cstr/en-wiktionary-extracted-all huggingface dataset:
Easter Bunny
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈiːs.tə ˈbʌ.ni/
ipa: /ˈiːs.tɚ ˈbʌ.ni/
Forms: form: Easter Bunnies
Etymology: From Easter + bunny, calque of German Osterhase (literally “Easter hare”).
Senses: examples: text: An Easter Bunny Party
ref: 1905 April 24, Mary Dawson, “An Easter Bunny Party”, in Good Housekeeping, volume 40, page 461:
text: One day the old Easter Bunny looked out of his winter covert and Said to his Bunny-wife, who was busy coloring Easter eggs, “It is high time we set out to look for the Easter Lily.”
ref: 1915 April 1, The Christian Advocate, volume 90, page 438:
text: Soon I ran into two Easter Bunnies who gave me candy. Honest! All right, it was really two women wearing pink bunny hoods.
ref: 2005, Danie Martin, Always Another Mountain: A Woman Hiking the Appalachian Trail from Springer Mountain to Mount Katahdin, Virtualbookworm Publishing, →ISBN, page 35:
text: Yeah, remember? We’re Spies, we deal in fact, not chasing after Easter Bunnies.
Yeah, right. Wait the Easter Bunny’s missing? A-ha-ha! Just kidding, guys! I know the Easter Bunny is tucked away safe in his little toadstool house up in the fjords of British Columbia.
ref: 2006 March 16, Bryan Thompson, “I Want My Mummy”, in Totally Spies!, season 2, episode 2, spoken by Alexandra “Alex” (Jennifer Hale as Samantha “Sam” and Katie Leigh), Marathon Media, via Teletoon:
text: Easter Bunnies can be booked for businesses (such as Malls), for churches, for community Easter Egg Hunts or even as a preferred birthday party costume character for a birthday that falls close to Easter.
ref: 2014, Margy Johnson, Start Your Own Costume Character Business & Make Great Money Working at Home, Xlibris, →ISBN, page 73:
text: Some residents rotated decorations seasonally by displaying holiday wreaths in the winter and plastic Easter Bunnies and pinwheels in the spring.
ref: 2016, Kimberley Kinder, DIY Detroit: Making Do in a City without Services, University of Minnesota Press, →ISBN:
text: Two costumed Easter Bunnies, handing out plastic, candy-filled eggs and hugging children, hopped in our ranks.
ref: 2016, Richard J. Gonzales, “Conclusion”, in Raza Rising: Chicanos in North Texas, University of North Texas Press, →ISBN, page 287:
glosses: A symbolic rabbit sometimes depicted delivering Easter eggs to children.
Synonyms: Easter Rabbit
Eastertide
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Etymology: From Easter + -tide (“period surrounding a festival”).
Senses: examples: Meronyms: Easter, Easter Day, Easter Sunday, Holy Week, Easter Week
Near-synonym: Eastertime (broad sense)
synonyms: Eastertime
Easter
glosses: The season from Easter Day to Whitsun, inclusive thereof.
Victoria Cross
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: Victoria Crosses
Senses: examples: text: "Padre, you should have a row of Victoria Crosses." "No, no, it was my duty."
ref: 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
glosses: The highest military award in the honours system of the United Kingdom, and some members of the Commonwealth of Nations. Its symbol is a form of cross pattée.
Synonyms: word: VC
Maltese cross
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: Maltese crosses
Senses: synonyms: cross of Malta
glosses: A cross having four equal arms resembling arrowheads joined at the points
glosses: A flowering plant Lychnis chalcedonica (syn. Silene chalcedonica) of the family Caryophyllaceae
topics: gymnastics
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A position on the rings where the gymnast's body is horizontal and straight, with arms to the side; a horizontal planche.
glosses: Synonym of Geneva wheel.
synonyms: word: Geneva wheel
Synonyms: sense: Lychnis chalcedonica
word: burning love
sense: Lychnis chalcedonica
word: dusky salmon
sense: Lychnis chalcedonica
word: flower of Bristol
sense: Lychnis chalcedonica
word: Jerusalem cross
sense: Lychnis chalcedonica
word: nonesuch
Related terms: ✠
bare poles
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Senses: topics: nautical
transport
glosses: The condition of a sailing boat when all of its sails have been taken in.
admiral's barge
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: admiral's barges
Senses: glosses: A motorboat used by flag officers for harbour transport.
dumb barge
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: dumb barges
Senses: topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A barge without mast, sails, or mechanical propulsion, whether propelled by oars and poles, by the tide, or in tow of a tug.
bargee
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbɑː(ɹ)d͡ʒi/
homophone: bargy
homophone: bhaji (non-rhotic)
Forms: form: bargees
Etymology: From barge + -ee.
Senses: glosses: A crewman of a working barge.
barquentine
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: barquentines
form: barkentine
Senses: topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A sailing vessel similar to a barque, but fore-and-aft (schooner) rigged on the mainmast
fireplug
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfaɪ(ə)plʌɡ/
Forms: form: fireplugs
Etymology: From fire + plug, referring to the system used prior to fire hydrants, in which a large plug was placed into a hole in the water main, then covered with a barrel. The plug was removed when water was needed.
