cstr/en-wiktionary-extracted-all huggingface dataset:
pimp
Language: English
Part of speech: num
Pronunciation: ipa: /pɪmp/
rhymes: -ɪmp
Etymology: From Brythonic numerals, from Proto-Brythonic *pɨmp.
Cognate with Welsh pump, Cornish pymp, Breton pemp. Doublet of cinque, fin (“five currency units”), finnuf, five, ponzu, punch (“beverage”), and sengi (“currency”); related to Pompeii.
Senses: qualifier: Cumbria and Old Welsh
glosses: Five in Cumbrian and Welsh sheep counting.
pious
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpaɪəs/
rhymes: -aɪəs
Forms: form: more pious
form: most pious
Etymology: Borrowed from Latin pīus (“pious, dutiful, blessed, kind, devout”), from Proto-Indo-European *pewH- (“pure”). Cognate with Old English fǣle (“faithful, trusty, good; dear, beloved”). More at feal.
Senses: examples: text: Old Deacon Smith was quick to see the impression made by Abby Howard upon the mind of his son, and he was wonderfully pleased thereat, for Abby was the oldest daughter of the good Deacon Howard, and was herself a church member, and pious. He had more hope for his son now, than he had felt for years.
ref: 1850, T. S. Arthur, “Deacon Smith and his Violin”, in Sketches of Life and Character, Philadelphia: J. W. Bradley, →OCLC, page 74:
text: Its male residents dress like crows: heavy black suits, black Borsalino hats, the old grandfathers hugely whiskered and the boys in peot, the curled sidelocks of the pious.
ref: 2014 December 24, Paul Salopek, “Blessed. Cursed. Claimed.”, in National Geographic, archived from the original on 12 Feb 2015:
glosses: Of or pertaining to piety, exhibiting piety, devout, god-fearing.
examples: text: A pious cause.
glosses: Relating to religion or religious works.
glosses: Insisting on or making a show of one's own virtue, especially in comparison to others; sanctimonious, condescending, judgmental.
Synonyms: reverent
reverential
dutiful
religious
devout
godly
observant
Hyponyms: frum
Derived terms: offensive to pious ears
overpious
pi
pious fiction
pious fraud
piously
piousness
pseudopious
superpious
ultrapious
unpious
Related terms: piety
pique
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: pēk
ipa: /piːk/
ipa: /pik/
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke
rhymes: -iːk
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke
rhymes: -iːk
enpr: pēk
ipa: /piːk/
ipa: /pik/
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke
rhymes: -iːk
Forms: form: piques
Etymology: The noun is borrowed from French pic, Middle French pic (“pique in the game of piquet; pike (tool)”), picq (“game of piquet”), from Vulgar Latin *pīccus (“sharp point, peak; pike, spike”), possibly from Frankish *pikk, *pīk, from Proto-Germanic *pikjaz, *pīkaz (“sharp point, peak; pickaxe; pike”); further etymology unknown. Doublet of pike.
The verb is either derived from the noun (though the latter is attested in print later), or borrowed from French pic.
Senses: examples: text: Flip[panta]. Hark thee, Braſs, the Game's in our hands, if we can but play the Cards. / Br[ass]. Pique and Repique, you Jade you: If the Wives will fall into a good Intelligence.
ref: 1705, [John Vanbrugh], The Confederacy. A Comedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act III, pages 36–37:
topics: card-games
games
glosses: In piquet, the right of the elder hand to count thirty in hand, or to play before the adversary counts one.
Related terms: piquet
repique
pique
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: pēk
ipa: /piːk/
ipa: /pik/
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke
rhymes: -iːk
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke
rhymes: -iːk
enpr: pēk
ipa: /piːk/
ipa: /pik/
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke
rhymes: -iːk
Forms: form: piques
form: piquing
form: piqued
form: piqued
Etymology: The noun is borrowed from French pic, Middle French pic (“pique in the game of piquet; pike (tool)”), picq (“game of piquet”), from Vulgar Latin *pīccus (“sharp point, peak; pike, spike”), possibly from Frankish *pikk, *pīk, from Proto-Germanic *pikjaz, *pīkaz (“sharp point, peak; pickaxe; pike”); further etymology unknown. Doublet of pike.
The verb is either derived from the noun (though the latter is attested in print later), or borrowed from French pic.
Senses: examples: text: My villainous old luck ſtill follovvs me in gaming, I never throvv the Dice out of my hand, but my Gold goes after 'em: if I go to Picquet, though it be but vvith a Novice in't, he vvill picque and repicque, and Capot me tvventy times together: […]
ref: 1667 August 25 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John Dryden], Sr Martin Mar-all, or The Feign’d Innocence: A Comedy. […], London: […] H[enry] Herringman, […], published 1668, →OCLC, Act I, page 5:
text: He seemed perfectly to understand the beautiful game at which he played, but preferred, as it were on principle, the risking bold and precarious strokes to the ordinary rules of play, and neglecting the minor and better balanced chances of the game; he hazarded every thing for the chance of piqueing, repiqueing, or capotting his adversary.
ref: 1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter X, in Rob Roy. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, pages 249–250:
topics: card-games
games
glosses: To score a pique against (someone).
Related terms: piquet
repique
pique
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: pēk
ipa: /piːk/
ipa: /pik/
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke
rhymes: -iːk
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke
rhymes: -iːk
ipa: /ˈpiːkeɪ/
ipa: /ˈpikeɪ/
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke (one-syllable pronunciation)
homophone: piqué (two-syllable RP pronunciation)
rhymes: -iːk stripped-by-parse_pron_post_template_fn
enpr: pēk
ipa: /piːk/
ipa: /pik/
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke
rhymes: -iːk
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke
rhymes: -iːk
Forms: form: piques
Etymology: Borrowed from Spanish pique, from Central Quechua piki.
