cstr/en-wiktionary-extracted-all huggingface dataset:
spreading
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈspɹɛdɪŋ/
rhymes: -ɛdɪŋ
ipa: /ˈspɹiːdɪŋ/
rhymes: -iːdɪŋ
ipa: /ˈspɹɛdɪŋ/
rhymes: -ɛdɪŋ
Etymology: Blend of speed + reading.
Senses: examples: text: Chief among the strategies exploiting this rule was "spreading" (a combination of "speed" and "reading"), where debaters would rattle off arguments at a blistering pace. Their speeches often exceeded 300 words per minute. (A conversational pace is about 60 per minute.)
ref: 2017 September 26, Jack McCordick, “The Corrosion of High School Debate—And How It Mirrors American Politics”, in America, New York, N.Y.: America Press Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 Jun 2023:
text: The NSDA currently boasts more than one hundred and fifty thousand student participants (per affiliated team rosters), many of whom compete in Lincoln–Douglas or policy. The activities are distinct in structure—policy is two-on-two—but they operate similarly on the national circuit, and involve spreading and other experimental tactics.
ref: 2022 September, Tess McNulty, “Both Sides Now”, in Harper's Magazine, New York, N.Y.: Harper's Magazine Foundation, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 Mar 2023:
qualifier: debating slang
glosses: The act of spreading (speedreading).
spreading
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈspɹɛdɪŋ/
rhymes: -ɛdɪŋ
ipa: /ˈspɹiːdɪŋ/
rhymes: -iːdɪŋ
ipa: /ˈspɹɛdɪŋ/
rhymes: -ɛdɪŋ
Etymology: Blend of speed + reading.
Senses: glosses: present participle and gerund of spread
shouts
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ʃaʊts/
ipa: /ʃuːts/
rhymes: -aʊts
Senses: glosses: plural of shout
shouts
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ʃaʊts/
ipa: /ʃuːts/
rhymes: -aʊts
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of shout
proves
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /pɹuːvz/
rhymes: -uːvz
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of prove
proves
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /pɹuːvz/
rhymes: -uːvz
Senses: glosses: plural of prove
404
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfɔːɹəʊˌfɔː(ɹ)/
Etymology: From the HTTP error status code 404, meaning Not Found, returned by a web server responding to a request for a URL at which no resource exists.
Senses: examples: text: Bill was 404 all morning.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: Not found, especially of a web page on the Internet.
404
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfɔːɹəʊˌfɔː(ɹ)/
Forms: form: 404s
Etymology: From the HTTP error status code 404, meaning Not Found, returned by a web server responding to a request for a URL at which no resource exists.
Senses: examples: text: Return 404s for all deleted pages. Some search engine marketers suggest redirecting old products to semantically related products instead of 404ing. This preserves link equity, whereas a 404 does not.
ref: 2007, Cristian Darie, Jaimie Sirovich, Professional Search Engine Optimization with ASP.NET: A Developer's Guide to SEO, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 113:
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: An error indicating that a web page could not be found.
glosses: Dog meat.
Derived terms: 404 page
soft 404
404
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfɔːɹəʊˌfɔː(ɹ)/
Forms: form: 404s
form: 404ing
form: 404ed
form: 404ed
form: 404'd
form: 404'd
Etymology: From the HTTP error status code 404, meaning Not Found, returned by a web server responding to a request for a URL at which no resource exists.
Senses: examples: text: Return 404s for all deleted pages. Some search engine marketers suggest redirecting old products to semantically related products instead of 404ing. This preserves link equity, whereas a 404 does not.
ref: 2007, Cristian Darie, Jaimie Sirovich, Professional Search Engine Optimization with ASP.NET: A Developer's Guide to SEO, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 113:
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: To return an error indicating that a web page could not be found.
Related terms: four oh four
farmers
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfɑɹmɚz/
ipa: /ˈfɑːməz/
Senses: glosses: plural of farmer
sticks
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /stɪks/
rhymes: -ɪks
homophone: Styx
Forms: form: stix
Senses: glosses: plural of stick
sticks
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /stɪks/
rhymes: -ɪks
homophone: Styx
Forms: form: stix
Senses: examples: text: We had to drive way out into the sticks to visit that customer.
text: "How'd your in-laws feel about you marryin' your wife? Maybe you could pass the paper bag test and the comb test, but your old man had dark skin, kinky hair, and he was a dyed-in-wool baptist from out in the sticks."
ref: 2002 February, Don Spears, Playing for Keeps, Los Angeles: Milligan Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 183:
glosses: rural terrain, especially a woody area; any rural region.
examples: text: It was a maiden race over the "sticks," and the trainer's instructions were to slip off and make the running throughout.
ref: 1902, Outing: Sport, Adventure, Travel, Fiction, volume 40, page 469:
text: Do they prefer flat or 'over the sticks' (jump races)? Does the group know what the races with jumps are called?
ref: 2009, Anni Bowden, Nancy Lewthwaite, The Activity Year Book, page 124:
topics: hobbies
horse-racing
horseracing
horses
lifestyle
pets
racing
sports
glosses: Hurdles or other obstacles to be jumped over.
