nandhakumarms/qualc-wiktionary-en huggingface dataset:
Word: isolation Part of Speech: noun Etymology: First attested in 1800. From French isolation, from isolé, placed on an island (thus away from other people). Equivalent to isolate + -ion. Pronunciation: /ˌaɪsəˈleɪʃən/, /ˌɑesəˈlæɪʃən/, /ˌaɪsəˈlæɪʃən/, [ˌɑe̯səˈlæɪ̯ʃən] 1. The state of being isolated, detached, or separated; the state of being away from other people. Labels: uncountable Example: She lived her final year in complete isolation, not wanting to see anybody. 2. The act of isolating. Labels: countable, uncountable 3. The state of not having diplomatic relations with other countries (either with most or all other countries, or with specified other countries). Labels: countable, uncountable Example: As of 1975, diplomatic ostracism is still imposed by the Organization of American States (OAS). The inter-American community also exercises a trade embargo against Cuba. But even within this context of hemispheric isolation, Havana’s diplomacy is strikingly contradictory. Example: Israel could offer to ease North Korea’s isolation with diplomatic recognition, […] ¶ […] But Washington’s strategy of increasing North Korean isolation left no room for back-channel talks with Tel Aviv, […] 4. The obtaining of an element from one of its compounds, or of a compound from a mixture Labels: countable, uncountable 5. The separation of a patient, suffering from a contagious disease, from contact with others (compare: quarantine) Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Upon returning from the field, he went into isolation for a week so as not to infect anyone with potential diseases. 6. A database property that determines when and how changes made in one transaction are visible to other concurrent transactions. Labels: countable, uncountable 7. A Freudian defense mechanism in which a person suppresses a harmful thought from developing into a train of thought. Labels: countable, uncountable
Word: jabber Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English jaberen, javeren, chaveren (“to chatter, babble”), dissimilated forms of jablen, chavelen (“to jabber”), from Middle English chavel ("jaw"; > modern English jowl). Equivalent to jowl + -er (iterative suffix). Pronunciation: /ˈd͡ʒæbə(ɹ)/ 1. To talk rapidly, indistinctly, or unintelligibly; to utter gibberish or nonsense. Labels: intransitive Example: 1829, James Hogg, The Shepherd’s Calendar, New York: A.T. Goodrich, Volume I, Chapter 9, “Mary Burnet,” p. 184, Allanson made some sound in his throat, as if attempting to speak, but his tongue refused its office, and he only jabbered. Example: “What are you jabbering about, shipmate?” said I. 2. To utter rapidly or indistinctly; to gabble. Labels: transitive Example: She had Lord James' collar in one big fist and she pounded the table with the other and talked a blue streak. Nobody could make out plain what she said, for she was mainly jabbering Swede lingo, but there was English enough, of a kind, to give us some idee. Example: He wept very little, but when he wept he howled aloud, and jabbered wild abuse, threats and recriminations through the wet torrent of his howling.
Word: jabber Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English jaberen, javeren, chaveren (“to chatter, babble”), dissimilated forms of jablen, chavelen (“to jabber”), from Middle English chavel ("jaw"; > modern English jowl). Equivalent to jowl + -er (iterative suffix). Pronunciation: /ˈd͡ʒæbə(ɹ)/ 1. Rapid or incoherent talk, with indistinct utterance; gibberish. Labels: uncountable Example: 1735, Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels, in The Works of Jonathan Swift, edited by George Faulkner, Dublin, 1735, Volume 3, A Letter from Capt. Gulliver to his Cousin Sympson, pp. v-vi, And, is there less Probability in my Account of the Houyhnhnms or Yahoos, when it is manifest as to the latter, there are so many Thousands even in this City, who only differ from their Brother Brutes in Houyhnhnmland, because they use a Sort of a Jabber, and do not go naked. Example: Two tongues from the depths, Alike only as a yellow cat and a green parrot are alike, Fling their staccato tantalizations Into a wildcat jabber Over a gossamer web of unanswerables.
Word: jabber Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree English jab Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English jabber From jab + -er. Pronunciation: /ˈd͡ʒæbə(ɹ)/ 1. One who or that which jabs. Example: Have the boys box, one jabbing and the other practicing the methods of boxing a jabber. 2. One who administers a hypodermic injection. Labels: informal Example: Like Claire, these “secret jabbers” are keeping it private even from their closest family and friends. 3. A kind of hand-operated corn planter. Example: The jabber was the most popular hand-operated corn planter ever devised. […] Inset shows jaws closed for jabbing (left) and open for depositing kernels (right).
Word: jape Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English japen (“to deceive, play tricks on; act foolishly, joke; have sex with”), of uncertain origin, but perhaps combining Old French japer (“to bark, howl, scream; chatter, gossip”) with gaber (“to mock, deride”). See also gab, Old Occitan japar, jaupar (“to bark, yelp, yap”), related to Old Saxon galpōn (“to cry loudly, make a noise, brag”) (Low German galpen (“to bark, howl, scream”)), Middle High German gelpfen (“to scream, bark, boast, proclaim”), Old Norse gjálpa (“to yelp”) (dialectal Swedish galpa (“to cry, screech”)). More at yelp, yawp, yap. Pronunciation: /d͡ʒeɪp/ 1. A joke or quip. Example: [H]e clapped hand to thigh, and laughed and laughed until the air rang again. "Oho, a jape—a jape indeed!" he roared. Example: “Now I come to think of it, I suppose schooling isn't such a bad idea as long as he can have some japes and tomfoolery with his young cohorts.” “My love, it will be very good for him and very good for us.” 2. A prank or trick. Example: In London or New York in the late 1970s dada meant what it meant in Paris and New York at the end of the First World War: a not-quite-naked prank, a jape clothed in the barest g-string of aesthetic authority, a Bronx cheer in three-part harmony, Tzara's affirmation of the right “to piss and shit in different colors.”
