This week’s theme
Words that have many unrelated meanings

This week’s words
gob
skelf
shingle
plenum
rede

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(skelf)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A splinter.
2. A tiny amount of something.
3. A thin or slight person.
4. An annoying or troublesome person.

ETYMOLOGY:

Probably from Middle Low German or obsolete Dutch schelf (flake, splinter, or scale). Earliest documented use: 1610.

USAGE:

“Trying to get the garden in order, I got a skelf in my finger.”
Neil McIntosh; Road to Skelf-Destruction; Daily Record (Glasgow, UK); Jul 7, 2016.

“A skelf of doubt has entered the thought processes of SNP supporters, leading many of them to question whether their most basic political assumptions still hold true.”
Kenny Farquharson; Existentialists and New Youth Hold SNP Key; The Times (London, UK); Jun 7, 2017.

“For Ferguson, physically still a skelf, a 22-year-old who made his home Scotland debut less than 12 months ago, it is some responsibility.”
Jonathan Northcroft; Ferguson Shoulders Extra Load; Sunday Times (London, UK); Nov 5, 2000.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: