When many people hear the word "extinguish," they think of "extinguishing a fire." This means that we use water to douse or "put out" the flame. This is a true use of the word, but it is based on a more fundamental meaning, namely, to destroy or end the existence of something. The most tempting wrong answer is likely "water," for just as we "water the plants," we might think of "watering a fire" in order to extinguish it. However, this is a rather strange use of the word "water." Also, "extinguish" really does have a broader meaning than "watering." The best option is "destroy," which best captures the sense of ending the existence of something.

We usually use the word "inflate" to describe someone "blowing up" a balloon. The word literally means to blow into. The word "flatulence" is used to describe when someone "has gas." To "in-flate" is to put gas into something—at least in the literal sense of the word "inflate." However, it can also be used merely to express "making bigger." For instance, an "inflated ego" describes someone who thinks more highly of himself or herself than is appropriate. His or her "ego" (self-sense) is "blown up." When you inflate something, therefore, you make it larger. For this reason, the word "inflate" can mean "exaggerate."

We most often use the word "dissolve" to describe the process of placing a solid substance in a liquid in order to mix it into the liquid completely, making it "one" (sort of) with the liquid. This forms a solution—for instance, salt water. When you mix in the salt, all of the salt molecules break up into their ionic parts, which are able to scatter throughtout the water and be mixed throughout it. (There are other ways that solutions occur, of course. This is just an example!)

Notice the word used to describe the process: "scatter." Although we tend to use the word "dissolve" for the making of liquid solutions, it can have this more general meaning of scattering. For instance, a group of people, gathered together can then dissolve—they spread apart and are no longer one crowd. Therefore, "scatter" is the best option among those provided.

Often, we use the word "exterminate" or "exterminator" when talking about the type of person who kills insects in a house. The killing of insects is not the reason for this title, however. Instead, an "exterminator" is someone who "wipes out" or completely kills everything of a given type—insects, deer, or (sadly, as has happened in some wars) people. To "exterminate," therefore, means more than merely to "attack" or to "poison." It means to "eliminate"—that is, to destroy completely.

You might know the word "slack" from its use in the related form "slacker," meaning someone who does not do his or her work with devotion or care. A "slacker" is someone who is not hard working and therefore could be said to be "loose" in work habits. To be "slack" is to be loose—like a "slack rope" that is loose. Don't be fooled by all the "rope and chain" related words among the answers. To be slack describes being loose, not necessarily anything about ropes or chains—though ropes and chains could be "taut" (tight and/or rigid) or slack.

"Deploy" is a verb that means either "move troops into position for military action" or "bring into effective action; utilize." Of the possible answer choices, "station," a word that when used as a verb means "put in or assign to a specified place for a particular purpose, especially a military one," is the answer choice closest in meaning to "deploy," so "station" is the correct answer.

"Cultivate" is a verb that can mean either "prepare and use land for crops or gardening" or "try to acquire or develop a quality, sentiment, or skill." While "blight" might look like a potentially correct answer because like "cultivate," it can specifically refer to plants, "blight" actually means "infect plants or a planted area with blight (a plant disease)," so it is not a synonym of "cultivate" and cannot be the correct answer. "Plow," however, is a verb that means "turn up the earth of an area of land with a plow, especially before sowing," and because it is the answer choice closest in meaning to "cultivate," "plow" is the correct answer.

The word "enclose" means to close in on all sides. "Confine" is the best answer, since it shares the same definition as "enclose." Considering the other choices, "prison" is something that you can be enclosed in, "inside" means within something, and "bare" means without a covering. 

"Walked" is a verb that means use one's feet to transport oneself somewhere at a slow, constant pace. So, the answer choice closest in meaning to "walked" is "strolled", a verb that means leisurely walked. None of the other answers are close in meaning to "walked": "drove" means operated a motor vehicle in order to get from one location to another; "pedaled" means moved by propelling oneself on a bicycle using its pedals; and "created" means made.

If you "elude" something or someone, it means you evade or avoid it. For instance, you might elude your parents after you receive your report card if you know your grades are not stellar.