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DEGAUSS
PRONUNCIATION: (dee-GOUS)
MEANING: verb intr.
1. To demagnetize.
2. To erase a disk or other storage device.
ETYMOLOGY: From gauss, a unit of magnetic field strength, named after the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855). Earliest documented use: 1940.
NOTES: You can friend & defriend and you can magnetize & demagnetize, but you can only degauss, you can’t gauss. You can debunk, but not bunk, and you can defenestrate, but not fenestrate. What other words like this can you think of? *
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[ * Actually, "fenestrate" is commonplace in medical parlance, meaning to create a hole (i.e. a window) in something. First coming to mind is a "fenestrated tracheostomy tube" so that a patient can breathe on his own even though the airway is obstructed by an artificial trach tube. It's part of the weaning process. -- Wofahulicodoc]
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DIGAUSS - alternating magnetism
DEGAULS - Paris airports
PEGAUSS - orthographically-challenged flying horse
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I'll be away from computer access for a week or so - if anyone else wants to contribute in the meantime, feel free!
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AYATOLLAH
PRONUNCIATION: (ah-yuh-TO-luh)
MEANING: noun:
1. A high-ranking religious leader of the Shiite Muslims.
2. A person having authority and influence, especially one who’s dogmatic.
ETYMOLOGY: From Persian ayatollah (literally, sign of god), from Arabic ayatullah, from aya (sign) + allah (god). Earliest documented use: 1950.
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AYATILLAH - call to the chief of the Huns
AFATOLLAH - fifty cents
AYATOLYAH - I've already answered this question
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PASHA
PRONUNCIATION:
(PA-shuh, PASH-uh, puh-SHAH)
MEANING:
noun: A person of high rank or importance.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Turkish pasa, from Persian padshah, from pati (master) + shah (king). Pasha was used as a title of high-ranking officials in the Ottoman Empire. Earliest documented use: 1648.
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HASHA - peppery Italian leftovers that make you sneeze
RASHA - former member of the former USSR
PEASHA - an athletic vegetable. (The PEASHA throws the ball the the KASHA.)
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CALTROP
PRONUNCIATION: (KAL-truhp)
MEANING: noun:
1. A device with (typically) four projecting spikes arranged in a way that one spike is always pointing up. Used to obstruct the passage of cavalry, vehicles, etc.
2. Any of various plants having spiny fruits.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old English calcatrippe (any of various plants, such as thistle, that catch the feet), from Latin calcatrippa (thistle), from calx (heel) + trap. Earliest documented use: 1000.
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CALSTROP - a leather belt used to sharpen California
CALTROOP - a squad of the California National Guard
CALDROP - what will happen when the San Andreas Fault finally splits wide open and the western part of the state falls into the Pacific
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CHAGRIN
PRONUNCIATION: (shuh-GRIN)
MEANING: noun: Distress caused by disappointment or humiliation.
verb tr., intr.: To feel or cause to feel chagrined.
ETYMOLOGY: From French chagrin (sad, sorry, shagreen: rough skin). Earliest documented use: 1656.
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CH AGAIN - instruction from your German Elocution teacher
CHAIRIN - presidin over a meetin
CHAGRING - using your Dylsexia Bank credit card
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SINEWY
PRONUNCIATION: (SIN-you-ee)
MEANING: adjective: Strong; tough; stringy; forceful.
ETYMOLOGY: From sinew, from Old English seon(o)we, sionwe, etc. Earliest documented use: 1382.
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FINEWY - Elmer Fudd's best clothing
SINEWT - small salamander representing Sports Illustrated
SINERY - place of organized debauchery
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REPUGN
PRONUNCIATION: (ri-PYOON)
MEANING: verb tr., intr.: To oppose, resist, or fight.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old French repugner, from Latin repugnare, from re- (again) + pugnare (to fight), from pugnus (fist). Ultimately from the Indo-European root peuk- (to prick) which is also the source of point, puncture, pungent, punctual, poignant, pounce, poniard, impugn, pugilist, and pugnacious. Earliest documented use: 1382.
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PREPUGN - to strike the first blow, even before the fight starts
REPUGH - to establish a new Charitable Trust
REPUGE - to move back to Seattle
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RUBBERNECK
PRONUNCIATION: (RUHB-uhr-nek)
MEANING: verb tr., intr.: To look or stare with undue curiosity.
noun: A person who stares in such a way.
ETYMOLOGY: From the idea of twisting one’s neck to stare at someone or something. Earliest documented use: 1892.
NOTES: The word has been applied to a tourist and to going on a sightseeing tour. Francis Scott Fitzgerald in Tender Is the Night (1934):
“At Mr. Bill Driscoll’s invitation she went on an excursion to Versailles next day in his rubberneck wagon.”
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RUBBERDECK - 1. why you don't slip when you're standing in a boat; 2. cards for playing Bridge
RUBBERNOCK - where the bowstring goes, in rubber arrows
ROBBERNECK - what thieves do with their Significant Others
("When a felon's not engaged in his Employment
Or maturing his felonious little plans
His capacity for innocent enjoyment
Is just as great as any honest man's...")
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ARRAIGN
PRONUNCIATION: (uh-RAYN)
MEANING: verb tr.:
1. To call or bring a defendant before a court to hear and answer a criminal charge.
2. To criticize, accuse, or censure.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old French araisnier, from Latin rationare (to talk, to reason), from ratio (reason, calculation). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ar- (to fit together), which also gave us army, harmony, article, order, read, adorn, arithmetic, rhyme, and ratiocinate. Earliest documented use: 1360.
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ORRAIGN - the western-US state between Washington and California
AFRAIGN - pertaining to the continent south of the Mediterranean Ocean
ARCAIGN - mysterious or secret, but in any case understood by only a few
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PRO SE
PRONUNCIATION: (pro say)
MEANING: adjective, adverb: On one’s own behalf (i.e., representing oneself in a court, without a lawyer).
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin pro (for) + se (himself, herself, itself, themselves). Earliest documented use: 1861.
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PYRO SE - self-immolation
RO SE - an intermediate-color wine
PRE SE - ante-natal
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