Senses: examples: text: She is a strong and warm-hearted and hard-working farmer in her early sixties. She is built like a fireplug.
ref: 1976, Kurt Vonnegut, chapter 1, in Slapstick, Delacorte Press, page 22:
glosses: A fire hydrant.
fire hydrant
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: fire hydrants
Senses: topics: firefighting
government
glosses: A device used by firefighters to obtain water from the main supply, consisting of a barrel, connections for hose and a valve assembly.
Derived terms: drink from the fire hydrant
Related terms: fire engine
fire extinguisher
firefighter
fireplug
bathyscaphe
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbæθɪˌskeɪv/
ipa: /ˈbæθɪˌskæf/
Forms: form: bathyscaphes
form: bathyscaph
Etymology: Etymology tree
Ancient Greek βᾰθῠ́ς (băthŭ́s)
Proto-Indo-European *skabʰ-der.
Ancient Greek σκᾰ́πτω (skắptō)
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Ancient Greek -ᾱ (-ā)
Ancient Greek -η (-ē)
Ancient Greek σκᾰ́φη (skắphē)
French bathyscaphebor.
English bathyscaphe
Borrowed from French bathyscaphe. Analyzable as bathy- + Ancient Greek σκάφη (skáphē, “little boat, skiff”).
Senses: examples: text: The fact that the bathyscaphes are self-propelled makes it possible to use them to study the ocean microstructure in the horizontal, although the experiment should include temporal changes, which can be achieved either by using associated buoy stations or using a second suspended bathyscaphe.
ref: 1972, Oceanology, volume 12, numbers 4–6, American Geophysical Union, page 931:
text: It's ironic that when Piccard built his first bathyscaphe in the 1940s people assumed the revolutionary design had evolved from his famous stratospheric balloon. In fact, the reverse was true. In fact, Piccard's prototype bathyscaphe FNRS-2 (named for the Belgian national research foundation), which underwent sea trials in the Atlantic off Senegal in 1948, did possess all the attributes of a clumsy underwater balloon.
ref: 2001, Robert D. Ballard, Malcolm McConnell, Adventures in Ocean Exploration: From the Discovery of the Titanic to the Search for Noah's Flood, page 216:
text: After World War II, engineers built specialized submarines called bathyscaphes to survive the intense pressures of the deep ocean. A pioneer in bathyscaphes was the Swiss-born Belgian physicist Auguste Piccard (1884–1962), who had set the world altitude record in a balloon in 1932. Having turned his attention to the sea, Piccard and his son, Jacques Piccard (1922– ), built a bathyscaphe called the Trieste after World War II.
ref: 2005, Eric G. Swedin, Science in the Contemporary World: An Encyclopedia, page 297:
glosses: A self-propelled deep-sea diving submersible for exploring the ocean depths, consisting of a crew cabin similar to a bathysphere suspended below a float filled with a buoyant liquid such as petrol.
Related terms: bathy-
bathysphere
mesoscaphe
scaphander
deep-submergence vehicle
diving bell
submarine
submersible
bathysphere
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbæθɪˌsfɪə(ɹ)/
Forms: form: bathyspheres
Etymology: From Ancient Greek βαθύς (bathús, “deep”) + σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “sphere”). Genericization from the particular 1930s bathysphere named "Bathysphere". The name 'bathysphere' coined decades after the introduction of the device in the 1890s.
Senses: glosses: A spherical steel deep-diving chamber with perspex windows, in which persons are lowered to the depths by a cable to study the oceans and deep-sea life; the precursor to the bathyscaphe
Derived terms: bathyspheric
Related terms: bathyscaphe
submarine
submersible
diving bell
back water
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: back waters
Senses: glosses: Alternative spelling of backwater.
back water
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: backs water
form: backing water
form: backed water
form: backed water
Senses: topics: nautical
transport
glosses: To reverse the action of the oars, paddles, or propeller, so as to force the boat or ship backward.
hull
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /hʌl/
rhymes: -ʌl
Forms: form: hulls
Etymology: From Middle English hul, hulle, holle (“seed covering, hull of a ship”), from Old English hulu (“seed covering”), from Proto-Germanic *hul-, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover, hide”); or possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kal- (“hard”).
Compare Dutch hul (“hood”), German Hülle (“cover, wrap”), Hülse (“hull”); also Old Irish calad, calath (“hard”), Latin callus, callum (“rough skin”), Old Church Slavonic калити (kaliti, “to cool, harden”). For the sense development, compare French coque (“nutshell; ship's hull”), Ancient Greek φάσηλος (phásēlos, “bean pod; yacht”).
Senses: synonyms: peel
husk
shell
glosses: The outer covering of a fruit or seed.
glosses: Any covering.
Derived terms: hully
rice hull
soyhull
hull
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /hʌl/
rhymes: -ʌl
Forms: form: hulls
form: hulling
form: hulled
form: hulled
Etymology: From Middle English hul, hulle, holle (“seed covering, hull of a ship”), from Old English hulu (“seed covering”), from Proto-Germanic *hul-, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover, hide”); or possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kal- (“hard”).
Compare Dutch hul (“hood”), German Hülle (“cover, wrap”), Hülse (“hull”); also Old Irish calad, calath (“hard”), Latin callus, callum (“rough skin”), Old Church Slavonic калити (kaliti, “to cool, harden”). For the sense development, compare French coque (“nutshell; ship's hull”), Ancient Greek φάσηλος (phásēlos, “bean pod; yacht”).
