A.Word.A.Day Archives
from https://wordsmith.org/awad
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Date: Tue Dec 1 00:04:23 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--yob
X-Bonus: The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease. -Voltaire, philosopher (1694-1778)
yob (yob) noun
Chiefly British. A rowdy, destructive youth; a hooligan or ruffian.
[Alteration of boy (spelled backward).]
(A word coined by spelling another word backwards. Another example of this
type of word is mho, the unit of electrical conductance, coined by
reversing ohm, the unit of resistance.)
"It is also beginning to lure a new kind of well-educated, well-scrubbed
supporter, quite unlike the leather-jacketed, neo-Nazi yobs of its early
days (though it continues to attract those too)."
France: Watch that Front, The Economist, 8 Feb 1997.
This week's theme: words with an unusual arrangement of letters.
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Date: Wed Dec 2 00:04:27 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--kine
X-Bonus: What we say is important... for in most cases the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. -Jim Beggs
kine (kien) noun
Archaic. A plural of cow.
[Middle English kyn, from Old English cyna, genitive pl. of cu, cow.]
(a word that has no letters in common with its singular form, cow)
"There must be balm of breathing kine,
Somehwere down in the meadow."
Sydney Thompson Dobell, Home, Wounded, The World's Best Poetry on CD,
20 Mar 1995.
This week's theme: words with an unusual arrangement of letters.
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Date: Thu Dec 3 00:04:22 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--syzygy
X-Bonus: Life is like a dog-sled team. If you ain't the lead dog, the scenery never changes. -Lewis Grizzard
syzygy (SIZ-uh-jee) noun
1. Astronomy. Either of two points in the orbit of a celestial body where
the body is in opposition to or in conjunction with the sun. Either of
two points in the orbit of the moon when the moon lies in a straight
line with the sun and Earth. The configuration of the sun, the moon,
and Earth lying in a straight line.
2. The combining of two feet into a single metrical unit in classical
prosody.
[Late Latin syzygia, from Greek suzugia, union, from suzugos, paired : sun-,
syn- + zugon, yoke.]
(the shortest word with three y's)
"Thus, high tide is a particularly dangerous time for a landfall. An even
worse time is syzygy, the alignment of sun and moon that produces the highest
tides."
Rosenfeld, Jeff, Storm surge!, Weatherwise, 16 Jun 1997.
This week's theme: words with an unusual arrangement of letters.
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Date: Fri Dec 4 00:04:25 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gyp
X-Bonus: There is one art of which man should be master, the art of reflection. -Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)
gyp also gip (jip) Slang
tr.verb
To deprive (another) of something by fraud; cheat or swindle.
noun
1. A fraud or swindle.
2. One who defrauds; a swindler.
[Probably short for gypsy.]
(the only word made up entirely of letters with descenders)
"She's been gypped of all the things that mothers her age look forward to
and take for granted."
Irene Virag, `Mommy Has Breast Cancer', Newsday, 20 Sep 1993.
This week's theme: words with an unusual arrangement of letters.
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Date: Sat Dec 5 00:04:30 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--spendthrift
X-Bonus: How come you are so fond of all those probability people? Because they are never negative. -Andrejs Dunkels
spendthrift (SPEND-thrift) noun
One who spends money recklessly or wastefully.
adjective
Wasteful or extravagant
[spend + thrift, accumulated wealth (obsolete).]
(the longest word whose phonetic and normal spellings are the same)
"If one person is a spendthrift and the other a saver, come up with a plan
to address that potential conflict."
Sean Jamieson, How to be a credit to your betrothed, The Dallas Morning
News, 13 Apr 1997.
This week's theme: words with an unusual arrangement of letters.
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Date: Sun Dec 6 00:04:37 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--brougham
X-Bonus: I am a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy. -J.D. Salinger
brougham (broom, BROO-uhm, broam, BROA-uhm) noun
1. A closed four-wheeled carriage with an open driver's seat in front.
2. An automobile with an open driver's seat.
3. An electrically powered automobile resembling a coupe.
[After Henry Peter Brougham, First Baron Brougham and Vaux (1778-1868),
Scottish-born jurist.]
(The most silent letters in a row)
"`As long as one of you will play it matters not which. But we do not want
a walkover so let us take the brougham,' sighed Mr Bennet."
