cstr/en-wiktionary-extracted-all huggingface dataset:
swan song
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: swan songs
form: swansong
form: swan-song
Etymology: Calque of German Schwanenlied(from Schwan + Lied) or Schwanengesang; from the belief that the mute swan sings before dying.
Senses: examples: text: Yet, on the whole, our good Saint-Pierre is musical, poetical though most morbid: we will call his Book the swan-song of old dying France.
ref: 1837, Thomas Carlyle, chapter VIII, in The French Revolution: A History […], volume I (The Bastille), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, book II (The Paper Age):
text: In no other way can be explained our sacrifices and martyrdoms. For no other reason did Rudolph Mendenhall flame out his soul for the Cause and sing his wild swan-song that last night of life.
ref: 1908 February 19, Jack London, The Iron Heel, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC:
text: "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court"[…]—a pretentious volume which Mark Twain really considered his last. "It's my swan-song, my retirement from literature permanently," he wrote Howells, though certainly he was young, fifty-four, to have reached this conclusion.
ref: 1916, Albert Bigelow Paine, The Boys' Life of Mark Twain:
text: Je ne parle pas français. That was her swan song for me.
ref: 1918 February (date written), Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “Je ne parle pas français”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, →OCLC, page 114:
text: […]McCartney III could mark the end of his recording career. For a musician as continually prolific as McCartney (this is his 18th solo record), that seems unlikely. But if it is indeed a swan song, McCartney III will stand as a proper coda for the singer-songwriter we’ve been listening to for fifty-odd years: sentimental yet strong, a bit wistful, but as always, looking ahead.
ref: 2020 November 9, Gwen Ihnat, “With McCartney III, Paul McCartney offers lessons from a legendary life”, in The A.V. Club:
text: Merkel’s political and scientific sides slug it out in swan song presser [title]
ref: 2021 July 22, Philip Oltermann, “Merkel’s political and scientific sides slug it out in swan song presser”, in The Guardian:
text: [S]pielberg was keen to stress that The Fabelmans is not a full stop: “It is not because I decided to retire, and this is my swan song, don’t believe that.”
ref: 2022 October 22, Wendy Ide, quoting Steven Spielberg, “‘It’s a way to bring my mum and dad back’: Steven Spielberg on the new wave of cine-memoirs”, in The Guardian:
glosses: A final performance or accomplishment, especially one before retirement.
Synonyms: farewell performance
last hurrah
final act
mute swan
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: mute swans
Etymology: So called because it is not very vocal (though not entirely mute).
Senses: glosses: A species of white plumaged swan, Cygnus olor, having a distinctive orange bill with a black tip, native to Eurasia and widely introduced elsewhere as an ornamental waterbird.
transcending
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: -ɛndɪŋ
Senses: glosses: present participle and gerund of transcend
SoCal
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Senses: glosses: Abbreviation of Southern California.
sabir
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /sɑˈbɪɹ/
ipa: /sɑˈbɪɚ/
ipa: /sɑˈbɪə/
ipa: /səˈbɪə(ɹ)/
rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)
Forms: form: sabirs
Etymology: From Sabir.
Senses: examples: text: My Greek is not the tongue of Homer or Aeschylus but a sloppy ungrammatical sabir lacking Attic salt and tending to a saccharinity which sets my teeth on edge.
ref: 1985, Anthony Burgess, Kingdom of the Wicked:
glosses: a lingua franca
Sabir
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /sɑˈbiɹ/
ipa: /sɑˈbiə/
ipa: /səˈbɪə/
rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)
Forms: form: sabir
Etymology: From Sabir sabir (“know”), in Molière's Le bourgeois gentilhomme, probably from Spanish saber, ultimately from Latin sapere.
Senses: glosses: An Italian-based pidgin language used as the lingua franca of Mediterranean trade from roughly the 11th to the 19th centuries.
Synonyms: Lingua Franca
lingua franca
Mediterranean Lingua Franca
Mediterranean lingua franca
Related terms: Wiktionary’s coverage of Sabir terms
Sabir
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /sɑˈbiɹ/
ipa: /sɑˈbiə/
ipa: /səˈbɪə/
rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)
Forms: form: Sabirs
form: Savir
Etymology: Possibly a native Turkic formation; see Sabir. Cognate to Greek Σαβίνος (Savínos), Σάβιροι (Sáviroi).
Senses: glosses: A member of a (possibly Turkic) people or tribe who lived around the Caspian before the arrival of the Avars.
Sabir
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /sɑˈbiɹ/
ipa: /sɑˈbiə/
ipa: /səˈbɪə/
rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)
Forms: form: Savir
Etymology: Possibly a native Turkic formation; see Sabir. Cognate to Greek Σαβίνος (Savínos), Σάβιροι (Sáviroi).
Senses: examples: text: […] could hardly be anything else but Hungarian. Beyond the Hungarian presence in this polyglot state, there were, he suggested, speakers of Bulğar Turkic, Türk and Sabir (which he viewed as Common Turkic) and various other tongues.
ref: 2007, Peter B. Golden, Haggai Ben-Shammai, András Róna-Tas, The World of the Khazars: New Perspectives, part 8, volume 17, page 14:
glosses: The (probably Turkic) language spoken by these people.
Sabir
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /sɑˈbiɹ/
ipa: /sɑˈbiə/
ipa: /səˈbɪə/
rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)
Etymology: Ultimately from Arabic صَابِر (ṣābir).
Senses: glosses: A male given name from Arabic.
Sabir
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /sɑˈbiɹ/
ipa: /sɑˈbiə/
ipa: /səˈbɪə/
rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)
Senses: glosses: A surname.
