cstr/en-wiktionary-extracted-all huggingface dataset:
amenities
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /əˈmɛn.ə.tiːz/
Senses: glosses: plural of amenity
amenities
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /əˈmɛn.ə.tiːz/
Senses: examples: text: "I trust that you are as comfortable as circumstances permit," said Holmes, when the final arrangements were made. "Should I be guilty of a liberty if I lit a cigar and placed it between your lips?"
But all amenities were wasted upon the angry German.
ref: 1917 September, Arthur Conan Doyle, “His Last Bow: An Epilogue of Sherlock Holmes”, in His Last Bow: A Reminiscence of Sherlock Holmes, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published October 1917, →OCLC, page 306:
text: When we got to Sullivan Street Mrs. Ricci was waiting in front with a glare in her eye that made me decide not to stop for any amenities.
ref: 1934, Rex Stout, Fer-de-Lance, Bantam, published 1992, →ISBN, page 24:
synonyms: pleasantness
civility
suavity
gentleness
glosses: The quality of being pleasant or agreeable, whether in respect to situation, climate, manners, disposition etc.
amiability
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /eɪ.mi.ʌˈbɪl.ə.ti/
Forms: form: amiabilities
Etymology: From amiable + -ability.
Senses: glosses: Friendliness, especially easy approachability owing to a cheerful and pleasant disposition.
Synonyms: affability
amicability
approachability
cordiality
douceur
friendliness
Derived terms: unamiability
Related terms: amiable
amiableness
amiably
amiable
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈeɪ.mi.ə.bəl/
ipa: /ˈæ.mi.ə.bəl/
Forms: form: more amiable
form: most amiable
Etymology: From Middle English amyable, from Old French amiable, from Late Latin amīcābilis (“friendly”), from Latin amīcus (“friend”), from amō (“love”, verb). The meaning has been influenced by French amiable and Latin amābilis (“loveable”) (whence English aimable and amable). Doublet of amicable. Compare with amorous, amability.
Senses: examples: text: an amiable temper
text: amiable ideas
text: The sums I have lent him! indeed—I have been exceedingly to blame—it was an amiable weakness!
ref: 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, V.i:
text: A short time afterward at the opera Gerald dragged him into a parterre to say something amiable to one of the amiable débutante Craig girls—and Selwyn found himself again facing Alixe.
ref: 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter III, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
glosses: Friendly; kind; sweet; gracious
examples: text: an amiable person
text: My deyſy delectabyll
My prymerose commendabyll
My vyolet amyabyll
My ioye in explicabill
Nowe torne agayne to me
ref: c. 1521, John Skelton, Speke Parott:
text: A short time afterward at the opera Gerald dragged him into a parterre to say something amiable to one of the amiable débutante Craig girls—and Selwyn found himself again facing Alixe.
ref: 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter III, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
glosses: Of a pleasant and likeable nature; kind-hearted; easy to like
Synonyms: likable
Derived terms: amiability
amiableness
amiably
inamiable
unamiable
Related terms: amicable
amity
amid
Language: English
Part of speech: prep
Pronunciation: rhymes: -ɪd
ipa: /əˈmɪd/
Forms: form: 'mid
form: mid
Etymology: From Middle English amidde, Old English on middan, a- + mid.
Senses: examples: text: At last the first glimpse from a bridge of an open-top red bus, and a noticeable darkening of the atmosphere from the smoke of London: then the increasingly dingy stations with double-barrel names, set amid what has always been to me the outstanding feature of the "Premier Line" approach to London—the positively marvellous display of crazy chimney-pots on the grey inner suburban houses. As many as twenty, all of varying style, standing together like ranks of jagged teeth, and providing a Dickensian back-cloth which no other route can boast.
ref: 1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 704:
text: The resulting social divisions can seem so "real" and "natural" to those living amid them that there is a strong tendency to believe that they are timeless biological or scientific facts, rather than social facts that have been assembled and built up through human effort.
ref: 2006, Matt Wray, Not Quite White, page 141:
text: Amid all the fevered anticipation of this fixture, few would have expected to witness an aesthetically pleasing example of the beautiful game.
ref: 2014 November 14, Stephen Halliday, “Scotland 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Maloney the hero”, in The Scotsman:
text: In Osaka, the big action scenes take place with arrows as well as swords, amid glass display cases holding samurai costumes, a classic Wick setting.
ref: 2023 March 14, Caryn James, “John Wick: Chapter 4: 'Soars above most action films'”, in BBC:
synonyms: amongst
among
glosses: In the middle of; in the center of; surrounded by.
Derived terms: amidmost
amidship
amidships
Related terms: amidst
amid
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: rhymes: -ɪd
ipa: /əˈmɪd/
Forms: form: amids
Senses: glosses: Archaic form of amide.
amidst
Language: English
Part of speech: prep
Pronunciation: ipa: /aˈmɪdst/
ipa: /əˈmɪtst/
rhymes: -ɪdst
Forms: form: amidest
form: amiddst
form: amiddest
form: amydst
form: amyddst
form: amyddest
Etymology: From amids + -t (excrescent), from amid + -s (genitive). By surface analysis, amid + -st (excrescent). Root amid from Middle English amidde, amiddes, on midden, from Old English on middan (“in the middle”), from midd (“central”) (English mid).
Senses: examples: text: Be a philosopher ; but amidst all your philosophy, be still a man.
ref: 1748, [David Hume], chapter 4, in Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:
text: Not so, however, with Tarzan, the man-child. His life amidst the dangers of the jungle had taught him to meet emergencies with self-confidence, and his higher intelligence resulted in a quickness of mental action far beyond the powers of the apes.
ref: 1912 October, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Tarzan of the Apes”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as chapter 5, in Tarzan of the Apes, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, June 1914, →OCLC:
synonyms: amid
among
amongst
glosses: In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among.
amiss
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /əˈmɪs/
rhymes: -ɪs
Forms: form: more amiss
form: most amiss
Etymology: From a- + miss.
