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A.Word.A.Day--chaparral chaparral (shap-uh-RAL, chap-) noun A dense, often impenetrable, growth of shrubs and thorny bushes. [From Spanish chaparral, from chaparro (dwarf evergreen oak), from Basque txapar (thicket).] Today's word in Visual Thesaurus. "Satwiwa Loop Trail: an easy 1.5- mile stroll through grasslands and chaparral." Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa; Ventura County Star (Ventura, California); Dec 31, 2004. "But most of the images I'd shot were nothing but blue sky and some out-of-focus chaparral." Chris Welsch; Point and Shoot; Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota); Dec 26, 2004. This week's theme: words borrowed from other languages. X-Bonus What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. -J.D. Salinger, writer (1919- )

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