nandhakumarms/qualc-wiktionary-en huggingface dataset:
Word: diversification Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Medieval Latin diversificatiō, from diversificātus, past participle of diversificō (“diversify”), from Latin diversus (“turned in different ways”) + faciō (“make, do”). By surface analysis, diverse + -ification. Pronunciation: /dɪˌvɝsɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/, /daɪˌvɝsɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/, /daɪˌvɜːsɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/ 1. The act, or the result, of diversifying. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: In 2024, the campaigns are against video game consulting companies such as Sweet Baby for performing what some gamers believe is “forced diversification.” 2. A corporate strategy in which a company acquires or establishes a business other than that of its current product. Labels: countable, uncountable 3. An investment strategy involving investing in a range of assets with differing features in order to reduce specific risk. Labels: countable, uncountable
Word: divination Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Old French divination, from Latin divinatio. Pronunciation: /ˌdɪvɪˈneɪʃən/ 1. The act of divining; a foreseeing or foretelling of future events. Labels: uncountable 2. The apparent art of discovering secrets or the future by preternatural means. Labels: countable, uncountable 3. An indication of what is to come in the future or what is secret; a prediction. Labels: countable
Word: divorcee Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Borrowed from French divorcée, equivalent to divorce + -ee. Pronunciation: /dɪvɔːˈsiː/, /dɪvɔɹˈsi/, /-eɪ/ 1. A divorced person.
Word: document Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Borrowed from Middle French document, from Latin documentum. Pronunciation: /ˈdɒkjʊmənt/, /ˈdɑkjʊmənt/ 1. An original or official paper used as the basis, proof, or support of anything else, including any writing, book, or other instrument conveying information pertinent to such proof or support. Example: Saint Luke […] collected them from such documents and testimonies as he […] judged to be authentic. 2. Any material substance on which the information is represented by writing. Example: If a morsel of food fell off your plate, the advice of one contemporary document was to pick it up, make the sign of the cross over it, season it well - and then eat it. 3. A file that contains text. Example: That exception is the HTML <IMG> tag–which transcludes an image into the context of the document. The image itself is neither embedded within the document nor copied—it is transcluded. 4. An object conveying information by whatever means, capable of being indexed alongside other similar objects. Example: This study examines video game photography as a documentary practice. […] The three themes from this study's findings – that video game photographs act as (1) vehicles for storytelling, (2) creative trophies, and (3) aesthetic tokens – reveal how personally meaningful documents emerge from this medium. 5. That which is taught or authoritatively set forth; precept; instruction; dogma. Labels: obsolete Example: And particularly they should take care that the memory of the learner be not too much crowded with a tumultuous heap or overbearing multitude of documents or ideas at one time. 6. An example for instruction or warning. Labels: obsolete Example: They were forthwith stoned to death, as a document to others.
Word: document Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Borrowed from Middle French document, from Latin documentum. Pronunciation: /ˈdɒkjʊmɛnt/, /ˈdɑkjʊmɛnt/ 1. To record in documents. Example: He documented each step of the process as he did it, which was good when the investigation occurred. Example: The relationship between memory as lived and history as documented is always a complex dialogue — each informing, and disinforming, the other. 2. To furnish with documents or papers necessary to establish facts or give information. Example: A ship should be documented according to the directions of law.
Word: dogmatism Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From French dogmatisme, from Ecclesiastical Latin dogmatismus. Derived from Latin dogma (“philosophical tenet”), from Ancient Greek δόγμα (dógma, “opinion, tenet”), from δοκέω (dokéō, “to seem good, think”). Treated in the 17th and 18th century as Greek, with plural dogmata. Pronunciation: /ˈdɔɡ.məˌtɪz.əm/, /ˈdɑɡ.məˌtɪz.əm/ 1. The manner or character of a dogmatist; arrogance or positiveness in stating opinion. Labels: countable, uncountable
Word: dolly Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From doll + -y, from the given name Dorothy, originally applied either to a woman or female pet or to a children's toy, and expanded to refer to various types of contrivances or devices. The Online Etymology Dictionary, while considering the reason for applying it to such devices unobvious, compares how the names jack, jenny and jimmy are also applied to devices. Pronunciation: /ˈdɑli/, /ˈdɒli/ 1. To hit a dolly. Labels: transitive 2. To move (an object) using a dolly. Labels: transitive 3. To move a camera (usually toward or away from its subject) using a dolly. Labels: intransitive 4. To wash (laundry) in a tub using the stirring device called a dolly. Labels: transitive 5. To beat (red-hot metal) with a hammer. Labels: transitive 6. To crush ore with a dolly. Labels: transitive 7. To make somebody or something look attractive. Labels: often, with-up Example: Referring to the "hero of the day," No. 92220, Mr. Hanks acceded that she was not of the Great Western breed, but they had done their best to make up for that by "dollying her up in good old Western colours and conferring upon her the finest honour we can—the halo or crown of Swindon, the copper top to her chimney."
Word: dolly Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Disputed. Most scholars derive the term from doll + -y, as Etymology 1, above. Linguist Ian Hancock, however, suggests derivation from Italian dolce (“sweet”). Pronunciation: /ˈdɑli/, /ˈdɒli/ 1. Pretty; attractive. Labels: Polari Example: Divine. Sitting, sipping a tiny drinkette, vadaïng the great butch omis and dolly little palones trolling by, or disporting yourself on the sable plage getting your lallies all bronzed - your riah getting bleached by the soleil. Example: She minces past the brandy latch / to vada dolly dish for trade, silly / with oomph and taste to park. 2. Left-handed (also dolly-handed, dolly-pawed, dolly-posh). Labels: Sheffield, Yorkshire, especially
Word: dolly Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Hindi डाली (ḍālī). Pronunciation: /ˈdɑli/, /ˈdɒli/ 1. An offering of fruit or flowers. Labels: India Example: In some parts of India the dolly has grown into an extravagance consisting sometimes of bushels of fruit, nuts, and confectionery, with bottles of champagne and liqueurs.