Senses: examples: text: He suspected something was amiss.
text: Something amiss in the arrangements had distracted the staff.
text: His wisdom and virtue cannot always rectify that which is amiss in himself or his circumstances.
ref: 1722, William Wollaston, The Religion of Nature Delineated:
text: Moreover, all were furnished with carbines and cartridge boxes, and the leader was armed with a sabre with a leather sheath. This was not so much amiss, and would do very well at a distance: but during the two hours' halt at the village aforesaid, I took it into my head, while the owners were enjoying their siesta under the shade of the gateway, just to stride in among them, and take a nearer inspection of the weapons.
ref: 1836, Charles Joseph La Trobe, The Rambler in Mexico:
text: There is a strong feeling across the land that something is amiss in America. You sometimes hear about these feelings when people discuss their concerns about how the baby boom generation is going to bankrupt our social security or Medicare programs, or about the growing size of the national debt that will be paid for by future generations.
ref: 2009, Robert Perrucci, Carolyn Cummings Perrucci, America at Risk: The Crisis of Hope, Trust, and Caring:
glosses: Wrong; faulty; out of order; improper or otherwise incorrect.
Synonyms: awry
Derived terms: amissness
dead amiss
go amiss
amiss
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Pronunciation: ipa: /əˈmɪs/
rhymes: -ɪs
Etymology: From a- + miss.
Senses: examples: text: The fire seven times tried this:
Seven times tried that judgement is,
That did never choose amiss.
Some there be that shadows kiss:
Such have but a shadow's bliss.
There be fools alive, I wis,
Silver'd o'er; and so was this.
I will ever be your head:
So be gone: you are sped.
ref: c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ix]:
text: We shall not do amiss to notice, also, that in ordinary conversation, a few words are used as Turkish singulars, which are, in reality, Arabic plurals; but this is not correct in writing.
ref: 1856, J. W. Redhouse, An English and Turkish Dictionary, page xxvi:
text: Then Hrefna said she would coif herself with it, and Thurid said she had better, and Hrefna did so. When Kalf saw that he gave her to understand that she had done amiss; and bade her take it off at her swiftest. "For that is the one thing that we, Kjartan and I, do not own in common."
ref: 1899, The Laxdaela Saga (translated by Muriel A. C. Press) Chapter 44
glosses: Wrongly; mistakenly
glosses: Astray.
glosses: Imperfectly.
amiss
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /əˈmɪs/
rhymes: -ɪs
Etymology: From a- + miss.
Senses: examples: text: Now by my head (said Guyon) much I muse, / How that same knight should do so foule amis[…].
ref: 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
text: Yet Love, thou'rt blinder then thy self in this, / To vex my Dove-like friend for my amiss[…].
ref: 1635, John Donne, His parting from her:
glosses: Fault; wrong; an evil act, a bad deed.
ammonia
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: əmōn'yə
enpr: əmō'niə
ipa: /əˈməʊ.nɪ.ə/
enpr: əmōn'yə
enpr: əmō'nēə
ipa: /əˈmoʊn.jə/
ipa: /əˈmoʊ.ni.ə/
rhymes: -əʊniə
Forms: form: ammonias
Etymology: From Latin sal ammoniacus (“salt of Amun, ammonium chloride”), named so because it was found near the temple of (Jupiter) Ammon in Egypt. Ammon derives from Ancient Greek Ἄμμων (Ámmōn), from Egyptian jmn (i-mn:n-A4).
Senses: topics: chemistry
inorganic-chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: A gaseous, toxic compound of hydrogen and nitrogen, NH₃, with a pungent smell and taste.
examples: text: Never use ammonia to clean metal writing pens.
text: Slowly we rode down to the camp - a very sorrowful party. We took "Nep" straight to the surgery, where the doctor instantly applied injections of ammonia, then the new remedy for snake bite.
ref: 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 95:
text: When the woman pressed charges against the man who beat her up and threatened her, the man's girlfriend approached her after work and threw a bottle of ammonia at her.
ref: 1985 December 14, Kim Westheimer, “Rape-Surviving Lesbian Faces Repeated Attacks”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 22, page 1:
glosses: A solution of this compound in water used domestically as a cleaning fluid.
Synonyms: word: spirits of hartshorn
word: volatile alkali
Derived terms: 880 ammonia
amatol
ammonaemia
ammonemia
ammonia borane
ammoniac
ammonia caramel
ammonialike
ammonian
ammoniaphone
ammonia process
ammoniate
ammoniation
ammonia water
ammonic
ammonical
ammonification
ammonify
ammonium
ammonuria
ammoxidation
aqua ammonia
baker's ammonia
blue ammonia
brown ammonia
caustic ammonia
gray ammonia
green ammonia
grey ammonia
liquid ammonia
oxammite
oxyammonia
Related terms: amide
amine
amino-
ammunition
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌæmjuˈnɪʃən/
Forms: form: ammunitions
Etymology: From older French amunition, rebracketing of la munition (“the war supplies”) as l'amunition. Ultimately from Latin; see munition for more.
