3 September 2017

reave(1)

[reev]

verb (used with object), reaved or reft, reaving. Archaic.

1. to take away by or as by force; plunder; rob.

Origin of reave(1)

Middle English Old English
900 before 900; Middle English reven, Old English rēafian; cognate with German rauben, Dutch roven to rob

reave(2)

[reev]

verb (used with or without object), reaved or reft, reaving.

1. Archaic. to rend; break; tear.

Origin

1175-1225; Middle English; apparently special use of reave(1)(by association with rive )

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for reave

Historical Examples

I am doing what I can to reave the heavens of these monsters.
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 7 (of 12)
Robert G. Ingersoll

But they try to reave from God, His part, who would be praised of men for good deeds.
The Form of Perfect Living and Other Prose Treatises
Richard Rolle of Hampole

Not forty Van Hupfeldts nor a legion of ghosts should reave him of those telling pieces of evidence!
The Late Tenant
Louis Tracy

Anagram

a ever

Today’s quote

Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad, and that’s why I call you dad, because you are so special to me. You taught me the game and you taught me how to play it right.

– Wade Boggs

On this day

3 September 1901 – Australian national flag flies for the first time. The Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne has the honours. 3 September is celebrated each year as Australia’s National Flag Day.

3 September 1939 – Britain declares war on Germany.

3 September 1970 – death of Alan Wilson from barbiturate poisoning. It’s unclear whether his death was accidental or suicide. American guitarist and singer-songwriter for Canned Heat. He was 27. His death occurred exactly 14 months after the death of Rolling Stones founder and guitarist Brian Jones, two weeks before the death of Jimi Hendrix, four weeks before the death of Janis Joplin and exactly 10 months before the death of Jimmy Morrison, all of whom were 27 when they died, fanning concerns for musicians at this age and referencing the deaths as the 27 Club. Born 4 July 1943.

2 September 2017

stramash

[struh-mash, stram-uh sh]

noun, Scot.

1. an uproar; disturbance.

Origin of stramash

1795-1805 First recorded in 1795-1805; origin uncertain

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for stramash

Historical Examples

Men hae been married afore now without making sic a stramash.
Tommy and Grizel
J.M. Barrie

British Dictionary definitions for stramash

stramash

/strəˈmæʃ/

noun

1. an uproar; tumult; brawl
verb (transitive)
2. to destroy; smash

Word Origin

C18: perhaps expanded from smash

Collins English Dictionary

Anagram

ah smarts
harm tsars
art shams

Today’s quote

Readers are plentiful: thinkers are rare.

– Anthony Burgess

On this day

2 – 5 September 1666 – Great Fire of London. It destroyed 13,200 homes, leaving 70,000 of the 80,000 inhabitants homeless, 87 churches, St Paul’s Cathedral.

2 September 1752 – last day of the Julian calendar as the British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar. To balance the books, the next 10 days (3 – 13 September) are written off so the Gregorian commences on 14 September, which should have been 3 September in the Julian calendar.

2 September 1945 – Japan signs the ‘Instrument of Surrender’, on the USS Missouri, bringing World War II to an end.

2 September 1951 – Australia, New Zealand and United States sign the ANZUS Security Treaty, a defence pact.

2 September 1973 – death of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of ‘The Hobbit‘ and ‘Lord of the Rings‘. Born 3 January 1892.

1 September 2017

smout

/smaʊt/

noun (Scot)

1. a child or undersized person

Collins English Dictionary

smout, smowt, n. (slang) a printer who gets chance jobs in various offices.
Chambers’s Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)

Anagram

to sum

Today’s quote

Love is a strange master, and human nature is still stranger.

– Edgar Rice Burroughs

On this day

1 September 1875 – birth of Edgar Rice Burroughs, American science fiction author: Tarzan, Mars series (on which the 2012 movie ‘John Carter‘ was based). Died 19 March 1950.

1 September 1939 – official commencement date of World War II, when Germany invaded Poland.

31 August 2017

birling

[bur-ling]

noun, Chiefly Northern U.S.

1. a game played by lumberjacks, in which each tries to balance longest on a floating log while rotating the log with the feet.

