cstr/en-wiktionary-extracted-all huggingface dataset:
crucial
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkɹuː.ʃəl/
rhymes: -uːʃəl
Forms: form: more crucial
form: most crucial
Etymology: 1706, from French crucial, a medical term for ligaments of the knee (which cross each other), from Latin crux, crucis (“cross”) (English crux), from the Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, to bend”).
The meaning “decisive, critical” is extended from a logical term, Instantias Crucis, adopted by Francis Bacon in his influential Novum Organum (1620); the notion is of cross fingerboard signposts at forking roads, thus a requirement to choose.
Senses: examples: text: The battle of Tali-Ihantala in 1944 is one of the crucial moments in the history of Finland.
text: A secure supply of crude oil is crucial for any modern nation, let alone a superpower.
text: The perfume industry is facing a major problem: maintaining constant levels of quality is crucial, but it is increasingly difficult to obtain a regular supply of all the necessary natural ingredients.
ref: 2014 March 7, Nicole Vulser, “Perfume manufacturers must cope with the scarcity of precious supplies”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 190, number 13, page 30:
text: Vocabulary provides a foundation from which grammar, phonology, and morphology emerge, and in a subject area it provides access to conceptual knowledge. Vocabulary selection for pedagogical purposes is therefore crucial.
ref: 2018, Clarence Green, James Lambert, “Advancing disciplinary literacy through English for academic purposes: Discipline-specific wordlists, collocations and word families for eight secondary subjects”, in Journal of English for Academic Purposes, volume 35, →DOI, page 106:
text: Language is crucial because it is the best weapon against violence. When children don’t have the words to express their thoughts, they raise their fists.
ref: 2021 October 1, A Falun Dafa practitioner in France, “Using Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to Guide My Young Students”, in Minghui:
synonyms: word: big
word: central
word: consequential
word: critical
word: crucial
word: epochful
word: essential
word: extraordinary
word: fateful
word: fatefraught
word: fatesome
word: heavy
word: pivotal
word: high on the totem pole
word: historic
word: innegligible
word: key
word: life-or-death
word: meaningful
word: necessary
word: noted
word: noticeable
word: observable
word: outstanding
word: paramount
word: pertinent
word: relevant
word: remarkable
word: salient
word: significant
word: unignorable
word: valuable
word: vital
word: weighty
antonyms: noncrucial
glosses: Essential or decisive for determining the outcome or future of something; extremely important; vital.
synonyms: noncruciform
glosses: Cruciform or cruciate; cross-shaped.
examples: text: Delbert Wilkins is the most crucial pirate radio DJ in Brixton.
qualifier: Bermuda
glosses: Very good; excellent; particularly applied to reggae music.
Derived terms: crucial experiment
cruciality
crucially
crucialness
noncrucial
Related terms: cross
crux
crusader
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kɹuːˈseɪdə/
ipa: /kɹuˈseɪdɚ/
rhymes: -eɪdə(ɹ)
Forms: form: crusaders
Etymology: From crusade + -er.
Senses: examples: text: Tony's face expressed relief, and Nettie sat silent for a moment until the vicar said “It was a generous impulse, but it may have been a momentary one, while in the case of monk and crusader there must have been a sustaining purpose, and possibly a great abnegation, a leaving of lands and possessions.”
ref: 1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 20, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC:
text: the crusaders of the Middle Ages
glosses: A fighter or participant in the medieval Crusades.
glosses: A person engaged in a crusade.
examples: 1998, Osama Bin Ladenhttps://irp.fas.org/world/para/docs/980223-fatwa.htm
Second, despite the great devastation inflicted on the Iraqi people by the crusader-Zionist alliance, and despite the huge number of those killed, which has exceeded 1 million... despite all this, the Americans are once against trying to repeat the horrific massacres, as though they are not content with the protracted blockade imposed after the ferocious war or the fragmentation and devastation.
topics: Islam
government
lifestyle
politics
religion
glosses: An American, especially a soldier or leader who wages war against Islamist militants.
topics: Islam
government
lifestyle
politics
religion
glosses: A Westerner; a Christian, especially of European descent or a missionary.
topics: Islam
government
lifestyle
politics
religion
glosses: (either attributively or in the plural) The United States and its Western allies.
Derived terms: caped crusader
crusader complex
crusaderism
crusaderist
crusaderlike
crusadery
crystallization
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌkɹ̠ɪstəlaɪˈzeɪʃən/
rhymes: -eɪʃən
Forms: form: crystallizations
form: crystallisation
form: crystalization
Etymology: From crystal + -ization.
Senses: glosses: The act or process by which a substance in solidifying assumes the form and structure of a crystal, or becomes crystallized.
examples: text: Silver on precipitation forms arborescent crystallizations.
glosses: The body formed by crystallizing.
glosses: The formation of a solid from a solution, melt, vapour or from a different solid phase
glosses: The process or the result of becoming more definite or precise.
Derived terms: anticrystallization
biocrystallization
cocrystallization
cryptocrystallization
decrystallization
fractional crystallization
nanocrystallization
post-crystallization
precrystallization
recrystallization
water of crystallization
culmination
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌkʌl.mɪˈneɪ.ʃən/
ipa: /ˌkʌl.məˈneɪ.ʃən/
ipa: /ˌkal.mɪˈnæɪ.ʃən/
rhymes: -eɪʃən
Forms: form: culminations
Etymology: Borrowed from French culmination, from culminer, or from Medieval Latin culminatus + -tion. Morphologically culminate + -ion.
