To locate a book on the top shelf of the stacks, Lee had to scale an exceptionally rickety ladder.
Thinking his helping of food was scanty, Oliver Twist asked for more.
After the Challenger disaster, NASA searched for scapegoats on whom they could cast the blame.
If you need car parts that the dealers no longer stock, try scavenging for odd bits and pieces at the auto wreckers' yards.
Scaramouche startled the other actors in the commedia troupe when he suddenly departed from their customary scenario and began to improvise.
In working out the solution to an analytical logic question, you may find it helpful to construct a simple schematic diagram illustrating the relationships between the items of information given in the question.
Let us not widen the schism by further bickering.
You have not produced a scintilla of evidence to support your argument.
I enjoy her dinner parties because the food is excellent and the conversation scintillates.
He scoffed at dentists until he had his first toothache.
Heather tried to scotch the rumor that she had stolen her best friend's fiance.
They feared the plague and regarded it as a deadly scourge.
Fearing that her husband had become involved in an affair, she did not scruple to read his diary.
I can recommend him for a position of responsibility for I have found him a very scrupulous young man.
Searching for flaws, the sergeant scrutinized every detail of the private's uniform.
The twins briefly scuffled, wrestling to see which of them would get the toy. When their big brother yelled, "Let go of my Gameboy!" they scuffled off down the hall.
Your scurrilous remarks are especially offensive because they are untrue.
The White Rabbit had to scurry to get to his appointment on time.
Peter Pan sneered at Captain Hook and his scurvy crew.
The sailors decided to scuttle their vessel rather than surrender it to the enemy.
In the Godfather, Michael Corleone is unwilling to expose his wife and children to the seamy side of his life as the son of a Mafia don.
Accidentally brushing against the hot grill, she seared her hand badly.
Though pleased with her new batch of rookies, the basketball coach wished she had a few more seasoned players on the team.
The secession of the Southern states provided Lincoln with his first major problem after his inauguration.
One moment she loved crowds; the next, she sought seclusion.
The pack rat secretes odds and ends in its nest; the pancreas secretes insulin in the islets of Langerhans.
As university chaplain, she sought to address universal religious issues and not limit herself to mere sectarian concerns.
The church leaders decided not interfere in secular matters.
The parents were worried because they felt their son was too quiet and sedate.
Because he had a sedentary occupation, he decided to visit a gymnasium weekly.
His words, though not treasonous in themselves, were calculated to arouse thoughts of sedition.
The young woman was so sedulous that she received a commendation for her hard work.
I would rather stay in dormitory lodgings in a decent youth hostel than have a room of my own in a seedy downtown hotel.
Lady Bracknell did not think it was seemly for Ernest to lack a proper family; no baby abandoned on a doorstep could grow up to marry her daughter.
During the rainstorm, water seeped through the crack in the basement wall and damaged the floor boards.
The nation was seething with discontent as the nobleman continued their arrogant ways.
When the shad run during the spring, you may see fishermen with seines along the banks of our coastal rivers.
The Richter scale is a measurement of seismic disturbances.
Although this book has a semblance of wisdom and scholarship, a careful examination will reveal many errors and omissions.
Although Freud has generally been regarded as a seminal thinker who shaped the course of psychology, his psychoanalytic methods have come under attack recently.
Sure of his priestly vocation, Terrence planned to pursue his theological training at the local Roman Catholic seminary.
Most of the decisions are being made by the junior members of the company because of the senility of the president.
I cannot understand what caused him to drop his sensual way of life and become so ascetic.
He was stimulated by the sights, sounds and smells about him; he was enjoying his sensuous experience.
After reading so many redundant speeches, I find his sententious style particulary pleasing.
Though camped in enemy territory, Bledsoe ignored the elementary precaution of posting sentinels around the encampment.
The hospital was in such a filthy state that we were afraid that many of the patients would suffer from septic poisoning.
Annabel Lee was buried in a sepulcher by the sea.
Although he had hoped for a long time to sequester himself in a small community, he never was able to drop his busy round of activities in the city.
After the unseasonably dry winter the Berkeley hills looked dusty and sere.
Many scientific discoveries are a matter of serendipity: Newton was not sitting there thinking about gravity when the apple dropped on his head.
The serenity of the sleepy town was shattered by a tremendous explosion.
The car swerved at every curve in the serpentine road.
The beech tree is one of many plants that have serrated leaves.
Constantly fawning on his employer, humble Uriah Heap was a servile creature.
Born a slave, Douglass resented his wife of servitude and plotted to escape to the North.
The severance of church and state is a basic principle of our government.
The newspapers disapproved of the severity of the sentence.
Given a clear night, with the aid of his sextant and compass, he could keep the ship safely on course.
The criminal's ankles were shackled to prevent his escape.
He shammed sickness to get out of going to school.
By the time the police arrived, the room was a shambles.
The archaeologist assigned several students the task of reassembling earthenware vessels from the shards he had brought back from the expedition.
The lawyer picked up a sheaf of papers as he rose to question the witness.
As soon as he recognized the approaching men, he sheathed his dagger and hailed them as friends.
I prefer raspberry sherbet to ice cream since it is less fattening.
The moonlight shimmered on the water as the moon broke through the clouds for a moment.
Brian has a strong sense of duty; he would never shirk any responsibility.
You will never get the public to buy such shoddy material.
No one wanted to marry Shakespeare's Kate because she was a shrew.
A shrewd investor, he took clever advantage of the fluctuations of the stock market.
Cherishing his solitude, the recluse shunned the company of other human beings.
If the switchman failed to shunt the Silver Streak onto a side track, the train would plow right into Union Station.
On L.A. Law, respectable attorney Brackman was horrified to learn that his newly discovered half brother was a cheap shyster.
We may not enjoy being siblings, but we cannot forget that we still belong to the same family.
Until their destruction by fire in 83 B.C., the sibylline books were often consulted by the Romans.
Although hampered by optical and mechanical flaws, the orbiting Hubble space telescope has relayed extraordinary images of distant sidereal bodies.
The harbor channel must be dredged annually to remove the silt.
Lemurs are nocturnal mammals and have many simian characteristics, although they are less intelligent than monkeys.
"My love is like a red, red rose" is a simile.
Complimented on her appearance, Stella self-consciously simpered.
Though Jack's solution dealt adequately with one aspect of the problem, it was simplistic in failing to consider various complicating factors that might arise.
He simulated insanity in order to avoid punishment for his crime.
My job is no sinecure; I work long hours and have much responsibility.
The steak was too sinewy to chew
Though the young man tried to understand Father William's singular behavior, he still found it odd that the old man incessantly stood on his head.
We must defeat the sinister forces that seek our downfall.
The snake moved in a sinuous manner.
In this matter, I am a skeptic; I want proof.
Tom dreamed of owning an ocean-going yacht but had to settle for a skiff he could sail in the bay.
They were forced to skimp on necessities in order to make their limited supplies last the winter.
The old skinflint refused to give her a raise.
Custer's troops expected they might run into a skirmish or two on maneuvers; they did not expect to face a major battle.
She is as skittish as a kitten playing with a piece of string.
The investigation into municipal corruption turned up new instances of skulduggery daily.
He skulked through the less fashionable sections of the city in order to avoid meeting any of his former friends.
As they passed the finish line, the runners slackened their pace.
The blast furnace had a special opening at the bottom to allow the workers to remove the worthless slag.
When we reached the oasis, we were able to slake our thirst.
Unless you can prove your allegations, your remarks constitute slander.
