cstr/en-wiktionary-extracted-all huggingface dataset:
leather
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈlɛðə/
ipa: /ˈlɛðɚ/
ipa: /ˈlʌðəɹ/
rhymes: -ɛðə(ɹ)
Etymology: From Middle English lether, from Old English leþer (“leather”), from Proto-West Germanic *leþr, from Proto-Germanic *leþrą (“leather”), possibly borrowed from Proto-Celtic *ɸlitrom, *letros, from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥tro-.
Cognate with West Frisian leare (“leather”), Low German Leder (“leather”), Dutch leder, leer (“leather”), German Leder (“leather”), Danish læder (“leather”), Swedish läder (“leather”), Icelandic leður (“leather”).
Senses: examples: text: Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.[…]A silver snaffle on a heavy leather watch guard which connected the pockets of his corduroy waistcoat, together with a huge gold stirrup in his Ascot tie, sufficiently proclaimed his tastes.
ref: 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
synonyms: leathern
glosses: Made of leather.
glosses: Referring to one who wears leather clothing (motorcycle jacket, chaps over 501 jeans, boots), especially as a sign of sadomasochistic homosexuality.
examples: text: Some research has documented the phenomenon of leather families as a form of intentional, chosen families created by members of sexual and gender minority groups, often in the face of biological family rejection and marginalization in society (Bauer, 2010; Hammack et al., 2019; Murphy & Bjorngaard, 2019; Pitagora, 2016). Leather families are a network of people that acknowledge and practice ongoing supportive relationships “while sharing the commonalities of the leather and kink scene” (Bannon, 2016). […] Very few studies have examined how many people are members of leather or other “chosen” families.
ref: 2021 June 14, Ellora Vilkin, Richard Sprott, “Consensual Non-Monogamy Among Kink-Identified Adults: Characteristics, Relationship Experiences, and Unique Motivations for Polyamory and Open Relationships”, in Archives of Sexual Behavior, volume 50, →DOI, pages 1521–1536:
glosses: Referring to an establishment of familial relations through agreed sexual or romantic deviance.
again
Language: English
Part of speech: prep
Pronunciation: ipa: /əˈɡɛn/
ipa: /əˈɡeɪn/
ipa: /eɪˈɡeɪn/
ipa: [əˈɡɪn]
rhymes: -eɪn
rhymes: -ɛn
Forms: form: agen
form: againe
form: agayne
form: ageyne
form: agin
form: ag'in
form: 'gain
Etymology: From Middle English agayn, from Old English onġēan (“against, again”), from Proto-West Germanic *in gagin, from Proto-Germanic *in gagin. Cognate with German entgegen (“contrary to”), North Frisian ijen (“against”), Danish igen (“again”), Swedish igen (“again”), and Norwegian Bokmål igjen (“again”), and Icelandic í gegnum (“through”). By surface analysis, on- + gain (“against”).
Senses: examples: text: And here begynneth the treson of Kynge Marke that he ordayned agayne Sir Trystram.
ref: 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book X:
text: Ah'd like to wahrn (warn) thi agaan 'evvin owt to dew wi' that chap.
ref: 1924, J H Wilkinson, Leeds Dialect Glossary and Lore, page 60:
text: You may think you are all on the same side, agin the government.
ref: 2003, Glasgow Sunday Herald, page 16, column 2
qualifier: otherwise obsolete
glosses: Against.
quack
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kwæk/
rhymes: -æk
Forms: form: quacks
form: quaake
Etymology: From Middle English *quacken, queken (“to croak like a frog; make a noise like a duck, goose, or quail”), from quack, qwacke, quek, queke (“quack”, interjection and noun), also kek, keke, whec-, partly of imitative origin and partly from Middle Dutch quacken (“to croak, quack”), from Old Dutch *kwaken (“to croak, quack”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwakōn, from Proto-Germanic *kwakaną, *kwakōną (“to croak”), of imitative origin. Cognate with Saterland Frisian kwoakje, kwaakje (“to quack”), Middle Low German quaken (“to quack, croak”), German quaken (“to quack, croak”), Danish kvække (“to croak”), Swedish kväka (“to croak, quackle”), Norwegian kvekke (“to croak”), Icelandic kvaka (“to twitter, chirp, quack”).
Senses: examples: text: Did you hear that duck make a quack?
glosses: The sound made by a duck.
quack
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /kwæk/
rhymes: -æk
Forms: form: quacks
form: quacking
form: quacked
form: quacked
form: quaake
Etymology: From Middle English *quacken, queken (“to croak like a frog; make a noise like a duck, goose, or quail”), from quack, qwacke, quek, queke (“quack”, interjection and noun), also kek, keke, whec-, partly of imitative origin and partly from Middle Dutch quacken (“to croak, quack”), from Old Dutch *kwaken (“to croak, quack”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwakōn, from Proto-Germanic *kwakaną, *kwakōną (“to croak”), of imitative origin. Cognate with Saterland Frisian kwoakje, kwaakje (“to quack”), Middle Low German quaken (“to quack, croak”), German quaken (“to quack, croak”), Danish kvække (“to croak”), Swedish kväka (“to croak, quackle”), Norwegian kvekke (“to croak”), Icelandic kvaka (“to twitter, chirp, quack”).
Senses: examples: text: The more breadcrumbs I threw on the ground, the more they quacked.
text: Do you hear the ducks quack?
glosses: To make a noise like a duck.
coordinate_terms: toot
pipe
glosses: Of a queen bee: to make a high-pitched sound during certain stages of development.
