cstr/en-wiktionary-extracted-all huggingface dataset:
debag
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /diːˈbæɡ/
rhymes: -æɡ
Forms: form: debags
form: debagging
form: debagged
form: debagged
Etymology: From de- + bag.
Senses: examples: text: […] when such bags are used for organic materials destined to be composted, the plastics create nothing but problems. Materials must be debagged before composting […]
ref: 2000, Sara Hulse, Plastics Product Recycling, page 35:
glosses: To remove (something) from a bag.
examples: text: I don’t want to be debagged! Don’t you play the giddy ox with me!
ref: 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 1]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:
synonyms: pants
dekeck
glosses: To pull down the trousers of a person quickly by surprise, as a prank.
topics: medicine
sciences
surgery
glosses: To perform blepharoplasty; to remove eyebags.
Derived terms: debagger
wind farm
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɪndfɑːm/
ipa: /ˈwɪndˌfɑɹm/
Forms: form: wind farms
form: windfarm
form: windfarm
form: wind-farm
Etymology: From wind + farm, from the idea that the wind turbines are “farming” the wind to produce electricity.
Senses: examples: text: Then roughly 176 wind generators of 1.8 megawatts each would be located at each wind farm affecting an area of 15 × 176 or 2640 acres (4.1 sq mi) but directly using only about 176 acres (0.3 sq mi).
ref: 1978, Wind Energy Study (Pacific Northwest Region): Final Report, page 204:
text: The windy weather last weekend set a new renewable power record and resulted in some households being paid to charge their electric cars to help balance the grid. Wind farms in Britain generated more than 16 gigawatts of power for the first time on Sunday evening.
ref: 2019 December 10, “Stormy weather blows in new wind power record”, in Chris Evans, editor, The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2:
text: "If you measure behind a wind turbine, the wind is blowing less hard," say Remco Verzijlbergh from Dutch weather service Whiffle. Geography means that this phenomenon, known as wind shadow, benefits Belgian wind farms in the North Sea.
ref: 2025 June 7, The Australian Weekend Magazine, Australia, page 31, column 3:
synonyms: wind park
wind power plant
wind power station
glosses: A collection of wind turbines, especially a large-scale array, used to generate electricity.
wikipedia: Smoky Hills Wind Farm
Synonyms: wind park
Related terms: wind energy
wind farmer
windfarming
wind power
debagging
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: -æɡɪŋ
Senses: glosses: present participle and gerund of debag
debagging
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: -æɡɪŋ
Forms: form: debaggings
Senses: examples: text: When we catch up with you, Jones, we're going to give you a debagging!
synonyms: pantsing
dekecking
glosses: An act of pulling down the trousers of a person quickly and without consent.
large-scale
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Forms: form: larger-scale
form: largest-scale
form: large scale
Etymology: From large + scale.
Senses: examples: text: Moreover, in view of the lamentable present indecision of the Government in regard to electrification, the large-scale building of diesel power may prove to have been a farseeing move after all.
ref: 1961 February 24, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Trains Illustrated, page 86:
text: The production of railway timetables is a large-scale and expensive operation.
ref: 1964 March 24, “Timetable confusion”, in Modern Railways, page 145:
text: The last remaining mammoth populations lived on Wrangel Island, a small island in the Arctic Ocean off the coast of Siberia, where large-scale movement would not have been possible.
ref: 2021 August 12, Katie Hunt, “Mammoths were the original ‘ice road truckers,’ traveling vast distances across the Arctic”, in CNN:
glosses: Large in amount, scope or extent.
glosses: Drawn large so as to show detail.
raw_tags: of a map or image
Derived terms: ultra-large-scale
very-large-scale
defrag
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /diːˈfɹæɡ/
rhymes: -æɡ
Forms: form: defrags
form: defragging
form: defragged
form: defragged
Etymology: Shortened from defragment.
Senses: topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: Clipping of defragment.
Derived terms: defragger
wine and dine
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: wines and dines
form: wining and dining
form: wined and dined
form: wined and dined
Senses: examples: text: You wined me and dined me when I was your girl / Promised if I'd be your wife, you'd show me the world
ref: 1975, “The Pill”, in Back to the Country, performed by Loretta Lynn:
text: So don't ask me to wine and dine ya / I'm from Brooklyn, you're from Regina
ref: 2004, “Hey Fuck You”, in To the 5 Boroughs, performed by Beastie Boys:
text: Five years ago, when he was wined and dined by Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Mr Xi was in charge of a China still in the ascendancy.
ref: 2023 November 15, Tessa Wong, “Xi Jinping arrives in US as his Chinese Dream sputters”, in BBC:
glosses: To entertain or woo someone with a fine meal.
examples: text: As we wined and dined, as we walked together along the banks of the River Seine smoking our postprandial cigarettes, we talked of life and love—and women.
ref: 2009, Gyles Brandreth, Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man's Smile, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 71:
glosses: To eat lavishly.
wine cellar
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: wine cellars
Etymology: From Middle English wyn celer, wyne saler.
Senses: qualifier: winemaking
glosses: An underground place for storing wine at a constant temperature.
qualifier: winemaking
glosses: A collection of wines.
Related terms: chai
wineglass
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: wineglasses
Senses: glosses: Alternative spelling of wine glass.
winegrower
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: winegrowers
Etymology: From wine + grower.
