What's the difference between plain and stark?

Plain


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To lament; to bewail; to complain.
  • (v. t.) To lament; to mourn over; as, to plain a loss.
  • (superl.) Without elevations or depressions; flat; level; smooth; even. See Plane.
  • (superl.) Open; clear; unencumbered; equal; fair.
  • (superl.) Not intricate or difficult; evident; manifest; obvious; clear; unmistakable.
  • (superl.) Void of extraneous beauty or ornament; without conspicious embellishment; not rich; simple.
  • (superl.) Not highly cultivated; unsophisticated; free from show or pretension; simple; natural; homely; common.
  • (superl.) Free from affectation or disguise; candid; sincere; artless; honest; frank.
  • (superl.) Not luxurious; not highly seasoned; simple; as, plain food.
  • (superl.) Without beauty; not handsome; homely; as, a plain woman.
  • (superl.) Not variegated, dyed, or figured; as, plain muslin.
  • (superl.) Not much varied by modulations; as, a plain tune.
  • (adv.) In a plain manner; plainly.
  • (a.) Level land; usually, an open field or a broad stretch of land with an even surface, or a surface little varied by inequalities; as, the plain of Jordan; the American plains, or prairies.
  • (a.) A field of battle.
  • (v.) To plane or level; to make plain or even on the surface.
  • (v.) To make plain or manifest; to explain.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Findings on plain X-ray of the abdomen, using the usual parameters of psoas and kidney shadows in the Nigerian, indicate that the two communities studied are similar but urinary calculi and urinary tract distortion are significantly more prominent in the community with the higher endemicity of urinary schistosomiasis.
  • (2) Plain radiographs should be the initial screening modality for a suspected foreign body.
  • (3) The radiologic findings on conventional examinations (plain films and cholangiograms) in a large group of patients with proven hepatobiliary tuberculosis are reviewed.
  • (4) In a double-blind trial, 50 patients with subcostal incisions performed for cholecystectomy or splenectomy, received 10 ml of either 0.5% bupivacaine plain or physiological saline twice daily by wound perfusion through an indwelling drainage tube for 3 days after operation.
  • (5) In conjunction with the development of a computerized goal-oriented record system at Forest Hospital Des Plaines, Illinois, research staff developed a psychiatric goal list from goal statements most frequently used at the hospital.
  • (6) These patients will generally require a plain roentgenographic examination with subsequent scintography, MRI, CT, laboratory work, and biopsy as indicated by any positive findings during the diagnostic work-up.
  • (7) The ultrasonographic features, the findings of plain abdominal X-ray studies, and of intravenous urography are described.
  • (8) CZP reduced the incidence of convulsions only after the larger dose, but plain solvent (propylene glycol, ethanol, water) was equally effective.
  • (9) Forty-six percent of the plain abdominal radiographs were suspected for cecal volvulus, but only 17 percent were diagnostic.
  • (10) But perhaps the most striking example of how differently much of the world sees London – and the importance of religion – from the way the city plainly sees itself came from the US, where Donald Trump caused uproar with a call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country.
  • (11) Shenhua Watermark Coal, a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned Shenhua Group, is waiting for final approval from Hunt for a $1.2bn open-cut coalmine on the edge of the plains, a little more than three kilometres from Hamparsum’s property.
  • (12) Plain-film chest radiographs subsequently demonstrated mediastinal masses causing extrinsic tracheal compression.
  • (13) Tension pneumocephalus was diagnosed by computed tomography (CT) scan and plain skull X-ray.
  • (14) This time, the syndrome was observed on adult cattle reared in the Accra Plains (Ghana) and infected by S. typhimurium.
  • (15) Plain abdominal radiography demonstrated calcification in three patients and evidence of Thorotrast (thorium dioxide) deposition in one.
  • (16) The absence of a visible fracture on plain skull radiographs does not exclude a fracture, and those patients with clinical signs of a fracture should be treated appropriately and further investigations performed.
  • (17) The success of correction was evaluated on plain radiographs using A P and "false profile" views as well as by CT.
  • (18) (7) Histologically, in the chick, the wall of the truncus and the conus contain cardiac muscle as late as stage 28, but from then on the walls of the truncus are transformed into connective tissue and plain muscle.
  • (19) The tumor was palpable on physical examination, but not apparent on plain radiographs.
  • (20) Trout fishing is excellent in both, and after they fall over the edge of the Piedmont Plateau to the Atlantic Coastal Plain, the lower stretches of both waterways boil into class-2 and -3 whitewater for kayakers and canoeists.