Senses: glosses: A chigger, chigoe, or jigger (Tunga penetrans), a species of tropical flea.
glosses: midgie, sand fly, punkie, punky (US)
pique
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: pēk
ipa: /piːk/
ipa: /pik/
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke
rhymes: -iːk
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke
rhymes: -iːk
ipa: /ˈpiːkeɪ/
ipa: /ˈpikeɪ/
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke (one-syllable pronunciation)
homophone: piqué (two-syllable RP pronunciation)
rhymes: -iːk stripped-by-parse_pron_post_template_fn
ipa: /piˈkeɪ/
rhymes: -eɪ stripped-by-parse_pron_post_template_fn
enpr: pēk
ipa: /piːk/
ipa: /pik/
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke
rhymes: -iːk
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke
rhymes: -iːk
ipa: /ˈpiːkeɪ/
ipa: /ˈpikeɪ/
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke (one-syllable pronunciation)
homophone: piqué (two-syllable RP pronunciation)
rhymes: -iːk stripped-by-parse_pron_post_template_fn
Forms: form: piques
Etymology: A variant of piqué, borrowed from French piqué (“(noun) ribbed fabric; (ballet) step on to the point of the leading foot without bending the knee; (adjective) backstitched; (cooking) larded”), Middle French piqué (“quilted”), a noun use of the past participle of piquer (“to prick, sting; to decorate with stitches; to quilt; to stitch (fabric) together; to lard (meat)”); see further at etymology 1.
Senses: examples: text: Pique and linen also accented several coats and oftentimes were both detachable and formed an overcollar covering a collar made from the coat fabric.
ref: 1967, Ann Helen Stroup, An Investigation of the Dress of American Children from 1930 Through 1941 with Emphasis on Factors Influencing Change, page 195:
topics: business
manufacturing
sewing
textiles
glosses: Alternative form of piqué (“a kind of corded or ribbed fabric made from cotton, rayon, or silk”).
pique
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: pēk
ipa: /piːk/
ipa: /pik/
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke
rhymes: -iːk
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke
rhymes: -iːk
ipa: /ˈpiːkeɪ/
ipa: /ˈpikeɪ/
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke (one-syllable pronunciation)
homophone: piqué (two-syllable RP pronunciation)
rhymes: -iːk stripped-by-parse_pron_post_template_fn
ipa: /piˈkeɪ/
rhymes: -eɪ stripped-by-parse_pron_post_template_fn
ipa: /paɪk/
homophone: pike
rhymes: -aɪk
enpr: pēk
ipa: /piːk/
ipa: /pik/
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke
rhymes: -iːk
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke
rhymes: -iːk
ipa: /ˈpiːkeɪ/
ipa: /ˈpikeɪ/
homophone: peak
homophone: peek
homophone: peke (one-syllable pronunciation)
homophone: piqué (two-syllable RP pronunciation)
rhymes: -iːk stripped-by-parse_pron_post_template_fn
ipa: /piˈkeɪ/
rhymes: -eɪ stripped-by-parse_pron_post_template_fn
Forms: form: piques
Etymology: A variant of pica, or from its etymon Late Latin pica (“disorder characterized by appetite and craving for non-edible substances”), from Latin pīca (“jay; magpie”) (from the idea that magpies will eat almost anything), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peyk- (“magpie; woodpecker”).
Senses: examples: text: The World is nat'rally averse / To all the truth it sees or hears, / But swallows Non-sense and a Lie / With greediness and gluttony; / And though it have the Pique, and long, / 'Tis still for something in the wrong: […]
ref: 1677 (indicated as 1678), [Samuel Butler], “[The Third Part of Hudibras]. Canto II.”, in Hudibras. The Third and Last Part. […], London: […] Robert Horne, […], published 1679, →OCLC; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, page 260:
topics: medicine
pathology
sciences
glosses: Synonym of pica (“a disorder characterized by appetite and craving for non-edible substances”).
synonyms: word: pica
extra: a disorder characterized by appetite and craving for non-edible substances
Related terms: pique-devant
taxi pole
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: taxi poles
Senses: glosses: A pole in the street alongside a place where members of the public can hire taxis.
pirouette
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌpɪ.ɹʊˈɛt/
ipa: /ˌpɪ.ɹuːˈɛt/
ipa: /ˌpɪ.ɹəˈwɛt/
ipa: /ˌpɪ.ɹuːˈɛt/
rhymes: -ɛt
Forms: form: pirouettes
Etymology: Borrowed from French pirouette, see there for more; attested since 1706.
Senses: examples: text: "Serious as cognitohazard." Lillihammer danced down the corridor towards them, doing little pirouettes and leaping from toe to toe. "Reuben Wirth no longer exists. Gonna have to get Forsythe to do that brain scan to make sure I'm clean, but otherwise yeah. Poof."
ref: 2023 October 14, HarryBlank, “Face Time”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 23 May 2024:
glosses: A whirling or turning on the toes in dancing, primarily in ballet.
glosses: The whirling about of a horse.
glosses: A wooden mouthpiece assembly or lip rest used in some European double-reed instruments.
pirouette
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌpɪ.ɹʊˈɛt/
ipa: /ˌpɪ.ɹuːˈɛt/
ipa: /ˌpɪ.ɹəˈwɛt/
ipa: /ˌpɪ.ɹuːˈɛt/
rhymes: -ɛt
Forms: form: pirouettes
form: pirouetting
form: pirouetted
form: pirouetted
Etymology: Borrowed from French pirouette, see there for more; attested since 1706.
