12 July 2017 – commodious

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Shane

12 July 2017

commodious

[kuh-moh-dee-uh s]

adjective

1. spacious and convenient; roomy:
a commodious apartment.
2. ample or adequate for a particular purpose:
a commodious harbor.

Origin of commodious

late Middle English Medieval Latin

1375-1425; late Middle English < Medieval Latin commodiōsus, equivalent to Latin commodi(tās) convenience (see commodity ) + -ōsus -ous

Related forms

commodiously, adverb
commodiousness, noun
noncommodious, adjective
noncommodiously, adverb
noncommodiousness, noun

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for commodious

Contemporary Examples

Although none of these issues are burrowed into, they scroll by in manner that is commodious and vivid.
Great Weekend Reads: 4 New Novels, November 13, 2011
Susan Salter Reynolds, Christopher Byrd, John Wilwol, Jennifer Miller
November 12, 2011

Historical Examples

Not lightly are the lives of the mariners of our commodious port to be risked for the savin’ of a penny’orth of oil.
A Son Of The Sun
Jack London

The house of Lawyer Hutchings was commodious and comfortable.
Gulmore, The Boss
Frank Harris

On the 15th of January, 1520, he came in sight of a high hill overlooking a commodious bay.
The South American Republics Part I of II
Thomas C. Dawson

Evidently this had been a big, commodious and comfortable house in its day.
Thankful’s Inheritance
Joseph C. Lincoln

These harbours are furnished with ample quay and shed-room, and also with a commodious graving-dock—the oldest in Scotland.
The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places and Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain Vol 1
William Finden

She is most commodious ; the cabins are much larger than is usual in a vessel of this size.
Six Letters From the Colonies
Robert Seaton

Instead of belittling this commodious mansion, set to work at once, sir, and build us a fire.
Crestlands
Mary Addams Bayne

We knew that they were also plastered inside, so as to render them warm and commodious in winter.
The Desert Home
Mayne Reid

It is a safe and commodious harbor, and abundance of fresh water.
The World of Waters
Mrs. David Osborne

Anagram

disco moo um
do music moo

Today’s quote

Heroes need monsters to establish their heroic credentials. You need something scary to overcome.

– Margaret Atwood

On this day

12 July 1943 – The Soviet Army commences a counter-offensive in the Battle of Kursk, Russia to combat the German Army’s ‘Operation Citadel’ offensive on the Eastern Front. It was the largest tank battle in history, involving more than 8,000 tanks, 3 million troops, 35,000 guns and mortars, and more than 5,000 aircraft, between both sides. By mid-August, the Soviets had prevailed, driving the Germans out.

12 July 1950 – birth of Eric Carr (Paul Charles Caravello), drummer with Kiss. Died 24 November 1991.

12 July 1962 – Rolling Stones make their first live performance. The concert was at the Marquee Club on London’s Oxford St.

9 July 2017 – ardor

Posted on July 8, 2017 by Shane

9 July 2017

ardor

[ahr-der]

noun

1. great warmth of feeling; fervor; passion:
She spoke persuasively and with ardor.
2. intense devotion, eagerness, or enthusiasm; zeal:
his well-known ardor for Chinese art.
3. burning heat.

Also, especially British, ardour.

Origin of ardor

Middle English

1350-1400; Middle English; Latin, equivalent to ārd(ēre) to burn + -or -or1; replacing Middle English ardure; Old French ardur; Latin, as above; 17th century ardour < Anglo-French; Latin, as above

Synonyms

1. fervency, spirit, earnestness, intensity.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for ardor Expand

Contemporary Examples

But Jack Scott came in and entered into the “game,” as he called it, with ardour.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the Show
Robert W. Chambers
February 19, 2014

Historical Examples

In the ardour of the chase the dogs soon ran out of sight, pursuing their quarry towards the shore at Sligachan.
The Celtic Magazine, Vol. I, No. VI, April 1886
Various

The small boys on the bench had had leisure to abate their ardour by this time.
The Fifth Form at Saint Dominic’s
Talbot Baines Reed

She had loved Sir Alexander with all the ardour of a first youthful attachment
The Monctons: A Novel, Volume I
Susanna Moodie

But inwardly all the ardour of his mood collapsed at the touch of her.
Robert Elsmere
Mrs. Humphry Ward

Gurney applied his steam-jet to other purposes than propelling locomotives and exciting the ardour of furnaces in ironworks.
Cornish Characters
S. Baring-Gould

Anagram

or rad

Today’s quote

Hatred is something peculiar. You will always find it strongest and most violent where there is the lowest degree of culture.

– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

On this day

9 July 1941 – British military cryptologists break the Enigma code which the German Army was using for encrypting messages used for directing ground to air operations. However, a group of Polish cryptologists claim to have assisted in the cracking of Enigma and have been campaigning for recognition of their part in the break-through.

9 July 1946 – birth of Ronald Belford ‘Bon’ Scott, Scottish-born Australian rock musician. Most famous as the lead-singer of legendary hard rock band, AC/DC. Scott died on 19 February 1980, after choking on his own vomit following a heavy drinking session.

9 July 1982 – In the early hours of the morning, 30 year old Irishman, Michael Fagan breaks into Buckhingham Palace and makes his way to Queen Elizabeth II’s bedroom. Reports at the time, claimed that he spent 10 minutes in there talking with the Queen before being arrested, however, Fagan later claimed that the Queen immediately fled the bedroom and summoned security. The incident was the biggest royal security breach of the 20th century.

9 July 2004 – A US Senate Intelligence Committee finds that the CIA misrepresented the threat posed by Iraq, which was used by President George W. Bush in order to justify the 2003 Iraq invasion by the ‘Coalition of the Willing’.

8 July 2017 – cthulhu

Posted on July 7, 2017 by Shane

8 July 2017

cthulhu

noun

– a fictional high priest of elderly gods, sleeping in his city of R’lyeh

Word Origin

in writings of H.P.Lovecraft

Dictionary.com

Anagram

cult huh

Today’s quote

Animals die, friends die, and I shall die, one thing never dies, and that is the reputation we leave behind at our death.

– Viking proverb

On this day

8 July 1822 – death of Percy Bysshe Shelley, English romantic poet, considered to be one the finest lyric poets of all time. Born 4 August 1792.

8 July 1947 – reports are that a UFO crash-landed at Roswell, New Mexico.

8 July 1954 – Military leader, Castillo Armas seizes power of Guatamala in a CIA-backed coup, overthrowing Communist president Jacobo Arbenz Guzman. The coup was part of the CIA’s international anti-communist activities. On request of the CIA, Armas formed the National Committee of Defense Against Communism, which is recognised as Latin America’s first modern death squad, purging the government and trade unions of people with suspected left-wing tendencies. Armas introduced the ‘Preventive Penal Law Against Communism’ which increased penalties for ‘Communist’ activities, such as labor union activities. Armas was assassinated on 26 July 1957 by a palace guard, Romeo Vásquez. It is unknown what Vásquez’s motive was. He was found dead in a suspected suicide a short while later.

8 July 1980 – First State of Origin match played between New South Wales and Queensland at Lang Park (Suncorp Stadium), Brisbane. Queensland won 20-10.

7 July 2017 – obelus

Posted on July 7, 2017 by Shane

7 July 2017

obelus

[ob-uh-luh s]

noun, plural obeli [ob-uh-lahy]

1. a mark (− or ÷) used in ancient manuscripts to point out spurious, corrupt, doubtful, or superfluous words or passages.

Origin of obelus

Middle English, Late Latin, Greek

1350-1400; Middle English; Late Latin; Greek obelós spit, pointed pillar

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for obelus Expand

Historical Examples

The plan of expressing suspicion by obeli was a good one—it raised the question of genuineness without foreclosing it.
Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 1 of 3
W. E. Gladstone

Anagram

be soul
blouse
so blue

Today’s quote

The first duty of a man is to think for himself.

― José Martí

On this day

7 July 1941 – birth of Bill Oddie, English comedian, star of ‘The Goodies’.

7 July 1953 – After graduating from medical school in June 1953, Dr Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara sets out on a train trip from Argentina to Bolivia and the Andes. His family don’t see him for six years, when he emerged in Havana, fighting for Fidel Castro’s Cuban Revolution. Following the successful overthrow of the government, Che was given key government positions within the Castro regime, including as Minister of Industries to implement agrarian reform.

7 July 1985 – 17 year old Boris Becker becomes the youngest player to win Wimbledon.

7 July 2005 – Four suicide bombers detonate themselves on London’s transport system, killing 56 people and injuring 700.

7 July 2007 – The New 7 Wonders Foundation officially declares a new ‘Seven Wonders of the World’ list:

The Great Wall of China
Petra, Jordan (a city carved into rock)
Christ Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Machu Picchu, Peru
Chichén Itzá Pyramid, Mexico
Roman Colisseum, Italy
Taj Mahal, Indian

The Original Seven Wonders of the World were:

Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
Statue of Zeus, Olympia, Greece
Mausoleum of Maussollos at Hallicarnassus
Colossus of Rhodes
Lighthouse of Alexandria

5 July 2017 – chevalier

Posted on July 4, 2017 by Shane

5 July 2017

chevalier

[shev-uh-leer or especially for 1, 2, shuh-val-yey, -vahl-]

noun

1. a member of certain orders of honor or merit:
a chevalier of the Legion of Honor.
2. French History. the lowest title of rank in the old nobility.
3. a chivalrous man; cavalier.
4. Archaic. a knight.