Dearer Miss Nomer, Independent, 30 Dec 1996.
This week's theme: words with an unusual arrangement of letters.
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Date: Mon Dec 7 00:04:30 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--benthos
X-Bonus: The reality of the other person is not in what he reveals to you, but in what he cannot reveal to you. Therefore, if you would understand him, listen not to what he says but rather what he does not say. -Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) [Sand and Foam]
benthos (BEN-thos) noun
1. The collection of organisms living on or in sea or lake bottoms.
2. The bottom of a sea or a lake.
[Greek.]
"The `Exploration' section begins with efforts simply to locate the ocean
floor, including the British Royal Navy's successfully using a weighted
line to sound the benthos between Norway and Iceland at 4,098 feet ..."
Daniel Duane, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; Deep Atlantic (book review)
Los Angeles Times, 5 Jan 1997.
More than 70% of the surface of the earth is covered with water. Do you have
enough words to describe it? This week we'll dive deep and explore words
about oceans and seas. -Anu
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Date: Tue Dec 8 00:04:24 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--firth
X-Bonus: He who listens to truth is not less than he who utters truth. -Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) [Sand and Foam]
firth (furth) noun
Scots. A long, narrow inlet of the sea.
[Middle English furth, from Old Norse fjordhr.]
"Then they sailed away to the eastward off the land and into the mouth of
the adjoining firth and to a headland, which projected into the sea there,
and which was entirely covered with woods."
Thorharson, Jon, Voyages To Vinland (Translation: Reeves, A. M.), Great
Works of Literature, 1 Jan 1992.
This week's theme: words about oceans and seas.
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Date: Wed Dec 9 00:04:27 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--thalassic
X-Bonus: Nothing contributes more to peace of soul than having no opinion at all. -Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
thalassic (thuh-LAS-ik) adjective
Of or relating to seas or oceans, especially smaller or inland seas.
[French thalassique, from Greek thalassa, sea.]
"Coastal spas pump in sea water for thalassic therapy - Greek for `sea
treatment.'"
The Luxury of Spas, Business Daily, 13 Apr 1998.
This week's theme: words about oceans and seas.
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Date: Thu Dec 10 00:04:26 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--doldrums
X-Bonus: The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them. -Henry David Thoreau
doldrums (DOLE-druhmz) noun (used with a singular or plural verb).
1. A period of stagnation or slump. A period of depression or unhappy
listlessness.
2. A region of the ocean near the equator, characterized by calms, light
winds, or squalls. The weather conditions characteristic of these
regions of the ocean.
[Alteration (influenced by tantrum), of obsolete doldrum, dullard, from
Middle English dold, past participle of dullen, to dull, from dul, dull.]
"Mechai stressed that although small farms could serve as temporary
shelters during the economic doldrums, the focus of providing gainful
employment should be directed at environmental-preservation projects,
such as afforestation."
Scheme aims at stronger Thai society, The Nation, 9 Feb 1998.
"In between, seasonally shifting weather patterns affect windflows and
produce doldrums and cyclones. Ships plying these waters must also allow
for the changing current flows that closely coincide with the wind
patterns."
Melinda W. Cooke, Indian Ocean Countries, Countries of the World,
1 Jan 1991.
This week's theme: words about oceans and seas.
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Date: Fri Dec 11 00:04:15 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bathyscaph
X-Bonus: A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep. -Saul Bellow, writer, Nobel laureate (1915-2005)
bathyscaph also bathyscaphe (BATH-i-skaf) noun
A free-diving, self-contained deep-sea research vessel consisting
essentially of a large flotation hull with a crewed observation capsule
fixed to its underside, capable of reaching depths of 10 kilometers
(6.2 miles) or more.
[Bathy- deep + Greek skaphos, boat.]
"Physicist Auguste Piccard ascends into the stratosphere by balloon and
descends into marine depths by bathyscaph."
Barbara Shea, On the Go, Newsday, 2 Nov 1997.
This week's theme: words about oceans and seas.
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Date: Sat Dec 12 00:04:28 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pelagic
X-Bonus: If you don't learn to laugh at troubles, you won't have anything to laugh at when you grow old. -Ed Howe
pelagic (puh-LAJ-ik) adjective
Of, relating to, or living in open oceans or seas rather than waters
adjacent to land or inland waters.
