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Showing posts from June, 2020

awara: Word of the day for June 29, 2020

awara , n : (Guyana) The palm tree Astrocaryum vulgare which is native to the Amazon Rainforest region. (Guyana) The oily edible fruit of this tree, which has a yellowish-orange skin and pulp, and a large black seed. Both the pulp and the seed yield oil. Today is the International Day of the Tropics, which is recognized by the United Nations to highlight the important role that countries in tropical areas of the world play in achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and to raise awareness about the challenges faced by these areas.

bouncebackability: Word of the day for June 27, 2020

bouncebackability , n : (informal, often sports) The ability to bounce back or recover from bad circumstances. Today is marked as Helen Keller Day in the United States to honor the American author, lecturer and political activist Helen Keller, who was born on this day 140 years ago in 1880. Keller was the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.

muggle: Word of the day for June 26, 2020

muggle , n : (uncountable, originally US, slang, dated, chiefly in the plural) Marijuana. (countable, originally US, slang, dated) A marijuana cigarette; a joint. [...] Alternative letter-case form of Muggle A person who has no magical abilities. (by extension) A person who lacks a particular ability or skill; a non-specialist; also, a person who is not a member of a group; an outsider. (geocaching, specifically) A person not involved in the pastime of geocaching. muggle v (transitive, geocaching) To deface, destroy, or remove a geocache. [...] (intransitive, Britain, dialectal) Often followed by along: to live or work in an unorganized and unplanned way; to muddle along. The first book in the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, was published on this day in the United Kingdom in 1997.

shipshape: Word of the day for June 25, 2020

shipshape , adj : Meticulously neat and tidy. shipshape adv Neatly and tidily to a meticulous extent. Today is the 10th anniversary of the Day of the Seafarer, which was established by the International Maritime Organization in 2010 and recognized by the United Nations to acknowledge the contributions made by seafarers to international seaborne trade, the world economy, and civil society.

earworm: Word of the day for June 21, 2020

earworm , n : A tune that keeps replaying in one's head or that one keeps thinking about, especially if unwanted. (originally US) Short for corn earworm (“larva of the moths Helicoverpa zea (syn. Heliothis zea) and Helicoverpa armigera, which are agricultural pests”). (archaic) An earwig (“insect of the order Dermaptera”). The Fête de la Musique (also known as World Music Day), which originated in France in 1982 and is now celebrated around the world, takes place today.

Juneteenth: Word of the day for June 19, 2020

Juneteenth , proper n : (US) Also more fully as Juneteenth Day: a holiday celebrated in many states of the United States of America on June 19, commemorating the end of slavery. On this day 155 years ago in 1865, Union Army General Gordon Granger read out General Order No. 3 in Galveston, Texas, stating that all previously enslaved people in Texas were now free.

Magna Carta: Word of the day for June 15, 2020

Magna Carta , proper n : (law, historical) A charter granted by King John to the barons at Runnymede in 1215, which is one of the bases of English constitutional tradition; a physical copy of this charter, or a later version. Magna Carta n (figuratively) A landmark document that sets out rights or important principles. King John of England granted the Great Charter on this day 805 years ago in 1215.

skew: Word of the day for June 11, 2020

skew , v : (transitive) To form or shape in an oblique way; to cause to take an oblique position. (statistics) To cause (a distribution) to be asymmetrical. (transitive) To bias or distort in a particular direction. (transitive, Northumbria, Yorkshire) To hurl or throw. (intransitive) To move obliquely; to move sideways, to sidle; to lie obliquely. (intransitive) To jump back or sideways in fear or surprise; to shy, as a horse. (intransitive) To look at obliquely; to squint; hence, to look slightingly or suspiciously.

fillip: Word of the day for June 10, 2020

fillip , n : (archaic) The action of holding the tip of a finger against the thumb and then releasing it with a snap; a flick. A smart strike or tap made using this action, or (by extension) by other means. (by extension) Something unimportant, a trifle; also, the brief time it takes to flick one's finger (see noun sense 1); a jiffy. (by extension) Something that excites or stimulates. Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, was born on this day in 1921.

mediterranean sea: Word of the day for June 8, 2020

mediterranean sea , n : (oceanography) A mostly enclosed sea that has limited exchange of deep water with outer oceans, and where the water circulation is dominated by salinity and temperature differences rather than winds. Today is World Oceans Day, a day recognized by the United Nations to highlight the importance of conserving and protecting the world’s oceans.

barometz: Word of the day for June 6, 2020

barometz , n : (mythology) A purported zoophyte, half-animal and half-plant, said to grow in the form of a sheep. The golden chicken fern or woolly fern (Cibotium barometz), the rhizomes of which are covered in furry brown hair; the legend (sense 1) is supposed to have arisen because, when inverted, the rhizomes with stalks growing out of them resemble lambs. Today is the 10th anniversary of UN Russian Language Day, one of six such days established by UNESCO in 2010 to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity and to promote the equal use of its working languages. The word barometz is thought to be a corruption of Russian баране́ц (baranéc, “a species of club moss (genus Lycopodium)”).

manicole: Word of the day for June 5, 2020

manicole , n : (Guyana) A palm tree of the genus Euterpe which is native to Central America, South America, and the West Indies; especially the açaí palm (Euterpe oleracea). (Guyana, chiefly attributively) The Guyana manicole palm or manacachilla (Prestoea tenuiramosa), a species of palm tree native to South America; also, the wood of this tree. Today is World Environment Day, which is recognized by the United Nations to promote worldwide awareness of the need and action to protect the environment.

sheathe: Word of the day for June 4, 2020

sheathe , v : (transitive) To put (something such as a knife or sword) into a sheath. (transitive) To encase (something) with a protective covering. (transitive) Of an animal: to draw back or retract (a body part) into the body, such as claws into a paw. (transitive, dated or literary, poetic, figuratively) To thrust (a sharp object like a sword, a claw, or a tusk) into something. (transitive, obsolete or rare, figuratively) To abandon or cease (animosity, etc.) (transitive, obsolete) To provide (a sword, etc.) with a sheath. (transitive, medicine, obsolete) To relieve the harsh or painful effect of (a drug, a poison, etc.).

bodice ripper: Word of the day for June 3, 2020

bodice ripper , n : (informal) A romantic novel, usually in a historical setting, with frank depictions of sexual activity, especially one in which the female protagonist is seduced; (by extension) a film, television programme, etc., featuring such activity. American novelist Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, who wrote The Flame and the Flower (1972) which is regarded as the first modern bodice ripper, was born on this day in 1939.