Derived terms: quacker
quack like a duck
quacky
quack
Language: English
Part of speech: intj
Pronunciation: ipa: /kwæk/
rhymes: -æk
Forms: form: quaake
Etymology: From Middle English *quacken, queken (“to croak like a frog; make a noise like a duck, goose, or quail”), from quack, qwacke, quek, queke (“quack”, interjection and noun), also kek, keke, whec-, partly of imitative origin and partly from Middle Dutch quacken (“to croak, quack”), from Old Dutch *kwaken (“to croak, quack”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwakōn, from Proto-Germanic *kwakaną, *kwakōną (“to croak”), of imitative origin. Cognate with Saterland Frisian kwoakje, kwaakje (“to quack”), Middle Low German quaken (“to quack, croak”), German quaken (“to quack, croak”), Danish kvække (“to croak”), Swedish kväka (“to croak, quackle”), Norwegian kvekke (“to croak”), Icelandic kvaka (“to twitter, chirp, quack”).
Senses: glosses: A duck's quack.
quack
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kwæk/
rhymes: -æk
Forms: form: quacks
Etymology: Clipping of quacksalver (see there for more), of Dutch origin; ultimately related to Etymology 1 above.
Senses: examples: text: That doctor is nothing but a lousy quack!
text: 1662, Rump: or an Exact Collection of the Choycest Poems and Songs Relating to Late Times, Vol. II, by ‘the most Eminent Wits’
Tis hard to say, how much these Arse-wormes do urge us, We now need no Quack but these Jacks for to purge us, …
text: After ſome Months, the Quack gets privately to Town, [...]
ref: 1720, William Derham, Physico-theology:
text: ‘if we are ourselves valets, there shall ‘exist no hero for us; we shall not know the hero when we see him;’ - we shall take the quack for a hero; and cry, audibly through all ballot-boxes and machinery whatsoever, Thou art he; be thou King over us!
ref: 1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “ch. 8, The Electon”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book II (The Ancient Monk):
text: The advertising quack who wearies / With tales of countless cures, / His teeth, I've enacted, / Shall all be extracted / By terrified amateurs.
ref: 1885, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert; Arthur Sullivan, composer, “A More Humane Mikado”, in […] The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu, London: Chappel & Co., […], →OCLC, Act II, page 36:
text: Polly (to security guard, referring to Dr. Feingarten): Are you going to let that shyster in there?
Dr. Feingarten: I could sue you, Polly. A shyster is a disreputable lawyer. I'm a quack.
ref: 1981, S.O.B. (film)
text: "I don't want to get into specifics, but when I was born, my parts were considered... ambiguous. The quack of a doctor that delivered me, had trouble assigning a gender. So at his recommendation - and surgical intervention - I was raised as a boy."
ref: 2017 March 1, Jocelyn Samara D., Rain (webcomic), Comic 920 - Quack:
glosses: A fraudulent healer, especially a bombastic peddler in worthless treatments, a doctor who makes false diagnoses for monetary benefit, or an untrained or poorly trained doctor who uses fraudulent credentials to attract patients
examples: text: The very quaik of faſhions, the very hee that / VVeares a Steletto on his chinne.
ref: c. 1635–1636 (date written), Iohn Ford [i.e., John Ford], The Fancies, Chast and Noble: […], London: […] E[lizabeth] P[urslowe] for Henry Seile, […], published 1638, →OCLC, Act III, page 32:
glosses: Any similar charlatan or incompetent professional.
examples: text: That quack wants me to quit smoking, eat less, and start exercising. The nerve!
glosses: Any doctor.
Synonyms: word: snake-oil salesman
word: medicaster
word: quacksalver
word: pharmacopole
Hypernyms: deceiver
physician
and pharmacist
Derived terms: quackcinated
quackery
quackhood
quacky
quack
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /kwæk/
rhymes: -æk
Forms: form: quacks
form: quacking
form: quacked
form: quacked
Etymology: Clipping of quacksalver (see there for more), of Dutch origin; ultimately related to Etymology 1 above.
Senses: examples: text: […] it is incredible, and scarce to be imagin’d, how the Posts of Houses, and Corners of Streets were plaster’d over with Doctors Bills, and Papers of ignorant Fellows; quacking and tampering in Physick, and inviting the People to come to them for Remedies;
ref: 1722, Daniel Defoe, “A Journal of the Plague Year”, in et al., London: E. Nutt, page 36:
glosses: To practice or commit quackery (fraudulent medicine).
examples: text: Seek out for Plants with Signatures
To Quack of Universal Cures
ref: 1684, Samuel Butler, Hudibras, London, Part 3, Canto 1, p. 18:
synonyms: boast
glosses: To make vain and loud pretensions.
quack
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /kwæk/
rhymes: -æk
Forms: form: more quack
form: quacker
form: most quack
form: quackest
Etymology: Clipping of quacksalver (see there for more), of Dutch origin; ultimately related to Etymology 1 above.
Senses: examples: text: Don't get your hopes up; that's quack medicine!
text: In precisely the same way does a quack doctor prescribe his infallible nostrum to every patient, without taking into account differences of constitution, or [...]
ref: 1833, James Rennie, “The Word Gardening”, in Alphabet of Scientific Gardening for the Use of Beginners, London: William Orr, page 2:
text: [R]ecently I examined as many newspapers and magazines as I could lay hands on just to see if I could find in them those old, alluring advertisements, ranging from the quack doctor to the quacker promoter and the quackest oracle of fate. There was nothing doing—everything as clean as a hound's tooth and as wholesome as sunshine.
ref: 1916 August 5, Henry D. Estabrook, “Truth in Advertising [advertisement]”, in The Duluth Herald, volume XXXIV, number 102, Duluth, Minn.: The Herald Company, →OCLC, page 6:
text: Finding, perhaps, that there is no solution either in politics or in any existing religion, he [the common man] may cling to the diagnosis of the last and quackest of his doctors: he may believe that art can save himself and the world.
ref: 1948, The Prospect before Us: Some Thoughts on the Future, London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co., →OCLC, page 102:
text: When no certain cure exists, quack remedies tend to proliferate and the history of quackery and secret cures is full of extraordinary forms of treatment for the various arthritic disorders.
ref: 1976 March 27, F. Dudley Hart, “History of the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis”, in British Medical Journal, volume 1, number 6012, →DOI, →JSTOR, page 763:
text: They desperately want to believe something will help and for that reason they assist one another in obtaining unproven remedies. Such "helpful" promotion is generally more "quack" than fraudulent in nature.
