cstr/en-wiktionary-extracted-all huggingface dataset:
shore
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: shô
ipa: /ʃɔː(ɹ)/
enpr: shôr
ipa: /ʃɔɹ/
note: rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
enpr: shōrʹ
ipa: /ʃo(ː)ɹ/
note: rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
note: non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
ipa: /ʃoə/
homophone: sure (UK, pour–poor merger)
homophone: Shaw (non-rhotic, horse–hoarse merger)
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)
Forms: form: shores
form: shoring
form: shored
form: shored
Etymology: From Late Middle English shoren (“to prop, to support”) [and other forms], from Middle English shore (“a prop, a support”) (see etymology 2) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive form of verbs); compare Middle Dutch schooren (“to prop up, support”) and Middle Low German schore (“to shovel; to sweep”).
Senses: examples: text: If houses were present these could be used to conceal the mine opening. As the mine progressed the roof was shored with timbers.
ref: 1990, Christopher Gravett, Richard Hook, Medieval Siege Warfare, page 45:
text: Sometimes it's easier to laminate the strips one at a time, shoring each in place only long enough for the epoxy to set.
ref: 1993, Jim Trefethen, Wooden Boat Renovation: New Life for Old Boats using Modern Methods, page 106:
text: These are called shored exit wounds. They are characterized by a broad, irregular band of abrasion of the skin around the exit. In such wounds the skin is reinforced, or "shored," by a firm surface at the instant the bullet exits.
ref: 1999, Vincent J. M. Di Maio, Gunshot Wounds, page 94:
text: It must provide the same degree of protection offered by a complete shoring system. Shoring Excavations Shallow trenches can be shored using wood sheet piling braced by stringers and rakers
ref: 1999, William P. Spence, Carpentry & Building Construction: A Do-It-Yourself Guide, page 14:
synonyms: buttress
reinforce
strengthen
support
glosses: Not followed by up: to provide (something) with support.
examples: text: My family shored me up after I failed the GED.
text: The workers were shoring up the dock after part of it fell into the water.
text: ... but his caravels were so much worm-eaten and shattered by storms that he could not reach that island, and was forced to run them on shore in a creek on the coast of Jamaica, where he shored them upright with spars
ref: 1811, Robert Kerr, A General History of Voyages and Travels to the End of the 18th Century, volume III, page 342:
synonyms: bolster
prop up
glosses: Usually followed by up: to reinforce (something at risk of failure).
Derived terms: word: shore up
word: shorer
word: shoring
word: unshored
word: dogshore
shore
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: shô
ipa: /ʃɔː(ɹ)/
enpr: shôr
ipa: /ʃɔɹ/
note: rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
enpr: shōrʹ
ipa: /ʃo(ː)ɹ/
note: rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
note: non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
ipa: /ʃoə/
homophone: sure (UK, pour–poor merger)
homophone: Shaw (non-rhotic, horse–hoarse merger)
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)
Etymology: See shear.
Senses: examples: text: Then Frodo stepped up to the great grey net, and hewed it with a wide sweeping stroke[…]. The blue-gleaming blade shore through them like a scythe through grass […].
ref: 1954, J R R Tolkien, “Shelob's Lair”, in The Two Towers: The second part of The Lord of the Rings, 2nd edition, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1966, page 331:
synonyms: sheared
glosses: simple past of shear
shore
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: shô
ipa: /ʃɔː(ɹ)/
enpr: shôr
ipa: /ʃɔɹ/
note: rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
enpr: shōrʹ
ipa: /ʃo(ː)ɹ/
note: rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
note: non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
ipa: /ʃoə/
homophone: sure (UK, pour–poor merger)
homophone: Shaw (non-rhotic, horse–hoarse merger)
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)
Forms: form: shores
Etymology: Originally common-shore.
Senses: examples: text: Emptie olde receptacles, or common-shores of filthe.
ref: c. 1607–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, [George Wilkins?], The Late, and Much Admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: […] [William White and Thomas Creede] for Henry Gosson, […], published 1609, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vi]:
text: I need not mention the old common-shore of Rome.
ref: 1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
qualifier: obsolete except Scotland
glosses: A sewer.
shore
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: shô
ipa: /ʃɔː(ɹ)/
enpr: shôr
ipa: /ʃɔɹ/
note: rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
enpr: shōrʹ
ipa: /ʃo(ː)ɹ/
note: rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
note: non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
ipa: /ʃoə/
homophone: sure (UK, pour–poor merger)
homophone: Shaw (non-rhotic, horse–hoarse merger)
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)
Forms: form: shores
form: shoring
form: shored
form: shored
Etymology: Uncertain. The word is attested in Northern English and Scots; the DSL states that schore "to threaten" is attested before 1400 (a corresponding noun schoyr is attested since 1375: "vith gret schoyr and mannasyng" in Barbour's Bruce), and suggests it might ultimately be related to Old Scots schoir "steep (of a crag)", related to shear. Alternatively, it has been suggested that it might be a variant of score or sure and related to assure.
