August 2015 – WOTDs

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31 August 2015

biddable

[bid-uh-buh l]

adjective
1. Cards. adequate to bid upon:
a biddable suit.
2. willing to do what is asked; obedient; tractable; docile:
a biddable child.
3. that may be acquired by bidding :
biddable merchandise.

Origin of biddable
1820-1830; bid1+ -able

Related forms
biddability, biddableness, noun
biddably, adverb
unbiddable, adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for biddable

Historical Examples

Whether this was so or not, it is certain that she was as docile and as biddable as need be.
An Open-Eyed Conspiracy
W. D. Howells

He was a biddable boy, and went on without further question.
Judith Shakespeare
William Black

He was a biddable enough beast, and, being a little deaf, he knew not fear.
The Men of the Moss-Hags
S. R. Crockett

Anagram

Did babel
blab died
I dabbled

30 August 2015

loden

[lohd-n]

noun

1. a thick, heavily fulled, waterproof fabric, used in coats and jackets for cold climates.
2. Also called loden green. the deep olive-green color of this fabric.

Origin of loden

German, Old High German, Old English, Old Norse

1910-1915; < German; Old High German lodo; compare Old English lotha cloak, Old Norse lothi fur cloak, lothinn shaggy

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for loden Expand

Historical Examples

It was the exact image of the engineer on the Danube boat—blue jeans, loden cloak, and all.
Greenmantle
John Buchan

While they stand at the window looking at the moon, there enters a lean, well-built, taciturn young man dressed in loden.
The Little Dream (Second Series Plays)
John Galsworthy

Anagram

olden
led on

29 August 2015

fopdoodle

[fop-doo-dil]

noun

1. A stupid or insignificant fellow; a fool; a simpleton.

‘You, good sir, are a fopdoodle’.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary. (1913)

Anagram

lop old foe
led food op

28 August 2015

corpulent

[kawr-pyuh-luh nt]

adjective

1. large or bulky of body; portly; stout; fat.

Origin of corpulent

Middle English, Latin

1350-1400; Middle English < Latin corpulentus, equivalent to corp (us) body + -ulentus -ulent

Related forms

corpulently, adverb
uncorpulent, adjective
uncorpulently, adverb

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for corpulent

Contemporary Examples

Ireland comes in as the most corpulent country, according to the report, with a 47% projected obesity rate for both men and women.
Americans Aren’t Getting Fat Alone
Rachel Bronstein
May 8, 2014

Tolkien used his Northern European imagination not to frighten but at least to compel belief in the corpulent, red-clad judge.
Twelve Unusual Christmas Reads
Stefan Beck
December 24, 2011

Anagram

uncle port
let up corn

27 August 2015

flapdoodle

[flap-dood-l]

noun, Informal.

1. nonsense; bosh.

Origin of flapdoodle

1820-1830; origin uncertain

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for flapdoodle

Contemporary Examples

But instead we are getting the flapdoodle campaign, in which more and more ado is made about less and less.
The Flapdoodle Campaign
Megan McArdle
October 22, 2012

Historical Examples

Ye remember how he sashayed round newspaper offices in ‘Frisco until he could write a flapdoodle story himself?
A First Family of Tasajara
Bret Harte

You’re the last man I ever expected to hear that kind of flapdoodle from.
The Three Partners
Bret Harte

Anagram

loaded flop
deaf dollop
add elf pool

26 August 2015

scobberlotcher

[skob-oh-lot-ch-er]

– a person who doesn’t work hard, a lazy or idle person.

‘When the going got tough, the scobberlotcher could not be found’.

Anagram

clobber torches
crochet slobber

25 August 2015

constrain

[kuh n-streyn]

verb (used with object)

1. to force, compel, or oblige:
He was constrained to admit the offense.
2. to confine forcibly, as by bonds.
3. to repress or restrain:
Cold weather constrained the plant’s growth.

