cstr/en-wiktionary-extracted-all huggingface dataset:
colonial
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kəˈləʊ.ni.əl/
note: Indic
ipa: /kɵˈlon(ɪ)jəl/
note: Indic
ipa: /ˈkɔlɵnɪjəl/
rhymes: -əʊniəl
Forms: form: colonials
Etymology: From colony + -al.
Senses: examples: text: None of them are, so to speak, idle men. Many of them are emigrants, not of the soil born and bred colonials.
ref: 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 192:
text: The rest of us had tea and finger sandwiches with members of the royal household, which was very elegant but hard on some of us ill-schooled colonials.
ref: 2020 June 23, John Bolton, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 150:
glosses: A person from a country that is or was controlled by another.
glosses: A house that is built in a style reminiscent of the period of the colonization of New England.
Related terms: colonization
censor
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈsɛnsə/
ipa: /ˈsɛnsɚ/
homophone: censer
homophone: sensor
rhymes: -ɛnsə(ɹ)
Forms: form: censors
form: censoring
form: censored
form: censored
Etymology: The noun is borrowed from Latin cēnsor (“magistrate; critic”), from cēnseō (“to give an opinion, judge; to assess, reckon; to decree, determine”) + -sor (variant of -tor (suffix forming masculine agent nouns)). Cēnseō is derived from Proto-Italic *kensēō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱens- (“to announce, proclaim; to put in order”). The English word is cognate with Late Middle English sensour, Proto-Iranian *cánhati (“to declare; to explain”), Sanskrit शंसति (śaṃsati, “to declare”).
The verb is derived from the noun.
Senses: examples: text: The people responsible for censoring films have seen some startling things in their time.
text: Occupying powers typically censor anything reeking of resistance
text: Ganley is in hourly dread of every message that comes into your wireless-room. He insists on censoring anything that might betray him.
ref: 1909, Arthur Stringer, “The Movement in Retreat”, in The Gun-runner, New York, N.Y.: B. W. Dodge & Company, →OCLC, page 134:
synonyms: bowdlerize
expurgate
expunge
redact
antonyms: decensor
glosses: To review for, and if necessary to remove or suppress, content from books, films, correspondence, and other media which is regarded as objectionable (for example, obscene, likely to incite violence, or sensitive).
examples: text: Early dropout is one cause of right-censoring.
topics: mathematics
sciences
statistics
qualifier: chiefly passive voice
glosses: To partially obscure an observation.
Derived terms: censorability
censoree
censoring
precensor
recensor
self-censor
uncensor
censor
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈsɛnsə/
ipa: /ˈsɛnsɚ/
homophone: censer
homophone: sensor
rhymes: -ɛnsə(ɹ)
Forms: form: censors
Etymology: From an incorrect translation of German Zensur (“censorship”).
Senses: topics: human-sciences
psychology
sciences
glosses: A hypothetical subconscious agency which filters unacceptable thought before it reaches the conscious mind.
phrontistery
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: phrontisteries
form: phrontisterion
form: phrontisterium
Etymology: Derived from Ancient Greek φροντιστήριον (phrontistḗrion), from φροντιστής (phrontistḗs, “a thinker”), from φρονέω (phronéō, “to think”).
Senses: glosses: A place for thinking.
glosses: An establishment devoted to education or study.
ditto
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdɪtəʊ/
ipa: /ˈdɪtoʊ/
ipa: [ˈdɪɾoʊ]
rhymes: -ɪtəʊ
Etymology: First attested in 1625. From regional Italian ditto, variant of detto, past participle of dire (“to say”), from Latin dīcō (“I say, I speak”). Not related to English dittography or Italian dito (“finger”).
The specific meaning of making copies of paper comes from ditto machine, the brand name of a spirit duplicator.
Senses: examples: text: The inflationary effect of injecting $1 billion into the economy could be dire; ditto the impact on the tumbling bolivar of treating foreign reserves as if they were the government's piggy-bank.
ref: 2004 January 15, “Smash and grab”, in The Economist:
text: Some of the players were concerned about what the future held for them – given that one of the measures involved Chelsea not being able to operate in the transfer market or offer new contracts. Ditto many members of staff.
ref: March 11 2022, David Hytner, “Chelsea are in crisis but there is no will to leave club on their knees”, in The Guardian:
glosses: As said before, likewise.
ditto
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdɪtəʊ/
ipa: /ˈdɪtoʊ/
ipa: [ˈdɪɾoʊ]
rhymes: -ɪtəʊ
Forms: form: dittos
form: dittoing
form: dittoed
form: dittoed
Etymology: First attested in 1625. From regional Italian ditto, variant of detto, past participle of dire (“to say”), from Latin dīcō (“I say, I speak”). Not related to English dittography or Italian dito (“finger”).
The specific meaning of making copies of paper comes from ditto machine, the brand name of a spirit duplicator.
Senses: examples: text: The Communists believed that Prakasam, the Prime Minister, never tried to check the bureaucracy but dittoed every action of the corrupt officials and police.
ref: 1989, K. K. N. Kurup, Agrarian struggles in Kerala:
synonyms: ape
echo
glosses: To repeat the aforesaid, the earlier action etc.
examples: text: But they were all purple, Dittoed—worn, torn, stained with coffee.
ref: 1966 March, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 3, in The Crying of Lot 49, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, published November 1976, →ISBN, page 55:
text: I was going to join a commune of my friends. I sort of issued a declaration of independence which I dittoed up and put in everybody's mail box in the department.
ref: 1976 April 26, Jil Clark, Julia Penelope, Susan Wolfe, “The Politics of Language”, in Gay Community News, page 8:
glosses: To make a copy using a ditto machine.
ditto
Language: English
Part of speech: intj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdɪtəʊ/
ipa: /ˈdɪtoʊ/
ipa: [ˈdɪɾoʊ]
rhymes: -ɪtəʊ
Etymology: First attested in 1625. From regional Italian ditto, variant of detto, past participle of dire (“to say”), from Latin dīcō (“I say, I speak”). Not related to English dittography or Italian dito (“finger”).