Origin of birling

birl + -ing1
birl
[burl]

Spell Syllables

verb (used with object)

1. Chiefly Northern U.S. Lumbering. to cause (a floating log) to rotate rapidly by treading upon it.
2. British. to spin or cause to rotate.
verb (used without object)
3. Chiefly Northern U.S. Lumbering. to cause a floating log to rotate rapidly by treading on it.
4. British.
to move or rotate rapidly.
Informal. to spend money freely.
Informal. to gamble.
noun
5. British Informal. an attempt; a gamble.

Origin

1715-25; perhaps blend of birr1and whirl, influenced, in some senses, by birle

Related forms

birler, noun
birle
[burl; Scot. birl] Chiefly Scot.

verb (used with object), birled, birling.

1. to pour (a drink) or pour a drink for.
verb (used without object), birled, birling.
2. to drink deeply; carouse.

Origin

before 1000; Middle English birlen, Old English byrelian, derivative of byrele butler; akin to bear1

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for birling

Historical Examples

By the way, did you fellows ever square up on that birling match?
Blazed Trail Stories
Stewart Edward White

Why was the sympathy of the crowd with Jimmy Powers in the birling match?
Americans All
Various

birling the brown bowl wi’ the fowler and the falconer, and some o’ the serving folk.
Old Mortality, Complete, Illustrated
Sir Walter Scott

Anagram

girl bin
rib ling

Today’s quote

One of the secrets of life is to keep our intellectual curiosity acute.

– William Lyon Phelps

On this day

31 August 12AD – birth of Caligula, also known as Gaius Caesar, 3rd Roman Emperor from 37 – 41AD. Died 24 January 41AD. First Roman Emperor to be assassinated following a conspiracy to restore the Roman Republic. While the plot to kill Caligula succeeds, the restoration of the Republic fails when the Praetorian Guard appoint Caligula’s uncle, Claudius, as Emperor.

31 August 1897 – Thomas Edison granted a patent for the world’s first movie camera, the Kinetograph. The patented incorporated a number of inventions related to the capture of moving pictures, including the kinetoscope.

31 August 1928 – birth of James Coburn, actor (‘The Great Escape‘, ‘The Magnificent Seven‘). Died 18 November 2002.

31 August 1997 – death of Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales, in a car crash in Paris. Born 1 July 1961.

30 August 2017

Athazagoraphobia

[ey-thaz-ag-or-uh-foh-bee-uh]

noun

– fear of being forgotten or ignored and fear of forgetting. Athazagoraphobia is considered to be a specific phobia and as with any phobia, the symptoms vary by person depending on their level of fear. The symptoms typically include extreme anxiety, dread and anything associated with panic such as shortness of breath, rapid breathing, irregular heartbeat, sweating, excessive sweating, nausea, dry mouth, nausea, inability to articulate words or sentences, dry mouth and shaking

http://common-phobias.com/athazagora/phobia.htm

Example

Sitting, waiting day after day with shaking hands and dry mouth for her reply in Messenger … has she forgotten me … I never thought I suffered athazagoraphobia until I felt panic from her delayed responses.

Anagram

Arabia Hath Zap Goo
Bazaar Hag Patio Oh
Airbag Aha Zap Hoot

Today’s quote

One of the secrets of life is that all that is really worth the doing is what we do for others.

– Lewis Carroll

On this day

30 August 580 – birth of Muhammad, prophet and founder of Islam.

30 August 1146 – European leaders optimistically outlaw the cross-bow with the belief that it will end war for evermore. The ban was flouted and cross-bows continued to be used until they were replaced by fire-arms in the 16th century.

30 August 2003 – Death of Charles Bronson, American actor. Born 3 November 1921 as Charles Dennis Buchinsky.

28 August 2017

dishevel

[dih-shev-uh l]

verb (used with object), disheveled, disheveling or (especially British) dishevelled, dishevelling.

1. to let down, as hair, or wear or let hang in loose disorder, as clothing.
2. to cause untidiness and disarray in:
The wind disheveled the papers on the desk.

Origin of dishevel

1590-1600 First recorded in 1590-1600; back formation from disheveled
Related forms

dishevelment, noun

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for dishevel

Historical Examples

I never can get them there girls of mine to dishevel themselves in time.
Manners, Vol 1 of 3
Frances Brooke

I find it clear and very clarifying, after the innumerable hours I have spent in trying to dishevel him.
The Letters of William James, Vol. II
William James

Rich chaplets these were, that the winds might not dishevel their comely hair, and this is true i’ faith.
The Nibelungenlied
Unknown

Anagram

I shelved
shed evil
she devil
she lived
hid elves

Today’s quote

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

On this day

28 August 1837 – Worcestershire Sauce manufactured by John Lea and William Perrins.

28 August 1963 – Martin Luther King Jr gives his famous ‘I have a dream’ speech to 250,000 civil rights activists in Washington DC, in which he called for an end to racism.