qualifier: chiefly by long-time users
glosses: crutches
Synonyms: See: Thesaurus:remote place
boonies
boondocks
hinterland
middle of nowhere
the sticks
BFE
Derived terms: Sticksville
sticks
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /stɪks/
rhymes: -ɪks
homophone: Styx
Forms: form: stix
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of stick
considerations
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kənˌsɪdəˈɹeɪʃənz/
Senses: glosses: plural of consideration
sorrows
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: sôrʹōz
ipa: /ˈsɔɹoʊz/
enpr: särʹōz
ipa: /ˈsɑɹoʊz/
enpr: sŏrʹōz
ipa: /ˈsɒɹəʊz/
Senses: glosses: plural of sorrow
sorrows
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: sôrʹōz
ipa: /ˈsɔɹoʊz/
enpr: särʹōz
ipa: /ˈsɑɹoʊz/
enpr: sŏrʹōz
ipa: /ˈsɒɹəʊz/
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of sorrow
sums
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: sŭmz
ipa: /sʌmz/
rhymes: -ʌmz
Senses: glosses: plural of sum
sums
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: sŭmz
ipa: /sʌmz/
rhymes: -ʌmz
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of sum
dresses
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdɹɛsɪz/
Senses: glosses: plural of dress
dresses
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdɹɛsɪz/
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of dress
rests
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɹɛsts/
rhymes: -ɛsts
Senses: glosses: plural of rest
rests
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɹɛsts/
rhymes: -ɛsts
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of rest
blessings
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈblɛs.ɪŋz/
Senses: glosses: plural of blessing
bows
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: other: /baʊ/
ipa: /baʊz/
rhymes: -aʊz
other: /boʊ/
other: /bəʊ/
ipa: /boʊz/
ipa: /bəʊz/
rhymes: -əʊz
Senses: glosses: plural of bow
bows
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: other: /baʊ/
ipa: /baʊz/
rhymes: -aʊz
other: /boʊ/
other: /bəʊ/
ipa: /boʊz/
ipa: /bəʊz/
rhymes: -əʊz
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of bow
carriages
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkæɹ.ɪdʒɪz/
ipa: /ˈkɛɹ.ɪd͡ʒɪz/
Senses: glosses: plural of carriage
glosses: Used to specify the time that an event will end (e.g. when people would leave in their carriages)
schemes
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /skiːmz/
ipa: [skiːmz̥]
rhymes: -iːmz
Senses: glosses: plural of scheme
schemes
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /skiːmz/
ipa: [skiːmz̥]
rhymes: -iːmz
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of scheme
cups
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kʌps/
rhymes: -ʌps
Senses: glosses: plural of cup
glosses: A suit of the minor arcana in tarot, bearing the symbol of a cup or chalice.
cups
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /kʌps/
rhymes: -ʌps
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of cup
reflections
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈflɛkʃənz/
Senses: glosses: plural of reflection
symptoms
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: /ˈsɪmptəmz/
Senses: glosses: plural of symptom
morals
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈmɔɹəlz/
ipa: /ˈmɒɹəlz/
ipa: /ˈmɑɹəlz/
Senses: glosses: plural of moral
morals
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈmɔɹəlz/
ipa: /ˈmɒɹəlz/
ipa: /ˈmɑɹəlz/
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of moral
candles
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkændl̩z/
Senses: glosses: plural of candle
candles
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkændl̩z/
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of candle
cliffs
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /klɪfs/
rhymes: -ɪfs
Senses: glosses: plural of cliff
truths
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /tɹuːθs/
ipa: /tɹuːðz/
rhymes: -uːθs
rhymes: -uːðz
Senses: glosses: plural of truth
truths
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /tɹuːθs/
ipa: /tɹuːðz/
rhymes: -uːθs
rhymes: -uːðz
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of truth
keys
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kiːz/
homophone: quays
homophone: cays
rhymes: -iːz
Senses: glosses: plural of key
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: keyboard
keys
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /kiːz/
homophone: quays
homophone: cays
rhymes: -iːz
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of key
keys
Language: English
Part of speech: phrase
Pronunciation: ipa: /kiːz/
homophone: quays
homophone: cays
rhymes: -iːz
Senses: glosses: Filter-avoidance spelling of kys (“kill yourself”).
husbands
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: /ˈhʌzbəndz/
Senses: glosses: plural of husband
husbands
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: /ˈhʌzbəndz/
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of husband
tricks
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /tɹɪks/
rhymes: -ɪks
Senses: glosses: plural of trick
tricks
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /tɹɪks/
rhymes: -ɪks
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of trick
compliments
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkɑmplɪmənts/
ipa: /ˈkɒmplɪmənts/
homophone: complements
Senses: glosses: plural of compliment
examples: text: Please accept this 2011 calendar with our compliments.
glosses: Good wishes.
Derived terms: with compliments
compliments
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkɑmplɪmənts/
ipa: /ˈkɒmplɪmənts/
homophone: complements
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of compliment
lodgings
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈlɑd͡ʒɪŋz/
ipa: /ˈlɒd͡ʒɪŋz/
Senses: glosses: plural of lodging
lodgings
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈlɑd͡ʒɪŋz/
ipa: /ˈlɒd͡ʒɪŋz/
Senses: examples: text: Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part. Thus outraged, she showed herself to be a bold as well as a furious virago. Next day she found her way to their lodgings and tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head.
ref: 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
glosses: A room or set of rooms in another person's house where a person lodges.
glosses: An official residence.