Origin of chevalier

late Middle English Middle French

1250-1300; < Middle French; replacing late Middle English chivaler < Anglo-French. See cavalier

Examples from the Web for chevalier

Contemporary Examples

Jacques Chirac made Boulud a chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in March 2006.
The Frenchman Who Rules New York
Katie Workman
September 21, 2009

chevalier was born in Washington, D.C., but has lived in London for the past 25 years.
Tracy Chevalier’s Novel on Ohio’s Underground Railroad
Jane Ciabattari
January 16, 2013

Historical Examples

You did not think your old aunt had so much spirit, did you, chevalier mine?
In Quest of Gold
Alfred St. Johnston

The last male heir joined the standard of the chevalier in 1745.
The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places and Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain Vol. 1
William Finden

Anagram

evil reach
liver ache
clear hive
reveal chi

Today’s quote

The depressing thing about tennis is that no matter how good I get, I’ll never be as good as a wall.

– Mitch Hedberg

On this day

5 July 1937 – The canned meat, Spam (spiced ham) released to market by Hormel Food Corporation.

5 July 1946 – the first bikini goes on sale after its debut at a fashion show in Paris. It was designed by Parisian engineer, Louis Réard. He named it after Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean where the USA had been conducting testing of atomic bombs. Réard hoped that the bikini would have an ‘explosive commercial and cultural reaction’ just like an atomic bomb.

5 July 1989 – Former US Marine and white-house aide, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North given a three-year suspended sentence, two years probation, $150,000 in fines and 1,200 hours of community service after being convicted of ‘accepting an illegal gratuity’, ‘aiding and abetting in the obstruction of a congressional inquiry’ and ordering the destruction of documents during his role in the Iran-Contra affair (a political scandal during the Reagan administration in which the US government was selling weapons via intermediaries to Iran, a nation that was blacklisted from receiving weapons. The profits were channeled through Nicaraguan terrorist groups, the Contras, which were violently opposing Nicaragua’s ruling left-wing Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction).

5 July 1996 – Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.

3 July 2017 – bonarietà

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Shane

3 July 2017

bonarietà

(bonarjeˈta)

feminine noun
(vedi agg)

– good nature, affability

– kindliness

Example

Gozzi gave him brio and bonarietà , with cordiality and humor.
Folkways
William Graham Sumner

Anagram

bane trio
bean riot
toe brain
baron tie
ate robin

Today’s quote

Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable.

– Franz Kafka

On this day

3 July 1883 – Birth of Franz Kafka, Austrian novelist, who wrote in German. Two of his books (‘The Trial’ and ‘The Castle’) were published posthumously against his wishes. He wrote of a dehumanised world in which he explored paranoia, isolation, fear and bewilderment, from which the term ‘Kafka-esque’ has been coined. Died 3 June 1924.

3 July 1969 – death of Brian Jones. English guitarist for the Rolling Stones. He was 27. Born 28 February 1942.

3 July 1971 – death of Jim Morrison, lead singer and song writer of the Doors. He was 27. Born 8 December 1943.

3 July 1971 – birth of Julian Assange in Townsville, Queensland, former hacker and computer programmer, publisher, journalist and activist. Co-founder of WikiLeaks, a website on which he published classified military and diplomatic documents. The USA has been investigating Assange since 2010 when he published documents leaked by Chelsea Manning. Facing extradition to Sweden in 2012 on charges of sexual assault, Assange sought and obtained asylum by Ecuador. He has been accommodated in the Ecuadorean embassy in London ever since.

3 July 1988 – An Iranian passenger plane carrying 290 civilians, including 66 children, is shot down by the United States Navy. Iran Air flight 665 was over Iranian territorial waters and had not deviated from its usual flight path. The US Navy had fired surface-to-air missiles from the USS Viciennes at the Airbus A300. The US Navy claimed they had mistaken it for an attacking F-14 Tomcat even though the plane had been issuing identification ‘squawks’s on Mode III for civilian aircraft, not on Mode II which was for military aircraft. The US government ‘expressed regret’, but did not apologise. In 1996 the US government paid the Iranian government USD $131.8 million to settle a court case brought in the International Court of Justice. There was also a payout of $61 million following a claim in the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal. The crew of the Viciennes were awarded medals for their tour of duty in the Persian Gulf, including the Air Warfare Coordinator receiving the Navy Commendation Medal and the Legion of Merit.