Senses: examples: text: Hiro risks turning on a small flashlight, uses it to rummage around the yatcht, picking up valuable stuff: a few bottles of (presumably) drinkable water, some food, extra ammunition for his nine.
ref: 1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, page 359:
synonyms: ammo
glosses: Articles used in charging firearms and ordnance of all kinds; as powder, balls, shot, shells, percussion caps, rockets, etc.
examples: text: ammunition bread
text: ammunition shoes
glosses: Military stores, or provisions of all kinds for attack or defense.
examples: text: They say that the booklet gives them ammunition which is proving effective in breaking down resistance against home building which was created by false propaganda.
ref: 1938, American Lumberman, page 52:
text: As long as the integration fight is in progress, some Southerners are willing to believe anything if it gives them ammunition in their fight to "retain our traditional way of life." If you have any wise bits of philosophy, please pass them along.
ref: 1960, America, Volume 104, America Press, page 697:
text: Providing your administrator(s) with evidence of research progress gives them ammunition to request additional funds from the site-based management pool.
ref: 2005, Blanche Woolls, David V. Loertscher, The Whole School Library Handbook, American Library Association, →ISBN, page 146:
text: The first thing to do is NOT constantly defend and argue with the ex or the children. It gives them ammunition and fuels their engines to come after you. In addition, you are just giving them more to use against you.
ref: 2010, Joan Kloth-Zanard, Where Did I Go Wrong? How Did I Miss the Signs? Dealing with Hostile Parenting & Parental Alienation, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 109:
text: However, preventing a vote from taking place could give ammunition to the SNP, which argues that Scotland’s view carries little weight in the union.
ref: 2017 February 27, Mure Dickie, Henry Mance, “Theresa May’s speech to head off Scottish independence poll”, in Financial Times:
glosses: Arguments and information that can be used against the other party in a conflict.
Derived terms: ammo
ammunitional
ammunition belt
ammunition bread
ammunitionless
ammunitionlike
live ammunition
tracer ammunition
ammunition
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌæmjuˈnɪʃən/
Forms: form: ammunitions
form: ammunitioning
form: ammunitioned
form: ammunitioned
Etymology: From older French amunition, rebracketing of la munition (“the war supplies”) as l'amunition. Ultimately from Latin; see munition for more.
Senses: glosses: To supply with ammunition.
amnesty
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈæm.nɪ.sti/
Forms: form: amnesties
Etymology: Borrowed from Middle French amnestie (Modern French amnistie), a borrowing from Latin amnestia, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία (amnēstía).
Senses: glosses: Forgetfulness; cessation of remembrance of wrong; oblivion.
examples: text: Argentina has seen few legal issues as contentiously debated as these two laws of amnesty during the last two decades. […] Pursuant to the Convention on Forced Disappearance, amnesties may not contemplate a statutory limitation period less than that corresponding to the gravest crime punishable by domestic laws, provided there is a pre-existing domestic norm of “fundamental character” requiring that limitation.
ref: Fall 2007, Gaspar Forteza, “Regarding Simón y otros: Accountability in Argentina and International Human Rights as Domestic Positive Law”, in FIU Law Review, volume 3, number 1, →ISSN, archived from the original on 03 Jul 2020, pages 188, 217-218:
text: Russian lawmakers backed a sweeping amnesty law Wednesday that could see jailed members of the Pussy Riot punk protest band released early and arrested Greenpeace activists avoiding prison, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported.
ref: 2013 December 18, CNN Staff, “Russia amnesty could free Pussy Riot, benefit Greenpeace members”, in CNN:
text: He said building amnesties were “a huge issue.”
ref: 2023 February 11, Christian Edwards and Lauren Said-Moorhouse, “Quake-hit Turkey and Syria face years of rebuilding. Experts say it didn’t have to be this way”, in CNN:
glosses: An act of the sovereign power granting oblivion, or a general pardon, for a past offense, as to subjects concerned in an insurrection.
Derived terms: amnestiable
amnestic
Amnesty International
Related terms: amnesia
amnesty
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈæm.nɪ.sti/
Forms: form: amnesties
form: amnestying
form: amnestied
form: amnestied
Etymology: Borrowed from Middle French amnestie (Modern French amnistie), a borrowing from Latin amnestia, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία (amnēstía).
Senses: examples: text: Shortly after the end of military rule in 1983, the Argentinean National Congress passed legislation that effectively amnestied many persons who allegedly committed human rights violations such as torture, extra-judicial killing, and forced disappearance. […] In other words, a government may be justified in amnestying military actions because the alternative would result in the destruction of the democratic state.
ref: Fall 2007, Gaspar Forteza, “Regarding Simón y otros: Accountability in Argentina and International Human Rights as Domestic Positive Law”, in FIU Law Review, volume 3, number 1, →ISSN, archived from the original on 03 Jul 2020, pages 187, 229:
text: “100 miles of border wall in exchange for amnestying millions of illegals. So if we grant citizenship to a BILLION foreigners, maybe we can finally get a full border wall,” Coulter wrote in another tweet.
ref: 2019 January 19, Stephen Collinson and Maegan Vazquez, quoting Ann Coulter, “Trump’s offer of temporary protection for immigrants to end shutdown is a ‘non-starter,’ say Democrats”, in CNN:
text: “This is such immoral selectivity,” he added. “Anyone who amnesties Russia and who artificially creates a such informational context where some attacks by terrorists are supposedly justified or supposedly understandable cannot fail to understand that, in doing so, they are helping the terrorists.”
ref: 2022 August 8, Radina Gigova, quoting Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “Amnesty regrets ‘distress’ caused by report on Ukrainian military, but stands by findings”, in CNN:
text: “The number of people that will be amnestied when I’m president is zero,” DeSantis said, when asked if he would allow any of the 10 million to stay in the US.
ref: 2024 January 11, Zachary B. Wolf, quoting Ron DeSantis, “The 2024 primary campaigns have already changed the Republican Party”, in CNN:
glosses: To grant a pardon (to a group).
ample
Language: English
Part of speech: det
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈæm.pəl/
rhymes: -æmpəl
Etymology: From late Middle English ample, from Middle French ample, from Latin amplus (“large”).