Senses: glosses: A person or company that owns a vineyard and produces wine, a vinedresser.
Related terms: viticulture
viticulturist
enology
vintner
wineskin
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: /ˈwaɪnˌskɪn/
Forms: form: wineskins
Etymology: From wine + skin.
Senses: hypernyms: skin
coordinate_terms: waterskin
glosses: A bag, traditionally made from the skin of a goat (a goatskin), used for holding and dispensing wine.
Derived terms: new wine in an old wineskin
social stigma
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: social stigmas
form: social stigmata
Senses: topics: human-sciences
sciences
social-science
sociology
glosses: Severe social disapproval of a person or a certain behavior.
Wing Commander
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: Wing Commanders
Senses: glosses: Alternative letter-case form of wing commander (found when the term is used as a title).
wing nut
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: wing nuts
form: wing-nut
form: wingnut
Etymology: From wing + nut.
Senses: synonyms: word: butterfly nut
word: thumbnut
english: some designs
translation: some designs
glosses: A nut with wing-like projections to provide leverage in turning with thumb and forefinger.
glosses: Alternative form of wingnut (“person with radical political views, especially right-wing or conservative ones”).
glosses: Alternative form of wingnut (“person with large ears”).
Related terms: english: plant
translation: plant
word: wingnut
wingnut
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɪŋˌnʌt/
Forms: form: wingnuts
Etymology: From wing + nut. The political sense is a shortening of "right-wing nut".
Senses: synonyms: pterocarya
glosses: A deciduous tree of the genus Pterocarya native to Asia.
examples: text: Near-synonyms: nut, nut job, nut case, crank, weirdo; see also Thesaurus:strange person, Thesaurus:mad person
text: On November 21, evangelist Franklin Graham (son of the late Rev. Billy Graham and a strident Trump supporter) discussed impeachment when he appeared on fellow wingnut Eric Metaxas’ radio show.
ref: 2019 November 27, Alex Henderson, AlterNet:
topics: government
politics
glosses: A person who is or seems odd, eccentric, or crazy; especially, someone with bizarre or extreme political views.
qualifier: rural US
glosses: A member of the air force (in a town that hosts a USAF installation).
glosses: A person with large ears.
hypernyms: nut
<
fastener#Noun
glosses: Alternative form of wing nut (“(mechanical) nut with wing-like projections”).
Derived terms: Caucasian wingnut
wingnuttery
wingnutty
Related terms: extremist
fundamentalist
idealist
left-winger
militant
moonbat
radical
right-winger
utopian
wingspan
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: wingspans
Etymology: From wing + span.
Senses: examples: text: The wandering albatross has the largest wingspan of any living bird.
text: The Airbus A380 has one of the largest wingspans among aircraft; only a few surpass it.
synonyms: wingspread
glosses: The distance from the left wingtip to the right wingtip (of a bird, airplane etc.).
glosses: Synonym of arm span.
synonyms: word: arm span
wingtip
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: wingtips
Etymology: From wing + tip.
Senses: examples: text: They're wonderful hoverers, though, and they'll remain stationary in the air, wing-tips vibrating, till they've marked their prey[.]
ref: 1934, Henry G. Lamond, An Aviary on the Plains, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 13:
text: The poor but lovely bird sat there, posing among the celandines and wood anemones, wondering why its wing-tips were frozen together.
ref: 2000, Bill Oddie, Gripping Yarns, page 26:
glosses: The extreme tip of the wing of an aircraft, bird, flying insect, etc.
glosses: A part of a shoe, often with brogueing that extends backwards on both sides from the toe.
examples: text: Then, immaculately dressed in three-piece suit, starched collar, and wingtips, Wilbur was obliged to drive a spike of Nevada silver into a railroad tie, a tricky and potentially embarrassing ceremonoial duty, especially with a phalanx of eager photographers poised to record every misswing.
ref: 2014, Joseph E. Stevens, Hoover Dam: An American Adventure:
glosses: A part of a shoe, often with brogueing that extends backwards on both sides from the toe.
A brogue (shoe).
winning post
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: winning posts
Senses: glosses: The post that marks the end of a racecourse, sometimes equipped with a camera for recording photo finishes
cantina
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kænˈtiː.nə/
ipa: /kænˈti.nə/
ipa: [kʰɛənˈti.nə]
note: see /æ/ raising
ipa: [kʰeənˈti.nə]
rhymes: -iːnə
Forms: form: cantinas
Etymology: From Spanish cantina, from Italian cantina. Doublet of canteen.