3 July 1999 – death of Mark Sandman, US musician, singer, songwriter. Founder of the alternative rock band, Morphine, which blended heavy bass sounds with blues and jazz. Sandman was described as the most under-rated and skilled bass player of his generation. Sandman collapsed and died on stage during a Morphine concert in Latium, Italy. His death was the result of a heart attack and blamed on heavy smoking, stress and extreme heat, in which the temperature on the night was in excess of 38o Celsius. Born 24 September 1952.

2 July 2017 – drey

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Shane

2 July 2017

drey

/dreɪ/

noun

1. a squirrel’s nest

Word Origin
of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary

Examples from the Web for drey

Historical Examples

Then the poems: Morduth, ein altes heroisches Gedichte in drey Bchern.
Ossian in Germany
Rudolf Tombo

I remember a pair that made a hole in a beech near the tree my drey was in.
Birds and Man
W. H. Hudson

There he had built what he called a nest, but what humans, with greater nicety of diction, call a drey.
“Wee Tim’rous Beasties”
Douglas English

The drey was eminently satisfactory, for, in the summer months, it was completely hidden.
“Wee Tim’rous Beasties”
Douglas English

A boy has taken three little young squirrels in their nest or drey.
Notes and Queries, Vol. V, Number 116, January 17, 1852
Various

Anagram

dyer

Today’s quote

An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools.

– Ernest Hemingway

On this day

2 July 1839 – Twenty miles off the coast of Cuba, 53 rebelling African slaves led by Joseph Cinqué take over the slave ship, Amistad. The 49 adults and four children had been captured in Sierra Leone and sold into slavery in Cuba. After commandeering the ship, the men demanded the ship’s navigator (Don Montez) to return them home. Montez deceived them and sailed up the USA east coast to Long Island. The USA took custody of the ship and a court-case ensued over the legal status of the slaves. In 1841, in the case of the United States v The Amistad, the US Supreme Court ruled that the slaves had been illegally transported and held as slaves. The Court ordered them to be freed. 35 of them returned to Africa in 1842.

2 July 1900 – the first Zeppelin flight takes place in Germany.

2 July 1937 – Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan are last heard from over the Pacific while attempting an equatorial round-the-world flight. They had run low on fuel while trying to locate Howland Island. While many suspected they had crashed into the ocean, there is strong evidence to indicate that they may have died as castaways after crash-landing on or near to Gardner Island, 400 nautical miles from Howland Island. This is supported by evidence that there were more than 100 radio calls made by Earhart in the four days after the crash, a female skeleton found on the island and a small piece of fuselage that matches that of Earhart’s plane. The remainder of the plane is suspected of being dragged away from the island by the tides and sinking.

2 July 1961 – death of Ernest Hemingway, American author. He wrote books including ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls‘ and ‘Old Man and the Sea‘. Born 21 July 1899.

2 July 1976 – The Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) falls to the Communist North Vietnam, resulting in the formation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

July 2017 WOTDs

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Shane

July 2017 WOTDs

abeam
ardor
avocation
baize
bonarietà
cheongsam
chevalier
commodious
cthulhu
drey
eft
espalier
fuddling cup
graven
newel
obelus
plethora
pollard
prestidigitation
repast
rowel
toxophilite
trivet
unbosom
verbatim
xyst

31 July 2017

prestidigitation

[pres-ti-dij-i-tey-shuh n]

noun

1. sleight of hand; legerdemain.

Origin of prestidigitation

Latin

1855-1860; French: literally, ready-fingeredness, coinage perhaps based on prestigiateur juggler, conjurer, derivative of Latin praestīgiae juggler’s tricks (see prestige ). See prest1, digit, -ation

Related forms

prestidigitator, noun
prestidigitatory [pres-ti-dij-i-tuh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] (Show IPA), prestidigitatorial, adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for prestidigitation

Contemporary Examples

It was, all in all, a wondrous feat of prestidigitation, worthy of a Las Vegas magician.
Michelle Obama’s Media Blitz Through ‘The Daily Show,’ ‘The View’ & More
Lloyd Grove
May 29, 2012

Historical Examples

And he’s more light-fingered than his predecessor, he’s a master of prestidigitation !
Under the Rose
Frederic Stewart Isham

All these extraordinary manœuvres cannot be attributed to prestidigitation.
Mysterious Psychic Forces
Camille Flammarion

I hope to convince the reader that these things really exist, and are neither illusions nor farces, nor feats of prestidigitation.
Mysterious Psychic Forces
Camille Flammarion

The Theosophical craze of recent years has had its influence on prestidigitation.
Magic, Stage Illusions and Scientific Diversions Including Trick Photography
Albert A. Hopkins

A perfect technic is more than a wonderful power of prestidigitation, or facility in the manipulation of an instrument.
Memories of a Musical Life
William Mason