Senses: examples: text: The Gleds might pyked her at the dyke, Before the lads wad shored them off her.
ref: 1810, Robert-Hartley Cromek, Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song: with Historical and Traditional Notices Relative to the Manners and Customs of the Peasantry. Now First Published, page 98:
text: Bess flew till him […] and with her fatal Knife shored she would geld him, For peace that day.
ref: 1866, Allan Ramsay, The Poetical Works, with Selections from the Scottish Poets Before Burns, page 59:
text: ... a' the freits that were begun To shore us ill Shall, in the crackin' of a gun, Flee owre the hill.
ref: 1891, James Logie Robertson, Ochil Idylls: And Other Poems, page 66:
glosses: To threaten or warn unpleasant consequences (for someone); (sometimes) to threaten or warn off or scare away.
examples: text: For a' our tears and sighs are but in vain: Come, help me up; — yon sooty cloud shores rain.
ref: 1733, Allan Ramsay, “A Pastoral on the death of M. Prior”, in Poems: By Allan Ramsay. With New Additions and Notes, page 210:
text: […] the cauld win' louder blew, Shorin' o' drift,[…]
ref: 1860, William Watt, Poems, on sacred and other subjects; and songs, humorous and sentimental ... Third edition of the songs only-with additional songs, page 34:
qualifier: clouds; etc; clouds; etc
glosses: To threaten (to rain).
raw_tags: of weather
examples: text: ... a compliment kindly and decently shored, […]
ref: 1878, David Vedder, Poems, lyrics, and sketches, page 124:
glosses: To offer or present (someone something).
shore
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Pronunciation: enpr: shô
ipa: /ʃɔː(ɹ)/
enpr: shôr
ipa: /ʃɔɹ/
note: rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
enpr: shōrʹ
ipa: /ʃo(ː)ɹ/
note: rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
note: non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
ipa: /ʃoə/
homophone: sure (UK, pour–poor merger)
homophone: Shaw (non-rhotic, horse–hoarse merger)
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)
Forms: form: more shore
form: most shore
Senses: glosses: Pronunciation spelling of sure.
molid
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: molids
Senses: topics: biology
natural-sciences
zoology
glosses: Any fish in the family Molidae.
murg
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Senses: examples: text: “Misled how?” I toss this over in my mind as my fork tosses the murg phall, a suicidally hot Bangalore-style chicken curry designed for masochistic European taste, slowly oxidizing in my plate.
ref: 2010, Donald W. Bacon, Followed by Madness:
topics: Indian-cookery
cooking
cuisine
food
lifestyle
glosses: Alternative form of murgh.
oare
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: oares
Senses: glosses: Obsolete spelling of oar.
scrum
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /skɹʌm/
rhymes: -ʌm
Forms: form: scrums
Etymology: Either a back-formation from or an apocopic form of scrummage, a variant of scrimmage.
Senses: examples: text: A scrum developed around the bar when free beer was announced.
glosses: A tightly packed and disorderly crowd of people.
examples: text: A scrum formed around Scott Brison in the House of Commons lobby shortly after he announced his candidacy for the federal Liberal leadership.
glosses: A tightly packed group of reporters surrounding a person, usually a politician, asking for comments about an issue; an opportunity provided for a politician to be approached this way.
topics: ball-games
games
hobbies
lifestyle
rugby
sports
synonyms: scrumdown
scrummage
glosses: In rugby union or rugby league, all the forwards joined together in an organised way.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
software
glosses: In Agile software development (specifically Scrum or related methodologies), a daily meeting in which each developer describes what they have been doing, what they plan to do next, and any impediments to progress.
examples: text: [A] group of far-right lawmakers tried to mark Jerusalem Day by forcing their way into the street inhabited by the Palestinians listed for eviction. A group of leftist and Arab lawmakers blocked their path, setting off a brief scrum, before at least one far-right lawmaker ... broke through the Arabs' lines."
ref: 2021 May 11, Patrick Kingsley, Isabel Kershner, “After Raid on Aqsa Mosque, Rockets From Gaza and Israeli Airstrikes”, in New York Times:
glosses: Hostile shoving between two groups.
Derived terms: loose scrum
scrum feed
scrum-half
scrum machine
scrum poker
Related terms: maul
ruck
scrum
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /skɹʌm/
rhymes: -ʌm
Forms: form: scrums
form: scrumming
form: scrummed
form: scrummed
Etymology: Either a back-formation from or an apocopic form of scrummage, a variant of scrimmage.
Senses: topics: ball-games
games
hobbies
lifestyle
rugby
sports
glosses: To form a scrum.
Derived terms: scrum up
scrum
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /skɹʌm/
rhymes: -ʌm
Etymology: Either a back-formation from or an apocopic form of scrummage, a variant of scrimmage.
Senses: topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
software
glosses: Alternative letter-case form of Scrum.
short cut
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: short cuts
Senses: examples: text: He added: "We are doing everything we can to complete the Elizabeth Line as quickly as possible, but there are no short cuts to delivering this hugely complex railway.
ref: 2021 November 17, Paul Stephen, “Network News: MPs seek clarification on Crossrail funding shortfall”, in RAIL, number 944, page 28:
glosses: Alternative spelling of shortcut.
alta
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɑːltə/
Senses: glosses: Rose bengal dye worn by Indian women on the feet during festivals.
Related terms: alta-male
licit
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈlɪs.ɪt/
rhymes: -ɪsɪt
Forms: form: more licit
form: most licit
Etymology: From Latin licitus (“lawful”), perfect participle of licet (“[it] is permitted”, impersonal verb).
Senses: examples: text: Undated, Pope Honorius III Solet Annuere (anonymous translator),
Let it not be in any way licit to anyone among men to infringe this page of our confirmation, or to contravene it with rash daring.
text: You seem to have been very much offended because your father talks a little sculduddery after dinner, which it is perfectly licit for him to do, […]
ref: 1896, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Chapter 4”, in Weir of Hermiston:
text: [T]he vanity of efforts to deter humanity from following this licit and highly profitable mobility, clearly indicate the limits of their [leaders'] power.
ref: 2008 July 27, Jeremy Seabrook, “Obama and the illusion of leadership”, in The Guardian:
glosses: Not forbidden by formal or informal rules.
examples: text: The contract validly made and consummated is dissolved by death alone. However, the Church must determine what is required for a valid and licit marriage contract.
ref: 1913, Joseph Selinger, Catholic Encyclopedia, Moral and Canonical Aspect of Marriage:
topics: law
glosses: Explicitly established or constituted by law.