Origin of constrain
Middle English, Middle French, Latin

1275-1325; Middle English constrei (g) nen < Anglo-French, Middle French constrei (g) n- (stem of constreindre) < Latin constringere. See con-, strain1

Related forms

constrainable, adjective
constrainer, noun
constrainingly, adverb
nonconstraining, adjective
unconstrainable, adjective

Can be confused
coerce, compel, constrain, force, oblige (see synonym study at oblige )

Synonyms

1. coerce. 2. check, bind.

Antonyms
2. free.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for constrain

Contemporary Examples

If they constrain our economy, theirs will suffer too, undoubtedly more.
China’s Reign Ends Tomorrow
Gordon G. Chang
April 10, 2010

Talks don’t seem to constrain the violent actors, and on this occasion seem to have provoked more violence.
The Peace Talks That Kill
Thanassis Cambanis
October 4, 2010

This argument is vital to a larger argument: Do we obey the rules set up to constrain government or not?
Obama’s ISIS War Is Illegal
Sen. Rand Paul
November 9, 2014

Anagram

Cairns ton
Canton sir
Actors inn

23 August 2015

enfilade

[en-fuh-leyd, -lahd, en-fuh-leyd, -lahd]

noun
1. Military.

a position of works, troops, etc., making them subject to a sweeping fire from along the length of a line of troops, a trench, a battery, etc.
the fire thus directed.

2. Architecture.

an axial arrangement of doorways connecting a suite of rooms with a vista down the whole length of the suite.
an axial arrangement of mirrors on opposite sides of a room so as to give an effect of an infinitely long vista.
verb (used with object), enfiladed, enfilading.

3. Military. to attack with an enfilade.

Origin of enfilade
1695-1705; < French, equivalent to enfil (er) to thread, string ( en- en-1+ -filer, derivative of fil < Latin fīlum thread) + -ade -ade1

Related forms
unenfiladed, adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for enfilade

Historical Examples

The attack came under artillery and enfilade rifle fire and the enemy lost heavily.
New Zealanders at Gallipoli
Major Fred Waite

If successful, it was to enfilade the Wylie kopjes from that position.
Story of the War in South Africa
Captain A. T. Mahan, U.S.N.

enfilade Fire, fire directed down the length of a trench or a line of troops from a point at right angles to their front.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia
Various

Contemporary examples

‘You try that enfilading maneuver’, he said, starting away.
Revival, Stephen King.

Anagram

fine lead
leafed in
deaf line

22 August 2015

zounderkite

noun, adjective

– one whose stupid conduct results in awkward mistakes.

The zounderkite was laughing as he teased the dog. Then the dog bit him.

Origin

German

(from C Clough Robinson’s 1876 book Dialect of Mid-Yorkshire)

Anagram

zoned rue kit
it nuked zero

21 August 2015

muckspout

noun

– a person who swears too much.

Origin

a 1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) II. 223 *Muck-spout, one who is at once very loquacious and very foul-mouthed.

1916 D. H. Lawrence Let. c 15 Dec. (1962) 492 And Murry..is a little muck-spout. – See more at:

(from findwords.com)

20 August 2015

druthers

[druhth -erz]

noun, Informal.

1. one’s own way, choice, or preference:
If I had my druthers, I’d dance all night.

Origin of druthers

1870-1875; plural of druther, (I, you, etc.) ‘d rather (contraction of would rather)

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for druthers

Contemporary Examples

Given his druthers he lives on a diet of wine, bread, fish, and olive oil.
Diet Like Jesus: What the Bible Says About How to Eat
Candida Moss
October 14, 2013

Historical Examples

An’ she don’ want to ma’hy him, if dey give her her druthers about hit.
Danny’s Own Story
Don Marquis

Word Origin and History for druthers

n.

1895, from jocular formation based on I’d ruther, American English dialectal form of I’d rather (used by Bret Harte as drathers, 1875).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Slang definitions & phrases for druthers
druthers
noun

Wishes; desires; preferred alternatives : We know your druthers, The Marketplace

Related Terms

have one’s druthers

[1895+; fr a dialect pronunciation of rather or had rather; used by Bret Harte in the form drathers in 1875]

The Dictionary of American Slang, Fourth Edition by Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD. and Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D.
Copyright (C) 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers.

