cstr/en-wiktionary-extracted-all huggingface dataset:
doss
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /dɒs/
ipa: /dɑs/
rhymes: -ɒs
rhymes: -ɔːs
Etymology: Perhaps from Latin dorsum (“the back”), i.e. what one lies on when sleeping; perhaps from English dialect doss (“a hassock”).
Senses: examples: text: Get a hauld o yersel, ya doss cunt!
text: Convinced it's no bullshit, the doss cunt dismisses the session. Ah walk tae freedom; perr auld Spud gits taken doon.
ref: 1993, Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting, Times Film School, page 68:
glosses: Useless or lazy. Generally combined with expletive noun, especially cunt.
examples: text: The place is pure doss, like.
glosses: Good, desirable.
Related terms: doss about
doss around
doss down
doss-house
doss off
dosser
grubber
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: rhymes: -ʌbə(ɹ)
Forms: form: grubbers
Etymology: From grub + -er.
Senses: glosses: One who grubs.
glosses: A tool, implement, or machine of the nature of a grub axe, grub hook, etc; (dialectal) a cultivator.
examples: text: England had an early opportunity with a line-out deep in French territory after a clever grubber from Foden only for Lionel Nallet to burgle back possession, and they then tore into France again as Alexis Palisson was smashed backwards after taking a garryowen and Manu Tuilagi thundered into Morgan Parra.
ref: 2011, Tom Fordyce, Rugby World Cup 2011: England 12-19 France:
text: Take that brilliant backline move off a scrum when Kolbe came off his left wing to put in a neat grubber for Arendse on the right wing to almost round the defense in the corner.
ref: 2023 October 28, Leighton Koopman, “YES!!! The Springboks beat the All Blacks to win another Rugby World Cup title”, in Independent Online:
topics: ball-games
games
hobbies
lifestyle
rugby
sports
synonyms: grubber kick
glosses: An attacking short-distance kick in behind the defence in which the ball is bounced along the ground, using the uneven bounce of the ball to make it difficult for the defence to retrieve.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
synonyms: mullygrubber
glosses: A ball that bounces unusually low such that it is difficult for the batsman to hit properly.
examples: text: He could, moreover, no longer be tempted to the Grubber, for all chocolate and sweets were taboo.
ref: 1925, The Oxford Outlook, numbers 34-43, page 158:
text: I remember the grubber which smelt of potato chips and chocolate and the steam-heated library with books about monasteries that no one else seemed to look at, and I remember the fresh weedless lawns between the school buildings […]
ref: 1960, Rupert Croft-Cooke, The Altar in the Loft, page 210:
glosses: A sweetshop.
Derived terms: bone-grubber
grade grubber
moneygrubber
money-grubber
gully
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: gŭl'ē
ipa: /ˈɡʌli/
rhymes: -ʌli
Forms: form: gullies
form: gulley
Etymology: Origin uncertain. Possibly from a variant of Middle English golet (“esophagus, gullet”), from Old French goulet, from Latin gula (“throat”). Shift in meaning in Middle English to "water channel, ravine" may have been influenced by Middle English gylle, gille, galle (“deep narrow valley, ravine”); see gill. Compare Dutch geul.
Alternatively, from a diminutive of dialectal gull (“fissue, chasm”) + -y (diminutive suffix). See gull, gullick.
Senses: synonyms: gill
glosses: A trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside.
glosses: A small valley.
glosses: A drop kerb.
examples: text: A new drainage run and rainwater gullies are to be installed between the station and Oxford Road, with completion planned for December 1.
ref: 2021 June 16, “Network News: Drainage work at Guiseley station”, in RAIL, number 933, page 19:
glosses: A road drain.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
synonyms: box
glosses: A fielding position on the off side about 30 degrees behind square, between the slips and point; a fielder in such a position
glosses: A grooved iron rail or tram plate.
Derived terms: gullick
gulligut
gully bean
gully eductor
gully emptier
gully gut
gully hole
gully-hole
gully-raker
gully sucker
gully wash
gullywasher
slum gully
Tea Tree Gully
Related terms: gullet
gully
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: gŭl'ē
ipa: /ˈɡʌli/
rhymes: -ʌli
Forms: form: gullies
form: gullying
form: gullied
form: gullied
Etymology: Origin uncertain. Possibly from a variant of Middle English golet (“esophagus, gullet”), from Old French goulet, from Latin gula (“throat”). Shift in meaning in Middle English to "water channel, ravine" may have been influenced by Middle English gylle, gille, galle (“deep narrow valley, ravine”); see gill. Compare Dutch geul.
Alternatively, from a diminutive of dialectal gull (“fissue, chasm”) + -y (diminutive suffix). See gull, gullick.
Senses: glosses: To flow noisily.
glosses: To wear away into a gully or gullies.
gully
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: gŭl'ē
ipa: /ˈɡʌli/
rhymes: -ʌli
Forms: form: gullies
Etymology: From Scots gully, of unknown origin.
Senses: examples: text: With that I made my mind up, took out my gully, opened it with my teeth, and cut one strand after another[…]
ref: 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part IV (The Stockade), page 139:
glosses: A large knife.
gully
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: gŭl'ē
ipa: /ˈɡʌli/
rhymes: -ʌli
Forms: form: gullies
form: gali
Etymology: Borrowed from Hindustani گَلی (galī) / गली (galī); spelling probably influenced by other uses of this word.
Senses: examples: text: Older boys play gali cricket, while young girls watch them shyly from a distance.
ref: 2023, Radhika Iyengar, Fire on the Ganges, Fourth Estate, page 3:
glosses: An alleyway or side street.