Senses: examples: text: Meanwhile, around the corner, Larry Meyers and Gerard Novello[…] ducked into a Mexican cantina for a drink.
ref: 2009 January 31, Alan Feuer, “It’s Theirs and They’re Not Apologizing”, in New York Times:
glosses: A drinking establishment, often specifically of the type found in Latin America.
glosses: A cantina truck, cantina wagon or cantina trailer.
win over
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: wins over
form: winning over
form: won over
form: won over
Senses: examples: text: If the truth doesn't win him over, perhaps charm will.
text: Despite his ill-fated spell at Anfield, he received a warm reception from the same Liverpool fans he struggled to win over before being sacked midway through last season.
ref: 2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, in BBC Sport:
text: For trains to play a major role in reducing carbon and other pollutants through modal shift, the railway will have to do more to win over the growing proportion of non-captive passengers who will have the choice of whether or not to use rail over other modes.
ref: 2021 July 14, Anthony Lambert, “Grand designs on superior interiors”, in RAIL, number 935, page 49:
glosses: To persuade someone, gain someone's support, or make someone understand the truth or validity of something.
wire brush
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: wire brushes
Senses: related: word: wirebrush
word: wire-brush
hypernyms: brush#Noun
coordinate_terms: wire wheel
glosses: A brush that has bristles made of wire; used as an abrasive and on masonry etc; especially (when without a qualifier) the hand tool type of such a brush.
wire brush
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: wire brushes
form: wire brushing
form: wire brushed
form: wire brushed
Senses: coordinate_terms: wire wheel#Verb
sandblast#Verb
glosses: To scrub with a wire brush, especially the hand tool type.
wire gauze
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: wire gauzes
Etymology: Compound of wire + gauze (“finely woven cloth”), from the similar appearance.
Senses: glosses: Finely interwoven wire, used in fences.
Related terms: fence
wire netting
wire netting
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: wire nettings
Senses: examples: text: Wire netting has been erected in many places to stop straying animals, and most of the level crossing gates are locked and broken.
ref: 1951 February, “Notes and News: Lynton & Barnstaple Remains”, in Railway Magazine, page 136:
glosses: A hexagonal network of interwoven wire used in fencing; chicken wire.
Related terms: hardware cloth
wire gauze
wireless telegraphy
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: wireless telegraphies
Senses: examples: text: This most conspicuous triumph of Mr. Marconi's invention is peculiarly gratifying to The Times, which has long made liberal use of wireless telegraphy in its European news service.
ref: 1909 January 26, “The Triumph of Wireless Telegraphy”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
topics: communications
electrical-engineering
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
telecommunications
telegraphy
synonyms: radiotelegraphy
WT
glosses: Telegraphy by radio rather than by transmission cables.
Coordinate terms: radio telephony
Related terms: wireless telegraph
radio telephony
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Senses: glosses: The transmission of speech using modulated radio waves
Synonyms: word: RT
Related terms: wireless telegraphy
wise man
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwʌɪzman/
Forms: form: wise men
form: wiseman
Etymology: wise + man
Senses: examples: text: That is the reason, why some say, that the wiseman liveth as long as he ought, and not so long as he can.
ref: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 3, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
text: But where's that wiseman, that would not be I, / If she would not deny?
ref: 1635, John Donne, The Triple Foole:
text: Mr Lieberman is arguably the last surviving example of a peculiar Washington species: the Wise Man who is willing to put party allegiance aside when it comes to big issues such as foreign policy.
ref: 2005 December 14, “A wise man in Washington”, in The Economist:
glosses: A man who is wise.
examples: text: Steady old Väinämöinen / the everlasting wise man [translating tietäjä] / was driving along his roads / pacing out his ways / in those glades of Väinö-land / on the Kalevala heaths.
ref: 1989, Elias Lönnrot, translated by Keith Bosley, The Kalevala, section III:
glosses: A man who is a sage or seer.
examples: text: Some of the other charms employed by the wise men had a more tangled pedigree.
ref: 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 174:
glosses: A magus or wizard, now especially one of the three biblical magi.
Hypernyms: elder
mentor
sage
seer
Derived terms: Three Wise Men
Related terms: wise woman
wishful
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɪʃfəl/
rhymes: -ɪʃfəl
Forms: form: more wishful
form: most wishful
Etymology: From wish + -ful.
Senses: examples: text: The cry whereof entring the hollow cave / Eftsoones brought forth the villaine, as they ment, / With hope of her some wishfull boot to have.
ref: 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
glosses: Wished-for; desired, wanted.
examples: text: When she weighed anchor I went to the waterside and looked at her with a very wishful and aching heart, and followed her with my eyes and tears until she was totally out of sight.
ref: 1789, Olaudah Equiano, chapter 5, in The Interesting Narrative, volume I:
glosses: Expressing a wish or longing for something.
glosses: Aspiring, or seeking advancement.
Derived terms: wishful hoping
wishfully
wishfulness
wishful recycling
wishful thinker
wishful thinking
wishful thought
wishful thinking
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: wishful thinkings
Senses: examples: text: When you first come out, you might have an overactive gaydar. When I realized I was gay, I wanted everyone to be gay too, which led to a lot of wishful thinking.
"Helen Hunt is gay!" Dream on, girl!
ref: 1996, Judy Carter, The Homo Handbook:
text: Although no word has ever really emerged of what the Queen has really thought of her prime ministers, there has always been a sense that she did not get on terribly well with Thatcher. Some of this is doubtless wishful thinking, but there were sufficient straws in the wind to give it some credence, such as the story that the prime minister asked what the sovereign intended to wear to an event so as to avoid a clash, only to be told frostily that Her Majesty did not pay any attention to what other people wore.
ref: 2022 September 8, Stephen Bates, “Queen Elizabeth II obituary”, in The Guardian:
topics: human-sciences
psychology
sciences
glosses: The formation of beliefs based on an outcome that aligns with one's desires or hopes, while disregarding evidence, rationality, or reality.
glosses: Decision making based on self-delusion.