Sabir
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /sɑˈbiɹ/
ipa: /sɑˈbiə/
ipa: /səˈbɪə/
rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)
Etymology: From Azerbaijani Sabir or Səbir.
Senses: glosses: Any of several places in Azerbaijan.
hemophobia
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: hemophobias
form: haemophobia
form: hæmophobia
Etymology: From hemo- + -phobia.
Senses: examples: text: With hemophobia, symptoms may be triggered by seeing blood in real life or on television.
ref: 2019 November 22, Ashley Marcin, “What Is Hemophobia?”, in Healthline:
text: However, hemophobia causes much more than discomfort, and someone with this condition will experience highly distressing and disruptive symptoms at the sight of blood.
ref: 2023 August 5, Lisa Fritscher, “Understanding and Overcoming the Fear of Blood”, in Verywell Mind:
synonyms: haematophobia
glosses: Fear of blood.
fineness
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: finenesses
Etymology: From fine + -ness.
Senses: glosses: The quality or degree of being fine.
glosses: The ratio, in a precious metal, of the primary metal to any additives or impurities.
glosses: The ratio of length to width of a ship, aircraft or rocket
Derived terms: overfineness
Minoan
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /mɪˈnəʊən/
rhymes: -əʊən
Etymology: Sir Arthur Evans, not knowing the Minoan term for “Minoan” at the time, coined this name in the early 20th century, from Ancient Greek Μίνως (Mínōs), the mythical king of Crete. The actual name is probably reflected in Egyptian kftjw (perhaps reconstructible as *Káftayu) and Biblical Hebrew כַּפְתּוֹר (Kaftor, “Caphthor”).
Senses: glosses: Of or relating to the civilization that developed in Crete from the neolithic period to the Bronze Age (about 3000-1050 B.C.E.).
glosses: Of or relating to the writing systems (Linear A and Linear B) used in Crete and later in mainland Greece.
glosses: Of or relating to the ancient language of the Minoans which died out by the beginning of the 1st millennium B.C.E.
Minoan
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /mɪˈnəʊən/
rhymes: -əʊən
Forms: form: Minoans
Etymology: Sir Arthur Evans, not knowing the Minoan term for “Minoan” at the time, coined this name in the early 20th century, from Ancient Greek Μίνως (Mínōs), the mythical king of Crete. The actual name is probably reflected in Egyptian kftjw (perhaps reconstructible as *Káftayu) and Biblical Hebrew כַּפְתּוֹר (Kaftor, “Caphthor”).
Senses: glosses: A person who belonged to the Minoan civilization.
Minoan
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /mɪˈnəʊən/
rhymes: -əʊən
Etymology: Sir Arthur Evans, not knowing the Minoan term for “Minoan” at the time, coined this name in the early 20th century, from Ancient Greek Μίνως (Mínōs), the mythical king of Crete. The actual name is probably reflected in Egyptian kftjw (perhaps reconstructible as *Káftayu) and Biblical Hebrew כַּפְתּוֹר (Kaftor, “Caphthor”).
Senses: glosses: The language written in Linear A.
Related terms: Eteocretan
Tracey
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈtɹeɪsi/
rhymes: -eɪsi
Senses: glosses: A surname from Old French, a spelling variant of Tracy.
examples: text: Emily. Em-il-y, three syllables, like a knock on the door of destiny. Such an odd, old-fashioned name, compared to those Kylies and Traceys and Jades — names that reeked of Impulse and grease and stood out in gaudy neon colours —
ref: 2010, Joanne Harris, blueeyedboy, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 102:
glosses: A female given name transferred from the surname, of popular British usage, variant of Tracy.
glosses: A male given name.
Derived terms: Bovey Tracey
respecting
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɹɪˈspɛktɪŋ/
Senses: glosses: present participle and gerund of respect
respecting
Language: English
Part of speech: prep
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɹɪˈspɛktɪŋ/
Senses: examples: text: I wrote to him respecting the proposed lawsuit.
glosses: regarding; considering
quoted
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkwəʊtɪd/
ipa: /ˈkwoʊtɪd/
rhymes: (Received Pronunciation) -əʊtɪd
rhymes: (General American) -oʊtɪd
Senses: glosses: simple past and past participle of quote
Hyponyms: double-quoted
sabkha
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈsæbkə/
ipa: /ˈsæbxə/
ipa: /ˈsɑbkə/
Forms: form: sabkhas
form: sabakha
form: sebkha
form: shebka
form: subkha
form: sabkhah
form: sabkhat
Etymology: Borrowed from Arabic سَبْخَة (sabḵa, “salt flat”).
Senses: topics: geography
geology
natural-sciences
glosses: An area of coastal salt flats, especially in North Africa and Arabia.
Synonyms: chott
stopping
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: stŏpʹĭng
ipa: /ˈstɑpɪŋ/
enpr: stŏpʹĭng
ipa: /ˈstɒpɪŋ/
rhymes: -ɒpɪŋ
Senses: glosses: present participle and gerund of stop
stopping
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: stŏpʹĭng
ipa: /ˈstɑpɪŋ/
enpr: stŏpʹĭng
ipa: /ˈstɒpɪŋ/
rhymes: -ɒpɪŋ
Forms: form: stoppings
Senses: examples: text: constant startings and stoppings
glosses: The act of something that stops; a halt.
examples: text: an amalgam stopping
text: curious antiquaries, sifting the ruins of time, when London is a grass-grown path and all those hurrying along the pavement this Wednesday morning are but bones with a few wedding rings mixed up in their dust and the gold stoppings of innumerable decayed teeth
ref: 1925, Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway, Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., page 23:
text: Then one day a big stopping came out of one of my back teeth.
ref: 1958, Henno Martin, translated by Edward Fitzgerald, The Sheltering Desert, New York: Thomas Nelson, page 125:
topics: dentistry
medicine
sciences
synonyms: filling#Noun
glosses: Material for filling a cavity in a tooth.
topics: business
mining
glosses: A partition or door to direct or prevent a current of air.
examples: 1831-1850, William Youatt, On the Structure and the Diseases of the Horse
The drawing poultices and stoppings of farriers are often highly injurious, instead of abating inflammation .
glosses: A pad or poultice of dung or other material applied to a horse's hoof to keep it moist.