Related terms: english: probably etymologically unrelated
translation: probably etymologically unrelated
word: hully gully
Hawk-Eye
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Etymology: From hawk + eye, a reference to the bird of prey's noted eyesight.
Senses: topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
tennis
glosses: A system, using six static television cameras and sophisticated computing, to track the path of the ball in flight.
hawk-eyed
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Forms: form: more hawk-eyed
form: most hawk-eyed
Senses: synonyms: eagle-eyed
falcon-eyed
lynx-eyed
glosses: Having very good eyesight.
eyesight
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈaɪˌsaɪt/
Forms: form: eyesights
Etymology: From Middle English eiȝesiht, ieȝesihte, ehsihthe, eihsihthe, eȝhesihthe, equivalent to eye + sight.
Senses: examples: text: good eyesight
text: poor eyesight
text: restore eyesight
text: She has excellent eyesight.
text: His eyesight began to fail with age.
glosses: Vision or the faculty of sight.
glosses: View or the range of vision.
barrister
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbæɹ.ɪst.ə(ɹ)/
Forms: form: barristers
Etymology: From bar (a collective term for lawyers or the legal profession) and the suffix -ster.
Senses: examples: text: Postmen, binmen, dock workers, even barristers are now on strike. Where will all this end?
ref: 2022 September 7, Philip Haigh, “Comment: More strikes and poor morale”, in RAIL, number 965, page 3:
glosses: A lawyer with the right to speak and argue as an advocate in higher lawcourts.
Derived terms: barristerial
barristering
barristership
barristress
junior barrister
revising barrister
utter barrister
Related terms: barristor
Belisha beacon
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: /bəˈliːʃə ˈbiːkən/
Forms: form: Belisha beacons
Etymology: Named after Leslie Hore-Belisha, the Minister of Transport who introduced them in 1934.
Senses: examples: text: A police constable concealed in a doorway in City Road, Finsbury, saw a youth of seventeen, who had two others with him, climb a Belisha beacon and break the globe with his fist. It was the hundredth beacon globe to be broken in Finsbury since November.
ref: 1935 January 10, “Cyclists air their grievances on road safety”, in The Guardian:
glosses: A tall black and white pole topped by a flashing orange globe, placed on either side of the road at zebra crossings; mostly now replaced by more sophisticated arrangements.
wharf
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɔːf/
ipa: /ˈwɔɹf/
note: without the wine–whine merger
ipa: /ˈʍɔɹf/
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)f
Forms: form: wharves
form: wharfs
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *hwerbaną
Proto-West Germanic *hwerban
Old English hweorfan
Middle English wharf
English wharf
From Middle English wharf, from Old English hwearf (“heap, embankment, wharf”); related to Old English hweorfan (“to turn”), Old Saxon hwerf (whence German Werft and Warft), Dutch werf, Old High German hwarb (“a turn”), hwerban (“to turn”), Old Norse hvarf (“circle”), and Ancient Greek καρπός (karpós, “wrist”).
Senses: examples: text: Commerce pushes its wharves into the sea.
ref: 1834–1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent, volume (please specify |volume=I to X), Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company [et al.], →OCLC:
text: Out upon the wharfs they came, / Knight and burgher, lord and dame, / And round the prow they read her name, / The Lady of Shalott.
ref: 1842, Alfred Tennyson, “The Lady of Shalott”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, part IV, page 86:
topics: nautical
transport
synonyms: dock
quay
hyponyms: jetty
pier
staith
staithe
glosses: An artificial landing place for ships on a riverbank or shore.
examples: text: the fat weed that roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf
ref: c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:
glosses: The bank of a river, or the shore of the sea.
Derived terms: Canary Wharf
government wharf
marginal wharf
Red Wharf Bay
wharfage
wharf borer
wharfie
wharfinger
wharfless
wharf rat
wharf roach
wharf
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɔːf/
ipa: /ˈwɔɹf/
note: without the wine–whine merger
ipa: /ˈʍɔɹf/
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)f
Forms: form: wharfs
form: wharfing
form: wharfed
form: wharfed
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *hwerbaną
Proto-West Germanic *hwerban
Old English hweorfan
Middle English wharf
English wharf
From Middle English wharf, from Old English hwearf (“heap, embankment, wharf”); related to Old English hweorfan (“to turn”), Old Saxon hwerf (whence German Werft and Warft), Dutch werf, Old High German hwarb (“a turn”), hwerban (“to turn”), Old Norse hvarf (“circle”), and Ancient Greek καρπός (karpós, “wrist”).
Senses: glosses: To secure by a wharf.
glosses: To place on a wharf.
stock character
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: stock characters
Senses: topics: broadcasting
communications
entertainment
film
journalism
lifestyle
literature
media
publishing
television
theater
writing
synonyms: staple character
glosses: Any fictional character drawn from some stereotype who is instantly recognizable.
roughen
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɹʌfən/
rhymes: -ʌfən
Forms: form: roughens
form: roughening
form: roughened
form: roughened
Etymology: From rough + -en.
Senses: examples: text: The wind began to roughen the surface of the sea.
text: They roughened the edges of the stone to give it a rustic look.
glosses: To make rough.
glosses: To become rough.
Derived terms: roughen up
toughen
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈtʌfən/
rhymes: -ʌfən
Forms: form: toughens
form: toughening
form: toughened
form: toughened
Etymology: From tough + -en.
Senses: examples: text: The new training program is designed to toughen the athletes.
text: A cold shower every morning will toughen your skin.
glosses: To make tough.
glosses: To become tough.