[Latin pelagicus, from Greek pelagikos, from pelagos, sea.]
"Alcatraz now hosts San Francisco Bay's only colonies of pelagic
cormorants, Brandt's cormorants and pigeon guillemots, as well as the
bay's largest colony of western gulls and one of its largest colonies of
black-crowned night herons."
Drew, Lisa, This prison is for the birds, National Wildlife, 16 Jun 1998.
This week's theme: words about oceans and seas.
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Date: Sun Dec 13 00:04:24 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bathypelagic
X-Bonus: The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. -Dorothy Nevill
bathypelagic (bath-uh-puh-LAJ-ik) adjective
Of, relating to, or living in the depths of the ocean, especially
between about 600 and 3,000 meters (2,000 and 10,000 feet).
"Below this region are the bathypelagic fishes, with small eyes and
luminescent organs ..."
Leonard P. Schultz, Fish, Colliers Encyclopedia CD-ROM, 28 Feb 1996.
This week's theme: words about oceans and seas.
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Date: Mon Dec 14 00:04:29 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--stick-in-the-mud
X-Bonus: Sign in obstetrician's office: Pay As You Grow. -The American Flint
stick-in-the-mud (stik-in-thuh-MUD) noun
One who lacks initiative, imagination, or enthusiasm.
"Leninetz is forward-looking: it began diversifying away from arms in
1988. But its example is being copied by stick-in-the-mud firms in the
city."
Hoppe, Kathryn, Success dressed as failure, Vol. 325, Economist,
12-05-1992, pp 10.
Idioms are colorful expressions peculiar to a particular language or locale
whose meaning cannot be literally derived from their component words. They
can add spice to informal conversation or writing and impart a warm, hearty
feeling. Use this week's phrases to impart earthiness to yours. -Anu
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Date: Tue Dec 15 00:04:38 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hole-in-the-wall
X-Bonus: Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win. -Jonathan Kozol
hole-in-the-wall (HOAL-in-thuh-wawl)
A small, very modest, often out-of-the-way place.
"All in the same week that the Chemical Brothers stormed the massive
Manhattan Centre; and an energized Echo and the Bunnymen staged their
jubilant US comeback (in the incongruous setting in a hole-in-the-wall
club on the Lower East Side)."
Dennis Lim, American Graffiti, Independent on Sunday, 25 May 1997.
This week's theme: idioms.
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Date: Wed Dec 16 00:04:38 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bred-in-the-bone
X-Bonus: If I look confused it's because I'm thinking. -Samuel Goldwyn
bred-in-the-bone (bred-in-thuh-BOAN) adjective
1. Deeply instilled; firmly established.
2. Persistent; habitual.
"Typical of Rosanna's bred-in-the-bone bohemianism, though, she doesn't
seem to care that the spotlight has shifted."
Seipp, Catherine, Arquette act. (sisters Patricia and Rosanna Arquette),
Harper's Bazaar, 1 Aug 1994.
This week's theme: idioms.
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Date: Thu Dec 17 00:04:27 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--down-at-the-heel
X-Bonus: Change your thoughts and you change your world. -Norman Vincent Peale
down-at-heel (doun-at-HEEL) or down-at-the-heel adjective
1. Worn out from long use or neglect; dilapidated.
2. Shabbily dressed because of poverty; seedy.
"In Missing Susan (1991), for instance, we have a group of American
tourists as seen through the eyes of a down-at-the-heels English tour
guide, Rowan Rover, who has been paid to arrange a fatal accident for
one of his charges."
Robert F. Geary, Elegy for the Last Outlaw, The World & I, 1 Jan 1995.
This week's theme: idioms.
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Date: Fri Dec 18 00:04:27 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--straight-from-the-shoulder
X-Bonus: We see but dimly through the mists and vapors; \ Amid these earthly damps \ What seem to us but sad, funeral tapers \ May be heaven's distant lamps. -Longfellow (1807-1882)
straight-from-the-shoulder (strayt-fruhm-thuh-SHOAL-duhr) adjective
Frank and forthright: straight-from-the-shoulder reporting.
"A striking poem called Sequinned ends this way:
Girl, don't you let that city get away.
Lift it up, raise it up, slip your arms through
and take it back to dance.