Word: jape Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English japen (“to deceive, play tricks on; act foolishly, joke; have sex with”), of uncertain origin, but perhaps combining Old French japer (“to bark, howl, scream; chatter, gossip”) with gaber (“to mock, deride”). See also gab, Old Occitan japar, jaupar (“to bark, yelp, yap”), related to Old Saxon galpōn (“to cry loudly, make a noise, brag”) (Low German galpen (“to bark, howl, scream”)), Middle High German gelpfen (“to scream, bark, boast, proclaim”), Old Norse gjálpa (“to yelp”) (dialectal Swedish galpa (“to cry, screech”)). More at yelp, yawp, yap. Pronunciation: /d͡ʒeɪp/ 1. To jest; play tricks. Labels: intransitive Example: Now the Lond of Egypt longeth to the Soudan, yet the Soudan longeth not to the Lond of Egypt. And when I say this, I do jape with words, and may hap ye understond me not. 2. To mock; deride. Labels: transitive 3. To have sexual intercourse with. Labels: obsolete Example: Nay, brother, lay hand on him soon; / For he japed my wife, and made me cuckold. Example: I jape a wench […] it is better to jape a wenche than to do worce.
Word: jubilation Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Old French jubilacion, from Latin iūbilātiō (“a shouting for joy”). Cognate with Spanish jubilación (“retirement”). Pronunciation: /ˌd͡ʒuːbəlˈeiːʃən/ 1. A triumphant shouting of great happiness; rejoicing, especially as celebratory outbursts; a feeling of joyous exultation. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: I knew it had been a victory when I heard the jubilations coming from that neighborhood. Example: The jubilation she felt when she received the award kept her grinning all week.
Word: Judaization Part of Speech: noun 1. The act of Judaizing; a conforming to the Jewish religion or culture. Labels: countable, uncountable
Word: kedge Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Perhaps an alteration of cadge. Pronunciation: /kɛd͡ʒ/ 1. A small anchor used for warping a vessel. Example: ...and throw them into the boat, which, as there are no wharves, we usually kept anchored by a small kedge, or keelek, just outside of the surf. Example: The chaps who had gone off in the cutter had been equally spry with their job, bending on a stout hemp hawser through the ring of the kedge anchor, which they dropped some half a cable's length from the brig, bringing back the other end aboard, where it was put round the capstan on the forecastle. 2. A glutton. Labels: Yorkshire
Word: kedge Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Perhaps an alteration of cadge. Pronunciation: /kɛd͡ʒ/ 1. To warp (a vessel) by carrying out a kedge in a boat, dropping it overboard, and hauling the vessel up to it. Labels: transitive 2. To move with the help of a kedge, as described above. Labels: intransitive Example: […] there was a stretch of twelve miles of channel running in a north-easterly direction which the ship could not possibly negotiate under sail unless a change of wind should occur — of which there seemed to be absolutely no prospect. The only alternative, therefore, would be to kedge those twelve miles; truly a most formidable undertaking for four persons — one of them being a girl — to attempt. Example: By noon the men had loaded the cargo & Prophetess was kedging out of the bay against unfavourable winds.
Word: player Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English pleyer, playere, from Old English pleġere (“player, athlete, wrestler”), from Proto-West Germanic *plegārī. Equivalent to play + -er. Pronunciation: /ˈpleɪ.ə(ɹ)/, /ˈpleɪ.ɚ/ 1. One that plays. Example: He is a player for the Australian team. 2. One that plays. Example: All the world's a ſtage, / And all the men and women, merely Players 3. One that plays. 4. One that plays. Example: He is an avid Minecraft player. Example: The player is free to create their own narrative within a much larger set of possible designed narrative options, or, given the geographic and dialogical openness of Morrowind, to refuse the creation of any narrative but their own and wander aimlessly through the game. 5. One that plays. 6. One that plays. Labels: historical Example: But up to this time the application of the player mechanism had been confined to reed instruments, the piano manufacturers having successfully resisted the introduction of the player mechanism into the piano; but, in the meantime, the manufacturers of players had grown strong and the manufacturers were beginning to properly interpret the handwriting on the wall Example: A Technical Treatise on Piano Player Mechanism" contains detailed description of the various types of interior and exterior players, embracing manual, pneumatic, automatic, mechanical and electric 7. One that plays. Example: Is your CD player broken, or is this one disc damaged? 8. One that plays. 9. One who is playful; one without serious aims; an idler; a trifler. 10. A participant; one involved in something. Example: He thought he could become a player, at least at the state level. Example: a major player in the direct banking sector 11. A participant; one involved in something. Example: In this space we explored lesbian sadomasochism, met other S/M women who were serious players, had access to safe equipment and, through watching other women, learned new techniques. 12. A person who plays the field rather than having a long-term sexual relationship. Labels: informal Example: Thunder only happens when it’s rainin’ / Players only love you when they’re playin’ / Say women, they will come and they will go / When the rain washes you clean, you’ll know
Word: playtime Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From play + time. Pronunciation: /ˈpleɪtaɪm/ 1. Time for play or diversion. Labels: countable, uncountable 2. A time when children can play outside during the school day. Labels: Australia, UK, countable, uncountable Example: The school bell rings to mark the end of playtime. 3. A duration of time when one is not as serious or committed as one could be, especially in a conflict of sorts. Labels: figuratively, uncountable Example: I thought I could go easy on you and win, but I suppose playtime is over. 4. The duration of a recording. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The longest track on the album has a playtime of eight minutes.