Synonyms: sense: act of something that stops
word: hiatus
word: moratorium
word: recess
word: pause
Derived terms: hot-stopping
nonstopping
non-stopping
pre-stopping
stopping distance
stoppingly
stopping-out
stopping power
stopping service
stopping time
stopping train
th-stopping
enjoying
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɪnˈd͡ʒɔɪ.ɪŋ/
ipa: /ənˈd͡ʒɔɪ.ɪŋ/
ipa: /ɛnˈd͡ʒɔɪ.ɪŋ/
rhymes: -ɔɪɪŋ
Senses: glosses: present participle and gerund of enjoy
blowing
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbləʊ.ɪŋ/
ipa: /ˈblɑː.ɪn/
ipa: /ˈbloʊ.ɪŋ/
rhymes: -əʊɪŋ
Etymology: From Middle English blowynge, blowende, from Old English blāwende, from Proto-Germanic *blēandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *blēaną (“to blow”), equivalent to blow + -ing.
Senses: glosses: present participle and gerund of blow
blowing
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbləʊ.ɪŋ/
ipa: /ˈblɑː.ɪn/
ipa: /ˈbloʊ.ɪŋ/
rhymes: -əʊɪŋ
Forms: form: blowings
Etymology: From Middle English blowynge, blowyng, from Old English blāwung (“blowing”), equivalent to blow + -ing.
Senses: examples: text: the blowings of a trumpet
text: the puffings and blowings of an unfit runner
text: […] the tea had been poured from the cups into the deep saucers from which it would have been drunk with genteel blowings and whiffings, according to the custom of the time.
ref: 2014, Charlotte MacLeod, The Grub-and-Stakers House a Haunt:
glosses: The act of one who blows, or that which blows.
Derived terms: glassblowing
leafblowing
safeblowing
stoneblowing
upblowing
whistleblowing
declaring
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /dɪˈklɛɹɪŋ/
ipa: /dɪˈklɛəɹɪŋ/
Etymology: From Middle English declaring, declarynge, equivalent to declare + -ing (present participle ending).
Senses: glosses: present participle and gerund of declare
declaring
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /dɪˈklɛɹɪŋ/
ipa: /dɪˈklɛəɹɪŋ/
Forms: form: declarings
Etymology: From Middle English declaring, declaryng, declaringe, declarynge, equivalent to declare + -ing (gerund ending).
Senses: glosses: The act of making something known; announcing; proclaiming
allowing
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /əˈlaʊɪŋ/
Senses: glosses: present participle and gerund of allow
refusing
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: rĭfyo͞ozʹĭng
ipa: /ɹɪˈfjuːzɪŋ/
rhymes: -uːzɪŋ
Senses: glosses: present participle and gerund of refuse
securing
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /səˈkjʊɹɪŋ/
ipa: /səˈkjɝɪŋ/
ipa: /səˈkjʊəɹɪŋ/
ipa: /səˈkjɔːɹɪŋ/
rhymes: -ʊəɹɪŋ
Senses: glosses: present participle and gerund of secure
gaining
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɡeɪnɪŋ/
rhymes: -eɪnɪŋ
Senses: glosses: present participle and gerund of gain
gaining
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɡeɪnɪŋ/
rhymes: -eɪnɪŋ
Forms: form: gainings
Senses: examples: text: […] yet, when the Doctor was about it, he might as well have told the public, that my gainings were annually thirty thousand, instead of three […]
ref: 1807, The London Medical and Physical Journal:
glosses: Gain; profit.
Derived terms: gaining twist
maingaining
sebkha
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: /ˈsɛbkə/
/ˈsɛbxə/
Forms: form: sebkhas
Senses: examples: text: And so it was that when the sun came up he looked between two oleanders and saw it reflected red across the miles of glittering salt sebkha that lay between him and the mountains.
ref: 1949, Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky:
glosses: Alternative form of sabkha.
sacring
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: /ˈseɪkɹɪŋ/
Forms: form: sacrings
Etymology: From sacre + -ing.
Senses: glosses: Consecration of the Eucharist.
examples: text: Judaea greeted its monarch. He was to ascend to the immemorial sacring place of millennia of kings, there to be endued with the robe and crown of rule.
ref: 1985 September 1, Anthony Burgess, chapter 3, in The Kingdom of the Wicked, London: Allison & Busby, published 2009, →ISBN, page 266:
glosses: Consecration of a person for holy office, usually a bishop or sovereign.
Derived terms: sacring bell
sacring
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: /ˈseɪkɹɪŋ/
Etymology: From sacre + -ing.
Senses: glosses: present participle and gerund of sacre
sacre
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: sāʹkər
ipa: /ˈseɪkɚ/
Forms: form: sacres
form: sacring
form: sacred
form: sacred
Etymology: From Middle English sacren, sakeren (“to make holy, hallow”), from Old French sacrer (“to hallow, consecrate, anoint, dedicate”), from Latin sacrō (“to make sacred, consecrate”), from sacer (“sacred, holy”), from Proto-Indo-European *sh₂krós (“sacred”), from *seh₂k- (“to sanctify, to make a treaty”).