Senses: topics: astronomy
natural-sciences
glosses: The attainment of the highest point of altitude reached by a heavenly body; passage across the meridian; transit.
glosses: An endpoint arrived at after some series of actions or events, or some period, usually after the series or period has ended. The sum of something.
glosses: An attainment or arrival at the highest pitch of glory, power, etc.
topics: education
coordinate_terms: word: graduation
english: high school
translation: high school
glosses: A ceremony marking the completion of studies at an elementary school, middle school or junior high school.
Derived terms: nonculmination
Related terms: culminate
cultivation
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌkʌltɪˈveɪʃən/
rhymes: -eɪʃən
Forms: form: cultivations
Etymology: From Medieval Latin cultivātus, perfect passive participle of cultivō, + -ion, or Middle French cultivation. By surface analysis, cultivate + -ion.
Senses: examples: text: The cultivation of these valleys dates back thousands of years.
glosses: The art or act of cultivating (improvement of land for or by agriculture), as:
Tillage: plowing, sowing and raising crops.
examples: text: The cultivation of the hillside led to soil erosion.
glosses: The art or act of cultivating (improvement of land for or by agriculture), as:
Light tillage: turning or stirring the soil, especially for weed control.
coordinate_terms: no-till
no-tillage
examples: text: These fields are in cultivation.
glosses: The state of being cultivated or used for agriculture
examples: text: His steadfast cultivation of their relationship finally bore fruit.
glosses: Devotion of time or attention to the improvement of (something)
examples: text: She is a woman of great cultivation.
glosses: Advancement or refinement in physical, intellectual, or moral condition
Synonyms: sense: art or act of cultivating
word: tillage
sense: advancement or refinement in condition
word: refinement
sense: advancement or refinement in condition
word: culture
sense: advancement or refinement in condition
word: education
Derived terms: cocultivation
cultivational
cultivation theory
incultivation
microcultivation
miscultivation
multicultivation
noncultivation
overcultivation
precultivation
recultivation
self-cultivation
shifting cultivation
subcultivation
uncultivation
Related terms: cultivar
cultivate
cultivator
cumulation
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌkjuːm.jəˈleɪ.ʃən/
rhymes: -eɪʃən
Forms: form: cumulations
Senses: examples: text: The cumulation and toleration of medicines.
ref: 1859, The Veterinarian, volume XXXII-V, fourth series, page 82:
text: The Cumulation of Methylmercury and Phenylmercury Species on Alga.
ref: 1982, Journal of the Indian Chemical Society, volume 59, page 1329:
text: Very improbable structures readily arise through the cumulation of small alterations.
ref: 1997, Graham Bell, The basics of selection, page 15:
text: Changes in internal boundaries can also occur more frequently and can complicate cumulations of data for cities [...]
ref: 2004, Leslie Kish, Statistical design for research, page 186:
glosses: Synonym of accumulation.
synonyms: word: accumulation
examples: text: Cumulation is a deviation from the principle that goods must be produced entirely in the country of exportation, or have undergone sufficient working or processing there, in order to qualify as originating goods. Cumulation makes it possible for goods from a free trade partner to be treated the same as those originating in the country of exportation.
ref: 2013, Switzerland Federal Department of Finance, http://www.ezv.admin.ch/pdf_linker.php?doc=Die_Kumulation_in_den_Freihandelsabkommen&lang=en
glosses: The effect of free trade agreements on the rules of origin in calculating importation tariffs, quotas, etc.
Related terms: accumulation
customary
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkʌs.tə.m(ə.)ɹi/
ipa: /ˈkʌs.təˌmɛɹ.i/
Forms: form: more customary
form: most customary
Etymology: From Middle English custumary, from Medieval Latin custumarius. By surface analysis, custom + -ary.
Senses: examples: text: At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour of the Salutation Inn, High Holborn, contained most of its customary visitors.[…]In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass.
ref: 1892, Walter Besant, chapter III, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:
text: When two people met for the first time in Diaspar—or even for the hundredth—it was customary to spend an hour or so in an exchange or courtesies before getting down to business, if any.
ref: 1956, Arthur C. Clarke, The City and the Stars, page 39:
text: "If you're accused of profiling or pretextual stops, you can bring your daily logbook to court and document that pulling over motorists for 'stickler' reasons is part of your customary pattern," Remsberg writes, "not a glaring exception conveniently dusted off in the defendant's case."
ref: 2019, Malcolm Gladwell, Talking to Strangers:
text: As Trevor Corson, author of “The Story of Sushi” explains, in Japan, sushi is typically eaten at a bar, where it’s customary for the customer to chat with the chef, who can recommend what’s in season. The short window during which the fish is fresh also makes it more likely to be tastier in Japan.
ref: 2023 June 15, Rebecca Wallwork, “‘You had to be there’: Foods that taste better on home turf”, in CNN:
synonyms: conventional
habitual
glosses: In accordance with, or established by, custom or common usage.
examples: text: customary tenants
text: The tenants are chiefly customary and heriotable.
ref: 1777, Joseph Nicolson, Richard Burn, The history and antiquities of the counties of Westmorland and Cumberland:
glosses: Holding or held by custom.