Senses: examples: text: I came down like a sack of coals. The pulse was rapid, the blood pressure high, and for awhile the Blue Room pirouetted about me like an adagio dancer.
ref: 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter VIII:
glosses: To perform a pirouette; to whirl on the toes, like a dancer.
plaid
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /pled/
ipa: /plad/
ipa: /plæd/
rhymes: -æd
Forms: form: plaids
Etymology: From Scots plaid, of uncertain origin; perhaps from a past participle form of ply. Scottish Gaelic plaide (“blanket”) is probably a borrowing from Scots.
Also compare Scottish Gaelic peall (“covering, veil, blanket”) << Latin pellis (“hide, covering”), but the OED finds the sound changes problematic.
Senses: examples: text: It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.
ref: 1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, chapter I, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., →OCLC, page 01:
topics: business
manufacturing
textiles
glosses: A type of twilled woollen cloth, often with a tartan or chequered pattern.
examples: text: In battle, the plaid was customarily shrugged off before the charge bit home, and the warrior came into contact with only his long, saffron shirt (‘leine chrochach’) to preserve modesty.
ref: 2009, John Sadler, Glencoe, Amberley, published 2009, page 47:
glosses: A length of such material used as a piece of clothing, formerly worn in the Scottish Highlands and other parts of northern Britain and remaining as an item of ceremonial dress worn by members of Scottish pipe bands.
glosses: The typical chequered pattern of a plaid; tartan.
Derived terms: belted plaid
beplaided
glen plaid
overplaid
plaided
plaiding
plaidless
plaidman
Scotch plaid
plaid
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /pled/
ipa: /plad/
ipa: /plæd/
rhymes: -æd
Forms: form: more plaid
form: most plaid
Etymology: From Scots plaid, of uncertain origin; perhaps from a past participle form of ply. Scottish Gaelic plaide (“blanket”) is probably a borrowing from Scots.
Also compare Scottish Gaelic peall (“covering, veil, blanket”) << Latin pellis (“hide, covering”), but the OED finds the sound changes problematic.
Senses: glosses: Having a pattern or colors which resemble a Scottish tartan; checkered or marked with bars or stripes at right angles to one another.
plaid
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /pled/
ipa: /plad/
ipa: /plæd/
rhymes: -æd
Etymology: Alternative forms.
Senses: examples: 1774, Dr Samuel Johnson, Preface to the Works of the English Poets, J. Nichols, Volume II, Page 134,
"...then plaid on the organ, and sung..."
glosses: simple past and past participle of play
phlegm
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /flɛm/
ipa: /fliːm/
ipa: /flɛːm/
rhymes: -ɛm
Forms: form: phlegms
Etymology: From Middle English flewme, fleume, fleme, from Old French fleume, Middle French flemme (French flegme), and their source, Latin phlegma, from Ancient Greek φλέγμα (phlégma, “flame; inflammation; clammy humor in the body”), from φλέγειν (phlégein, “to burn”). Possible burning sensation when coughing up phlegm, Compare phlox, flagrant, flame, bleak (adjective), fulminate. Spelling later altered to resemble the word's Latin and Greek roots.
The regularly developed form /fliːm/ has been displaced by a pronunciation /flɛm/ of uncertain provenance. It may be inherited, though some kind of learned or spelling pronunciation or influence from phlegmatic is also conceivable.
Senses: examples: text: Each person's unique mixture of these substances determines his temperament: a predominance of blood gives a sanguine temperament; a predominance of phlegm makes one phlegmatic; yellow bile, bilious (or choleric); and black bile, melancholic.
ref: 1993, William Dalrymple, City of Djinns, HarperCollins:
glosses: One of the four humors making up the body in ancient and mediaeval medicine; said to be cold and moist, and often identified with mucus.
examples: text: Even some members of the new bourgeoisie indulge in conspicuously boorish behavior, like hawking phlegm onto the pavement or picking their noses at business meetings.
ref: 2005, "Endangered Species?" Hannah Beech, Time, 14 Nov 2005
glosses: Viscid mucus produced by the body, later especially mucus expelled from the bronchial passages by coughing.
examples: text: The attempts made to analyse vegetable substances previous to 1720, merely produced their resolution into the supposed elements of the chemists of those days, namely, salts, Earths, phlegm, and sulphur.
ref: 1812, Humphry Davy, The Elements of Chemical Philosophy, Introduction, Part I. Vol. I, pp. 50-51:
topics: alchemy
chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
pseudoscience
glosses: A watery distillation, especially one obtained from plant matter; an aqueous solution.
examples: text: Orloff's phlegm broke completely, and he snatched at the monocle as it dropped[.]
ref: 1941, Isaac Asimov, The Early Asimov, Volume 2, published 1974, page 180:
text: But Swedish Nazis also talked of the necessity of saving Sweden from Bolshevism, and with the menacing Berlin radio gnawing in their ears many Swedes lost their Scandinavian phlegm.
ref: 1942 October 5, “Warning to Sweden”, in Time:
glosses: Calmness of temperament, composure; also seen negatively, sluggishness, indifference.
Derived terms: dephlegm
flob
leucophlegmacy
phlegm-cutter
phlegmish
phlegmless
phlegmy
Related terms: phlegmatic
phlegmon
physique
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: rhymes: -iːk
Forms: form: physiques
form: fizeek
Etymology: From French physique.
Senses: synonyms: body
frame
build
antonyms: psyche
glosses: The natural constitution, or physical structure, of a person.
examples: text: Over the next week, men and women from diverse backgrounds participated in eighteen sports ranging from boxing and billiards to physique, the marathon and volleyball.
ref: 1983 February 12, Robert Ellgas, “Fond Memories, Difficult Questions”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 29, page 11:
topics: bodybuilding
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: The trained muscular structure of a person's body.