27 August 2017

popinjay

[pop-in-jey]

noun

1. a person given to vain, pretentious displays and empty chatter; coxcomb; fop.
2. British Dialect. a woodpecker, especially the green woodpecker.
3. Archaic. the figure of a parrot usually fixed on a pole and used as a target in archery and gun shooting.
4. Archaic. a parrot.

Origin of popinjay

Middle English, Middle French, Spanish, Arabic
1275-1325; Middle English papejay, popingay, papinjai(e) < Middle French papegai, papingay parrot < Spanish papagayo < Arabic bab(ba)ghā’

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for popinjay

Historical Examples

Yes, I was thinking what a popinjay I should look in a cocked hat.
Syd Belton
George Manville Fenn

That it has given a peacock’s strut to the popinjay Anthony Woodville.
The Last Of The Barons, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton

“Then will they miss seeing a man, and not a popinjay,” I retorted.
To Have and To Hold
Mary Johnston

Am I to be shot at like a popinjay at a fair, by any reaver or outlaw that seeks a mark for his bow?
Sir Nigel
Arthur Conan Doyle

You should see the figure you cut with that popinjay in your arms.
The Shadow of Life
Anne Douglas Sedgwick

I’ll be shot if you shall have an invitation to Lancaster Park, you popinjay !
Lancaster’s Choice
Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller

Then will they miss seeing a man, and not a popinjay, I retorted.
By order of the company
Mary Johnston

Taylor, the water poet, mentions the popinjay at Ewell, in 1636.
The History of Signboards
Jacob Larwood

Two only of those who followed in order succeeded in hitting the popinjay.
Old Mortality, Complete, Illustrated
Sir Walter Scott

But the popinjay could not sing, and had no invitation to stay.
Dorothy and other Italian Stories
Constance Fenimore Woolson

Anagram

pip yo Jan

Today’s quote

Your competition is not other people but the time you kill, the ill will you create, the knowledge you neglect to learn, the connections you fail to build, the health you sacrifice along the path, your inability to generate ideas, the people around you who don’t support and love your efforts, and whatever god you curse for your bad luck.

– James Altucher

On this day

27 August 1883 – the world’s biggest recorded explosion occurs on Krakatoa, an Indonesian island as a volcano erupts, killing between 36,000 and 120,000 people. The noise is heard in Perth, Western Australia, 3,500km away and Mauritius, 4,800km away where it was thought to be cannon fire. Tsunamis up to 30m high were recorded. It generated a cloud of ash 27km high. In the 12 months after the explosion, global temperatures fell by 1.2oC. The explosion darkened the sky for years afterward.

27 August 1908 – birth of Sir Donald Bradman (The Don), Australia’s (and arguably, the world’s) greatest cricketer. In his last Test, Bradman’s batting average was 101.39 runs per innings, but on the second ball he faced, he was bowled for a duck (zero), reducing his batting average to 99.94. It is the highest batting average in test cricket. Died 25 February 2001.

27 August 1975 – death of Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia. Although Selassie was an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian, Rastafarians believe that he is the Messiah returned. Born 23 July 1892.

26 August 2017

indecorous

[in-dek-er-uh s, in-di-kawr-uh s, -kohr-]

adjective

1. not decorous; violating generally accepted standards of good taste or propriety; unseemly.

Origin of indecorous

Latin

1670-1680 From the Latin word indecōrus, dating back to 1670-80. See in-3, decorous

Related forms

indecorously, adverb
indecorousness, noun

Synonyms

indecent, improper, inappropriate.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for indecorous

Historical Examples

The indecorous Elizabethans regarded this custom almost entirely from the point of view of decorum and morality.
Oxford Lectures on Poetry
Andrew Cecil Bradley

We cannot follow them and listen to their conversation—that would be indecorous.
The Youth of Jefferson
J. E. Cooke.