Synonyms: wont
Derived terms: customarily
customariness
customary international law
customary marriage
customary unit
noncustomary
uncustomary
Related terms: consuetude
costumal
costume
custom
customer
customization
customize
customary
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkʌs.tə.m(ə.)ɹi/
ipa: /ˈkʌs.təˌmɛɹ.i/
Forms: form: customaries
Etymology: From Middle English custumary, from Medieval Latin custumarius. By surface analysis, custom + -ary.
Senses: topics: law
glosses: A book containing laws and usages, or customs; a custumal.
Derived terms: court customary
cuvette
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kjuˈvɛt/
rhymes: -ɛt
Forms: form: cuvettes
Etymology: Borrowed from French cuvette.
Senses: glosses: a pot, bucket, or basin, in which molten plate glass is carried from the melting pot to the casting table
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: a cunette
examples: text: The cell / DNA mixtures were nucleoporated in 1 cm transfection cuvettes according to a predefined program on the Nucleofactor.
ref: 2015 August 15, “Spatial and Temporal Control of Cavitation Allows High In Vitro Transfection Efficiency in the Absence of Transfection Reagents or Contrast Agents”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI:
qualifier: analytical chemistry
glosses: a small vessel with at least two flat and transparent sides, used to hold a liquid sample to be analysed in the light path of a spectrometer
glosses: an inner lid of a timepiece
Derived terms: autocuvette
electrocuvette
hemocuvette
microcuvette
nucleocuvette
dally
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdæli/
homophone: DALY
rhymes: -æli
Forms: form: dallies
form: dallying
form: dallied
form: dallied
Etymology: From Middle English dalien, from Anglo-Norman delaier. Doublet of delay.
Senses: examples: text: I wish, grave governor, 'twere in my power / To favour you; but 'tis my father's cause, / Wherein I may not, nay, I dare not dally.
ref: c. 1589–1590 (date written), Christopher Marlo[we], edited by Tho[mas] Heywood, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Iew of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published 1633, →OCLC, (please specify the page):
text: […] after we by our presumptuous delays have put off God, and dallied with his grace; […]
ref: a. 1692, Isaac Barrow, The Danger and Mischief of Delaying Repentance:
text: […] we have trifled too long already about a matter of such infinite moment, it is perfect Madness to dally any longer. […]
ref: a. 1726, Benjamin Calamy, “A Sermon Preach'd on Ash-Wednesday”, in J. Calamy, editor, Sermons Preached Upon Several Occasions:
synonyms: word: dawdle
word: dilly-dally
word: arse about
word: arse around
word: bludge
word: bum around
word: cabbage
word: clown around
word: dally
word: dawdle
word: dick about
word: dick around
word: diddle
word: dilly-dally
word: dretch
word: drumble
word: faff
word: faff about
word: faff around
word: fanny about
word: fanny around
word: fart about
word: fart around
word: fiddle about
word: fiddle around
word: fool about
word: fool around
word: footle
word: forslow
word: goof around
word: goof off
word: hang about
word: hang around
word: hang out
word: horse around
word: idle
word: jerk off
word: lallygag
word: lamp
word: laze
word: laze about
word: laze around
word: linger
word: loaf
word: loaf about
word: loaf around
word: loiter
word: lollop
word: lollygag
word: mess around
word: mill about
word: mill around
word: muck about
word: muck around
word: piddle
word: pingle
word: stand by
word: tarry
word: tool around
word: waste time
word: while
glosses: To waste time in trivial activities, or in idleness; to trifle.
examples: text: Not dallying with a Brace of Curtizans,
ref: c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], page 191, column 2:
text: 2024, The November Nethack Tournament achievements
Dally with a foocubus
synonyms: word: feel up
word: grope
word: touch up
word: canoodle
word: caress
word: chuckle
word: coax
word: cosset
word: dally
word: dandle
word: dawt
word: faddle
word: feel up
word: fond
word: fondle
word: grabble
word: grope
word: nantle
word: pet
word: pettle
word: shift
word: smuggle
word: tiddle
word: touch up
glosses: To caress, especially of a sexual nature; to fondle or pet
synonyms: kill time
glosses: To delay unnecessarily; to while away.
Derived terms: dallier
dallyingly
dilly-dally
undallying
dally
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdæli/
homophone: DALY
rhymes: -æli
Forms: form: dallies
Etymology: Possibly from Spanish dale vuelta (“twist it around”) by law of Hobson-Jobson, from dale + la + vuelta.
Senses: examples: text: What matters is now if he tied hard and fast, / Or tumbled his steer with a dally.
ref: 1947, Bruce Kiskaddon, Rhymes and Ranches:
glosses: Several wraps of rope around the saddle horn, used to stop animals in roping.
dally
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdæli/
homophone: DALY
rhymes: -æli
Forms: form: dallies
form: dallying
form: dallied
form: dallied
Etymology: Possibly from Spanish dale vuelta (“twist it around”) by law of Hobson-Jobson, from dale + la + vuelta.