This is poetry that speaks to us boldly, straight from the shoulder."
Natalie Soto, et al., On the Shelf, Rocky Mountain News, 21 Dec 1997.
This week's theme: idioms.
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Date: Sat Dec 19 00:04:22 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--catch-as-catch-can
X-Bonus: 'Tis very certain that each man carries in his eye the exact indication of his rank in the immense scale of men, and we are always learning to read it. A complete man should need no auxiliaries to his personal presence. -Ralph Waldo Emerson
catch-as-catch-can (kach-az-kach-KAN) adjective
Using or making do with whatever means are available.
catch-as-catch-can adverb
However or by whatever means possible.
"Some of us first discovered the artistry of Fritz Reiner on a
catch-as-catch-can basis in the waning years of the LP era, when most
of his CSO records had dropped from the catalog, before the CD reissue
boom started in the mid-1980s."
Hansen, Lawrence, American Record Guide, July-August 1996.
This week's theme: idioms.
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Date: Sun Dec 20 00:04:25 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hail-fellow-well-met
X-Bonus: Failures are divided into two classes--those who thought and never did, and those who did and never thought. -John Charles Salak
hail-fellow-well-met (HAYL-feloe-wel-met) adjective
Heartily friendly and congenial.
[From the obsolete greeting hail, fellow!.]
"Mateship, described by one observer as a sort of male marriage, has
been extended into a social value that stresses openness and trust.
It is an exclusively male institution that produces a general sense of
hail-fellow-well-met camaraderie and the assumption that any man is to
be taken at face value until proved otherwise."
Donald P. Whitaker, Australia: Chapter 5A. Social Structure, Countries of
the World, 1 Jan 1991.
This week's theme: idioms.
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Date: Mon Dec 21 00:04:31 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--platonic
X-Bonus: If you don't learn to laugh at troubles, you won't have anything to laugh at when you grow old. -Ed Howe
Platonic (pluh-TON-ik, play-) adjective
1. Often Platonical. Of, relating to, or characteristic of Plato or his
philosophy: Platonic dialogues; Platonic ontology.
2. Often platonic. Transcending physical desire and tending toward the
purely spiritual or ideal: platonic love.
3. Often platonic. Speculative or theoretical.
[After Plato.]
WORD HISTORY: Plato did not invent the term or the concept that bears his
name, but he did see sexual desire as the germ for higher loves. Marsilio
Ficino, a Renaissance follower of Plato, used the terms amor socraticus and
amor platonicus interchangeably for a love between two human beings that was
preparatory for the love of God. From Ficino's usage Platonic (already
present in English as an adjective to describe what related to Plato and
first recorded in 1533) came to be used for a spiritual love between
persons of opposite sexes. In our own century Platonic has been used of
relationships between members of the same sex. Though the concept is an
elevated one, the term has perhaps more often been applied in ways that
led Samuel Richardson to have one of his characters in Pamela say, "I am
convinced, and always was, that Platonic love is Platonic nonsense."
"You've been friends for ages. He's like a brother, always there when you
need a shoulder to cry on, always up for a last-minute movie date -- but
it's been purely platonic between you."
Fein, Ellen; Schneider, Sherrie, How to turn a man friend into your main
man., Cosmopolitan, 1 Feb 1998.
Whether or not the verbs `to starr,' `to tripp,' or the noun `zippergate'
will make it to dictionaries and become eponyms remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, this week's AWAD features some other eponyms from history,
mythology, and fiction. Eponyms are, as long time AWADers well know, words
coined after people's names. To see previously featured eponyms, visit:
https://wordsmith.org/awad/themes.html -Anu
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Date: Tue Dec 22 00:04:21 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hadal
X-Bonus: Life is an exciting business, and most exciting when it is lived for others. -Helen Adams Keller (1880-1968)
hadal (HAYD-l) adjective
Of or relating to the deepest regions of the ocean, below about 6,000
meters (20,000 feet).
[French, from Hades, from Greek Haides, the god of the netherworld and
dispenser of earthly riches, his netherworld kingdom, the abode of the
shades of the dead.]
"The bottoms beneath the high seas at depths of about 6,000 to 18,000 feet
(1,800-5,500 meters) are referred to as the abyssal region. These regions
are characterized by a temperature that seldom exceeds 4 deg. C. A second
term, the hadal region, is used in connection with the still-deeper waters
of the oceanic trenches."