Word: ketch Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English catche, from cacchen (“to catch”). For the modern form with /ɛ/, compare the pronunciation /kɛtʃ/ of catch. Pronunciation: /kɛt͡ʃ/ 1. A fore-and-aft rigged sailing vessel with two masts, main and mizzen, the mizzen being stepped forward of the rudder post. Example: […] to finish her new Habit or Appearance, and make her Change compleat, he ordered her Sails to be alter’d; and as she sailed before with a Half-Sprit, like a Yacht, she sailed now with square Sail and Mizen Mast, like a Ketch; so that, in a Word, she was a perfect Cheat […]
Word: ketch Part of Speech: verb Etymology: See catch. Pronunciation: /kɛt͡ʃ/ 1. Pronunciation spelling of catch. Labels: alt-of, pronunciation-spelling Example: I guess, he is trying to ketch mebut it won't du. I'm tu old a bird to be ketch'd with chaff. Example: Wot is it, lambs, as they ketches in seas, rivers, lakes, and ponds?
Word: ketch Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Jack Ketch, a hangman of the 17th century. Pronunciation: /kɛt͡ʃ/ 1. To hang. Labels: rare Example: Well! If he has a mind to be Ketch'd, speed him say I. Example: 1859, MATSELL Vocab. s.v. (Farmer), I'll ketch you; I'll hang you.
Word: ketch Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Jack Ketch, a hangman of the 17th century. Pronunciation: /kɛt͡ʃ/ 1. A hangman. Example: 'Squire Ketch rejoices as much to hear of a new Vox, as an old Sexton does to hear of a new Delight. Example: Ignorant of many of the secrets of ketchcraft.
Word: ketch Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English kechel (“small cake”), from Old English *cēċel (“small cake”), from Proto-West Germanic *kōkil (“small cake”). Pronunciation: /kɛt͡ʃ/ 1. A pie or turnover. Labels: UK, dialectal
Word: knack Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Late Middle English, use as "special skill" from 1580. Possibly from 14th century Middle English krak, knack (“a sharp sound or blow”), knakke, knakken, from Middle Low German and of imitative origin, similar to Dutch knak (“snap, crack”). Latter cognate to German knacken (“to crack”). See also crack. Pronunciation: /næk/ 1. A readiness in performance; aptness at doing something. Example: These men had some uncanny knack of knowing when the steel was right, and like many such things, it just could not be put into a textbook on the subject. Example: The sophist runs for cover to the darkness of what is not and attaches himself to it by some knack of his; 2. A petty contrivance; a toy. 3. Something performed, or to be done, requiring aptness and dexterity.
Word: knack Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Late Middle English, use as "special skill" from 1580. Possibly from 14th century Middle English krak, knack (“a sharp sound or blow”), knakke, knakken, from Middle Low German and of imitative origin, similar to Dutch knak (“snap, crack”). Latter cognate to German knacken (“to crack”). See also crack. Pronunciation: /næk/ 1. To crack; to make a sharp, abrupt noise; to chink. Labels: UK, dialectal, obsolete Example: If they hear the Beads knack upon each other, that's enough. 2. To speak affectedly.
Word: knacker Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Old Norse hnak (“saddle”) (whence Icelandic hnakkur (“saddle”)). Pronunciation: /ˈnakə/, /ˈnækɚ/ 1. One who makes knickknacks, toys, etc. Example: Near-synonym: toymaker 2. One of two or more pieces of bone or wood held loosely between the fingers, and struck together by moving the hand. Example: A Bachanalian dancing the Spanish Morisco, with knackers at his fingers. 3. A harnessmaker or saddlemaker; their place of business (e.g., saddlery). Labels: archaic Example: Plow-wright , Cart-wright, Knacker and Smith 4. One who slaughters and (especially) renders worn-out livestock (especially horses) and sells their flesh, bones and hides. Example: Near-synonyms: slaughterer, slaughterman Example: After a few years even the whip loses its virtue, and the pony goes to the knacker. 5. One who dismantles old ships, houses, etc. and sells their components. Example: Near-synonyms: salvager, salvor; scrapper, wrecker, breaker; shipbreaker, car breaker 6. An itinerant person, especially one of Irish Traveller heritage. Labels: Ireland, UK, ethnic, offensive, slur 7. A person of lower social class; a chav, skanger, or similar. Labels: Ireland, offensive, slang 8. A testicle. Labels: UK, in-plural, slang, vulgar Example: He looked like someone had put a 9mm full metal jacket round through his left scrotum. He even had his mouth open in some parody of a soundless scream, much as I imagined I would do if someone shot my left knacker off. 9. An old, worn-out horse. Example: Believe me, you can get an old knacker for cheap at the glue yard, but it won't carry you as far as a thoroughbred! 10. A collier's horse. Labels: UK, dialectal, obsolete
Word: knacker Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Old Norse hnak (“saddle”) (whence Icelandic hnakkur (“saddle”)). Pronunciation: /ˈnakə/, /ˈnækɚ/ 1. To tire out, exhaust; to beat up and use up (something), leaving it worn out and damaged. Labels: UK, slang, transitive Example: Carrying that giant statue up those stairs completely knackered me. Example: That table that I was going to put the statue on may not suffice, as it's completely knackered. 2. To reprimand. Labels: UK, slang, transitive
Word: knapsack Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Low German knapzak or Dutch knapzak (older form cnapsack), from Middle Dutch cnappen (“to bite with teeth”), ultimately from knappen (“to eat, crack”), of imitative origin, + sack. German Knappsack is from Dutch. Pronunciation: /ˈnæpsæk/ 1. A case of canvas or leather, for carrying items on the back. Labels: US, archaic Example: 1936, Arthur Ransome, Pigeon Post, ch 3. "All but Nancy carried knapsacks, with sandwiches and thermos flasks of tea. Peggy’s knapsack held Nancy’s provisions as well as her own, for on Nancy’s shoulders, instead of a knapsack, was a pigeon-basket […]" Example: The two elder reluctantly left him and walked on, taking their brother's knapsack to relieve him in following, and the youngest entered the field. 2. A set of values from which a subset is chosen.