In St. Petersburg great and incredible examples of mystification and of prestidigitation were told about him.
The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin
Harry Houdini

He had emptied the pockets of his companions by a kind of prestidigitation quite incomprehensible to them.
The Graysons
Edward Eggleston

The other line of argument raises more subtle intellectual issues and is not a mere matter of prestidigitation.
A Revision of the Treaty
John Maynard Keynes

It was prestidigitation for all concerned—only the side of the children of Israel was espoused in the recital.
Visionaries
James Huneker

Anagram

a dispiriting tote
a trip it digestion

30 July 2017

eft(1)

[eft]

noun

1. a newt, especially the eastern newt, Notophthalmus viridescens (red eft) in its immature terrestrial stage.
2. Obsolete. a lizard.

Origin of eft(1)

Middle English, Old English
1000 before 1000; Middle English evet(e), Old English efete; cf. newt

eft(2)

[eft]

adverb, Archaic.

1. again.
2. afterward.

Origin

before 900; Middle English, Old English; akin to aft, after

EFT or EFTS

1. electronic funds transfer.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for eft

Historical Examples

From time to time out of the depths of these submerged thickets an eft darts up.
The Ink-Stain, Complete
Rene Bazin

29 July 2017

trivet(1)

[triv-it]

noun

1. a small metal plate with short legs, especially one put under a hot platter or dish to protect a table.
2. a three-footed or three-legged stand or support, especially one of iron placed over a fire to support cooking vessels or the like.

Origin of trivet(1)

late Middle English Old English Latin

1375-1425; late Middle English trevet, Old English trefet, apparently blend of Old English thrifēte three-footed and Latin triped-, stem of tripēs three-footed (with Vulgar Latin -e- for Latin -i-)

trivet(2) or trivette

[triv-it]

noun

1. a special knife for cutting pile loops, as of velvet or carpets.

Origin

origin uncertain

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for trivet

Historical Examples

trivet has a three-legged trivet ; Trumpington two trumps; and Montbocher three pots.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3
Various

Then I’ll make him some strong coffee, and he’ll be as right as a trivet.
The Missionary
George Griffith

I see a pump, with a trivet underneath its spout whereon to stand the vessels that are brought to be filled with water.
The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices

Anagram

tier TV

8 July 2017

graven

[grey-vuh n]

verb

1. a past participle of grave(3).
adjective
2. deeply impressed; firmly fixed.
3. carved; sculptured:
a graven idol.

Origin of graven

1200-1250; Middle English. See grave3, -en3
Related forms

nongraven, adjective
ungraven, adjective
well-graven, adjective

grave(3)

[greyv]

verb (used with object), graved, graven or graved, graving.

1. to carve, sculpt, or engrave.
2. to impress deeply:
graven on the mind.

Origin

before 1000; Middle English graven, Old English grafan; cognate with German graben

Related forms

graver, noun

grave(4)

[greyv]

verb (used with object), graved, graving. Nautical.

1. to clean and apply a protective composition of tar to (the bottom of a ship).

Origin

1425-75; late Middle English; perhaps akin to gravel

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for graven

Historical Examples

The story of the royal supremacy was graven even on the titlepage of the new Bible.
History of the English People, Volume III (of 8)
John Richard Green

Most of them sat like graven images, neither speaking nor stirring.
Jim Spurling, Fisherman
Albert Walter Tolman

These symbols were called runes; and graven into granite the runic inscriptions have defied the gnawing tooth of time.
Canute the Great
Laurence Marcellus Larson

But along the edge of the oven were graven the signs of the eight elemental forces.
The Chinese Fairy Book
Various

The warriors, standing steady and silent as graven images, gazed earnestly on their multitudinous foes.
The Boy Crusaders
John G. Edgar

“I ain’t exactly a graven image, now that you mention it,” he admitted.
Cap’n Dan’s Daughter
Joseph C. Lincoln

The Wanderer stopped before the gate of an open sepulchre, on which was graven the name of the many times Murdered.
The Continental Monthly, Volume V. Issue I
Various

Has existence only to unroll a tableau, every detail of which is graven on my heart?
Gerald Fitzgerald
Charles James Lever

The features of one were the features of all, graven with the weariness of the machine’s treadmill.
The Last Shot
Frederick Palmer

Darn him, like a graven image there, the only mute, immovable thing in that turmoil!
The Million-Dollar Suitcase
Alice MacGowan

Anagram

ran veg

26 July 2017

pollard

[pol-erd]

noun

1. a tree cut back nearly to the trunk, so as to produce a dense mass of branches.
2. an animal, as a stag, ox, or sheep, having no horns.
verb (used with object)
3. to convert into a pollard.