Derived terms: toughen up
boy in the boat
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Etymology: From its shape.
Senses: examples: text: Go in with your finger at the top parting of your genital lips and find that tiny penis, that nub, that "boy in the boat," and feel gently around it.
ref: 1992, Ruth K. Westheimer, Dr. Ruth's Guide for Married Lovers, Random House, published 1992, →ISBN, page 113:
text: "It's all right here, sweetie," Gretchen said, nodding down toward her open legs as she smilingly pulled the lips of her pussy apart, exposing her boy in the boat.
ref: 1997, Playthell Benjamin, “All the Things You Are”, in Dark Eros: Black Erotic Writings, page 220:
text: 2001, "Archive Poster" , "[SEXSTORY4FREE SITE] - (Group, Swingers, M+/F+) "Jack Off First"", alt.sex.stories.hetero, <3a7f98c9@news.metrolink.net.au>
"Shoot it here on my clitty," she ordered. I dropped to my knees and took aim on her girl-dick. She kept the tip of one finger against it so that I could find it, but it was so erect that it made an easy target. The pink core glistened like a little pearl at the tip. I moved closer until the head of my cock was no more than two or three inches from the boy in the boat.
glosses: The human clitoris.
Synonyms: little man in the boat
brass monkeys
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Etymology: From the phrase cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey - supposedly a reference to the brass container for cannon balls on a British man-of-war (but this seems to have been discredited).
Senses: examples: text: Blimey, it's brass monkeys out there today.
head_nr: 2
glosses: Very cold.
brass monkeys
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Etymology: From the phrase cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey - supposedly a reference to the brass container for cannon balls on a British man-of-war (but this seems to have been discredited).
Senses: glosses: plural of brass monkey
Sinn Fein
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Senses: glosses: Alternative spelling of Sinn Féin.
unbuckle
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: -ʌkəl
Forms: form: unbuckles
form: unbuckling
form: unbuckled
form: unbuckled
Etymology: From Middle English unbokelen, onbokelen, equivalent to un- + buckle.
Senses: glosses: to unfasten (the buckle of (a belt, shoe, etc))
marching band
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: marching bands
Senses: examples: text: No, republicans did not celebrate; they took their placards and their yellow T-shirts to Trafalgar Square, where their voices could (almost) be heard against a backdrop of marching bands and pealing bells.
ref: 2023 May 6, Rachel Cooke, “It was ludicrous but also magnificent: the coronation stirred every emotion”, in The Guardian:
glosses: A group of instrumental musicians who generally perform outdoors, and who often incorporate movement, usually some type of marching, with their musical performance.
bagpipe
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbæɡˌpaɪp/
Forms: form: bagpipes
Senses: glosses: singular of bagpipes
glosses: Attributive form of bagpipes.
Derived terms: bagpipelike
bagpiper
bagpipe
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbæɡˌpaɪp/
Forms: form: bagpipes
form: bagpiping
form: bagpiped
form: bagpiped
Senses: glosses: To play the bagpipes.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: To lay (the mizzen) aback by bringing the sheet to the mizzen rigging.
examples: text: Until he met Sebastian, Tom had never even heard of bagpiping, and is generally too ticklish to be really good at it.
ref: 2006, George K. Ilsley, ManBug, page 91:
glosses: To masturbate a person's penis in one's armpit.
bubble and squeak
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: bubble and squeaks
Etymology: (food): Named from the sounds during cooking.
Senses: examples: text: “But if she had rank and title?”
“Rank and title! Bubble and squeak! No, not half so good as bubble and squeak. English beef and good cabbage. But foreign rank and title!—foreign cabbage and beef!—foreign bubble and foreign squeak!”
ref: 1853, Pisistratus Caxton [pseudonym; Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter VIII, in “My Novel”; Or Varieties in English Life […], volume II, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book eighth, page 348:
text: “Better have it—better have it first. No hurry. What've you got in the pot that smells so good?”
“Bubble and squeak, sir.”
“Bubble and squeak! Ah!” And with those words the agent withdrew to where, in a farm wagon drawn up by the side of the road, three men were solemnly pulling at their pipes.
ref: 1915, John Galsworthy, chapter XVIII, in The Freelands:
glosses: Cabbage and mashed potatoes etc. fried together.
synonyms: bubble
glosses: A Greek.
Derived terms: word: bubble
bunk off
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: bunks off
form: bunking off
form: bunked off
form: bunked off
Senses: glosses: To leave.
examples: text: We all bunked off school yesterday to watch the football.
text: “You better be off to school now, young lady. You don’t want to be late…”
“I suppose so,” mumbled Zoe. Sometimes she wondered why she didn’t just bunk off like so many of the others.
ref: 2012, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Ratburger, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:
synonyms: bump off
bunk out
skive off
play hooky
glosses: To play truant
Synonyms: skive
on the hop
car park
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkɑːpɑːk/
ipa: /ˈkɑɹ ˌpɑːɹk/
Forms: form: car parks
Senses: examples: text: It is important also that we improve car park security.
ref: 1998, House of Lords, Parliamentary Debates, page ccxxxv:
text: The dog lumbered his way across the car park to a point where he had to cross Emmons′s path.
ref: 2006, Richard Mechan, The State Is Not Immune, page 9:
text: Beyond the car park a rough old track ran uphill.
ref: 2010, John Marsden, The Ellie Chronicles: Incurable, unnumbered page:
text: Follow the road to the car park and boat ramp at Buffalo Creek.
ref: 2011, Richard Thomas, Sarah Thomas, David Andrew, Alan McBride, The Complete Guide to Finding the Birds of Australia, page 119:
synonyms: word: parking lot
word: parking garage
word: parkade
glosses: An outdoor area or a building where cars may be parked.
synonyms: word: parking lot
word: parking garage
word: parkade
word: parking place
word: parking spot
word: parking space
word: park
word: parking bay
glosses: An outdoor area or a building where cars may be parked.