Word: knapsack Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Low German knapzak or Dutch knapzak (older form cnapsack), from Middle Dutch cnappen (“to bite with teeth”), ultimately from knappen (“to eat, crack”), of imitative origin, + sack. German Knappsack is from Dutch. Pronunciation: /ˈnæpsæk/ 1. To go hiking while burdened with a knapsack, usually overnight or for longer. Example: My sleeping bag fell off my backpack into the water, while we were knapsacking up the mountain.
Word: knave Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English knave, knafe, from Old English cnafa (“child, boy, youth; servant”), from Proto-West Germanic *knabō. Cognate to Dutch knaap and German Knabe. Pronunciation: /neɪv/ 1. A boy; especially, a boy servant. Labels: archaic 2. Any male servant; a menial. Labels: archaic Example: Many a duteous and knee-crooking knave that, doting on his own obsequious bondage, wears out his time, much like his master's ass, For naught but provender, and when he's old – cashier'd! Whip me such honest knaves. 3. A tricky, deceitful fellow; a dishonest person. Labels: dated Example: I could plainly diſcover from whence one Family derives a long Chin; why a ſecond hath abounded with Knaves for two Generations, and Fools for two more; why a third happened to be crack-brained, and a fourth to be Sharpers. Example: He was a man whom scarcely any amount of fortune could have benefited permanently, and who was made to be ruined, to cheat small tradesmen, to be the victim of astuter sharpers: to be niggardly and reckless, and as destitute of honesty as the people who cheated him, and a dupe, chiefly because he was too mean to be a successful knave. 4. A playing card marked with the figure of a servant or a soldier.
Word: knead Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English kneden, from Old English cnedan, from Proto-West Germanic *knedan, from Proto-Germanic *knudaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gnet- (“to press together”). Pronunciation: /niːd/, /knɛːd/ 1. To work and press into a mass, usually with the hands; especially, to work, as by repeated pressure with the knuckles, into a well mixed mass, the materials of bread, cake, etc. Labels: transitive Example: Knead the dough by pressing down on it with the heels of both your palms and pushing it forward to stretch it, then pulling it back toward you... 2. To treat or form as if by kneading; to beat. Labels: figuratively, transitive Example: I will knead him: I'll make him supple. 3. Of cats, to make an alternating pressing motion with the two front paws. Labels: intransitive Example: Cats knead with their paws when happy, just as they kneaded when feeding from their mothers as kittens. Example: One of the most characteristic things that cats do is ”knead,” pushing their paws alternately against any invitingly soft area of their human friends' bodies like a baker kneading dough. 4. To mix thoroughly; form into a homogeneous compound. Labels: transitive
Word: knead Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English kneden, from Old English cnedan, from Proto-West Germanic *knedan, from Proto-Germanic *knudaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gnet- (“to press together”). Pronunciation: /niːd/, /knɛːd/ 1. The act of kneading something. Example: Do not expect the dough to be very manageable even after a good knead.
Word: knead Part of Speech: verb Pronunciation: /nɛd/ 1. simple past and past participle of knead Labels: form-of, obsolete, participle, past
Word: lack Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English lack, lakke, lak, from Old English *læc (“deficiency, lack, want”), from Proto-West Germanic *lak, from Proto-Germanic *laką, *lakaz (“slackness”), from Proto-Germanic *lakaz (“limp, slack, loose, low”), related to *lak(k)ōną (“to blame, reproach”), from Proto-Indo-European *lok-néh₂-. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Lak (“lack”), Middle Low German lack, lak (“lack”), Dutch lak (“lack, deficiency, calumny”), Icelandic lakur (“lacking”). Related also to Middle Dutch laken (“to blame, lack”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English carence (“absence, lack”), from Old French carence. Pronunciation: /læk/ 1. A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want, dearth. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: […] let his lack of years be no impediment to let him lack a reverend estimation; Example: I went to a shrink, to analyze my dreams. He said it's lack of sex that's bringing me down. 2. A defect or failing; moral or spiritual degeneracy. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable Example: In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.
Word: lack Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English lacken, lakken, laken, from Old English læccian, *lacian (“to blame, criticise, lack”), from Proto-West Germanic *lak(k)ōn (“to blame, be lacking”), from Proto-Germanic *lak(k)ōną (“to reproach, blame, be lacking”), from Proto-Indo-European *lok-néh₂-. Cognate with Old Frisian lakia, lekia (“to contest, blame”), Middle Low German lacken, laken (“to reproach, blame, criticise”), Middle Dutch laken (“to disapprove, blame, lack”), Dutch laken (“to blame, reproach”). Pronunciation: /læk/ 1. To be without, not to have, to need, to require. Labels: stative, transitive Example: My life lacks excitement. Example: More flak was aimed at the Treasury's apparent lack of marketing skills, when it was argued that its idea of how to sell tickets was along the lines of "you can get two tickets for the price of two", and it lacks the sales and promotional skills of the train operating companies which are needed to boost revenue. 2. To be short (of or for something). Labels: intransitive Example: He'll never lack for company while he's got all that money. Example: Hamlet. What hour now? Horatio. I think it lacks of twelve. 3. To be in want. Labels: intransitive, obsolete Example: The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger […] 4. To see the deficiency in (someone or something); to find fault with, to malign, reproach. Labels: obsolete Example: That is Mede þe Mayde quod she · hath noyed me ful oft / And ylakked my lemman. 5. To be off one's guard. Example: His opps caught him lacking.