Word: doltish Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Etymology tree English dolt Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Proto-Germanic *-iskaz Proto-West Germanic *-isk Old English -isċ Middle English -ish English -ish English doltish From dolt + -ish. 1. Like a dolt; dull in intellect; stupid. Example: Take off thine eye! more intolerable than fiends' glarings is a doltish stare!
Word: domestication Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree English domesticate Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin -ātiōlbor. Old French -ationbor. Middle English -acioun English -ation English -ion English domestication From domesticate + -ion. 1. The act of domesticating, or accustoming to home; the action of taming wild animals or breeding plants. Labels: countable, uncountable 2. The act of domesticating, or making a legal instrument recognized and enforceable in a jurisdiction foreign to the one in which the instrument was originally issued or created. Labels: countable, uncountable 3. The act of domesticating a text. Labels: countable, uncountable
Word: dominant Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Borrowed from Middle French dominant. Pronunciation: /ˈdɒmɪnənt/, /ˈdɑmənənt/, /ˈdɔmɪnənt/, [ˈdɔ̟mənənt] 1. The fifth major tone of a musical scale (five major steps above the note in question); thus G is the dominant of C, A of D, and so on. 2. The triad built on the dominant tone. 3. Of an allele, that a heterozygote for the allele has the same phenotype as the homozygote. Example: Finally, if we suppose provisionally that the mutant genes are dominant just as often as they are recessive, selection will be far more severe in eliminating the disadvantageous dominants than in eliminating the disadvantageous recessives. 4. A species or organism that is dominant. Example: Landowners cannot afford to cut submerchantable trees, yet many hesitate to cut merchantable dominants and codominants at the risk of downgrading the residual stand. 5. The dominating partner in sadomasochistic sexual activity. Example: This calendar is not for the faint of heart (unless you have some strong butch dominant to hold you while you swoon) Example: His story was a fable you told dominants in training to stress the importance of comprehending the depths of your submissive's needs.
Word: dominant Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Borrowed from Middle French dominant. Pronunciation: /ˈdɒmɪnənt/, /ˈdɑmənənt/, /ˈdɔmɪnənt/, [ˈdɔ̟mənənt] 1. Ruling; governing; prevailing Example: The dominant party controlled the government. Example: The member of a dominant race is, in his dealings with the subject race, seldom indeed fraudulent, […] but imperious, insolent, and cruel. 2. Predominant, common, prevalent, of greatest importance. Example: The dominant plants of the Carboniferous were lycopods and early conifers. Example: All other elements are mere "impurities" when their abundances are compared with those of these two dominant elements. 3. Of a body part, preferred and used with greater dexterity than the other, as the right hand of a right-handed person or the left hand of a left-handed one. 4. Designating the follicle which will survive atresia and permit ovulation. 5. Being the dominant Example: Dominant seventh
Word: domination Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English domynacion, from Old French dominacion, from Latin dominātiō (“rule, dominion”), from dominor (“domineer; rule”); see dominate. Pronunciation: /ˌdɒməˈneɪʃən/, /ˌdɑːməˈneɪʃən/ 1. Control by means of superior ability, influence, position, or resources; prevailing force. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: First, relations of power and domination have been and continue to be significantly constitutive of social relations in modern societies. Example: What this means is that the subordination of women by men is pervasive, that it orders the relationship of the sexes in every area of life, that a sexual politics of domination is as much in evidence in the private spheres of the family, ordinary social life, and sexuality as in the traditionally public spheres of government and the economy. 2. The exercise of power in ruling; sovereignty; authority; government. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: [...] thou and thine vſurpe / The Dominations, Royalties, and rights / Of this oppreſſed boy; [...] Example: I am no friend to ariſtocracy [...]. [... O]n the ſuppoſed ruin of the conſtitution, [...] if it muſt periſh, I would rather by far ſee it reſolved into any other form, than loſt in that auſtere and inſolent domination. 3. A dominion; an angel from a high order of angels in the celestial hierarchy. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers. Example: The succession of orders given in this passage is not exactly the same as in the succeeding chapters, in which it is as follows: -- Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones; Dominations, Virtues, Powers; Principalities, Archangels, Angels. 4. A fetish characterized by control and power over and discipline of one's sexual partner; sometimes including topping or sadism. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: By night, I am Mistress Shay Noir, the Black queen of domination. The world's most beautiful sadist. 5. Synonym of cover. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: With more than 200 research papers published on the algorithmic complexity of domination and related parameters of graphs, it is difficult to know what to cover in a relatively short chapter on the subject, especially since it could take quite a few pages just to cover the preliminaries of computational complexity and the many algorithm design paradigms that have been applied to domination problems.
