crow, singular, skulk, gaggle, tuition

Much to crow about

As bird-brains go, crows' are in a league of their own

When he was given the chance to pose a question to Mr. Lee, Mr. Zhang mentioned his colleague’s singular success working in both the Asian and American markets and asked, rather intently, “How do you make the world understand you?”

Private tuition has long been popular with the rich. A gaggle of London-based firms hire new graduates from Oxford and Cambridge who charge £70-£100 an hour to prepare children for independent-school entrance exams taken at 11 or 13. Yet thanks to ambitious parents and government policies, many more children from lower-income families are being tutored http://econ.st/1bAA2Ic

singular

ADJECTIVE

• 1Grammar (Of a word or form) denoting or referring to just one person or thing:the third person singular form of the verb
  

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• 1.1Single; unique:she always thought of herself as singular, as his only daughter
  

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• 2Exceptionally good or great; remarkable:he had the singular good fortune not to die in the trenches
  

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• 2.1Strange or eccentric in some respect:no explanation accompanied this rather singular statement
  

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• 3Mathematics (Of a square matrix) having a zero determinant.
  

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• 4Physics & Mathematics Relating to or of the nature of singularity.
  

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NOUN

Grammar  

• 1A singular word or form.
  

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• 1.1(the singular) The singular number:a word in the singular
  

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Origin

Middle English (in the sense 'solitary, single', also 'beyond the average'): from Old French singuler, from Latin singularis, from singulus (see single).

crow

VERB (past crowed or crew /kruː/)

[NO OBJECT]

• 1(Of a cock) utter its characteristic loud cry:she was awakened in the mornings by cocks crowing
  

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• 2(Of a person) express great pride or triumph, especially in a tone of gloating satisfaction:Ruby crowed with delightavoid crowing about your success[WITH DIRECT SPEECH]: ‘I knew you ’d be back,' she crowed
  

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NOUN

skulk (skulk)

verb intr.
1. To hide, evade, or move stealthily.

noun
1. Someone who lies in hiding, evades, or lurks.
2. A pack of foxes.

Etymology
From Middle English skulken, of Scandinavian origin

Usage
"Heaven's Acre Wildlife Center has a gaggle of geese, a skulk of foxes, an over-abundance of raccoons and a singular problem - it violates city zoning." — Gary Gerhardt; Wildlife Rehab Center Runs Into the Teeth of Arvada's Zoning Rules; Rocky Mountain News (Denver, Colorado); Aug 6, 1998.

gaggle

(găg'əl) 
n.

1. A flock of geese. See synonyms at flock¹.
2. A cluster or group: "A gaggle of photographers huddled on the sidewalk beside a swelling crowd of onlookers" (Gioia Diliberto).

[Middle English gagel, from gagelen, to cackle, probably of imitative origin.]

tuition

Syllabification: (tu·i·tion)

Pronunciation: /t(y)o͞oˈiSHən/

noun

• North American a sum of money charged for teaching or instruction by a school, college, or university:I’m not paying next year’s tuition
• teaching or instruction, especially of individual pupils or small groups:private tuition in French

Derivatives

tuitional

Pronunciation: /-SHənl/

adjective

Origin:

late Middle English (in the sense 'custody, care'): via Old French from Latin tuitio(n-), from tueri 'to watch, guard'. Current senses date from the late 16th century