Related terms: hopium
wishcasting
wishful hoping
wishful thinker
wishful thought
I3
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Senses: glosses: Abbreviation of InterMUD-3, a protocol for instant communication between MUDs via the Internet.
I2
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Etymology: Initialisms.
Senses: glosses: Internet2, the state-of-the-art network connecting multiple research universities.
glosses: InterMUD 2, a protocol for instant communication between MUDs via the Internet.
Related terms: Internet
unbeaten
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: rhymes: -iːtən
Etymology: From Middle English on bete, unbeten, unibeten; equivalent to un- + beaten; compare Old English ungebeitne (“unhewn”).
Senses: glosses: not having been thrashed or beaten
examples: text: Arsenal went 25 games unbeaten.
text: That startling admission capped a miserable night for City as they arrived in Germany following an unbeaten start to the season.
ref: 2011 September 27, Alistair Magowan, “Bayern Munich 2 - 0 Man City”, in BBC Sport:
glosses: not defeated
examples: text: We walked across unbeaten grassland.
glosses: untrodden
examples: text: Fold in the unbeaten eggs.
glosses: Not beaten or whisked
examples: text: He scored an unbeaten century.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: not out
wishing well
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɪʃɪŋ wɛl/
Forms: form: wishing wells
Senses: examples: text: In the burial ground is a wishing-well named after St Augustine - the first Archbishop of Canterbury - who, in the 6th century, is said to have blessed it.
ref: 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 110:
glosses: A well where, traditionally, wishes were thought to be granted, especially if coins were dropped into the water.
wishing well
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɪʃɪŋ wɛl/
Senses: glosses: present participle and gerund of wish well
wistful
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɪstfəl/
Forms: form: more wistful
form: most wistful
Etymology: Presumably from *whistful, from whist (“silent”) + -ful, based on older wistly. It is implausible that it derives from wishful, the required sound change being wishful → *wisful → wistful, which could not occur in Modern English, particularly not with wishful continuing in use. However, the sense of “longing” appears to be influenced by wishful, making wistful an ambiguous poetic word.
Senses: examples: text: His eyes grew wistful as he recalled his university days.
text: Her grey eyes, looking out on the violet of the night sky, the trees, and the crowd of hilarious onlookers who had not been invited to Buckingham Palace, had a patient and wistful expression.
ref: 1909, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], “A Court Ball”, in The Squire’s Daughter, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, published 1919, →OCLC, page 1:
synonyms: desirous
yearnful
glosses: Full of longing or yearning.
synonyms: word: despondent
word: unhappy
word: atrabiliary
word: atrabilious
word: blitheless
word: dispirited
word: blue
word: bummed out
word: chapfallen
word: cheerless
word: chopfallen
word: crestfallen
word: cut up
word: damp
word: dejected
word: depressed
word: despondent
word: disgruntled
word: disconsolate
word: disheartened
word: dismal
word: doleful
word: dolesome
word: down
word: down in the dumps
word: down in the mouth
word: downcast
word: downhearted
word: downsome
word: dull
word: elegiac
word: elegious
word: forlorn
word: gloomy
word: glum
word: grief-stricken
word: grieving
word: heavy-hearted
word: heartsore
word: heartsick
word: inconsolable
word: infelicitous
word: jawfallen
word: joyless
word: lachrymose
word: lamentful
word: low
word: low-spirited
word: lugubrious
word: lumpish
word: melancholic
word: melancholy
word: miserable
word: moody
word: mopey
word: morose
word: mournful
word: passionate
word: plaintive
word: querulous
word: sad
word: saddened
word: saturnine
word: shattered
word: solemn
word: sombre
word: sorrowful
word: sorrow-ridden
word: sorrowsome
word: spiritless
word: sullen
word: threnetic
word: threnetical
word: triste
word: tristful
word: uncheerful
word: uncheery
word: unconsolable
word: unhappy
word: unlively
word: wistful
word: woe
word: woebegone
word: woeful
word: wretched
glosses: Sad and thoughtful.
Derived terms: wistfully
wistfulness
ferior
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Forms: form: more ferior
form: most ferior
Etymology: Back-formation from inferior by reanalysis as in- + ferior.
Senses: examples: text: - just that I was
>somehow rather inferior.
It's sad that we have had to endure false lessons such as these, Terry. :(
You are VERY ferior in MY book!
 Superior, too. :) As in a class act, a decent person, a warmly caring person.
ref: 1997 June 4, “To Terry (Was Re: Left Behind)”, in alt.abuse.recovery (Usenet):
text: The arbitrary leaders pick their teams from the ranks of the ferior and inferior, usually in descending order.
ref: 1994 June 21, “The dreamlike quality of periodicity.”, in talk.bizarre (Usenet):
text: I have conceived of a novelty visual item that is produced by a ferior non-obvious mechanization.My question is,if I have also conceived of a number of inferior mechs that produce the same visual effects albeit mech inferior,do I need to submit inferior mechs in order to receieve^([sic]) broad patent protection?
ref: 1998 April 17, “Designing around?”, in misc.int-property (Usenet):
text: As far as inferior construction....that's a debatable point. Many are inferior and many of the better ones have inferior aspects. Many are placed in less than ferior (sic) locations. However, it's all some people want, can afford, or can qualify to rent or buy.
ref: 2001 August 21, “****”, in alt.usage.english (Usenet):
text: They are vastly conceited individuals whom view themselves as especially intellectually and morally ferior to everyone whom does not embrace their particuliar utopianism.
ref: 2003 January 25, “The Genocidal Rise of Communism Continues”, in soc.culture.israel (Usenet):
text: Resolve yourself like most of the known world to living with slightly less than ferior inkjet/ lambda or 1/2 a dozen other types of cloned digital outputs.
ref: 2003 June 11, “Kodak has discontinued R-3000 chemicals..”, in rec.photo.darkroom (Usenet):
text: > Doe that mean you are going to stop whining about Ireland and how more or
> less everything is inferior to England?