ref: 1991, Journal of the Association of Food and Drug Officials, volume 55, York, Pa.: The Association, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 35:
text: [William] Hogarth might have felt some sympathy for [Sally] Mapp as an 'irregular' expert besting pomposity, but this is topped by his sheer relish for her as the Quackest Quack of all, and female to boot. In Hogarth's print the dark goddess rules over her court of fools, men who have taken over the ancient realm of women's healing, and now profit from the people's ills and credulity.
ref: 1997, Jenny Uglow, “Allegories of Healing”, in William Hogarth: A Life and a World, London: Faber and Faber, →ISBN, page 506:
glosses: Falsely presented as having medicinal powers.
advertisement
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ədˈvɜːtɪsmənt/
note: occasionally
ipa: /ˈædvəˌtaɪzmənt/
ipa: /ˈædvɚˌtaɪzmənt/
note: less often
ipa: /ədˈvɝtɪzmənt/
ipa: /ədˈvøːtəsmənt/
ipa: /ˈɛdvəˌtaɪzmənt/
note: Indic
ipa: /advaˈʈajsmenʈ/
ipa: /ˈædvəˌtɪzmənt/
ipa: /ʔɐd.vəɹˈtaɪs.mɛnt/
ipa: /ʔɐdˈvəɹ.tis.mɛnt/
Forms: form: advertisements
form: advertizement
Etymology: From Middle French advertissement (“statement calling attention”), compare French avertissement (“warning”). See advertise. Equivalent to advertise + -ment.
Senses: examples: text: Companies try to sell their products using advertisements in form of placards, television spots and print publications.
topics: business
marketing
glosses: A commercial solicitation designed to sell some commodity, service or similar.
examples: text: The city council placed an advertisement in the local newspaper to inform its residents of the forthcoming roadworks.
glosses: A public notice.
examples: text: The good manners and intelligence of the students are an advertisement for the school.
glosses: A recommendation of a particular product, service or person.
glosses: Notoriety.
examples: text: The safest time to answer a possible advertisement is when you have no indication as to what suit your opponent wants. Then even if he has advertised, the odds are that your answer is not the card he is looking for.
ref: 1947, On Gin Rummy: An All-American Roundup, page 121:
topics: card-games
games
glosses: In gin rummy, the discarding of a card of one's preferred suit so as to mislead the opponent into thinking you do not want it.
Synonyms: sense: commercial solicitation
word: ad
sense: commercial solicitation
word: advert
Hyponyms: commercial
infomercial
Derived terms: ad
advergame
advermation
advert
advertainment
adverticle
advertique
advertorial
classified advertisement
infotisement
malvertisement
oddvertisement
personal advertisement
pop-up advertisement
preadvertisement
self-advertisement
spamvertisement
spamvertizement
subvertisement
surreptitious advertisement
Related terms: advertising
adware
adjustment
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /əˈd͡ʒʌst.mənt/
ipa: /əˈd͡ʒɐst.mənt/
ipa: /əˈd͡ʒast.mənt/
Forms: form: adjustments
Etymology: From French ajustement, or else adjust + -ment.
Senses: synonyms: change
correction
modification
glosses: The action of adjusting something
synonyms: change
modification
glosses: The result of adjusting something; a small change; a minor correction; a modification or alteration
examples: text: The credit card company made an adjustment to my account to waive the late fee.
glosses: The settling or balancing of a financial account
examples: text: When Jim graduated, he found adjustment to the working world difficult.
glosses: The behavioural process of balancing conflicting needs, or needs against obstacles in the environment.
glosses: The assessment, by an insurance company, of a claim; the settlement of such a claim
Hyponyms: age adjustment
autoadjustment
bundle adjustment
coadjustment
maladjustment
microadjustment
misadjustment
nonadjustment
overadjustment
preadjustment
readjustment
structural adjustment
underadjustment
Derived terms: adjustment account
adjustmental
adjustment center
adjustment disorder
age-adjustment
currency adjustment factor
fine adjustment tool
self-adjustment
Related terms: adjustable
adjuster
Qiana
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Etymology: Introduced in the 1960s; originally a trademark of DuPont.
Senses: glosses: A silky material made from nylon fibers.
qua
Language: English
Part of speech: prep
Pronunciation: ipa: /kwɑː/
rhymes: -ɑː
ipa: /kweɪ/
rhymes: -eɪ
Etymology: From Latin quā (“in the capacity of”).
Senses: examples: text: Qua work of art, the work of art cannot be interpreted; there is nothing to interpret; we can only criticize it according to standards, in comparison to other works of art; […]
ref: 1920, T. S. Eliot, “Hamlet and His Problems”, in The Sacred Wood:
text: As anatomy, physiology and, later, psychology have developed into more or less well-organized sciences, they have necessarily and rightly come to incorporate the study of, among other things, the structures, mechanisms, and functionings of animal and human bodies qua percipient.
ref: 1954: Gilbert Ryle, Dilemmas: The Tarner Lectures, 1953, dilemma vii: Perception, page 99 (The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press)
text: For sleep qua sleep has no experiential content: it cannot turn out, as remarked before, that a man was not asleep because he was not having some experience or other.
I am denying that a dream qua dream is a seeming, appearance or ‘semblance of reality’.
ref: 1962: Norman Malcolm; Dreaming; chapter nine: “Judgments in Sleep”, page 39; chapter twelve: “The Concept of Dreaming”, page 68 (1977 paperback reprint; Routledge & Kegan Paul; ISBN 0‒7100‒3836‒4 (c), 0‒7100‒8434‒X (p))
text: It was qua poet that Byron resurrected the exploded and discarded immortal Christian soul by bodying it forth through the notion of soul conceived as poetic imagination.
ref: 2003, Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason, Penguin, published 2004, page 458:
text: 2005: Ulfelder, Jay.Collective Action and the Breakdown of Authoritarian Regimes. International Political Science Review, 26(3), p318. Retrieved 1615 240810 from http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/30039035.pdf?acceptTC=true.