Senses: examples: text: We have ample time to finish the task.
text: It is a large house with ample space for all of us.
text: …a broad and ample road, whose dust is gold…
ref: 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost (Book II)^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost_(1667)/Book_II):
text: …a line of wooden troughs supplies ample water for irrigation.
ref: 1862, Richard F. Burton, The City of the Saints:
text: …possesses an ample supply of water-power for industrial purposes.
ref: 1911, Various (ed. Hugh Chisholm), 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Article on Sweden:
glosses: A fully sufficient or abundant quantity of; enough or more than enough.
examples: text: We don't need any more. We already have ample.
glosses: A quantity (of something) that is fully sufficient; plenty.
raw_tags: as pronoun
ample
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈæm.pəl/
rhymes: -æmpəl
Forms: form: ampler
form: amplest
Etymology: From late Middle English ample, from Middle French ample, from Latin amplus (“large”).
Senses: examples: text: We have an ample supply of water
text: She has a very ample bosom.
glosses: Large; great in size, extent, capacity, or bulk; for example spacious, roomy or widely extended.
examples: text: an ample story
glosses: Not contracted or brief; not concise; extended; diffusive
Synonyms: full
spacious
extensive
wide
capacious
abundant
plentiful
plenteous
copious
bountiful
rich
liberal
munificent
Derived terms: ampleness
semiample
Related terms: amplifiable
amplification
amplificatory
amplifier
amplify
amplitude
amplify
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈæm.plə.faɪ/
ipa: /ˈæm.plə.faɪ/
ipa: [ˈɛəm.plə.faɪ]
ipa: /ˈæm.plə.fɑɪ/
ipa: [ˈeːm.plə.fɑɪ]
Forms: form: amplifies
form: amplifying
form: amplified
form: amplified
Etymology: From Middle English amplifiyen, from Old French amplifier, from Latin amplificare (“to enlarge”), from amplus (“large”) + facere (“to make”). See ample , equivalent to ample + -ify.
Senses: examples: text: amplify the loudspeaker
text: amplify a telescope
text: amplify a microscope
text: amplify the message
text: amplify an image on the screen
text: amplify the impact of the project
glosses: To render larger, more extended, or more intense.
examples: text: Troilus and Cressida was written by a Lombard author, but much amplified by our English translator.
ref: 1700, John Dryden, Fables, Ancient and Modern:
text: GCN asked Gill just who this law was aimed at. "Child abusers" he responded. He would not amplify on what he meant by child abusers.
ref: 1981 August 8, Nancy Wechsler, “Michigan May Register 'Sex Offenders'”, in Gay Community News, page 3:
text: Russian state media focused on Putin's trip to Azerbaijan, amplifying minute details, likely in part to divert attention from the uncomfortable situation in Russia by saturating the information space with a showcase of the Kremlin's global diplomatic engagement and alleged successes.
ref: 2024 August 19, Christina Harward, Nicole Wolkov, Grace Mappes, Davit Gasparyan, Karolina Hird, George Barros, “Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 19, 2024”, in Ukraine Project, The Institute for the Study of War:
qualifier: rhetorical
glosses: To enlarge by addition or commenting; to treat copiously by adding particulars, illustrations, etc.; to expand.
examples: text: amplify a signal
glosses: To increase the amplitude of something, especially of an electric current.
topics: human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
translation-studies
glosses: To add content that is not present in the source text to the target text, usually to improve the fluency of the translation.
Derived terms: amplicant
amplifiability
amplitron
autoamplify
bioamplify
coamplify
deamplify
nonamplifying
overamplify
preamplify
reamplify
serial time-encoded amplified microscopy
underamplify
Related terms: ample
amplifiable
amplification
amplificatory
amplifier
amplitude
amply
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈæm.pli/
ipa: /ˈæm.pli/
ipa: [ˈɛəm.pli]
ipa: /ˈæm.pli/
ipa: /ˈɛm.pli/
rhymes: -æmpli
Forms: form: more amply
form: most amply
Etymology: From ample + -ly.
Senses: examples: text: We were amply supplied with food and beverage.
text: If, during his long persecution by President Kruger, Wools-Sampson in the bitterness of his heart had vowed a feud against the Boer cause, it must be acknowledged that he has most amply fulfilled it.
ref: 1902, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 36, in The Great Boer War:
glosses: In an ample manner; extensively; thoroughly.
amuse
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /əˈmjuːz/
rhymes: -uːz
Forms: form: amuses
form: amusing
form: amused
form: amused
Etymology: From Late Middle English *amusen (“to mutter, be astonished, gaze meditatively on”), from Old French amuser (“to stupefy, waste time, be lost in thought”), from a- + muser (“to stare stupidly at, gape, wander, waste time, loiter, think carefully about, attend to”), of uncertain and obscure origin. Cognate with Occitan musa (“idle waiting”), Italian musare (“to gape idly about”). Possibly from Old French *mus (“snout”) from Vulgar Latin *mūsa (“snout”) — compare Medieval Latin mūsum (“muzzle, snout”) –, from Proto-Germanic *mū- (“muzzle, snout”), from Proto-Indo-European *mū- (“lips, muzzle”). Compare North Frisian müs, mös (“mouth”), German Maul (“muzzle, snout”).
Alternative etymology connects muser and musa with Frankish *muoza (“careful attention, leisure, idleness”), from Proto-Germanic *mōtǭ (“leave, permission”), from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to acquire, possess, control”).
This would make it a cognate of Dutch musen (“to leisure”), Old High German *muoza (“careful attention, leisure, idleness”) and muozōn (“to be idle, have leisure or opportunity”), German Muße (“leisure”). More at empty.