The sight struck him as indecorous in the extreme, and he turned his eyes away.
The Damnation of Theron Ware
Harold Frederic

To make such a fuss, also, about your religion seemed to her indecorous and absurd.
The Coryston Family
Mrs. Humphry Ward

The legal gentlemen, I suspect, were responsible for this indecorous zeal, which I never afterwards remarked in a similar party.
Our Old Home, Vol. 2
Nathaniel Hawthorne

A 65 very good showing, in these relaxed and indecorous days.
An Idyll of All Fools’ Day
Josephine Daskam Bacon

I supposed so only, for it would have been indecorous to inquire into the meaning of what I saw.
The American Indians
Henry R. Schoolcraft

It would have been horrible, it would have been indecorous, to ask Kamarowsky for money.
Marie Tarnowska
Annie Vivanti

Wouldn’t it be considered scandalous, or at least indecorous, if it were to leak out now?
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 105, September 30th 1893
Various

You may be thankful it was my indecorous, unfeminine self, and not any of the proprieties.
Merkland
Mrs. Oliphant

Anagram

coined ours
sourced ion
since odour
curios done
or so induce

Today’s quote

I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet

– Saadi Shirazi (paraphrased)

On this day

26 August 580 – toilet paper invented by the Chinese.

26 August 1910 – birth of Mother Teresa (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) in Yugoslavia, winner of Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her work in the slums of Calcutta. On 4 September 2016, she became Saint Mother Teresa in a canonisation ceremony conducted by Pope Francis. Died 5 September 1997.

26 August 1946 – George Orwell’s revolutionary novel, Animal Farm, is published.

25 August 2017

capitulate

[kuh-pich-uh-leyt]

verb (used without object), capitulated, capitulating.

1. to surrender unconditionally or on stipulated terms.
2. to give up resistance:
He finally capitulated and agreed to do the job my way.

Origin of capitulate

Medieval Latin

1570-1580; < Medieval Latin capitulātus (past participle of capitulāre to draw up in sections), equivalent to capitul(um) section (literally, small head; see capitulum ) + -ātus -ate1

Related forms

capitulant, noun
capitulator, noun
uncapitulated, adjective
uncapitulating, adjective

Can be confused

capitulate, recapitulate.

Synonyms

2. yield, acquiesce, accede, give in.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for capitulate

Contemporary Examples

This meant that even if Saddam sought to capitulate, it would not suffice.
Sanctions Make War More Likely
Trita Parsi
March 22, 2012

Nor is the stubborn, shrewd prime minsiter known to capitulate easily, or to misread public sentiment.
Why Did Netanyahu Release Palestinian Prisoners?
Abraham Katsman
August 5, 2013

As he is walking out the door, the Japanese call him back, capitulate, and a happy medium is agreed on.
‘A Hijacking,’ the Somali Pirate Movie Without Tom Hanks, Is Fantastic
Tom Sykes
July 14, 2013

Anagram

teacup tail
up a lattice
at tulip ace

Today’s quote

Find your chill.

― Genghis Khan

On this day

25 August 325 – conclusion of the First Council of Nicea, a cabal of 1800 bishops convened by Roman Emperor Constantine I (Constantine the Great) to gain consensus within the church for various doctrinal issues, such as the divinity of Christ, the Holy Trinity and the date for Easter which were articulated in the ‘Creed of Nicea’. The Council was officially opened on 20 May 325.

25 August 1227 – death of Genghis Khan, founder and emperor of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest, contiguous empire in history. At its peak, it covered stretched from Eastern Europe to the Sea of Japan, and included Southeast Asia, the Indian sub-continent, the Iranian Plateau and the Middle East. It covered 24 million km2 (16% of the Earth’s total land area) and had a population of over 100 million. Born circa 1162.

25 August 1330 – Antipope Nicolaas V overthrows himself by presenting a confession of sins to Pope John XXII, who absolved him. Nicolaas V had previously been excommunicated by Pope John XXII. After his absolution, Nicolaas V was held in ‘honourable imprisonment’ in the papal palace at Avignon until his death in 1333.

25 August 1949 – birth of Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz) in Haifa, Israel. American rock guitarist and song-writer. Co-founder of Kiss.

25 August 1991 – founding of computer operating system, Linux, by Linus Torvalds.

25 August 2012 – death of Neil Armstrong. First man to walk on the moon. Born 5 August 1930.