The specific meaning of making copies of paper comes from ditto machine, the brand name of a spirit duplicator.
Senses: examples: text: I'm really busy today! —Ditto!
text: "Besides, if I'm only a sort of thing in his dream, what are you, I should like to know?" "Ditto," said Tweedledum. "Ditto, ditto!" cried Tweedledee.
ref: 1871 December 27 (indicated as 1872), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “Tweedledum and Tweedledee”, in Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 82:
glosses: Used as an expression of agreement with what another person has said, or to indicate that what they have said equally applies to the person being addressed.
municipal
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /mjuˈnɪsɪpəl/
Forms: form: more municipal
form: most municipal
Etymology: Borrowed from French municipal, from Latin mūnicipālis (“of or belonging to a citizen or a free town”), from mūniceps (“a citizen, an inhabitant of a free town”), from mūnus (“duty”) + capiō (“to take”).
Senses: examples: text: More than 100 provincial and municipal firefighters were brought in, with helicopters and aircraft used to drop water and fire retardant, while bulldozers were digging firebreaks.
ref: 2016 May 4, Nicky Woolf, “Fort McMurray: Canada wildfires force evacuation of oil sands city”, in The Guardian:
glosses: Of or pertaining to a municipality (a city or a corporation having the right of administering local government).
glosses: Of or pertaining to the internal affairs of a nation.
Synonyms: civic
Derived terms: antimunicipal
bimunicipal
intermunicipal
intramunicipal
monomunicipal
municipal borough
municipal corporation
municipal engineering
municipal flag
municipal incorporation
municipalise
municipalism
municipality
municipalization
municipalize
municipally
municipal president
municipal seat
nonmunicipal
premunicipal
quasimunicipal
submunicipal
Related terms: munificence
munificent
remunerate
remuneration
municipal
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /mjuˈnɪsɪpəl/
Forms: form: municipals
Etymology: Borrowed from French municipal, from Latin mūnicipālis (“of or belonging to a citizen or a free town”), from mūniceps (“a citizen, an inhabitant of a free town”), from mūnus (“duty”) + capiō (“to take”).
Senses: examples: text: “This might be the last great opportunity for preretirement baby boomers to buy municipals at such attractive levels,” said Janet Fiorenza, head of municipal fixed income at Lehman Brothers Asset Management.
ref: 2008 April 21, Julie Connelly, “Muni Bonds, Safe With High Yields”, in New York Times:
topics: business
finance
glosses: A financial instrument issued by a municipality.
adventitious
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌæd.vənˈtɪʃ.əs/
ipa: /ˌæd.vɛnˈtɪʃ.əs/
Forms: form: more adventitious
form: most adventitious
form: adventicious
Etymology: From Medieval Latin adventītius (“coming from abroad, extraneous”), a corruption of Latin adventīcius (“foreign, strange, accidental”), from adventus (“arrival, coming, approach, advent”) + -īcius (suffix forming adjectives), from adveniō (“to arrive”) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns).
Senses: synonyms: extrinsic
exogenous
glosses: From an external source; not innate or inherent, foreign.
examples: text: The discovery of the art of making pottery was probably in all cases adventitious, the clay being first used for some other purpose.
ref: 1895, Alfred C. Haddon, Evolution in Art, pages 101–102:
text: The adventitious disappearance of those nearer the throne than the duke had, moreover, set tongues awagging.
ref: 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 30:
synonyms: word: accidental
word: spontaneous
word: sporadic
word: ;
word: incidental
word: coincidental
word: fortuitous
word: serendipitous
word: ;
word: accidental
word: accidentary
word: adventitious
word: by accident
word: by the by
word: casual
word: causeless
word: chanceable
word: fortuitous
word: incidental
word: lippening
word: occasional
word: random
word: serendipitous
word: unforeseen
word: unintended
word: unintentional
word: unplanned
glosses: Accidental, additional, appearing casually.
topics: biology
genetics
medicine
natural-sciences
sciences
synonyms: acquired
glosses: Not congenital; acquired.
examples: text: The Velloziaceae have evolved a woody stem which is covered with a layer of adventitious roots mingled with the fibres of the old leaf sheaths;
ref: 1985, R. M. T. Dahlgren, H. T. Clifford, P. F. Yeo, The Families of the Monocotyledons, page 101:
topics: biology
natural-sciences
coordinate_terms: ectopic
glosses: Developing in an unusual place or from an unusual source.
Derived terms: adventitiously
adventitiousness
nonadventitious
Related terms: adventitial
adventition
adventive
adventively
adventitiously
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Forms: form: more adventitiously
form: most adventitiously
form: adventitially
Etymology: From adventitious + -ly.
Senses: glosses: in an adventitious manner; sporadically.
adventitiousness
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Etymology: From adventitious + -ness.
Senses: glosses: the degree to which a thing is adventitious
Taylor
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈteɪlɚ/
rhymes: -eɪlə(ɹ)
Forms: form: Taylors
Etymology: From tailor.