Senses: examples: text: I watch these movies because they amuse me.
text: It always amuses me to hear the funny stories why people haven't got a ticket, but I never let them get in without paying.
text: A group of children amusing themselves with pushing stones from the top [of the cliff], and watching as they plunged into the lake.
ref: 1786, William Gilpin, Observations, relative chiefly to picturesque beauty, made in the year 1772, on several parts of England; particularly the mountains, and lakes of Cumberland, and Westmoreland:
glosses: To entertain or occupy (someone or something) in a pleasant manner; to stir (someone) with pleasing emotions.
examples: text: His jokes rarely fail to amuse me.
glosses: To cause laughter or amusement; to be funny.
glosses: To keep in expectation; to beguile; to delude.
examples: text: Being amused with grief, fear, and fright, he could not find the house.
ref: 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):
text: the enemies were amused on the fires that our men made
ref: 1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “(please specify the book number)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […], →OCLC:
text: Hairs which have most amused me have not been in the Face or Head, but on the Back, and not in Men but Children, as I long ago observed in that Endemial Distemper of little Children in Languedock, called the Morgellons, […]
ref: 1690, Thomas Browne, A Letter to a Friend:
glosses: To occupy or engage the attention of; to lose in deep thought; to absorb; also, to distract; to bewilder.
Synonyms: entertain
gratify
please
divert
beguile
exhilarate
slay
Derived terms: amusable
amusee
amusement
amusive
amyl
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈæ.mɪl/
rhymes: -æmɪl
Forms: form: amyls
form: amyle
Etymology: From Latin amylum (“starch”), from Ancient Greek ἄμυλον (ámulon, “starch”) from ἀ- (a-, “privative”) + μύλη (múlē, “mill”).
Senses: topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
organic-chemistry
physical-sciences
glosses: Synonym of pentyl.
synonyms: word: pentyl
examples: text: We had two bags of grass, 75 pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers. . . and also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls.
ref: 1971, Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, New York: Popular Library, →ISBN, page 4:
text: Holy fuck! — it’s like a double amyl rush — popping in the cranium like a week-old orgasm.
ref: 1993, Tristan Hawkins, Pepper, London: Flamingo, →ISBN, page 226:
glosses: Ellipsis of amyl nitrite.
Derived terms: amobarbital
amyl acetate
amyl alcohol
amylate
amylene
amylic
amyl nitrate
amyl nitrite
amylogen
amylogenesis
amylome
amylometer
amyloplastic
amyluria
dexamyl
tertamyl
tertiary amyl
amyl
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈæ.mɪl/
rhymes: -æmɪl
Forms: form: amyle
Etymology: From Latin amylum (“starch”), from Ancient Greek ἄμυλον (ámulon, “starch”) from ἀ- (a-, “privative”) + μύλη (múlē, “mill”).
Senses: glosses: Of or pertaining to starch
Related terms: alt: amyl-
word: amylo-
word: amylum
amyl nitrate
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Senses: topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
organic-chemistry
physical-sciences
glosses: The ester of amyl alcohol (pentanol) and nitric acid, C₅H₁₁NO₃, used to control angina and as an antidote to cyanide poisoning.
Related terms: amyl nitrite
anaemic
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: -iːmɪk
Forms: form: more anaemic
form: most anaemic
Senses: examples: text: The educated man of the twentieth century is not anaemic, languishing in a washed-out, wan vitality.
ref: (Can we date this quote?), Wake Forest College, Bulletin of Wake Forest College 1914-1916^(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bulletin_of_Wake_Forest_College_(1914-1916)_-_DPLA_-_6b8c5e47fb55d309e5e1d719e47c43b5_(page_140).jpg):
glosses: Alternative spelling of anemic.
Derived terms: anaemically
anaemic
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: -iːmɪk
Forms: form: anaemics
Senses: glosses: Alternative spelling of anemic.
anemic
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /əˈniː.mɪk/
rhymes: -iːmɪk
Forms: form: more anemic
form: most anemic
form: anaemic
form: anæmic
Etymology: From anemia + -ic.
Senses: glosses: Of, pertaining to, or suffering from anemia.
examples: text: Near-synonyms: enervated, underoxygenated
text: [H]e was one of those weak creatures full of a shifty cunning - who face neither God nor man, who face not even themselves, void of pride, timorous, anæmic, hateful souls.
ref: 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 219:
text: My ordinarily even disposition was shattered, I thought, beyond repair — a condition that was not improved by my utter abhorrence of a diet of infant's food and anemic vegetables.
ref: 1938, Henry Goddard Leach, Forum and Century, volume 100, page 156:
glosses: Weak; listless; lacking power, vigor, vitality, or colorfulness.
Coordinate terms: pseudoanemic
Derived terms: anemically
antianemic
Related terms: bloodless
hypoxic
anemic
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /əˈniː.mɪk/
rhymes: -iːmɪk
Forms: form: anemics
form: anaemic
form: anæmic
Etymology: From anemia + -ic.
Senses: glosses: A person who has anemia.
analogous
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /əˈnæl.ə.ɡəs/
Forms: form: more analogous
form: most analogous
Etymology: From Latin analogus, from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓νᾰ́λογος (ănắlogos); Its English equivalent is analogue + -ous. The application to similar features of organisms is nearly as old as the general sense. Recognizably modern uses of the second sense, distinguishing analogous from homologous, appear in the mid-19th century.
Senses: examples: text: At the very least, it would seem to be tinkering with the formula of the biggest spiritual brand in the world, analogous to Coca-Cola changing its famous recipe in 1985.
ref: 2013 September 20, Martina Hyde, “Is the pope Catholic?”, in The Guardian:
text: Analogous tendencies in arts and in manners.
ref: 1828, Thomas De Quincey, Elements of Rhetoric (review)
text: Decay of public spirit, which may be considered analogous to natural death.
ref: 1872, John Henry Newman, Historical Sketches:
synonyms: correspondent
like
similar
comparable
parallel
glosses: Having analogy, the status of an analogue; corresponding to something else; bearing some resemblance or similar proportion (often followed by "to".)
topics: biology
natural-sciences
glosses: Functionally similar, but arising through convergent evolution rather than being homologous.