Synonyms: word: anatomy
word: build
word: constitution
word: figure
word: frame
word: habitus
word: physique
word: proportions
word: shape
Hypernyms: word: form
Hyponyms: word: musculature
word: stature
Derived terms: physiqued
physique magazine
Related terms: word: vital statistics
taxi
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈtæk.si/
rhymes: -æksi
Forms: form: taxis
form: taxies
form: taxiing
form: taxying
form: taxied
form: taxied
Etymology: Shortened from taximeter cab, taximeter (“automatic meter that records distance and fare”) from French taximètre, from German Taxameter (whence also English taxameter), coined from Medieval Latin taxa (“tax, charge”). More at tax, task.
The aviation sense originally derived for a slang term for training aircraft used for practicing ground operations, which were said to drive around the airfield like a taxicab, and subsequently applied to all aircraft ground movements.
Senses: examples: text: taxi down the runway
glosses: To move an aircraft on the ground under its own power.
examples: text: [H]e had taxied to the waterfront bent upon a business in which nostalgia had no part[.]
ref: 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 1:
glosses: To travel by taxicab.
Related terms: taxicab
taxiway
plaudit
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈplɔːdɪt/
rhymes: -ɔːdɪt
Forms: form: plaudits
Etymology: For earlier plaudite, borrowed from Latin plaudite, second-person plural imperative of plaudere (“to applaud”).
Senses: examples: text: The plaudits reverberated thunderously in the auditorium.
text: The roof now rung with bravos, handkerchiefs were waved on every side, “three cheers,” again and again, and plaudit upon plaudit following in such quick succession, begun, ended, and begun again, that it was some time before the toast with which Mr. Irving concluded, could be heard.
ref: 1862, Washington Irving, Works of Washington Irving, page 490:
text: They were very orderly- there were neither scoffs nor plaudits, and when they saw us at the window above them there were many who buried their faces in their arms and wept.
ref: 1913 January–May, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Gods of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as “Under Arrest”, in The Gods of Mars, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., September 1918, →OCLC, page 257:
text: City have lapped up the plaudits this season for a series of handsome wins but manager Roberto Mancini has demanded that his side also learn to grind out results when they do not play well. He now has an example to point to.
ref: 2011 November 5, Phil Dawkes, “QPR 2 - 3 Man City”, in BBC Sport:
text: NR has earned plaudits from far and wide for completing the project in difficult circumstances and for maintaining some access to Drax throughout.
ref: 2020 May 20, Paul Stephen, “NR beats floods to secure tracks to Drax”, in Rail, page 59:
synonyms: word: acclaim
word: approbation
word: encomium
word: applause
word: plaudit
word: clap
word: clapping
word: acclaim
word: acclamation
word: laudits
glosses: A mark or expression of applause; praise bestowed.
examples: text: Sofie has been showered in plaudits for her paradigm-shifting discoveries.
text: Today, beyond its magnificent courtyard entrance, there is a spa and a plaudit-winning restaurant, Pearl, but Carla remembers: “There were hiccups and we were late opening, but we finally got there on December 16. […]
ref: 2006 January 25, Rosalind Renshaw, “Kevin Costner and us”, in The Times, Times Media Limited, archived from the original on 19 Jul 2025:
text: A former Wanaka-based builder has been awarded a plaudit for his education efforts to combine sustainable building designs alongside the carpentry courses he now teaches at the Waikato Institute of Technology.
ref: 2011 November 21, Matthew Haggart, “Sustainability message”, in Otago Daily Times, Allied Press Limited, archived from the original on 12 Mar 2018:
synonyms: accolade
award
encomium
honour
prize
glosses: An award or commendation; a formal recognition of approval or achievement.
Derived terms: plauditor
plauditory
Related terms: applaus
applause
plausible
plaudit
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈplɔːdɪt/
rhymes: -ɔːdɪt
Forms: form: plaudits
form: plauditing
form: plaudited
form: plaudited
Etymology: For earlier plaudite, borrowed from Latin plaudite, second-person plural imperative of plaudere (“to applaud”).
Senses: examples: text: Floris grumpily yammered on about how the actors hardly deserved to be plaudited.
text: Dunces may take degrees, and we have ſeene / Authors and Poets, come forth at foureteene. / The like lucke haunts the Court, he that has wit / To flaſh a line, and friends to plaudite it.
ref: 1640, George Bucke, “On his Countrey-man, the Author”, in James Yorke, The Union of Honour, London: William Leake, [https://archive.org/details/bim_early-english-books-1475-1640_the-union-of-honour_yorke-james_1640/page/n11 [folio 4, verso]]:
text: Much plaudited by Sir Adrian Cadbury and practised by companies as prestigious as BP, the policy governance model is at once both complex and simple.
ref: 2005, Greg Pritchard, “3.3 Corporate governance”, in Christopher Stephen Brown, editor, The Sustainable Enterprise: Profiting from Best Practice, Kogan Page, →ISBN, page 84:
synonyms: applaud
award
honour
glosses: To issue or confer a plaudit upon.
pleat
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /pliːt/
rhymes: -iːt
Forms: form: pleats
Etymology: From Middle English, from a variant of plait, from Old French pleit. Doublet of plait.
Senses: topics: business
manufacturing
sewing
textiles
glosses: A fold in the fabric of a garment, usually a skirt, as a part of the design of the garment, with the purpose of adding controlled fullness and freedom of movement, or taking up excess fabric. There are many types of pleats, differing in their construction and appearance.
glosses: A similar fold in a filter, lampshade, or various other products.
topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
glosses: A fold in an organ, usually a longitudinal fold in a long leaf such as that of palmetto, lending it stiffness.
glosses: A plait.