Senses: examples: text: One of the Louisville detectives who fatally shot Breonna Taylor during a botched raid is appealing his termination this week.
ref: 2021 December 13, Amir Vera, “Louisville detective who fatally shot Breonna Taylor is appealing his termination from the police department”, in CNN:
glosses: An English and Scottish surname originating as an occupation for a tailor.
examples: text: "I wanted to call her Taylor, but my husband said no," Sweetie was telling one of the Christmas party guests.
"Taylor means a tailor," I said. "It seems inauspicious. Like calling her Cobbler."
"That's a kind of drink," said Nani.
ref: 2001, Paul Theroux, Hotel Honolulu, page 206:
text: The highly anticipated all-American matchup between Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe — marking the first US Open semifinals between two US men in nearly 20 years — will cost you quite a few Honey Deuces to attend.
ref: 2024 September 6, Jordan Valinsky, “Ticket prices for the all-American men’s matchup at the US Open are surging”, in CNN:
glosses: A unisex given name transferred from the surname.
glosses: A surname from Irish [in turn originating as an occupation], an anglicization of Táilliúir (“tailor”).
Taylor
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈteɪlɚ/
rhymes: -eɪlə(ɹ)
Forms: form: Tailor
form: Tayler
Etymology: From tailor.
Senses: glosses: A suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia; named for architect Florence Mary Taylor.
glosses: A district municipality in Peace River Regional District, British Columbia, Canada; named for trapper Herbert Taylor.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
A town in Geneva County and Houston County, Alabama; named for an early settler family.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
A town in Navajo County, Arizona; named for John Taylor, 3rd President of the LDS Church.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
A minor city in Columbia County, Arkansas.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
An unincorporated community in Union Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
An unincorporated community in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
An unincorporated community in Harford County, Maryland.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
A city in Wayne County, Michigan; named for Zachary Taylor, 12th president of the United States.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
A town in Lafayette County, Mississippi; named for early settler John Taylor.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
A village, the county seat of Loup County, Nebraska; named for early settler Ed Taylor.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
A town in Cortland County, New York; named for Zachary Taylor.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
A minor city in Stark County, North Dakota; named for railroad official David R. Taylor.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
An unincorporated community in Beckham County, Oklahoma; named for postmaster Jeremiah H. Taylor.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
An unincorporated community in Cotton County, Oklahoma; named for local merchant John Taylor.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
A borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
A city in Williamson County, Texas; named for railroad official Edward Moses Taylor.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
An unincorporated community in Weber County, Utah.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
A ghost town in King County, Washington.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
An unincorporated community in Hardy County, West Virginia.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
A village in Jackson County, Wisconsin.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
A census-designated place in Lincoln County, Wyoming.
glosses: A locale in the United States:
A number of townships in the United States, listed under Taylor Township.
Synonyms: sense: surname meaning "tailor"
word: Snyder
Derived terms: Mamie Taylor
Taylor County
Taylor expansion
Taylorism
Taylorsville
Taylorville
Related terms: Tayla
hot potato
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: hot potatoes
Senses: synonyms: pass the parcel
glosses: A child's game in which players pass a ball or other item between them, with the object of avoiding being left holding the item when time expires.
examples: text: The “lame duck” Johnson Administration, in its final fortnight in office, grappled last week with a diplomatic hot potato in the form of the latest Soviet proposal for a “just and lasting” Middle East peace settlement.
ref: 1969 January 12, Benjamin Welles, “A Hot Potato for Nixon”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
text: How do you handle the work of a woman out on leave, yet not lose a valuable employee down the road? At the same time, companies know this is a hot potato, and they have to do something.
ref: 1984 June 14, Carol Lawson, quoting Phyllis Silverman, “Parental Leave: a ‘Hot Potato’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
text: Full connectivity returned 72 hours later, but the issue has become a hot potato in the US.
ref: 2021 August 3, Ed Augustin, Daniel Montero, “Why the internet in Cuba has become a US political hot potato”, in The Guardian:
glosses: An unwanted problem that is awkward or delicate.
Derived terms: drop like a hot potato
hot-potato routing
Related terms: hot button
third rail
musical chairs
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Senses: qualifier: children's games
glosses: A children's game in which players circle a group of chairs. There is one chair fewer than the number of players. When someone who is not watching stops playing music, everybody sits down, and the player left without a chair is eliminated.
examples: text: They were married though they needn't have married, and though both had sworn they never would be. It is hard to explain—in that game of musical chairs—why they should have stopped, finally, at each other.
ref: 2012, Zadie Smith, NW, London: Penguin Books, published 2013, →ISBN, page 23:
text: The job market last year and earlier in 2022 was like musical chairs, offering record opportunities for hopping from seat to seat. Now many feel that the music is about to stop.
ref: 2022 October 7, Emma Goldberg, “The Job Market Has Been Like Musical Chairs. Will the Music Stop?”, in The New York Times:
glosses: Any activity which results in repeated, pointless shuffling of people or objects.
Synonyms: trip to Jerusalem
aubade
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /əʊˈbɑːd/
ipa: /-ˈbæd/
ipa: /oʊˈbɑd/
rhymes: -ɑːd
rhymes: -æd
Forms: form: aubades
Etymology: PIE word
 *albʰós
Borrowed from French aubade, from Old French albade, from Old Spanish albada (“musical or poetic composition to be performed in the morning”), from alba (“dawn”), from Vulgar Latin *alba (“dawn; sunrise”), from Latin albus (“bright, clear; white”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *albʰós (“white”).