>
naw shouldnt think so :-)
I will stop whining when things get ferior to England.
ref: 2009 November 9, “Is this true do you reckon?”, in ie.general (Usenet):
text: >> Why do razor blades go blunt after two uses, yet scissors last for decades?
>
> Inferior metal(s).
Then why does no razor company use ferior metals?
ref: 2011 November 10, demon.local (Usenet):
glosses: Not inferior, superior.
witchcraft
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɪt͡ʃkɹæft/
ipa: /ˈwɪt͡ʃkɹɑːft/
Forms: form: witchcrafts
Etymology: From Middle English wicchecraft, wicchecreft, from Old English wiċċecræft, equivalent to witch + -craft.
Senses: examples: text: Wiccans believe in a modernised form of witchcraft.
text: Such witchcraft has no power now to show itself, because the people don't believe in it any more.
ref: 1881, P. Chr. Asbjörnsen [i.e., Peter Christen Asbjørnsen], “A Day with the Capercailzies”, in H. L. Brækstad, transl., Round the Yule Log. Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, →OCLC, page 84:
synonyms: witchdom
witchery
witchwork
glosses: The practice of witches; magic, sorcery, or the use of supernatural powers to influence or predict events.
examples: text: The Bible warns against the use of witchcraft and sorcery.
glosses: Black magic; the use of witchcraft for evil means.
examples: text: There can be no denying that the more than 100 exhibiting companies and divisions also gave full play to examples of their latest technological witchcraft, as befits the foremost US aerospace event.
ref: 1987, Air Force Magazine, volume 70, page 88:
synonyms: wizardry
glosses: Something, such as an advanced technology, that seems almost magical.
glosses: An irresistible or seemingly magical influence.
Derived terms: antiwitchcraft
witchcrafty
Related terms: druidcraft
gypsycraft
hexcraft
sorcery
spellcasting
spellcraft
warlockry
witchery
wizardcraft
wizardry
wither
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɪðɚ/
enpr: wĭthʹər
ipa: /ˈwɪðə/
rhymes: -ɪðə(ɹ)
homophone: whither (wine–whine merger)
Forms: form: withers
form: withering
form: withered
form: withered
Etymology: From Middle English widren, wydderen (“to dry up, shrivel”), related to or perhaps an alteration of Middle English wederen (“to expose to weather”), from Old English wederian (“to expose to weather, exhibit a change of weather”).
Cognates
From Proto-Germanic: Dutch verwederen, Dutch verweren (“to erode by weather”), German verwittern, wittern (“to be ruined by weather; to erode”), Swedish vittra (“wither”).
More at weather.
Senses: examples: text: The flowers began to wither in the hot sun without enough water.
text: She watched as the old tree slowly withered with time.
text: Without care, the crops will wither and fail to grow.
glosses: To shrivel, droop or dry up, especially from lack of water.
examples: text: There was a man which had his hand withered.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 12:10:
text: This is man, old, wrinkled, faded, withered.
ref: c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v]:
text: now warm in love, now with'ring in the grave
ref: 1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
glosses: To cause to shrivel or dry up.
examples: text: names that must not wither
ref: 1812–1818, Lord Byron, “(please specify |canto=I to IV)”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. , London: John Murray,, (please specify the stanza number):
text: States thrive or wither as moons wax and wane.
ref: 1782, William Cowper, Expostulation:
glosses: To lose vigour or power; to languish; to pass away.
glosses: To become helpless due to emotion.
glosses: To make helpless due to emotion.
Derived terms: wither away
wither on the vine
wither
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɪðɚ/
enpr: wĭthʹər
ipa: /ˈwɪðə/
rhymes: -ɪðə(ɹ)
homophone: whither (wine–whine merger)
Forms: form: withers
Etymology: See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Senses: examples: text: Timozel had slid his feet quickly from the stirrups and swung his leg over the horse's wither as it slumped to the ground, standing himself in one graceful movement.
ref: 2007, Sara Douglass, Enchanter, Macmillan, →ISBN:
text: If a saddle tips too far forward it may rest on the horse's wither and cause pain. There should always be a gap of roughly 5 cm between the horse's wither and the pommel when you are sitting on the saddle.
ref: 2008, Kate Luxmoore, Introduction to Equestrian Sports, →ISBN, page 140:
glosses: singular of withers (“part of the back of a four-legged animal that is between the shoulder blades”)
Derived terms: wither-wrung
wither
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɪðɚ/
enpr: wĭthʹər
ipa: /ˈwɪðə/
rhymes: -ɪðə(ɹ)
homophone: whither (wine–whine merger)
Forms: form: more wither
form: most wither
Etymology: From Middle English wither, from Old English wiþer (“again, against”, adverb in compounds), from Proto-West Germanic *wiþr (“against, toward”).