Derived terms: accordion pleat
box pleat
cartridge pleat
Fortuny pleat
honeycomb pleat
inverted box pleat
kick pleat
knife pleat
organ pleat
pencil pleat
pleatless
pleatlike
pleaty
reet pleat
sunburst pleat
Watteau pleat
pleat
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /pliːt/
rhymes: -iːt
Forms: form: pleats
form: pleating
form: pleated
form: pleated
Etymology: From Middle English, from a variant of plait, from Old French pleit. Doublet of plait.
Senses: synonyms: ruffle
glosses: To form one or more pleats in a piece of fabric or a garment.
examples: text: pleat my hair
glosses: To plait.
Derived terms: pleatable
pleater
pleatless
pleatlike
pleaty
repleat
unpleat
plait
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /pleɪt/
ipa: /plæt/
homophone: plate
homophone: plat
rhymes: -æt
rhymes: -eɪt
Forms: form: plaits
Etymology: From Middle English pleit, from Anglo-Norman pleit (compare Old French ploit), from Latin plectō, which is akin to Old Norse flétta (Danish flette), Russian плести́ (plestí) and also to Old English fleohtan, which it displaced. Doublet of plight (“plait, fold”) and pleat.
Senses: examples: text: a box plait
text: the plaits and foldings of the drapery
ref: 1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
glosses: A flat fold; a doubling, as of cloth; a pleat.
examples: text: Only the hair as it arched so beautifully from her temples was mixed with silver, and the two simple plaits that lay on her shoulders were filigree of silver and brown.
ref: 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:
glosses: A braid, as of hair or straw; a plat.
Derived terms: box plait
French plait
lemon plait
plaitless
plaitwork
Polish plait
Related terms: pleat
plait
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /pleɪt/
ipa: /plæt/
homophone: plate
homophone: plat
rhymes: -æt
rhymes: -eɪt
Forms: form: plaits
form: plaiting
form: plaited
form: plaited
Etymology: From Middle English pleit, from Anglo-Norman pleit (compare Old French ploit), from Latin plectō, which is akin to Old Norse flétta (Danish flette), Russian плести́ (plestí) and also to Old English fleohtan, which it displaced. Doublet of plight (“plait, fold”) and pleat.
Senses: examples: text: to plait a ruffle
glosses: To fold; to double in narrow folds; to pleat
examples: text: to plait hair
text: plaiting rope
text: Her abundant hair, of a dark and glossy brown, was neatly plaited and coiled above an ivory column that rose straight from a pair of gently sloping shoulders, clearly outlined beneath the light muslin frock that covered them.
ref: 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars:
glosses: To interweave the strands or locks of; to braid
Derived terms: interplait
plaiter
plait fog
plait sawdust
replait
unplait
sebaceousness
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Etymology: From sebaceous + -ness.
Senses: glosses: The state or quality of being sebaceous.
quagga
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkwaxə/
ipa: /ˈkwɒɡə/
ipa: /kwæɡə/
ipa: /kwɑɡə/
rhymes: -æɡə
rhymes: -ɑːɡə
Forms: form: quaggas
form: kwagga
form: quakka
form: quagha
Etymology: From Dutch quagga (whence also Afrikaans kwagga), from a Khoisan term, probably Haiǁom, Khoekhoe ǁkoaah, apparently of imitative origin.
Senses: examples: text: I saw a rhinoceros, buffalo (a large herd), eland, quagga, and sable antelope, the most beautiful of all the bucks, not to mention many smaller varieties of game, and three ostriches which scudded away at our approach like white drift before a gale.
ref: 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
glosses: A southern-African subspecies of plains zebra, Equus quagga quagga, which went extinct in 1883. The upper parts of the animal were reddish brown, becoming paler behind and beneath, while the face, neck, and fore part of the body were marked by dark stripes.
glosses: Ellipsis of quagga mussel.
Derived terms: quagga mussel
quartette
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: quartettes
Senses: examples: text: Another musical memory of the stationmaster was his Joint Railway Male Voice Quartette, comprising three local stationmasters and a booking clerk, whose items were very acceptable at social events. One thing that amused me was that the quartette included a Mr. Dove and a Mr. Crowe; and it was Mr. Dove, and not the latter, who took the bass parts.
ref: 1952 March, R. S. McNaught, “Joint Line Memories”, in Railway Magazine, page 195:
glosses: Alternative spelling of quartet.
quartermaster
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈk(w)ɔɹtɚˌmæstɚ/
ipa: /ˈkwɔːtɚˌmɑːstə/
Forms: form: quartermasters
form: quarter-master
form: quarter master
Etymology: From Middle English quartermayster, quartermaistre, equivalent to quarter + master. Perhaps reinforced by and merged with Dutch kwartiermeester, kwartier-meester. Compare German Quartiermeister, French quartier-maître.
Senses: topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: An officer whose duty is to provide quarters, provisions, storage, clothing, fuel, stationery, and transportation for a regiment or other body of troops, and superintend the supplies. Master of quartering.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A petty officer who attends to the helm, binnacle, signals, and the like, under the direction of the master. Once master of the quarterdeck.
qualifier: scouting
glosses: A leadership position within a troop whose responsibility it is to track and maintain the troop's equipment, for example stoves, Dutch ovens, utensils, and tents.
Coordinate terms: baggage train
wagonmaster
Derived terms: quartermaster general
quartermaster sergeant
quartermaster train
quartermaster
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈk(w)ɔɹtɚˌmæstɚ/
ipa: /ˈkwɔːtɚˌmɑːstə/
Forms: form: quartermasters
form: quartermastering
form: quartermastered
form: quartermastered
form: quarter-master
form: quarter master
Etymology: From Middle English quartermayster, quartermaistre, equivalent to quarter + master. Perhaps reinforced by and merged with Dutch kwartiermeester, kwartier-meester. Compare German Quartiermeister, French quartier-maître.