Origin of pollard

1515-1525, First recorded in 1515-25; poll1+ -ard

Related forms

unpollarded, adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for pollard

Contemporary Examples

Breslin noted that pollard earned $3.01 an hour and came in on his day off and considered the task an honor.
What Became of JFK’s Gravedigger?
Michael Daly
November 21, 2013

Sharanksy noted that his own government at first did not acknowledge that pollard was even an agent.
Free Jonathan Pollard: Israelis Welcome Obama, Then Ask Him for a Favor
Eli Lake
March 17, 2013

pollard the captive fits those prayers much better than the Jewish lawyers and doctors who went to Stanford with him.
Jonathan Pollard Means Israeli-American Squabbling Instead of Israeli-Palestinian Negotiation
Raphael Magarik
July 25, 2013

Anagram

roll pad
all drop
Lap Lord
Rap Doll

25 July 2017

unbosom

[uhn-boo z-uh m, -boo-zuh m]

verb (used with object)

1. to disclose (a confidence, secret, etc.).
verb (used without object)
2. to disclose one’s thoughts, feelings, or the like, especially in confidence.
Idioms
3. unbosom oneself, to disclose one’s thoughts, feelings, etc., to another person; confide one’s private affairs:
He unbosomed himself to a complete stranger.

Origin of unbosom

1580-1590; un-2+ bosom (v.)

Related forms

unbosomer, noun

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for unbosom

Historical Examples

Slowly he rolled a cigarette and began to unbosom himself to Jack.
The Indians’ Last Fight
Dennis Collins

Well, Tom, as I know you to be a sincere fellow, I will unbosom myself.
Select Temperance Tracts
American Tract Society

Once within the walls of the pleasant little room, he found it easy to unbosom himself.
That Lass O’ Lowrie’s
Frances Hodgson Burnett

Then only did he unbosom himself and tell me freely what he had to say.
The Iron Pirate
Max Pemberton

The barber, who had also heard the story, was bursting with a desire to unbosom himself upon the subject.
The Colonel’s Dream
Charles W. Chesnutt

Anagram

mob onus
sun boom

24 July 2017

plethora

[pleth-er-uh]

noun

1. overabundance; excess:
a plethora of advice and a paucity of assistance.
2. Pathology Archaic. a morbid condition due to excess of red corpuscles in the blood or increase in the quantity of blood.

Origin of plethora

Greek

1535-1545; New Latin; Greek plēthṓra fullness

Can be confused

dearth, plethora.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for plethora

Contemporary Examples

Living with a gun has created a plethora of new thought patterns for me.
‘Stupid,’ ‘Immoral,’ ‘Dangerous,’ ‘Coward’: My Month With a Gun
Heidi Yewman
July 21, 2013

There are a plethora of groups that track and publish this kind of information, which I read avidly when I come across it.
Who’s Missing in First Class?
Lauren Zalaznick
December 10, 2010

During the mid-to-late 1980s, he went on an absolute tear, helming a plethora of irresistible entertainments.
Rob Reiner on the State of Romcoms, ‘The Princess Bride’s’ Alternate Ending, and the Red Viper
Marlow Stern
July 26, 2014

Anagram

heal port
hot pearl
the portal

23 July 2017

verbatim

[ver-bey-tim]

adverb

1. in exactly the same words; word for word:
to repeat something verbatim.
adjective
2. corresponding word for word to the original source or text:
a verbatim record of the proceedings.
3. skilled at recording or noting down speeches, proceedings, etc., with word-for-word accuracy:
a verbatim stenographer.

Origin of verbatim

Medieval Latin

1475-1485; < Medieval Latin verbātim, equivalent to verb(um) word + -ātim adv. suffix
verbatim et literatim

[wer-bah-tim et lee-te-rah-tim; English ver-bey-tim et lit-uh-rey-tim]

adverb, Latin.

1. word for word and letter for letter; in exactly the same words.

Also, verbatim ac literatim [wer-bah-tim ahk lee-te-rah-tim; English ver-bey-tim ak lit-uh-rey-tim].

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for verbatim

Contemporary Examples

He knew exactly what Raymond had said, maybe not verbatim, but certainly in general.
John Grisham’s Debut Short Story
John Grisham
October 25, 2009

I have it on good authority these quotes are 100 percent accurate, if not 100 percent verbatim.
Forget the Resolutions; Try a Few Declarations
Kevin Bleyer
December 31, 2014

She played the part by reading from a script assembled almost entirely out of verbatim Palin quotes.
More Juicy Election Details
The Daily Beast
January 10, 2010

Anagram

vibe mart
Amber I TV

21 July 2017

abeam

[uh-beem]

adverb

1. Nautical, Aeronautics. at right angles to the fore-and-aft line:
The vessel was sailing with the wind directly abeam.
2. directly abreast the middle of a ship’s side.