Senses: examples: text: The end of the top rope he dallied around the gooseneck trailer hitch.
ref: 2003, Jameson Parker, An Accidental Cowboy, page 89:
glosses: To wind the lasso rope (ie throw-rope) around the saddle horn (the saddle horn is attached to the pommel of a western style saddle) after the roping of an animal
dally
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdæli/
homophone: DALY
rhymes: -æli
Forms: form: dallies
Senses: examples: text: We have known Mazagon and long-pod Beans to be thrown out of a dally, because they were full of seed!
ref: 1872, J. Frederick Pogson, Indian Gardening, page 19:
glosses: Alternative form of dolly (“offering of fruit or flowers”).
damnation
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /dæmˈneɪʃən/
rhymes: -eɪʃən
Forms: form: damnations
Etymology: From Middle English dampnacioun, from Old French dampnacion, from Latin damnatio.
Senses: glosses: The state of being damned; condemnation; openly expressed disapprobation.
topics: lifestyle
religion
glosses: Condemnation to everlasting punishment in the future state, or the punishment itself.
Synonyms: word: tarnation
Derived terms: damnation of memory
nondamnation
predamnation
damnation
Language: English
Part of speech: intj
Pronunciation: ipa: /dæmˈneɪʃən/
rhymes: -eɪʃən
Etymology: From Middle English dampnacioun, from Old French dampnacion, from Latin damnatio.
Senses: examples: text: Oh damnation! The window doesn't shut!
glosses: Expressing annoyance or disappointment; damn; dammit.
dandelion
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdæn.dɪˌlaɪ.ən/
ipa: /ˈdæn.dəˌlaɪ.ən/
Forms: form: dandelions
Etymology: From Middle English dentdelyon, from Old French dent de lion (“lion's tooth”), also in Latin dēns leōnis, referring to the jagged shape of the plant's leaves. The term is now rare in French (together with liondent, calque from Germanic), but compare Spanish diente de león, Portuguese dente-de-leão, Italian dente di leone, German Löwenzahn, Norwegian Bokmål løvetann, Welsh dant y llew, all descendants, calques, or loan translations of the Latin term.
Senses: examples: text: the sanguine hue of the poppy and the hibiscus, the gold of the daisy and dandelion, the dark green of the sorrage on either side, and the blue and purple of the blossoming mulberry and sycamore
ref: 1910, Joseph Richardson Parke, The Wizard of the Damavant: A Tale of the Crusades, page 151:
text: There are asexual variants among all sorts of creatures, including jellyfish, dandelions, lichens and lizards.
ref: 2018 April 24, John Launer, “Do We Even Need Men?”, in Literary Hub:
glosses: Any of the several species of plant in the genus Taraxacum, characterised by yellow flower heads and notched, broad-ended leaves, especially the common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale).
glosses: The flower head or fruiting head of the dandelion plant.
glosses: A yellow colour, like that of the flower.
Hyponyms: word: Taraxacum albidum
word: a white-flowering Japanese dandelion
word: Taraxacum californicum
word: the endangered California dandelion
word: Taraxacum japonicum
word: Japanese dandelion. No ring of smallish
word: downward-turned leaves under the flowerhead
word: Taraxacum kok-saghyz
word: Russian dandelion
word: which produces rubber
word: Taraxacum erythrospermum
word: often considered a variety of Taraxacum laevigatum
word: Taraxacum laevigatum
word: red-seeded dandelion
word: achenes reddish brown and leaves deeply cut throughout length. Inner bracts' tips are hooded.
alt: syn. Taraxacum officinale subsp. vulgare
word: Taraxacum officinale
word: common dandelion. Found in many forms.
Derived terms: blue dandelion
Bolander's mock dandelion
dandelion and burdock
dandelion clock
dandelion coffee
dandelion greens
dandelionlike
dandelion salad
dandelion seed
dandelion tea
dandelion wine
dandelion yellow
desert dandelion
dwarf dandelion
fall dandelion
false dandelion
Italian dandelion
Kazakh dandelion
Russian dandelion
dandelion
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdæn.dɪˌlaɪ.ən/
ipa: /ˈdæn.dəˌlaɪ.ən/
Etymology: From Middle English dentdelyon, from Old French dent de lion (“lion's tooth”), also in Latin dēns leōnis, referring to the jagged shape of the plant's leaves. The term is now rare in French (together with liondent, calque from Germanic), but compare Spanish diente de león, Portuguese dente-de-leão, Italian dente di leone, German Löwenzahn, Norwegian Bokmål løvetann, Welsh dant y llew, all descendants, calques, or loan translations of the Latin term.
Senses: glosses: Of a yellow colour, like that of the flower.
Related terms: clock
goatsbeard
hawk's beard
kok-saghyz
oxtongue
pissabed
Taraxacum
Darwinism
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdɑːwɪnɪzəm/
Forms: form: Darwinisms
Etymology: From Darwin + -ism, coined by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1860.
Senses: glosses: Various concepts of development or evolution popularised by Charles Darwin's publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859.
glosses: The principles of natural selection set out in Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859), more strictly defined by August Weismann and developed by other authors into a central part of the modern evolutionary synthesis.
Synonyms: Darwinianism
Derived terms: social Darwinism
Related terms: Darwinian
Darwinist
Darwinistic
Darwinistically
natural selection
Nobel Prize
survival of the fittest
daze
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /deɪz/
rhymes: -eɪz
homophone: days
Forms: form: dazes
Etymology: From Middle English, back-formation from dazed.
Compare dasask (“to become weary”), with reflexive suffix -sk, Swedish dasa (“lie idly”), and Icelandic dasask (“to make weary with cold”). Also compare Proto-Germanic *dusāną, to slumber.