"In essence, military regimes are autocracies in which the military qua organization performs many of the functions performed by the ruling party in single-party regimes."
text: 2009: Ken Levy, Killing, Letting Die, and the Case for Mildly Punishing Bad Samaritanism, Georgia Law Review, p. 24.
Blame qua attitude is the feeling or belief that an individual has committed a wrongdoing, usually a wrongful action and/or harm, and can be reasonably expected not to have committed this wrongdoing. Blame qua practice is the public expression of this attitude – usually by means of censure (written or verbal criticism) or punishment. Generally, the morally worse the wrongdoing, the more severe the censure/punishment.
text: Sometimes, though, you pick up a novel and it makes your skin prickle — not necessarily because it’s a great novel qua novel, which you can’t know until the end, but because of the velocity of its microperceptions.
ref: 2022 March 29, Dwight Garner, “In Jennifer Egan’s New Novel, Our Memories Are Available for All to See”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
topics: human-sciences
philosophy
sciences
glosses: as; in the capacity of; acting as
qua
Language: English
Part of speech: intj
Pronunciation: ipa: /kwɑː/
rhymes: -ɑː
ipa: /kweɪ/
rhymes: -eɪ
Etymology: Imitative.
Senses: examples: text: Crows have a language of their own in a wild state that any observant person can learn. […] Then he would straighten his head back and, with the most comical bowing and wagging, say: "Qua qua qua, qua qua qua" for perhaps a minute.
ref: 1909, The Country Gentleman, volume 74, page 266:
text: Qua... qua... qua... out of the blue I hear the crows cawing with great fanfare as they announce to the world at large that they are here by my side and intend to probe into my being.
ref: 2012, Jaman Tree, I Crow River:
glosses: The cawing sound of a crow.
quadrant
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: kwŏdʹrənt
ipa: /ˈkwɒd.ɹənt/
enpr: kwŏdʹrənt
ipa: /ˈkwɑd.ɹənt/
Forms: form: quadrants
form: quadraunt
Etymology: From Middle English quadrant, from Old French cadran, quadrant and its etymon Latin quadrāns, -antis (“fourth part of something, quarter”). Doublet of quadrans.
Senses: examples: text: Kids, I swear, I'm gonna love all of you, and equally. I'll be dividing my love into seven equal sections, or "Love Quadrants". Each quadrant will be worth 15 "Love Units" represented by these small brass marbles. You may use these marbles as currency amongst yourselves. Collect 35 "Love Units", you can trade those in for a beach towel with my face on it.
ref: 2007, Xavier: Renegade Angel, season 1, episode 4, spoken by Xavier (Vernon Chatman):
text: Ops wanted some initiative, blew up their entire quadrant. I'm movin' like Oppenheimer.
ref: 2023, PLUMMCORP RECORDS, 02:45 from the start, in dracula flow 3:
glosses: One of the four sections made by dividing an area with two perpendicular lines.
topics: mathematics
sciences
glosses: One of the four regions of the Cartesian plane bounded by the x-axis and y-axis.
topics: geometry
mathematics
sciences
glosses: One fourth of a circle or disc; a sector with an angle of 90°.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A measuring device with a graduated arc of 90° used in locating an altitude.
qualifier: college basketball
glosses: One of the four categories of team wins and losses, as categorized by strength of schedule.
Derived terms: abdominal quadrant
four-quadrant
quadrantanopia
quadrant plate
Related terms: octant
sextant
quadrant
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: kwŏdʹrənt
ipa: /ˈkwɒd.ɹənt/
enpr: kwŏdʹrənt
ipa: /ˈkwɑd.ɹənt/
Forms: form: quadrants
form: quadraunt
Etymology: From Middle English quadrant, quadrante, from Latin quadrātum; form influenced by Etymology 1. Doublet of quadrat and quadrate.
Senses: examples: text: There is an outcourt or quadrant, whereof one side is a gallery to walk in, being in length six hundred feet.
ref: 1852, Agnes Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland and English Princesses, page 52:
glosses: A square or quadrangle.
quadrilateral
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌkwɑd.ɹəˈlæt.ɚ.əl/
enpr: kwäd'rə-lăt′ər-əl
rhymes: -ætəɹəl
Forms: form: quadrilaterals
Etymology: Learned borrowing from Latin quadrilaterus + -al.
Senses: topics: geometry
mathematics
sciences
glosses: A polygon with four sides.
examples: text: The Venetian quadrilateral comprised Mantua, Peschiera, Verona, and Legnano.
glosses: An area defended by four fortresses supporting each other.
Synonyms: word: 4-gon
word: tetragon
word: quadrilateral
word: quadrangle
word: tetract
Hypernyms: word: polygon
Hyponyms: word: square
word: kite
word: rectangle
word: rhombus
word: parallelogram
word: trapezoid
Coordinate terms: decagon
dodecagon
enneagon
hendecagon
hexagon
icosagon
nonagon
octagon
pentagon
septagon
triangle
tridecagon
undecagon
Derived terms: cyclic quadrilateral
quadrilateral space syndrome
quadrilateral
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌkwɑd.ɹəˈlæt.ɚ.əl/
enpr: kwäd'rə-lăt′ər-əl
rhymes: -ætəɹəl
Etymology: Learned borrowing from Latin quadrilaterus + -al.
Senses: glosses: Having four sides.
quadruped
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkwɒdɹəpɛd/
ipa: /ˈkwɑdɹəˌpɛd/
Forms: form: quadrupeds
Etymology: Borrowed from French quadrupède, from Middle French, from Latin stem of quadrupēs (“four-footed, a four-footed animal”), from quadri- (“four-”) + stem of pes (“foot”). Alternatively analyzable as quadru- + -ped.
