Futility Closet

“In a Word”: Solution

Posted in Language, Science & Math by Greg Ross on March 22nd, 2009

Solution to In a Word:

  1. An absolute ruler, a tyrant: DESPOT
  2. A stone having a cavity lined with crystals: GEODE
  3. A great circle of the earth passing through the geographic poles and any given point on the earth’s surface: MERIDIAN
  4. Worthy of respect or reverence by reason of age and dignity: VENERABLE
  5. Shedding leaves each year, as opposed to evergreen: DECIDUOUS
  6. A person appointed to act as a substitute for another: SURROGATE
  7. Five offspring born at a single birth: QUINTUPLETS
  8. A special quality of leadership that captures the popular imagination and inspires unswerving allegiance: CHARISMA
  9. The red coloring matter of the red blood corpuscles: HEMOGLOBIN
  10. Flying reptile that were extinct at the end of the Mesozoic era: PTERODACTYL
  11. A spring from which hot water, steam, or mud gushes out at intervals, found in Yellowstone National Park: GEYSER
  12. The second stomach of a bird, which has thick, muscular walls: GIZZARD
  13. The green coloring matter found in plants: CHLOROPHYLL
  14. The long-haired wild ox of central Asia, often domesticated as a beast of burden: YAK
  15. The art of speaking in such a way that the voice seems to come from another place: VENTRILOQUISM