Senses: glosses: To act as a quartermaster.
quay
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: kē
ipa: /kiː/
ipa: /keɪ/
ipa: /kiː/
ipa: /keɪ/
ipa: /kweɪ/
rhymes: -iː
rhymes: -eɪ
homophone: key
Forms: form: quays
form: cay
Etymology: The current spelling replaced the spelling key in the 1690s to emulate the spelling but (at least originally) not the pronunciation of the equivalent modern French quai. From Middle English kay, key, kaye, keye, from Old French kay, cail, from Gaulish *kagyum, cagiíun (“enclosure”), from Proto-Celtic *kagyom (“pen, enclosure”) (compare Welsh cae (“field”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰyóm (“enclosure”). Doublet of hedge and hey (“choreographic figure”).
Senses: examples: text: moor up in the quay
text: […] its harbour was filled with stately ships; and its quays, swarming with foreign traders and loaded with bales of costly merchandise[…]
ref: 1879, F. D. Morice, Pindar, chapter 10, pp. 166-167:
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A stone or concrete structure on navigable water used for loading and unloading vessels; a wharf.
Derived terms: Connah's Quay
New Quay
Newquay
quayside
Willington Quay
quay
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: kē
ipa: /kiː/
ipa: /keɪ/
ipa: /kiː/
ipa: /keɪ/
ipa: /kweɪ/
rhymes: -iː
rhymes: -eɪ
homophone: key
Forms: form: quays
form: quaying
form: quayed
form: quayed
form: cay
Etymology: The current spelling replaced the spelling key in the 1690s to emulate the spelling but (at least originally) not the pronunciation of the equivalent modern French quai. From Middle English kay, key, kaye, keye, from Old French kay, cail, from Gaulish *kagyum, cagiíun (“enclosure”), from Proto-Celtic *kagyom (“pen, enclosure”) (compare Welsh cae (“field”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰyóm (“enclosure”). Doublet of hedge and hey (“choreographic figure”).
Senses: glosses: To land or tie up at a quay or similar structure, especially used in the phrase "quay up".
Related terms: dock
pier
float
cay
harbour
harbor
mole
riprap
wharf
quay
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: enpr: kē
ipa: /kiː/
ipa: /keɪ/
ipa: /kiː/
ipa: /keɪ/
ipa: /kweɪ/
rhymes: -iː
rhymes: -eɪ
homophone: key
Forms: form: quayer
form: quayest
Senses: glosses: Alternative spelling of qway (“far”).
quay
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Pronunciation: enpr: kē
ipa: /kiː/
ipa: /keɪ/
ipa: /kiː/
ipa: /keɪ/
ipa: /kweɪ/
rhymes: -iː
rhymes: -eɪ
homophone: key
Forms: form: quayer
form: quayest
Senses: glosses: Alternative spelling of qway (“far”).
quell
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kwɛl/
rhymes: -ɛl
Forms: form: quells
Etymology: From Middle English quellen, from Old English cwellan (“to kill”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwalljan, from Proto-Germanic *kwaljaną (“to make die; kill”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-. Cognate with German quälen (“to torment; agonise; smite”), Swedish kvälja (“to torment”), Icelandic kvelja (“to torture; torment”). Compare also Old Armenian կեղ (keł, “sore, ulcer”), Old Church Slavonic жаль (žalĭ, “pain”). See also kill, which may be its doublet.
Senses: examples: text: The quell of the rebellion raised Justinian to the acme of power.
ref: 1903, Knowledge: A Monthly Record of Science:
text: Hu had been supportive of Chiang's role throughout the northern expedition and the quell of southern rebellion.
ref: 1978, Shiu Heng Chook, Chiang Kai-shek Close-up: A Personal View:
text: The consequences have not been significant in terms of the quell of any of the three drugs into the United States.
ref: 1994, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. international drug control policy: recent experience, future options : seminar proceedings, Government Printing Office, →ISBN:
text: Each Martial Law was marked by the quell of civil liberties or human rights.
ref: 1998, Mirza Arshad Ali Beg, Democracy Displaced in Pakistan: Case History of Disasters of Social Pollution:
text: But to make things even worse, this is the year of the Seventy-fifth Hunger Games, and that means it's also a Quarter Quell. They occur every twenty-five years, marking the anniversary of the districts' defeat with over-the-top celebrations and, for extra fun, some miserable twist for the tributes.
ref: 2013, Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire, UK: Scholastic:
text: An example can be found in the data about the campaigns of Aššur-bān-apli against Arab tribes after the quell of the revolt of Šamaš-šumukīn.
ref: 2014, Markham J. Geller, Melammu: The Ancient World in an Age of Globalization, epubli, →ISBN, page 136:
glosses: A subduing.
quell
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kwɛl/
rhymes: -ɛl
Forms: form: quells
Etymology: From Middle English *quelle (suggested by the verb quellen (“to well up; gush forth”)), from Old English cwylla, cwiella (“spring; source”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwalljā (“spring, well”). Compare German Quelle.