Cognates
From Proto-Germanic: Low German wedder (“against”), Dutch weer (“again, back”), German wider (“against, contrary to”), German wieder (“again”), Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌸𐍂𐌰 (wiþra), Old Norse viðr.
More at with.
Senses: glosses: Against, in opposition to.
wither
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɪðɚ/
enpr: wĭthʹər
ipa: /ˈwɪðə/
rhymes: -ɪðə(ɹ)
homophone: whither (wine–whine merger)
Forms: form: withers
form: withering
form: withered
form: withered
Etymology: From Middle English witheren, from Old English wiþerian (“to resist, oppose, struggle against”).
Cognates
From Proto-Germanic: Middle Dutch wideren, Old High German widarōn.
Senses: glosses: To go against, resist; oppose.
withered
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɪðɚd/
ipa: /ˈwɪðəd/
Forms: form: more withered
form: most withered
Senses: examples: text: Lying on the floor was a dead man, in evening dress, with a knife in his heart. He was withered, wrinkled, and loathsome of visage. It was not till they had examined the rings that they recognized who it was.
ref: 1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter XX, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London; New York, N.Y.; Melbourne, Vic.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC, page 334:
text: Three chairs of the steamer type, all maimed, comprised the furniture of this roof-garden, with […] on one of the copings a row of four red clay flower-pots filled with sun-baked dust from which gnarled and rusty stalks thrust themselves up like withered elfin limbs.
ref: 1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter I (Anarchy), pages 377–378:
glosses: Shrivelled, shrunken or faded, especially due to lack of water.
withered
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɪðɚd/
ipa: /ˈwɪðəd/
Senses: glosses: simple past and past participle of wither
withering
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Forms: form: more withering
form: most withering
Etymology: From wither + -ing.
Senses: examples: text: The D-Day troops came under withering fire.
text: Before the clearing had been half crossed the Arabs opened up a withering fire from behind the palisade.
ref: 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 135:
text: Shockingly, under such a withering combined barrage, the Japanese destroyer promptly exploded and sank in short order, before even having had a chance to unleash her Long Lances. First blood to the USN!
ref: 2021 March 10, Drachinifel, 12:55 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 1 (IJN 3(?) : 2 USN), archived from the original on 17 Oct 2022:
glosses: Tending to destroy, devastate, overwhelm, or cause complete destruction.
examples: text: The playboy seemed oblivious to his withering fortune as he continued in his decadent lifestyle.
text: Go—ask of nature in thy walk.
The rose-bud, dying on its stalk,
The fading grass—the withering tree,
Are emblems of thy fate and thee.
ref: 1815, Lydia Sigourney, Moral Pieces in Prose and Verse, Procrastination, page 9:
glosses: Diminishing rapidly.
examples: text: Jane's mother in law gave her a withering look.
text: He made withering remarks about his adversary.
text: It is a very serious thing that there be Worlds and Suns, and yet most withering is the laughter of Māna-Yood-Sushāī. And when he arises from resting at the Last, and laughs at us for playing with Worlds and Suns, We will hastily put them behind us, and there shall be Worlds no more.
ref: 1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC:
text: The chief executives of Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook, four tech giants worth nearly $5 trillion combined, faced withering questions from Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike on Wednesday for the tactics and market dominance that had made their enterprises successful.
ref: 2020 July 29, Cecilia Kang, David McCabe, “Lawmakers, United in Their Ire, Lash Out at Big Tech’s Leaders”, in New York Times:
glosses: Tending to make someone feel small; scornful in a mortifying way.
Derived terms: withering abalone syndrome
withering
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Etymology: From wither + -ing.
Senses: glosses: present participle and gerund of wither
withering
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: witherings
Etymology: From wither + -ing.
Senses: examples: text: Spiritual witherings and decayings are opposite to the word of God.
ref: 1839, William Jenkyn, James Sherman, An Exposition Upon the Epistle of Jude, page 274:
glosses: The process by which something withers.
Derived terms: withering away of the state
without fail
Language: English
Part of speech: prep_phrase
Senses: examples: text: You will report to the police every week without fail.
text: And David enquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Samuel 30:8:
text: "Tuesday by all means." "Tuesday, then, without fail."
ref: 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 149:
glosses: Certainly; by all means; as a matter of importance.
glosses: Inevitably.
withstand
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /wɪðˈstænd/
ipa: /wɪθˈstænd/
rhymes: -ænd
Forms: form: withstands
form: withstanding
form: withstood
form: withstood
Etymology: From Middle English withstanden, from Old English wiþstandan, from Proto-West Germanic *wiþistandan (“to withstand, resist”), equivalent to with- (“against”) + stand. Cognate with Old Frisian withstanda (“to resist”). Compare also Dutch weerstaan (“to withstand, repel”), German widerstehen (“to withstand, resist, defy”), Russian противостоять (protivostojatʹ, “to withstand”).