Word: lack Part of Speech: noun Pronunciation: /læk/ 1. Archaic form of lakh. Labels: alt-of, archaic Example: a lack of rupees
Word: ladder Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Inherited from Middle English ladder, laddre; from Old English hlǣder, from Proto-West Germanic *hlaidriju, from Proto-Germanic *hlaidrijō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlóydʰrom, from *ḱley- (“to lean”). Compare Scots ledder, North Frisian ladder, Saterland Frisian Laadere, West Frisian ljedder, Dutch ladder, German Leiter; also Old Irish clithar (“hedge”), and Umbrian 𐌊𐌋𐌄𐌈𐌓𐌀𐌌 (kleθram, “stretcher”). See lean, which is related to lid. Further cognates include Ashkun istrī, Kamkata-viri c̣ik, Prasuni čik, čix; Waigali c̣iř, Sanskrit श्रिति (śrití). Pronunciation: /ˈlad.ə/, /ˈlæd.ɚ/, [ˈlæɾ.ɚ] 1. A frame, usually portable, of wood, metal, or rope, used for ascent and descent, consisting of two side pieces to which are fastened rungs (cross strips or rounds acting as steps). Example: The form of a man was seen to enter, and both the females rushed up the ladder, as if equally afraid of the consequences. The stranger secured the door, and first examining the lower room with great care, he cautiously ascended the ladder. Example: Ladders are heavy and unwieldy. Handle them properly to avoid damaging property and to make sure you don't injure yourself. Carry a ladder upright, not slung across your shoulder. Hold the ladder vertically, bend your knees slightly, then rock the ladder back against your shoulder. Grip one rung lower down while you support the ladder at head height with your other hand, and then straighten your knees. 2. A series of stages by which one progresses to a better position. Labels: figuratively Example: Newcastle had won both their previous fixtures in 2011 but were terribly disappointing at Broadhall Way against opponents 73 places below them in the footballing ladder. 3. The hierarchy or ranking system within an organization, such as the corporate ladder. Labels: figuratively Example: Many publicly held companies do have good working conditions, but they often employ mostly high-wage workers or offer different levels of working conditions and benefits to management employees than to workers at the bottom of the ladder. 4. A length of unravelled fabric in a knitted garment, especially in nylon stockings; a run. Labels: UK Example: Proposed Standard of Needlework to be required from Pupil-teachers at the Yearly Visits of Her Majesty's Inspectors. […] Darning Stockings.—To show a hole darned, and a thin place "run" (or strengthened), and a ladder properly taken up in a coarse worsted stocking. Example: You've got a huge ladder in your stockings. I've got a spare pair in my bag, come to the Ladies and you can change. 5. A sequence of moves following a zigzag pattern and ultimately leading to the capture of the attacked stones. Example: The most dramatic introduction to the idea of how stones relate to each other over distance is how players react when a ladder (shicho, "she-ko"^([sic]) in Japanese) [シチョウ (shichō)] develops. […] Ouch! This is finding out about the ladder, which is called that because of the steplike shape that the defending stones are forced into. 6. A league table. Labels: Australia, New-Zealand
Word: ladder Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Inherited from Middle English ladder, laddre; from Old English hlǣder, from Proto-West Germanic *hlaidriju, from Proto-Germanic *hlaidrijō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlóydʰrom, from *ḱley- (“to lean”). Compare Scots ledder, North Frisian ladder, Saterland Frisian Laadere, West Frisian ljedder, Dutch ladder, German Leiter; also Old Irish clithar (“hedge”), and Umbrian 𐌊𐌋𐌄𐌈𐌓𐌀𐌌 (kleθram, “stretcher”). See lean, which is related to lid. Further cognates include Ashkun istrī, Kamkata-viri c̣ik, Prasuni čik, čix; Waigali c̣iř, Sanskrit श्रिति (śrití). Pronunciation: /ˈlad.ə/, /ˈlæd.ɚ/, [ˈlæɾ.ɚ] 1. To arrange or form into a shape of a ladder. Example: And employing the innate gift for mimicry he'd always had – a gift which had made his father roar with laughter even when he was tired and feeling down – Jack 'did' Morgan Sloat. Age fell into his face as he laddered his brow the way Uncle Morgan's brow laddered into lines when he was pissed off about something. Example: By means of repeated bifurcations, [Carl] Linnaeus provided a five-tier botanic hierarchy. He laddered the plant kingdom downward from classes to orders, genera, species, and varieties. 2. To ascend (a building, a wall, etc.) using a ladder. Example: The Rochdale climber spoken of once fell 70 feet from a mill at Linfitts, owing to an accident while he was laddering. He was terribly hurt, but recovered, and still carries on his trade with unshaken nerve. Example: A good working knowledge of the ladder parts, how they work, their capacities, and proper usage are a must before anyone is sent out to ladder a building. 3. Of a knitted garment: to develop a ladder as a result of a broken thread. Example: Oh damn it, I've laddered my tights! Example: He slid his hand up her skirt and murmured in her ear. / "Robert, I've just got dressed. Stop it." […] / He laddered her stocking and smudged her lipstick, but she had time to repair the damage before they went out. 4. To close in on a target with successive salvos, increasing or decreasing the shot range as necessary. Labels: UK, slang Example: For eighteen minutes Revenge pounded the dockyard area at an average range of 15,700 yards, spreading for line and laddering for range to a prearranged plan to cover the whole target area. Example: Laddering made it possible to get a few hits on a fast-moving, often manoeuvring, target. 5. To corruptly coerce a convicted offender to admit to offences to be taken into consideration which they do not actually believe they committed, as a way to artificially increase the rate of solved crimes. Labels: UK
Word: Lamarckism Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Internationalism, from Lamarck (i.e. its proponent Jean-Baptiste Lamarck) + -ism. Pronunciation: /ləˈmɑːkɪzəm/, /ləˈmɑɹkɪzəm/ 1. The theory that structural variations, characteristic of species and genera, are produced in animals and plants by the direct influence of physical environments, and especially, in the case of animals, by effort, or by use or disuse of certain organs. Labels: historical, uncountable Example: Coordinate term: Darwinism