Alternatively from Middle Dutch dasen (“act silly”).
Senses: examples: text: He was in a daze.
synonyms: spin
glosses: The state of being dazed
topics: business
mining
glosses: A glittering stone.
Derived terms: blue daze
daze
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /deɪz/
rhymes: -eɪz
homophone: days
Forms: form: dazes
form: dazing
form: dazed
form: dazed
Etymology: From Middle English, back-formation from dazed.
Compare dasask (“to become weary”), with reflexive suffix -sk, Swedish dasa (“lie idly”), and Icelandic dasask (“to make weary with cold”). Also compare Proto-Germanic *dusāną, to slumber.
Alternatively from Middle Dutch dasen (“act silly”).
Senses: examples: Near-synonyms: confuse, benumb
coordinate_terms: dazzle#Verb
blind#Verb
glosses: To stun or stupefy, for example with bright light, with a blow, with cold, or with fear.
Derived terms: adaze
bedaze
dazen
dazingly
dazy
dazzle
dean
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /diːn/
ipa: [diːn]
ipa: [dĩːn]
enpr: dēn
rhymes: -iːn
homophone: deen
homophone: dene
homophone: 'dine
homophone: Dean
Forms: form: deans
Etymology: From Middle English den, deen (“dean”), from Anglo-Norman deen and continental Old French deien (modern French doyen), from Latin decānus. Doublet of doyen.
Senses: examples: text: Lucretius versus the Lake Poets ' Nature I loved ; and next to Nature , Art . '
Dean , adult education may seem silly .
What of it though ? I got some willy - nilly
The other evening at your college deanery .
And grateful for it ( Let's not be facetious!)[…]
ref: 1995 October 24, Robert Frost, Richard Poirier, Robert Frost: Collected Poems, Prose, & Plays (LOA #81) (DE-601)374069697: Library of America series), Library of America, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 357:
glosses: A senior official in a college or university, who may be in charge of a division or faculty (for example, the dean of science) or have some other advisory or disciplinary function (for example, the dean of students).
glosses: A dignitary or presiding officer in certain church bodies, especially an ecclesiastical dignitary, subordinate to a bishop, in charge of a chapter of canons.
examples: text: dean of the diplomatic corps - a country's most senior ambassador
text: dean of the House - the longest-serving member of a legislature
text: All of the switchboard operators had been parties to it, including Marie Willis. Their dean, Alice Hart, collected[…]
ref: 1955 October 19, Rex Stout, The Next Witness, Three Witnesses, 94 Bantam, →ISBN, page 67:
glosses: The senior member of some group of people.
Synonyms: sense: Head of cathedral chapter
word: provost
Derived terms: archdean
dean and chapter
deanery
deaness
Dean of the Arches
deanship
rural dean
subdean
undean
Related terms: word: decanal
alt: doublet
word: doyen
dean
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /diːn/
ipa: [diːn]
ipa: [dĩːn]
enpr: dēn
rhymes: -iːn
homophone: deen
homophone: dene
homophone: 'dine
homophone: Dean
Forms: form: deans
form: deaning
form: deaned
form: deaned
Etymology: From Middle English den, deen (“dean”), from Anglo-Norman deen and continental Old French deien (modern French doyen), from Latin decānus. Doublet of doyen.
Senses: glosses: To serve as a dean.
qualifier: otherwise rare
glosses: To send (a student) to see the dean of a college or university.
dean
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /diːn/
ipa: [diːn]
ipa: [dĩːn]
enpr: dēn
rhymes: -iːn
homophone: deen
homophone: dene
homophone: 'dine
homophone: Dean
Forms: form: deans
Etymology: Related to den.
Senses: qualifier: Sussex
glosses: A hill.
raw_tags: in place names
dean
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /diːn/
ipa: [diːn]
ipa: [dĩːn]
enpr: dēn
rhymes: -iːn
homophone: deen
homophone: dene
homophone: 'dine
homophone: Dean
Forms: form: deans
Senses: glosses: Alternative form of dene.
raw_tags: in place names
debacle
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /deɪˈbɑː.kəl/
ipa: /dɛˈbɑː.kəl/
ipa: /dɪˈbɑ.kəl/
ipa: /dəˈbɑ.kəl/
ipa: /deɪˈbɑ.kəl/
rhymes: -ɑːkəl
Forms: form: debacles
form: débâcle
form: debâcle
form: débacle
Etymology: From French débâcle, from débâcler (“to unbar; unleash”) from prefix dé- (“un-”) + bâcler (“to dash, bind, bar, block”) [perhaps from unattested Middle French and Old French *bâcler, *bacler (“to hold in place, prop a door or window open”)], from Vulgar Latin *bacculare, from Latin baculum (“rod, staff used for support”), from Proto-Indo-European *bak-.
Also attested in Old French desbacler (“to clear a harbour by getting ships unloaded to make room for incoming ships with lading”) and in Occitan baclar (“to close”).
The hypothesised derivation from Middle Dutch *bakkelen (“to freeze artificially, lock in place”), a frequentative of bakken (“to stick, stick hard, glue together”) no longer seems likely due to the lack of attestation of *bakkelen in Middle Dutch and by it having the limited meaning of "freeze superficially" in Dutch.