Senses: examples: text: c.''' 1382-1395, John Wycliffe, Bible (Wycliffe), Exodus 28:41,
And thou schalt clothe Aaron, thi brother, with alle these, and hise sones with hym. And thou schalt sacre the hondis of alle; and thou schalt halewe hem, that thei be set in preesthood to me.
text: And I purpose this night to sacre you all with the Holy Incense.
ref: 1885, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume II, [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC:
text: From the coronation of Louis the Pious in 813 until that of Ferdinand I. in 1531 the sacring of the German kings took place at Aix, and as many as thirty-two emperors and kings were here crowned.
ref: 1911, “Aix-la-Chapelle”, in 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica:
glosses: To consecrate.
sacre
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: sāʹkər
ipa: /ˈseɪkɚ/
Forms: form: sacres
Senses: glosses: Alternative form of saker (“type of cannon”).
sadhu
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈsɑːduː/
ipa: /ˈsæduː/
ipa: /-djuː/
rhymes: -ɑːduː
Forms: form: sadhus
Etymology: From Sanskrit साधु (sādhú, “good; good man, holy man”).
Senses: examples: text: Then again these figures take no account of the thousands of beggars who travel free in India. Many of these are religious "Sadhus", dressed often in nothing but a loin-cloth, or even less, and their bodies smeared with ashes. A large number of these men are nothing but impostors, but the Hindu railway staff usually are afraid to interfere with them.
ref: 1953 November, 'Erca', “Ticket Frauds in the East”, in Railway Magazine, page 778:
text: It was clad in white in the manner of an Indian sadu or holy man, and it was walking barefoot on the grubby pavements.
ref: 1983, Lawrence Durrell, Sebastian (Avignon Qutet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 994:
text: So for the meanwhile I continued with my ritualised observances, obsessively counting the number of steps it took me to walk to any given location, carefully avoiding the cracks in the pavement for fear that the bears of the id might get me, and attending to my bodily functions with the pure metrical devotion of a sadhu.
ref: 1993, Will Self, My Idea of Fun:
glosses: An ascetic or practitioner of yoga (yogi) who has given up pursuit of the first three Hindu goals of life: kama (enjoyment), artha (practical objectives) and even dharma (duty).
calabozo
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: calabozos
Etymology: Borrowed from Spanish calabozo. Doublet of calaboose.
Senses: glosses: calaboose; prison
Webley
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Senses: glosses: An English habitational surname for someone who lived in Weobley in Herefordshire.
wikipedia: Webley
time shifting
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Senses: topics: broadcasting
media
glosses: The practice of recording a broadcast with the intention of watching or listening to it later at a more convenient time.
topics: broadcasting
media
television
glosses: The practice of network affiliates from different time zones of making television programs available at multiple times during the day.
glosses: The correction of the times in a subtitle file.
farts
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /fɑːɹts/
rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)ts
Senses: glosses: plural of fart
farts
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /fɑːɹts/
rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)ts
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of fart
Titusville
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Etymology: From Titus + -ville.
Senses: glosses: A place in the United States:
A neighbourhood of Birmingham, Alabama.
glosses: A place in the United States:
A city, the county seat of Brevard County, Florida, named after Henry T. Titus.
glosses: A place in the United States:
A census-designated place in Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey.
glosses: A place in the United States:
A city in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, named after Jonathan Titus.
glosses: A community in Kings County, New Brunswick, Canada, settled by the Titus family.
clerks
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /klɑː(ɹ)ks/
ipa: /klɝks/
rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)ks
Senses: glosses: plural of clerk
clerks
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /klɑː(ɹ)ks/
ipa: /klɝks/
rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)ks
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of clerk
waitstaff
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: waitstaffs
form: wait staff
form: waiting staff
Etymology: From wait + staff.
Senses: glosses: Collectively, staff employed to wait at tables in a restaurant.
Related terms: waiter
waitress
server
denaturalize
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /diːˈnæt(jə)ɹəlaɪz/
ipa: /diːˈnætʃəɹəlaɪz/
Forms: form: denaturalizes
form: denaturalizing
form: denaturalized
form: denaturalized
form: denaturalise
Etymology: From de- + naturalize.
Senses: examples: text: After the regime fell, the leader was executed and the principal party members were denaturalized and deported.
text: For decades, the US Department of Justice has used a tool to sniff out former Nazis who lied their way into becoming American citizens: a law that allowed the department to denaturalize, or strip, citizenship from criminals who falsified their records or hid their illicit pasts.
ref: 2025 July 4, Hannah Rabinowitz, “Law used to kick out Nazis could be used to strip citizenship from many more Americans”, in CNN:
glosses: To revoke or deny the citizenship of.
examples: text: Henchard was, by original make, the last man to act stealthily, for good or for evil. But the solicitus timor of his love — the dependence upon Elizabeth's love into which he had declined (or, in another sense, to which he had advanced) — denaturalized him.
ref: 1886, Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge:
glosses: To make less natural; to cause to deviate from its nature.
examples: text: One question these scenes pose for cultural theory is whether such depictions denaturalize rape and denormalize masculinist pleasure in viewing sexual violence.
ref: 2018, Lee Quinby, Millennial Seduction: A Skeptic Confronts Apocalyptic Culture, page 139:
glosses: To cease to treat as natural.
Related terms: word: naturalize
word: supernaturalize
word: other
word: expatriate
FoE
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Forms: form: FOE
Senses: glosses: Initialism of Friends of the Earth.
FOE
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Forms: form: FoE
Senses: glosses: Initialism of Friends of the Earth.
glosses: Initialism of Fraternal Order of Eagles.