Derived terms: analogously
analogousness
analogous pole
disanalogous
unanalogous
Related terms: analog
analogue
analogic
analogical
analogy
analytical
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌæn.əˈlɪt.ɪ.kəl/
ipa: [ˌæn.əˈlɪt.ɪ.kɫ̩]
ipa: /ˌæn.əˈlɪt.ə.kəl/
ipa: [ˌæn.əˈlɪɾ.ə.kɫ̩]
ipa: [ˌɛn.əˈlɪɾ.ə.kɫ̩]
ipa: /ˌæn.əˈlɪt.ɪ.kəl/
ipa: [ˌæn.əˈlɪɾ.ɪ.kɫ̩]
note: Indic
ipa: /əˈnælɪʈɪkəl/
note: Indic
ipa: /ənəˈlɪʈɪkəl/
note: Indic
ipa: /ˈænəlɪʈɪkəl/
Forms: form: more analytical
form: most analytical
Etymology: Compare with French analytique. See analysis.
Senses: examples: text: an analytical experiment
glosses: Of or pertaining to analysis; resolving into elements or constituent parts
examples: text: an analytical mind
glosses: Using analytic reasoning as opposed to synthetic.
Derived terms: analytical chemistry
analytical editing
analytical engine
analytical entry
analytical geometry
analyticality
analytically
analyticalness
analytical psychology
analytical table of contents
bioanalytical
cryptoanalytical
electroanalytical
glycoanalytical
hypnoanalytical
immunoanalytical
intraanalytical
macroanalytical
metanalytical
microanalytical
multianalytical
nanoanalytical
narcoanalytical
nonanalytical
overanalytical
postanalytical
preanalytical
protoanalytical
pseudoanalytical
pseudo-analytical
pseudo analytical
psychoanalytical
quasianalytical
radioanalytical
schizoanalytical
semianalytical
thermoanalytical
topoanalytical
unanalytical
Related terms: analytic
analytically
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌæn.əˈlɪt.ɪ.kli/
ipa: /ˌæn.əˈlɪt.ɪ.kə.li/
ipa: /ˌæn.əˈlɪt.ɪ.kli/
ipa: [ˌæn.əˈlɪɾ.ɪ.kli]
ipa: [ˌɛən.əˈlɪɾ.ɪ.kli]
ipa: /ˌæn.əˈlɪt.ɪ.kli/
ipa: [ˌæn.əˈlɪɾ.ɪ.kli]
Forms: form: more analytically
form: most analytically
Etymology: From analytical + -ly.
Senses: examples: text: Put differently, the active ingredients in crime seem to be structural disadvantage and attenuated collective efficacy more so than disorder. Attacking public disorder through tough policing may thus be a politically popular but perhaps analytically weak strategy to reduce crime, mainly because such a strategy leaves the common origins of both […] untouched.
ref: 1999 11, Robert J. Sampson, Stephen W. Raudenbush, “Systematic Social Observation of Public Spaces: A New Look at Disorder in Urban Neighborhoods”, in American Journal of Sociology, volume 105, number 3, page 637:
glosses: In an analytical manner.
Derived terms: electroanalytically
preanalytically
analyze
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: ăn′ə-līz
ipa: /ˈæn.ə.laɪz/
ipa: /ˈæn.əˌlaɪz/
ipa: [ˈɛən.əˌlaɪz]
ipa: [ˈæ(ː)nəˌlaɪz]
note: Maritime Canadian
ipa: [ˈɑnələi̯z]
note: Maritime Canadian
ipa: [ˈanələi̯z]
ipa: /ˈæn.ə.lɑez/
ipa: /ˈæn.lɑez/
ipa: /ˈɛn.ə.laɪz/
ipa: [ˈɛn.ə.lɑe̯z]
note: Indic
enpr: ən-ə-līz′
ipa: /ənəˈlajz/
Forms: form: analyzes
form: analyzing
form: analyzed
form: analyzed
form: analyse
Etymology: Probably a back-formation from analysis, or from Middle French analyser, from analyse, from Medieval Latin analysis, from Ancient Greek ἀνάλυσις (análusis, “a breaking up, a loosening, releasing”), from ἀναλύω (analúō, “to unloose, release, set free”), from ἀνά (aná, “on, up, above, throughout”) + λύσις (lúsis, “a loosening”), from λύω (lúō, “to unfasten”).
Senses: examples: text: This section addresses the recent homeless backlash by reviewing and analyzing antihomeless legislation[…]
ref: 1995, Madeleine R. Stoner, The Civil Rights of Homeless People, page 136:
text: The clearest lesson is that the F.D.A. needs the power to demand adequate postmarketing studies and the resources to analyze the results.
ref: 2007 June 12, “Misdirected Studies on Avandia”, in New York Times:
text: The phase structure of the fabricated nanophosphor samples was analyzed by using an X-ray diffractometer (XRD; Mac Science, M18XHF-SRA) with Cu Kα ( λ = 1.5402 Å) radiation, and the JADE software was applied to analyze the XRD data.
ref: 2015 August 12, Peng Du et al., “Enhanced Photovoltaic Performance of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells by Efficient Near-Infrared Sunlight Harvesting using Upconverting Y2O3:Er3+/Yb3+ Phosphor Nanoparticles”, in Nanoscale Research Letters, volume 10, →DOI:
text: When sensors record a gunlike noise in, say, Cape Town or Chicago, software analyzes it for the sonic signatures of gunfire, and within seconds Beisner and his team listen to those audio files and look at those recorded waveforms at their office in Newark, Calif.
ref: 2019 June 8, Malia Wollan, “How to Tell Gunfire From Fireworks”, in The New York Times Magazine:
glosses: To subject to analysis.
examples: text: analyze a problem
glosses: To resolve (anything complex) into its elements.
glosses: To separate into the constituent parts, for the purpose of an examination of each separately.
glosses: To examine in such a manner as to ascertain the elements or nature of the thing examined; as, to analyze a fossil substance, to analyze a sentence or a word, or to analyze an action to ascertain its morality.
