S: (v) wish (make or express a wish) "I wish that Christmas were over"
S: (v) exclaim, cry, cry out, outcry, call out, shout (utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy) "`I won!' he exclaimed"; "`Help!' she cried"; "`I'm here,' the mother shouted when she saw her child looking lost"
S: (v) gee (give a command to a horse to turn to the right side)
S: (v) ooh, aah (express admiration and pleasure by uttering `ooh' or `aah') "They oohed and aahed when they unwrapped the presents"
S: (v) clamor, clamour (utter or proclaim insistently and noisily) "The delegates clamored their disappointment"
S: (v) dramatize, dramatise (represent something in a dramatic manner) "These events dramatize the lack of social responsibility among today's youth"
S: (v) overdramatize, overdramatise (present in an overly dramatic manner) "She is overdramatizing her child's failure in the physics class"
S: (v) portray (portray in words) "The book portrays the actor as a selfish person"
S: (v) embody (represent or express something abstract in tangible form) "This painting embodies the feelings of the Romantic period"
S: (v) state, say, tell (express in words) "He said that he wanted to marry her"; "tell me what is bothering you"; "state your opinion"; "state your name"
S: (v) present, represent, lay out (bring forward and present to the mind) "We presented the arguments to him"; "We cannot represent this knowledge to our formal reason"
S: (v) apologize, apologise, excuse, rationalize, rationalise (defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning) "rationalize the child's seemingly crazy behavior"; "he rationalized his lack of success"
S: (v) stand up, stick up (defend against attack or criticism) "He stood up for his friend"; "She stuck up for the teacher who was accused of harassing the student"
S: (v) uphold (stand up for; stick up for; of causes, principles, or ideals)
S: (v) argue, indicate (give evidence of) "The evidence argues for your claim"; "The results indicate the need for more work"
S: (v) spin (twist and turn so as to give an intended interpretation) "The President's spokesmen had to spin the story to make it less embarrassing"
S: (v) sugarcoat (cause to appear more pleasant or appealing) "The mayor did not sugarcoat the reality of the tax cuts"
S: (v) misstate (state something incorrectly) "You misstated my position"
S: (v) answer, reply, respond (react verbally) "She didn't want to answer"; "answer the question"; "We answered that we would accept the invitation"
S: (v) call back (return or repeat a telephone call) "I am busy right now--can you call back in an hour?"; "She left a message but the contractor never called back"
S: (v) counter (speak in response) "He countered with some very persuasive arguments"
S: (v) field (answer adequately or successfully) "The lawyer fielded all questions from the press"
S: (v) sass (answer back in an impudent or insolent manner) "don't sass me!"; "The teacher punished the students who were sassing all morning"
S: (v) precede, preface, premise, introduce (furnish with a preface or introduction) "She always precedes her lectures with a joke"; "He prefaced his lecture with a critical remark about the institution"
S: (v) preamble (make a preliminary introduction, usually to a formal document)
S: (v) covenant (enter into a covenant or formal agreement) "They covenanted with Judas for 30 pieces of silver"; "The nations covenanted to fight terrorism around the world"
S: (v) stipulate, qualify, condition, specify (specify as a condition or requirement in a contract or agreement; make an express demand or provision in an agreement) "The will stipulates that she can live in the house for the rest of her life"; "The contract stipulates the dates of the payments"
S: (v) provide (determine (what is to happen in certain contingencies), especially by including a proviso condition or stipulation) "The will provides that each child should receive half of the money"; "The Constitution provides for the right to free speech"
S: (v) rent, lease (let for money) "We rented our apartment to friends while we were abroad"
S: (v) promise (promise to undertake or give) "I promise you my best effort"
S: (v) take the Fifth, take the Fifth Amendment (refuse to testify by invoking the Fifth Amendment, which states that nobody may be forced to testify as a witness against himself or herself)
S: (v) sentence, condemn, doom (pronounce a sentence on (somebody) in a court of law) "He was condemned to ten years in prison"
S: (v) ordain, enact (order by virtue of superior authority; decree) "The King ordained the persecution and expulsion of the Jews"; "the legislature enacted this law in 1985"
S: (v) reenact (enact again) "Congress reenacted the law"
S: (v) legislate, pass (make laws, bills, etc. or bring into effect by legislation) "They passed the amendment"; "We cannot legislate how people spend their free time"
S: (v) declare (make a declaration (of dutiable goods) to a customs official) "Do you have anything to declare?"
S: (v) note, observe, mention, remark (make mention of) "She observed that his presentation took up too much time"; "They noted that it was a fine day to go sailing"
S: (v) knock, criticize, criticise, pick apart (find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws) "The paper criticized the new movie"; "Don't knock the food--it's free"
S: (v) animadvert (express blame or censure or make a harshly critical remark)
S: (v) savage, blast, pillory, crucify (criticize harshly or violently) "The press savaged the new President"; "The critics crucified the author for plagiarizing a famous passage"
S: (v) belabor, belabour (attack verbally with harsh criticism) "She was belabored by her fellow students"
S: (v) come down (criticize or reprimand harshly) "The critics came down hard on the new play"
S: (v) denounce (speak out against) "He denounced the Nazis"
S: (v) fulminate, rail (criticize severely) "He fulminated against the Republicans' plan to cut Medicare"; "She railed against the bad social policies"
S: (v) abuse, clapperclaw, blackguard, shout (use foul or abusive language towards) "The actress abused the policeman who gave her a parking ticket"; "The angry mother shouted at the teacher"
S: (v) rip (criticize or abuse strongly and violently) "The candidate ripped into his opponent mercilessly"
S: (v) whang (attack forcefully) "whang away at the school reform plan"
S: (v) bombard, barrage (address with continuously or persistently, as if with a barrage) "The speaker was barraged by an angry audience"; "The governor was bombarded with requests to grant a pardon to the convicted killer"
S: (v) blister, scald, whip (subject to harsh criticism) "The Senator blistered the administration in his speech on Friday"; "the professor scaled the students"; "your invectives scorched the community"
S: (v) utter, emit, let out, let loose (express audibly; utter sounds (not necessarily words)) "She let out a big heavy sigh"; "He uttered strange sounds that nobody could understand"