Senses: examples: text: Bradshaw knew nothing of the 'wind of change' that was coming in a century's time, so he contented himself with an exposition on the Vale of the White Horse, "deriving its singular denomination from the gigantic carving of that useful quadruped, on a high chalky hill beyond".
ref: 2023 February 22, Stephen Roberts, “Reading... between the lines... to Wales”, in RAIL, number 977, page 56:
glosses: A four-footed or four-legged animal.
glosses: A mammal ambulating on all fours.
Synonyms: tetrapod
Derived terms: quadrupedal
quadrupedalism
quadrupedantic
quadrupedism
quadrupedy
Related terms: biped
Tetrapoda
quadrupedal
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Etymology: From quadruped + -al.
Senses: glosses: Walking on four feet.
Synonyms: four-legged
quadruped
Derived terms: quadrupedalism
quadrupedally
Related terms: quadrupedy
bipedal
on all fours
PVC
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: PVCs
Senses: examples: text: Using a tractor fan, shock absorbers, PVC pipes, a bicycle frame and anything else he could lay his hands on, he then built a rudimentary wooden tower, plonked his home-made generator on the top, and eventually got one, and then four bulbs to light up.
ref: 2009 October 2, John Vidal, “'Tilting at windmills: the boy who harnessed the wind'”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
organic-chemistry
physical-sciences
hypernyms: polymer#Noun
plastic#Noun
glosses: Initialism of polyvinyl chloride.
topics: medicine
sciences
glosses: Initialism of premature ventricular contraction.
topics: medicine
sciences
glosses: Initialism of peripheral venous catheter.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
networking
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: Initialism of permanent virtual circuit.
Related terms: topics: chemistry
physical-sciences
natural-sciences
word: ABS
POW
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: POWs
Senses: examples: text: After his capture, he was taken to a camp for POWs.
topics: government
military
politics
war
related: word: P.O.W.
word: PoW
synonyms: word: PW
glosses: Initialism of prisoner of war.
topics: lifestyle
religion
glosses: Initialism of place of worship.
topics: business
computing
cryptocurrencies
cryptocurrency
cryptography
engineering
finance
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: Alternative letter-case form of PoW (“proof of work”).
Derived terms: POW camp
POW Day
prisoner of war
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpɹɪz.(ə).nə əv ˈwɔː/
ipa: /ˈpɹɪz.(ə).nɚ əv ˈwoɹ/
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)
Forms: form: prisoners of war
Etymology: Calque of French prisonnier de guerre, prisonier de guerre (obsolete).
Senses: examples: text: As a prisoner of war, he was interrogated by his enemy captors.
text: In November 1799 he entered on board the 38-gun frigate Hussar, under the immediate patronage of the first lieutenant, and four years later was serving as midshipman on board the same ship when she was lost on the Saintes, near Brest, on 8 Feb. 1804. Whilst prisoner of war, Mr. Ashworth made several remarkable attempts to recover his freedom; and at last, having escaped from Bitche in December 1808, he succeeded in passing through Germany to Trieste, where he got on board the English frigate L'Unité.
ref: 1885-1900, John Knox Laughton, Dictionary of National Biography, Ashworth, Henry (1785-1811):
synonyms: word: POW
word: PW
glosses: A combatant or soldier who is captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict.
Derived terms: prisoner-of-war camp
species
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈspiːʃiːz/
ipa: /ˈspiːsiːz/
other: /-ɪz/
other: /-iːz/
rhymes: -iːʃiːz
rhymes: -iːsiːz
Etymology: From Latin speciēs (“appearance; quality”), from speciō (“see”) + -iēs suffix signifying abstract noun. Doublet of spice.
Senses: glosses: plural of specie
PX
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: PXes
form: Px
Senses: examples: text: The prices at the PX are incredibly reduced.
text: Some straight legs caught a trooper at the post exchange (PX) one day and made him unblouse his boots.
ref: 2002, Jack Allsup, Mountains of Hope, page 50:
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: Initialism of post exchange, the U.S. Army's Post Exchange.
glosses: Abbreviation of peroxidase.
Coordinate terms: BX
CGX
commissary
MCX
NEX
shopette
Derived terms: PX goods
PX store
BX
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /biːˈɛks/
rhymes: -ɛks
Forms: form: BXes
Etymology: Abbreviation
Senses: examples: Despite the reduced price of goods at the BX, everything is of high quality.
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: Initialism of base exchange, the U.S. Air Force's Base Exchange.
Coordinate terms: CGX
commissary
MCX
NEX
PX
shopette
BX
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /biːˈɛks/
rhymes: -ɛks
Etymology: Former trademark of General Electric Company.
Senses: glosses: A flexible, metal-armored electrical cable.
Synonyms: armored cable
armoured cable
Related terms: electrical cable
power cable
MIA
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Forms: form: M.I.A.
form: M. I. A.
Senses: examples: text: When his patrol didn't come back from the front, he and all his buddies were listed as MIA.
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: Initialism of missing in action.
examples: text: My friends have been MIA today.
glosses: Absent for a long time.
Related terms: topics: military
war
government
politics
word: KIA
topics: military
war
government
politics
word: WIA
topics: military
war
government
politics
word: LIA
MIA
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: M.I.A.
form: M. I. A.
Senses: synonyms: Mutual
Young Woman's
Young Men's
glosses: Initialism of Mutual Improvement Association.
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: Initialism of missing in action, a service member that did not return from action and was not found in the field.
MIA
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Forms: form: M.I.A.
form: M. I. A.