Synonyms: sense: not forbidden
word: lawful
sense: not forbidden
word: appropriate
sense: not forbidden
word: legit
sense: not forbidden
word: legitimate
sense: constituted
word: established
sense: constituted
word: lawful
sense: constituted
word: legal
Derived terms: licitly
licitness
orca
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈoɹkə/
ipa: /ˈɔːkə/
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)kə
Forms: form: orcas
form: orca
Etymology: Learned borrowing from Latin orca (“tun, cask; whale”), see there for more. Although the origin is obscure, the sometimes-cited association with orcus (“underworld”) is folk-etymology. Doublet of orc.
Senses: examples: text: In the summer, when the weather is calm and beautiful, large flocks of orcæ can be seen approaching the shallow places near the shore, or between the numerous islands of the White Sea. Several fishermen associate for hunting orcæ, each one furnishing a boat, and a large seine made of cords of the thickness of a finger, the meshes being 10½ inches square.
ref: 1876, Alexander Schultz, “Account of the Fisheries and Seal-Hunting in the White Sea, the Arctic Ocean, and the Caspian Sea”, in United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Part III. Report of the Commissioner for 1873-4 and 1874-5., Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, page 55:
synonyms: grampus
killer whale
blackfish
glosses: A sea mammal (Orcinus orca) related to dolphins and porpoises, commonly called the killer whale.
Derived terms: orcalike
Southern resident orca
Related terms: ork
orc
jihad
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: jĭ-hăd'
enpr: jĭ-häd
enpr: jə-häd'
enpr: jē'-häd
enpr: jē'-hăd
ipa: /d͡ʒɪˈhæd/
ipa: /d͡ʒɪˈhɑːd/
ipa: /d͡ʒəˈhɑːd/
ipa: /ˈd͡ʒiːhæd/
ipa: /ˈd͡ʒiːhɑːd/
rhymes: -æd
rhymes: -ɑːd
rhymes: -iːhæd
rhymes: -iːhɑːd
Forms: form: jihads
form: jehad
Etymology: From Arabic جِهَاد (jihād, “struggle; effort”).
Senses: examples: text: Young Iraqis of both sects obeyed the imams' ruling last week by rushing to conscription offices in hot, dirty, dusty Bagdad to offer themselves or their money for the jihad.
ref: 1938 August 22, “Holy War”, in Time:
text: Small groups of killers, the scent of blood in their nostrils, now fanned out by taxi, bicycle or even on horseback into the surrounding countryside, spreading the word that a general jihad, or ‘holy war’, had broken out.
ref: 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York: Review Books, published 2006, page 26:
text: The Jabhat al-Nusra media, with songs about jihad and martyrdom, is extremely influential.
ref: 2013 May 8, Mona Mahmood, Ian Black, The Guardian:
topics: Islam
lifestyle
religion
glosses: A holy war undertaken by Muslims.
examples: text: As a result, Amirull has renounced his radical beliefs in armed jihad and the use of violence. He now sees jihad as caring for his parents, improving himself, and contributing to society.
ref: 2023 May 3, “Update on Terrorism-Related Case Under Internal Security Act”, in Internal Security Department (Singapore):
topics: Islam
lifestyle
religion
theology
glosses: A personal spiritual struggle for self-improvement and/or against evil.
examples: text: And now, the prophecy. One will come, the voice from the outer world, bringing the holy war, the jihad, which will cleanse the universe and bring us out of darkness.
ref: 1984, 41:18 from the start, in Dune (Science Fiction), spoken by Reverend Mother Ramallo, →OCLC:
glosses: An aggressive campaign for an idea.
Derived terms: Butlerian jihad
counterjihad
cyberjihad
jihadi
jihadic
jihadisation
jihadise
jihadism
jihadist
jihadistic
jihadization
jihadize
jihobbyist
Love Jihad
Related terms: mujahid
jihad
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: jĭ-hăd'
enpr: jĭ-häd
enpr: jə-häd'
enpr: jē'-häd
enpr: jē'-hăd
ipa: /d͡ʒɪˈhæd/
ipa: /d͡ʒɪˈhɑːd/
ipa: /d͡ʒəˈhɑːd/
ipa: /ˈd͡ʒiːhæd/
ipa: /ˈd͡ʒiːhɑːd/
rhymes: -æd
rhymes: -ɑːd
rhymes: -iːhæd
rhymes: -iːhɑːd
Forms: form: jihads
form: jihading
form: jihaded
form: jihaded
form: jehad
Etymology: From Arabic جِهَاد (jihād, “struggle; effort”).
Senses: glosses: To participate in a jihad.
Related terms: crusade
holy war
infidel
jehad
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: jehads
Senses: examples: text: [Their] courage in war […] had not, like that of the Mohammedan dervishes of the Sudan, or of Mohammedans anywhere engaged in a jehad, a religious motive and the promise of future bliss behind it.
ref: 1897, James Bryce, Impressions of South Africa:
glosses: Alternative spelling of jihad.
shopworn
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈʃɒpwɔː(ɹ)n/
Forms: form: more shopworn
form: most shopworn
Etymology: From shop + worn.