Word: lame Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From Middle English lame, from Old English lama (“lame”), from Proto-West Germanic *lam, from Proto-Germanic *lamaz (“lame”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃lemH- (“to tire; to break”). Pronunciation: /leɪm/ 1. Unable to walk properly because of a problem with one's feet or legs. Labels: especially Example: With the years, this horse has little by little gone lame. Example: Alone, alone, to where he sits, The Shadow cloak’d from head to foot Who keeps the keys of all the creeds, ⁠I wander, often falling lame, And looking back to whence I came, Or on to where the pathway leads; […] 2. Unable to walk properly because of a problem with one's feet or legs. Labels: especially 3. Unable to walk properly because of a problem with one's feet or legs. Labels: dated, especially, offensive Example: a lame man 4. Hobbling; limping; inefficient; imperfect. Labels: broadly, dated Example: a lame endeavour Example: O, most lame and impotent conclusion![…] 5. Unconvincing or unbelievable. Labels: colloquial Example: He had a really lame excuse for missing the birthday party. 6. Uncool, uninteresting, or unfunny. Labels: colloquial Example: He kept telling these extremely lame jokes all night.
Word: lame Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English lame, from Old English lama (“lame”), from Proto-West Germanic *lam, from Proto-Germanic *lamaz (“lame”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃lemH- (“to tire; to break”). Pronunciation: /leɪm/ 1. To cause (a person or animal) to become lame. Labels: transitive Example: And if you don't want to lame your horse, you must look sharp and get them [stones stuck in hooves] out quickly. Example: Now her soul felt lamed in itself. It was her hope that was struck.
Word: lame Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English lame, from Old English lama (“lame”), from Proto-West Germanic *lam, from Proto-Germanic *lamaz (“lame”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃lemH- (“to tire; to break”). Pronunciation: /leɪm/ 1. A stupid or undesirable person. Labels: slang Example: You lames tryna clone my style and run wit it.
Word: lame Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle French lame, from Latin lāmina. Doublet of lamina. Pronunciation: /leɪm/ 1. A thin layer or plate of material, as in certain kinds of armor. Example: This rim involved a raised rolled edge on the rerebrace that was inserted into a raised lip on the lower lame of the pauldron. This lip allows the arm to rotate without the need for leather straps and can be clearly seen carved on to the effigy […] Example: These pauldrons are generally asymmetrical with the left pauldron wider than the right, which is cut away for the passage of the lance. It would be attached to the shoulder by points through a restored leather tab on the top lame at the apex […] 2. A set of joined overlapping metal plates. Labels: in-plural 3. A kitchen tool for scoring bread dough before baking.
Word: landscape Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From an alteration (due to Dutch landschap) of earlier landskip, lantschip, from Middle English *landschippe, *landschapp, from Old English landsċipe, landsċeap (“region, district, tract of land”); in some senses from Dutch landschap (“region, district, province, landscape”), from Middle Dutch landscap, lantscap (“region”), from Old Dutch *landskepi, *landskapi (“region”). Cognate with Scots landskape, landskep, landskip (“landscape”), West Frisian lânskip (“landscape”), Low German landschop (“landscape, district”), German Landschaft (“landscape, countryside, scenery”), Danish landskab (“landscape, countryside”), Swedish landskap (“landscape, scenery, province”), Icelandic landskapur (“countryside”). By surface analysis, land + -ship. Pronunciation: /ˈlan(d)skeɪp/, /ˈlæn(d)skɪp/ 1. A portion of land or territory as defined by its landform, its geographical (and architectural) features. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Piſcat[or]. [...] [T]heſe Hills though high, bleak, and craggy, breed and feed good Beef, and Mutton above ground, and afford good ſtore of Lead within. / Viat[or]. They had need of all thoſe commodities to make amends for the ill Land-ſchape: [...] Example: Ahead the flanks of the Pennines gleamed faintly in the moonlight, looking as though they themselves were part of some dry and deserted lunar landscape. 2. A portion of land which the eye can comprehend in a single view, including all the objects thus seen. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The rolling Chocolate Hills of Bohol in the Philippines could easily be mistaken for a child’s landscape drawing. 3. A sociological aspect of a physical area. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: In light of such conceptualisations of the power of linguistic landscapes, we set out to examine the connection between the visual landscape and the spoken landscape in our institution[.] 4. A picture representing a real or imaginary scene by land or sea, the main subject being the general aspect of nature, as fields, hills, forests, water, etc. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The mother, Ekaterina Pavlovna, who at one time had been handsome, but now, asthmatic, depressed, vague, and over-feeble for her years, tried to entertain me with conversation about painting. Having heard from her daughter that I might come to Shelkovka, she had hurriedly recalled two or three of my landscapes which she had seen in exhibitions in Moscow, and now asked what I meant to express by them. 5. The pictorial aspect of a country. Labels: countable, uncountable 6. a mode of printing where the horizontal sides are longer than the vertical sides Labels: uncountable 7. A space, indoor or outdoor and natural or man-made (as in "designed landscape") Labels: countable, uncountable 8. a situation that is presented, a scenario Labels: countable, figuratively, uncountable Example: The software patent landscape has changed considerably in the last years
Word: landscape Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From an alteration (due to Dutch landschap) of earlier landskip, lantschip, from Middle English *landschippe, *landschapp, from Old English landsċipe, landsċeap (“region, district, tract of land”); in some senses from Dutch landschap (“region, district, province, landscape”), from Middle Dutch landscap, lantscap (“region”), from Old Dutch *landskepi, *landskapi (“region”). Cognate with Scots landskape, landskep, landskip (“landscape”), West Frisian lânskip (“landscape”), Low German landschop (“landscape, district”), German Landschaft (“landscape, countryside, scenery”), Danish landskab (“landscape, countryside”), Swedish landskap (“landscape, scenery, province”), Icelandic landskapur (“countryside”). By surface analysis, land + -ship. Pronunciation: /ˈlan(d)skeɪp/, /ˈlæn(d)skɪp/ 1. To create or maintain a landscape.
