Business — Set 14

Set 14 of Business covers 5 words: accelerate, plunge, withdraw, inherit, expenditure. Each entry below includes its definition, an example sentence, and synonyms — practice them with the interactive cards above.

1. accelerate · verb/əkˈsɛləˌreɪt/

   to move faster

   The collaboration of the two companies will help accelerate the process of getting more women into leadership.

   Synonyms: speed up

   Origin: early 16th century (in the sense ‘hasten the occurrence of’): from Latin accelerat- ‘hastened’, from the verb accelerare, from ad- ‘towards’ + celer ‘swift’

2. plunge · verb/pləndʒ/

   to drop quickly

   Manufacturing employment has plunged by half since the 1980s.

   Synonyms: go down, fall

   Origin: late Middle English: from Old French plungier ‘thrust down’, based on Latin plumbum ‘lead, plummet’

3. withdraw · verb/wɪðˈdrɔ/

   to take money out of a bank account

   I spend the Sunday morning trying to find an ATM to withdraw some cash for the farmers' market.

   Synonyms: take out

   Origin: Middle English: from the prefix with- ‘away’ + the verb draw

4. inherit · verb/ɪnˈhɛrət/

   to take over money or property from your older generation

   Rose inherited a large fortune from her family and donated huge amounts to charitable causes throughout her lifetime.

   Synonyms: obtain, receive, take over

   Origin: Middle English enherite ‘receive as a right’, from Old French enheriter, from late Latin inhereditare ‘appoint as heir’, from Latin in- ‘in’ + heres, hered- ‘heir’

5. expenditure · noun/ɪkˈspɛndətʃər/

   money that is spent

   Increased expenditure on education can raise the level of human capital

   Synonyms: expense, spending

   Origin: mid 18th century: from expend, suggested by obsolete expenditor ‘officer in charge of expenditure’, from medieval Latin, from expenditus, irregular past participle of Latin expendere (see expend)