Senses: glosses: Initialism of Middle Indo-Aryan.
examples: text: 56 Michael Jordan, CHI vs. MIA, Apr. 29, 1992.
ref: 1996, Marty Strasen, Basketball Almanac, 1996-97, page 415:
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: Abbreviation of Miami.
examples: text: West of downtown Miami, MIA is about a 15- to 20-minute drive from most parts of the city.
ref: 2020 January 7, Rebecca Wallwork, “Which South Florida airport should I fly into?”, in CNN:
glosses: Initialism of Miami International Airport.
bird
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /bɜːd/
note: Humberside, Teesside, fair–fur merger
ipa: /bɛːd/
note: Liverpool, fair–fur merger
ipa: /beːd/
ipa: /bɔːd/
ipa: /bɪɹd/
enpr: bû(r)d
ipa: /bɜɹd/
ipa: [bɝˑd]
ipa: [bɜɪd]
ipa: /bɜːd/
ipa: /bøːd/
ipa: /bɚːd/
note: Dublin
ipa: /bʊːɹd/
ipa: /bɜd/
rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)d
homophone: bared
homophone: beared
homophone: Baird (all fair–fur merger)
Forms: form: birds
form: birding
form: birded
form: birded
Etymology: From Middle English bird, brid, from Old English bridd (“chick, fledgling, chicken”), of uncertain origin (see Old English bridd for more). Originally from a term used of birds that could not fly (chicks, fledglings, chickens) as opposed to the general Old English term for flying birds, fugol (modern fowl). Gradually replaced fowl as the most common term starting in the 14th century.
The "booing/jeering" and "vulgar hand gesture" senses derived from the expression “to give the big bird”, as in “to hiss someone like a goose”, dated in the mid‐18th century.
Senses: glosses: To observe or identify wild birds in their natural environment.
glosses: To catch or shoot birds; to hunt birds.
examples: text: MAMMON: These day-owls.
SURLY: That are birding in men's purses
ref: 1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC, (please specify the Internet Archive page), (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
glosses: To seek for game or plunder; to thieve.
examples: text: Unless the TV crew has its own flyaway, the locals can still defeat a story they couldn't prevent reporters from covering by cutting it off at the pass, when it is being birded through their facilities.
ref: 1995, David D. Pearce, Wary Partners: Diplomats and the Media, page 43:
text: After being sent by fast car to Tel Aviv the cassettes would be 'birded' by satellite to the USA and London.
ref: 2012, Yoel Cohen, Media Diplomacy, page 127:
topics: broadcasting
media
television
glosses: To transmit via satellite.
bird
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /bɜːd/
note: Humberside, Teesside, fair–fur merger
ipa: /bɛːd/
note: Liverpool, fair–fur merger
ipa: /beːd/
ipa: /bɔːd/
ipa: /bɪɹd/
enpr: bû(r)d
ipa: /bɜɹd/
ipa: [bɝˑd]
ipa: [bɜɪd]
ipa: /bɜːd/
ipa: /bøːd/
ipa: /bɚːd/
note: Dublin
ipa: /bʊːɹd/
ipa: /bɜd/
rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)d
homophone: bared
homophone: beared
homophone: Baird (all fair–fur merger)
Forms: form: birdier
form: birdiest
Etymology: From Middle English bird, brid, from Old English bridd (“chick, fledgling, chicken”), of uncertain origin (see Old English bridd for more). Originally from a term used of birds that could not fly (chicks, fledglings, chickens) as opposed to the general Old English term for flying birds, fugol (modern fowl). Gradually replaced fowl as the most common term starting in the 14th century.
The "booing/jeering" and "vulgar hand gesture" senses derived from the expression “to give the big bird”, as in “to hiss someone like a goose”, dated in the mid‐18th century.
Senses: examples: text: SOC100 isn’t bird at all lol. But ANT101 is super easy & the prof (Dr. Sherry Fukuzawa) is amazing.
ref: 2020 October 16, illegalsalt, “Thoughts on these bird courses”, in Reddit, r/UTM:
text: but admittedly, all the hours spent creating excel sheets optimizing my course plan, all the research finding the absolutely best professors, all the smart friends i made, all the alumni i contacted to collect crowdmarks of past exams, all the research i did finding the birdiest courses of all...... all of it was wayyyyyy more fun to me than just sitting down and studying like a normal kid. it was kind of just like playing a video game.
ref: 2022 June 17, ConradIsMyDaddy, “How to Graduate from the University of Waterloo's Computer Science Program with the Least Amount of Effort”, in Reddit, r/uwaterloo:
glosses: Able to be passed with very little work; having the nature of a bird course.
raw_tags: of a school or university course
bird
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /bɜːd/
note: Humberside, Teesside, fair–fur merger
ipa: /bɛːd/
note: Liverpool, fair–fur merger
ipa: /beːd/
ipa: /bɔːd/
ipa: /bɪɹd/
enpr: bû(r)d
ipa: /bɜɹd/
ipa: [bɝˑd]
ipa: [bɜɪd]
ipa: /bɜːd/
ipa: /bøːd/
ipa: /bɚːd/
note: Dublin
ipa: /bʊːɹd/
ipa: /bɜd/
rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)d
homophone: bared
homophone: beared
homophone: Baird (all fair–fur merger)
Forms: form: birds
form: birding
form: birded
form: birded
Etymology: Originally Cockney rhyming slang, shortened from bird-lime for "time".
Senses: examples: text: Free Criminal, he got birded
That's a L but I know he’ll firm it
I was vexed when I heard that verdict
ref: 2017, “No Hook”, ZK & Digga D (lyrics), CDM (music):
glosses: To bring into prison, to roof.
Derived terms: bird off
fish
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: fĭsh
ipa: /fɪʃ/
ipa: /fɘʃ/
homophone: phish
homophone: ghoti
rhymes: -ɪʃ
Forms: form: fishes
Etymology: Deverbal from to fish (etymology 3).
Senses: examples: text: The fish at the lake didn't prove successful.
glosses: A period of time spent fishing.
examples: text: Merely two fishes for information told the whole story.
glosses: An instance of seeking something.