Jack Pearce, Marine Biology, Colliers Encyclopedia CD-ROM, 28 Feb 1996.
This week's theme: eponyms.
(I'll be in India through the end of January, 1999, and will not be
checking my email. AWAD will continue during this time. Happy holidays
and a blissful new year to all of you. -Anu)
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Date: Wed Dec 23 00:04:21 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mausoleum
X-Bonus: The intelligent man who is proud of his intelligence is like the condemned man who is proud of his large cell. -Simone Weil
mausoleum (mau-suh-LEE-uhm, -zuh-) noun
1. A large, stately tomb or a building housing such a tomb or several
tombs.
2. A gloomy, usually large room or building.
[Middle English, from Latin Mausoleum, from Greek Mausoleion, from Mausolos,
Mausolus (died c. 353 BCE), Persian satrap of Caria.]
"The massive stone mausoleum containing the preserved body of Chinese
leader Mao Zedong closed this week for building repairs."
World digest, Star Tribune, 5 Apr 1997.
This week's theme: eponyms.
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Date: Thu Dec 24 00:04:27 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--derrick
X-Bonus: Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. -Marie Curie
derrick (DER-ik) noun
1. A machine for hoisting and moving heavy objects, consisting of a
movable boom equipped with cables and pulleys and connected to the
base of an upright stationary beam.
2. A tall framework over a drilled hole, especially an oil well, used to
support boring equipment or hoist and lower lengths of pipe.
[Obsolete derick, hangman, gallows after Derick, 16th-century English hangman.]
"Here, the treeless Arctic landscape is dotted with oil derricks, all of
them surrounded by filthy black pools, many with wasteful gas flares
burning furiously at ground level, covering the sites with the sooty
residue of their squandered energy."
Conoco Working Hard to Harvest Russian Oil, Weekend Edition - Saturday
(NPR), 26 Nov 1994.
This week's theme: eponyms.
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Date: Fri Dec 25 00:04:26 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--priapean
X-Bonus: Music is the only language in which you cannot say a mean or sarcastic thing. -John Erskine
priapean (prie-uh-PEE-uhn) also priapic (prie-AY-pik, -ap-ik) adjective
1. Of, relating to, or resembling a phallus; phallic.
2. Relating to or overly concerned with masculinity.
[From Priapus, the god of procreation, guardian of gardens and vineyards, and
personification of the erect phallus in Greek and Roman mythologies.]
"Possibly the dirtiest American-made motion picture that has ever been
legally exhibited, with Priapean detail that might well have embarrassed
Boccaccio."
John Lyttle, Controversy is a trick of the trade, (quoting Time magazine's
review of the movie Baby Doll) Independent, 8 Jun 1996.
This week's theme: eponyms.
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Date: Sat Dec 26 00:04:39 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sideburns
X-Bonus: A person starts to live when he can live outside himself. -Albert Einstein
sideburns (SYDE-burnz) plural noun
Growths of hair down the sides of a man's face in front of the ears,
especially when worn with the rest of the beard shaved off.
[Alteration of burnsides. After Ambrose Everett Burnside (1824-1881).
American general and politician known more for his side-whiskers than for
his career in the Union Army, which included defeats at Fredericksburg
(1862) and Petersburg (1864)]
"Cher appeared at a concert in England recently all duded up a la Elvis,
with short ducktail hair and sideburns."
Liz Smith, $4.2 Mil for Marcia!, Newsday, 10 Nov 1995.
This week's theme: eponyms.
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Date: Sun Dec 27 00:04:36 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cesarean
X-Bonus: Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too selfful to seek other than itself. -Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) [Sand and Foam]
cesarean also caesarean or caesarian or cesarian (si-ZARE-ee-uhn) adjective
Of or relating to a cesarean section.
noun
A cesarean section, a surgical incision through the abdominal wall and
uterus, performed to deliver a fetus.
[From the traditional belief that Julius Caesar (or his eponymous ancestor)
was born by this operation.]
Saudi Arabia Government: Saudi woman gives birth to healthy sextuplets,
M2 PressWIRE, 10 Sep 1998.