Origin of abeam

1830-1840 First recorded in 1830-40; a-1+ beam

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for abeam

Historical Examples

We will suppose that you have luffed around the first mark, and the next leg is a run with the wind aft of abeam.
Harper’s Round Table, September 3, 1895
Various

She was abeam now, a mile away; how slow they were in running up an answer!
The Relief of Mafeking
Filson Young

toxophilite

[tok-sof-uh-lahyt]

noun

1. a devotee of archery; archer.

Origin of toxophilite

Greek

1785-1795; Toxophil(us) bow-lover (coined by Roger Ascham in his 1545 book so entitled; Greek tóxo(n) bow + -philos -phile ) + -ite1

Related forms

toxophilitic [tok-sof-uh-lit-ik], adjective
toxophily, noun

Dictionary.com

Anagram

lithe pix too
helix tip too
pixie hot lot

18 July 2017

espalier

[ih-spal-yer, -yey]

noun

1. a trellis or framework on which the trunk and branches of fruit trees or shrubs are trained to grow in one plane.
2. a plant so trained.
verb (used with object)
3. to train on an espalier.
4. to furnish with an espalier.

Origin of espalier

Italian

1655-1665; French, Middle French: trellis; Italian spalliera back rest, espalier, equivalent to spall(a) shoulder, support + -iera -ier2

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for espalier

Historical Examples

Trained as an espalier, with protection of straw or mats, it will do tolerably well throughout the Middle states.
Soil Culture
J. H. Walden

Attend to the trees lately planted, and water them often; and whatever good shoots they make, fasten them to the wall or espalier.
The Cook and Housekeeper’s Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,
Mary Eaton

A beautiful portion of Holland’s glorious history affords the espalier, around which the tendrils of my narrative entwine.
The Burgomaster’s Wife, Complete
Georg Ebers

This practice is also followed in winter cabbages, which are sown in this season along an espalier border.
Buffon’s Natural History. Volume X (of 10)
Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon

The U-form classifies somewhere between the cordon and the espalier.
Dwarf Fruit Trees
F. A. Waugh

Rosalie had tied the twigs to a palisade, so that, as an espalier, it could thoroughly drink in the sun’s rays.
O. T.
Hans Christian Andersen

Anagram

pale rise
real pies
pair eels

17 July 2017

avocation

[av-uh-key-shuh n]

noun

1. something a person does in addition to a principal occupation, especially for pleasure; hobby:
Our doctor’s avocation is painting.
2. a person’s regular occupation, calling, or vocation.
3. Archaic. diversion or distraction.

Origin of avocation

Latin

1520-1530; Latin āvocātiōn- (stem of āvocātiō) a calling away. See a-4, vocation

Related forms

avocational, adjective
avocationally, adverb

Can be confused

avocation, vocation.
avocation, evocation.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for avocation

Contemporary Examples

He stammered, and read and wrote a lot of poetry (mostly in secret), an avocation he changed to photography for the novel.
Colm Toibin Describes The Creation Of His Quiet Masterpiece ‘Nora Webster’
Jennie Yabroff
November 2, 2014

I think it was more a matter of self-consciousness… I always saw writing about music as purely an avocation.
Peter Guralnick: In Love With the Life of Music
Ron Hogan
March 28, 2014

Historical Examples

Because they serve for stages of faculty and avocation upon that biological gradient of Ascent by which we climb.
Feminism and Sex-Extinction
Arabella Kenealy

They were a gay group of men, and hospitality was their avocation.
Complete Story of the San Francisco Horror
Richard Linthicum

Sire,” said the noble Surgeon Larry to Napoleon, “it is my avocation to prolong life, and not to destroy it.
Martyria
Augustus C. Hamlin

Petrarca, in his avocation of barber, was in the greatest request.
Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 57, No. 351, January 1845
Various

But it is the cause of a vast amount of misery amongst those who are compelled to seek a house close to their daily avocation.
Christmas Penny Readings
George Manville Fenn

I would not like to hurt your feelings by calling your avocation a trade!
Crown and Anchor
John Conroy Hutcheson

They found Joe Sanders sitting on the doorstep, with the morose aspect of a man deprived of his avocation in life.
When ‘Bear Cat’ Went Dry
Charles Neville Buck

Industry is diligence applied to some avocation, business, or profession.
English Synonyms and Antonyms
James Champlin Fernald

Anagram

to ciao van
coo at vain

16 July 2017

fuddling cup

noun

1. an English earthenware drinking vessel of the 17th and 18th centuries, having the form of a cluster of three or more cups communicating at their bottoms in such a way that the entire vessel can be drained from any of them. A fuddling cup is a three-dimensional puzzle in the form of a drinking vessel, made of three or more cups or jugs all linked together by holes and tubes. The challenge of the puzzle is to drink from the vessel in such a way that the beverage does not spill. To do this successfully, the cups must be drunk from in a specific order.