Senses: examples: text: She sat on the back porch hulling peanuts.
synonyms: peel
husk
shell
shuck
glosses: To remove the outer covering of a fruit or seed.
hull
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /hʌl/
rhymes: -ʌl
Forms: form: hulls
Etymology: From Middle English holle, hoole (“hull, hold of a ship, ship”), of uncertain origin. Possibly a variant and special use of Etymology 1 above, conformed to hull. Alternatively, a variant of Middle English hole, hoole, holle (“hiding place, lair, den, shelter, compartment”, literally “hole, hollow”), related to Middle Dutch and Dutch hol (“hole, ship's cargo hold”). More at hole.
Senses: examples: text: VVhen you haue berthed or brought her [the ship] vp to the planks, vvhich are thoſe thicke timbers vvhich goeth fore and aft on each ſide, vvhereon doth lie the beames of the firſt Orlop, vvhich is the firſt floore to ſupport the plankes doth couer the Hovvle, thoſe are great croſſe timbers, that keepes the ſhip ſides aſunder, the maine beame is euer next the maine maſt, […]
ref: 1627, Iohn Smith [i.e., John Smith], “How to Build a Ship with the Definitions of All the Principall Names of Euery Part of her Principall Timbers, also How They are Fixed One to Another, and the Reasons of Their Vse”, in A Sea Grammar, with the Plaine Exposition of Smiths Accidence for Young Sea-men, Enlarged. […], London: […] Iohn Haviland, →OCLC, page 5:
text: Deep in their hulls our deadly bullets light, / And through the yielding planks a passage find.
ref: 1667, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, 1666. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, stanza 60:
synonyms: fuselage
glosses: The body or frame of a vessel, such as a ship or plane.
examples: text: The orthogonal convex hull of an orthogonal polygon is the smallest orthogonally convex polygon that encloses the original polygon.
text: holomorphically convex hull; affine hull; injective hull
topics: geometry
mathematics
sciences
synonyms: span
glosses: The smallest set that possesses a particular property (such as convexity) and contains every point of A; slightly more formally, the intersection of all sets which possess the specified property and of which A is a subset.
raw_tags: of a set A
Derived terms: affine hull
ahull
convex hull
dehull
hull breach
hull-down
hulled
hulless
hull-less
hull loss
hull speed
hull splash
hull-up
invective hull
monohull
multihull
pressure hull
rice hull
tank hull
turtle hull
twinhull
hull
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /hʌl/
rhymes: -ʌl
Forms: form: hulls
form: hulling
form: hulled
form: hulled
Etymology: From Middle English holle, hoole (“hull, hold of a ship, ship”), of uncertain origin. Possibly a variant and special use of Etymology 1 above, conformed to hull. Alternatively, a variant of Middle English hole, hoole, holle (“hiding place, lair, den, shelter, compartment”, literally “hole, hollow”), related to Middle Dutch and Dutch hol (“hole, ship's cargo hold”). More at hole.
Senses: examples: text: We goe not, but we are carried: as things that flote, now gliding gently, now hulling violently, according as the water is, either stormy or calme.
ref: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 1, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
text: […] Thus hulling in
The wild sea of my conscience, I did steer
Toward this remedy, whereupon we are
Now present here together:
ref: 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:
text: In this virtuous voyage of life hull not about like the ark, without the use of rudder, mast, or sail, and bound for no port.
ref: 1716, Thomas Browne, edited by Samuel Johnson, Christian Morals, 2nd edition, London: J. Payne, published 1756, Part I, p. 8:
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: To drift; to be carried by the impetus of wind or water on the ship's hull alone, with sails furled.
examples: text: During this action, we had not a man killed or wounded, although the enemy often hulled us, and once, in particular, a shot coming into one of our ports, dismounted one of our guns between decks […]
ref: 1774, George Shelvocke, “The Voyage of Captain Shelvock Round the World”, in David Henry, editor, An Historical Account of All the Voyages Round the World, Performed by English Navigators, volume 2, London: F. Newbery, page 163:
glosses: To hit (a ship) in the hull with cannon fire etc.
ceteris paribus
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈsɛtəɹɪs ˈpæɹɪbəs/
Forms: form: caeteris paribus
form: cæteris paribus
form: cet. par.
form: c.p.
Etymology: From Latin cēterīs, the ablative plural of cēterus (“the other, the rest”), + paribus, the ablative case plural of pār (“equal”).
Senses: examples: text: And therefore 'tis not to be doubted, but could we make a Microscope to have one only refraction, it would, cæteris paribus, far excel any other that had a greater number.
ref: 1665, Robert Hooke, Micrographia:
text: On closer inspection it appeared that steel annealed at 100° is, cæteris paribus, more easily soluble than glass hard steel; steel annealed at 200° more easily soluble than steel annealed at 100°, and steel annealed at 360° more easily soluble than steel annealed at 200°.
ref: 1887, C. Barus, V[incenc] Strouhal, “The Effect of Sudden Cooling Exhibited by Glass and by Steel, Considered both Physically and Chemically”, in Report of Work Done in the Division of Chemistry and Physics Mainly During the Fiscal Year 1885–'86 (Bulletins of the United States Geological Survey; no. 42; 50th Congress, 2d session, House of Representatives Miscellaneous Documents; no. 137), volume VII, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, published 1889, →OCLC, page 123:
glosses: All things being equal; with all other things or factors remaining the same; other things held constant; all else unchanged.