A rectangular section, usually marked by painted lines, designated for the parking of a single car.
glosses: A road with serious traffic congestion preventing the movement of vehicles.
Derived terms: parkway
chancer
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈtʃɑːn.sə(ɹ)/
rhymes: -ɑːnsə(ɹ)
Forms: form: chancers
Etymology: From chance + -er.
Senses: examples: text: Actually, that's exactly what O'Dowd is doing in Get Shorty, presenting a taciturn thug with chewed up charm, a chancer pitching a movie in Hollywood.
ref: 2018 June 6, Peter Crawley, “Get Shorty: Chris O’Dowd as a chewed-up, charming chancer”, in Irish Times, retrieved 29 Aug 2022:
text: From then on, Emin became fixed in many minds as the drunken chancer who boasted about her promiscuity and called it art.
ref: 2024 May 29, Simon Hattenstone, “The radical, ravishing rebirth of Tracey Emin: ‘I didn’t want to die as some mediocre YBA’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
glosses: A scheming opportunist.
cop off
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: cops off
form: copping off
form: copped off
form: copped off
Senses: examples: text: I knew he was gonna cop off from school.
glosses: To leave school or work early without permission.
examples: text: Couples were copping off all over the party.
glosses: To make out; to have sex.
Related terms: cop off with
coving
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkəʊvɪŋ/
rhymes: -əʊvɪŋ
Forms: form: covings
Etymology: From cove + -ing.
Senses: examples: text: The gilt lantern burned palely in the stairwell, but in the dining room the ordinary shadows deepened in the corners and hung like smoke in the coving of the ceiling.
ref: 2004, Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty […], London: Picador, →ISBN:
glosses: A concave surface forming a junction between a ceiling and a wall.
glosses: The vertical sides connecting the jambs with the breast of a fireplace.
qualifier: urban studies
glosses: A method of urban planning used in subdivision and redevelopment of cities characterized by non-uniform lot shapes.
Related terms: crown molding
Crimbo
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Forms: form: Crimbos
Senses: glosses: Alternative form of Chrimbo.
crisps
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kɹɪsps/
rhymes: -ɪsps
Senses: glosses: plural of crisp
dodgy
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdɒd͡ʒ.i/
rhymes: -ɒdʒi
Forms: form: dodgier
form: dodgiest
Etymology: From dodge (verb) + -y. First used in mid-19th century England.
Senses: examples: text: Asked why, a spokesman gave a dodgy answer about legal ramifications.
glosses: Evasive and shifty.
examples: text: Never listen to dodgy advice.
text: The dodgy old machine kept breaking down.
glosses: Unsound and unreliable.
examples: text: The more money the better, because there is always that dodgy politician or corrupt official to bribe.
text: I am sure you wouldn't want to be seen buying dodgy gear, would you? (stolen goods).
text: No doubt you’re tired of reading about his colourful escapades – about his glamorous home, his allegedly dodgy tenderpreneur deals, his gushing praise of malevolent dictators, or his soundly articulated international economic policy.
ref: 2010 November 10, Pratish Mistry, “Why Julius Malema is important to the ANC”, in NewsTime:
glosses: Dishonest.
examples: text: This is a slightly dodgy plan, because there is a lot that is being changed for this fix.
text: “The market is getting edgier and edgier, and what is accepted in the marketplace gets dodgier and dodgier,” said Martin E. Abrams, the executive director of the Center for Information Policy Leadership at the law firm Hunton & Williams, a research organization financed by companies like Google, Microsoft and Best Buy.
ref: 2007 November 1, Louise Story, “F.T.C. to Review Online Ads and Privacy”, in The New York Times:
glosses: Risky.
examples: text: He's a dodgy Peeping Tom.
glosses: Deviant.
examples: text: The situation was right dodgy.
text: I'm feeling dodgy today, probably got the flu.
text: Churchill's own forefathers were among the dodgiest of the lot -- one a spendthrift, another a child molester, a third so reclusive that he went three years without saying a word.
ref: 2002 October 27, Burkhard Bilger, “Fortune Hunters and Gatherers”, in The New York Times:
glosses: Uncomfortable and weird.
Synonyms: sense: all
word: dodge
sense: unsound and unreliable
word: shaky
sense: unsound and unreliable
word: flaky
sense: risky
word: chancy
sense: risky
word: risky
Derived terms: dodgily
dodginess
dodgy box
rigor mortis
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: rigor mortises
form: rigour mortis
Etymology: Learned borrowing from New Latin rigor mortis (literally “stiffness of death”). First attested in 1842.