Senses: examples: text: And there he lingered till the crowing cock, / The Alectryon of the farmyard and the flock, / Sang his aubade with lusty voice and clear, / To tell the sleeping world that dawn was near.
ref: 1873 August, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “[I. Tales of a Wayside Inn.] The Student’s Tale. Emma and Eginhard.”, in Aftermath, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co., →OCLC, page 27:
text: Alladad Khan woke to the far crying of kampong cocks in the dark. That noise had been the farmyard aubade in the Punjab in his dream.
ref: 1956, Anthony Burgess, chapter 11, in Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), London: William Heinemann, published 1968, →ISBN, page 155:
topics: communications
entertainment
journalism
lifestyle
literature
media
music
poetry
publishing
writing
glosses: A poem or song evoking or greeting the dawn or early morning.
topics: communications
entertainment
journalism
lifestyle
literature
media
music
poetry
publishing
writing
glosses: A poem or song evoking or greeting the dawn or early morning.
A morning love song, or a song of lovers parting in the morning.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: A concert held at dawn or in the morning, especially outdoors.
Coordinate terms: nocturne
serenade
rubber stamp
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Forms: form: rubber-stamp
form: rubberstamp
Senses: examples: text: rubber stamp politics
text: rubber stamp parliament
text: rubber stamp legislature
text: rubber stamp diet
glosses: Of a person, organisation, or process, making decisions or approving matters routinely or without real power.
rubber stamp
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: rubber stamps
form: rubber-stamp
form: rubberstamp
Senses: examples: text: The library had a rubber stamp to imprint the due date.
glosses: A piece of rubber or similar material with a design or text carved or molded for the purpose of transferring ink or dye to imprint that design on another object.
examples: text: During the Roman principate, the senate largely served as a rubber stamp for the emperor.
glosses: A person or organisation that approves, routinely or as a formality, matters decided by some other person or organisation.
Derived terms: rubber stamp politics
rubber stamp
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: rubber stamps
form: rubber stamping
form: rubber stamped
form: rubber stamped
form: rubber-stamp
form: rubberstamp
Senses: examples: text: They usually just rubber stamp orders under $100.
glosses: To process, approve or decide matters routinely rather than through careful consideration.
Related terms: pencil whip
bedaub
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: bedaubs
form: bedaubing
form: bedaubed
form: bedaubed
form: bedawb
Etymology: From be- (“thoroughly, extensively”) + daub, from Old French dauber (“to plaster, whitewash”), from Latin dealbō (“whiten over, plaster”).
Senses: examples: text: In this 6 mile we Crosst several miring branches in which we were all terribly bedaubed … Having almost spent the day in this toilsome tho short Journey.
ref: 2009, Noeleen McIlvenna, quoting journal, 1711, A Very Mutinous People, Univ of North Carolina Press, →ISBN, page 18:
glosses: To smear upon; to soil.
glosses: To ornament garishly; to overdecorate.
Derived terms: unbedaubed
Related terms: besmear
pull the plug
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: pulls the plug
form: pulling the plug
form: pulled the plug
form: pulled the plug
Senses: examples: text: Shut off the machine and pull the plug.
text: He put an end to the loud music by pulling the plug.
glosses: To unplug or cut power to a machine.
glosses: To turn off life support.
examples: text: 1981, The Jim Carroll Band, People Who Died
Cathy was eleven when she pulled the plug / On twenty-six reds and a bottle of wine
text: "The Times said it was suicide," said Knight.
"He burned himself out. There wasn't anything left." The Dean leveled his eyes at Reid, searching for more, wanting more, not wanting more, and Reid continued, "So he pulled the plug."
"Pulled the plug? The paper said it was cyanide," his voice filled with curiosity.
ref: 2007, Lee Stockdale, Murder of Law, page 118:
glosses: To commit suicide.
examples: text: It's a wonder the director didn't pull the plug on that project months ago.
text: "We have a deal that stopped me pulling the plug on services. But only just. I was hours from having to stop the Underground and buses from running in this, the greatest city on Earth. How insane is that? How could that even be allowed to happen?
"I waited until five to midnight on the day when I would have had to pull the plug for the next day, before I got the letter from the Government on an interim funding settlement.
ref: 2020 July 15, Mike Brown talks to Paul Clifton, “Leading London's "hidden heroes"”, in Rail, pages 42–43:
info_templates: extra_data: words: on
‘someone
something’
expansion: [with on ‘someone or something’]
glosses: To cease to support; to halt.
glosses: To cease production or publication.
Chinese fire drill
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: Chinese fire drills
Etymology: Perhaps from the WWI era, from the former Western use of Chinese as an ethnic and racial slur; now used only as a festive exclamation.
Senses: glosses: A prank performed while stopped in a car at a red light, and where each passenger, including the driver, shouts "Chinese fire drill", exits the vehicle, runs at least once around it, then re-enters, each taking a different seat.
glosses: A silly, pointless exercise.
Related terms: goat rodeo
herding cats
virtually
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈvɜːt͡ʃʊəli/
ipa: /ˈvɜːt͡ʃəli/
ipa: /ˈvɝt͡ʃuəli/
ipa: /ˈvɜːt͡ʃʉəli/
ipa: /ˈvɵːt͡ʃʉəli/
ipa: /ˈvɵːt͡ʃəli/
Forms: form: more virtually
form: most virtually
Etymology: From Middle English vertually; equivalent to virtual + -ly.
