BraveSpeaking: Fearsome

Adjective not familiar or like other things you have known

alien
Photographer Jimmy Kong is fantastic in capturing the venomous detail of spiders. They look positively alien and almost peaceful. But don't you dare think that.

all set

Phrase prepared to do something

all set
At age 13, Tulsi Das joined the circus. Now he's 64 and still loves making people laugh. "Once I apply make-up, I'm all set!"

avert

Verb prevent the occurrence of

avert
Allegedly, if a black cat crosses your path it's considered unlucky. It's said the only way to avert the bad luck is to spit.

creepy-crawlies

Noun a spider, worm, or other small, flightless creature, esp. when considered unpleasant

creepy-crawlies
The Don Bugito food truck, billed as a "pre-hispanic snackeria," embraces the entomophagy movement and challenges the Western aversion to creepy-crawlies.

E. coli

Noun bacterium commonly found in the intestines of humans and other animals

Thousands of people fall victim to E. coli poisoning from tainted beef each year. Hamburgers are the biggest culprit.

fearsome

Adjective making someone afraid or anxious, esp. in appearance

While a fearsome reputation precedes them, in reality the tarantula's bite is only as harmful as it looks. What venom they may inject is weaker than that of the average bee.

lethally

Adverb sufficient to cause death

Black mambas are fast, slithering at speeds of up to 12.5 mph (20 k/ph), and lethally venomous.

microbe

Noun minute life form

Your wallet is a portable petri dish. Each bill carries about 3,000 types of bacteria on its surface, mostly harmless. But your cash also has DNA from drug-resistant microbes, and maybe even smudges of anthrax and diphtheria!

visceral

Adjective characterized by instinct rather than intellect

"Nothing to be afraid of," Wang counsels visitors, as stray cockroaches cling to a ceiling that's perilously close overhead. Although cockroaches evoke a visceral dread for most people, Wang looks at them as his future.

weave

Verb make something by interlacing long thin threads of any material

Darwin's bark spider, a species new to science, weaves its huge web over flowing rivers, stretching from bank to bank.