Senses: examples: text: And when they had eaten, and sat resting in a grotto, he was still singing, and she was the goddess of his Muse, — the quell of living waters out of which he drew fresh strength for new lays.
ref: 1894, George Egerton, Discords:
text: Other excruciations replaced her namesake's loquacious quells so completely that when, during a lucid interval, she happened to open with her weak little hand a lavabo cock for a drink of water, the tepid lymph replied in its own lingo […]
ref: 1969, Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, Ada, Or, Ardor, a Family Chronicle, Vintage, →ISBN:
text: The strategists had access to a wide array of private polling and information from focus groups; a quell of information stretching back over his years as a state-wide candidate and office holder.
ref: 2001, Hans-Dieter Klingemann, Andrea Römmele, Public Information Campaigns and Opinion Research: A Handbook for the Student and Practitioner, SAGE, →ISBN, page 82:
glosses: A source, especially a spring.
examples: text: A quell of strength over took Robin with each of his words. She was about to fall apart, but Jacob was as brave as a warrior going into battle.
ref: 2001, Zane Gates, The Cure, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 241:
text: For a moment their eyes locked, and she felt a quell of anger rise above her apprehension. Reality struck with appalling clarity, yet she could only lie down, partially drugged and untidy as she was from such rough traveling.
ref: 2011, Linda Lee Chaikin, Hawaiian Crosswinds, Moody Publishers, →ISBN:
text: I read on. It will cost two hundred and fifty quid. I felt a quell of alarm, that's quite expensive.
ref: 2012, Molly Hopkins, It Happened at Boot Camp: Exclusive Novella, Hachette UK, →ISBN:
glosses: An emotion or sensation which rises suddenly.
queller
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: quellers
Etymology: From Middle English queller, quellere, quellare, from Old English cwellere; equivalent to quell + -er.
Senses: glosses: One who quells; one who overpowers or subdues.
examples: Jack the Giant-Queller
glosses: A killer.
quintette
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: quintettes
Senses: glosses: Alternative spelling of quintet A composition for five voices or instruments; also, the set of five persons who sing or play five-part music.
quire
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkwaɪ.ə(ɹ)/
rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)
homophone: choir
Forms: form: quires
Etymology: From Middle English quayer, from Anglo-Norman quaier and Old French quaer, from Latin quaternus (“fourfold”), from quater (“four times”). Doublet of cahier.
Senses: examples: text: Under the year 1533 we are told that the ream contained twenty quires.
ref: 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 4, page 592:
text: […] and we must accept the fact that all those good novels, Villette, Emma, Wuthering Heights, Middlemarch, were written by women without more experience of life than could enter the house of a clergyman; written too in the common sitting-room of that respectable house and by women so poor that they could not afford to buy more than a few quires of paper at a time upon which to write Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre.
ref: 1929, Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own, paperback edition, Penguin Books, page 71:
text: We saw above that the fourth quire consists of ten folios, two of which (folios 29 and 31) Richer added to a quaternion (folios 23 to 28, 30, 32). Most of the folios Richer added to his manuscript supplement, elaborate, or amend text that he had already composed in the codex. In this quire, however, Richer wrote around the added folios as if it was the quire he added to them, not the converse. Indeed, if we were to remove folios 29 and 31, there would be neither grammatical nor narrative continuity between the original folios of the quire which would face each other, that is, between folios 28^(v[erso]) and 30^(r[ecto]) on the one hand, or folios 30ᵛ and 32ʳ on the other.
ref: 2004, Jason Glenn, Politics and History in the Tenth Century: The Work and World of Richer of Reims, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 140:
glosses: One-twentieth of a ream of paper; a collection of twenty-four or twenty-five sheets of paper of the same size and quality, unfolded or having a single fold.
topics: arts
bookbinding
crafts
hobbies
lifestyle
glosses: A set of leaves which are stitched together, originally a set of four pieces of paper (eight leaves, sixteen pages). This is most often a single signature (i.e. group of four), but may be several nested signatures.
glosses: A book, poem, or pamphlet.
Coordinate terms: sense: quantity of paper
word: bale
sense: quantity of paper
word: bundle
sense: quantity of paper
word: ream
quire
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkwaɪ.ə(ɹ)/
rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)
homophone: choir
Forms: form: quires
form: quiring
form: quired
form: quired
Etymology: From Middle English quayer, from Anglo-Norman quaier and Old French quaer, from Latin quaternus (“fourfold”), from quater (“four times”). Doublet of cahier.
Senses: examples: text: Now, in the first folio volume of 1616, the paging, signatures, and quiring are continuous and regular throughout.
ref: 1870, William White, Notes and Queries, volume 42:
text: This is a natural point at which to ask why quiring went out of fashion.
ref: 1938, The Dolphin: A Journal of the Making of the Books, number 3:
text: By means of these smooth pages we can mostly see how the modern binder made up the book, but whether in doing this he followed the original quiring is quite another matter.
ref: 1976, Alfred William Pollard, Alfred William Pollard: A Selection of his Essays:
topics: arts
bookbinding
crafts
hobbies
lifestyle
glosses: To prepare quires by stitching together leaves of paper.
quire
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkwaɪ.ə(ɹ)/
rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)
homophone: choir
Forms: form: quires
Etymology: From Middle English quer, quere, from Old French quer, from Latin chorus, from Ancient Greek χορός (khorós, “company of dancers or singers”). Doublet of choir, chorus, and hora.
Senses: topics: architecture
related: word: choir
glosses: One quarter of a cruciform church, or the architectural area of a church, generally used by the choir; often near the apse.
examples: text: Madam, myself have lim'd a bush for her,
And plac'd a quire of such enticing birds,
That she will light to listen to the lays,
And never mount to trouble you again.
ref: 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
text: 1597–1598, Joseph Hall, Virgidemiarum
Yea, and the prophet of the heav'nly lyre, / Great Solomon sings in the English quire […]
glosses: Archaic form of choir (“group of people who sing together”).
quire
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkwaɪ.ə(ɹ)/
rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)
homophone: choir
Forms: form: quires
form: quiring
form: quired
form: quired
Etymology: From Middle English quer, quere, from Old French quer, from Latin chorus, from Ancient Greek χορός (khorós, “company of dancers or singers”). Doublet of choir, chorus, and hora.