Bunsen
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbʌnsən/
rhymes: -ʌnsən
Etymology: Borrowed from German Bunsen.
Senses: glosses: A German surname.
Derived terms: Bunsen burner
Bunsen cell
Bunsen coefficient
bunsenite
Bunsen pile
Bunsen reaction
Bunsen
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbʌnsən/
rhymes: -ʌnsən
Forms: form: Bunsens
Etymology: Borrowed from German Bunsen.
Senses: topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: Ellipsis of Bunsen burner.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A turner (a pitch on which the ball turns easily).
backwater
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: backwaters
form: back water
form: back-water
Etymology: From back + water.
Senses: examples: text: […] The backwater separates the main line from Hinksey marshalling yards
ref: 1956 May, “Beside a Thames Backwater”, in Railway Magazine, page unnumbered, frontispiece:
glosses: The water held back by a dam or other obstruction.
examples: text: Near-synonyms: (place) jerkwater town, one-horse town, Podunk; see also Thesaurus:remote place
text: an academic backwater
text: Usually, however, this line, which once had a monopoly of all the traffic to Bournemouth, is a quiet backwater carrying a purely local traffic.
ref: 1953 August, David R. Webb, “By Rail to Bournemouth”, in Railway Magazine, page 556:
text: It's a volume for those who delight in exploring the backwaters of nineteenth-century opera.
ref: 1978, National Opera Association –, The Opera Journal, page 29:
text: Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.
ref: 1979 October 12, Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, London: Pan Books, →ISBN:
text: What was once the industrial heart of Uruguay is now a quiet riverside backwater where nothing much happens—the shops don't bother to open until midday and not at all if it's raining.
ref: 2003 September 21, Tom Hall, “Sunset in a one-pie town”, in The Observer, →ISSN:
text: In the 19th century silt deposits began to block the harbour, and the city began to decline. To make matters worse, conservative elements in Lukang refused in the early 20th century to allow trains and modern highways to be built near their city. Lukang became a backwater, only to be reborn decades later when modern Taiwanese began to search for a living connection with the past.
ref: 2014, Robert Kelly, Chung Wah Chow, Taiwan, 9th edition, Lonely Planet, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 224:
text: The Hope Valley, while scenic, is no quiet backwater. There's no sign it will ever be one either.
ref: 2024 May 1, Tom Ingall, “Hope springs eternal for better services”, in RAIL, number 1008, page 53:
glosses: A remote place: somewhere that remains unaffected by new events, progresses, ideas, etc; any field of endeavor that figuratively resembles such a place.
glosses: A rowing stroke in which the oar is pushed forward to stop the boat; see back water
examples: text: The back-water (overflow) can be used for "thinning down" the chests when emptying. If "Wastive" does this, his mind will be at ease regarding waste of pulp, and his machine-men will be happy and do their work much better than by trying to use all the back-water on the paper machine.
ref: 1908, An Old Machineman, “Re Back-water Query.”, in The World's Paper Trade Review, page 14:
synonyms: overflow
qualifier: paper industry
glosses: Water used in the papermaking process. Recycled to reduce usage of fresh water, and usually containing residual amounts of chemicals and fibres.
Derived terms: backwaterish
backwater
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: backwaters
form: backwatering
form: backwatered
form: backwatered
form: back water
form: back-water
Etymology: From back + water.
Senses: glosses: To row or paddle a backwater stroke.
glosses: To vacillate on a long-held position.
backstaff
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: backstaffs
form: backstaves
Senses: topics: nautical
transport
glosses: An early navigational instrument for measuring the altitude of the sun and hence calculating latitude.
paucity
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpɒs.ɪ.ti/
ipa: /ˈpɔs.ɪ.ti/
ipa: [ˈpɔs.ɪ.ɾi]
ipa: /ˈpɑ.sɪ.ti/
ipa: [ˈpɑ.sɪ.ɾi]
ipa: /ˈpɔs.ɪ.ti/
ipa: [ˈpɔs.ɪ.ɾi]
Forms: form: paucities
Etymology: From Middle English paucete, paucite, paucyte, partly from Middle French paucité and partly from its etymon, Latin paucitās (“a small number, fewness, scarcity”), from paucus (“few, little”). Related to few.
Senses: examples: text: But when I had crossed the threshold, I was astonished at the paucity of facts to be gleaned from the inmates themselves.
ref: 1915, Anna Katharine Green, The Golden Slipper, problem 7:
text: This paucity of trains helps to explain why electrification is not planned between Paris and Belfort.
ref: 1963 January, “Beyond the Channel: France”, in Modern Railways, page 60:
text: Your tax refund might be late, owing to a paucity of number crunchers.
ref: 2006 July 13, Po Bronson, Ashley Merryman, “Uncle Sam Wants You”, in Time, archived from the original on 10 Oct 2009:
text: I have always argued that despite my opposition to rail privatisation, I should be grateful that John Major won the 1992 election on a platform to sell off the railways, as otherwise my column would have disappeared given the paucity of things to write about.
ref: 2024 January 10, Christian Wolmar, “A time for change? ... just as it was back in issue 262”, in RAIL, number 1000, page 60:
glosses: Fewness in number; too few.
examples: text: It cannot be denied it [the chameleon] is (if not the moſt of any) a very abſtemious animall, and ſuch as by reaſon of its frigidity, paucity of bloud, and latitancy in the winter (about which time the obſervations are often made) will long ſubſist without a viſible ſuſtentation.