FOE
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: FoE
Senses: glosses: Initialism of freedom of expression.
glosses: Initialism of forces of evil.
priced
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /pɹaɪst/
rhymes: -aɪst
Senses: glosses: simple past and past participle of price
priced
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /pɹaɪst/
rhymes: -aɪst
Senses: glosses: Having a price of the kind specified.
Derived terms: budget-priced
high-priced
low-priced
mid-priced
priced-off
desensitize
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /diːˈsɛnsɪtaɪz/
ipa: /-ətaɪz/
Forms: form: desensitizes
form: desensitizing
form: desensitized
form: desensitized
form: desensitise
Etymology: From de- (“not, do the opposite of, undo”) + sensitize. First attested in the 1900s.
Senses: examples: text: Working in an Operating Room desensitized me to the sight of blood.
text: […] child pornography is often used by pedophiles and child sexual abusers to stimulate and whet their own sexual appetites, and as a model for sexual acting out with children; such use of child pornography can desensitize the viewer to the pathology of sexual abuse or exploitation of children, so that it can become acceptable to and even preferred by the viewer;[…]
ref: 1997, Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 1997, Washington, D.C.: United States Congress:
glosses: To reduce or eliminate the sensitivity of (someone) or in (something); to become insensitive.
To render (someone) emotionally or sensationally less responsive or irresponsive, as by long or repeated exposure to something.
synonyms: deaden
benumb
stupefy
glosses: To reduce or eliminate the sensitivity of (someone) or in (something); to become insensitive.
To render (a person or animal) nonreactive or insensitive to an allergen.
topics: arts
hobbies
lifestyle
photography
glosses: To reduce or eliminate the sensitivity of (someone) or in (something); to become insensitive.
To render (a photographic plate or film) less sensitive or insensitive to actinic rays of light.
topics: human-sciences
medicine
psychiatry
psychology
sciences
glosses: To reduce or eliminate the sensitivity of (someone) or in (something); to become insensitive.
To free (someone) from the emotional charge of a neurosis or complex.
topics: media
printing
publishing
glosses: To reduce or eliminate the sensitivity of (someone) or in (something); to become insensitive.
To make non-image portions of (a lithographic stone or plate) repellent to ink.
Derived terms: desensitization
desensitizer
desensitizing
nondesensitizing
stencil
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈstɛnsɪl/
ipa: /ˈstɛnsəl/
rhymes: -ɛnsəl
Forms: form: stencils
Etymology: Likely a nominalization of Middle English stencellen (“to garnish with bright hues”), borrowed from Middle French estinceller (“to glisten”), from Old French estenceler (“to spark”), from Old French estencele (“spark”), from Vulgar Latin *stincilla, from metathesis of Latin scintilla (“spark”).
The verb is from the noun.
Senses: examples: text: You do not necessarily need to have a stencil brush to paint over a stencil.
ref: 2015, Margaret Peot, Stencil Craft: Techniques for Fashion, Art and Home, Penguin, →ISBN:
glosses: A thin sheet, either perforated or using some other technique, with which a pattern may be produced upon a surface; a utensil that contains a perforated sheet.
examples: text: In 2013 a damaged stencil of a rat and an image of a girl hugging a bomb were painted over on the walls of a Fitzroy church by the building owner’s father-in-law, who tried to help out by painting the building while house sitting. He did not know the significance of the stencils.
ref: 2016 July 11, Calla Wahlquist, “Banksy stencils destroyed by construction workers in Melbourne”, in The Guardian:
glosses: A pattern produced using such a utensil.
glosses: A two-ply master sheet for use with a mimeograph.
Derived terms: stencil art
stencil buffer
stencil duplicator
stencil work
Related terms: pochoir
stencil
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈstɛnsɪl/
ipa: /ˈstɛnsəl/
rhymes: -ɛnsəl
Forms: form: stencils
form: stenciling
form: stencilling
form: stenciled
form: stenciled
form: stencilled
form: stencilled
Etymology: Likely a nominalization of Middle English stencellen (“to garnish with bright hues”), borrowed from Middle French estinceller (“to glisten”), from Old French estenceler (“to spark”), from Old French estencele (“spark”), from Vulgar Latin *stincilla, from metathesis of Latin scintilla (“spark”).
The verb is from the noun.
Senses: examples: text: Stencilled letters were used for words and phrases, as well as for captions for some of his stencil “prints,” print being used in the sense of a multicolor woodcut.
ref: 2015, William Addison Dwiggins, edited by Dorothy Abbe, Stencilled Ornament and Illustration, Chronicle Books, →ISBN, page 53:
glosses: To print with a stencil.
insensitive
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɪnˈsɛnsɪtɪv/
Forms: form: more insensitive
form: most insensitive
Etymology: From in- + sensitive.
Senses: synonyms: ruthless
uncompassionate
unsensitive
antonyms: compassionate
ruthful
sensitive
glosses: Expressing or feeling little or no concern, care, compassion, or consideration for the feelings, emotions, sentiments, or concerns of other people; inconsiderate or incompassionate.
examples: text: It is something like the way dame Nature gathers round a foreign body an envelope of some insensitive tissue which can protect from evil that which it would otherwise harm by contact.
ref: 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC:
synonyms: anesthetic
insensate
insensible
unsensitive
antonyms: sensate
sensitive
glosses: Not expressing normal physical feeling.
examples: text: 1895, Grant Allen, The British Barbarians
Somehow, when Bertram Ingledew let it once be felt he did not wish to be questioned on any particular point, even women managed to restrain their curiosity: and he would have been either a very bold or a very insensitive man who would have ventured to continue questioning him any further.