Senses: examples: text: The event proved to be a great debacle for the partisans of this prognosticator.
ref: 1952, Boaz Cohen, Epistle to Yemen, translation of original by Maimonides, page 5:
text: The result is a military approach which maximizes political tensions with Russia […] and lays the ground for a military debacle.
ref: 1996, Richard L. Canby, “SOF: An Alternative Perspective on Doctrine”, in Schultz et al, editor, Roles And Missions of SOF In The Aftermath Of The Cold War, page 188:
text: The BP Prudhoe Bay debacle [the Prudhoe Bay oil spill] thus provides but the latest in a long line of reasons why leasing this region of the NPR-A is a bad idea.
ref: 2007, “Statement by Peter Van Tuyn”, in BP pipeline failure: hearing before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, page 46:
synonyms: fiasco
glosses: An event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously, often with humiliating consequences.
examples: text: […] so that in extreme cases the latter may even be dammed up for a time, and a debacle be the consequence, when the main river overcomes the resistance opposed to it, […]
ref: 1836, Henry De La Beche, How to Observe: Geology, page 69:
text: For several months after the debacle just described, the river Dranse, having no settled channel, shifted its position continually […]
ref: 1837, John Lee Comstock, Outlines of Geology, page 51:
text: When this débâcle commences […], the masses of ice, drifting with the current and unable to pass, are hurled upon those already soldered together; thus an enormous barrier is formed […]
ref: 1872, Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, page 425:
topics: geography
geology
natural-sciences
glosses: A breaking up of a natural dam, usually made of ice, by a river and the ensuing rush of water.
debarkation
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /diːbɑːˈkeɪʃən/
rhymes: -eɪʃən
Forms: form: debarkations
Senses: glosses: Disembarkation.
debilitation
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /dɪbɪlɪˈteɪʃən/
rhymes: -eɪʃən
Forms: form: debilitations
Etymology: From Middle French débilitation.
Senses: glosses: The act or process of debilitating, or the condition of one who is debilitated; weakness.
decapitation
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /dɪˌkæp.ɪˈteɪ.ʃən/
ipa: /diˌkæp.ɪˈteɪ.ʃən/
ipa: /ˈdi.kæp.əˌteɪ.ʃən/
ipa: /ˈdi.kæp.əˌteɪ.ʃɪn/
rhymes: -eɪʃən
Forms: form: decapitations
Etymology: From French décapitation.
Senses: examples: text: If the headsman's axe was sharp and his aim was true, decapitation was a quick and relatively painless form of death.
text: The tortoise, possessing, like the serpent, the power of retaining life in its limbs after mutilation or decapitation, became a symbol of androgynity as well as of immortality.
ref: 1941, George Ryley Scott, Phallic Worship: A History of Sex and Sex Rites in Relation to the Religions of All Races from Antiquity to the Present Day, London: T. Werner Laurie, page 31:
glosses: Beheading; the act of beheading or decapitating.
examples: text: A decapitation strike carried out by drone killed many of the country's senior generals.
glosses: The ousting or destruction of the ruling body of a government or other organization.
examples: text: The decapitation of the Foreign Secretary was a significant publicity coup for the opposition.
text: The Lib Dem contender hoping to accomplish a bit of pre-emptive decapitation is Andrew Crawford.
ref: 2005, Simon Henig, Lewis Baston, Politico's Guide to the General Election 2005, page 223:
text: Some also thought that the Lib Dem decapitation strategy had kept him cornered in his constituency during the campaign, unable to play a wider role.
ref: 2009 May 1, Andrew Denham, Kieron O'Hara, Democratising Conservative leadership selection: from grey suits to grass roots, page 108:
text: Nearing 2.30, stoking fears of a disastrous night for the Lib Dems, the Tories achieved their first "decapitation" ‑ a visibly shocked Lembit Opik, in once-safe Montgomeryshire ‑ while evading their own biggest risk of high-profile embarrassment: Oliver Letwin held Dorset West.
ref: 2010 May 7, Oliver Burkeman, “UK election results 2010: A war of words deep into the night”, in The Guardian:
topics: government
politics
glosses: The unseating of a senior politician.
Synonyms: beheading
Derived terms: decapitation strike
decapitation secretion
decease
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /dɪˈsiːs/
rhymes: -iːs
Forms: form: deceases
Etymology: From Old French deces (Modern French décès), from Latin dēcessus (“departure”).
Senses: examples: text: So should that beauty which you hold in lease
Find no determination: then you were
Yourself again after yourself's decease […]
ref: 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 13”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:
text: I thought about my predecessor, who had died of drink and smoke; and I could have wished he had been so good as to live, and not bother me with his decease.
ref: 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:
synonyms: word: demise
word: quietus
word: death
word: celestial transfer
word: decease
word: decomposition
word: defunction
word: dematerialization
word: demise
word: dirt nap
word: doom
word: exit
word: expiration
word: fatality
word: liquidation
word: mortality
word: quietus
word: repose
word: sleep of the just
word: sunset
word: the big sleep
word: crash
word: downfall
word: fall
word: (the) bane
word: (the) end
glosses: Death, departure from life.
decease
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /dɪˈsiːs/
rhymes: -iːs
Forms: form: deceases
form: deceasing
form: deceased
form: deceased
Etymology: From Old French deces (Modern French décès), from Latin dēcessus (“departure”).