Derived terms: analyzability
analysability
analyzable
analysable
analyzation
analyzer
analyser
bioanalyze
coanalyze
cryptanalyze
microanalyze
misanalyze
overanalyze
preanalyze
psychoanalyze
psychoanalyse
reanalyze
subanalyze
Related terms: analysis
analyst
analytic
analytical
analyse
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: analyses
form: analysing
form: analysed
form: analysed
Senses: examples: text: By analysing data from the James Webb Space Telescope, the researchers found evidence of dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide in the atmosphere of the planet known as K2-18b. The planet is 124 light-years away; one light-year is equivalent to nearly 6 trillion miles.
ref: 2025 April 18, “Scientists detect strong evidence of life on an alien planet”, in France 24, archived from the original on 18 Apr 2025:
glosses: British standard spelling of analyze.
Derived terms: analysable
analysand
analyser
preanalyse
preanalysed
radioanalyse
subanalyse
unanalysed
anarchist
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈæn.ə.kɪst/
enpr: ănʹər-kĭst
ipa: /ˈæn.ɑɹ.kɪst/
Forms: form: anarchists
Etymology: From French anarchiste, from Ancient Greek ἀναρχία (anarkhía) from the roots ἀν- (an-, “without”) + ἀρχή (arkhḗ, “rule”), equivalent to anarchy + -ist.
Senses: examples: text: Eh bien ! vous êtes démocrate ? — Non. — Quoi ! vous seriez monarchique ? — Non. — Constitutionnel ? — Dieu m’en garde. — Vous êtes donc aristocrate ? — Point du tout. — Vous voulez un gouvernement mixte ? — Encore moins. — Qu’êtes-vous donc ? — Je suis anarchiste.
ref: 1849 [1840], Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, “Caractères de la communauté et de la propriété”, in Qu’est-ce que la propriété?, page 237; English translation from “Characteristics of Communism and of Property.”, in Benjamin Tucker, transl., What Is Property?, 1876, page 272:
text: But nothing has revived anarchism like globalization. Anarchists are now battling what they see as a concentration of power in multinational corporations.
ref: 2000 August 5, Joseph Kahn, “Anarchism, the Creed That Won't Stay Dead; The Spread of World Capitalism Resurrects a Long-Dormant Movement”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
glosses: One who believes in or advocates the absence of hierarchy and authority in most forms (compare anarchism), especially one who works toward the realization of such.
glosses: One who disregards laws and social norms as a form of rebellion against authority.
examples: text: You have heard that Anarchists throw bombs, that they believe in violence, and that Anarchy means disorder and chaos.
ref: 1929, Alexander Berkman, “Is Anarchism Violence?”, in Now and After: The ABC of Communist Anarchism, New York: Vanguard Press, →OCLC:
synonyms: nihilist
glosses: One who promotes chaos and lawlessness.
glosses: One who resents outside control or influence on their life, in particular a government, and therefore desires the absence of political control.
Derived terms: anarchese
anarchist calisthenics
anarchist capitalism
anarchist capitalist
anarchist communism
anarchist communist
anarchist feminism
anarchist feminist
anarchist naturism
anarchist naturist
anarkid
anti-anarchist
capitalist anarchist
collectivist anarchist
communist anarchist
crypto-anarchist
cyberanarchist
ecoanarchist
existentialist anarchist
fanarchist
granarchist
green anarchist
individualist anarchist
infoanarchist
left anarchist
left-wing anarchist
manarchist
narcho
national-anarchist
naturist anarchist
nonanarchist
philosophical anarchist
post-anarchist
postanarchist
private property anarchist
queer anarchist
tranarchist
Related terms: anarchy
anarch
anarcho-
libertarian
anarchist
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈæn.ə.kɪst/
enpr: ănʹər-kĭst
ipa: /ˈæn.ɑɹ.kɪst/
Forms: form: more anarchist
form: most anarchist
Etymology: From French anarchiste, from Ancient Greek ἀναρχία (anarkhía) from the roots ἀν- (an-, “without”) + ἀρχή (arkhḗ, “rule”), equivalent to anarchy + -ist.
Senses: glosses: Relating to anarchism or to anarchists; anarchistic.
anatomical
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /æ.nəˈtɒ.mɪ.kəl/
ipa: /æ.nəˈtɑ.mɪ.kəl/
ipa: /æ.nəˈtɔ.mɪ.kəl/
note: Indic
ipa: /ɐ.nɐ.tɔ.mɪk.ɐl/
Etymology: From anatomic + -al, after -ical. By surface analysis, anatomy + -ical.
Senses: examples: text: The two species have some anatomical similarities.
text: So he clung to the sides of the vertical tunnel, le wormhole, employing the setules covering his legs, that is, millions of tiny spider-hairs with triangular tips, a wall-creeper physiology if you wish, a hang-upside-down-from-the-ceiling anatomical boon.
ref: 2023, Isabel Waidner, Corey Fah Does Social Mobility, Hamish Hamilton, page 86:
glosses: Of or relating to anatomy or dissection.
Synonyms: anatomic
Derived terms: anatomical dead space
anatomically
anatomical position
anatomical snuffbox
clinicoanatomical
electroanatomical
extraanatomical
histoanatomical
macroanatomical
microanatomical
morphoanatomical
myoanatomical
neuroanatomical
nonanatomical
pathoanatomical
pseudoanatomical
semianatomical
unanatomical
wallpaper
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: wallpapers
Etymology: From wall + paper.