Senses: examples: text: With our Medicare supplemental insurance plan, there are virtually no claim forms to fill out. (Advertisement)
text: By surviving the first six minutes Hargreaves matched the total amount of playing time he had managed previously in virtually three years - and by scoring his first goal since April 2008 he set the hosts on their way to a fifth win of the season in all competitions.
ref: 2011 September 21, Sam Lyon, “Man City 2-0 Birmingham”, in BBC Sport:
text: Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.
ref: 2013 July 6, “The rise of smart beta”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8843, archived from the original on 01 Apr 2019, page 68:
synonyms: as good as
more or less
nearly
practically
glosses: Almost but not quite.
examples: text: virtually a member of the family
synonyms: effectively
practically
glosses: In essence or functionally, but not in fact, formally, or technically.
examples: text: In this case W has a diagram with 2 vertices and one edge labelled ∞, and is therefore the infinite dihedral group. Thus W is virtually ℤ.
ref: 1998, Daryl Cooper, D. D. Long, A. W. Reid, “Infinite Coxeter Groups are Virtually Indicable”, in Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society, volume 41, page 309:
text: In this paper, we are mainly concerned with homogeneity in the class of finitely generated virtually free groups, i.e. finitely generated groups with a free subgroup of finite index.
ref: 2018, Simon André, “Virtually free groups are almost homogeneous”, in arXiv, section 1:
topics: algebra
mathematics
sciences
glosses: Of a subgroup of finite index.
examples: text: Another class of small manifolds consists of those that are not virtually Haken (a manifold is virtually Haken if it is finitely covered by a Haken manifold).
ref: 2002, Steven Boyer, “Dehn surgery on knots” (chapter 4), in R.J. Daverman, R.B. Sher, editors, Handbook of Geometric Topology, page 206:
text: We call a hyperplane Y in a VH-complex X virtually clean if there exists a finite-sheeted covering map p : X̂ → X and a connected component Y ⊆ p⁻¹Y such that the hyperplane Ŷ of X̂ is clean.
ref: 2017, Martin R. Bridson, Henry Wilton, “Hyperbolic Geometry and Geometric Group Theory”, in Advanced Studies in Pure Mathematics, volume 73, page 40:
topics: mathematics
sciences
topology
glosses: Of a covering space of finite degree.
synonyms: cyberly
digitally
glosses: By computer or in cyberspace.
billingsgate
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Etymology: From the London, England fishmarket Billingsgate: "Billingsgate is the market where the fishwomen assemble to purchase fish; and where, in their dealings and disputes they are somewhat apt to leave decency and good manners a little on the left hand." (Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1811).
Senses: examples: text: You wouldn't have believed the billingsgate which poured forth from that boy's mouth.
text: These "flytings" consisted of alternate torrents of sheer Billingsgate poured upon each other by the combatants.
ref: 1898, George Saintsbury, A Short History of English Literature:
glosses: Profane, abusive language; coarse words.
billingsgate
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: billingsgates
form: billingsgating
form: billingsgated
form: billingsgated
Etymology: From the London, England fishmarket Billingsgate: "Billingsgate is the market where the fishwomen assemble to purchase fish; and where, in their dealings and disputes they are somewhat apt to leave decency and good manners a little on the left hand." (Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1811).
Senses: examples: text: On the other hand, the Englishman has the satisfaction of Billingsgating to his heart's content the highest officials: they accept objurgation with spaniel fawning.
ref: 1905, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, volume 177, page 99:
glosses: To use profane, abusive language towards.
coming out of someone's ears
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Senses: examples: text: If you plant sixteen tomato plants, you will have tomatoes coming out of your ears by July!
text: There will be tomatoes coming out of your ears.
text: You'll get tomatoes coming out of your ears.
glosses: Occurring or proliferating in great or excess quantity.
bravura
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /bɹəˈvjʊəɹə/
rhymes: -ʊəɹə
Forms: form: bravuras
form: bravure
Etymology: From Italian bravura (“skill”), from bravo (“good, skilful”). Compare bravado.
Senses: topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: A highly technical or difficult piece, usually written for effect.
examples: text: Yet just as, in opposition to the majority, I admired Fosse's Nightsongs and The Girl On The Sofa, so I found myself absorbed by this 70-minute play; and, whatever it may mean, there is no denying the production's visual bravura.
ref: 2011 May 11, Michael Billington, “I Am the Wind”, in The Guardian:
glosses: A display of daring.
bravura
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /bɹəˈvjʊəɹə/
rhymes: -ʊəɹə
Forms: form: more bravura
form: most bravura
Etymology: From Italian bravura (“skill”), from bravo (“good, skilful”). Compare bravado.
Senses: examples: text: Look closely, and the minute interconnectedness of her novels is a bravura achievement.
ref: 2012, John Mullan, What Matters in Jane Austen?: Twenty Crucial Puzzles Solved, page 4:
text: But that won't stop the breakout star of the A&E reality series Dallas Three Ways from delivering one of his bravura, impromptu mini-lectures on the subject of Murphy's history of homophobic stand-up comedy.
ref: 2016, Christopher Kelly, The Pink Bus, Maple Shade, New Jersey: Lethe Press, page 116:
glosses: Highly showy; ostentatious.
compost
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkɒmpɒst/
ipa: /ˈkɑmpoʊst/
Forms: form: composts
Etymology: From Middle English compost, from Old Northern French compost (“mixture of leaves, manure, etc., for fertilizing land" also "condiment”), from Latin compositus (“composed”), from componere. Doublet of compote, which was taken from modern French, composite, and kompot.