Word: douceur Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Borrowed from French douceur (“sweetness”), from Old French dolçor, dulcur, etc., from Latin dulcōr + -em, from dulcis (“sweet”). Naturalized in Middle English as douceoure, dousour but treated as a French loanword from the 17th century onward. Doublet of dulcour. 1. Sweetness of manner: agreeableness, gentleness. Labels: countable, uncountable 2. Sweet speech: a compliment. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable 3. A sweetener: a gift offered to sweeten another's attitude, a tip or bribe. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: When Dangerfield put the little roll in his hand, Irons looked suspicious and frightened, and balanced it in his palm, as if he had thoughts of chucking it from him, as though it were literally a satanic douceur. But it is hard to part with money, and Irons, though he still looked cowed and unhappy, put the money into his breeches' pocket, and he made a queer bow […] 4. A tax break provided as an inducement to sell valuable items (especially art) to public collections rather than on the open market. Labels: UK, countable, uncountable
Word: douche Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Borrowed from French douche (“shower”), from Italian doccia (“shower”). Pronunciation: /duːʃ/ 1. A jet or current of water or vapour directed upon some part of the body to benefit it medicinally; in particular, such a jet directed at the vagina for irrigation. Example: Massage, or kneading of the whole body, is carried out in this bath after which a steam douche or a warm spray is turned upon the affected parts, according to the nature of the case. Example: 1898 Selma Lagerlöf (trans. Pauline Bancroft Flach), The Story of Gösta Berling, Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, Part II, Chapter I, p. 249 https://archive.org/details/storygstaberlin02lagegoog Earth, the great mother, begins to live. Romping like a child she rises from her bath in the spring floods, from her douche in the spring rain. 2. Something that produces the jet or current in the previous sense, such as a syringe. 3. A jet or spray of any liquid. Labels: obsolete Example: A douche of spray blinded my brother for a moment. When his eyes were clear of that he saw the monster had passed and was rushing landward. 4. Ellipsis of douchebag (“objectionable person”). Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, humorous, slang, vulgar Example: You say our records are offensive, (You're a douche, you're a douche.) Example: I am saying this to you, John Edward. You are a liar, you are a fake, and you are the biggest douche ever.
Word: douche Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Borrowed from French douche (“shower”), from Italian doccia (“shower”). Pronunciation: /duːʃ/ 1. To administer a douche to; to shower; to douse Labels: transitive Example: […] a frizzy half-white woman who looked as if she had fallen into a flour-sack, her face was so deep in powder, and her frizzy hair and her brown silk dress so douched with the white dust of it. Example: Mrs. McLash's anger was gone completely, douched not nearly so much by the beer as by this attention to her son. 2. To use a douche. Labels: intransitive Example: (In a 2002 study, 58.5 percent of Black women reported douching and 35.6 percent of Hispanic women said they did the same, compared with 26.6 percent of white women.)
Word: douse Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Probably of North Germanic origin, related to Swedish dunsa (“to plumb down, fall clumsily”), Danish dunse (“to thump”). Compare Old English dwǣsċan (“to extinguish”) and douse below. Pronunciation: /daʊs/ 1. To plunge suddenly into water; to duck; to immerse. Labels: ambitransitive Example: Set fire to your matches! / Douse them in gasoline! 2. To fall suddenly into water. Labels: intransitive Example: swing i' th'air, or douse in water 3. To put out; to extinguish. Labels: transitive Example: The man who doused the fire was told to put the remainder of the coal into the bucket and then give the bucket to the soldier. Example: Once you feel confident in your visualizations, you may douse the candle by blowing it out.
Word: douse Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Probably of North Germanic origin, related to Swedish dunsa (“to plumb down, fall clumsily”), Danish dunse (“to thump”). Compare Old English dwǣsċan (“to extinguish”) and douse below. Pronunciation: /daʊs/ 1. A sudden plunging into water. Example: In winter a douse in cold water helps the looks and adds to the style of the carcass, but they should be thoroughly dried before packing.
Word: douse Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English duschen, dusshen (“to rush, fall”), related to Norwegian dusa (“to break, cast down from”), Old Dutch doesen (“to beat, strike”), dialectal German tusen, dusen (“to strike, run against, collide”), Saterland Frisian dössen (“to strike”). Compare doss, dust. Pronunciation: /daʊs/ 1. To strike, beat, or thrash. Labels: transitive 2. To strike or lower in haste; to slacken suddenly Labels: transitive Example: Douse the topsail!
Word: douse Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English duschen, dusshen (“to rush, fall”), related to Norwegian dusa (“to break, cast down from”), Old Dutch doesen (“to beat, strike”), dialectal German tusen, dusen (“to strike, run against, collide”), Saterland Frisian dössen (“to strike”). Compare doss, dust. Pronunciation: /daʊs/ 1. A blow or strike, especially to the face.
Word: dowel Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English dowle, dule, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Old French doelle (“the hollow part of a tool where the handle is”), from Frankish *duli (“hollow tube, pipe”), from Proto-Germanic *dulją (“pipe”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰel- (“curvature, hollow”). If so, then cognate with French douelle, douille. Alternatively from Middle Low German dövel (“peg, plug”), from Old Saxon *dubil, from Proto-Germanic *dubilaz. If so, then cognate with Dutch deuvel (“wooden peg”), German Dübel (“dowel”). Pronunciation: /ˈdaʊəl/ 1. A pin, or block, of wood or metal, fitting into holes in the abutting portions of two pieces, and being partly in one piece and partly in the other, to keep them in their proper relative position. 2. A wooden rod, as one to make short pins from. Example: This twenty-four-piece starter set uses twelve thirty-six-inch-long dowels (or nine forty-eight-inch dowels) cut to these rod lengths. Lay out the cuts so you use the entire length of each dowel without any leftover scraps. 3. A piece of wood or similar material fitted into a surface not suitable for fastening so that other pieces may be fastened to it.