Senses: examples: text: Tests showed that a tin ceiling could withstand a temperature of 1,369° for an hour and 10 minutes, whereas plaster collapsed in 12 minutes.
ref: 1980, Robert M. Jones, editor, Walls and Ceilings, Time-Life Books, →ISBN, page 65:
text: Some old, underfired clay pantiles might be damaged by button mosses rooting in cracks and fissures. But most post-war tiles are hard enough to withstand a bit of moss growth.
ref: 2014 October 26, Jeff Howell, “Is the Japanese knotweed threat exaggerated? Our troubleshooter calls for calm about Japanese knotweed in the garden – and moss on the roof [print version: Don't panic about an overhyped invasion, 25 October 2014, p. P13]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Property), archived from the original on 21 Jan 2015:
synonyms: take
bear
glosses: To resist or endure (something) successfully.
glosses: To oppose (something) forcefully.
Derived terms: dielectric withstand test
withstander
Related terms: notwithstanding
withstanding
inform
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɪnˈfɔɹm/
ipa: /ɪnˈfɔːm/
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)m
Etymology: From Latin īnfōrmis.
Senses: examples: text: Bleak Crags, and naked Hills,
And the whole Prospect so inform and rude
ref: 1765, Charles Cotton, “Wonders of Peake”, in Poetical Works, page 342:
glosses: Without regular form; shapeless; ugly; deformed.
irritate
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɪɹ.ɪˌteɪt/
Forms: form: irritates
form: irritating
form: irritated
form: irritated
Etymology: Borrowed from Latin irritātus, perfect passive participle of irritō (“to invalidate, render void, annul”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from irritus (“invalid”), the equivalent of in- + ratus (“valid, established, fixed”).
Senses: examples: c. 1634-1661 John Bramhall, Protestants' Ordination Defended
Are human laws presently superfluous, so often as they do not irritate or abrogate Divine laws ?
synonyms: annul
nullify
invalidate
qualifier: Scots law
glosses: To render null and void.
likeness
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈlaɪknəs/
Forms: form: likenesses
form: likenessing
form: likenessed
form: likenessed
Etymology: From Middle English liknesse, from Old English līcness, ġelīcnes (“the quality of being like or equal; likeness; image; copy; pattern; example; parable”), from Proto-West Germanic *galīkanassī (“likeness”), equivalent to like + -ness.
Cognate with West Frisian likenis (“likeness”), Dutch gelijkenis (“similarity; likeness; parable”), German Low German Glieknis (“form; semblance; likeness; parable”), German Gleichnis (“form; semblance; image; likeness; parable; simile”). The verb is derived from the noun. Compare also Old Norse líkneskja (“figure, image, appearance, likeness”).
Senses: examples: text: I have this morning received the photographs of my two boys. The eldest is very well likenessed: the other, perhaps, not so well.
ref: 1857, April 25, Alfred Lord Tennyson, letter to Reginald Southey, in Cecil Y. Lang and Edgar F. Shannon Jr. (editors), The Letters of Alfred Lord Tennyson, Volume II: 1851-1870, Belknap Press (1987), page 171
text: Every member of the family [of General Grant] is as faithfully likenessed as the photographs, which were given to the artist from the hands of the General himself, have power to express.
ref: 1868, November, advertisement, in Arthur's Home Magazine, Volume XXXII, Number 21, after page 320
glosses: To depict.
Related terms: copy
portrait
analogy
alikeness
witches' brew
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɪtʃɪzˌbɹuː/
ipa: /ˌwɪtʃɪzˈbɹuː/
homophone: witch's brew
Forms: form: witches' brews
form: witch's brew
Senses: examples: text: In turn, the nitro-glycerin ignited cardboard boxes containing a witches' brew of urea pellets and sulphuric acid.22 According to investigators and other officials, Yousef's objective was to topple Tower One onto Tower Two[…]
ref: 2010, Gus Martin, Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues, SAGE, →ISBN, page 22:
text: The non-Greek festivals are characterized by a sexual license that engulfs the family and […] so leads to incest and a “witches' brew” of salaciousness and cruelty.
ref: 2019 December 13, Michael Davis, The Music of Reason: Rousseau, Nietzsche, Plato, University of Pennsylvania Press, →ISBN, page 83:
glosses: A strange, powerful, terrifying or dangerous concoction of ingredients.
cognoscente
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kɒnjəˈʃɛnti/
ipa: /ˌkɒnjəˈʃɛnti/
ipa: /ˌkɑɡnəˈʃɛnti/
ipa: /ˌkɑnjəˈʃɛnti/
homophone: cognoscenti
Forms: form: cognoscenti
form: conoscente
Etymology: From obsolete Italian cognoscente (modern Italian conoscente) from Latin cognōscere (“to know”).
Senses: examples: text: He is the painter who has been held to combine the most complete grace of form with sublimity of expression. Such at least I have gathered to be the opinion of cognoscenti.
ref: 1872, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XX, in Middlemarch […], volume II, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book II:
text: He was a brilliant cosmopolite and a cognoscente of high rank; but, after all, he was of the same race and blood and instinct as this people.
ref: 1904 November, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], Cabbages and Kings, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co.:
text: At night, as creative author, the cognoscente sketched out the first draft of his expanded autobiography.
ref: 1998, Marc J. Seifer, chapter 42, in Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius, →ISBN, page 397:
text: This was before Wozniak—known among the cognoscenti as Woz—almost woke up the Pope by calling the Vatican on his famed illegal "blue box," before he invented the Apple II and helped launch the personal computer industry, and before he gave up his brilliant engineering career and became a public school teacher.