text: Oh I really should have known by the time you drove me home, / By the vagueness in your eyes, your casual good-byes, / By the chill in your embrace and the expression on your face, / That told me you might have some advice to give / On how to be insensitive.
ref: 1994, Jann Arden, "Insensitive" (song)
synonyms: word: harsh
word: rude
word: unsensitive
word: aweless
word: bad-mannered
word: barbaric
word: bold
word: bumptious
word: crude
word: churlish
word: discourteous
word: gauche
word: ill-bred
word: ill-mannered
word: impolite
word: incivil
word: insolent
word: lack-grace
word: mismannered
word: rantipole
word: rough
word: rude
word: uncivil
word: uncourteous
word: uncouth
word: uncultured
word: underbred
word: unmannerly
word: unpolished
word: unpolite
word: unrefined
word: callous
word: cold
word: cold-eyed
word: dour
word: flint-hearted
word: forbidding
word: frosty
word: grim
word: hard
word: hard-boiled
word: hardened
word: hardhearted
word: heartless
word: harsh
word: humorless
word: icy
word: iron-hearted
word: insensitive
word: rigorous
word: rockhearted
word: severe
word: stern
word: stonehearted
word: stony
word: stonyhearted
word: strict
word: tough
word: unsympathetic
word: unmoved
antonyms: sensitive
tactful
warm
glosses: Not expressing normal emotional feelings; cold; tactless; undiplomatic.
Derived terms: case-insensitive
insensitively
insensitiveness
insensitivity
mechanoinsensitive
photoinsensitive
radioinsensitive
sid
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Etymology: Shortened from sidiki or sidiqi.
Senses: glosses: sadiki
splenetic
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /spləˈnɛtɪk/
rhymes: -ɛtɪk
Forms: form: splenetics
form: splenetick
Etymology: The adjective form of spleen, borrowed from Late Latin spleneticus, from Latin splen. Anger was traditionally believed to originate from the fluids of the spleen.
Senses: glosses: A person affected with spleen.
versatility
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: vûr′sə-tĭl′ĭ-tē
ipa: /ˌvɜː.səˈtɪl.ɪ.tiː/
ipa: /ˌvɜɹ.səˈtɪl.ɪ.ti/
ipa: /ˌvøː.səˈtəl.ə.tiː/
ipa: /ˌvɛɹ.səˈtɪl.ɪ.ti/
ipa: /ˌvəːʳ.saˈʈɪl.ɪ.ʈiː/
rhymes: -ɪlɪti
Forms: form: versatilities
Etymology: From versatile + -ity.
Senses: examples: text: Those are the sort of women who polish a young man the most, and who give him that habit of complaisance, and that flexibility and versatility of manners which prove of great use to him with men, and in the course of business.
ref: 1749, Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, Letters to His Son 1749
text: We broke up our tests into three categories — performance, durability and versatility — so we could compare the different features of each jacket against the others directly.
ref: 2025 January 3, Kai Burkhardt, “The best rain jackets of 2025, tried and tested”, in CNN:
synonyms: versatileness
;
flexibility
glosses: The property of being versatile or having many different abilities.
Related terms: versatilely
variability
vocalize
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈvoʊ.kə.laɪz/
Forms: form: vocalizes
form: vocalizing
form: vocalized
form: vocalized
form: vocalise
Etymology: From vocal + -ize.
Senses: examples: text: Following the modern spirit, the real poems of the present, ever solidifying and expanding into the future, must vocalize the vastness and splendor and reality with which scientism has invested man and the universe,[…]
ref: 1876, Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, preface to the 1876 edition:
glosses: To express with the voice, to utter.
examples: text: We could hear the monkeys vocalizing, though we could not see them.
glosses: To produce noises or calls from the throat.
raw_tags: of animals
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: To sing without using words.
examples: text: In Hong Kong English, /l/ may be vocalized at the end of a syllable.
topics: human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
glosses: To turn a consonant into a vowel.
topics: human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
glosses: To make a sound voiced rather than voiceless.
topics: human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
glosses: To add vowel points to a consonantal script (e.g. niqqud in Hebrew)
Synonyms: sense: of humans
word: outspeak
Derived terms: vocalization
viability
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌvaɪəˈbɪlɪti/
Forms: form: viabilities
Etymology: From viable + -ity.
Senses: examples: 1904, Hugo DeVries, Species and Varieties, Their Origin by Mutation
Ordinarily these altered organs are sterile, but in some instances a very small quantity of seed is produced, and when testing their viability I succeeded in raising a few plants from them.
1980, Jimmy Carter, State of the Union Address
In making its grants the Endowment will increase its emphasis on techniques which stimulate support for the humanities from non-Federal sources, in order to reinforce our tradition of private philanthropy in this field, and to insure and expand the financial, viability of our cultural institutions and life.
glosses: The property of being viable; the ability to live or to succeed.
sphagnum
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈsfæɡnəm/
rhymes: -æɡnəm
Forms: form: sphagnums
Etymology: From the genus name, which is from Ancient Greek σφάγνος (sphágnos).
Senses: examples: text: [T]he ground up here is waterlogged and riddled with potholes, holes beneath the spongy coral fern, hidden holes throughout the sphagnum.
ref: 1999, Julia Leigh, The Hunter, Faber & Faber 2012, p. 32
synonyms: peat moss
bog moss
glosses: Any of various widely distributed mosses, of genus Sphagnum, which slowly decompose to form peat.
Derived terms: sphagnophilous
sphagnous
logistic function
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: logistic functions
Etymology: Calque of French fonction logistique; see discussion at logistic.
Senses: topics: mathematics
sciences
glosses: A function, the result of the division of two exponential functions, that gives rise to the logistic curve.