Stark


Definition:

  • (n.) Stiff; rigid.
  • (n.) Complete; absolute; full; perfect; entire.
  • (n.) Strong; vigorous; powerful.
  • (n.) Severe; violent; fierce.
  • (n.) Mere; sheer; gross; entire; downright.
  • (adv.) Wholly; entirely; absolutely; quite; as, stark mind.
  • (v. t.) To stiffen.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) World leaders must reach a historic agreement to fight climate change and poverty at coming talks in Paris, facing the stark choice to either “improve or destroy the environment”, Pope Francis said in Africa on Thursday.
  • (2) Facebook Twitter Pinterest No shake: Donald Trump snubs Angela Merkel during photo op The piece of pantomime was in stark contrast to the visit of Theresa May in January.
  • (3) But as a former Eurocrat, he is well-versed in the weaknesses and believes it is right to highlight them in stark language.
  • (4) These achievements, and faults, will find stark contrast with Trump’s administration; certainly Trump’s nominations for key positions in his cabinet that relate to climate change have prompted alarm by experts and campaigners.
  • (5) An ethnic breakdown of other opinion-formers, from book reviewers to theatre critics, would be just as stark.
  • (6) Paul*, from Essex, a father of two daughters, has experienced those starkly differing standards.
  • (7) Friends of the Earth's executive director, Andy Atkins, said: "We can't continue to ignore the stark warnings of the catastrophic consequences of climate change on the lives and livelihoods of people across the planet.
  • (8) She went on to deliver a stark warning that leaving the single market would deter international investors from Britain and lead major companies to question whether they should relocate to mainland Europe.
  • (9) This was in stark contrast to my comprehensive school.
  • (10) Their differences highlight Northern Ireland’s often stark dichotomy between religious-based social conservatism and secular progressive liberalism.
  • (11) By global city standards even those are quite clean and orderly, but compared with the rest of the city they offer a stark contrast.
  • (12) Dig deeper into the funding numbers – the real story of national politics in the post Citizens United age – and the Tea Party realignment of the GOP stands out yet more starkly.
  • (13) The inequalities that have been allowed to emerge in this one street are so stark they recall an era as long past as the period of its houses.
  • (14) A glance at today's Sun provides a stark reminder that constitutional reform is no way to win easy plaudits from the papers that most voters read.
  • (15) Although the Kyoto agreement only measures production, the stark difference in the figures highlights a key controversy in negotiations about a new treaty – which will continue at a big UN meeting in Cancún, Mexico, in December : some developing countries, such as China, argue they should not be held responsible for emissions generated by consumption in rich nations.
  • (16) It is a stark contrast to expectations before the vote to leave the EU, when the next move in interest rates was seen as likely to be upwards.
  • (17) The next few days may well determine whether, this time, such loyalty will be in vain; but, while yearning for a clarion call and what was described as "vision" in this paper's leading article yesterday, I need to pose some pretty stark questions to Guardian readers.
  • (18) They included Lena Heady (Queen Cersei Lannister), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Conleth Hill (Lord Varys), Rose Leslie (Ygritte), 17-year-old Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) and 18-year-old Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark).
  • (19) The orderly village of Agulodiek in Ethiopia's western Gambella region stands in stark contrast to Elay, a settlement 5km west of Gambella town, where collapsed straw huts strewn with cracked clay pots lie among a tangle of bushes.
  • (20) The next three years of negotiations on the treaty will be the hardest in the 20-year history of climate change talks because the world has changed enormously since 1992, when the UN convention on climate change was signed, and 1997, when the Kyoto protocol enshrined a stark division between developed countries – which were required to cut emissions – and developing countries, which were not.