Fuddling cups

15 July 2017

rowel

[rou-uh l]

noun

1. a small wheel with radiating points, forming the extremity of a spur.
2. Veterinary Medicine. a piece of leather or the like inserted beneath the skin of a horse or other animal to promote drainage of an infection.
verb (used with object), roweled, roweling or (especially British) rowelled, rowelling.
3. to prick or urge with a rowel.
4. Veterinary Medicine. to insert a rowel in.

Origin of rowel

Middle English, Middle French, Old French, Late Latin

1350-1400; Middle English rowelle < Middle French ruelle, Old French roel < Late Latin rotella, equivalent to Latin rot(a) wheel + -ella -elle

Related forms

unroweled; especially British, unrowelled, adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for rowel

Historical Examples

Unbuckling the spur from her heel, she used the rowel as a knife to jab a hole in the clay.
The Sheriff’s Son
William MacLeod Raine

The shank of the spur is the bridge and road, the rowel the church and rectory.
Cradock Nowell, Vol. 1 (of 3)
Richard Doddridge Blackmore

The spurs were also richly gilded, the shank and rowel representing the thistle, and were the gift of the drummer-boys.
The Life of Isaac Ingalls Stevens, Volume II (of 2)
Hazard Stevens

She twirled her rowel in silence for a time, her eyes fixed on it.
The Heritage of the Hills
Arthur P. Hankins

The rowel spur is found but in one or two instances during this century.
Ancient Armour and Weapons in Europe
John Hewitt

I measured one which was six inches in the diameter of the rowel, and the rowel itself contained upward of thirty points.
With the World’s Great Travellers, Volume 1
Various

Anagram

lower

14 July 2017

repast

[noun ri-past, -pahst, ree-past, -pahst; verb ri-past, -pahst]

noun

1. a quantity of food taken or provided for one occasion of eating:
to eat a light repast.
2. a meal:
the evening repast.
3. the time during which a meal is eaten; mealtime.
4. Archaic. the taking of food, as at a meal.
5. Obsolete. food.
verb (used without object)
6. to eat or feast (often followed by on or upon).

Origin of repast

Middle English, Late Latin, Latin

1300-1350; Middle English (noun); Old French, derivative (compare past; Latin pāstus fodder) of repaistre to eat a meal; Late Latin repāscere to feed regularly, equivalent to Latin re- re- + pāscere to feed (cf. pasture)

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for repast

Historical Examples

The repast was short; it lasted little more than a quarter of an hour.
The Pearl of the Andes
Gustave Aimard

The Frenchmen paddled ashore and joined eagerly in the repast.
The Adventures of the Chevalier De La Salle and His Companions, in Their Explorations of the Prairies, Forests, Lakes, and Rivers, of the New World, and Their Interviews with the Savage Tribes, Two Hundred Years Ago
John S. C. Abbott

His repast consisted of a sandwich and a small bottle of well-frappéd champagne.
The Clarion
Samuel Hopkins Adams

When the Lapp had finished his repast he lay down to repose.
The Science of Fairy Tales
Edwin Sidney Hartland

And they hastened to regale the hungry visitors with a repast of fish.
Pioneers Of France In The New World
Francis Parkman, Jr.

Before the end of the repast he had recovered all his assurance, all his aplomb.
Samuel Brohl & Company
Victor Cherbuliez

Anagram

tapers

13 July 2017

newel

[noo-uh l, nyoo-]

noun

1. newel post.
2. a central pillar or upright from which the steps of a winding stair radiate.
3. (on an escalator) the horizontal section of railing at the upper or lower end.

Origin of newel

Middle English, Middle French, Late Latin
1325-1375; earlier nuel, Middle English nowel < Middle French no(u)el kernel, newel; Late Latin *nucāle, noun use of neuter of nucālis of a nut, nutlike, equivalent to Latin nuc- (stem of nux) nut + -ālis -al1

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for newel

Historical Examples

A discharge of fire-arms followed; but, sheltered by the newel, Catesby sustained no injury.
Guy Fawkes
William Harrison Ainsworth

With a lowering face he watched her descend and, his hand on the newel, confronted her.
Viviette
William J. Locke

The grip of the shadowy presence was fastened on newel, and he knew it.
Lydia Knight’s History
Susa Gates

He had a fleeting impression that she had been for some time where she stood now, by the stairway with her hand on the newel post.
Basil Everman
Elsie Singmaster