ref: 1998 September, Gary Wolf, “The World According to Woz”, in Wired, archived from the original on 10 Aug 2011:
text: In the latter case — if only a handful of people knew the term — it would have been pretty pointless for Cleland to name his protagonist Fanny when practically nobody was likely to get the joke, not even cognoscenti such as Grose.
ref: 2011, Patrick Spedding, James Lambert, “Fanny Hill, Lord Fanny, and the Myth of Metonymy”, in Studies in Philology, volume 108, number 1, page 117:
text: The initial buzz it generated was among a certain section of the London cultural cognoscenti, the ex-punk crowd. They got it immediately.
ref: 2018 August 19, Sean O’Hagan, quoting Irvine Welsh, “Irvine Welsh: ‘I thought Trainspotting would be a cult book, but not generation-defining’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
text: The Biennale can be daunting for those who are not art cognoscenti or participants in the art world.
ref: 2019 May 11, Farah Nayeri, “Venice Biennale’s Top Prize Goes to Lithuania”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
text: And by the way, yes I AM inventing the HS2E acronym, because few outside the HS2 cognoscenti understand all that 'Phase' stuff!
ref: 2020 December 30, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Cut HS2 eastern leg, says NIC?”, in Rail, page 3:
synonyms: aficionado
connoisseur
maven
connoisseur
authority
expert
antonyms: novice
glosses: Someone possessing superior or specialized knowledge in a particular field.
Related terms: cognition
cognitive
cognizance
cognoscent
yobbo
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈjɒbəʊ/
rhymes: -ɒbəʊ
Forms: form: yobbos
form: yobboes
form: yabbo
Etymology: From yob + -o.
Senses: examples: text: Yeah, but you heard what Blake said. We wouldn't stand a chance against Pike's mob. They're a right bunch of yobbos.
ref: 1966 September 24, Brian Hayles, “The Smugglers, episode 3” (14:11 from the start), in Doctor Who, season 4, episode 3, spoken by Ben Jackson (Michael Craze), via BBC:
text: He stared at them with eyes dull with fatigue, and let out a long sigh. “Trouble, trouble” he replied wearily. “Skinheads and yobboes fighting the coloureds".
ref: 1986, Emily Roberts, A Shiver of Fear, page 5:
text: We're not catering to the yobbos. We'd rather have a smaller crowd of nice people that are really into the game than a whole mass of uncouth people
ref: 1992, Brian Pronger, The Arena of Masculinity: Sports, Homosexuality, and the Meaning of Sex, page 191:
text: A wanker fights inequality / And for people’s rights / A wanker fights class prejudice / A yobbo just fights
ref: 1997, “Whatareya?”, performed by TISM:
glosses: A yob.
Synonyms: yob
collude
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /kəˈluːd/
rhymes: -uːd
Forms: form: colludes
form: colluding
form: colluded
form: colluded
Etymology: * From Latin colludere, from con- and ludere (“to play”).
Senses: examples: text: William understood Diana more but idealized her less. He was privy to her volatile love life. He knew the tabloids made her life hell, but he also knew she colluded with them.
ref: April 5 2022, Tina Brown, “How Princess Diana’s Dance With the Media Impacted William and Harry”, in Vanity Fair:
glosses: to act in concert with; to conspire
Synonyms: to be in cahoots
conspire
plot
scheme
Related terms: collusion
witness box
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: witness boxes
Senses: examples: text: The same dingy court room, […]; the royal arms above it [the bench] and the little witness box to one side, where so many honest poor people are bullied
ref: 1910, Henry Lawson, The Rising of the Court:
text: There's no lie Jenny Prask wouldn't tell to force Joan into the witness box.
ref: 1920, A. E. W. Mason, “chapter XXXI”, in The Summons:
glosses: A witness stand in a courtroom.
Synonyms: word: witness stand
Hypernyms: box
witness stand
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: witness stands
Senses: glosses: An enclosed area in a courtroom where witnesses give their evidence.
Synonyms: word: witness box
witticism
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɪ.tɪ.sɪz.əm/
Forms: form: witticisms
Etymology: From witty + -icism; coined in the 1670s by John Dryden, by analogy to criticism.
Senses: examples: text: "Take any shape but that!" is what I always feel tempted to exclaim when dulness attempts a joke; striving to pervert some poor innocent and ill-used word from its lawful meaning till it ceases to have any at all—worrying some unfortunate idea till, like the hunted hare, it is worried to death—dealing in witticisms whose edge has long since been worn off by constant use; and truly to the many, witticisms not only require to be explained, like riddles, but are also like new shoes, which people require to wear many times before they get accustomed to them.
ref: 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 151:
text: Shock of the witticism is a powerful one; while mere fun will have no power over them if it jar on their moral taste.
ref: 1883, George Eliot, chapter 4, in The Essays of George Eliot:
text: While the occasional wry witticism seeps through, overall Shipler is painfully conscientious about trying to offer both sides of any debate.
ref: 2015, Hans Rollman, “Freedom of Speech: It’s Complicated”, in PopMatters:
glosses: a witty remark; a bon mot; an epigram; a zinger.
wikipedia: John Dryden
Derived terms: Weinreich witticism
Related terms: bon mot
gag
jape
joke
one-liner