Word: dowel Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English dowle, dule, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Old French doelle (“the hollow part of a tool where the handle is”), from Frankish *duli (“hollow tube, pipe”), from Proto-Germanic *dulją (“pipe”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰel- (“curvature, hollow”). If so, then cognate with French douelle, douille. Alternatively from Middle Low German dövel (“peg, plug”), from Old Saxon *dubil, from Proto-Germanic *dubilaz. If so, then cognate with Dutch deuvel (“wooden peg”), German Dübel (“dowel”). Pronunciation: /ˈdaʊəl/ 1. To fasten together with dowels. Labels: transitive Example: The wheels were solid, two half discs dowelled against the hub, and the chariots were pulled along by oxen or asses. 2. To furnish with dowels. Labels: transitive Example: A cooper dowels pieces for the head of a cask.
Word: drab Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Probably from Middle French and Old French drap (“cloth”), either: * from Late Latin drappus (“drabcloth, kerchief; piece of cloth”), most likely from Gaulish *drappo, from Proto-Indo-European *drep- (“to scratch, tear”); or * from Frankish *drapi, *drāpi (“that which is fulled, drabcloth”), from Proto-Germanic *drap-, *drēp- (“something beaten”), from *drepaną (“to beat, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrebʰ- (“to beat, crush; to make or become thick”). The English word is cognate with Ancient Greek δρέπω (drépō, “to pluck”), Avestan 𐬛𐬭𐬀𐬟𐬱𐬀 (drafša, “banner, flag”), Lithuanian drãpanos (“household linens”), Old Norse trefja (“to rub, wear out”), trof (“fringes”), Sanskrit द्रापि (drāpi, “mantle, gown”), Serbo-Croatian drápati (“to scratch, scrape”)). Pronunciation: /dɹæb/ 1. A fabric, usually of thick cotton or wool, having a dull brownish yellow, dull grey, or dun colour. Labels: also, attributive, countable, uncountable Example: John Hanſell, of Bridport, in Dorſetſhire, ſail-cloth manufacturer, ſtates in his evidence, that the ſale of coarſe woollen cloath was not then a twentieth part of what it had been for the common people formerly, owing to their ſubſtituting Ruſſia drabs and ravenſduck as garments in place of the coarſe woollens. 2. The color of this fabric. Labels: also, attributive, countable, uncountable Example: Most of the colours called drabs appear to me the same by day-light and candle-light. Example: [T]he carpet is a Brussels, of rather a small pattern, in various shades of greens and drabs. 3. Often in the plural form drabs: apparel, especially trousers, made from this fabric. Labels: also, attributive, countable, uncountable Example: He wore a pretty large wig, which had once been white, but was now of a browniſh yellow; his coat was one of thoſe modeſt-coloured drabs which mock the injuries of duſt and dirt; [...] Example: [T]o please her he promised to lay aside the universal drabs for the wedding day and to case his extremities in modern black cloth continuations, with an express stipulation that the drabs should again be in active service on the subsequent morning. 4. A dull or uninteresting appearance or situation, unremarkable. Labels: also, attributive, broadly, countable, uncountable Example: The slimy little causeway had dropped into the river by a slow process of suicide, and two or three stumps of piles and a rusty iron mooring-ring were all that remained of the departed Break-Neck glories. [...] [T]hrough three-fourths of its rising tides the dirty indecorous drab of a river would come solitarily oozing and lapping at the rusty ring, [...] Example: Watership Down review – CGI rabbits can't save this Christmas turkey. The 1970s cartoon traumatised generations of children, but the new version is tame, drab and deeply unsatisfying. What, really, was the point?
Word: drab Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Probably from Middle French and Old French drap (“cloth”), either: * from Late Latin drappus (“drabcloth, kerchief; piece of cloth”), most likely from Gaulish *drappo, from Proto-Indo-European *drep- (“to scratch, tear”); or * from Frankish *drapi, *drāpi (“that which is fulled, drabcloth”), from Proto-Germanic *drap-, *drēp- (“something beaten”), from *drepaną (“to beat, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrebʰ- (“to beat, crush; to make or become thick”). The English word is cognate with Ancient Greek δρέπω (drépō, “to pluck”), Avestan 𐬛𐬭𐬀𐬟𐬱𐬀 (drafša, “banner, flag”), Lithuanian drãpanos (“household linens”), Old Norse trefja (“to rub, wear out”), trof (“fringes”), Sanskrit द्रापि (drāpi, “mantle, gown”), Serbo-Croatian drápati (“to scratch, scrape”)). Pronunciation: /dɹæb/ 1. Of the color of some types of drabcloth: dull brownish yellow or dun. Labels: also, attributive Example: The coffee presently appeared, brought not as usual by the footman, in scarlet and drab, but by the old butler, in threadbare but well-brushed black, [...] 2. Particularly of color: dull, uninteresting. Labels: also, attributive, broadly Example: [T]he man was about fifty-two—had a ſmall cane under his arm—was dreſs'd in a dark drab-colour'd coat, waiſtcoat, and breeches, which ſeem'd to have seen ſome years ſervice—they were ſtill clean, and there was a little air of frugal propretè throughout him. Example: Year by year they will find her with even thinner hair, sharper shoulders, drabber cheeks; and he, looking upon her with the forgiveness of complete indifference, will say to himself, "She is bad, and she is ugly; I was well rid of her!"