Idioms and Phrases with druthers Expand

druthers

see: have one’s druthers
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Anagram

herd rust
red hurts

19 August 2015

minatory or minatorial

[min-uh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee]

adjective

1. menacing; threatening.

Origin of minatory

Late Latin
1525-1535; < Late Latin minātōrius, equivalent to Latin minā (rī) to menace + -tōrious -tory1

Related forms

minatorily, adverb

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for minatory

Historical Examples

I had lugged my double-barrel thus far, a futile burden, unless when it served a minatory purpose among the drunken Klalams.
Mount Rainier
Various

Number 3, Lauriston Gardens wore an ill-omened and minatory look.
A Study In Scarlet
Arthur Conan Doyle

And now we know for all time that these countless scolding and minatory voices were not mere angry units, but that they were in.
The German War
Arthur Conan Doyle

Anagram

main troy
my ration
into army
any Timor

18 August 2015

Gadzooks

[gad-zooks]

interjection, Archaic.

1. (used as a mild oath.)

Expand

Also, Odzooks, Odzookers.

Origin of Gadzooks
1645-1655; perhaps representing God’s hooks (i.e., the nails of Christ’s Cross); cf. Gad

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for Gadzooks

Historical Examples

Well, this Mr. Summerfield is a brave Fellow, Gadzooks he is.
The City Bride (1696)
Joseph Harris

Gadzooks, Jenny, will I never get sense or liberality into your head?
The Evil Eye; Or, The Black Spector
William Carleton

The poor fish claps his hand to his forehead and cries ‘ Gadzooks !
The Adventures of Sally
P. G. Wodehouse

17 August 2015

rakefire

[reyk fahyuh r]

noun

1. A person who overstays their welcome or stays later than they should.

Origin

Old English. Someone who stayed so late the coals in the fireplace needed raking to keep burning.

Anagram

ire freak
I fake err
a reef irk
friar eek

16 August 2015

animadversion

[an-uh-mad-vur-zhuh n, -shuh n]

noun

1. an unfavorable or censorious comment:
to make animadversions on someone’s conduct.
2. the act of criticizing.

Origin of animadversion

Latin

1590-1600; < Latin animadversiōn- (stem of animadversiō) a heeding, censure, equivalent to animadvers (us) (past participle of animadvertere to heed, censure; see animadvert ) + -iōn- -ion

Related forms

animadversional, adjective

Synonyms

1. aspersion, reflection, derogation.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for animadversion

Historical Examples

But Mr. Motley comes in for his share of animadversion in Mr. Davis’s letter.
Memoir of John Lothrop Motley, Complete
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

I did not wish to carry with me the animadversion of anybody.
The Seven Cardinal Sins: Envy and Indolence
Eugne Sue

Here churning is a mistake; we are sorry to begin with an animadversion, but the word should be churring.
Society for Pure English, Tract 5
Society for Pure English

Anagram

marinade vinos
radioman vines
dream invasion
divine oarsman
adore minivans
raved insomnia
a mansion drive
some nirvana id
driven in Samoa
or vain maidens

15 August 2015

petard

[pi-tahrd]

noun

1. an explosive device formerly used in warfare to blow in a door or gate, form a breach in a wall, etc.
2. a kind of firecracker.
3. (initial capital letter). Also called Flying Dustbin. a British spigot mortar of World War II that fired a 40-pound (18 kg) finned bomb, designed to destroy pillboxes and other concrete obstacles.
Idioms
4. hoist by /with one’s own petard, hurt, ruined, or destroyed by the very device or plot one had intended for another.

