learned and but little used in ordinary discourse.) If you burn a
dead body to ashes, you _cremate_ it. If you burn or sear anything
with a hot iron or a corrosive substance, you _cauterize_ it.

_Sentences:_ The hired girl ____ the cloth in ironing it. By getting
too close to the fire he ____ the nap of his flannels. The doctor at once
____ the wound. The cook had picked the chicken and now ____ its down over
the coals. I used to ____ grains of field corn on the cookstove, while my
mother prepared dinner. Shelley's body was ____ on a funeral pyre. The
lecturer spoke of the time when the whole earth might be ____. The earth
was ____ and all growing things were ____ by the intense summer heat.

<Busy, industrious, diligent, assiduous, sedulous.>

From much of the talk that we hear nowadays it might be supposed that the
earnest devotion of one's self to a task is a thing that has disappeared
from the earth. But a good many people are exhibiting this very devotion.
Let us see in what different degrees. The man who actively applies himself
to something, whether temporarily or habitually, is _busy_. The man
who makes continued application to work a principle or habit of life, is
_industrious_. The man who applies himself aggressively to the
accomplishment of some specific undertaking or pursuit, is
_diligent_. The man who quietly and determinedly sticks to a task
until it is accomplished, no matter what its difficulties or length, is
_assiduous_. The man who makes steady and painstaking application to
whatever he is about, is _sedulous_.

_Sentences_: Early in life he acquired ____ habits. By patient and
____ study you may overcome those defects of your early education. "How
doth the ____ little bee improve each shining hour." The manager gave such
____ attention to details that he made few mistakes. He is ____ at
present. Oh, yes, he is always ____. "Nowher so ____ a man has he ther
has, And yet he seemed ____ than he was."

<Concise, terse, succinct, compendious, compact, sententious, pithy,
laconic, curt.>

Words descriptive of brief utterance are, in nearly every instance, in
their origin figurative. The brevity is brought out by comparison with
something that is noticeably short or small. Let us examine the words of
our list for their figurative qualities. A _concise_ statement is one
that is _cut down_ until a great deal is said in a few words. A
_terse_ statement is _rubbed off_, rid of unessentials.
A _succ