Senses: examples: text: Such are the principal phenomena observed during that form of contraction which I conceive to be analogous to the rigor mortis...
ref: 1840, Royal Society of London, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, page 491:
text: Then we carried in poor Austin from the yard. His muscles were set as hard as a board in the most exaggerated rigor mortis, while the contraction of the fibres had drawn his mouth into a hard sardonic grin.
ref: 1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
text: […]an unpublished writer who, for all his ambition and flashes of talent, had not been trained in the rigours (nor rigor mortises, for that matter) of a university education.
ref: 1991, Bruce Bennett, Spirit in Exile: Peter Porter and His Poetry, Oxford University Press, page 56:
text: Its wood can neither be carved nor used for the making of the furniture because of the volatility of those characteristics of the nutrients it has sucked which come from innumerable varieties of rigor mortises.
ref: 2009, A.S.Q., The Anatomy of Grief, AuthorHouse, page 109:
text: Instead, Tender Buttons destabilizes persistent syntactic arrangements and lexical rigor mortises to assert that “certainly glittering is handsome and convincing,” glittering a radiant process of flux and variance.
ref: 2010, Dean Young, The Art of Recklessness: Poetry as Assertive Force and Contradiction, Graywolf Press, pages 66–67:
synonyms: death-stiffness
rigor
glosses: Temporary stiffness of the body's muscles and joints following death.
Derived terms: break rigor
rigor
rigored
rigor mortis
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: rigor mortises
form: rigor mortising
form: rigor mortised
form: rigor mortised
form: rigour mortis
Etymology: Learned borrowing from New Latin rigor mortis (literally “stiffness of death”). First attested in 1842.
Senses: examples: text: As Olive was in the kitchen making some tea I asked what kind of louse the host was. “The kind you like to see laying out on a mortuary slab rigor mortising before the introduction.”
ref: 1964, Israel Segal, Out of the Womb, Times Press, page 177:
text: Hands / Responding to bold brain waves, / Hiding feelings, / Twiddling facts, / Dating destinies, / Doting on things, / Withering in death traps, / Snapping brittle, / Folding stiffly / When movement ceases / And rigor mortises the joints.
ref: 1972, James R. McCready, The Seasons Calling: Haiku & Western-Style Verse, Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc., →ISBN:
text: Fingers were rigor mortised to triggers.
ref: 1996, A. A. Gill, Sap Rising, Black Swan, Transworld Publishers, published 1997, page 131:
text: Let the old woman point until her finger rigor mortises and she has to bandage it in the daytime and pretend it got caught between the rocks, grinding corn into meal.
ref: 2000, Stephen Graham Jones, The Fast Red Road: A Plainsong, Fiction Collective Two, →ISBN, page 99:
text: Forget rigor mortising, clutter of taxidermy.
ref: 2009, From the Fishouse: An Anthology of Poems that Sing, Rhyme, Resound, Syncopate, Alliterate, and Just Plain Sound Great, Persea Books, page 189:
text: At McCray’s, we had to lift Pa off Flash in the folded position he had rigor mortised to.
ref: 2017, Albert Bennetti, In a Buffalo Robe, Archway Publishing, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN:
glosses: To stiffen the muscles and joints with, or as if with, rigor mortis.
drawing pin
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: drawing pins
Senses: synonyms: thumbtack
glosses: A tack for attaching paper to a drawing board etc.
dustbin
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdʌstbɪn/
Forms: form: dustbins
form: dust bin
form: dust-bin
Etymology: From dust + bin, as used for disposing of dust (originally ash from domestic fires) and other rubbish.
Senses: examples: text: Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.
ref: 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
glosses: A bin for holding rubbish until it can be collected; a garbage can.
Synonyms: sense: container for trash
word: ashcan
sense: container for trash
word: dumpster
sense: container for trash
word: garbage can
sense: container for trash
word: garbage pail
sense: container for trash
word: rubbish bin
sense: container for trash
word: trash can
sense: container for trash
word: wastebin
sense: container for trash
word: wastepaper basket
Derived terms: dustbin check
dustbin of history
walking dustbin
engaged tone
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: engaged tones
Senses: topics: communications
electrical-engineering
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
telecommunications
telephony
glosses: An audible signal to the calling party that indicates failure to complete the requested connection; a busy signal.
Synonyms: word: busy signal
ex-directory
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Etymology: From Latin ex (“out of”) + directory.
Senses: glosses: Of a telephone number or its owner: not in the directory; unlisted.
fairy cake
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: fairy cakes
Senses: glosses: A small cake baked in a small paper cup; a cupcake.
fizzy drink
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: fizzy drinks
Senses: synonyms: fizzy water
soft drink
hypernyms: soft drink
glosses: A non-alcoholic, carbonated beverage such as fizzy lemonade or cola.
green fingers
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɡɹiːn ˈfɪŋɡəz/
ipa: /ɡɹin ˈfɪŋɡəɹz/
Etymology: PIE word
 *pénkʷe
From green (adjective) + fingers, possibly popularized by the British gardener and radio and television broadcaster Cecil Henry Middleton (1886–1945).
Senses: examples: text: To some they are a rural escape in the centre of the city, to others they are a chance to test their green fingers and design skills. Now London mayor Boris Johnson has found a new use for urban roof gardens – as a key weapon on the front line against global warming.
ref: 2008 August 29, David Adam, “Environment: Johnson unveils secret weapon in war on climate change – the roof garden”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 Mar 2023:
synonyms: green thumb
glosses: A seemingly natural gardening ability.
Derived terms: green-fingered
Related terms: word: green thumb
helter-skelter
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌhɛltɚˈskɛltɚ/
ipa: /ˌhɛltəˈskɛltə/
rhymes: -ɛltə(ɹ)
Forms: form: more helter-skelter
form: most helter-skelter
Etymology: In form a reduplication (similar to hurry-scurry and harum-scarum, both with initial /h-/ and /sk-/); perhaps based on Middle English skelten ("to hasten; to raise an alarm"), or maybe related to Old High German skeltan (“scold”) from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- (“make noise, yell”), employed as a fossil word.