Origin of petard
1590-1600; < Middle French, equivalent to pet (er) to break wind (derivative of pet < Latin pēditum a breaking wind, orig. neuter of past participle of pēdere to break wind) + -ard -ard

Dictionary.com

Anagram

parted
depart

14 August 2015

finesse

[fi-ness]

noun

1. extreme delicacy or subtlety in action, performance, skill, discrimination, taste, etc.
2. skill in handling a difficult or highly sensitive situation; adroit and artful management:
exceptional diplomatic finesse.
3. a trick, artifice, or stratagem.
4. Bridge, Whist. an attempt to win a trick with a card while holding a higher card not in sequence with it, in the hope that the card or cards between will not be played.
verb (used without object), finessed, finessing.
5. to use finesse or artifice.
6. to make a finesse at cards.
verb (used with object), finessed, finessing.
7. to bring about by finesse or artifice.
8. to avoid; circumvent.
9. to make a finesse with (a card).
10. to force the playing of (a card) by a finesse.

Origin of finesse
Middle French
1400-1450; late Middle English: degree of excellence or purity < Middle French < Vulgar Latin *fīnitia. See fine1, -ice

Synonyms
1, 2. tact, diplomacy, savoir faire, circumspection, sensitivity, sensibility.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for finesse

Contemporary Examples

He was a good wrestler, and, as a soccer player, his lack of finesse got him the position of “enforcer.”
Al Franken’s Reverend Wright
Tom Davis
January 7, 2009

Anagram

sins fee
sense if

13 August 2015

marcel

[mahr-sel]

verb (used with object), marcelled, marcelling.

1. to wave (the hair) by means of special irons, producing the effect of regular, continuous waves (marcel waves)
noun
‘her marcelled hair’.

2. a marcelling.
3. a marcelled condition.

Origin of marcel

1890-1895; named after Marcel Grateau (1852-1936), French hairdresser who originated it

Related forms Expand
marceller, noun
Marcel
[mahr-sel; French mar-sel]
Spell Syllables

Anagram

elm car

12 August 2015

schnozzola

schno-zoh-luh]

noun, Slang.

1.a nose, especially one of unusually large size.

Also, schnozz, schnozzle [shnoz-uh l], schnoz [shnoz]

Origin of schnoz

1935-1940, Americanism; probably expressive alteration of nose, nozzle; schn- by association with any of several semantically related Yiddish words, e.g. shnabl beak, shnoyts snout, shnuk beak, trunk; for suffix of schnozzola see -ola

Dictionary.com

11 August 2015

panjandrum

[pan-jan-druh m]

noun
1. a self-important or pretentious official.

Origin of panjandrum
1745-1755; pseudo-Latin word (based on pan- ) coined by Samuel Foote (1720-77), English dramatist and actor

Dictionary.com

Examples

My panjandrum is deposed and transported to herd with convicts.
Annajanska, the Bolshevik Empress
George Bernard Shaw

He looks at the caller ID and isn’t surprised to see TONES in the window. Anthony “Tones” Frobisher, the grand high panjandrum of Discount Electrix (Birch Hill Mall Branch).
Mr Mercedes
Stephen King

Anagram

Damn jar pun

10 August 2015

dewy

[doo-ee, dyoo-ee]

adjective, dewier, dewiest.
1. moist with or as if with dew.
2. having the quality of dew :
dewy tears.

Origin of dewy

Middle English, Old English

1000, before 1000; Middle English; Old English dēawig; see dew, -y1

Related forms
dewily, adverb
dewiness, noun
undewily, adverb
undewiness, noun
undewy, adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for dewy

Contemporary Examples

When romancing the dewy Briony, the cosmopolitan New Yorker Andrew sounds like the creepy European Humbert Humbert.
The Brain Man: What is E. L. Doctorow Up to?
Tom LeClair
January 12, 2014

Historical Examples

So at the first toll of the deep-toned bell, I dressed myself, and went out into the dewy freshness of the new day.
The Doctor’s Dilemma
Hesba Stretton

Linda’s eyes opened wide and dewy with surprise and pleasure.
Her Father’s Daughter
Gene Stratton-Porter

8 August 2015

dybbuk or dibbuk

[Sephardic Hebrew dee-book; Ashkenazic Hebrew, English dib-uh k]

noun, plural dybbuks, dybbukim [Sephardic Hebrew dee-boo-keem; Ashkenazic Hebrew dih-boo k-im] (Show IPA). Jewish Folklore.