Synonyms: word: digs
instincts
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɪn.stɪŋkts/
Senses: glosses: plural of instinct
prejudices
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: /ˈpɹɛd͡ʒədɪsɪz/
Senses: glosses: plural of prejudice
prejudices
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: /ˈpɹɛd͡ʒədɪsɪz/
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of prejudice
attendants
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: /əˈtɛndənts/
Senses: glosses: plural of attendant
exercises
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɛksɚsaɪzɪz/
ipa: /ˈɛksəsaɪzɪz/
Senses: glosses: plural of exercise
glosses: A ceremony or assembly: opening exercises; graduation exercises.
exercises
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɛksɚsaɪzɪz/
ipa: /ˈɛksəsaɪzɪz/
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of exercise
evenings
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈiːvnɪŋz/
Etymology: From evening + -s (adverbial suffix). Compare with Dutch avonds, Low German avends, German abends.
Senses: examples: text: He had ordered her not to go out evenings, and warned her that she must never let him catch her in company with a young man, who was paying attention to her belonging to Colonel Lloyd.
ref: 1846 [1845], Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Boston: Anti-Slavery Office:
glosses: In the evening, during the evening.
evenings
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈiːvnɪŋz/
Etymology: From evening + -s (plural suffix).
Senses: glosses: plural of evening
labors
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈleɪbɚz/
ipa: /ˈleɪbəz/
Senses: glosses: plural of labor
labors
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈleɪbɚz/
ipa: /ˈleɪbəz/
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of labor
cows
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kaʊz/
rhymes: -aʊz
homophone: Cowes
Senses: glosses: plural of cow
Related terms: cattle
cows
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /kaʊz/
rhymes: -aʊz
homophone: Cowes
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of cow
cows
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kaʊz/
rhymes: -aʊz
homophone: Cowes
Senses: glosses: Alternative form of kouse.
superconductor
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: superconductors
Etymology: From super- + conductor, calque of Dutch suprageleider (modern spelling supergeleider).
Senses: glosses: A substance that has no resistance to conducting an electric current
Derived terms: high-temperature superconductor
Related terms: conductor
superconductivity
value added tax
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: value added taxes
form: value-added tax
Senses: topics: economics
government
sciences
taxation
related: word: VAT
synonyms: goods and services tax
GST
hypernyms: tax#Noun
coordinate_terms: sales tax
;
excise tax
duty
;
income tax
glosses: A tax levied on the added value that results from the exchange of goods and services.
Related terms: added value
add value
add value machine
surplus value
value-add
value added
value chain
value-added tax
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: value-added taxes
Senses: examples: text: For example, its two biggest deficit-cutting ideas are on the tax side, eliminating all itemized deductions for income taxes (raising $3.42 trillion over 10 years) and imposing a European-style value-added tax (VAT) of 5% on goods and services (raising $3.38 trillion over 10 years).
ref: 2024 December 28, Jonathan Nicholson, “Yes, There Are Ways To Cut The Budget Deficit. 'DOGE' Hasn’t Found Them So Far.”, in HuffPost:
glosses: Alternative form of value added tax.
back-pedal
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Senses: glosses: Alternative spelling of backpedal.
smooch
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /smuːt͡ʃ/
rhymes: -uːtʃ
Forms: form: smooches
form: smouch
Etymology: Perhaps from a dialectal variation of smack. Compare also Low German smok (“a kiss, a smouch/smooch”), Alemannic German Schmutz, Schmützle (“a kiss, a smooch”).
Senses: examples: text: Ideally with exercise at 6am and then schmooches with my daughter Olympia. If I’m lucky I squeeze in a breakfast at Orphans Kitchen with some of my favourite people, and then off to work I go!
ref: 2023 November 16 [2019 February 5], “Mimi Gilmour Buckley on building a burger empire”, in Newmarket:
glosses: A kiss, especially that which is on the cheek.
examples: text: And tell Nay-Nay come shake up the room
Lil Gotti call thotty, that bitch is a smooch (That bitch is a smoochie)
ref: 2021 March 18, “Brotherly Love” (track 3, 0:56 from the start), in Dougie B (lyrics), The D.O.A. Tape:
synonyms: munch
glosses: Someone who easily agrees to give oral sex.
Derived terms: smoochie
smoochiness
smoochy
smooch
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /smuːt͡ʃ/
rhymes: -uːtʃ
Forms: form: smooches
form: smooching
form: smooched
form: smooched
form: smouch
Etymology: Perhaps from a dialectal variation of smack. Compare also Low German smok (“a kiss, a smouch/smooch”), Alemannic German Schmutz, Schmützle (“a kiss, a smooch”).
Senses: examples: text: They smooched in the doorway.
text: […] [Britney] Spears and NSYNCer Justin Timberlake smooching.
ref: 2000, Adweek, page 5:
text: "Hm. I guess I did agree to go along with whatever her conditions were..." "We smooched on it. No backsies."
ref: 2013 May 6, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Monday, May 6, 2013:
glosses: To kiss.
Derived terms: besmooch
smoocher
smooch
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /smuːt͡ʃ/
rhymes: -uːtʃ
Forms: form: smooches
Senses: examples: text: Then she said that the paper stained everything it touched, that she had found yellow smooches on all my clothes and John's, and she wished we would be more careful!
ref: 1892, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper:
glosses: Alternative form of smutch.
smooch
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /smuːt͡ʃ/
rhymes: -uːtʃ
Forms: form: smooches
form: smooching
form: smooched
form: smooched
Senses: glosses: Alternative form of smutch.
PFC
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: PFCs
Senses: examples: text: If Steinkamp doesn't take off that hat and stop messing around, I'm gonna bust him into a PFC.
ref: 1962, The Manchurian Candidate, 01:56:35
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: Initialism of private first class.
examples: text: Another recent study found that in a delayed recognition working memory task, after affecting the functional connectivity between the PFC and the parahippocampal place area with a task designed to produce interference, older adults were unable to regain connectivity to preinterference levels, unlike younger adults who could.
ref: 2016, Pierre Jolicoeur, Christine Lefebvre, Julio Martinez-Trujillo, Mechanisms of Sensory Working Memory (page 128)
text: To quote George W. Bush, within the frontal cortex, it's the PFC that is “the decider.”
ref: 2017, Robert Sapolsky, chapter 2, in Behave, Penguin, →ISBN:
topics: anatomy
medicine
neuroanatomy
neurology
neuroscience
sciences
glosses: Initialism of prefrontal cortex.
examples: text: PFC vaporizes when hit with an ultrasound pulse, producing rapidly expanding gas bubbles that "fire" the nanobullets out of the microcannons at speeds on the order of meters per second -- and the fluorescent microbullets light up to show exactly where they landed in the tissue target.
ref: 2016 January 14, Jessica Hall, “Nanoengineers build 'microcannons' that fire light-up bullets filled with drugs”, in ExtremeTech:
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
coordinate_terms: CFC
HCFC
HFC
glosses: Initialism of perfluorocarbon.
topics: human-sciences
psychology
sciences
glosses: Initialism of preference for consistency.
topics: business
electrical
electrical-engineering
electricity
electromagnetism
energy
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
glosses: Initialism of power factor correction.
examples: text: By 2023, according to a review of charts and messages shared on the company Slack, over 100 official playlists were made almost entirely of PFC, […].
ref: 2025, Liz Pelly, Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist, 1st edition, New York: Atria Books, →ISBN:
glosses: Initialism of perfect fit content.
coif
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kwɑf/
ipa: /kɔɪf/
rhymes: -ɒf
rhymes: -ɔɪf
homophone: quaff
Forms: form: coifs
form: coiffe
form: quiff
form: quaff
Etymology: From Middle English coif, coife, coyf, coyfe, coyffe, from Old French coife, coiffe, from Late Latin cofia, from Proto-West Germanic *kuffju, related to Old High German kupphia, kupha, kupfe (“mug, hood, cap”), from Proto-Germanic *kuppijǭ (“cap, hat, bonnet, headpiece”), Proto-Germanic *kuppō (“vat, mug, cup”), from pre-Germanic *kubná-, from Proto-Indo-European *gup- (“round object, knoll”), from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend, curve, arch, vault”). Cognate with Middle High German kupfe (“cap, headgear, helmet”).
Senses: examples: text: He decides to muscle in on the act, styling his hair after Kirk’s signature coif (“the stupidest haircut I’ve ever seen,” says one character), trolling college girls on social media and proclaiming himself a “master-debater”.
ref: 2025 August 7, Zach Vasquez, “From puppy murder to racist podcasts: South Park’s anti-deportation episode is utterly ruthless TV”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
glosses: A hairdo.
glosses: A hood; a close-fitting cap covering much of the head, widespread until the 18th century; after that worn only by small children and country women.
coordinate_terms: aventail
camail
glosses: A similar item of mail armour covering the head.
examples: text: From point and saucy ermine down / To the plain coif and russet gown.
ref: 1744, Henry Brooke, The Temple of Hymen:
text: c. 1620, Francis Bacon, letter of advice to Sir George Villiers
The judges, […] although they are not of the first magnitude, nor need be of the degree of the coif, yet are they considerable.
glosses: An official headdress, such as that worn by certain judges in England.
Derived terms: uncoif
coif
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /kwɑf/
ipa: /kɔɪf/
rhymes: -ɒf
rhymes: -ɔɪf
homophone: quaff
Forms: form: coifs
form: coiffing
form: coifing
form: coiffed
form: coiffed
form: coifed
form: coifed
form: coiffe
form: quiff
form: quaff
Etymology: From Middle English coifen, from Old French coifier, from the noun (see above).
Senses: examples: text: Circe’s this craft, the trim-coifed goddess.
ref: 1925, Ezra Pound, Canto I:
text: But winter can also be judged by the prominence of another scourge, one that is especially irksome in a city that places a premium on being well-groomed and immaculately coiffed: hat hair.
ref: 2003 February 17, Elissa Gootman, “A Chill Most Bitter: Learning to Accept Hat Hair”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 27 May 2015:
glosses: To style or arrange hair.
backpedal
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbækˌpɛdəɫ/
Forms: form: backpedals
form: backpedaling
form: backpedalling
form: backpedaled
form: backpedaled
form: backpedalled
form: backpedalled
form: back-pedal
Etymology: From back + pedal.
Senses: examples: text: The road was on a hill and the boy was going down the slope, and as he flashed by he started backpedalling very quickly so that the free-wheeling mechanism of his bike made a loud whirring sound.
ref: 1984, Roald Dahl, Boy:
glosses: To pedal backwards on a bicycle.
examples: text: The player had to backpedal before catching the ball.
glosses: To step backwards.
examples: text: Though initially adopting a hard-line stance, the politician soon started to backpedal.
text: The best car sound of 1999 is that of a new Rover 75 being furiously backpedalled through the motoring page of the Sunday Times.
ref: 1999 February 15, Simon Hacker, “Rover 75”, in The Guardian:
text: There were harsher comments from Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas: "The negotiations are in a state of paralysis, and the result of Israel's intransigence and America's backpedalling is that there is no hope of negotiations on the horizon."
ref: 2009 November 2, Ian Black, “Arab anger as Hillary Clinton backs Israel on settlements”, in The Guardian:
text: President Donald Trump backpedaled on his threat to shut down the southern border, saying Thursday that now he doesn’t think the US will “ever have to close the border.”
ref: 2019 April 4, Maegan Vazquez, “Trump backpedals: ‘I don’t think we’ll ever have to close the border’”, in CNN:
text: Adidas is backpedaling fast over its latest attempt to protect its iconic three-stripe mark.
ref: 2023 March 29, Anna Cooban, “Adidas does rapid U-turn in Black Lives Matter logo dispute”, in CNN:
glosses: To distance oneself from an earlier claim or statement; back off from an idea.