Senses: examples: text: The winds knocked huge trees helter-skelter all over my garden.
text: But the butterflies were dead. A whiff of rotten eggs had vanquished the pale clouded yellows which came pelting across the orchard and up Dods Hill and away on to the moor, now lost behind a furze bush, then off again helter-skelter in a broiling sun.
ref: 1922 October 26, Virginia Woolf, chapter II, in Jacob’s Room, Richmond, London: […] Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press, 1960, →OCLC, page 21:
text: Pellets, once released from the funnel, would bounce helter-skelter, left or right, against the pins […] to ultimately gather in the lower compartments in a pile which resembles a normal curve.
ref: 1998, Deborah J. Bennett, Randomness, Harvard University Press, page 104:
glosses: In confused, disorderly haste.
helter-skelter
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌhɛltɚˈskɛltɚ/
ipa: /ˌhɛltəˈskɛltə/
rhymes: -ɛltə(ɹ)
Forms: form: more helter-skelter
form: most helter-skelter
Etymology: In form a reduplication (similar to hurry-scurry and harum-scarum, both with initial /h-/ and /sk-/); perhaps based on Middle English skelten ("to hasten; to raise an alarm"), or maybe related to Old High German skeltan (“scold”) from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- (“make noise, yell”), employed as a fossil word.
Senses: examples: text: After World War II, from 1945 until the early 1960s, the helter-skelter growth of the reprint industry went largely unheeded by the general publishing industry, then under its own mounting pressures to publish new works for a growing reading public and ever-larger numbers of educational institutions.
ref: 1972, Carol A. Nemeyer, Scholarly Reprint Publishing in the United States, New York, N.Y.: R. R. Bowker Co., →ISBN, page 7:
text: Although his existential thoughts seem to have been tossed onto the page in helter-skelter fashion, what Gilboa does here is to open his mind and heart to the reader through verbal jaggedness and poetic unneatness.
ref: 1994, Warren Bargad, "To Write the Lips of Sleepers": The Poetry of Amir Gilboa, page 232:
glosses: Carelessly hurried and confused.
Related terms: willy-nilly
pell-mell
helter-skelter
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌhɛltɚˈskɛltɚ/
ipa: /ˌhɛltəˈskɛltə/
rhymes: -ɛltə(ɹ)
Forms: form: helter-skelters
Etymology: In form a reduplication (similar to hurry-scurry and harum-scarum, both with initial /h-/ and /sk-/); perhaps based on Middle English skelten ("to hasten; to raise an alarm"), or maybe related to Old High German skeltan (“scold”) from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- (“make noise, yell”), employed as a fossil word.
Senses: examples: text: ‘I hardly know, — I imagine that it was with some dim idea of Marjorie’s being able to get in if she returned while I was absent, — but the truth is I was in such a condition of helter skelter that I am not prepared to swear that I had any reasonable reason.’
ref: 1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:
text: (Oh, oh, oh) / I'm looking for some shelter / (Oh, oh, oh) / From the helter-skelter / (Oh, oh, oh) / Just keep me away from / All who conspire / (Enemy fire...)
ref: 2014, busbee, Meghan Kabir, “Enemy Fire”, in Young Blood, performed by Bea Miller:
glosses: Confusion or turmoil.
examples: text: He is finishing, this week, a remarkable thing called a helter skelter: This is a circular building 50 feet high which people climb, by means of an interior winding stair. At the top they each take a seat in a semicircular wooden trough which curls around the outside of the house, gradually leading towards the ground with a terrific rush, they slide down this and are rapidly delivered on to the grass below.
ref: 1905 September 30, The Independent, Footscray, Vic, page 2, column 4:
text: For gentler sliding fun, you can take a ride on the helter-skelter.
ref: 2015, Louise Spilsbury, Ride that Rollercoaster!, page 12:
glosses: An amusement ride consisting of a slide that spirals down around the exterior of a tapering central tower.
high street
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: high streets
form: highstreet
form: High Street
Etymology: From Middle English high strete, highestrete, haye-strete, hye strete, heiȝe strete, from Old English hēahstrǣt (“high road”), equivalent to high + street.
Senses: qualifier: parts of New England
glosses: The main street of any town.
examples: text: Woolworths has had a presence on the UK High Street for almost a century.
ref: 2008 December 27, “Woolworths store closures begin”, in BBC:
text: The spending in and around local stations is creating micro-economies that are benefiting Great Britain's high streets, independent businesses and economic growth, both locally and on a national level.
ref: 2025 October 1, Richard Evans, “The value of the railway effect”, in RAIL, number 1045, page 58:
glosses: Mainstream shops, banks, etc. that can be found on such a street, in contrast to more specialist shops and services.
glosses: Physical, bricks and mortar shops, in contrast to Internet shops.
Synonyms: sense: the primary artery of a town
word: Main Street
sense: physical shops
word: bricks and mortar
Related terms: highgate
high road
highway
hosepipe
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: hosepipes
Etymology: From hose + pipe.
Senses: examples: text: In a hot three-week drought that had begin in July he could have saved it, despite the hosepipe ban. But he had been too busy to haul full buckets the garden's length.
ref: 2022, Ian McEwan, Lessons, page 7:
glosses: A flexible pipe for carrying water or other liquids; a garden hose.
Synonyms: garden hose
hosepipe
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: hosepipes
form: hosepiping
form: hosepiped
form: hosepiped
Etymology: From hose + pipe.
