Question

Find the synonym of the underlined word.
Accidental oil spills due to a number of causes are a major source of pollution of the Earth’s oceans.
(a)barters
(b)shortages
(c)transactions
(d)misfortunes
(e)releases

Answer 1

Hint: The word ‘spills’ refers to ‘to flow, run, or fall out, over, or off and become wasted'. This word is usually used as a noun. The verb form of the given word is ‘to spill’. Another synonym of the given word is ‘seepage’.

Complete answer:A synonym is a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language, for example ‘shut’ is a synonym of ‘close’, as they convey the same exact meaning as each other. In the given sentence, the word ‘spills’ is used to describe the action of the oil seeping into the ocean. It helps to provide more clarification for the given statement and provide more context.Now, we know the meaning and the usage of the given word. Let’s look at the given options:
(a)barters - The word ‘barters’ refers to ‘the act or practice of trading goods or services for other goods or services'. This word has a very different meaning to the given word. This is not the synonym of the given word. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(b)shortages - The word ‘shortages’ refers to ‘a state or situation in which something needed cannot be obtained in sufficient amounts'. This word has a very different meaning to the given word. This is not the synonym of the given word. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(c)transactions - The word ‘transactions’ refers to ‘a business event that has a monetary impact on an entity's financial statements'. This word has a very different meaning to the given word. This is not the synonym of the given word. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(d)misfortunes - The word ‘misfortunes’ refers to ‘bad luck'. This word has a very different meaning to the given word. This is not the synonym of the given word. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(e)releases - The word ‘releases’ refers to ‘the action or process of releasing or being released'. This word has the exact same meaning as the given word. This is the synonym of ‘spills’. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.

Note: Go through the options one by one and guess the meaning of each word by using it in a sentence. Choose the option with the exact same meaning as the given word.