Word: drab Part of Speech: noun Etymology: The origin of the noun is uncertain; compare Middle English drabelen, drablen, draplen (“to soil; make dirty; to drag on the ground or through mud”), and Low German drabbe (“dirt, mud”), drabbeln (“to soil”), and Old Norse drabba (“to make drab; make dirty”), the latter three ultimately from Proto-Germanic *drepaną (“to hit, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreb- (“to crush, grind; to kill”). The word is also likely to be related to Dutch drab (“dregs, sediment”), Irish drabog, Scottish Gaelic drabag (“dirty woman; slattern”). The verb is derived from the noun. Pronunciation: /dɹæb/ 1. A dirty or untidy woman; a slattern. Labels: also, attributive, dated Example: [C]ertainly thou deſireſt but thy right, that canſt read a rhetorique, or logique lecture to Hecuba in the art of raving, and inſtruct Tiſiphone herſelfe in her owne gnaſhing language. Other he, or ſhe, drabs of the curſteſt or vengeableſt rankes, are but dipped or dyed in the art; not ſuch a belldam in the whole kingdome of frogges, as thy croking, and moſt clamorous ſelfe. Example: [O]ld Lad of War; thou that were wont to be as hot as a turn-ſpit, as nimble as a fencer, & as lowzy as a ſchoole-maiſter; now thou art put to ſilence like a Secretarie? [...] who are your centinells in peace and ſtand ready charg'd to giue warning; with hems, hums, & pockey-coffs; only your Chambers are licenc'ſt to play vpon you, and Drabs enow to giue fire to 'em. 2. A promiscuous woman, a slut; a prostitute. Labels: also, attributive, dated Example: Take heed to false harlots, and more, ye wot what. / If noise ye heare, / Looke all be cleare: / Least drabs doe noie thee, / And theeues destroie thee. Example: [T]hey ſay hee keepes a Troyan drab, and yſes the traytor Calcas tent, Ile after … —Nothing but letchery all incontinent varlots.
Word: drab Part of Speech: verb Etymology: The origin of the noun is uncertain; compare Middle English drabelen, drablen, draplen (“to soil; make dirty; to drag on the ground or through mud”), and Low German drabbe (“dirt, mud”), drabbeln (“to soil”), and Old Norse drabba (“to make drab; make dirty”), the latter three ultimately from Proto-Germanic *drepaną (“to hit, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreb- (“to crush, grind; to kill”). The word is also likely to be related to Dutch drab (“dregs, sediment”), Irish drabog, Scottish Gaelic drabag (“dirty woman; slattern”). The verb is derived from the noun. Pronunciation: /dɹæb/ 1. To consort with prostitutes; to whore. Labels: also, attributive, intransitive, obsolete Example: You may ſay, you ſaw him at ſuch a time, marke you mee, / At game, or drincking, ſwearing, or drabbing, / You may go ſo farre. Example: Very fine! This Sempronius is a bleſſed Perſon indeed! he Games, he Cheats, he Swears, he Drinks, he Drabs; [...]
Word: drab Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Probably related to drop (“small mass of liquid”). Pronunciation: /dɹæb/ 1. A small amount, especially of money. Labels: also, attributive Example: Thanks to my stars, I once can see / A window here from scribbling free! / Here no conceited coxcombs pass, / To scratch their paltry drabs on glass; / Nor party-fool is calling names, / Or dealing crowns to George and James. Example: The tea drinking has done a great deal in bringing this nation into the state [of] misery in which it now is; and the tea drinking, which is carried on by "dribs" and "drabs;" by pence and farthings going out at a time; this miserable practice has been gradually introduced by the growing weight of the taxes on Malt and on Hops, and by the everlasting penury amongst the labourers, occasioned by the paper-money.
Word: drab Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Unknown. Pronunciation: /dɹæb/ 1. A box used in a saltworks for holding the salt when taken out of the boiling pans. Labels: also, attributive Example: Thoſe therefore, who are moſt exact in pickling beef for exportation, [...] take their carcaſſes as ſoon as cold, and cut them into proper pieces; and after rubbing each piece carefully with good white ſalt, lay them on heaps in a cool cellar, in a drab with a ſhelving bottom, where they remain for four or five days, 'till the blood hath drained out of the larger veſſels. Example: When the ſalt is carried into the ſtore-houſe, it is put into drabs, which are partitions, like ſtalls for horſes, lined at three ſides, and the bottom with boards, and having a ſliding-board on the foreſide to draw up on occaſion. The bottoms are made ſhelving, being higheſt at the back, and gradually inclining forwards; by this means the brine, remaining among the ſalt, eaſily ſeparates and runs from it, and the ſalt in three or four days becomes ſufficiently dry; [...]
Word: drab Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Alteration of drag, possibly via the folk-etymological backronym "DRessed As a Girl" (with boy replacing girl). Pronunciation: /dɹæb/ 1. An instance of a transgender or non-binary person presenting as the gender corresponding to their sex assigned at birth instead of that corresponding to their internal gender identity (most commonly a trans woman dressed as a man). Labels: also, attributive, uncountable Example: Just for those who may not be aware of the term, “drab” is how you might describe a transgendered person (including transsexuals, crossdressers, drag queens, etc.) that is presenting as their birth sex. For instance, if Rain is dressed as a boy, she is dressed in “drab”. My original idea had Ruby on this page too, but that took away from the “drab” theme.
Word: drab Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Of Romany origin. Pronunciation: /dɹæb/ 1. Poison. Labels: also, attributive, obsolete, slang, uncountable
Word: drab Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Of Romany origin. Pronunciation: /dɹæb/ 1. To poison. Labels: also, attributive, obsolete, slang Example: "What do you mean by drows, Chaldea?" "Poison, no less. You look drabbed, for sure." "Drabbed?" "Poisoned. But I waste the kalo jib on you, my Gorgious. God bless you for a sick one, say I, and that's a bad dukkerin, the which in gentle Romany means fortune, my Gentile swell."
Word: dramatization Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From dramatize + -ation. 1. The act of dramatizing. Labels: countable, uncountable 2. A version that has been dramatized. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: This is a dramatization of life 1000 years ago.