Senses: examples: text: Dig plenty of compost into clay or sandy soil to improve its structure.
text: And do not spread the compost on the weeds / To make them ranker.
ref: c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:
text: [T]he very wet winter will have washed much of the goodness out of the soil. Homemade compost and the load of manure we get from a friendly farmer may not be enough to compensate for what has leached from the ground.
ref: 2014 April 21, Mary Keen, “You can still teach an old gardener new tricks: Even the hardiest of us gardeners occasionally learn useful new techniques [print version: Gardening is always ready to teach even the hardiest of us a few new tricks, 19 April 2014]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening), page G7:
glosses: The decayed remains of organic matter that has rotted into a natural fertilizer.
examples: text: Once the seed tray is filled with compost, insert the seeds spaced 3 cm apart from one another.
text: [T]he term 'compost' is commonly used to mean the material used to fill pots, seed trays and containers.
ref: Royal Horticultural Society, Organic matter: what is it?, retrieved 29 Mar 2021:
glosses: A medium in which one can cultivate plants.
examples: text: A sad compost of more bitter than sweet.
ref: a. 1660, Henry Hammond, God's Complaint Against Revolters:
glosses: A mixture; a compound.
Derived terms: composter
compost heap
compostlike
compost tumbler
composture
composty
potting compost
semicompost
vermicompost
compost
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkɒmpɒst/
ipa: /ˈkɑmpoʊst/
Forms: form: composts
form: composting
form: composted
form: composted
Etymology: From Middle English compost, from Old Northern French compost (“mixture of leaves, manure, etc., for fertilizing land" also "condiment”), from Latin compositus (“composed”), from componere. Doublet of compote, which was taken from modern French, composite, and kompot.
Senses: examples: text: If you compost your grass clippings, you can improve your soil.
glosses: To produce compost, let organic matter decay into fertilizer.
Derived terms: compostability
compostable
noncomposted
recompost
uncomposted
Related terms: word: mulch
raw_tags: used interchangeably with compost
word: humus
bumptious
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbʌmpʃəs/
rhymes: -ʌmpʃəs
Forms: form: more bumptious
form: most bumptious
Etymology: Probably from bump, on the pattern of words like fractious or presumptious.
Senses: examples: text: […
ref: 1887, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “A Study in Scarlet”, in Beeton’s Christmas Annual, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward, Lock & Co., part I (Being a reprint from the reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., […]), chapter II (The Science of Deduction), page 14:
text: From another point of view, it was a place without a soul. The well-to-do had hearts of stone; the rich were brutally bumptious; the Press, the Municipality, all the public men, were ridiculously, vaingloriously self-satisfied.
ref: 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
text: She could stand it no longer. It was full of prying old women, she said, who stared in one's face, and of bumptious young men who trod on one's toes.
ref: 1928, Virginia Woolf, Orlando: A Biography, London: The Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished as Orlando: A Biography (eBook no. 0200331h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, July 2015:
text: No doubt of it, Edmund was at grips with that bumptious little hairy dog. They were going it at the very top note of sadistic fury, screaming and snip-snapping in such a lightning mixture of black and white murder that the eye could not follow it.
ref: 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 140:
glosses: Obtrusively pushy; self-important; self-assertive to a pretentious extreme.
Derived terms: bumptiously
bumptiousness
overbumptious
unbumptious
calumnious
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Forms: form: more calumnious
form: most calumnious
Etymology: From Late Latin calumniōsus.
Senses: examples: text: ...they must be his companions in some humble abode, in some remote obscurity; for it was in virtuous privacy only that he could hope to find a shelter from an ill-judging and calumnious world.
ref: 1838, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] Landon (indicated as editor), chapter I, in Duty and Inclination: […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 5:
glosses: Possessing the traits of calumny.
Derived terms: calumniously
calumniousness
calumniously
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Forms: form: more calumniously
form: most calumniously
Etymology: From calumnious + -ly.
Senses: glosses: In the manner of a falsification intended to discredit another.
Related terms: calumny
hit the hay
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: hits the hay
form: hitting the hay
form: hit the hay
form: hit the hay
Senses: examples: text: "Time to hit the hay," Dave yawned. The bartender called "Good-night" as Dingwell went out of the swinging doors.
ref: 1917, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 3, in The Sheriff's Son:
glosses: To go to bed.
Synonyms: turn into a pumpkin
hit the sack
hit the sack
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: hits the sack
form: hitting the sack
form: hit the sack
form: hit the sack
Etymology: A reference to how farmers tend to sleep on sacks of hay.
Senses: examples: text: K.P. Arches—Like a housewife who spends a day on the range, a soldier gets tired feet and is eager to hit the sack.
ref: 1953, "New Army, Familiar Scenes" (photo essay), New York Times, 18 Jan., p. SM45 (caption)
glosses: To go to bed.
Synonyms: hit the hay
hit the rack
turn into a pumpkin
hit the sheets
Related terms: sack out
circumambient
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Forms: form: more circumambient
form: most circumambient
Etymology: From Latin circum (“around”) + ambiō, from amb- (“both side”) + eō (“go”), literally "go on both sides of". Synchronically circum- + ambient.