Senses: examples: text: The handbag looks nice, but shopworn.
glosses: Having been used, as a sample item in a retail store.
glosses: Faded.
examples: text: New York is positioned as the third protagonist—literally, as the characters repeatedly tell each other. Recycled aerial footage of the city underlines just how generic this particular insight is. The whole film is like that, its dialogue constantly poking fun and calling attention to the shopworn conventions.
ref: 2014 June 26, A. A. Dowd, “Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler Spoof Rom-Com Clichés in They Came Together”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 07 Dec 2017:
text: Musk is our avatar of infinite possibility, our usher to the remade world, where shopworn practices are cast aside and the unprecedented becomes logical, where Earth and humanity can still be saved.
ref: 2021 December 13, Molly Ball, Jeffrey Kluger, Alejandro de la Garza, “Elon Musk: Person of the Year 2021”, in Time, archived from the original on 13 Dec 2021:
synonyms: word: banal
word: bromidic
word: quotidian
word: clichéd
word: commonplace
word: cookie-cutter
word: corny
word: dog-eared
word: everyday
word: hackneyed
word: hoary
word: meh
word: overdone
word: pat
word: played out
word: prosaic
word: shopworn
word: stale
word: stock
word: threadbare
word: timeworn
word: tired
word: trite
word: unoriginal
word: vapid
word: warmed-over
word: well-worn
glosses: Not fresh; tired or cliché.
junkie
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈd͡ʒʌŋki/
rhymes: -ʌŋki
Forms: form: junkies
form: junky
Etymology: From junk (“narcotic drug”) + -ie.
Senses: examples: text: Rats in the front room, roaches in the back / Junkies in the alley with a baseball bat
ref: 1982, “The Message”, performed by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five:
text: It's wiser to say no / God made me a junkie / But Satan told me so
ref: 2023, “Strung Out Johnny”, in Every Loser, performed by Iggy Pop:
synonyms: word: drug addict
word: addict
word: abuser
word: fiend
word: slave
word: wastoid
glosses: A narcotics addict, especially a heroin user.
examples: text: English people are travel junkies, but Americans hardly ever leave their state.
text: My uncle is a classic-car junkie.
synonyms: word: aficionado
word: enthusiast
word: addict
word: buff
word: aficionado
word: amateur
word: enthusiast
word: devotee
word: fancier
word: fan
word: fiend
word: freak
word: junkie
word: maniac
word: votary
word: zealot
glosses: An enthusiast of something.
Derived terms: adrenaline junkie
cyberjunkie
junkiedom
junkiehood
junkieness
momentum junkie
technojunkie
tuna junkie
junky
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Forms: form: junkier
form: junkiest
Etymology: From junk + -y.
Senses: examples: 1970-1975, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure
I took my jewelry box & made a bracelet for J from an old broken necklace & the clasp from a junky pink charm bracelet.
glosses: Resembling or characteristic of junk; cheap, worthless, or of low quality.
examples: text: We really need to clear out the junky basement.
glosses: Full of junk.
Derived terms: junkily
junkiness
junky
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: junkies
Etymology: From junk + -y.
Senses: glosses: Alternative spelling of junkie.
cubby
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kʌbi/
ipa: /ˈkʊbi/
rhymes: -ʌbi
Forms: form: cubbies
Etymology: From Middle English cub (“stall”) + -y (diminutive suffix). Cognate with French cagibi.
Senses: glosses: A small, confined space.
examples: text: It’s standard for Norwegian kindergartens to have rows of cubbies just inside the door, each storing layers of spare clothes, including rain and snow gear and boots and mittens.
ref: 2024, Jackie Mader, In Norway, having a joyful, secure childhood is a right enshrined into law, in: The Christian Science Monitor, October 15 2024
synonyms: pigeonhole
glosses: A cell in a shelf for storing items, particularly in a school.
Derived terms: cubbyhole
cubby hole
cubby house
ditz
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /dɪts/
rhymes: -ɪts
Forms: form: ditzes
Etymology: Back-formation from ditzy.
Senses: examples: text: It’s clear Belle Delphine is playing a character: the empty-headed gamer girl ditz who floats around spreading love and magic wherever she goes,” says Vito.
ref: 2019 July 11, Ej Dickson, quoting Vito Gesualdi, “Is Belle Delphine, a.k.a. Bathwater Gamer Girl, the Greatest Troll On the Internet?”, in Rolling Stone:
synonyms: airhead
glosses: A scatterbrained person, especially a woman.
ditzy
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdɪtsi/
rhymes: -ɪtsi
Forms: form: ditzier
form: ditziest
form: ditsy
Etymology: Since early 1800s commonly used by Pennsylvania Dutch (Penslfawnisch Deitsch); possibly a borrowing from dialectal German dutzig, also dützig, ditzig (“numb, dazed, dizzy, as after having been punched; dull, stupid”), from dialectal dutzen (“to butt, hit, punch”). Compare German verdutzt (“dumbfounded”) and regional Dötsche (“bump, dent, bruise”). Unlikely, an alteration of dizzy, of American origin.
Senses: examples: text: The guy tossed some cash on the counter, then left with the ditzy girl and Abigail's fan.
ref: 2011, Ellen Block, The Definition of Wind: A Novel, Bantam, →ISBN, page 31:
text: […] —and she'd smile like a primly mischievous Japanese girl, or like some slyly ditzy ingenue on a talk show, all the while watching her interrogator try to fathom (though sometimes they were pretty dim and just said, “Oh”) the surprising cleverness of her answer.
ref: 2013, Francisco Goldman, The Long Night of White Chickens, Grove Press, Seven
text: After hiring a crew of young guys and gals including loyal Jo, unlucky-in-love Frankie, strapping Bob, wisecracking Dee Dee, ditzy blonde Jonesy and titian-haired Penny, the gang drives up to the lodge.
ref: 2015, Thomas Lisanti, Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959–1969, McFarland, →ISBN, page 262:
glosses: Silly or scatterbrained, usually of a young woman.
Derived terms: ditz
ditzily
ditziness
ditsy
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Forms: form: ditsier
form: ditsiest
Senses: examples: text: All the author’s familiar trademarks are here: a multitudinous cast with ditsy, Dickensian names; […]
ref: 2013 September 10, Michiko Kakutani, “A Calamity Tailor-Made for Internet Conspiracy Theories”, in New York Times:
glosses: Alternative spelling of ditzy.
ditsy
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Forms: form: more ditsy
form: most ditsy
Etymology: Unknown, possibly a variation on dicty
Senses: glosses: Tending to fuss over small details
glosses: Of a pattern on an item of repeated small objects, often floral
breaking news
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Senses: examples: text: Breaking news may contain incomplete information, factual errors, or poor editing because of a rush to publication.
text: There is also breaking news that the delayed Crossrail project in London cannot be completed without a further £80 million injection of funds.
ref: 2020 December 2, Industry Insider, “The costs of cutting carbon”, in Rail, page 76:
glosses: News that has either just happened or is currently happening.
