nandhakumarms/qualc-wiktionary-en huggingface dataset:
Word: excel Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English excellen, from Old French exceller, from Latin excellere, excelsum; ex (“out”) + *cellō, an unattested verb root found in culmen (“height, top”); Compare French exceller. See also culminate, column. Pronunciation: /ɪkˈsɛl/, /ɛkˈsɛl/ 1. To surpass someone or something; to be better or do better than someone or something. Labels: transitive Example: I excelled everyone else with my exam results. Example: Compositions which follow the style of Nissi Belzer's creations in structure but which excel them in length. 2. To be much better than others. Labels: intransitive Example: But it is as a destroyer of grasshoppers that the dickcissel excels. Example: 1924: Aristotle, Metaphysics. Translated by W. D. Ross. Nashotah, Wisconsin, USA: The Classical Library, 2001. Book 1, Part 2.. If, then, there is something in what the poets say, and jealousy is natural to the divine power, it would probably occur in this case above all, and all who excelled in this knowledge would be unfortunate. 3. To exceed, to go beyond. Labels: archaic, rare, transitive Example: She opened; but to shut / Excelled her power: the gates wide open stood […] Example: I reason, we could die : / The best vitality / Cannot excel decay; / But what of that?
Word: forger Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English forger, forgere, from Old French forgiere; equivalent to forge + -er. 1. A person who creates forgeries, falsifies documents with intent to defraud, e.g. to create a false will or illicit copies of currency; counterfeiter. 2. A person who forges metals.
Word: seldom Part of Speech: adv Etymology: From late Middle English seldom, alteration of earlier selden by analogy with adverbial datives such as whilom, from Old English seldan (“seldom”), from Proto-West Germanic *seldanā, from Proto-Germanic *seldanē. Cognate with Saterland Frisian säilden (“seldom”), West Frisian selden, komselden (“rare, seldom”), Dutch zelden, German selten, Danish sjælden, Norwegian Bokmål sjelden, Norwegian Nynorsk sjeldan, Swedish sällan, Faroese sjáldan, Icelandic sjaldan. More at seld and selly. Pronunciation: /ˈsɛldəm/ 1. Infrequently, rarely. Example: They seldom come here now. Example: I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed.
Word: seldom Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From late Middle English seldom, alteration of earlier selden by analogy with adverbial datives such as whilom, from Old English seldan (“seldom”), from Proto-West Germanic *seldanā, from Proto-Germanic *seldanē. Cognate with Saterland Frisian säilden (“seldom”), West Frisian selden, komselden (“rare, seldom”), Dutch zelden, German selten, Danish sjælden, Norwegian Bokmål sjelden, Norwegian Nynorsk sjeldan, Swedish sällan, Faroese sjáldan, Icelandic sjaldan. More at seld and selly. Pronunciation: /ˈsɛldəm/ 1. Rare; infrequent. Labels: archaic Example: a suppressed and seldom anger Example: He was very curious in his garden, which was never out of order; in which he would at seldom times take a short walk or two, not enduring to see a weed in it.
Word: tanker Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Prakrit 𑀝𑀁𑀓 (ṭaṃka) Gujarati ટાંકી (ṭā̃kī)bor. Portuguese tanquebor. English tank 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 tanker From tank + -er. Pronunciation: /ˈtæŋkə/, /ˈtæŋkɚ/, /ˈteɪ̯ŋkɚ/, /ˈtɛ̃ŋkɚ/ 1. A tankship, a vessel used to transport large quantities of fluid. Example: The channel at Chan-chiang is being dredged to a depth of 50 feet enabling tankers of 70,000 tons to call. 2. A motor truck (lorry) with a tank to hold bulk liquid (with or without internal baffles): a fuel tanker (lorry), petrol tanker, road tanker. Labels: UK, US Example: Nor is the government facing a strike by tanker drivers, as was the case in early 1979 during the winter of discontent. 3. An aircraft carrying a large supply of jet fuel or avgas for aerial refueling of other aircraft, plus equipment allowing the in-air transfer of fuel. Labels: usually Example: Without the KC-46 tankers orbiting in friendly airspace, our fighters would've run out of fuel long before reaching the combat zone. Example: On Friday night, eight US Air Force KC-135 Stratotankers took off from Altus, Oklahoma, according to data from FlightRadar24. Over Kansas the tankers refueled two groups of planes, identified on air traffic control audio by their callsigns MYTEE11 FLT and MYTEE21 FLT. The callsign MYTEE has previously been associated with special activity flights by B-2 bombers, and multiple flight trackers on social media said the planes being refueled were B-2 bombers out of Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. 4. An aircraft built or modified to carry water and/or fire retardant for dropping on wildfires. Example: While our ground teams cut firebreaks in the brush, the tankers kept the fire in the mountains at bay with frequent drops of water and retardant. 5. A tank car (tank wagon). 6. Member of a tank crew, or of an armoured unit. Example: On February 19, 1943, American tankers felt the full wrath of the German Army in North Africa when its tank-led spearhead punched a 2-mile-wide hole through American lines at Faid Pass in Tunisia, […] 7. An airman who serves on the crew of an aerial refueling tanker aircraft. 8. A longboard. Labels: slang Example: I swung the tanker around just in time to take off with the lip.