Word: lanky Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From lank + -y. Pronunciation: /ˈlæŋk.i/, [ˈlæŋk.ɪi̯], /ˈleɪ̯ŋki/, [ˈleɪ̯ŋkɪi̯], /ˈlɛ̃ŋki/ 1. Tall, slim, and rather ungraceful or awkward. Labels: derogatory, informal Example: tall and lanky Example: awkwardly lanky
Word: lap Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English lappe, from Old English læppa (“skirt or flap of a garment”), from Proto-West Germanic *lappō, from Proto-Germanic *lappô (“cloth; rag”), of uncertain origin, possibly Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang loosely”). Cognate with Dutch lap (“cloth; rag”), German Lappen (“cloth; lobe; flap”), Icelandic leppur (“rag; patch”). Pronunciation: /læp/, /lap/, /lɛp/ 1. The loose part of a coat; the lower part of a garment that plays loosely; a skirt; an apron. 2. An edge; a border; a hem, as of cloth. 3. The part of the clothing that lies on the knees or thighs when one sits down; that part of the person thus covered. 4. A place of rearing and fostering. Labels: figuratively 5. The upper legs of a seated person. Example: The boy was sitting on his mother's lap. 6. The female pudenda. Labels: archaic, euphemistic 7. A component that overlaps or covers any portion of itself or of an adjacent component.
Word: lap Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English lappe, from Old English læppa (“skirt or flap of a garment”), from Proto-West Germanic *lappō, from Proto-Germanic *lappô (“cloth; rag”), of uncertain origin, possibly Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang loosely”). Cognate with Dutch lap (“cloth; rag”), German Lappen (“cloth; lobe; flap”), Icelandic leppur (“rag; patch”). Pronunciation: /læp/, /lap/, /lɛp/ 1. To enfold; to hold as in one's lap; to cherish. Labels: transitive Example: Her garment spreads, and laps him in the fold. 2. To rest or recline in someone's lap, or as in a lap. Labels: transitive Example: to lap his head on lady's breast
Word: lap Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English lappen (“to fold, wrap”) from earlier wlappen (“to fold, wrap”), from Old English *wlappan, *wlæppan, *wlappian (“to wrap”), from Proto-Germanic *wlapp-, *wrapp- (“to wrap, fold, roll up, turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *werb- (“to bend, turn”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lappen (“to wrap up, embrace”), dialectal Danish vravle (“to wind”), Old Italian goluppare (“to wrap, fold up”) (from Germanic). Doublet of wrap. Also related to envelop, develop. The sense of "to get a lap ahead (of someone) on a track" is from 1847, on notion of "overlapping." The noun meaning "a turn around a track" (1861) is from this sense. Pronunciation: /læp/, /lap/, /lɛp/ 1. To fold; to bend and lay over or on something. Labels: transitive Example: to lap a piece of cloth 2. to wrap around, enwrap, wrap up Labels: transitive Example: to lap a bandage around a finger Example: About the paper […] I lapped several times a slender thread of very black silk. 3. to envelop, enfold Labels: transitive Example: lapped in luxury 4. to wind around Labels: intransitive 5. To place or lay (one thing) so as to overlap another. Labels: transitive Example: One laps roof tiles so that water can run off. 6. To polish (a surface, especially metal or gemstone) with very fine abrasive to achieve smoothness and small dimensional changes. Labels: transitive 7. To be turned or folded; to lie partly on or over something; to overlap. Labels: intransitive Example: The cloth laps back. Example: The boats lap; the edges lap. 8. To overtake a straggler in a race by completing one more whole lap than the straggler. Labels: transitive 9. To cut or polish with a lap, as glass, gems, cutlery, etc.