Senses: topics: broadcasting
film
media
television
glosses: To film with erratic panning movements of the camera.
rigour
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɹɪɡə(ɹ)/
rhymes: -ɪɡə(ɹ)
homophone: rigor
homophone: rigger
Forms: form: rigours
form: rigor
Etymology: From Middle English rigour, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French rigor, from Latin rigor (“stiffness, rigidity, rigor, cold, harshness”), from rigere (“to be rigid”). Compare French rigueur.
Senses: examples: text: And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 1:13–14:
glosses: Severity or strictness.
glosses: Harshness, as of climate.
glosses: A trembling or shivering response.
glosses: Character of being unyielding or inflexible.
glosses: Shrewd questioning.
glosses: Higher level of difficulty.
glosses: Misspelling of rigor (“rigor mortis”).
Derived terms: rigorous
contravention
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: contraventions
Etymology: From Middle French contravention.
Senses: examples: text: Their contravention of the treaty increased international tensions.
text: […]and the Royal Navy's officers, sometimes in direct contravention of their orders, decided that they would board and capture any slaver they came across, regardless of whatever flag they flew[…]
ref: 2018 December 1, Drachinifel, 8:13 from the start, in Anti-Slavery Patrols - The West Africa Squadron, archived from the original on 29 Nov 2024:
glosses: The act of contravening (a rule, regulation, law, or order) or of not fulfilling (an obligation, promise, or agreement).
Synonyms: opposition
obstruction
transgression
violation
Derived terms: contraventional
auto-da-fe
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: autos-da-fe
Senses: glosses: Alternative form of auto da fe.
up the duff
Language: English
Part of speech: prep_phrase
Etymology: Unknown; the OED states that the phrase was originally Australian. Possibly related to in the pudding club (duff is a type of pudding) and thus related to dough.
Senses: examples: text: Lynda up the duff—what odds do you put on that, eh, Mr Clever Dick, eh? That's shut his gob. That's put a crease in his brand-new suit.
ref: 1987, David Leland, Wish You Were Here, spoken by Lynda Mansell (Emily Lloyd):
text: At 19, he was married (‘only because she was up the duff’ he explains gallantly).
ref: 1994, The Daily Telegraph, quoted in The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms, page 88, 2nd edition, 2005:
text: “Well, when he found out that my gran was up the duff, he went back to his native Norway (or it might have been Sweden)[…].”
ref: 1998, Tracey Ullman, Tracey Takes On..., page 98:
text: It just means that some daft wee hairy that gets knocked up the duff has tae get oan the bus tae Carlisle tae get cleaned oot.
ref: 1998, Irvine Welsh, Filth, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 191:
text: The great coalface of fuckwits; the fly-by-nighters, who do their five years in Bondi, befriend a Roosters player, get a good coke dealer, meet some tight westie bitch who′s moved here while she works a job in PR, they fall in love, she gets up the duff and then they have to buy a house in Condell Park and they′re gone[…].
ref: 2008, Sam de Brito, The Lost Boys, page 14:
glosses: Pregnant.
invigilator
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɪnˈvɪd͡ʒɪleɪtəɹ/
Forms: form: invigilators
Etymology: From invigilate + -or, from Latin invigilatus, past participle of invigilo.
Senses: glosses: A person who supervises students during an examination; a proctor
glosses: A person who supervises a gallery at a museum.
loudhailer
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: -eɪlə(ɹ)
Forms: form: loudhailers
Etymology: From loud + hailer.
Senses: examples: text: As Ukrainian forces struggled to hold the flattened city, it was claimed that civilians in captured territory were being deceived into leaving shelters to be bussed out to Russian camps by soldiers wielding loudhailers.
ref: 2022 March 24, Daniel Boffey, “Ukraine sinks Russian ship as Moscow accused of forcible deportations from Mariupol”, in The Guardian:
glosses: A megaphone or bullhorn.
Synonyms: blowhorn
mains
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /meɪnz/
rhymes: -eɪnz
Senses: glosses: plural of main
mains
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /meɪnz/
rhymes: -eɪnz
Senses: examples: text: I plugged it into the mains and it blew up!
text: We don't have mains power out here, only a generator.
text: mains electricity, mains voltage
glosses: The domestic electrical power supply, especially as connected to a network or grid.
examples: text: We have gas heating, but it's bottled gas, not mains gas.
text: The properties formerly relied on a well, but are now connected to the mains water supply.
glosses: A large-scale network or grid supplying any of various other services, such as water, gas or sewerage, to properties.
glosses: The main course of a meal.
Derived terms: mainsborne
mains hum
Related terms: water main
mains
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /meɪnz/
rhymes: -eɪnz
Senses: glosses: third-person singular simple present indicative of main
mains
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /meɪnz/
rhymes: -eɪnz
Forms: form: mains
Etymology: Related to manse.
Senses: examples: text: Though no minister would visit the Skerburnfoot, or, if he went, departed quicker than he came, the girl Ailie attended regular at the catechising at the mains of Sker.
ref: 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:
glosses: The farm attached to a mansion house.
Derived terms: Davidson's Mains
naff off
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: naffs off
form: naffing off
form: naffed off
form: naffed off
Senses: examples: text: Princess Anne caused controversy when she told photographers to “naff off” in 1982.
ref: 2013 April 1 [1982], Melissa Mohr, quoting Anne, Princess Royal, Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 153:
text: Oi, you cheeky slag / Naff off
ref: 2003, “Mind Out”, in Asylum Speakers, performed by Foreign Beggars ft. Skrein:
glosses: A mild version of fuck off
Related terms: naffed off
nark
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /nɑːk/
enpr: näk
ipa: /nɑːɹk/
enpr: närk
rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)k
homophone: narc
Forms: form: narks
form: narking
form: narked
form: narked
form: narc
Etymology: Uncertain. Perhaps from Angloromani nok (“nose”), from Romani nakh, from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀡𑀓𑁆𑀓 (ṇakka), ultimately a doublet of nose.
