faster, speed up.

To "yield" means to surrender, to give in to someone else. To provide further help, "placate" means soothe; "astonish" means shock and surprise, inspire awe; "contrast" means compare, identify the differences between two or more things; "accumulate" means gather, collect.

To "neglect" means to ignore, to fail to look after, to abandon. To provide further help, "prohibit" means forbid, not allow to be done; "permit" means allow, the opposite of "prohibit"; "exhibit," when used as a verb, means to show, to display.

To "exonerate" means to free from guilt and blame orto absolve, so "absolve" is the correct answer. To help you, "incompetent" means not skilled enough to do something, "prosecute" means use the legal system to formally accuse someone of having broken the law, and "pedantic" means overly concerned with rules and details.

The word "chastise" most nearly means reprimand. If a parent chastises a child for his or her behavior, for example, they scold or discipline the child.

Since "wail" as a noun means a prolonged cry of pain, grief, or anger, or, as a verb, to make such a noise; we're looking for words that have to do with noises people make, specifically those they make when something bad is happening or has happened. Of the given answer choices, "whistle," "shriek," and "cheer" all refer to noises people can make; however, only "shriek," which as a noun means a high-pitched piercing cry or sound; a scream, or as a verb, to make such a noise, is the closest in meaning to "wail" and so is the correct answer.

Since "goad" is a verb that means provoke or annoy someone so as to simulate some action or reaction, we're looking for a verb that means something like provoke. While "ask" might seem like a good answer because asking someone to do something is one way to get them to do it, it is not a synonym of "goad," so it is not the correct answer. "Urge," on the other hand, means try earnestly or persistently to persuade someone to do something; since it is closest in meaning to "goad," it is the correct answer.

"Jeer" is a verb meaning "make rude and mocking remarks, typically in a loud voice," so we need to pick out an answer choice that is a verb and means something like "mock." "Ridicule," when used as a verb, means "subject someone or something to mockery and derision," and is the only answer choice that is close in meaning to "mock." So, "ridicule" is the correct answer.

While "ignore" might look like a potentially correct answer, "heed" actually means "pay attention to" or "take notice of," so "ignore" is actually an antonym of "heed" and cannot be the correct answer. "Pay attention to" is synonymous with "heed," so "pay attention to" is the correct answer.

"Ramble," when used as a verb, can mean either "walk for pleasure, typically without a definite route," when describing a plant, "put out long shoots and grow over walls or other plants," or "talk or write at length in a confused or inconsequential way." While all of the possible answer choices have to do with talking, only "drone," a verb that can mean "speak tediously in a dull monotonous tone," is a synonym of "ramble," so "drone" is the correct answer.