Word: lap Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English lappen (“to fold, wrap”) from earlier wlappen (“to fold, wrap”), from Old English *wlappan, *wlæppan, *wlappian (“to wrap”), from Proto-Germanic *wlapp-, *wrapp- (“to wrap, fold, roll up, turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *werb- (“to bend, turn”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lappen (“to wrap up, embrace”), dialectal Danish vravle (“to wind”), Old Italian goluppare (“to wrap, fold up”) (from Germanic). Doublet of wrap. Also related to envelop, develop. The sense of "to get a lap ahead (of someone) on a track" is from 1847, on notion of "overlapping." The noun meaning "a turn around a track" (1861) is from this sense. Pronunciation: /læp/, /lap/, /lɛp/ 1. The act or process of lapping. 2. That part of any substance or fixture which extends over, or lies upon, or by the side of, a part of another. Example: the lap of a board 3. The state or condition of being in part extended over or by the side of something else; or the extent of the overlapping. Example: The second boat got a lap of half its length on the leader. 4. The amount by which a slide valve at its half stroke overlaps a port in the seat, being equal to the distance the valve must move from its mid stroke position in order to begin to open the port. Used alone, lap refers to outside lap (see below). 5. One circuit around a race track. Example: to run twenty laps Example: to drive the fastest lap in qualifying 6. The traversal of one length of the pool, or (less commonly) one length and back again. Example: to swim two laps 7. In card playing and other games, the points won in excess of the number necessary to complete a game;—so called when they are counted in the score of the following game. 8. A sheet, layer, or bat, of cotton fiber prepared for the carding machine. 9. A piece of brass, lead, or other soft metal, used to hold a cutting or polishing powder in cutting glass, gems, etc. or in polishing cutlery or in toolmaking. It is usually in the form of a wheel or disk that revolves on a vertical axis.
Word: lap Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English lappen, from Old English lapian, from Proto-West Germanic *lapōn, from Proto-Germanic *lapōną, *lapjaną (“to lick; lap”), from imitative Proto-Indo-European *leh₂b- (“to lap, lick”); akin to Old High German laffen (“to lick”), Old Norse lepja, Danish labe, Old Saxon lepil, German Löffel (“spoon”). Cognate with Latin lambere (“lick”). French lamper is a loanword from German. Compare Danish leffe, dialect German läffeln. Pronunciation: /læp/, /lap/, /lɛp/ 1. To take (liquid) into the mouth with the tongue; to lick up with a quick motion of the tongue. Labels: ambitransitive Example: Don’t lap your soup like that! You look like a dog. Example: They'll take suggestion as a cat laps milk. 2. To wash against a surface with a splashing sound; to swash. Labels: intransitive Example: I heard the ripple washing in the reeds, / And the wild water lapping on the crag.
Word: lap Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English lappen, from Old English lapian, from Proto-West Germanic *lapōn, from Proto-Germanic *lapōną, *lapjaną (“to lick; lap”), from imitative Proto-Indo-European *leh₂b- (“to lap, lick”); akin to Old High German laffen (“to lick”), Old Norse lepja, Danish labe, Old Saxon lepil, German Löffel (“spoon”). Cognate with Latin lambere (“lick”). French lamper is a loanword from German. Compare Danish leffe, dialect German läffeln. Pronunciation: /læp/, /lap/, /lɛp/ 1. The taking of liquid into the mouth with the tongue. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: With each lap of its tongue a cat gathers up milk and throws it well back into the gateway of its throat […] 2. Liquor; alcoholic drink. Labels: obsolete, slang, uncountable
Word: lap Part of Speech: noun Pronunciation: /læp/, /lap/, /lɛp/ 1. Clipping of laparoscopy. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, colloquial 2. Clipping of laparotomy Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, colloquial
Word: lap Part of Speech: adj Pronunciation: /læp/, /lap/, /lɛp/ 1. Clipping of laparoscopic. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, colloquial, not-comparable
Word: larch Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From early modern German Larche, Lärche, from Middle High German larche, from Old High German larihha, from Proto-West Germanic *larikā, an early borrowing from Latin larix, from Ancient Greek λάριξ (lárix), itself possibly of Gaulish origin. Pronunciation: /ˈlɑːtʃ/, /ˈlɑɹt͡ʃ/ 1. A coniferous tree, of genus Larix, having deciduous leaves in fascicles. Labels: countable Example: The Larch-tree, with us, groweth slowly, and to be found in few places; it hath a rugged bark, and boughts that branch in good order, with divers small yellowish bunched eminences, set thereon at several distances, from whence tufts of many small, long, and narrow smooth leaves do yearly come forth; it beareth among the green leaves many beautiful flowers, which are of a fine crimson colour […] Example: 1716, Nicholas Rowe (translator), The Ninth Book of Lucan in John Dryden, Miscellany Poems, London: Jacob Tonson, Volume 6, p. 67, The Gummy Larch-Tree, and the Thapsos there, Wound-wort and Maiden-weed, perfume the Air. 2. Wood of the larch. Labels: uncountable Example: The cart was of rough wood, without springs, like a big box fixed on long larch poles between two pairs of wheels. The larch poles did instead of springs, bending and creaking, as the cart moved over the forest track.
Word: lard Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English lard, from Old French lard (“bacon”), from Latin lārdum, lāridum (“bacon fat”). Pronunciation: /lɑːd/, /lɑɹd/, /lɐːd/ 1. Fat from the abdomen of a pig, especially as prepared for use in cooking or pharmacy. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Lard mixed with crushed and strained garlic has been used as an erotic ointment. 2. Fatty meat from a pig; bacon, pork. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable 3. Excess fat on a person or animal. Labels: countable, slang, uncountable Example: My wonderful partner is fond of pointing out that he and I have done the Covid crisis on easy mode: we have no children, no caring responsibilities, […] we have a fabulous community of people at our local fitness studio to keep the lockdown lard at bay and the cats love joining us for afternoon naps.