Related terms: in other news
this just in
NSFW
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Forms: form: more NSFW
form: most NSFW
Senses: examples: text: Molinier dolls, wrapped in their haimet stockings, on the other hand, always welcome—no matter which way their buttocks are turned, whether to the front or the back, NSFW, no matter, as long as their vaginas know what's behind them—the big fight
ref: 2005 November, Tom Whalen, “Doll With Chili Pepper.”, in Fiction International., volume 38, →ISSN, page 140:
text: Whose utopia is this? Smart phone applications for porn, Grindr, sex available unbound by time or space—except for the dictates of NSFW [Not Safe For Work].
ref: 2012 Jan/Feb, Corey, Frederick, Nakayama, Thomas, “deathTEXT.”, in Western Journal of Communication, volume 76, page 21:
text: Over the years, Bryant has made it clear he does not care for Skip Bayless, most recently sending a NSFW tweet at the longtime media personality in 2020 in response to Bayless' criticism...
ref: 2025 January 5, Hladik, Matt, thespun.com, Former Cowboys Star Reacts To Accusation Against Skip Bayless.:
antonyms: SFW
work-safe
glosses: Initialism of not safe for work; i.e., containing inappropriate or adult content (e.g. pornography or profanity) that may be unsuitable for public, formal or controlled environments, such as at work.
Derived terms: NSFWer
NSFWish
Related terms: word: NSFL
word: NSFM
word: NSFT
ruby: R
アール
1
じゅう
8
はち
alt: āru-jūhachi
word: R-18
impotent
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɪm.pə.tənt/
ipa: /ˈɪm.pə.tɪnt/
note: Indic
ipa: /ɪmˈpoʈəɳʈ/
note: Indic
ipa: /ˈɪmpɵʈəɳʈ/
Forms: form: more impotent
form: most impotent
Etymology: From Old French impotent, from Latin impotēns, from in- (expresses negation) + potēns (“powerful”).
Senses: synonyms: feeble
puny
weak
glosses: Lacking physical strength or vigor; weak
examples: text: Technology without morality is barbarous; morality without technology is impotent
ref: 1984, Freeman J. Dyson, Weapons and Hope:
synonyms: helpless
powerless
glosses: Lacking in power, as to act effectively; helpless
examples: text: A person smeared with the excrement of a mouse was rendered impotent, according to Pliny the Elder.
ref: 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 158:
glosses: Incapable of sexual intercourse, often because of an inability to achieve or sustain an erection, having impotentia coeundi.
glosses: Sterile
raw_tags: of a male
examples: text: Then, impotent of tongue (her ſilence broke) / Thus turbulent in rattling tone ſhe ſpoke.
ref: a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The First Book of Homer’s Ilias”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 444:
synonyms: incontinent
glosses: Lacking self-restraint
Derived terms: impotently
impotentness
nonimpotent
self-impotent
Related terms: impotence
impotent
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɪm.pə.tənt/
ipa: /ˈɪm.pə.tɪnt/
note: Indic
ipa: /ɪmˈpoʈəɳʈ/
note: Indic
ipa: /ˈɪmpɵʈəɳʈ/
Forms: form: impotents
Etymology: From Old French impotent, from Latin impotēns, from in- (expresses negation) + potēns (“powerful”).
Senses: synonyms: wet noodle
antonyms: priapist
glosses: A man who has erectile dysfunction
glosses: An impotent or powerless person
ant-
Language: English
Part of speech: prefix
Senses: examples: antacid
glosses: A variant form of anti- used before a vowel.
examples: antumbra
glosses: A variant form of ante- used before a vowel.
Derived terms: antacid
antaphrodisiac
Antarctic
antarthritic
antasthmatic
Related terms: ant
anti-
apud
Language: English
Part of speech: prep
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈæpəd/
Etymology: From Latin apud (“at, by, in the presence of, in the writings of”).
Senses: examples: Jones apud Smith means that the original source is Jones, but that the author is relying on Smith for that reference.
glosses: Used in scholarly works to cite a reference at second hand
caddie
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkædi/
ipa: /ˈkædi/
ipa: [-ɾi]
ipa: /ˈkɑdi/
homophone: caddy
homophone: cattie
homophone: catty stripped-by-parse_pron_post_template_fn
rhymes: -ædi
Forms: form: caddies
form: caddying
form: caddieing
form: caddied
form: caddied
form: caddy
Etymology: The noun is borrowed from Scots caddie (“military cadet; young man; ragamuffin; person engaged to run errands; person hired to assist a golfer”), from French cadet (“army cadet; younger sibling”), from capdet (“captain; chief”) (Gascony, archaic), from Late Latin capitettum, from Latin caput (“head”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“head”). Doublet of cadel, cadet, capital, capitellum, and caudillo.
The verb is derived from the noun.