Related terms: sigmoid function
trailer park trash
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Senses: examples: text: I didn't wear my “Trailer Park Trash” T-shirt that day.
ref: 1996, Annalee Newitz, White Trash: Race and Class in America:
text: I swear, this whole thing sounds like we're talking about some hillbilly trailer park trash.
ref: 1999, Patricia Jones, Passing:
text: Eric's remark about “trailer park trash” is strictly his. I have some very good friends who live in trailers and they are not trash.
ref: 2004, Sam Warren, Tales from the Tijuana Jails II:
glosses: Alternative form of trailer trash.
luctiferous
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: -ɪfəɹəs
Forms: form: more luctiferous
form: most luctiferous
Etymology: From Latin luctifer (“full of sorrow”) + -ous, from luctus (“sorrow”) + -fer (“bearing”).
Senses: examples: text: The listeners were moved to tears by the luctiferous tolling of the funeral bells.
glosses: mournful
Saracen
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: /ˈsæɹəˌsən/
Forms: form: Saracens
Etymology: From Late Latin Saracenus, from Ancient Greek Σαρακηνός (Sarakēnós) - *Saraka[?] + -ινος. The source of the Greek has long been debated.
* In the 17th-19th centuries, the most widely accepted theory derived it from Arabic شَرْقِيِّين (šarqiyyin, “easterners”), as the Sarakenoi lived to the east of most Semitic peoples of the time.
* Some authors in the 15th-17th centuries derived it from Arabic سَارِقُون (plunderers) (sariqun) (as mentioned in Wikipedia Saracen).
* In the 4th century CE, some authors (e.g. Eusebius) connected it (likely by folk etymology) to the biblical Sarah, claiming that the progeny of Hagar had chosen that name to imitate the nobler roots of Israelites. This might be the source of the pejorative use of the term, and its wide currency.
* Two theories based on place-names point at Saraka in Arabia, or Sarakēnē in Arabia Petrea. The latter, apparently in Sinai, may be related to the Bedouin tribe Sawārke/Sawārika. According to this theory, this was the first Arabic group with whom the Greek writers from Alexandria would have sustained contacts, and it served as a type that was later generalized to all Arabic groups.
Senses: glosses: A member of a nomadic people from the Sinai near the Roman province of Arabia in the early centuries CE, who were specifically distinct from Arabs.
examples: text: We pretend to be Christians, and, from the superior Light we enjoy, ought to exceed Heathens, Turks, Saracens, Moors, Negroes, and Indians, in the Knowledge and Practice of what is right.
ref: 1764, Benjamin Franklin, A Narrative of the Late Massacres:
glosses: A Muslim, especially one involved in the Crusades.
glosses: A pirate in the Mediterranean.
Related terms: Saracenic
sarsen
sarsen stone
Tell el-Amarna
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Senses: glosses: Modern site of the ancient city of Akhetaten in Egypt, built by Akhenaten in honor of the Egyptian deity Aten.
inducing
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: /ɪnˈdjuːsɪŋ/
Senses: glosses: present participle and gerund of induce
inducing
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: /ɪnˈdjuːsɪŋ/
Forms: form: more inducing
form: most inducing
Senses: glosses: That induces; inductive
Derived terms: autoinducing
inducingly
noninducing
osteoinducing
umma
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: ummas
Senses: glosses: Alternative spelling of ummah.
aesthetically
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Forms: form: more aesthetically
form: most aesthetically
form: æsthetically
form: esthetically
Etymology: From aesthetic + -ally.
Senses: examples: text: Amid all the fevered anticipation of this fixture, few would have expected to witness an aesthetically pleasing example of the beautiful game.
ref: 2014 November 14, Stephen Halliday, “Scotland 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Maloney the hero”, in The Scotsman:
glosses: In an aesthetic manner; with a pleasing sensory effect.
countertrade
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: countertrades
Etymology: From counter- + trade.
Senses: qualifier: international trade
glosses: Exchange of goods or services that are paid for, in whole or part, with other goods or services.
Hyponyms: barter
buyback
counterpurchase
offset
switch trading
countertrade
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: countertrades
form: countertrading
form: countertraded
form: countertraded
Etymology: From counter- + trade.
Senses: glosses: To engage in exchanges of this kind.
florid
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈflɒɹɪd/
ipa: /ˈfloɹɪd/
ipa: /ˈflɑɹɪd/
rhymes: -ɒɹɪd
Forms: form: more florid
form: most florid
Etymology: From French floride (“flourishing”), from Latin floridus (“flowery, blooming”). Doublet of Florida.
Senses: glosses: Having a rosy or pale red colour; ruddy.
glosses: Elaborately ornate; flowery.
examples: text: florid psychosis
text: His visions of their plans and his imminent detention were so florid that the reality, wherein he was unharmed and simply sitting in the cab of the RS-80 and continuing his slow work on the road, was far less plausible.
ref: 2019, Dave Eggers, The Parade, N.Y.: Vintage Books, page 107:
qualifier: especially mental
glosses: In a blatant, vivid, or highly disorganized state.
raw_tags: of a disorder
examples: text: Mean while Peregrine guessing the good fortune of his friend, and allured by the attractions of the maid, who was a cleanly florid girl, employed his address to such effectual purpose, that she yielded to his efforts; and he was as happy as such a conquest could make him.
ref: 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:
glosses: Flourishing; in the bloom of health.
Derived terms: floridity
floridly
floridness
overflorid
unflorid
magnetic permeability
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: magnetic permeabilities
Senses: topics: natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
glosses: a measure of the magnetisation of a material in a magnetic field; symbol μ. Materials with values less than 1 are diamagnetic those above are paramagnetic.