Senses: examples: text: Sit, Jessica. Look how the floor of heaven / Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold: / There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st / But in his motion like an angel sings, / Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins; / Such harmony is in immortal souls; / But whilst this muddy vesture of decay / Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it.
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 V, scene i]:
text: I saw the 'potamus take wing / Ascending from the damp savannas, / And quiring angels round him sing / The praise of God, in loud hosannas.
ref: 1920, T. S. Eliot, “Hippopotamus”, in Poems:
text: He went on down the hill, toward the dark woods within which the liquid silver voices of the birds called unceasing-the rapid and urgent beating of the urgent and quiring heart of the late spring night.
ref: 1938, William Faulkner, Barn Burning:
glosses: Alternative form of choir (“to sing in concert”).
Related terms: quire ken
quite
Language: English
Part of speech: intj
Pronunciation: enpr: kwīt
ipa: /kwaɪt/
rhymes: -aɪt
Forms: form: quight
Etymology: A development of quit, influence by Anglo-Norman quite. Doublet of coy, quit, quiet, and quietus. For an analogous semantic development from the same root, compare Armenian շատ (šat).
Senses: examples: text: “That's a rather ugly colour for a house, don't you think?” — “Quite.”
glosses: Indicates agreement; exactly so.
quite
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: kwīt
ipa: /kwaɪt/
rhymes: -aɪt
ipa: /ˈkiːteɪ/
enpr: kwīt
ipa: /kwaɪt/
rhymes: -aɪt
Forms: form: quites
form: quight
Etymology: From Spanish quite.
Senses: topics: bullfighting
entertainment
lifestyle
glosses: A series of passes made with the cape to distract the bull.
quitrent
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: quitrents
form: quit rent
form: quit-rent
Etymology: Compound of quit + rent.
Senses: topics: economics
government
law
sciences
taxation
glosses: A rent reserved in grants of land, by the payment of which the tenant is quit (absolved) from other service.
wikipedia: quitrent
Related terms: quitrental
quitrenter
quixotically
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Forms: form: more quixotically
form: most quixotically
Etymology: From quixotic + -ally.
Senses: glosses: In a quixotic manner.
quixotism
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: /ˈkwɪksəˌtɪzm/
Forms: form: quixotisms
form: Quixotism
Etymology: From Quixote + -ism.
Senses: examples: text: M. Georges Berry, the Paris municipal councilor, has broken many a lance in tilting against old, and in some cases, time honored, abuses, and for his pains has not infrequently heard it suggested that there was a dash of Quixotism in his composition.
ref: 1890 April 3, The New York Herald, European Edition:
text: For the rest of his life, [Miguel de] Unamuno urged his fellow Spaniards to practice quixotism, which meant adopting the moral courage necessary to fight for lost causes without caring what the world thinks.
ref: 2017 May 29, Mariana Alessandri, “In Praise of Lost Causes”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
text: Berners-Lee, too, remembers the quixotism of the era. “The spirit there was very decentralized. The individual was incredibly empowered. It was all based on there being no central authority that you had to go to to ask permission,” he said.
ref: 2018 July 1, Katrina Brooker, quoting Tim Berners-Lee, ““I Was Devastated”: The Man Who Created the World Wide Web Has Some Regrets”, in Vanity Fair:
synonyms: quixotry
coordinate_terms: Panzaism
glosses: A form of idealism and delusion which leads to extravagant and absurd undertakings or sacrifices in obedience to a morbidly romantic ideal of duty or honor, as illustrated by the exploits of Don Quixote in knight-errantry.
Related terms: Don Quixote
quixotic
quixotry
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkwɪksətɹi/
Forms: form: quixotries
Etymology: From Quixote + -ry.
Senses: examples: text: She knew that her brother was capable of any quixotry, any excess.
ref: 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 158:
text: His quixotry might exasperate, but could not affront, them.
ref: 1930, W. Somerset Maugham, Cakes and Ale, Penguin Books, published 1993, page 20:
glosses: A wild, visionary idea, an eccentric notion or act; a quixotism.
Related terms: Don Quixote
quixotic
quob
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /kwɒb/
ipa: /kwɑb/
rhymes: -ɒb
rhymes: -ɑb
Forms: form: quobs
form: quobbing
form: quobbed
form: quobbed
form: quab
Etymology: From Middle English quabbe, from Old English *cwabbe, from Proto-West Germanic *kwabbā (“soggy ground”). Compare Middle Low German quobbe (“swampy ground”), Middle High German quabbe (“marshy ground, unstable moorland”), whence Modern German Quabbe (“large bulge”). For the verb, compare German Low German quabbeln, quobbeln (“to tremble, vibrate”), German quabbeln (“to move back and forth as a squishy mass, wobble, jiggle”).
Senses: examples: text: For the gray mass quobbed and quivered, and swelled perpetually
ref: 1944, Clark Ashton Smith, Lost Worlds:
glosses: To throb; to quiver.
quob
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kwɒb/
ipa: /kwɑb/
rhymes: -ɒb
rhymes: -ɑb
Forms: form: quobs
form: quab
Etymology: From Middle English quabbe, from Old English *cwabbe, from Proto-West Germanic *kwabbā (“soggy ground”). Compare Middle Low German quobbe (“swampy ground”), Middle High German quabbe (“marshy ground, unstable moorland”), whence Modern German Quabbe (“large bulge”). For the verb, compare German Low German quabbeln, quobbeln (“to tremble, vibrate”), German quabbeln (“to move back and forth as a squishy mass, wobble, jiggle”).
Senses: glosses: A marshy spot; bog, quagmire; quicksand.
glosses: A heap or mess; a bad condition.
glosses: An unfirm layer of fat.
glosses: A throb or palpitation.
Derived terms: quobby
quobmire