Senses: examples: text: We took turns caddying, one caddying, two playing. We went out across the river to the teeing ground of the first hole.
ref: 1897 (date written), Paul T. B. Ward, quotee, “19th Hole: The Readers Take Over”, in Sports Illustrated, volume 19, number 4, Chicago, Ill.: Time Inc., published 22 July 1963, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 60:
text: The next day the thirty-two qualifying players were paired off into sixteen sets of opponents. Charlotte was matched against a girl from California. After the first few minutes, the result was never in doubt. "Take it easy, miss," said the highly gratified Mr. Ogilvie, who was caddying for Charlotte. "You hold her in the hollow of your hand."
ref: 1917 July, George Weston, chapter VI, in The Apple-tree Girl: The Story of Little Miss Moses, who Led Herself into the Promised Land, Philadelphia, Pa.; London: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, published 1918, →OCLC, page 100:
text: The scheme had been, if I remember, that after lunch I should go off and caddy for Honoria on a shopping tour down Regent Street; but when she got up and started collecting me and the rest of her things, Aunt Agatha stopped her.
ref: 1923 May 17, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “Introducing Claude and Eustace”, in The Inimitable Jeeves, Harmondsworth, Middlesex [London]: Penguin Books, published 1979, →ISBN, page 63:
topics: golf
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: Chiefly followed by for: to serve as a caddie (noun sense 2) for a golfer.
caddie
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkædi/
ipa: /ˈkædi/
ipa: [-ɾi]
ipa: /ˈkɑdi/
homophone: caddy
homophone: cattie
homophone: catty stripped-by-parse_pron_post_template_fn
rhymes: -ædi
Forms: form: caddies
Etymology: A variant of caddy (etymology 1).
Senses: glosses: Alternative spelling of caddy.
collie
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkɒli/
ipa: /ˈkɑli/
rhymes: -ɒli
homophone: colly
Forms: form: collies
form: colley
form: colly
Etymology: Perhaps originally from coal, with reference to its colour; compare colly and collier. More at Wikipedia at collie § Name.
Senses: glosses: Any of various breeds of dog originating in Scotland and England as sheepdogs
wikipedia: Collie#Name
Derived terms: Bearded Collie
border collie
collie eye anomaly
collielike
collie-shangie
toy collie
forebear
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfɔːˌbɛə/
ipa: /ˈfɔɹˌbɛɚ/
Forms: form: forebears
form: forbear
form: forebeer
Etymology: Late 15th century, from fore- + beer (“one who is or exists”, literally “be-er”).
Senses: examples: text: One day, among the days, he bethought him of this and fell lamenting for that the most part of his existence was past and he had not been vouchsafed a son, to inherit the kingdom after him, even as he had inherited it from his fathers and forebears; by reason whereof there betided him sore cark and care and chagrin exceeding.
ref: 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 566:
text: [1906] 2004, Memoirs of the Lord of Joinville, Ethel Wedgwood tr.
Sirs, I am quite sure that the King of England's forbears rightly and justly lost the conquered lands that I hold […]
text: One does not take one’s family name therefrom, and again the position of the mother in that group is determined through her father and his male forbears in turn; this too is a patrilineal group.
ref: [1936] 2004, Raymond William Firth, We the Tikopia http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=Eiji-EnuhXUC&pg=PA345&lpg=PA345&sig=aB2VV0fcWv6lkQPQatQQbDhlm_8
text: THE LONDON BRIGHTON & SOUTH COAST RAILWAY. By C. Hamilton Ellis. Ian Allan. 30s. [...] In the course of its pages the author runs through the whole gamut of the locomotives that have during the period under review run on the rails of the L.B. & S.C. and its forebears.
ref: 1960 December, “New reading on railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 776:
text: Beginning with the bald declaration “I think I was cold in the womb,” the speaker in “The Forbears” then decides that his brother (who died soon after birth) must also have been cold in the womb, like his grandfather John and the forbears who antedated John.
ref: 1997, H. L. Hix, Understanding W. S. Merwin:
text: Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet.
ref: 2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18:
hypernyms: predecessor
glosses: An ancestor.
forebear
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfɔːˌbɛə/
ipa: /ˈfɔɹˌbɛɚ/
Forms: form: forebears
form: forebearing
form: forebore
form: foreborne
Senses: glosses: Obsolete spelling of forbear.
rampage
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɹæmpeɪd͡ʒ/
Forms: form: rampages
Etymology: From Scots rampage, equivalent to ramp + -age. Perhaps influenced by Middle English rampnen (“to force, ram”), from Old English *hrampian, from Proto-West Germanic *hrampōn (“to obstruct, hinder”), see ramp.
Senses: examples: text: Blast after blast, fiery outbreak after fiery outbreak, like a flaming barrage from within,[…]most of Edison's grounds soon became an inferno. As though on an incendiary rampage, the fires systematically devoured the contents of Edison's headquarters and facilities.
ref: 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 1, in Internal Combustion:
glosses: A course of violent, frenzied action.
examples: text: Great card he was. Waltzing in Stamer street with Ignatius Gallaher on a Sunday morning, the landlady's two hats pinned on his head. Out on the rampage all night.
ref: 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses:
glosses: Wild partying, typically a drinking binge
Derived terms: on the rampage
rampage
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɹæmpeɪd͡ʒ/
Forms: form: rampages
form: rampaging
form: rampaged
form: rampaged
Etymology: From Scots rampage, equivalent to ramp + -age. Perhaps influenced by Middle English rampnen (“to force, ram”), from Old English *hrampian, from Proto-West Germanic *hrampōn (“to obstruct, hinder”), see ramp.
Senses: examples: text: In the hip science of ultrasmall nanotechnology, fantastical future possibilities like rampaging nanorobots capture the most attention, but the first fruits of the field have been more mundane: tiny bits of mostly ordinary stuff that just sit there.
ref: 2005 February 22, Kenneth Chang, “Tiny Is Beautiful: Translating 'Nano' Into Practical”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 03 Feb 2021:
text: It is a sunny morning in Amman and the three uniformed judges in Jordan’s state security court are briskly working their way through a pile of slim grey folders on the bench before them. Each details the charges against 25 or so defendants accused of supporting the fighters of the Islamic State (Isis), now rampaging across Syria and Iraq under their sinister black banners and sending nervous jitters across the Arab world.
ref: 2014 November 27, Ian Black, “Courts kept busy as Jordan works to crush support for Isis”, in The Guardian:
glosses: To move about wildly or violently.