1. a demon, or the soul of a dead person, that enters the body of a living person and directs the person’s conduct, exorcism being possible only by a religious ceremony.

Origin of dybbuk

Hebrew

1900-1905; < Yiddish dibek < Hebrew dibbūq, derivative of dābhaq cleave (to); spelling dybbuk is a Pol transliteration of the Heb word

Dictionary.com

 

7 August 2015

calx

[kalks]

noun, plural calxes, calces [kal-seez] (Show IPA)
1. the oxide or ashy substance that remains after metals, minerals, etc., have been thoroughly roasted or burned.
2. lime1(def 1).

Origin of calx
Middle English, Old French, Latin late Middle English
1350-1400; late Middle English < Latin: lime; replacing Middle English cals < Old French < Latin

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for calx

Historical Examples

This calx further calcined by a moderate fire, the flame being reverberated on it, soon grows white.
Elements of the Theory and Practice of Chymistry, 5th ed.
Pierre Joseph Macquer

Heads of Lectures on a Course of Experimental Philosophy: Particularly Including Chemistry
Joseph Priestley

In this case no red sublimate arose as customarily takes place with that calx which is prepared by the acid of nitre.
Discovery of Oxygen, Part 2
Carl Wilhelm Scheele

6 August 2015

syncopate

[sing-kuh-peyt, sin-]

verb (used with object), syncopated, syncopating.

1. Music.
to place (the accents) on beats that are normally unaccented.
to treat (a passage, piece, etc.) in this way.
2. Grammar. to contract (a word) by omitting one or more sounds from the middle, as in reducing Gloucester to Gloster.

Origin of syncopate

Medieval Latin
1595-1605; < Medieval Latin syncopātus (past participle of syncopāre to shorten by syncope). See syncope, -ate1

Related forms

syncopator, noun

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for syncopate

Historical Examples

syncopate and curtail a royal ornament, and leave a domestic animal.
St. Nicholas, Vol. 5, No. 5, March, 1878
Various

syncopate and curtail a greenish mineral, and leave a Turkish officer.
St. Nicholas, Vol. 5, No. 5, March, 1878
Various

syncopate a crown of a person of rank, and leave a musical instrument.
St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. 5, September 1878, No. 11
Various

syncopate and curtail a carpenter’s tool, and leave an insect.
St. Nicholas, Vol. 5, No. 5, March, 1878

Anagram

spy octane
pecan toys

5 August 2015

gung-ho

[guhng-hoh] Informal.

adjective
1. wholeheartedly enthusiastic and loyal; eager; zealous:
a gung-ho military outfit.
adverb
2. in a successful manner:
The business is going gung-ho.

Origin of gung-ho

Chinese introduced as a training slogan in 1942 by U.S. Marine officer Evans F. Carlson (1896-1947) < Chinese gōng hé, the abbreviated name of the Chinese Industrial Cooperative Society, taken by a literal translation as “work together”

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for gung-ho Expand

Contemporary Examples

Ron Howard even cast him in a bit part in his 1986 movie gung ho.
‘No No,’ a Documentary on MLB Pitcher Dock Ellis, Who Pitched a No-Hitter While Tripping on Acid
Marlow Stern
February 4, 2014

An earlier generation of women at Princeton were gung ho to show they belonged on Princeton’s grand and gothic campus.
Princeton’s Woman Problem
Evan Thomas
March 20, 2011

I never wanted to be too happy or gung ho about something or too mad about something.
The Daily Beast Hip Hop Battle
Touré
December 20, 2008

Anagram

gun hog

4 August 2015

bastion

[bas-chuh n, -tee-uh n]

noun
1. Fortification. a projecting portion of a rampart or fortification that forms an irregular pentagon attached at the base to the main work.
2. a fortified place.
3. anything seen as preserving or protecting some quality, condition, etc.:
a bastion of solitude; a bastion of democracy.