Synonyms: word: fish
Hypernyms: word: vertebrate
word: animal
Hyponyms: word: flatfish
word: carp
word: roach
word: lamprey
word: pike
word: catfish
word: goldfish
word: trout
word: mackerel
word: salmon
word: herring
word: eel
word: sardine
word: tuna
word: shark
word: ray
Coordinate terms: word: whale
word: dolphin
word: porpoise
Meronyms: word: fin
word: gill
Related terms: word: :Category:Fish
word: Appendix:Fish
fish
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: fĭsh
ipa: /fɪʃ/
ipa: /fɘʃ/
homophone: phish
homophone: ghoti
rhymes: -ɪʃ
Forms: form: fishes
Etymology: Borrowed from French fiche (“peg, mark”).
Senses: glosses: A counter, used in various games.
Synonyms: word: fish
Hypernyms: word: vertebrate
word: animal
Hyponyms: word: flatfish
word: carp
word: roach
word: lamprey
word: pike
word: catfish
word: goldfish
word: trout
word: mackerel
word: salmon
word: herring
word: eel
word: sardine
word: tuna
word: shark
word: ray
Coordinate terms: word: whale
word: dolphin
word: porpoise
Meronyms: word: fin
word: gill
Related terms: word: :Category:Fish
word: Appendix:Fish
mikado
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /mɪˈkɑːdəʊ/
rhymes: -ɑːdəʊ
Forms: form: mikados
form: mikado
Etymology: Borrowed from Japanese 御門 (mikado), from 御 (mi, “honorable”) + 門 (kado, “gate, portal”).
Senses: topics: history
human-sciences
sciences
glosses: A former title of the emperors of Japan during a certain period.
examples: text: The mikados of Japan are its emperors.
text: An interval of eighty years, occupied by two mikado of whose doings nothing is recorded, brings us to the celebrated female sovereign who invaded and conquered Korea.
ref: 1878 July 1, “The Mythology and Religious Worship of the Ancient Japanese”, in The Westminster Review, volume CX, number CCXVII; New Series, volume LIV, number I, London: Trübner & Co., […], →OCLC, page 30:
text: Our great Mikado, virtuous man,
When he to rule our land began,
Resolved to try a plan whereby
Young men might best be steadied.
ref: 1885, Gilbert & Sullivan, The Mikado:
synonyms: tenno
glosses: Any emperor of Japan.
synonyms: pick-up sticks
glosses: A game of skill, in which identically shaped (but differently colored and valued) wooden sticks must be removed from a pile without disturbing the remaining stack.
glosses: A fabric having a stiff twill weave.
Derived terms: mikadoate
Mikadoism
Related terms: Chrysanthemum Throne
quail
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /kweɪl/
ipa: /ˈkweɪ.əl/
rhymes: -eɪl
homophone: quale
Forms: form: quails
form: quailing
form: quailed
form: quailed
Etymology: From Middle English quaylen, qwaylen, from Old French quaillier, coaillier, from Latin coāgulāre. Doublet of coagulate.
Senses: examples: text: [Laser is given] to such as haue supped off and drunk quailed milke, that is cluttered within their stomack.
ref: 1601, Pliny the Elder, translated by Philemon Holland, The Historie of the World: Commonly Called the Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus; translated into English by Philemon Holland, London: Printed by Adam Islip, →OCLC:
glosses: To curdle or coagulate, as milk does.
Quaker
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkweɪkə/
ipa: /ˈkweɪkəɹ/
rhymes: -eɪkə(ɹ)
Forms: form: Quakers
form: Quacker
form: quaker
Etymology: From quake + -er; a name given to members of the Religious Society of Friends, supposedly by the magistrates Gervase Bennet and Nathaniel Barton, when George Fox "bade them tremble at the word of the Lord"; the term was previously applied to certain people who trembled or quaked during religious devotions.
Senses: examples: text: The demon of fanaticism was the shape which it took with us; and verily, what with religious republicans, harmonists, quakers, fifth-monarchy men, Presbyterians, and the reign of the saints upon earth, it needs the strong hand of a Cromwell to reduce the spiritual chaos to any sort of order.
ref: 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter III, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 35:
glosses: A believer of the Quaker faith and a member of the Society of Friends, known for their pacifist views.
Derived terms: Quaker comfrey
Quaker gun
Quakerism
Quakerly
Quaker parrot
Quakers Yard
Shaking Quaker
Quaker
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkweɪkə/
ipa: /ˈkweɪkəɹ/
rhymes: -eɪkə(ɹ)
Forms: form: Quakers
Etymology: Quake + -er, but likely inspired by the original noun.
Senses: topics: video-games
glosses: One who plays any Quake games.
qualm
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kwɑːm/
ipa: /kwɔːm/
ipa: /kwɑm/
ipa: /kwɔm/
ipa: /kwɑlm/
ipa: /kwæm/
rhymes: -ɑːm
rhymes: -ɔːm
rhymes: -ɑːlm
Forms: form: qualms
form: calm
Etymology: Perhaps from Middle English qualm, cwalm (“death, sickness, plague”), which is from Old English cwealm (West Saxon: "death, disaster, plague"), ūtcwalm (Anglian: "utter destruction"), from Proto-West Germanic *kwalm (“killing, death, destruction”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to stick, pierce; pain, injury, death”), whence also quell. Although the sense development is possible, this has the problem that there are no attestations in intermediate senses before the appearance of "pang of apprehension, etc." in the 16th century. The alternative etymology is from Dutch kwalm or German Qualm (“steam, vapor, mist”) earlier “daze, stupefaction”, which is from the root of German quellen (“to stream, well up”). The sense “feeling of faintness” is from 1530; “uneasiness, doubt” from 1553; “scruple of conscience” from 1649.