Senses: examples: text: “If you nark on me, I’ll rip your arms off,” said Tim to his brother, as he passed him a joint.
text: I don’t trust that guy; he’s gonna nark us out.
synonyms: word: rat
word: tattle
word: bewray
word: blow the whistle
word: clepe
word: denounce
word: dime
word: dob
word: drop a dime
word: drop a dime on someone
word: finger
word: fink
word: fizgig
word: inform
word: inform on
word: grass on
word: grass up
word: lolly up
word: name names
word: nark
word: peach
word: rat on
word: rat out
word: roll on
word: sing
word: snitch
word: snitch up
word: squeak
word: squeal
word: tattle
word: tell
word: tell all
word: tell on
word: tell tales
word: tip off
word: turn in
glosses: To serve or behave as a spy or informer; to tattle.
examples: text: It really narks me when people smoke in restaurants.
synonyms: word: irk
word: vex
word: aggravate
word: annoy
word: rankle
word: ruffle
word: sting
word: antagonize
word: bother
word: disgruntle
word: botherate
word: bug
word: get
word: grate
word: burn up
word: bedevil
word: cheese off
word: devil
word: exasperate
word: frustrate
word: get up
word: grotch
word: hack off
word: hassle
word: irk
word: irritate
word: jazz
word: molest
word: mommick
word: nark
word: nerve
word: pee off
word: peeve
word: persecute
word: pique
word: piss off
word: provoke
word: rile
word: rile up
word: roil
word: storm
word: test someone's patience
word: tick off
word: trouble
word: try one's patience
word: vex
word: wind up
word: Idioms:
word: boil someone's piss
word: chap someone's hide
word: get on someone's nerves
word: get on someone's tits
word: get on someone's wick
word: get someone's back up
word: get someone's dander up
word: get someone's goat
word: get someone's Irish up
word: get someone's nanny
word: get someone's nanny-goat
word: get under one's goat
word: get under someone's skin
word: give someone the shits
word: grind one's gears
word: harsh one's mellow
word: put someone's back up
word: raise someone's hackles
word: rub someone the wrong way
word: rub up the wrong way
word: ruffle someone's feathers
word: tee off
word: torque off
glosses: To annoy or irritate.
examples: text: He narks in my ear all day, moaning about his problems.
glosses: To complain.
examples: text: Nark it! I hear someone coming!
glosses: To stop.
Derived terms: sense: watch
english: look out
translation: look out
word: nark it
sense: inform on
word: narking dues
sense: annoy
word: narky
nark
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /nɑːk/
enpr: näk
ipa: /nɑːɹk/
enpr: närk
rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)k
homophone: narc
Forms: form: narks
Etymology: See narc.
Senses: glosses: Alternative form of narc (narcotics officer).
nookie
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈnʊki/
rhymes: -ʊki
Forms: form: nooky
Etymology: Possibly from Dutch neuken (“to fuck”). Compare cognate and synonymous German Low German nöken, nucken.
Senses: examples: text: I came home early and caught them on the couch having a bit of nookie.
text: Yeah. Maybe we/ll^([sic]) make the rounds of the bars. I could use a little nookie. Thats^([sic]) what I need, a good piece of ass.
ref: 1964, Hubert Selby Jr., Last Exit to Brooklyn, New York: Grove Press, page 281:
text: I told you you’d get more nookie than you can shake a stick at if you tell the girls that your wife died. It’s the sympathy vote.
ref: 1984, Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City, →ISBN, page 43:
text: Some men only put up with them because their male ego has convinced them that sooner or later, you'll give in to your natural attraction to them and they'll get some nookie.
ref: 1996, Elizabeth Kuster, Exorcising Your Ex: How to Get Rid of the Demons of Relationships Past, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:
text: “All the guys I'd want to date live in Coeur d'Alene.” She slipped into the sweater, looking far better in it than Holly had. “I don't have time to drive hours for my nookie.”
ref: 2012, Jill Shalvis, Rescue My Heart, Penguin, →ISBN, page 190:
text: If you want Cookie's nookie, then ditch the bitch.
ref: 2015, Lee Daniels, Danny Strong, “The Lyon's Roar”, in Empire, season 1, episode 8, spoken by Cookie Lyon:
glosses: Sex or other sexual activity, especially if illicit.
examples: text: I’m smelling like dope and I’m shooting for more / Eyes glued to the nookie moving slow on the floor
ref: 2002, People Under the Stairs, “The Suite For Beaver Part 2”, in O.S.T.:
glosses: An attractive woman, when considered as a sex object.
Derived terms: nookie-bookie
you don't get your nookie where you get your cookies
nookie
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈnʊki/
rhymes: -ʊki
Forms: form: nookies
Etymology: Possibly from or related to German Nuckel (“pacifier; teat”), nuckeln (“to suck”), both attested from the 17th century, in which case the German brand name NUK, though officially an acronym, could be named after the generic word.
Senses: synonyms: word: binky
word: bink
word: bo-bo
word: comforter
word: dodie
word: dummy
word: nookie
word: paci
word: piece
word: pippy
word: soother
glosses: A pacifier.
Related terms: noogie
oilseed rape
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Senses: glosses: The rape plant, having bright yellow flowers; source of an edible oil
Synonyms: canola