Derived terms: go on the rampage
Related terms: ramp
rampant
scone
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: skŏn
enpr: skōn
ipa: /skɒn/
ipa: /skəʊn/
enpr: skōn
enpr: skŏn
ipa: /skoʊn/
ipa: /skɑn/
rhymes: -ɒn
rhymes: -əʊn
Forms: form: scones
Etymology: Originally Scots, possibly from Middle Low German schö̂ne (“fine flour bread”), or Middle Dutch schoonbroot (“fine bread; a kind of flat angular loaf”), from schoon (“fine”) + broot (“bread”); alternatively, Scottish Gaelic sgonn (“lump, mouthful”).
Senses: examples: text: On Wednesdays I go shopping / And have buttered scones for tea
ref: 1975 [1969], “The Lumberjack Song”, performed by Monty Python:
text: Well, that's all right, then, Brian. Sit down. Have a scone. Make yourself at home. You klutz!
ref: 1979, Monty Python's Life of Brian, spoken by Reg (John Cleese):
glosses: A small, rich, pastry or quick bread, sometimes baked on a griddle.
examples: text: Dinner rolls and deep-fried crusty scones that border on loaf-size or juicy fruit pies tagged with county-fair blue ribbons rise from backroad eating sites.
ref: 1993, Ann Whiting Orton, “A Fork in the Road: Mom-and-Pop Eateries in Far Reaches of Utah Offer Som of the Finest Fair”, in Deseret News:
qualifier: Utah; Idaho; Utah; Idaho
glosses: Frybread served with honey butter spread on it.
examples: text: …the white ball left a 5cm gash on his scone despite a floppy white hat absorbing some of the impact.
ref: 2011 February 2, “Power hitting Pakistani leaves mark on lensman”, in Hawke's Bay Today:
text: After Essendon coach James Hird tumbled off his bike and hit his scone on the unforgiving South Yarra terrain on Monday night, the chances are he was administered the Cogstate concussion test.
ref: 2015 July 15, “Cogstate can count on rich pipeline of cognitive test trials”, in The Australian:
glosses: The head.
Derived terms: dropped scone
drop scone
feed two birds with one scone
girdle scone
potato scone
sconut
Related terms: tattie scone
tatty scone
scone
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: skŏn
enpr: skōn
ipa: /skɒn/
ipa: /skəʊn/
enpr: skōn
enpr: skŏn
ipa: /skoʊn/
ipa: /skɑn/
rhymes: -ɒn
rhymes: -əʊn
Forms: form: scones
form: sconing
form: sconed
form: sconed
Etymology: Originally Scots, possibly from Middle Low German schö̂ne (“fine flour bread”), or Middle Dutch schoonbroot (“fine bread; a kind of flat angular loaf”), from schoon (“fine”) + broot (“bread”); alternatively, Scottish Gaelic sgonn (“lump, mouthful”).
Senses: examples: ref: 2004 December 3, “Sconed by a space rock - and then the headaches started”, in The Sydney Morning Herald:
glosses: To hit on the head.
wizened
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɪzənd/
ipa: /ˈwɪzənd/
ipa: /ˈwaɪzənd/
rhymes: -ɪzənd
Etymology: From wizen + -ed.
Inherited from Middle English wisenen, from Old English wisnian, weosnian, from Proto-Germanic *wisnōjaną. Cognate with Icelandic visna.
Senses: glosses: simple past and past participle of wizen
wizened
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɪzənd/
ipa: /ˈwɪzənd/
ipa: /ˈwaɪzənd/
rhymes: -ɪzənd
Forms: form: more wizened
form: most wizened
Etymology: From wizen + -ed.
Inherited from Middle English wisenen, from Old English wisnian, weosnian, from Proto-Germanic *wisnōjaną. Cognate with Icelandic visna.
Senses: examples: text: "Ill-fard, crazy, crack-brained gowk, that she is!" exclaimed the housekeeper. . . "If it hadna been that I am mair than half a gentlewoman by my station, I wad hae tried my ten nails in the wizen'd hide o' her!"
ref: 1816, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 8, in Old Mortality:
text: He was old, too, wizened with age, and the hair on his face was gray.
ref: 1907, Jack London, chapter 7, in Before Adam:
text: In the simple fable about old age reconciling itself to memory and destiny, Mastroianni wears the wizened smile of a man who knows he is visiting his youth for the last time.
ref: 2010 May 13, Richard Corliss, “Cannes: Best-Ever Film by a 101-Year-Old Man”, in Time, retrieved 05 Oct 2013:
glosses: Withered; lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness.
billow
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbɪləʊ/
ipa: /ˈbɪloʊ/
ipa: /ˈbɪləʊ/
ipa: /ˈbɪləʉ/
rhymes: -ɪləʊ
Forms: form: billows
Etymology: From Middle English *bilowe, *bilewe, *bilwe, *bilȝe, borrowed from Old Norse bylgja, from Proto-Germanic *bulgijō. Cognates include Danish bølge (“wave”), Norwegian Bokmål bølge (“wave”), Norwegian Nynorsk bylgje (“wave”), German Low German Bulge, Bulg, Bülg (“billow, wave”), German Bulge (“billow, wave”).
Senses: examples: text: […] Whom the winds waft where'er the billows roll, / From the world's girdle to the frozen pole;
ref: 1782, William Cowper, “Expostulation”, in Poems by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq.:
text: The snow fell hissing in the brine, / And the billows frothed like yeast.
ref: 1842, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Wreck of the Hesperus”, in Ballads and Other Poems:
text: But at that moment he is sprung upon by a panther billow leaping over the bulwarks. Wave after wave thus leaps into the ship […]
ref: 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 9:
text: The banners outflame the blazing morn, / O'er billows of bayonet, sword, and spear.
ref: 1864, Frank Moore, Songs of the Soldiers, page 238:
text: And the brooklet has found the billow / Though they flowed so far apart.
ref: 1873, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Brook and the Wave”, in Birds of Passage:
text: 1893 August, Rudyard Kipling, "Seal Lullaby", in "The White Seal", National Review.