"The mother, who is also in good health, was hospitalized six weeks prior
to the cesarean section delivery. She is reported as not having taken any
fertility drugs, and already has five children, including one set of
triplets."
This week's theme: eponyms.
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Date: Mon Dec 28 00:04:43 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--nickname
X-Bonus: Man is unhappy because he doesn't know he's happy. If anyone finds out he'll become happy at once. -Dostoyevsky
nickname (NIK-naym) noun
1. A descriptive name added to or replacing the actual name of a person,
place, or thing.
2. A familiar or shortened form of a proper name.
verb tr.
1. To give a nickname to.
2. Archaic. To call by an incorrect name; misname.
[Middle English neke name, from the phrase an eke name : eke, addition (from
Old English eaca + name, name.]
"Gang members now use monikers, or nicknames, so dependably that these
pseudonyms can provide a reliable source of investigative information."
Wilson, Craig R., What's in a name? Gang monikers., The FBI Law
Enforcement Bulletin, 1 May 1997.
The departing Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives would perhaps be
named Ewt Gingrich, had it not been for a process known in linguistics as
false splitting. Also known as juncture loss, this process results in an
incorrect division of words. The Middle English phrase "an ewte" was
mistakenly used as "a newte". Over time this incorrect division persisted
and gave us Newt. Today's word shows the shift of the letter "n" from the
article "an" in another direction. This week we look at words produced
through this process of misdivision. -Anu
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Date: Tue Dec 29 00:04:18 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--aught
X-Bonus: Conversation would be vastly improved by the constant use of four simple words: I do not know. -Andr Maurois
aught also ought (awt) pronoun
Anything whatever
adverb
Archaic. In any respect; at all.
[Middle English, from Old English auht.]
noun
1. A cipher; zero.
2. Archaic. Nothing.
[From an aught, alteration of a naught.]
"Now, as ever, I wish not to misrepresent Judge Douglas's position,
question his motives, or do aught that can be personally offensive to him."
Lincoln, Abraham, Selected Writings Of Abraham Lincoln: Rise Of The
Republican Party, History of the World, 1 Jan 1992.
This week's theme: words created by false splitting.
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Date: Wed Dec 30 00:04:23 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--apron
X-Bonus: Blessed is he who has learned to laugh at himself, for he shall never cease to be entertained. -John Powell
apron (AY-pruhn) noun
1. A garment, usually fastened in the back, worn over all or part of the
front of the body to protect clothing. Something, such as a protective
shield for a machine, that resembles this garment in appearance or
function.
2. The paved strip in front of and around airport hangars and terminal
buildings.
3. The part of a stage in a theater extending in front of the curtain.
4. A platform, as of planking, at the entrance to a dock.
5. A covering or structure along a shoreline for protection against
erosion. A platform serving a similar purpose below a dam or in a
sluiceway.
6. A continuous conveyor belt.
7. An area covered by sand and gravel deposited at the front of
a glacial moraine.
verb tr.
To cover, protect, or provide with an apron.
[Middle English, from an apron, alteration of a napron, from Old French
naperon, diminutive of nape, tablecloth, from Latin mappa, napkin.]
"This funding will be used to complete construction of a general
aviation apron and construct a taxiway."
Inouye Announces $19.7 Million in Grants to the State of Hawaii for
Various Airport Infrastructure Improvements, Capitol Hill Press Releases,
30 Sep 1998.
This week's theme: words created by false splitting.
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Date: Thu Dec 31 00:04:25 EST 1998
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--adder
X-Bonus: Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. -Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
adder (AD-uhr) noun
One that adds, especially a computational device that performs arithmetic
adder noun
1. Any of several venomous Old World snakes of the family Viperidae,
having a single pair of long, hollow fangs and a thick, heavy body.
Also called viper.
2. Any of several nonvenomous snakes, such as the milk snake of North
America, popularly believed to be harmful.
[Middle English, from an addre, alteration of a naddre : a, a + naddre,
snake (from Old English naedre.]
"Brusher was a regular visitor to the Crown Hotel at Lyndhurst, Hants,
where he would drop an adder near a group of ladies and then rescue them
when they screamed for help."
Sean O'Neill, Images of New Forest snake man up for sale,
The Daily Telegraph, 4 Oct 1997.
This week's theme: words created by false splitting.