Synonyms: sense: distance oneself from an earlier claim or statement
word: climb down
sense: distance oneself from an earlier claim or statement
word: walk back
Derived terms: english: on a bicycle
translation: on a bicycle
word: backpedal brake
word: backpedaler
word: backpedaller
backpedal
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbækˌpɛdəɫ/
Forms: form: backpedals
form: back-pedal
Etymology: From back + pedal.
Senses: examples: text: He should come out of his backpedal and turn to run only when a receiver threatens to get behind him in the zone.
ref: 2013, Greg Colby, Football: Steps to Success, page 120:
text: They were doing 50 yards of lunges, 50 yards of backpedals, sprinting for 50 yards and power walking one mile around the track to help him reach his target heart rate.
ref: 2014 August 4, Talia Day, “No more ‘Big Ben’: City leader loses 145 pounds”, in CNN:
glosses: An act of backpedalling (in any sense).
middling
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈmɪdlɪŋ/
ipa: /ˈmɪdl̩ɪŋ/
ipa: /ˈmɪd(ə)lɪŋ/
Forms: form: more middling
form: most middling
Etymology: The noun is probably from middle (noun) + -ing; the adjective is most likely derived from the noun, and the adverb from the adjective.
Senses: examples: text: St. Jerom ſeated, a middling ſized upright plate, from J. Palma, dated 1596. I think this is one of the fineſt prints by this great maſter. The drawing is admirable, and the engraving is executed with the utmoſt freedom.
ref: 1785, Joseph Strutt, “HENRY GOLTZIUS”, in A Biographical Dictionary; Containing an Historical Account of All the Engravers, from the Earliest Period of the Art of Engraving to the Present Time; and a Short List of Their Most Esteemed Works. …, volume I, London: Printed by J. Davis, for Robert Faulder, New Bond Street, →OCLC, page 343:
text: Iwami, otherwise Sekisju, is two days journey long, going from ſouth to north, a middling good country, producing plenty of cannib, and affording ſome ſalt.
ref: 1811, Engelbert Kempfer [i.e., Engelbert Kaempfer]; J[ohann] G[aspar] Scheuchzer, transl., “The Division and Sub-division of the Empire of Japan into Its Several Provinces; as also of Its Revenue and Government”, in The History of Japan; republished in John Pinkerton, editor, A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels in All Parts of the World; Many of which are Now First Translated into English. Digested on a New Plan, volume VII, London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, Paternoster-Row; and Cadell and Davies, in the Strand, →OCLC, page 665
glosses: Fairly, moderately, somewhat.
glosses: Not too badly, with modest success.
middling
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈmɪdlɪŋ/
ipa: /ˈmɪdl̩ɪŋ/
ipa: /ˈmɪd(ə)lɪŋ/
Forms: form: middlings
Etymology: The noun is probably from middle (noun) + -ing; the adjective is most likely derived from the noun, and the adverb from the adjective.
Senses: examples: text: Middlings are less likely to adopt worker commitment than are Leaders, but the two groups are equally likely to adopt organisational responsibility. […] Middlings have not been able to effectively implement innovative environmental programmes and proactive social programmes.
ref: 2014, Annachiara Longoni, “Organisational Responsibility and Worker Commitment: The Definition and Implementation of Sustainable Operations Strategies”, in Sustainable Operations Strategies: The Impact of Human Resource Management and Organisational Practices on the Triple Bottom Line (Springer Briefs in Applied Sciences and Technology; PoliMI SpringerBriefs), Cham, Switzerland: Springer, Springer Science+Business Media, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 21:
glosses: Something of intermediate or average size, position, or quality.
examples: text: The war had been significantly financed by the poor and the middling, who purchased bonds that quickly devalued from wartime inflation; debt speculators had bought much of this debt at a fraction of the original cost.
ref: 2014, Ed White, “The Shays Rebellion in Literary History”, in Andrew Lawson, editor, Class and the Making of American Literature: Created Unequal (Routledge Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Literature; 24), New York, N.Y.; London: Routledge, →ISBN, page 70:
glosses: Something of intermediate or average size, position, or quality.
Preceded by the: people of moderate means; members of the middle class.
stubble
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈstʌb.əl/
rhymes: -ʌbəl
Forms: form: stubbles
Etymology: From Middle English stuble, from Anglo-Norman stuble, estuble, from Old French estoble, esteule (whence Modern French éteule), from Latin stipula (“stalk, straw”). Cognate with Dutch stoppel, Central German Stoppel, Upper German Stupfel.