Senses: examples: text: After which usurped victorie, he presently deceased: and partly through the excessive joy he thereby conceived.
ref: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
synonyms: word: expire
word: perish
word: assume room temperature
word: auger in
word: be called home
word: be gathered to one's fathers
word: be no more
word: be with Jesus
word: be with the Lord
word: bite the big one
word: bite the biscuit
word: bite the dust
word: buy the farm
word: buy it
word: cark it
word: cash in
word: cash in one's chips
word: check out
word: close one's eyes for the last time
word: code
word: conk out
word: croak
word: cross over
word: cross rainbow bridge
word: cross the Great Divide
word: cross the Styx
word: decease
word: decompose
word: dematerialize
word: depart
word: disincarnate
word: draw one's last breath
word: drop off the hooks
word: exit
word: expire
word: flatline
word: forfare
word: get to be like the one
word: give one's all
word: give up the ghost
word: go for a burton
word: go gentle into that good night
word: go out
word: go over to the majority
word: go the way of all flesh
word: go the way of the dinosaurs
word: go the way of the dodo
word: go the way of the dodo bird
word: go to glory
word: go to one's reward
word: go west
word: hand in one's checks
word: hand in one's dinner pail
word: hop the twig
word: join the choir invisible
word: keel over
word: kick the bucket
word: kick off
word: knock off
word: liquidate
word: lose my life for Jesus Christ
word: lose the number of one's mess
word: meet one's doom
word: meet one's end
word: meet one's maker
word: pass
word: pass away
word: pass in one's checks
word: pass in one's marble
word: pass on
word: pass over
word: pass the river
word: pay nature's debt
word: pay the debt of nature
word: peg out
word: perish
word: pop off
word: pop one's clogs
word: shuffle off this mortal coil
word: sink
word: sleep with one's fathers
word: slip away
word: snuff it
word: succumb
word: take a dirt nap
word: turn up one's toes
word: yield up the ghost
glosses: To die.
glosses: To cause to die.
Derived terms: deceaser
postdecease
predecease
deceit
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /dɪˈsiːt/
rhymes: -iːt
Forms: form: deceits
form: deceipt
Etymology: From Middle English deceyte, from Old French deceite, deçoite, from decevoir (“to deceive”), from Latin dēcipere (“to cheat, mislead”).
Senses: examples: text: The whole conversation was merely a deceit.
glosses: An act or practice intended to deceive; a trick.
examples: text: Upon his return he killed Eriphyle for her vanity and deceit of him and his father.
ref: 1998, Mike Dixon-Kennedy, Encyclopedia of Greco-Roman Mythology, page 125:
glosses: An act of deceiving someone.
examples: text: [T]he tvvo commended rules by him [Aristotle] ſet down, vvhereby the axioms of Sciences are precepted to be made convertible, and vvhich the latter men have not vvithout elegancy ſurnamed; the one the rule of truth, becauſe it preventeth deceipt; the other the rule of prudence, becauſe it freeth election, are the ſame thing in ſpeculation and affirmation, vvhich vve novv obſerve.
ref: 1603 (date written), [Francis] Bacon, “Valerius Terminus: Of the Interpretation of Nature; with the Annotations of Hermes Stella. Chapter XI. The Chapter Immediately Following the Inventary; Being the 11th in Order, a Part thereof.”, in Robert Stephens, compiler, edited by [John Lockyer], Letters and Remains of the Lord Chancellor Bacon, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, published 1734, →OCLC, page 411:
text: His mouth is full of curſing, and deceit, and fraud : vnder his tongue is miſchiefe and vanitie.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 10:7:
glosses: The state of being deceitful or deceptive.
topics: law
glosses: The tort or fraudulent representation of a material fact made with knowledge of its falsity, or recklessly, or without reasonable grounds for believing its truth and with intent to induce reliance on it; the plaintiff justifiably relies on the deception, to his injury.
Synonyms: sense: act or behavior intended to deceive
word: trick
sense: act or behavior intended to deceive
word: fraud
sense: act of deceiving
word: deception
sense: act of deceiving
word: trickery
sense: state of being deceptive
word: underhandedness
sense: state of being deceptive
word: deceptiveness
sense: state of being deceptive
word: deceitfulness
sense: state of being deceptive
word: dissimulation
sense: state of being deceptive
word: fraudulence
sense: state of being deceptive
word: trickery
Derived terms: deceited
deceiteous
deceitful
deceitless
self-deceit
decentralization
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /diːˌsɛntɹəlaɪˈzeɪʃən/
Forms: form: decentralizations
form: decentralisation
Etymology: From de- + centralization or decentralize + -ation.
Senses: glosses: The process of decentralizing
glosses: The state of being decentralized.
Related terms: decentralize
decimation
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌdɛsɪˈmeɪʃən/
rhymes: -eɪʃən
Forms: form: decimations
Etymology: Borrowed from Latin decimātiō, a punishment where every 10th man in a unit would be stoned to death by the men who were spared. Used by the Romans to keep order in their military. Compare septimation and vicesimation.
