This week's theme
Words that have meanings in multiple parts of speech

This week's words
paragon
countenance
gloze
tarry
bluff

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(TAIR-ee, TAHR^*-ee)
* for adjective

MEANING:

verb intr.: To delay, stay, or wait.
verb tr.: To wait for.
noun: A short stay; a sojourn.
adjective: Of, like, or smeared with tar.

ETYMOLOGY:

For verb, noun: From Middle English tarien/taryen (to delay). Earliest documented use: 1451.
For adjective: From tar, from Old English teru. Earliest documented use: 1552.

USAGE:

"Although they've been criticized for tarrying, county officials say work is progressing."
Amy Schatz; Hospital Talks Continue; St. Petersburg Times (Florida); Apr 3, 1998.

"The story of Jesus's three-day-long tarry with the elders of the temple becomes, in Ms. Rice's hands, a fever dream."
Benjamin Lytal; The Gospel According to the Goth; The Sun (New York); Oct 31, 2005.

"Otters are mainly detected by their characteristic spraints^*, which have a tarry smell."
Michael McCarthy; The Incredible Journey of an Intrepid Otter; The Independent (London, UK); Nov 21, 2008.
* otter dung

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: