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If someone abdicates, they give up their responsibility for something, such as a king’s transfer of power when he gives up his throne.
If you abjure a belief or a way of behaving, you state publicly that you will give it up or reject it.
The abnegation of something is someone’s giving up their rights or claim to it or denying themselves of it; this action may or may not be in their best interest.
If you appropriate something that does not belong to you, you take it for yourself without the right to do so.
When you arrogate something, such as a position or privilege, you take it even though you don’t have the legal right to it.
Avarice is the extremely strong desire to have a lot of money and possessions.
If you expropriate something, you take it away for your own use although it does not belong to you; governments frequently expropriate private land to use for public purposes.
When you extricate yourself from a difficult or unpleasant situation, you manage to escape it.
If you recant, you publicly announce that your once firmly held beliefs or statements were wrong and that you no longer agree with them.
If governments, companies, or other institutions retrench, they reduce costs and/or decrease the amount that they spend in order to save money.
When something is scuttled, it is done away with or discarded.
When you usurp someone else’s power, position, or role, you take it from them although you do not have the right to do so.
Verb
jettison
JET-uh-suhn
Context
Due to the formality of his sister’s wedding, Fred decided to get rid of or jettison his favorite purple tennis shoes and wear his shiny dress shoes instead. Likewise, Fred jettisoned or discarded his plan of bringing along his spiky-haired, loud, and rather beastly girlfriend. Fred decided to jettison or cast aside his views against marriage as well for his sister’s special day.
Quiz:Try again!
What is an example of jettisoning something?
Devin deletes his entire essay when he thinks of a better idea.
Tina tugs at her ear to signal her love for her parents.
Finn flies his kite at the beach for many hours one summer day.
Jettison Madison "Oh my god! I couldn't believe how much Madison would complain and complain and complain! And we were all stuck with her sailing across the Atlantic Ocean in a small slow boat! Finally we had to jettison Madison--good riddance!"
Examples
Near the end of his life, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. felt cornered and under siege. His opposition to the Vietnam War was widely criticized, even by friends. He was being pressured both to repudiate the black power movement and to embrace it. Some of his lieutenants were urging him to jettison his urgent new campaign to uplift the poor, believing that King had taken on too much and was compromising support for the civil rights struggle.
—
The Washington Post
You should write down the things you need to do, the places you have to go, and ideas that occur to you. Then, at the beginning of every month, you should look at your list, jettison the items that are no longer relevant, and start afresh.
—
Slate
A lawsuit was filed Friday against Delta Air Lines by four teachers at an elementary school drenched by jet fuel from an airliner preparing to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport. The four say jet fuel rained down on them after it was jettisoned by the Boeing 777 that was returning to the airport shortly after takeoff. . . . Pilots often jettison fuel in order to lighten the aircraft for landing.
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USA Today
The immediate effect of the decision will be to cut by more than half the pensions of many members of United Airlines' four unions, who have now become wards of the federal government's pension guarantee program. . . . After a federal bankruptcy judge approved a United Airlines proposal to jettison its pension plans, unionized employees protested outside the courthouse in Chicago.
—
The Washington Post
To jettison something is to “throw” or “cast” it away.
Word Theater
Knight Rider Kitt suggests that they jettison the bomb into the stratosphere so that its radiation does minimal damage.
The panel shows a small video clip of either the word in actual use or a scene that represents the meaning of a word. This not only breaks up the monotony of studying words but also provides another avenue to strengthen word meaning. Enjoy!