Senses: glosses: Short, coarse hair, especially on a man’s face.
examples: text: Lord (ſayth he) Put them as a wheele and a ſtoble before the face of the wynde. For as the ſtoble, whyle the wynde bloweth wauereth and flyethe aboue in the ayre, nowe hygh nowe lowe, but anone as the wynde paſſeth it falleth adowne to the erthe and lyeth there ſtylle.
ref: 1536 October 26 (date written; Gregorian calendar), “[The Eyght Commandement] Cap[ut] VII”, in Diues and Pauper, London: […] Tho[mas] Bertheleti […], published 1536, →OCLC, folio 313, recto:
glosses: The short stalks left in a field after crops have been harvested.
Synonyms: sense: short hair on man’s face
word: five o'clock shadow
word: stub
word: stump
Derived terms: word: stubbly
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: designer stubble
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: stubble-fed
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: stubble field
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: stubble goose
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: stubble quail
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: stubble rake
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: stubble rash
Related terms: etiolate
stipula
stubble
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈstʌb.əl/
rhymes: -ʌbəl
Forms: form: stubbles
form: stubbling
form: stubbled
form: stubbled
Etymology: From Middle English stuble, from Anglo-Norman stuble, estuble, from Old French estoble, esteule (whence Modern French éteule), from Latin stipula (“stalk, straw”). Cognate with Dutch stoppel, Central German Stoppel, Upper German Stupfel.
Senses: examples: text: Here a system ( if it may be called a system ) of stubbling prevails — wheat succeeding wheat for a series of years, and without any material diminution of the yield.
ref: 1851, United States. Department of Agriculture, Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for the Year: 1850, page 371:
text: In 1919 the stubbled crop was heavier than either that fallowed or plowed.
ref: 1922, John Selden Cole, Alanson Lola Hallsted, Methods of Winter-wheat Production at the Fort Hays Branch Station, page 22:
text: Both spring and fall ploughing produced a crop freer from weeds than where the seed was stubbled in.
ref: 1922, Canada. Dept. of Agriculture. Research Station, Lacombe, Alta, Interim Report of the Superintendent, page 65:
text: Because the biggest single expense in producing the crop is planting, good stubbling ability is prized.
ref: 1983, W. H. Smith, Symposium on Potential Productivity of Field Crops Under Different Environments, page 377:
topics: agriculture
business
lifestyle
glosses: To produce a crop in a field of stubble that remains after a preceding crop is removed, either by sowing a second crop or by allowing shoots to sprout from the roots of the stubble.
White Legend
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Forms: form: the White Legend
Etymology: Calque of Spanish Leyenda Blanca, based on Black Legend.
Senses: glosses: A set of pro-Hispanic ideas attempting to counterbalance the anti-Hispanic Black Legend (Spanish Leyenda Negra).
Related terms: Black Legend
gasket
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɡæs.kɪt/
Forms: form: gaskets
Etymology: Perhaps from Middle French garcette (“gasket”), from Old French garce (“young woman”), feminization of garçon.
Senses: topics: nautical
sailing
transport
glosses: A length of rope or canvas band used for reefing a sail, or holding a stowed sail in place.
examples: text: Three major types of oil-pan gaskets are available: cork/ neoprene composition, neoprene and Hypalon Duraprene. Most professionals prefer cork/neoprene gaskets because the oil-pan bolts seem to lose their torque with the others.
ref: 1985, Ron Sessions, The Turbo Hydra-Matic 350 Handbook, Penguin, →ISBN, page 12:
topics: engineering
mechanical-engineering
mechanics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: Any mechanical seal that serves to fill the space between two objects, generally to prevent leakage between the two objects while under compression.
glosses: A material which may be clamped between faces and acts as a static seal. Gaskets may be cut, formed, or molded to the desired configuration.
glosses: Any of a wide variety of seals or packings used between matched machine parts or around pipe joints to prevent the escape of a gas or fluid.
Derived terms: Apollonian gasket
blow a gasket
bust a gasket
gasketless
harbor gasket
Sierpinski gasket
gasket
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɡæs.kɪt/
Forms: form: gaskets
form: gasketing
form: gasketed
form: gasketed
Etymology: Perhaps from Middle French garcette (“gasket”), from Old French garce (“young woman”), feminization of garçon.
Senses: glosses: To fit a gasket
glosses: To seal wth a gasket
blow a gasket
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: blows a gasket
form: blowing a gasket
form: blew a gasket
form: blown a gasket
Senses: examples: text: Jack blew a gasket when he saw his son's poor report card.
glosses: To become very angry or upset.
glosses: Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see blow, gasket. To cause the seal made by a gasket to fail.
Synonyms: blow a fuse
flip one's lid
fly off the handle
have a cow
Black Legend
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Forms: form: the Black Legend
form: black legend
Etymology: Calque of Spanish Leyenda Negra (literally “Black Legend”).
Senses: examples: text: […]if the black legend seemed to be fading at last, the horrors of the Civil War revived it with a vengeance. Never was a conflict fought more bitterly.
ref: 1964, Jan Morris, “Wild Spain”, in Spain, Faber and Faber, published 2008, →ISBN:
text: Here the problem is aggravated by the mutually reinforcing influences of the ‘black legend’ of Spanish greed and cruelty, and the contrasting myth of the American Indian as ‘noble savage’.
ref: 1992, Edwin Williamson, The Penguin history of Latin America, London; New York: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 84:
topics: historiography
history
human-sciences
sciences
glosses: The depiction of Spain and Spaniards (or, by extension, all Hispanics and their countries of origin) as bloodthirsty and cruel, greedy and fanatical, especially concerning the colonial period from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century.