Senses: examples: text: [W]ho vvould not rather Sleep Quietly upon a Hammock, vvithout either Cares in his Head, or Crudities in his Stomach, then lye Carking upon a Bed of State, vvith the Qualms and Tvvinges that accompany Surfeits and Exceſs?
ref: 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “[Miscellany Fables.] Fab[le] CCCLXXXIII. A Spider and the Gout [Reflexion].”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC, page 355:
text: "Do you have any particular qualms about leaving Pencey?" / "Oh, I have a few qualms, all right. Sure … but not too many. Not yet, anyway.[…]"
ref: 1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 19:
text: Opponents of those privatization plans hoped to use Mr. [Neil] Armstrong's qualms as ammunition to block the White House initiatives, and they asked for more public statements.
ref: 2012 August 25, Andy Pasztor, “Armstrong, first man on Moon, dies”, in The Wall Street Journal, New York, N.Y.: Dow Jones & Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
text: Questions of bad taste have hung around Dear Evan Hansen since it debuted on Broadway in 2016, though such qualms were mostly drowned out by praise for Platt’s visceral live performance and the catchy Broadway-by-way-of-Christian-rock tunes from wunderkind songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (who are also responsible for the toe-tapping numbers from The Greatest Showman).
ref: 2021 September 22, Caroline Siede, “Dear Evan Hansen is a misfire on just about every level”, in AV Club:
glosses: A feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear etc.
glosses: A sudden sickly feeling; queasiness.
examples: text: This lawyer has no qualms about saving people who are on the wrong side of the law.
glosses: A prick of the conscience; a moral scruple, a pang of guilt.
raw_tags: in the negative
glosses: Mortality; plague; pestilence.
glosses: A calamity or disaster.
Synonyms: compunction
misgiving
scruple
unease
uneasiness
apprehension
Derived terms: qualmish
qualmishly
qualmishness
qualmy
Related terms: quell
qualm
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /kwɑːm/
ipa: /kwɔːm/
ipa: /kwɑm/
ipa: /kwɔm/
ipa: /kwɑlm/
ipa: /kwæm/
rhymes: -ɑːm
rhymes: -ɔːm
rhymes: -ɑːlm
Forms: form: qualms
form: qualming
form: qualmed
form: qualmed
form: calm
Etymology: Perhaps from Middle English qualm, cwalm (“death, sickness, plague”), which is from Old English cwealm (West Saxon: "death, disaster, plague"), ūtcwalm (Anglian: "utter destruction"), from Proto-West Germanic *kwalm (“killing, death, destruction”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to stick, pierce; pain, injury, death”), whence also quell. Although the sense development is possible, this has the problem that there are no attestations in intermediate senses before the appearance of "pang of apprehension, etc." in the 16th century. The alternative etymology is from Dutch kwalm or German Qualm (“steam, vapor, mist”) earlier “daze, stupefaction”, which is from the root of German quellen (“to stream, well up”). The sense “feeling of faintness” is from 1530; “uneasiness, doubt” from 1553; “scruple of conscience” from 1649.
Senses: glosses: To have a sickly feeling.
quarantine
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkwɔɹ.ən.tin/
ipa: /ˈkɔɹ.ən.tin/
ipa: /ˈkwɑɹ.ən.tin/
ipa: /ˈkwɒɹ.ən.tiːn/
ipa: /ˈkwɒrn̩tiːn/
ipa: /ˈkwɒɹ.ən.taɪn/
Forms: form: Quarantine
form: quarentine
form: quarantin
form: quaranteen
form: quarantain
form: quarantaine
form: quarrentine
form: quarantene
form: quarentene
form: quarentyne
form: querentyne
Etymology: From Medieval Latin quarentena and quarentīna (“40-day period, Lent”) via Middle English quarentine, Norman quarenteine, French quarenteine, and Italian quarantina, via proposed Late Latin *quaranta + -ēna (forming distributive adjectives), from Latin quadrāgintā (“four tens, 40”).
In reference to French politics, calque of French quarantaine after edicts of Louis IX. In reference to a severance of political relations, popularized by the Roosevelt administration's 1937 approach to the Axis powers and the later Kennedy administration's 1962 approach to Cuba during the missile crisis.
Senses: examples: text: By yonde ys a wyldernys of quarentyne,
Wher Cryst wyth fastyng hys body dyd pyne;
In that holy place, as we rede,
The deuyl wold had of stonys bred.
ref: c. 1470, William Wey, The Itineraries, page 14:
topics: Christianity
glosses: Alternative letter-case form of Quarantine: the Mount of Temptation where Jesus Christ supposedly fasted for 40 days, Jebel Quruntul near Jericho.
quaver
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkweɪvə(ɹ)/
rhymes: -eɪvə(ɹ)
Forms: form: quavers
Etymology: From Middle English quaveren, frequentative form of quaven, cwavien (“to tremble”), equivalent to quave + -er. Cognate with Low German quabbeln (“to quiver”), German quabbeln, quappeln (“to quiver”). More at quave, quab, quiver.
Senses: glosses: A trembling shake.
glosses: A trembling of the voice, as in speaking or singing.
examples: text: The crotchets and quavers are dancing up and down the stave like little black boys on a fence.
ref: 1920 August 27, Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “The Wind Blows”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, →OCLC, pages 140–141:
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: an eighth note, drawn as a crotchet (quarter note) with a tail.
Derived terms: semiquaver
demisemiquaver
hemidemisemiquaver
quaver rest
Related terms: breve
crotchet
longa
minim
semibreve
quaver
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkweɪvə(ɹ)/
rhymes: -eɪvə(ɹ)
Forms: form: quavers
form: quavering
form: quavered
form: quavered
Etymology: From Middle English quaveren, frequentative form of quaven, cwavien (“to tremble”), equivalent to quave + -er. Cognate with Low German quabbeln (“to quiver”), German quabbeln, quappeln (“to quiver”). More at quave, quab, quiver.
Senses: glosses: To shake in a trembling manner.
examples: text: "Aw come on, guys!" The woman, clearly overwhelmed by the force of the two friends' personalities, quavered on the point of tears.
ref: 1982 December 11, Andrea Loewenstein, “The Joys of Community or Holiday-itis Strikes Back”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 21, page 12:
glosses: To use the voice in a trembling manner, as in speaking or singing.
examples: text: We shall hear her quavering them […] to some sprightly airs of the opera.
ref: 1711 November 5 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “THURSDAY, October 25, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 205; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
glosses: To utter quaveringly.