Senses: synonyms: paper[Appendix:Glossary#elliptically|elliptically]] synonymous>
coordinate_terms: ceiling paper#Noun
glosses: Decorative paper-like material used to cover the inner walls of buildings.
glosses: A roll of such paper.
examples: text: He is letting her select the wallpapers for the whole house.
glosses: A style or design of such material.
examples: text: This was not the wallpaper television that flickered away in the background in every dealing room but was not really watched. This was finely targeted and timely broadcast of stuff dealers would want to drop everything to watch.
ref: 2004, Brian Mooney, Barry Simpson, Breaking News: How the Wheels Came off at Reuters, page 114:
text: Her experiences are too early and too much part of the emotional wallpaper to be grasped in this way.
ref: 2007, Susan Nathiel, Daughters of Madness: Growing Up and Older with a Mentally Ill Mother:
glosses: Anything that serves as a background or part of the surroundings.
examples: text: He chose a Minecraft design as his computer's wallpaper.
text: You can design your own wallpaper using Paintbrush. A wallpaper appears on your desktop in tiles. The number of tiles that are needed to cover the desktop depends on the size of the canvas you use to create a wallpaper.
ref: 1997, Richard Dungworth, Philippa Wingate, Windows 3.1 & Windows 95 for Beginners, page 65:
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: An image or tiled pattern used as the background of a computer desktop.
examples: text: Scripts that include brief reference to a picture turn stock footage from 'wallpaper' to illustration.
ref: 1983, Av Westin, Newswatch: How TV Decides the News, page 88:
text: News bulletins on television may need general rather than specific footage. This is known as wallpaper — moving pictures over which the news item is read.
ref: 2002, Kathy Chater, Research for Media Production, page 75:
topics: broadcasting
media
television
glosses: Generic footage of a building or location that may be used in the background of a related news report.
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
philately
glosses: Gaudy mass-produced stamps, typically of little or no value and only produced for sale to collectors.
examples: text: Some of my wallpaper includes ORS, OPS […]
ref: 1960, QST, volume 44, numbers 1-6, page 76:
text: So if you are a technical ham and are looking for one more piece of "wallpaper" to put up at the shack, consider […]
ref: 1994, 73 Amateur Radio Today, numbers 400-411, page 155:
text: Wallpaper. Hams love awards, and thousands of awards are available.
ref: 2013, H. Ward Silver, Ham Radio For Dummies:
qualifier: CB radio slang
glosses: A radio operator's collection of awards and QSL cards.
Synonyms: sense: computing: background image
word: desktop image
word: desktop pattern
word: background
Derived terms: aural wallpaper
ingrain wallpaper
LED wallpaper
moving wallpaper
tighter than wallpaper
Wallpapergate
wallpaper group
woodchip wallpaper
wallpaper
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: wallpapers
form: wallpapering
form: wallpapered
form: wallpapered
Etymology: From wall + paper.
Senses: glosses: To cover (a wall, a room, etc) with wallpaper.
Synonyms: sense: cover with wallpaper
word: paper
cursor
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkɜːsə/
ipa: [ˈkʰɜːsə]
ipa: /ˈkɜɹsəɹ/
ipa: [ˈkʰɝsɚ]
rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)sə(ɹ)
Forms: form: cursors
form: cursour
Etymology: Borrowed from Latin cursor (“runner”), from currō (“run”) + -or (agentive suffix). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European.
Senses: examples: text: Besides, the Reader must know, if a Brazen graduated Semi-Circle were hung on the Poles here, with an erected moveable Pin, or Cursor on it, there would be no need of the Holes[…]in each Parallel of the Globe, for the true Composing of it[…]
ref: 1679, Roger Palmer, 1st Earl of Castlemaine; Joseph Moxon, The English globe being a stabil and immobil one, performing what the ordinary globes do, and much more, page 150:
glosses: A part of any of several scientific or measuring instruments that moves back and forth to indicate a position.
topics: computing
engineering
graphical-user-interface
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: A moving icon or other representation, usually called a pointer, of the position of the pointing device.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
synonyms: caret
glosses: An indicator, often a blinking line or bar, indicating where the next insertion or other edit will take place.
topics: computing
databases
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: A reference to a row of data in a table, which moves from row to row as data is retrieved by way of it.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
programming
sciences
synonyms: iterator pattern
glosses: A design pattern in object oriented methodology in which a collection is iterated uniformly.
Derived terms: cursorjacking
cursorless
firehose cursor
postcursor
precursor
Related terms: courier
current
cursive
cursory
recursive
cursor
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkɜːsə/
ipa: [ˈkʰɜːsə]
ipa: /ˈkɜɹsəɹ/
ipa: [ˈkʰɝsɚ]
rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)sə(ɹ)
Forms: form: cursors
form: cursoring
form: cursored
form: cursored
form: cursour
Etymology: Borrowed from Latin cursor (“runner”), from currō (“run”) + -or (agentive suffix). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European.
Senses: examples: text: The only other problem is that there's a nagging tendency for the highlight to overrun when cursoring through file lists.
ref: 1990 May 28, InfoWorld, volume 12, number 22:
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: To navigate by means of the cursor keys.
Related terms: electronic display
GUI
pointer
crocodile tear
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkɹɒ.kə.daɪl ˌtɪə/
ipa: /ˈkɹɑ.kə.daɪl ˌtɪɹ/
Forms: form: crocodile tears
Etymology: From the ancient belief that crocodiles shed tears while consuming their prey.
Senses: examples: text: At last he contrived to squeeze out one of his little hysterical tears, and drop it on her hand. Now, the girl was not butter, like some of her sex; far from it: but neither was she wood—indeed, she was not old enough for that—so this crocodile tear won her for the time being.
ref: 1877, Charles Reade, chapter 2, in A Woman-Hater:
glosses: A tear shed insincerely, in a false display of sorrow or some other emotion.
examples: text: And in all her letters since, she had spoken of her aunt as a silly, vain, worldly woman, weeping crocodile tears, for an old husband whose death had released her from the tedium of his company.
ref: 1864, Anthony Trollope, chapter 19, in Can You Forgive Her?:
glosses: A display of tears that is forced or false.
Related terms: artificial tear
hypocrisy
insincerity
turn on the waterworks
white women tears