Related terms: White Legend
virgin forest
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: virgin forests
Senses: examples: text: These developments, most of which have taken place during the past 30 years, are remarkable in view of the low traffic density, except in the neighbourhood of Oslo, and the very extensive undeveloped areas of mountain and virgin forest.
ref: 1952 January, “Electrification Progress in Norway”, in Railway Magazine, page 54:
glosses: A forest which has not been subjected to human ecological disturbance.
Related terms: old-growth forest
second-growth forest
primeval forest
left and right
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Senses: examples: text: Apparently a left-and-a-right in hunting parlance meant to shoot and kill two birds or animals in quick succession, first with your left barrel and then with your right.
ref: 1956, Gerald Durrell, chapter 12, in My Family and Other Animals, London: Penguin, pages 180-81:
related: word: right and left
qualifier: shooting; literal; shooting; literal
glosses: Two rapid successful shots from a double-barrelled gun.
left and right
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Senses: examples: text: You can't expect to eat desserts left and right and not gain weight.
text: And then all the distributions come in and they screw it all up. Because they break binary compatibility left and right
ref: 2014, Linus Torvalds, DebConf: Q&A with Linus Torvalds:
related: word: left, right and center
word: left, right and centre
word: right, left and center
word: right, left and centre
word: ;
word: left, right, and center
word: left, right, and centre
word: right, left, and center
word: right, left, and centre
word: ;
word: right and left
glosses: All over the place; indiscriminately; frequently or excessively.
enervation
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: enervations
Etymology: From Middle French énervation.
Senses: glosses: Act of enervating; debilitation.
examples: text: His early-morning alertness had gradually given way to bad-tempered enervation as the sun went down, and now his legs dragged, his shoulders slumped as he walked, and even from here I could hear his breath wheezing out of his nose.
ref: 2010, Helon Habila, Oil on Water, AudioGO (2011), page 169:
glosses: State of being enervated; debility.
madras
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /məˈdɹæs/
ipa: /ˈmædɹəs/
Forms: form: madrases
Etymology: From Madras, former name of the Indian city Chennai, where it was first produced.
Senses: examples: text: A black woman in blue cotton gown, red-and-yellow Madras turban […] crouched against the wall.
ref: 1887, G. W. Cable, “Au Large”, in Scribner's Monthly, volume 35, page 90:
text: The service makes available, during limited weekend hours, a handful of the company’s items—cargo shorts, tank tops, and the like—to the Hamptons house guest who discovers that he can’t make it to Monday without purchasing one of those weird madras patchwork blazers
ref: 2004 August 30, The New Yorker, page 38:
text: In one area, however, I stick close to my roots: an unreconstructed loved of madras cloth. Madras (pronounced, in the US, with the emphasis on the first syllable) is a lightweight carded cotton cloth with a bright plaid pattern, first produced in and named for the Indian city now known as Chennai.
ref: 2023 June 10, Robert Armstrong, “Check yourself: why I love madras cloth”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 4:
glosses: A brightly colored cotton fabric with a checked or striped pattern.
glosses: A large handkerchief of this fabric, worn on the head in the West Indies.
examples: text: Gerry ordered poppadoms and parathas and then he was interrupted by requests for vindaloos, chicken madrases and sag joshes, rice, raita and nan, from Priest, Morgan and Maria Grazia.
ref: 2002, Desmond Barry, A Bloody Good Friday, page 157:
glosses: Alternative form of Madras (“type of curry”).
frenemy
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfɹɛ.nɪ.mi/
Forms: form: frenemies
form: frienemy
Etymology: Blend of friend + enemy. Likely to have been invented independently multiple times.
Senses: examples: text: Another enemy / Not even a frenemy.
ref: 1987, by Eric B. and Rakim, “I Ain't No Joke”, in Paid in Full:
text: Frenemies who when you're down ain't your friend
ref: 1998, Gregg Alexander, Rick Nowels, “You Get What You Give”, in Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too, performed by New Radicals:
text: In France the Seine has all the advantages of Northernness (a quality underrated by our Gallic frenemy) but it is too fatally interested in Paris […]
ref: 2001, John Lanchester, The Debt to Pleasure.:
text: You know when you dump a guy, only to discover years later that he's evolved into the perfect boyfriend—for the high-school frenemy who convinced you to dump him in the first place...?
ref: 2004, Andrea Semple, The Ex-Factor, back cover:
text: So why did we break up? Enter Blaize St. John, frenemy extraordinaire. She came, she saw, she stole my boyfriend.
ref: 2005, Joanne Meyer, Single Girl's Guide to Murder, back cover:
text: Gates made a rare and instructive appearance with his longtime frenemy Steve Jobs.
ref: 2007 June 18, Time:
glosses: Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend.
examples: text: So, we're definitely not going to be friends with Ferguson? Maybe we can be frenemies. A love-hate relationship's the next best thing.
ref: 2008 April 6, Erin Ehrlich, Six Characters in Search of a House (King of the Hill), season 12, episode 17, spoken by Bill Dauterive (Stephen Root):
glosses: A fair-weather friend who is also a rival.
Synonyms: betrayer
double-crosser
traitor
palhole
friend-foe
Derived terms: frenemyship
Related terms: backfriend
love-hate
on-again, off-again
frienemy
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: /ˈfɹɛnəmi/
Forms: form: frienemies
Senses: glosses: Alternative form of frenemy.
enervator
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: enervators
Etymology: From enervate + -or.
