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Showing posts from February, 2019

carbonado: Word of the day for February 28, 2019

carbonado , n : (dated) Meat or fish that has been scored and broiled. […] A dark, non-transparent, impure form of polycrystalline diamond (also containing graphite and amorphous carbon) used in drilling. Today is Día de Andalucía, which commemorates the day in 1980 when a referendum led to Andalusia becoming an autonomous community of Spain.

pronoia: Word of the day for February 27, 2019

pronoia , n : (philosophy, theology) Divine providence, foreknowledge, foresight. (historical, Byzantine Empire) An imperial grant to an individual of temporary fiscal rights in the form of land, incomes or taxes from land, fishing rights, etc., sometimes carrying with it an obligation of military service. […] (psychology) A belief (sometimes regarded as irrational) that people conspire to do one good.

haul: Word of the day for February 26, 2019

haul , v : (transitive) To transport by drawing or pulling, as with horses or oxen, or a motor vehicle. (transitive) To draw or pull something heavy. (transitive) To carry or transport something, with a connotation that the item is heavy or otherwise difficult to move. (transitive, figuratively) To drag, to pull, to tug. (transitive, figuratively) Followed by up: to summon to be disciplined or held answerable for something. (intransitive) To pull apart, as oxen sometimes do when yoked. (transitive, intransitive, nautical) To steer (a vessel) closer to the wind. (intransitive, nautical) Of the wind: to shift fore (more towards the bow).

stance: Word of the day for February 25, 2019

stance , n : The manner, pose, or posture in which one stands. One's opinion or point of view. A place to stand; a position, a site, a station. (specifically, climbing) A foothold or ledge on which to set up a belay. (Scotland) A place for buses or taxis to await passengers; a bus stop, a taxi rank. (Scotland) A place where a fair or market is held; a location where a street trader can carry on business. (obsolete, rare) A stanza.

vamp: Word of the day for February 22, 2019

vamp , v : (transitive) To patch, repair, or refurbish. (transitive) Often as vamp up: to fabricate or put together (something) from existing material, or by adding new material to something existing. (transitive) To cobble together, to extemporize, to improvise. (transitive, intransitive, music, specifically) To perform a vamp (“a repeated, often improvised accompaniment, for example, under dialogue or while waiting for a soloist to be ready”). (transitive, shoemaking) To attach a vamp (to footwear). (transitive, intransitive, now dialectal) To travel by foot; to walk. (intransitive) To delay or stall for time, as for an audience. […] (transitive) To seduce or exploit someone.

rainmaker: Word of the day for February 19, 2019

rainmaker , n : Someone or something that causes or attempts to cause rain to fall. An African or Native American medicine man who seeks to induce rain through performing rituals. A person who seeks to induce rainfall through scientific methods, such as cloud seeding. (originally Canada, US, figuratively, informal) A person having the ability to generate business, raise funds, or otherwise engineer success for a company, organization, etc. (baseball, informal) A batted ball that is hit very high into the air.

living fossil: Word of the day for February 12, 2019

living fossil , n : Any species discovered first as a fossil and believed extinct, but which is later found living; an organism that has remained unchanged over geological periods. Any living species which very closely resembles fossil relatives in most anatomical details. English biologist, geologist, and naturalist Charles Darwin, who coined the term and who is best known for his contributions towards the science of evolution, was born on this day 210 years ago in 1809.

boffin: Word of the day for February 11, 2019

boffin , n : (Australia, Britain, informal) An engineer or scientist, especially one engaged in technological or military research. (Australia, Britain, informal, by extension) A person with specialized knowledge or skills, especially one who is socially awkward; (in a weaker sense) an intellectual; a smart person. Today is designated by the United Nations as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science to recognize the critical role that women and girls play in science and technology communities.

gassy: Word of the day for February 9, 2019

gassy , adj : Having the nature of, or containing, gas. (specifically) Of a beverage: containing dissolved gas (usually carbon dioxide); fizzy. (specifically) Of a person: tending to burp; burpy. (specifically) Of a person: tending to release flatus; flatulent. Of food or drink: tending to cause flatulence. (figuratively, informal) Tending to be long-winded or wordy, especially in a boastful and vain manner.

pipe: Word of the day for February 8, 2019

pipe , n : (music) A wind instrument consisting of a tube, often lined with holes to allow for adjustment in pitch, sounded by blowing into the tube. […] A rigid tube that transports water, steam, or other fluid, as used in plumbing and numerous other applications. […] (Australia, colloquial, now historical) An anonymous satire or essay, insulting and frequently libellous, written on a piece of paper which was rolled up and left somewhere public where it could be found and thus spread, to embarrass the author's enemies.

finesse: Word of the day for February 7, 2019

finesse , v : (transitive, chiefly Canada, US, politics) To evade (a problem, situation, etc.) by using some clever argument or strategem. (transitive, card games) To play (a card) as a finesse. (transitive, intransitive) To handle or manage carefully or skilfully; to manipulate in a crafty way. (intransitive, card games) To attempt to win a trick by finessing. (intransitive, croquet, obsolete) To play a ball out of the way of an opponent.

flare: Word of the day for February 3, 2019

flare , v : (transitive) To cause to burn. (transitive) To cause inflammation; to inflame. (transitive, intransitive) To open outward in shape. (transitive, intransitive, aviation) To (operate an aircraft to) transition from downward flight to level flight just before landing. (intransitive) To blaze brightly. (intransitive) To shine out with a sudden and unsteady light; to emit a dazzling or painfully bright light. (intransitive, figuratively) To shine out with gaudy colours; to be offensively bright or showy. (intransitive, figuratively) To suddenly happen or intensify. (intransitive, figuratively) To suddenly erupt in anger. (intransitive, obsolete) To be exposed to too much light.