Origin of bastion

Middle French, Italian
1590-1600; < Middle French < Italian bastione, equivalent to Upper Italian bastí (a) bastion, orig., fortified, built (cognate with Italian bastita, past participle of bastire to build < Germanic; see baste1) + -one augmentative suffix

Related forms
bastionary [bas-chuh-ner-ee], adjective
bastioned, adjective

Synonyms
2. fortress, fort, bulwark, stronghold, citadel.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for bastion

Contemporary Examples

Once known as the most polluted place on earth, the city of Linfen is being held up as bastion of green progress.
China’s Chernobyl Cleans Up Its Act
The Telegraph
October 24, 2012

The Supreme Court, which has been a bastion of white men throughout its history, is a favorite target for these critics.
Closing the Case Against Sotomayor
Scott Horton
May 27, 2009

Kaine could be boosted by his subcommittee, a bastion of support for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
How Tim Kaine Can Boost the Peace Process
Rachel Cohen
July 30, 2013

Anagram

Obtains
boast in

3 August 2015

corollary

[kawr-uh-ler-ee, kor-; especially British, kuh-rol-uh-ree]

noun, plural corollaries.
1. Mathematics. a proposition that is incidentally proved in proving another proposition.
2. an immediate consequence or easily drawn conclusion.
3. a natural consequence or result.

Origin of corollary
Middle English, Late Latin
1325-1375; Middle English < Late Latin corollārium corollary, in Latin: money paid for a garland, a gift, gratuity. See corolla, -ary

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for corollary

Contemporary Examples

A corollary to these tropes was that we must prize stability over democracy with allies as important as Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
(Egypt and the End of Excuses for the U.S,Parag Khanna, January 31, 2011)

As a corollary, one must understand the importance of narrative.
(The David Eagleman Interview: How I Write, Noah Charney, May 15, 2012)

Of course, says Davis, the lack of parental encouragement is just a corollary of the fear.
(The Drowning Race Gap, Constantino Diaz-Duran , August 6, 2010)

Anagram

coal lorry

2 August 2015

piebald

[pahy-bawld]

adjective
1. having patches of black and white or of other colors; parti-colored.
noun
2. a piebald animal, especially a horse.

Origin of piebald

1580-1590; pie2(see pied ) + bald

Related forms

piebaldly, adverb
piebaldness, noun

Synonyms

1. dappled, mottled.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for piebald

Historical Examples

Were it not that a man owes loyalty to his house and to his King I would enlist under the piebald banner of the Templars.
(Masters of the Guild, L. Lamprey)

They tapered in size from right to left—the piebald on the left.
(Across the Equator, Thomas H. Reid)

Anagram

lip bead
able dip

1 August 2015

temerity

[tuh-mer-i-tee]

noun
1. reckless boldness; rashness.

Origin of temerity
late Middle English Latin
1400-1450; late Middle English temeryte < Latin temeritās hap, chance, rashness, equivalent to temer (e) by chance, rashly + -itās -ity

Synonyms
audacity, effrontery, foolhardiness.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for temerity

Contemporary Examples

Just two weeks ago, The New York Times Magazine had the temerity to ask, “Has the Libertarian Moment Finally Arrived?”
(The Libertarian Moment in Ferguson, Nick Gillespie, August 20, 2014)

Nor is it where the gunman then viciously pistol whips his victim repeatedly for having the temerity not to die.
(Bronx Gunman Shot His Friend, Didn’t Spill His Drink, Michael Daly, August 4, 2014)

Should the caller have the temerity to ask where they were, the phone call would be quietly ended.
(The Bookstore That Bewitched Mick Jagger, John Lennon, and Greta Garbo, Felice Picano, December 15, 2014)

Anagram

teem I try
merit yet

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