Senses: glosses: Including all aspects of; encompassing.
examples: text: Thus gaiety and cheerfulness prevail, / Spreading from young to old, from old to young, / And no one seems to want his share.—Immense / Is the recess, the circumambient world / Magnificent, by which they are embraced: […]
ref: 1799–1805 (date written), William Wordsworth, “Book VIII. Retrospect.—Love of Nature Leading to Love of Man.”, in The Prelude, or Growth of a Poet’s Mind; an Autobiographical Poem, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 209:
text: Philip seemed really to be born again. He breathed the circumambient air as though he had never breathed it before, and he took a child's pleasure in all the facts of the world.
ref: 1915, W. S. Maugham, Of Human Bondage:
text: Groups of citizens—broad-browed Roman colonists and coarse-haired Romanised natives, together with obvious hybrids of the two strains, alike clad in cheap woollen togas—and sprinklings of helmeted legionaries and coarse-mantled, black-bearded tribesmen of the circumambient Vascones—all thronged the few paved streets and forum; moved by some vague and ill-defined uneasiness.
ref: 1927, H. P. Lovecraft, The Very Old Folk:
text: The growling circumambient toils of London around them fadedbefore the calm of these innocent precincts.
ref: 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 517:
glosses: Surrounding.
Derived terms: circumambiently
circumambient
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Forms: form: more circumambient
form: most circumambient
Etymology: From Latin circum (“around”) + ambiō, from amb- (“both side”) + eō (“go”), literally "go on both sides of". Synchronically circum- + ambient.
Senses: glosses: In a circumambient manner.
Related terms: circumambience
circumambiency
circumambulate
circumlocution
circumnavigate
apophthegm
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: ăpʹə-thĕm′
ipa: /ˈæ.pə.θɛm/
homophone: apothem
homophone: apothegm
Forms: form: apophthegms
form: apothegm
Etymology: First attested 1553, from Ancient Greek ἀπόφθεγμα (apóphthegma), from ἀποφθέγγομαι (apophthéngomai, “I plainly speak my mind”), from ἀπό (apó, “from”) + φθέγγομαι (phthéngomai, “I speak loudly”).
Senses: glosses: Alternative spelling of apothegm.
coeval
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /kəʊˈiːvəl/
ipa: /koʊˈi.vəl/
Forms: form: coæval
form: coëval
Etymology: From Late Latin coaevus, from Latin con- (“equal”) + aevum (“age”).
Senses: examples: text: Anything coeval with that clock will fetch a hefty price!
text: The Baralaba Coal Measures are coeval with the Bandana Formation.
text: If, however, Orientalists be right in their interpretation of the name of Artaxerxes' queen, Parisatis, as Pari-zadeh (Peri-born), the Peri must be coeval with the religion of Zoroaster.
ref: 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 27:
text: The differences between the Sao Khua dinosaur assemblage and the roughly coeval assemblages in China, notably those from the Jehol Group of NE China, have already been noted, and several hypotheses have been put forward, including differences in taphonomic conditions, and the existence of geographical or environmental barriers (Buffetaut et al. 2006; Fernandez et al. 2009).
ref: 2009, Eric Buffetaut, Late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic Ecosystems in SE Asia:
synonyms: word: contemporaneous
word: coetaneous
word: coeval
word: contemporaneous
word: coincident
word: contemporary
word: cotemporal
word: cotemporaneous
glosses: Of the same age or era; contemporary.
Derived terms: coevalist
coevality
coevally
coeval
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kəʊˈiːvəl/
ipa: /koʊˈi.vəl/
Forms: form: coevals
form: coæval
form: coëval
Etymology: From Late Latin coaevus, from Latin con- (“equal”) + aevum (“age”).
Senses: examples: text: The telephone and television are coevals in that film.
glosses: Something of the same era.
examples: text: […] the fey grace, the elusive, shifty, soul-shattering, insidious charm that separates the nymphet from such coevals of hers […]
ref: 1955, Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, published August 1958, →OCLC, part 1, page 19:
text: “That's your coeval, Keluga. He's trying to write the entire Roget's as a series of nested, rule-based schematics. Containment, relation, exclusion . . .”
“Coeval? I'm thirty-five, Lentz. That guy's a kid.”
ref: 1995, Richard Powers, Galatea 2.2, New York, N.Y.: Farrar Straus Giroux, →ISBN, page 77:
glosses: Somebody of the same age.
cogitate
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: kōʹjĭtāt
ipa: /ˈkəʊdʒɪteɪt/
ipa: /ˈkɒdʒɪteɪt/
ipa: /ˈkoʊd͡ʒɪteɪt/
ipa: /ˈkɑd͡ʒɪteɪt/
rhymes: -eɪt
Forms: form: cogitates
form: cogitating
form: cogitated
form: cogitated
Etymology: First attested in 1570; borrowed from Latin cōgitātus, perfect passive participle of cōgitō (“to think”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).
Senses: examples: text: He that calleth a thing into his mind, whether by impression or recordation, cogitateth and considereth, and he that employeth the faculty of his fancy also cogitateth.
ref: 1605, Francis Bacon, “(please specify |book=1 or 2)”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] for Henrie Tomes, […], →OCLC:
text: Think, ladies! Cogitate! Sharpen up the edges of your wit.
ref: 1953, Robert Wright, George Forrest, Kismet:
glosses: To meditate, to ponder, to think deeply.
glosses: To consider, to devise.
Derived terms: cogitatingly
cogitator
uncogitated
uncogitating
Related terms: cogibundity
cogitation
metacogitate
bleh
Language: English
Part of speech: intj
Etymology: Imitative.
Senses: examples: text: ―What did you think of my mother? ― She was just Bleh. You?
glosses: Used to reflect general indifference to a situation or topic.
glosses: An expression of mild disgust, possible imitative of vomiting
bleh
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Forms: form: more bleh
form: most bleh
Etymology: Imitative.