ref: 1650, Thomas Browne, “Of the Cameleon”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 3rd book, page 133:
text: Now came shipwrecks and life in open boats, with the usual paucity of food.
ref: 1898, Mark Twain, At the Appetite-Cure:
text: Here is where the paucity of our language is made manifest.
ref: 1915, Gene Stratton-Porter, chapter 12, in Michael O'Halloran:
text: Genteel America was handicapped by meagerness of soul, thinness of temper, paucity of talent.
ref: 1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 407:
text: There are also texts that present more lengthy lists, of between ten and thirty examples, and in doing so include some less common terms. But, on the whole, there is at present a paucity of information about these terms.
ref: 2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide, page 2:
glosses: A smallness in size or amount that is insufficient; meagerness, dearth.
Synonyms: sense: fewness in number
word: fewness
sense: smallness in size or amount
word: dearth
word: scantiness
word: scarcity
word: lack
backstay
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: backstays
Etymology: From back + stay.
Senses: topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A part of the rigging of a sailing ship extending from the top of the mast (masthead) to the back of the ship; they support the strain on all upper masts and provide additional support to the shrouds when the wind is abaft the beam.
glosses: A strengthening or supporting piece that is built into the back of something.
Coordinate terms: forestay
bald-headed
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Forms: form: more bald-headed
form: most bald-headed
Senses: glosses: Having a bald head.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: (of a square-rigged ship) not having the royals set.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: (of a fore-and-aft rigged ship) having the topmasts struck down.
Derived terms: bald-headed hermit
bald-headed row
baleen
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /bəˈliːn/
ipa: /ˈbeɪliːn/
rhymes: -iːn
rhymes: -eɪliːn
Forms: form: baleens
Etymology: From Middle English baleyne, from Old French baleine (“whale, whalebone”), from Latin balaena (“whale”), from Ancient Greek φάλαινα (phálaina, “whale”).
Senses: examples: text: “You have probably never seen anything like this before, Mr. Toler. It is baleen, or if you prefer it, whalebone, taken from the mouth of the bowhead whale. It is used by the whale to filter its food.”
ref: 1954, Alexander Alderson, chapter 5, in The Subtle Minotaur:
topics: medicine
physiology
sciences
synonyms: whalebone
glosses: keratinous material that makes up the plates in the mouth of the baleen whale (Mysticeti), which it uses to trap its food; formerly used in corsetry.
examples: text: Scammon estimates the number of baleens killed in the years 1835-72 at 131,000; once again, his figure needs to be adjusted.
ref: 2007, Lance E. Davis, In Pursuit of Leviathan: Technology, Institutions, Productivity, and Profits:
topics: biology
natural-sciences
zoology
glosses: A baleen whale (Mysticeti).
examples: text: The Balene is a fishe great and huge, much like to the Whale, and is so called, because of his outcasting and shedding of water, for they throwe water higher then other great fishes of the sea.
ref: 1572, John Bossewell, Workes of Armorie:
glosses: A whale or other large fish.
Derived terms: baleen whale
intrabaleen
ballast tank
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: ballast tanks
Senses: glosses: One of several external or internal tanks fitted in submarines; when filled with seawater they allow the boat to submerge; when emptied using compressed air buoyancy is restored and the vessel rises towards the surface. Auxiliary ballast tanks within the pressure hull allow the submarine to be trimmed.
batten down
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: battens down
form: battening down
form: battened down
form: battened down
Senses: topics: nautical
transport
glosses: To close or make watertight, referring to hatches and cargo.
glosses: To secure.
glosses: To prepare for adversity.
Derived terms: batten down the hatches
batten down the hatches
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: battens down the hatches
form: battening down the hatches
form: battened down the hatches
form: battened down the hatches
Etymology: From the practice aboard a ship of sealing hatches to prevent water getting below-decks in a storm by using covers secured by strips of material, called battens, firmly attached to the frame of the hatch opening.
Senses: examples: text: It's time to batten down the hatches and prepare for the coming challenge.
glosses: To prepare for trouble.
Related terms: kitty bar the door
battle honours
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Senses: topics: government
military
naval
navy
politics
war
glosses: The names of battles and actions in which a warship (or a previous namesake) has taken part, usually displayed on a board in a prominent position
Synonyms: word: battle stars
take the piss
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: takes the piss
head_nr: 1
form: taking the piss
head_nr: 1
form: took the piss
head_nr: 1
form: taken the piss
head_nr: 1
form: piss-take
form: pisstake
Etymology: Possibly from piss-proud (“falsely presenting as successful”). In which case taking the piss out of would mean deflating their false pride, usually through disparagement or mockery. As the piss-proud metaphor became dated, taking the piss out of someone came to refer to disparagement or mockery itself, regardless of the pride of the subject. Eventually the shortened, intransitive form taking the piss became common.
Senses: examples: text: You know, cos he was like taking the piss out of them and they took the piss out of him.
ref: 1987, Judy Vermorel, Sex Pistols: the inside story, page 16:
text: A lot of that stuff that people take the piss out of all the time is actually useful.
ref: 1999, Carole Zucker, In the company of actors: reflections on the craft of acting, page 152:
head_nr: 2
glosses: To tease, ridicule or mock (someone) (with out of).
examples: text: He's either taking it easy or taking the piss by arriving at the eleventh hour.
ref: 2008, Will Swanton, Some Day: Inside the Dream Tour and Mick Fanning's 2007 Championship Win:
head_nr: 2
glosses: To subject those present to teasing, ridicule or mockery, or to show contempt.
examples: text: I've got three exams on the same day! That's taking the piss!
head_nr: 2
glosses: To be outrageously unreasonable.
