Is "illicit" here a typo?
Hi, dear all

Below is a phrase from CNN and I can't understand it well.
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A U.S. official now tells CNN that military leadership supports defensive lethal aid being part of the discussion, but the administration is still trying to assess what reaction it could illicit from the Russian government, which the U.S. maintains is backing rebels in eastern Ukraine.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/02/politics/us-ukraine-lethal-aid/index.html
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My questions are:
- Is "illicit" here a typo?
- Is "maintain" in the last sentence a noun or a verb?

Thanks a lot.

Yuanzhe

Question

Is "illicit" here a typo?
Hi, dear all

Below is a phrase from CNN and I can't understand it well.
-----------------------------------
A U.S. official now tells CNN that military leadership supports defensive lethal aid being part of the discussion, but the administration is still trying to assess what reaction it could illicit from the Russian government, which the U.S. maintains is backing rebels in eastern Ukraine.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/02/politics/us-ukraine-lethal-aid/index.html
-----------------------------------
My questions are:
 - Is "illicit" here a typo?
 - Is "maintain" in the last sentence a noun or a verb?

Thanks a lot.

Yuanzhe

Answer

I agree with Randy. It is a misspelling of the verb 'elicit'..
or a miscorrection made by a spell checker. And the word 'maintains' is a verb. In this sentence, 'maintains' is equivalent to 'claims'.

Answer

"Maintains" is a verb here

Answer

More likely misspelling for "elicit".

Answers · 3

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