Foe, enemy. Nowadays the chief difference between the two terms is that foe is the more used in poetry, enemy in prose.  But foe tends to express the more personal and implacable hostility.  We do not think of foes as bearing any friendship for each other; enemies may, or they may be enemies in public affairs but downright friends in their private relations.  A man is hardly spoken of as being his own foe, but he may be his own enemy.  “For the moment we found ourselves foes.”  “Suspicion is an enemy to content.”  “I paid a tribute to my friend, who was the dominant personality among the enemy.”

Truth, veracity. Truth has to do with the accuracy of the statement, of the facts; veracity with the intention of the person to say nothing false.  “I cannot vouch for the veracity of the story, but I can for the truth of the teller.”  “Though he is not a man of veracity, I believe he is now speaking the truth.”  “Veracity, crushed to earth, will rise again.”

Break, fracture. Break is the broader term.  It need not refer clearly to the operation or result of external force, nor need it embody the idea that this force is brought against a hard substance.  In these respects it differs from fracture, as also in the fact that it may designate a mere interruption.  Furthermore it has figurative uses, whereas fracture is narrowly literal.  “There was a fracture in the chain of mountains.”  “The break in his voice was distinct.”  “The fracture of the bones of his wrist incapacitated him.”  “The fracture of the rope.”

Hug, embrace.  To hug is to clasp violently or enthusiastically, and perhaps ludicrously.  To embrace is to clasp in a more dignified, perhaps even in a formal, way; the term also means to include, to comprise.  “This topic embraces the other.”  “Did you see that ardent bumpkin embracing his sweetheart?” “Her sister gave her a graceful but none too cordial hug.”  “The wounded bear hugged the hunter ferociously.”

Shorten, abridge.  The two terms overlap; but there is a fairly strong tendency to use shorten for reduction in length, and abridge for reduction in quantity or mass.  Both words are used figuratively as well as literally.  “The tyrant shortened the privileges of his subjects.”  “We shortened the rope.”  “The teacher abridged the recitation.”  “The report of the committee appears in abridged form in Volume 2 of our records.”

LIST I

With the help of the dictionary discriminate between the members of the following pairs.  Determine whether the words are correctly used in the illustrative sentences. (Some are; some are not.)

Fiery, inflammable.  “He delivered a fiery address.”  “The underbrush was dry and fiery.”  “Your disposition is too inflammable.”

Lean, attenuated.  “The fat man had grown attenuated.”  “Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look.”  “The hot metal was then drawn into an attenuated wire.”  “Only a lean line of our soldiers faced the dense masses of the enemy.”