Synonyms: extract the urine
take the mickey
rip the piss
Related terms: piss-taker
piss and wind
take the wind out of someone's sails
square metre
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: square metres
form: square meter
Senses: examples: text: A floor 4 metres square contains four squared square metres.
text: There's not nearly enough mortar for thirty-two square metres of wall.
text: As towns continue to grow, replanting vegetation has become a form of urban utopia and green roofs are spreading fast. Last year 1m square metres of plant-covered roofing was built in France, as much as in the US, and 10 times more than in Germany, the pioneer in this field.
ref: 2013 May 10, Audrey Garric, “Urban canopies let nature bloom”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 22, page 30:
glosses: A standard unit of area, regardless of its shape, equal to the area of a square whose sides are one metre long (that is, an area one meter square) Symbol: m²
Synonyms: word: m²
word: centiare
instant messages
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Senses: glosses: plural of instant message
instant messages
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of instant message
battle cruiser
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: battle cruisers
Senses: glosses: Alternative form of battlecruiser.
instant messenger
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: instant messengers
Senses: topics: communication
communications
computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: A computer application which allows instant text communication between two or more people through a network or the Internet in its entirety.
beachcomber
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbit͡ʃˌkoʊmɚ/
Forms: form: beachcombers
form: beach-comber
Etymology: From beach + comber.
Senses: examples: text: The society of beach-combers always repays the small pains you need be at to enjoy it. They are easy of approach and affable in conversation.
ref: 1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 46”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A seaman who is not prepared to work but hangs around port areas living off the charity of others.
glosses: Any loafer around a waterfront.
examples: text: Now and again a wreck was to be seen, or a vessel left lonely and sad on a reef, her rigging dismantled and only waiting for beachcombers to come and break her up for the sake of her timber and old iron.
ref: 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 35:
glosses: A person who collects marine salvage at the coast.
glosses: A long rolling wave of the sea.
nom de plume
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌnɒm də ˈpluːm/
ipa: /ˌnɔ̃(m)də ˈpluːm/
Forms: form: noms de plume
form: nom-de-plume
Etymology: Coined in English from French nom (“name”) + de (“of”) + plume (“feather”), by analogy with the borrowed nom de guerre, itself from French nom de guerre.
Senses: examples: text: When King's authorship of Thinner was concealed behind the nom de plume Richard Bachman, the novel sold relatively well.
ref: 2018, Robert McParland, Bestseller: A Century of America's Favorite Books, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 154:
hypernyms: pseudonym
glosses: A pen name or pseudonym.
Related terms: nom de guerre
pen name
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: pen names
form: pen-name
form: penname
Senses: examples: text: Within a week of King's acknowledging the Bachman pen name, several sources —publishers, book dealers, readers, and fans—had mentioned a number of possible other pseudonyms; obviously, if King admitted to two pen names, John Swithen and Richard Bachmann, there might be others.
ref: 1998, Bill Munster, Discovering Dean Koontz, Wildside Press LLC, →ISBN, page 64:
text: In their time, it was fashionable to sign letters using a pen name. These pen names were borrowed from characters in classical literature.
ref: 2002, Jacqueline Ching, Abigail Adams: A Revolutionary Woman, The Rosen Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 19:
synonyms: nom de plume
hypernyms: alias
pseudonym
glosses: A fictitious name used by an author in place of their actual name; a writer's pseudonym.
beam-ends
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Senses: examples: text: The ship is lying over half upon her beam-ends; lee scuppers under water, and forecastle all in a smother of foam.
ref: 1840, R[ichard] H[enry] D[ana], Jr., “CHAPTER XXXV”, in Two Years before the Mast. […] (Harper’s Family Library; no. CVI), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers […], →OCLC:
text: It began to be chill; the tide was rapidly fleeting seaward, the schooner settling more and more on her beam-ends.
ref: 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: The ends of the transverse beams of a ship.
Related terms: on one's beam ends
bear up
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: bears up
form: bearing up
form: bore up
form: borne up
Senses: topics: nautical
transport
glosses: To sail close to the wind.
glosses: To endure hardship cheerfully or without complaining.
examples: text: Afterwards the Lord renued this Covenant with Noah, Gen. 6.10. and did further reveale it in another Type, namely, the ſaving of Noah and his family in the Arke, which was borne up by the flood of Waters; […]
ref: 1640, [George Walker], chapter VI, in The Manifold Wisedome of God: In the divers diſpenſation of Grace by Ieſus Christ. […], London: Printed by R. H[odgkinson] for Iohn Bartlet, page 61:
text: [Religious hope] does not only bear up the mind under her sufferings.
ref: 1712 September 10 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “SATURDAY, August 30, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 471; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume V, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
glosses: To support; to keep from falling or sinking.
bear down
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: bears down
form: bearing down
form: bore down
form: borne down
Senses: glosses: Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see bear, down.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: To steer away from the wind; to approach from windward.
glosses: To push (someone) to the ground; to defeat, overcome.