BMT
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: BMTs
Senses: examples: text: During the two-hour visit, Mr Ong was briefed by commanders on the BMT curriculum and observed recruits undergoing physical training and using tablets to learn how to strip and assemble their weapons.
ref: 2015 October 14, The Straits Times (Singapore):
text: At the start of BMT, he could manage just two chin-ups; at the end, he was doing more than 20. “My body has toned up a lot,” he says.
ref: 2014 July 27, The Straits Times (Singapore):
text: Bearing arms to defend the country is the primary goal of NS, and that should remain so by sending all recruits for BMT.
ref: 2013 May 28, The Straits Times (Singapore):
text: Two years ago, Phua Shi Hao, 20, spent about $50 preparing for BMT on some of the smaller items at the army market.
ref: 2011 March 25, The New Paper (Singapore):
text: “He was a good pal in BMT, and very hardworking and promising”.
ref: 2009 March 9, The New Paper (Singapore):
glosses: Initialism of basic military training, which includes physical training, where Singaporean males will learn basic skills of a soldier.
examples: text: We knew: People die during the first hundred days of a BMT. Although we would fly to Seattle together, a month later I might bring Jane home in a box—after the new marrow failed to engraft; after an unstoppable infection with no immune system; after liver failure when the new marrow attacked its stranger-body.
ref: 2005, Donald Hall, The Best Day the Worst Day: Life with Jane Kenyon, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, →ISBN, page 102:
topics: medicine
sciences
glosses: Initialism of bone marrow transplant or bone marrow transplantation.
BMT
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Senses: glosses: Initialism of Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation.
Related terms: urls: https://web.archive.org/web/20101126214736/http://nycsubway.org/faq/briefhist.html
word: history of Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation
St. Elmo's fire
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: St. Elmo's fires
form: St Elmo's fire
form: Saint Elmo's fire
form: St. Ulmo's fire
Etymology: After Erasmus of Formia, the patron saint of sailors, also known as St. Elmo.
Senses: examples: text: I can see a new horizon, underneath a blazing sky.
I’ll be where the eagle’s flying, higher and higher!
Gonna be a man in motion, all I need is a pair of wheels.
Take me where the future lies, in St. Elmo’s fire!
ref: 1985 June 23, “St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)”, David Foster, John Parr (lyrics), performed by John Parr:
glosses: An electrical discharge, or corona, seen around pointed objects, caused by ionization of the atmosphere during storms.
wikipedia: Erasmus of Formia
Synonyms: corposant
corpusant
composant
Elmo's fire
St. Elmo's light
witchfire
witch's fire
IRT
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Senses: glosses: Initialism of Interborough Rapid Transit Company.
IRT
Language: English
Part of speech: prep_phrase
Senses: synonyms: WRT#Preposition
glosses: Initialism of in reference to or in regard to.
IRT
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: IRTs
Senses: examples: text: A Soho sweetheart wants the man who injured her husband thrown in front of the IRT.
ref: 1977 April 30, Steve Blevins, “A Sack-full of Films”, in Gay Community News, page 11:
text: Take the IRT to Atlantic and change for the R.
glosses: The subway lines, collectively, formerly run by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company.
glosses: Initialism of item response theory.
glosses: Initialism of investigation and recovery team.
third rail
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: third rails
Senses: examples: text: The system voltage is 630 volts d.c. and the supply to the trains is by top-contact third rail with running rail return.
ref: 1956 October, “Recent Changes on the Tyneside Electrified Lines”, in Railway Magazine, page 659:
text: The locomotive third-rail pick up shoes are of the new standard S.R. type. [...] Whenever the locomotive was working hard there was unmistakable evidence of its higher power than its predecessors in the brilliant and explosive arcing between conductor shoes and the third rail; this was particularly vivid in Quarry Tunnel in the down direction, where the display equalled anything we have seen on the frostiest of nights in an electrified third-rail area.
ref: 1959 March, “The 2,500 h.p. electric locomotives for the Kent Coast electrification”, in Trains Illustrated, page 125:
text: Rumour is abroad that, foiled by the Central T.U.C.C. in its attempt to close the Westerham branch, the Southern Region is considering third-rail electrification of the line with second-hand material. [this never happened and the branch closed later in 1961]
ref: 1961 March, “Talking of trains”, in Trains Illustrated, page 134:
text: Although third-rail operation in the region dates back more than a century, it was in the 1970s that tunnels under Liverpool's city centre opened to bring together previously disparate routes.
ref: 2023 February 8, Tony Streeter, “Kirkdale: home to Merseyrail's new '777s'”, in RAIL, number 976, page 36:
glosses: The electrified rail that runs beside or between train tracks to power electric trains.
examples: text: Today's rapidly developing third rail (at least in some states) is supporting driver's licenses for illegal immigrants, as favored by New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
ref: 2007 November 12, Jonathan Alter, “Congenital Lawyer Redux”, in Newsweek, page 48:
text: Despite ethnic resentment and suspicion, they [Ukraine's leaders] never contemplated breaking up the country. This was the third rail of Ukrainian politics, and very few were willing to touch it. Secession was taboo.
ref: 2014 March 29, Stephen Sestanovich, “Putin's reckless gamble”, in The New York Times:
text: “But I felt that it dodged the subject. I don’t know whether the studio or Chris felt that that was a third rail that they didn’t want to touch, but I want to go straight at the third rail. I’m just stupid that way.”
ref: 2025 July 2, Catherine Shoard, quoting James Cameron, “James Cameron calls Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer a ‘moral cop-out’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
glosses: Anything that is controversial or dangerous to come into contact with, or is best avoided.
Synonyms: conductor rail
live rail
Related terms: fourth rail