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imbibe

"I got up and went downstairs and into the kitchen to imbibe my first cup of coffee before going to the barn." Glenway Wescott, The Breath of Bulls

imminent

"I admired the easy confidence with which my chief loped from side to side of his wheel and trimmed the ship so closely that disaster seemed ceaselessly imminent." Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi

impeccable

"That is why the so-called 'better' juvenile books, skillfully constructed, morally sanitary, psychologically impeccabledon't really make much of a dent on the child's consciousness." Clifton Fadiman, "My Life is an Open Book"

impede

"Judge Jones has become known for her anger at defense lawyers who try to impede executions through legal maneuvers." David Firestone, "Death Penalty Conference," New York Times, 8/19/99

imperative

"But unlike the others, Mrs. Hassan had yet another imperative: her son Huseyin has leukemia and needs blood." Edmund L. Andrews, "I Cannot Die," New York Times, 8/19/99

imperceptibly

"In the two decades since W. Ugams had come to Boston, his status had imperceptibly shifted." John Updike, New Yorker, 10/22/60

imperturbable

"The Prince de Ligne had given the Empress Catherine the name of imperturbable, or immoveable." Walter Tooke,

The Life of Catherine

impetuous

"He displayed the impetuous vivacity of youth." Samuel Johnson, "The Rambler" No. 27

impious

"The Sunis regard the Shias as impious heretics." Matthew Arnold, Essays in Criticism

implacable

"It seemed folly for this young man to hope to create a self-supporting farm in such an implacable environment." Leland Stowe, Crusoe of Lonesome Lake

implored

"No beggars implored Scrooge to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock." Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

importuned

"Many businessmen were importuned to come to Washington." John McDonald, On Capitol Hill

impresario

"He was an egregious impresario of letters who kept a squad of writers churning out copy marketed under his signature." C. J. Rolo, No Business Like Show Business [adapted]

impromptu

"At an impromptu airport news conference, Gov. Bush declined to respond directly to questions about his experience with drugs." Associated Press Report, "Next Question, Please," 6/5/99

imprudent

"We are not so imprudent as to destroy the bees that work for us." Robert Tanner, Principles of Agriculture

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bodies, knew better." Stephen Kinzer, "Turkish Earthquake Relief," New York Times, 8/21/99

incapacitated

"His searing empathy for the parents of incapacitated clients is a product of the still-raw pain over the 1980 suicide of his younger brother." Jan Hoffman, "Public Lives," New York Times, 6/18/99

inchoate

"The general plan is inchoate and incoherent and the particular treatments disconnected." Hillary Corke, Global Economy

incipient

"As columnist Jack Anderson was about to write about the Secretary of State's incipient departure, Al Haig panicked." William Safire, "On Language," New York Times, 6/20/99

incisive

"Your hands are keen, your mind incisive, your sensitivity deep, your vision well honed." Thomas A. Dooley, "To a Young Doctor"

inclement

"The inclement weather that has given us fits recently is over, and I'm looking for blue skies for all of next week." Weather forecast from ABC's Sam Champion, Eyewitness News, 6/23/99

incoherent

"So seldom do editors get what they think they want that they tend to become incoherent in their insistent repetition of their needs." Jerome Weidman, "Back Talk"

incompatible

"Once men tried to reach heaven by building a tower, and I made their formats incompatible." Garrison Keillor, "Faith at the Speed of Light," TIME, 6/14/99

incongruous

"He was clothed with tatters of old ship's canvas: and this extraordinary patchwork was held together by a system of various and incongruous fastenings." Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

incontrovertible

"The Wilsons lived in a universe of words linked into an incontrovertible firmament by two centuries of Calvinist divines." John Dos Passos, U.S.A.

incredulous

"The Nazi war on cancer?other readers may be as incredulous as I was when this book came to my attention." Michael Sherry, New York Times, 5/23/99

incumbent

"As a Muslim, the Director of Interfaith Affairs for the Islamic Center said that it is incumbent on him to actively engage others in the service of Allah." Jioni Palmer, "Vigil to Address Growing Violence," Newsday, 10/10/99

indict

"You can't indict a whole nation, particularly on such vague grounds as these were." Robert M. Coates, "The Law"

indifference

"David sees Ham who, although now shows indifference to life, swims out to save people from a shipwreck." Holly Hughes, Barron's Book Notes, David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

indigenous

"A MacArthur Foundation grant was given to Dennis A. Moore for helping to preserve the language and culture of indigenous groups in Brazil." Announcement of MacArthur Grants, 6/23/99