Senses: examples: text: By decimation and a tythed death; / If thy Reuenges hunger for that Food, / Which Nature loathes, take thou the deſtin'd tenth, […]
ref: c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v], page 98, column 1:
synonyms: tithing
qualifier: strictly
glosses: The killing or punishment of every tenth person, usually by lot.
examples: text: And the vvhole Army had cauſe to enquire into their own Rebellions, vvhen they ſavv the Lord of Hoſts, vvith a dreadful Decimation, taking off ſo many of our Brethren by the vvorſt of Executioners.
ref: 1702, Cotton Mather, “Book V (Acts and Monuments. […])”, in Magnalia Christi Americana: Or, the Ecclesiastical History of New-England, from Its First Planting in the Year 1620. unto the Year of Our Lord, 1698. […], London: […] Thomas Parkhurst, […], →OCLC, 4th part (The Reforming Synod of New-England, […]), § 1, page 86, column 1:
text: General Secretary Mick Lynch said: "It is crystal clear that the planned cutbacks on ScotRail and SWR are just the tip of the iceberg, as cynical employers use the cloak of COVID-19 to smuggle through the decimation of jobs and services on Britain's railways.
ref: 2021 September 8, “RMT on "war footing" in response to workforce cutback threats”, in RAIL, number 939, page 15:
qualifier: generally
glosses: The killing or destruction of any large portion of a population.
glosses: A tithe or the act of tithing.
topics: mathematics
sciences
glosses: The creation of a new sequence comprising only every nth element of a source sequence.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
signal-processing
glosses: The creation of a new sequence comprising only every nth element of a source sequence.
A digital signal-processing technique for reducing the number of samples in a discrete-time signal; downsampling
Coordinate terms: sense: proportionate reduction, by single aliquot part
word: quintation (1
sense: proportionate reduction, by single aliquot part
word: 5)
sense: proportionate reduction, by single aliquot part
word: septimation (1
sense: proportionate reduction, by single aliquot part
word: 7)
sense: proportionate reduction, by single aliquot part
word: vicesimation (1
sense: proportionate reduction, by single aliquot part
word: 20)
sense: proportionate reduction, by single aliquot part
word: tricesimation (1
sense: proportionate reduction, by single aliquot part
word: 30)
sense: proportionate reduction, by single aliquot part
word: centesimation (1
sense: proportionate reduction, by single aliquot part
word: 100)
Related terms: decimate
deck
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /dɛk/
rhymes: -ɛk
homophone: deque
Forms: form: decks
form: decking
form: decked
form: decked
Etymology: From Middle English dekke, borrowed from Middle Dutch dec (“roof, covering”), from Middle Dutch decken, from Old Dutch thecken, from Proto-West Germanic *þakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *þakjaną. Formed the same: German Decke (“covering, blanket”). Doublet of thatch and thack.
Senses: glosses: To furnish with a deck, as a vessel.
examples: text: Wow, did you see her deck that guy who pinched her?
glosses: To knock someone to the floor, especially with a single punch.
qualifier: collectible card games
glosses: To cause a player to run out of cards to draw, usually making them lose the game.
Derived terms: deck over
deck out
deck
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /dɛk/
rhymes: -ɛk
homophone: deque
Forms: form: decks
form: decking
form: decked
form: decked
Etymology: From Middle English dekken, from Middle Dutch dekken (“to cover”), from Old Dutch thecken, from Proto-West Germanic *þakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *þakjaną (“to roof; cover”).
Senses: examples: text: And deck my body in gay ornaments, / And witch sweet ladies with my words and looks.
ref: c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
text: Decke thy selfe now with Maiestie, and excellencie, and aray thy selfe with glory, and beautie.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 40:10:
text: They call beautiful a dress, a dog, a sermon; and when they are face to face with Beauty cannot recognise it. The false emphasis with which they try to deck their worthless thoughts blunts their susceptibilities.
ref: 1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 39”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:
glosses: To dress (someone) up, to clothe with more than ordinary elegance.
raw_tags: with out
examples: text: (now the dew with spangles decked the ground)
ref: 1700, John Dryden, transl., The Flower and the Leaf:
glosses: To decorate (something).
raw_tags: with out
examples: text: Whether to deck with clouds the uncoloured sky, / Or wet the thirsty earth with falling showers
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
glosses: To cover; to overspread.
Derived terms: bedeck
deck up
overdeck
undeck
declamation
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌdɛkləˈmeɪʃən/
rhymes: -eɪʃən
Forms: form: declamations
Etymology: From French déclamation, from Latin dēclāmātiō, dēclāmātiōnem, from dēclāmō, dēclāmāre; see declaim.
Senses: synonyms: haranguing
glosses: The act or art of declaiming; rhetorical delivery; loud speaking in public.
examples: text: His recitations were prompt and correct, and his answers were given with confidence. But perhaps he did himself most credit in declamation. He had always been very fond of that, and though he had never received and scientific instruction in it, he possessed a natural grace and a deep feeling of earnestness which made success easy. He had selected an extract from Webster--the reply to the Hayne--and this was the showpiece of the afternoon. The rest of the declamation was crude enough, but Harry's impressed even the most ignorant of his listeners as superior for a boy of his age.
ref: 1873, Horatio Alger, chapter V, in Bound to Rise:
synonyms: haranguing
glosses: The act or art of declaiming; rhetorical delivery; loud speaking in public.
The public recitation of speeches as an exercise in schools and colleges.
glosses: A set or harangue; declamatory discourse.
examples: mere declamation
glosses: Pretentious rhetorical display, with more sound than sense.
Derived terms: melodeclamation