Word: drape Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English drape (“a drape”, noun), from Old French draper (“to drape; to full cloth”), from drap (“cloth, drabcloth”), from Late Latin drappus, drapus (“drabcloth, kerchief”), a word first recorded in the Capitularies of Charlemagne, probably from Frankish *drapi, *drāpi (“that which is fulled, drabcloth”, literally “that which is struck or for striking”), from Proto-Germanic *drapiz (“a strike, hit, blow”) and Proto-Germanic *drēpiz (“intended for striking, to be beaten”), both from *drepaną (“to beat, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreb- (“to beat, crush, make or become thick”). Cognate with English drub (“to beat”), North Frisian dreep (“a blow”), Low German drapen, dräpen (“to strike”), German treffen (“to meet”), Swedish dräpa (“to slay”). More at drub. Pronunciation: /dɹeɪp/ 1. A curtain; a drapery. 2. The way in which fabric falls or hangs. Example: The herringbone-twill sample is soft and smooth, with an easy drape that allows the fabric to move beautifully. 3. A member of a youth subculture distinguished by its sharp dress, especially peg-leg pants (1950s: e.g. Baltimore, MD). Antonym: square. Labels: US 4. A dress made from an entire piece of cloth, without having pieces cut away as in a fitted garment.
Word: drape Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English drape (“a drape”, noun), from Old French draper (“to drape; to full cloth”), from drap (“cloth, drabcloth”), from Late Latin drappus, drapus (“drabcloth, kerchief”), a word first recorded in the Capitularies of Charlemagne, probably from Frankish *drapi, *drāpi (“that which is fulled, drabcloth”, literally “that which is struck or for striking”), from Proto-Germanic *drapiz (“a strike, hit, blow”) and Proto-Germanic *drēpiz (“intended for striking, to be beaten”), both from *drepaną (“to beat, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreb- (“to beat, crush, make or become thick”). Cognate with English drub (“to beat”), North Frisian dreep (“a blow”), Low German drapen, dräpen (“to strike”), German treffen (“to meet”), Swedish dräpa (“to slay”). More at drub. Pronunciation: /dɹeɪp/ 1. To cover or adorn with drapery or folds of cloth, or as with drapery. Labels: transitive Example: to drape a bust, a building, etc. Example: The whole people were still draped professionally. 2. To spread over, cover. Labels: transitive Example: I draped my towel over the radiator to dry. Example: I cycled the three miles each morning between hedges draped with spangled cobwebs and berried bryony. 3. To rail at; to banter. Example: 1672-679, William Temple, Memoirs At my Arrival , the King asked me many questions about my Journey, about the Congress, draping us for spending him so money 4. To make cloth. 5. To design drapery, arrange its folds, etc., as for hangings, costumes, statues, etc. 6. To hang or rest limply. Example: I draped myself elegantly over the couch.
Word: draper Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English draper, from Anglo-Norman draper, from Old French drapier, from drap + -ier. Pronunciation: /ˈdɹeɪ.pə(ɹ)/ 1. One who sells cloths; a dealer in cloths; a textile merchant. Example: [S]uch was the aberration of mind attending converse with a successful draper.
Word: dredge Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Scots dreg-boat, dreg-bot (from Old English *dreċġ); or alternatively from Middle Dutch dregghe (“drag-net”), probably ultimately from the same root as drag. Pronunciation: /dɹɛd͡ʒ/ 1. Any instrument used to gather or take by dragging; as: 2. Any instrument used to gather or take by dragging; as: Example: The section includes also combination bucket and suction dredges, true suction dredgers, the Friihling dredge, the reclamation dredge, the longshoot dredge, the hopper barge, the self-propelling hopper, and the rock cutter. 3. Any instrument used to gather or take by dragging; as: 4. The act of dredging. Example: A dredge of the river is not possible at this time due to the strong currents and dangerous riptides which plague the St. Lawrence after the ice melts. 5. Very fine mineral matter held in suspension in water.
Word: dredge Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Scots dreg-boat, dreg-bot (from Old English *dreċġ); or alternatively from Middle Dutch dregghe (“drag-net”), probably ultimately from the same root as drag. Pronunciation: /dɹɛd͡ʒ/ 1. To make a channel deeper or wider using a dredge. 2. To bring something to the surface with a dredge. Example: Subject to flooding by the six small rivers coming together just west of the city, the main river below the city has long been shallow and subject to silting. The Communists have both maintained the earlier pattern of dredging the river, and have built a bypass flood canal around the city on the south side to relieve flood pressures. Though dredging can keep the river navigable for small ships, a new artificial port, Sinkang, able to take 10,000 ton ships at all times, was created at T'ang-ku. This is kept open for about two months during winter by icebreakers. 3. To unearth. Labels: transitive, usually Example: to dredge up someone's unsavoury past Example: Friday night’s crowning victory at The Hawthorns was the 25th in 30 league matches since Antonio Conte’s decisive re-gearing of his team in September, the tactical switches that have coaxed such a thrilling run from this team of bolt-ons and upcycled squad players, most notably Victor Moses, who was dredged out of the laundry bin in the autumn to become a key part of the title surge.