Senses: examples: text: I'm feeling a bit bleh.
glosses: Mildly uncomfortable; not good.
Related terms: meh
blah
audio
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɔː.di.əʊ/
note: without the cot–caught merger
ipa: /ˈɔ.di.oʊ/
note: without the cot–caught merger
ipa: [ˈɔ.ɾi.oʊ]
note: of Canada
ipa: /ˈɑ.di.oʊ/
note: of Canada
ipa: [ˈɑ.ɾi.oʊ]
note: of the US
ipa: /ˈɒd.i.oʊ/
note: of the US
ipa: [ˈɒɾ.i.oʊ]
ipa: /ˈoː.di.əʉ/
ipa: /ˈoː.di.ɐʉ/
Forms: form: more audio
form: most audio
Etymology: Clipping of audio-. Cognates include Sanskrit आविस् (āvís, “manifestly, evidently”) and Ancient Greek αἰσθάνομαι (aisthánomai, “perceive, notice”) whence English aesthetic.
Senses: examples: text: If you're more audio than visual, tune in on the "A-V Soap Opera" (page 375).
ref: 1955, The Educational Screen - Volume 34, page 366:
text: I'm very audio, so I hear words.
ref: 1997, Arthur Myers, Communicating With Animals, →ISBN:
text: For example, if the person uses visual predicates such as “I see” or “I can't picture that,” the most powerful influencers will respond by saying “Let me show you,” as opposed to “let me explain,” the latter predicate being more audio than visual.
ref: 2010, Dick Lyles, Pearls of Perspicacity, →ISBN:
glosses: Focused on audible sound, as opposed to sight.
audio
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɔː.di.əʊ/
note: without the cot–caught merger
ipa: /ˈɔ.di.oʊ/
note: without the cot–caught merger
ipa: [ˈɔ.ɾi.oʊ]
note: of Canada
ipa: /ˈɑ.di.oʊ/
note: of Canada
ipa: [ˈɑ.ɾi.oʊ]
note: of the US
ipa: /ˈɒd.i.oʊ/
note: of the US
ipa: [ˈɒɾ.i.oʊ]
ipa: /ˈoː.di.əʉ/
ipa: /ˈoː.di.ɐʉ/
Forms: form: audios
Etymology: Clipping of audio-. Cognates include Sanskrit आविस् (āvís, “manifestly, evidently”) and Ancient Greek αἰσθάνομαι (aisthánomai, “perceive, notice”) whence English aesthetic.
Senses: glosses: Sound, or a sound signal.
examples: text: I DMed him an audio of myself singing the South Park intro.
text: Others wryly illustrate appropriated audios, like instructions for quacking like a duck or a letter from an angry airline passenger.
ref: 2009 April 17, The New York Times, “Art in Review”, in New York Times:
glosses: A piece of sound that is recorded electronically.
Derived terms: audiation
audioboard
audio-book
audio book
audio card
audio cassette
audio CD
audiocentric
audiocentrism
audio clip
audio coil
audioconference
audio-description
audio DVD
audio frequency
audio guide
audio mastering
audio mining
audio play
audio tape
audiotape
audio tour
audiotrack
audio typing
audio-typist
audio typist
audio vérité
audiovisual
audism
described audio
digital audio
digital audio workstation
dual audio
edit audio
nonaudio
sub-audio frequency
Related terms: sense: sound or signal
word: audible
sense: sound or signal
word: audio-
sense: sound or signal
word: audiobook
sense: sound or signal
word: audio commentary
sense: sound or signal
word: audio description
sense: sound or signal
word: audio file
sense: sound or signal
word: audiovisual
sense: sound or signal
word: audition
sense: sound or signal
word: auditive
sense: sound or signal
word: auditory
sense: sound or signal
word: dysaudia
word: video
scripophily
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Etymology: From scrip + -o- + -phily.
Senses: glosses: The hobby of collecting paper documents, particularly business stock certificates.
catching
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkæt͡ʃɪŋ/
ipa: /ˈkɛt͡ʃɪŋ/
rhymes: -æt͡ʃɪŋ
rhymes: -ɛt͡ʃɪŋ
Forms: form: more catching
form: most catching
Senses: examples: text: Ah, who is this? You did not hear me, my young friend, did you? Why, you, too, look sad. My melancholy is not catching!
ref: 1857, Herman Melville, chapter V, in The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade:
glosses: Infectious, contagious.
examples: text: Bomb guy looked her up and down, not because he was an attractive man and she was possibly a catching woman.
ref: 2013, R. T. Wolfe, Dark Vengeance:
glosses: Captivating; alluring; catchy.
Synonyms: taking
Hyponyms: eye-catching
catching
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkæt͡ʃɪŋ/
ipa: /ˈkɛt͡ʃɪŋ/
rhymes: -æt͡ʃɪŋ
rhymes: -ɛt͡ʃɪŋ
Forms: form: catchings
Senses: examples: text: Though catchings of the breath and occasional syncope appear in the more early stages, yet they only become considerable and dangerous in the later[…]
ref: 1819, Bartholomew Parr, The London Medical Dictionary:
glosses: The action of the verb catch.
catching
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkæt͡ʃɪŋ/
ipa: /ˈkɛt͡ʃɪŋ/
rhymes: -æt͡ʃɪŋ
rhymes: -ɛt͡ʃɪŋ
Senses: glosses: present participle and gerund of catch
Derived terms: birdcatching
catchingly
catchingness
flycatching
molecatching
ratcatching
slavecatching
spycatching