Pull and Pressure

Eight words about what pulls, what packs, and what will not let up.

Meet each word one at a time, then take the quiz to lock them in.

1. 1 extraction noun
2. 2 tractor noun
3. 3 extract verb
4. 4 distract verb
5. 5 compact adjective
6. 6 volatile adjective
7. 7 relentlessly adverb
8. 8 marginally adverb

Nelson's word

noun

Extraction. A noun. I file it under the act of pulling or drawing something out. The removal of a tooth is an extraction. The drawing of oil up out of the ground is an extraction. Look at the middle of the word, that root tract, which means to pull or to drag, and you will see the pulling built right in. State it precisely: extraction names the pulling-out itself, the whole act of drawing a thing out.

The dentist explained that the extraction of the tooth would take only a minute.

Nelson's word

noun

Tractor. A noun. I file it under a powerful vehicle built for one job above all: to pull heavy loads. It drags a plow across a field. It hauls a wagon piled high with hay. The very name carries the root tract, to pull or to drag, so a tractor is, quite literally, a puller. File it next to trailer and traction, its relatives in the same family. Name the machine precisely, and you have named the pulling too.

The old tractor pulls the loaded wagon up the muddy hill with ease.

Vinny's word

verb

Extract! To reach in and PULL a thing out, to draw it free from wherever it is trapped! When the workers extract the juice from the fruit, they pull every drop of it out into the open. That is the verb, and it is mine, and you can hear the root tract inside it, meaning to pull. But beware, this word has a secret identity. Drop it in front of nothing at all and let it stand as a noun, a spoonful of vanilla extract, and suddenly it names the thing that got pulled out, not the pulling. Same spelling, different job. We sort those hats in Practice.

The workers extract the juice from the fruit before the sun goes down.

Vinny's word

verb

Distract! To reach in and PULL someone's attention clean away from the thing they meant to do! When loud games in the hall distract the students, they yank every eye off the page. That is the verb, and it is mine. Hear the root again, tract, meaning to pull, with dis in front meaning apart, so to distract is to pull apart, to pull attention away. A hero learns to resist it and keep his focus locked. Learn where the word comes from, and it will never slip past you again.

Loud games in the hall distract the students from their reading.

Jake's word

adjective

Compact. Oh, this is a satisfying one, and it is mine. As an adjective, compact describes a thing packed closely together into a small space, everything tucked in tight with no room wasted: a compact backpack, a compact little car, a compact kitchen where the whole meal happens in one corner. Its Frown is bulky, the thing that sprawls and takes up far too much room. Could we be more specific than saying a bag was small? We could say it was compact, which tells the reader it holds a great deal in very little space. Magnifique.

The compact backpack held a week of supplies in one neat bundle.

Jake's word

adjective

Volatile. An adjective, mine, describing a thing likely to change or erupt suddenly, without much warning at all: volatile weather that swings from sun to hail, a volatile mood that flips in a heartbeat, a volatile situation that could go either way. Its Frown is stable, the calm and steady thing you can count on to stay put. Could we be more specific than saying something was unpredictable? We could call it volatile, and let the reader feel that it might erupt at any moment. A useful word, and a vivid one.

The volatile weather turned from bright sun to hail within the hour.

Benny's word

adverb

Relentlessly. An adverb, and it is mine, the way the noun is Nelson's. It tells you HOW an action happens: in a steady way that does not let up, that never eases off, that just keeps coming. The rain fell relentlessly. The team practiced relentlessly. Hear the word relent hiding inside it, which means to ease up or go soft, and then the ending less, meaning without: relentlessly is doing a thing without letting up. Here is my coaching. When you write that someone worked hard, make it sharper. Tell me they worked relentlessly, and now I feel the grind of it. You can do better than hard, and that is how.

The rain fell relentlessly all night and flooded the low road by dawn.

Benny's word

adverb

Marginally. An adverb, mine, and a precise one. It tells you HOW MUCH, and the answer is: only a little, by a small amount, barely enough to notice. The second recipe was marginally sweeter. The team improved marginally after one week of practice. Hear the word margin inside it, the thin edge on the side of a page, and you have the picture: a marginal change is a change at the very edge, small. Here is my coaching. If a thing barely moved, do not overstate it. Say it changed marginally, and you have told the exact truth about a small amount. Precision like that wins games.

The second recipe tasted marginally sweeter than the first.