examples: text: And they sayd unto her: thou arte mad. And she bare them doune that hit was even so.
ref: 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts:
glosses: To maintain one's position against (someone) in a debate; to stand one's ground against.
examples: text: It's 9:41, 58 degrees, and I'm flunking out. Time to bear down.
text: When Furyk spots another Arizona alum on Tour, one of them will utter the official U of A exhortation, which dates to the 1920s, when on his deathbed the school's quarter-back urged the football team to "bear down." Few on Tour bear down like Furyk. He has his plan and sticks to it.
ref: 2003 October, Cameron Morfit, “A Furious Focus; Call his swing whatever you want--Jim Furyk's approach to life and golf is anything but loopy”, in Golf Magazine, volume 45, number 10, page 106:
text: Will CAFTA pass? The White House is starting to bear down, making the argument that CAFTA is not only a good deal economically, but vital for the political development and security of the region.
ref: 2005 May 12, Sue Kirchhoff, “Central American Free Trade Agreement faces obstacles”, in USA Today:
text: You can't really run faster or farther over the long haul simply by bearing down harder. You have to raise the level of your effort, then relax, and trust that preparation.
ref: 2009 January, James Applewhite, “Write a poem in THREE PHASES.”, in Writer, volume 122, number 1, pages 22–23:
glosses: To intensify one's efforts.
examples: text: Huth headed wide inside two minutes, Andy Wilkinson blasted over from Shotton's cut-back and Jones was squeezed out when bearing down on goal.
ref: 2011 November 3, David Ornstein, “Macc Tel-Aviv 1 - 2 Stoke”, in BBC Sport:
glosses: To approach in a determined manner.
glosses: To exert downward pressure on one's abdomen, as in giving birth, forcing out feces, and some similar bodily maneuvers.
zoopsia
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /zuːˈɒpsɪə/
Forms: form: zoopsias
form: zoöpsia
Etymology: From zoo- + -opsia.
Senses: examples: text: One of her most persistent hallucinations was a small brightly patterned snake moving across the floor in the periphery of her vision. Her zoöpsia was accompanied by a terror of real animals.
ref: 1986, Rod Jones, Julia Paradise:
glosses: The visual hallucinations of animals.
Derived terms: zooptic
zorro
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈzoɹ.ɹoʊ/
ipa: /ˈsoɹ.ɹoʊ/
Forms: form: zorros
Etymology: Borrowed from Spanish zorro.
Senses: glosses: A South American canid of the species Lycalopex culpaeus, visually similar to (and sometimes referred to as) a fox but more closely related to a wolf.
Synonyms: raposa
South American fox
Hyponyms: culpeo
Derived terms: Azara's zorro
colpeo zorro
common zorro
crab-eating zorro
Darwin's zorro
gray zorro
grey zorro
hoary zorro
Sechuran zorro
short-eared zorro
hendecasyllabic
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /hɛnˌdɛk.ə.sɪˈlæb.ɪk/
ipa: /henˌdek.ə.sɪˈlæb.ɪk/
ipa: /hɛnˌdɛk.ə.sɪˈlæb.ɪk/
rhymes: -æbɪk
Etymology: Borrowed from Latin hendecasyllabus, from Ancient Greek ἑνδεκασύλλαβος (hendekasúllabos), from ἕνδεκα (héndeka, “eleven”) + συλλαβή (sullabḗ, “syllable”).
Senses: glosses: Having eleven syllables.
hendecasyllabic
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /hɛnˌdɛk.ə.sɪˈlæb.ɪk/
ipa: /henˌdek.ə.sɪˈlæb.ɪk/
ipa: /hɛnˌdɛk.ə.sɪˈlæb.ɪk/
rhymes: -æbɪk
Forms: form: hendecasyllabics
Etymology: Borrowed from Latin hendecasyllabus, from Ancient Greek ἑνδεκασύλλαβος (hendekasúllabos), from ἕνδεκα (héndeka, “eleven”) + συλλαβή (sullabḗ, “syllable”).
Senses: glosses: A word or line of eleven syllables.
Related terms: hendecasyllable
bear in with
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: bears in with
form: bearing in with
form: bore in with
form: borne in with
Senses: topics: nautical
transport
glosses: To approach nearer to (a ship).
Related terms: bear with
bear off from
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: bears off from
form: bearing off from
form: bore off from
form: borne off from
Senses: topics: nautical
transport
glosses: To stand further off from (a ship)
beat to quarters
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: beats to quarters
form: beating to quarters
form: beat to quarters
form: beaten to quarters
Etymology: See beat (“to signal beating a drum”)
Senses: topics: nautical
transport
glosses: To summon the crew of a sailing man-of-war to their stations for action against an enemy.
Related terms: beat a retreat
battle stations
Beaufort scale
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Etymology: Created by Irish hydrographer and British navy officer Francis Beaufort in 1806.
Senses: topics: nautical
transport
glosses: An empirical measure for the intensity of the wind based mainly on the state of the sea or wave conditions.
Synonyms: Beaufort wind force scale
Related terms: wind force
lectionary
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: lectionaries
Etymology: From Ecclesiastical Latin lēctiōnārium.
Senses: topics: Christianity
glosses: A book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christian or Jewish worship on a given day or occasion.
Related terms: lection
lector
hydric
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Etymology: From hydro- + -ic.