Where billow meets billow, there soft be thy pillow; / Ah, weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease!
text: Have the swirling sands engulfed them, on a noon of storm when the desert rose like the sea, and rolled its tawny billows on the walled gardens of the green and fragrant lands?
ref: 1922, Clark Ashton Smith, The Caravan:
glosses: A large wave, swell, surge, or undulating mass of something, such as water, smoke, fabric or sound
Derived terms: billow maiden
billowous
billowsome
billowy
billow
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbɪləʊ/
ipa: /ˈbɪloʊ/
ipa: /ˈbɪləʊ/
ipa: /ˈbɪləʉ/
rhymes: -ɪləʊ
Forms: form: billows
form: billowing
form: billowed
form: billowed
Etymology: From Middle English *bilowe, *bilewe, *bilwe, *bilȝe, borrowed from Old Norse bylgja, from Proto-Germanic *bulgijō. Cognates include Danish bølge (“wave”), Norwegian Bokmål bølge (“wave”), Norwegian Nynorsk bylgje (“wave”), German Low German Bulge, Bulg, Bülg (“billow, wave”), German Bulge (“billow, wave”).
Senses: examples: text: During the preceding afternoon a heavy North Pacific fog had blown in … Scudding eastward from the ocean, it had crept up and over the redwood-studded crests of the Coast Range mountains, […], billowing steadily eastward, it had rolled up the western slopes of the Siskiyou Range, […]
ref: 1920, Peter B. Kyne, chapter 2, in The Understanding Heart:
text: The nuns' veils billowed and flapped behind the snaky line of girls as if the sisters were shooing the serpent from the Garden of Eden.
ref: 1942, Emily Carr, “Chain Gang”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC:
text: The black clouds of mercury vapour constantly billowing from the hatter's workshops and out into the streets must have been a horrifying sight.
ref: 2015, Alison Matthews David, Fashion Victims: The Damages of Dress Past and Present, →ISBN, page 59:
text: A section of the Koryo Hotel, one of the oldest and best known hotels in Pyongyang, caught fire on Thursday, sources who witnessed the fire in the North Korean capital told Reuters.
Images obtained by Reuters showed plumes of black smoke billowing from the bridge connecting the two 43-storey towers of the 143-metre (469-feet) structure, which lies a short distance from Pyongyang's bustling train station and the Taedong river that cuts through the city.
ref: 2015 June 12, James Pearson, “Popular Pyongyang tourist spot the Koryo Hotel catches fire”, in Andrew Hay, Paul Tait, editors, Reuters, sourced from SEOUL (Reuters), archived from the original on 29 Jul 2024, World:
glosses: To surge or roll in billows.
examples: text: Her new green flowered-muslin dress spread its twelve yards of billowing material over her hoops and exactly matched the flat-heeled green morocco slippers her father had recently brought her from Atlanta.
ref: 1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, chapter I, in Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, 1944, →OCLC:
text: She had changed her auburn hair. Instead of wearing it in a billowing puff over her brow, she had gathered it into a ponytail, secured with a length of yellow yarn.
ref: 1983, Peter De Vries, chapter 9, in Slouching Towards Kalamazoo, page 125:
glosses: To swell out or bulge.
Derived terms: billowingly
embillow
bylaw
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbaɪ.lɔː/
ipa: /ˈbaɪ.lɔ/
ipa: /ˈbaɪ.lɑ/
Forms: form: bylaws
form: by-law
form: byelaw
form: bye-law
form: byrlaw
form: birley
form: birlie
form: birlaw
form: burlaw
form: bourlaw
Etymology: From Middle English bylawe, bilawe, partly from Old English bīlage (“bylaw”) and partly from a variant of Middle English byrelawe, birlawe, from Old Norse býjar (“town's; settlement's”) + lǫg (“laws; jurisdiction”). Byrlaw is attested earlier in English but is unattested in Old Norse and the cognates in Scandinavian languages follow the development of bylaw: Danish bylov (“municipal law”), Swedish bylag and byalag.
Senses: glosses: A local custom or law of a settlement or district.
synonyms: word: ordinance
glosses: A rule made by a local authority to regulate its own affairs.
synonyms: word: ordinance
glosses: A rule made by a local authority to regulate its own affairs.
A numbered provision within such kind of legislation.
glosses: A law or rule governing the internal affairs of an organization (e.g., corporation or business).
Related terms: bylaw officer
flit
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /flɪt/
rhymes: -ɪt
Forms: form: flits
Etymology: From Middle English flitten, flytten, from Old Norse flytja (“to move”), from Proto-Germanic *flutjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd- (“to flow; run”).
Cognate Icelandic flytja, Swedish flytta, Danish flytte, Norwegian flytte, Faroese flyta. Compare also Saterland Frisian flitskje (“to rush; run quickly”).
Senses: glosses: A fluttering or darting movement.
examples: text: I did a flit, as the landlord was due to arrive to collect the rent.
text: let's do a moonlight flit, if the loanshark catches us here tomorrow without the money to pay our debts, he'll break our fingers.
glosses: A sudden departure from a property.
examples: text: My computer just had a flit.
topics: natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
glosses: A particular, unexpected, short lived change of state.
examples: text: The other end of the bar was full of flits. They weren't too flitty-looking—I mean they didn't have their hair too long or anything—but you could tell they were flits anyway.
ref: 1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, chapter 18, in The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC:
glosses: A homosexual.
Derived terms: do a flit
do a moonlight flit
moonlight flit