Word: dredge Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English dragge, from Old French dragee, dragie, from Latin tragēmata, from Ancient Greek τραγήματα (tragḗmata, “spices”), plural of τράγημα (trágēma, “dried fruit”). Pronunciation: /dɹɛd͡ʒ/ 1. A large shaker for sprinkling spices or seasonings during food preparation. Labels: countable 2. A mixture of oats and barley. Labels: uncountable Example: It is true that on the boulder clay of south Cambridgeshire they grew dredge, a mixture of oats and barley
Word: dredge Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English dragge, from Old French dragee, dragie, from Latin tragēmata, from Ancient Greek τραγήματα (tragḗmata, “spices”), plural of τράγημα (trágēma, “dried fruit”). Pronunciation: /dɹɛd͡ʒ/ 1. To sprinkle (food) with spices or seasonings, using a dredge. Labels: transitive Example: Dredge the meat with the flour mixture you prepared earlier.
Word: drift Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English drift, dryft (“act of driving, drove, shower of rain or snow, impulse”), from Old English *drift (“drift”), from Proto-Germanic *driftiz (“drift”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ- (“to drive, push”). Equivalent to drive + -t; cognate with North Frisian drift (“drift”), Saterland Frisian Drift (“current, flow, stream, drift”), Dutch drift (“drift, passion, urge”), German Drift (“drift”) and Trift (“drove, pasture”), Danish drift (“impulse, instinct”), Swedish drift (“impulse, instinct”), Icelandic drift (“drift, snow-drift”). Pronunciation: /dɹɪft/ 1. To move slowly, especially pushed by currents of water, air, etc. Labels: intransitive Example: The boat drifted away from the shore. Example: The balloon was drifting in the breeze. 2. To move haphazardly without any destination. Labels: intransitive Example: He drifted from town to town, never settling down. 3. To deviate gently from the intended direction of travel. Labels: intransitive Example: This car tends to drift left at high speeds. Example: Midway through the half, Argentine Tevez did begin to drift inside in order to exert his influence but by this stage Mick McCarthy's side had gone 1-0 up and looked comfortable. 4. To drive or carry, as currents do a floating body. Labels: transitive Example: 1865-1866, John Henry Newman, Apologia Pro Vita Sua I was drifted back first to the ante - Nicene history , and then to the Church of Alexandria 5. To drive into heaps. Labels: transitive Example: A current of wind drifts snow or sand 6. To accumulate in heaps by the force of wind; to be driven into heaps. Labels: intransitive Example: Snow or sand drifts. 7. To make a drift; to examine a vein or ledge for the purpose of ascertaining the presence of metals or ores; to follow a vein; to prospect. Labels: US 8. To enlarge or shape, as a hole, with a drift. Labels: transitive 9. To oversteer a vehicle, causing loss of traction, while maintaining control from entry to exit of a corner. See Drifting (motorsport).
Word: drown Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English drownen, drounen, drunen (“to drown”), of obscure and uncertain origin. The OED suggests an unattested Old English form *drūnian. Harper 2001 points to Old English druncnian, ġedruncnian (> Middle English drunknen, dronknen (“to drown”)), "probably influenced" by Old Norse drukkna (cf. Icelandic drukkna, Danish drukne (“to drown”)). Funk & Wagnall's has 'of uncertain origin'. It has been theorised (see e.g. ODS) that it may represent a direct loan of Old Norse drukkna, but this is described by the OED as being "on phonetic and other grounds [...] highly improbable", unless one considers the possibility of an unattested variant in Old Norse *drunkna. Pronunciation: /dɹaʊn/, [d̠͡ɹ̠˔ʷaʊn], /dɹuːn/ 1. To die from suffocation while immersed in water or other fluid. Labels: intransitive Example: When I was a baby, I nearly drowned in the bathtub. Example: Old woes, not infant sorrows, bear them mild / Continuance tames the one; the other wild, / Like an unpractised swimmer plunging still, / With too much labour drowns for want of skill. 2. To kill by suffocating in water or another liquid. Labels: transitive Example: The car thief fought with an officer and tried to drown a police dog before being shot while escaping. Example: The pretty-vaulting sea refused to drown me, / Knowing that thou wouldst have me drown’d on shore, / With tears as salt as sea, through thy unkindness: 3. To be flooded: to be inundated with or submerged in (literally) water or (figuratively) other things; to be overwhelmed. Labels: intransitive Example: We are drowning in information but starving for wisdom. Example: Penny Guy: Bloody hell, Rog, whadda you want? / Roger O'Neill: To drown in your arms and hide in yer eyes, darlin'. 4. To inundate, submerge, overwhelm. Labels: figuratively, transitive Example: He drowns his sorrows in buckets of chocolate ice cream. Example: Though most men being in sensuall pleasures drownd, / It seemes their Soules but in the Senses are. 5. To obscure, particularly amid an overwhelming volume of other items. Labels: figuratively, transitive Example: The answers intelligence services seek are often drowned in the flood of information they can now gather.
Word: drowsiness Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree English drowsy Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English drowsiness From drowsy + -ness. Pronunciation: /ˈdɹæʊːzinəs/ 1. The state of being drowsy. Labels: uncountable, usually Example: And most neurologists are in the habit of prescribing antispasticity drugs like tizanidine and baclofen, which are oral and inexpensive, but which cause drowsiness and weaken every muscle in the body, not just the target ones.
Word: drowsy Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From drowse + -y, despite the fact that drowsy (1520) is recorded before drowse (1570). Compare Old English drūsian (“to droop, drowse, become languid”). Pronunciation: /ˈdɹaʊzi/ 1. Inclined to drowse; heavy with sleepiness Example: I was feeling drowsy and so decided to make a cup of coffee to try to wake myself up. 2. Causing someone to fall sleep or feel sleepy; lulling; soporific. Example: It was a warm, drowsy summer afternoon. Example: drowsy medicine 3. Boring. Example: The narrative throughout holds the reader; it Is not a drowsy book. 4. Dull; stupid. Example: ... the hoofbeats of the mule made a sound as drowsy as a fly's buzz on a summer afternoon.