Senses: glosses: Characterized by, or requiring, moisture.
examples: text: Hydric environments, a form of extreme environment for trees, are often inhabited by relatively few species.
ref: 1998, John C. Kricher, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation, A Field Guide to Eastern Forests, North America:
topics: business
forestry
glosses: Sufficiently wet to inhibit the survival of many species.
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: Relating to hydrogen.
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
organic-chemistry
physical-sciences
glosses: Relating to alcohols.
Derived terms: cryohydric
dihydric
ectohydric
endohydric
halohydric
heptahydric
hexahydric
hydric acid
isohydric
mesohydric
monohydric
nonhydric
pentahydric
polyhydric
sulfhydric
tellurhydric
tetrahydric
trihydric
becalm
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /bɪˈkɑːm/
ipa: /bɪˈkɑm/
ipa: /bɪˈkɑlm/
ipa: /bɪˈkɔm/
rhymes: -ɑːm
rhymes: -ɑːlm
Forms: form: becalms
form: becalming
form: becalmed
form: becalmed
Etymology: From be- + calm.
Senses: examples: text: […] there is neither house nor landes, nor great store of gold & siluer, nor honor and noblenes of blood, nor greatnes of office, and estate, nor the grace and vehemencie of speach, which doth so much lighten, and so sweetlie becalme the life of man, as an vndefiled conscience […]
ref: 1589, John Clapham, transl., A philosophicall treatise concerning the quietnes of the mind, London: Thomas Newman:
text: Almighty Beauty quite becalms my Rage:
In looking on thee, I forget thy Crimes:
ref: 1717, Delarivier Manley, Lucius, the First Christian King of Britain, London: John Barber, act IV, scene 1, page 39:
text: “Pardon me,” he said, with a quietness that struck the company with a becalming awe.
ref: 1897, Opie Read, chapter 6, in Old Ebenezer, Chicago: Laird & Lee, page 57:
glosses: To make calm or still; make quiet; calm.
examples: text: 1555, Richard Eden (translator), The decades of the newe worlde or west India conteynyng the nauigations and conquestes of the Spanyardes by Peter Martyr d’Anghiera, London: Edward Sutton, “The seconde v[o]yage to Guinea,” p. 351,
[…] there we were becalmed the .xx. day of Nouember from .vi. of the clocke in the mornynge vntyll foure of the clocke at after none.
text: In the following two days, they made fast progress, strong easterly winds driving them down the Channel to where it opened out into the Atlantic; there, they were briefly becalmed.
ref: 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 214:
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: To deprive (a ship) of wind, so that it cannot move (usually in passive).
becket
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbɛkɪt/
rhymes: -ɛkɪt
homophone: Beckett
Forms: form: beckets
Etymology: Compare Dutch bek (“beak”) beak, and English beak.
Senses: topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A short piece of rope spliced to form a circle
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A loop of rope with a knot at one end to catch in an eye at the other end. Used to secure oars etc. at their place.
topics: business
manufacturing
sewing
textiles
glosses: A loop of thread, typically braided, attached at each end to a jacket. Used to pass through the brooch bar of medals to affix them to the jacket without damaging it.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: The clevis of a pulley block.
glosses: An eye in the end of a rope.
examples: text: At the same time, mind, I must have a bit of a frolic occasionally, for that's all the pleasure I has, when I gets a little chink in my becket; and ye know, too, that I don t care much for that stuff, for a dollar goes with me as fur as a gold ounce does with you, when ye put on your grand airs, and shower it about like a nabob.
ref: 1855, Henry Augustus Wise, Tales for the Marines, page 121:
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A pocket in clothing.
glosses: A method of joining fabric, for example the doors of a tent, by interlacing loops of cord (beckets) through eyelet holes and adjacent loops.
examples: text: The tool with which the cesses are dug is called a becket […] It is a wooden spade of a rectangular shape, quite flat, and shod with iron. An iron notch projecting at right angles to the plane of the blade cuts into the peat, and forms the side of the cess. The workman stands above and drives the becket almost vertically into the soft peat.
ref: 1877, Sydney B. J. Skertchly, Geology of the Fenland, page 136:
text: In the earlier time sods or hassocks were dug with a moorland spade, heart-shaped, but about 1856 a tool eighteen inches long and four inches wide, with an iron flange, called a becket was used […] The becket was first used in Isleham Fen and was of smaller dimensions than that used in Burwell Fen, being fourteen inches long and two and a half inches wide.
ref: Frank Meeres (2019), The Story of the Fens
text: He marked four widths of the becket to the left, then thrusting and penetrating for fully 18 inches into the soggy peat, withdrawing and twisting the becket, completing the final thrusting on the back run.
ref: 2019, Frank Meeres, The Story of the Fens:
glosses: A spade for digging turf in the Fens.
examples: text: Cornish choughs, or “beckets”, as they are sometimes known, are seen on Thomas Wolsey’s coat of arms; they are a reference to his namesake, Thomas Becket.
glosses: chough (the bird)
Derived terms: becket bend
becket hitch
chest becket
double becket hitch
steering wheel becket
fighter plane
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: fighter planes
Senses: topics: government
military
politics
war
qualifier: aircraft
glosses: A military aircraft primarily designed to attack enemy aircraft. Frequently shortened to fighter.
Synonyms: fighter
Related terms: fighter bomber
fighter interceptor
stealth fighter
fighter jet