Senses: glosses: Something or someone that causes enervation.
enervative
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Forms: form: more enervative
form: most enervative
Senses: glosses: Causing enervation.
statuary
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈstæ.t͡ʃʊə.ɹi/
ipa: /ˈstæ.t͡ʃu.ɛəɹi/
Etymology: From Latin statuāria (ars) (“(art) of sculpture”), feminine of the adjective statuārius (“of statues”).
Senses: glosses: The craft of making statues.
examples: text: Simply on aesthetic grounds I can almost applaud the Victorians’ fig obsessed Bowdlerisation of Greek and Roman statuary.
ref: 2012, Ruth Ramsden, chapter 9, in Blue Murder at the Pink Parrot, London: Cutting Edge Press, →ISBN, page 137:
glosses: Statues considered collectively.
statuary
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈstæ.t͡ʃʊə.ɹi/
ipa: /ˈstæ.t͡ʃu.ɛəɹi/
Forms: form: statuaries
Etymology: From Latin statuārius (“maker of statues”).
Senses: glosses: A person who makes or deals in statues.
statuary
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈstæ.t͡ʃʊə.ɹi/
ipa: /ˈstæ.t͡ʃu.ɛəɹi/
Forms: form: more statuary
form: most statuary
Etymology: From the noun or the Latin adjective statuārius (“of statues”).
Senses: examples: text: He [Francis Bacon] lyeth interred in the Church of St. Michael at St. Albans in Hartfordſhire, and hath there a fair ſtatuary monument erected for him of white Marble at the coſt of Sir Thomas Meautis, his ancient ſervant, who was not neerer to him living then dead: […]
ref: 1655, [Hamon L’Estrange], The Reign of King Charles: An History Faithfully and Impartially Delivered and Disposed into Annals, London: […] E. C. for Edward Dod, and Henry Seile the younger, […], page 64:
text: There is the lady’s own book, complete without a teacher—showing how the waist should be boddiced; the parasol handled; the statuary attitudes; the Parisian curtsy; the prettiest toss of the head, and swing of the train.
ref: 1862, James B[owen] Everhart, “Women”, in Miscellanies, West Chester, Pa.: Edward F. James, page 32:
text: Characteristically, the photo series ends with the trainer having successfully contorted the boy’s body into a classical, statuary pose, even as the boy forces a pained smile for the camera.
ref: 2004, Keith A. Livers, “Lev Kassil’: The Soccer Match as Stalinist Ritual”, in Constructing the Stalinist Body: Fictional Representations of Corporeality in the Stalinist 1930s, Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc., →ISBN, page 168:
glosses: Of, relating to, or characteristic of statues.
skerry
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈskɛɹi/
rhymes: -ɛɹi
homophone: scary stripped-by-parse_pron_post_template_fn
Forms: form: skerries
Etymology: From dialectal Scots (Shetlandic and Orcadian) skerry, from Old Norse sker (whence Danish skær and Norwegian Bokmål skjær).
Senses: examples: text: The Seal (phoca vitulina, Lin. Syft.) which is here generally known by the name of selchy, is very common on most of our low shores, but particularly on those of the small holms and remote skerries, where it is frequently seen reposing and basking in the sun [...].
ref: 1805, George Barry, History of the Orkney Islands, page 322:
text: The fog disappeared gradually, disclosing the blue line of the coast and the far outlying naked skerries, while before us lay the ocean in its interminable extent, blushing in the morning sun.
ref: 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 182:
text: Grim the Halogalander's crew sailed along Borgarfjord beyond the skerries, then cast anchor until the storm died down and the weather brightened up.
ref: 1997, Bernard Scudder, transl., Egil's Saga, Penguin Books, page 46:
text: The three men proceeded, with a little difficulty, to scale the skerry, finding Gannets and Guillemots on the upper reaches.
ref: 2000, Jeremy Gaskell, Who Killed the Great Auk?, Oxford University Press, page 20:
glosses: A small rocky island which may be covered by the sea at high tide or during storms.
skewer
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈskjuː.ə/
ipa: /ˈskjuː.ɚ/
rhymes: -uːə(ɹ)
Forms: form: skewer a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 [Alt: {{{square}}} black queen] [Alt: {{{square}}} black king] 7 6 6 5 [Alt: {{{square}}} black bishop] 5 4 [Alt: {{{square}}} white king] [Alt: {{{square}}} white rook] 4 3 [Alt: {{{square}}} white queen] 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h The white king is skewered by the black bishop
form: the bishop can capture the white queen.
form: skewers
Etymology: From Middle English skeuier, skuer, likely a variant of Middle English *skever, *skiver (compare Modern English skiver), probably of North Germanic origin, compare Icelandic skífa (“to slice”), Norwegian skive, Swedish skiva, Swedish skifer (“a slate”).
Senses: examples: text: Larissa, 107 miles from Salonica, is reached at 10.33, and there is a halt of 17 min. while vendors of oranges, cheese, meat on skewers, sweetmeats, and Turkish coffee do a brisk trade.
ref: 1951 November, 'Pausanias', “To Greece by the "Simplon-Orient Express"”, in Railway Magazine, page 731:
glosses: A long pin, normally made of metal or wood, used to secure food during cooking.
raw_tags: since after it moves out of check
glosses: Food served on a skewer.
raw_tags: since after it moves out of check
topics: board-games
chess
games
coordinate_terms: pin
glosses: A scenario in which a piece attacks a more valuable piece which, if it moves aside, reveals a less valuable piece.
raw_tags: since after it moves out of check
Synonyms: brochette
Derived terms: bonnet skewer
quick release skewer
Related terms: spit