Word: dunce Part of Speech: noun Etymology: 1530, named after John Duns Scotus (c. 1266–1308). Scotus was ironically a well-known Scottish thinker; his followers, however, opposed the philosophers of the Renaissance, and thus "dunce" was first used to describe someone rejecting new knowledge in 1530; later, any person deemed stupid. Pronunciation: /dʌns/ 1. An unintelligent person. Example: When a true genius appears in the world you may know him by this sign; that the dunces are all in confederacy against him. Example: [...] Dunce, / Dotard, a-dozing at the very nonce, / After a life spent training for the sight!
Word: duplication Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English duplicacioun, from Middle French duplication, from Late Latin duplicātiō, duplicātiōnem, from Latin duplicō. Morphologically duplicate + -ion. Pronunciation: /djuː.plɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, /dʒuː.plɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, /d(j)u.plɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/ 1. The act of duplicating. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Another argument for closing Woodhead was simply one of route duplication, and this was the main reason put forward by BR at the time. 2. A duplicate. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Counting crimes as given in the index to the Penal Code, their number is nearly twice as great as that stated, but as some are only duplications I have reduced my estimate that it may be well within the limits of the fact. Example: Registration of trademarks had been revised and a unit had been set up to clear up duplications. 3. A folding over; a fold. Labels: countable, uncountable 4. The act or process of dividing by natural growth or spontaneous action. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: duplication of cartilage cells 5. The act of copying a nucleotide sequence from one chromosome to another. Labels: countable, uncountable 6. A nucleotide sequence copied through such a process. Labels: countable, uncountable
Word: eager Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-rós Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱrós Proto-Italic *akris Classical Latin ācer Late Latin ācrus Old French aigrebor. Middle English egre English eager Inherited from Middle English egre, eger, from Old French aigre, egre (modern French aigre), from Latin ācrus, variant of ācer (“sharp, keen”); see acid, acerb, etc. Compare vinegar, alegar. Pronunciation: /ˈiɡɚ/, /ˈiːɡə/, /ˈɪɡɚ/, /ˈɪɡə/ 1. Desirous; keen to do or obtain something. Example: Stacey is very eager to go cycling this weekend. Example: The hounds were eager in the chase. 2. Not employing lazy evaluation; calculating results immediately, rather than deferring calculation until they are required. Example: an eager algorithm 3. Brittle; inflexible; not ductile. Labels: dated Example: gold itself will be sometimes so eager, (as artists call it), that it will as little endure the hammer as glass itself 4. Sharp; sour; acid. Labels: obsolete Example: like eager droppings into milk 5. Sharp; keen; bitter; severe. Labels: figuratively, obsolete Example: If so thou thinkest, vex him with eager words. Example: It is a nipping and an eager air.
Word: eager Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-rós Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱrós Proto-Italic *akris Classical Latin ācer Late Latin ācrus Old French aigrebor. Middle English egre English eager Inherited from Middle English egre, eger, from Old French aigre, egre (modern French aigre), from Latin ācrus, variant of ācer (“sharp, keen”); see acid, acerb, etc. Compare vinegar, alegar. Pronunciation: /ˈiɡɚ/, /ˈiːɡə/, /ˈɪɡɚ/, /ˈɪɡə/ 1. To be or become eager. Labels: intransitive Example: Now everybody considered it a high privilege (valued it at a high consideration) to see him and to hear him speak, and to obey his command (him commanding), whereas he, though being such a person, eagered to be unknown, and to escape notice in solitude. Example: Our spirits fret and chafe like sea waves on the rocks eagering to climb the shore. 2. To express eagerness. Labels: intransitive Example: His hair crinkled towards her fondly. "Yes," he eagered. Example: Peg! eager voices eagered voicely. 3. To make or encourage to be eager Labels: transitive Example: Physicians also admit to eagering patients to turn to specialised web sites in order to read further. Example: But they only eagered him to be off .
Word: eager Part of Speech: noun Etymology: See eagre. Pronunciation: /ˈiɡɚ/, /ˈiːɡə/, /ˈɪɡɚ/, /ˈɪɡə/ 1. Alternative form of eagre (“tidal bor”). Labels: alt-of, alternative
Word: earnest Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English ernest, eornest, from Old English eornest, eornost, eornust (“earnestness, zeal, seriousness, battle”), from Proto-Germanic *ernustuz (“earnest, strength, solidity, struggle, fight”), a derivative of Proto-Germanic *arniz (“efficient, capable, diligent, sure”), from Proto-Indo-European *er- (“to cause to move, arouse, increase”). Cognate with West Frisian earnst (“earnest, seriousness”), Dutch ernst (“seriousness, gravity, earnest”), German Ernst (“seriousness, earnestness, zeal, vigour”), Icelandic ern (“brisk, vigorous”), Gothic 𐌰𐍂𐌽𐌹𐌱𐌰 (arniba, “secure, certain, sure”). The adjective is from Middle English eornest, from Old English eornoste (“earnest, zealous, serious”), from the noun. Cognate with North Frisian ernste (“earnest”), Middle Low German ernest, ernst (“serious, earnest”), German ernst (“serious, earnest”). Pronunciation: /ˈɝ.nɪst/, /ˈɜː.nɪst/ 1. Gravity; serious purpose; earnestness. Labels: uncountable Example: Take heed that this jest do not one day turn to earnest. Example: That high All-Seer which I dallied with / Hath turn'd my feigned prayer on my head / And given in earnest what I begg'd in jest. 2. Seriousness; reality; actuality (as opposed to joking or pretence) Labels: uncountable