Word: tanker Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Etymology tree Prakrit 𑀝𑀁𑀓 (ṭaṃka) Gujarati ટાંકી (ṭā̃kī)bor. Portuguese tanquebor. English tank 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 tanker From tank + -er. Pronunciation: /ˈtæŋkə/, /ˈtæŋkɚ/, /ˈteɪ̯ŋkɚ/, /ˈtɛ̃ŋkɚ/ 1. To transport (oil, etc.) in a tanker. Labels: transitive 2. To carry more fuel than necessary for a flight, in order to avoid having to refuel at a destination where fuel is more expensive or in short supply.
Word: journalist Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree English journal Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Hellenic *-tās Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs) Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor. Latin -istader. Old French -istebor. Middle English -ist English -ist English journalist From journal + -ist. Pronunciation: /ˈd͡ʒɝnəlɪst/, /ˈd͡ʒɜːnəlɪst/ 1. The keeper of a personal journal, who writes in it regularly. 2. One whose occupation is journalism, originally only writing in the printed press. Example: “There’s this terrible business to start with. Scotland Yard men in and out of the house like a jack-in-the-box! Never know where they won’t turn up next. Screaming headlines in every paper in the country—damn all journalists, I say!” 3. A reporter, someone who professionally reports on news and current events. Example: British journalists shun complete respectability, feeling a duty to be ready to savage the mighty, or rummage through their bins. Elsewhere in Europe, government contracts and subsidies ensure that press barons will only defy the mighty so far. Example: A staff member of the Kuchar County Judiciary told RFA that he did not have the authority “to answer political questions of this magnitude,” when asked whether 150 people had died in No. 1 Camp, and whether the number included any government officials or other employees. “We have a county-wide directive—firstly, to never provide answers to pretend journalists, and secondly, to never take phone calls of unknown origin,” he said.
Word: gill Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English gille, gylle (“gill”), of North Germanic origin, akin to Danish gælle, Swedish gäl, Norwegian gjelle, and further to Old Norse gjǫlnar (“lips”), which also may have had the meaning of "gills" (based on Old Danish fiskegæln (“gills”)). The Old Norse word has been suggested as deriving from Proto-Germanic *gelunō (“jaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel-, which would make it root-cognate to Ancient Greek χελύνη (khelúnē, “lip, jaw”), χεῖλος (kheîlos, “lip”). Displaced native Old English ċīe. Pronunciation: /ɡɪl/ 1. A breathing organ of fish and other aquatic animals. Example: Fishes […] perform their respiration under water by the gills. 2. A gill slit or gill cover. Example: Gill nets are designed to catch a fish by the gills. 3. One of the radial folds on the underside of the cap of a mushroom, the surface of which bears the spore-producing organs. 4. The fleshy flap that hangs below the beak of a fowl; a wattle. 5. The flesh under or about the chin; a wattle. Labels: figuratively Example: dropsy fills you to the gills 6. One of the combs of closely ranged steel pins which divide the ribbons of flax fiber or wool into fewer parallel filaments.
Word: gill Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English gille, gylle (“gill”), of North Germanic origin, akin to Danish gælle, Swedish gäl, Norwegian gjelle, and further to Old Norse gjǫlnar (“lips”), which also may have had the meaning of "gills" (based on Old Danish fiskegæln (“gills”)). The Old Norse word has been suggested as deriving from Proto-Germanic *gelunō (“jaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel-, which would make it root-cognate to Ancient Greek χελύνη (khelúnē, “lip, jaw”), χεῖλος (kheîlos, “lip”). Displaced native Old English ċīe. Pronunciation: /ɡɪl/ 1. To remove the gills from a fish as part of gutting and cleaning it. Example: As we had fish home in the icebox, when Bill led the fish up alongside, I leaned over the combing, gilled the fish with my fingers, slid out the hook and let go. The bass lay there for a moment, tired from the arch of the rod and the pull of the line. Example: She gutted and gilled the fish, then scaled it. 2. To catch (a fish) in a gillnet. Labels: transitive Example: Owing to the peculiar shape of the pompano and the relatively large mesh in the pompano gill nets, the fish are not caught by being actually gilled. Example: In cases of very heavy catches the nets may be hauled and stored with the fish still gilled. The fish would then be shaken out on return to the port. 3. To be or become entangled in a gillnet. Labels: intransitive Example: Since the fine threads of the net usually are caught under the gill covers of the fish they are said to be "gilled." Example: Also, when fish gilled there wasn't as much extra twine to tangle in, so they were easier to release from the net.
Word: gill Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English gille, from Old French gille (“a wine measure”), from Medieval Latin gillo (“earthenware jar”). Pronunciation: /d͡ʒɪl/ 1. A drink measure for spirits and wine, approximately a quarter of a pint, but varying regionally. 2. A measuring jug holding a quarter or half a pint. Labels: UK, archaic 3. A unit of measure equal to 4 US fluid ounces (half a cup, a quarter of a US pint), approximately 118 milliliters. Labels: US, dated
Word: gill Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English gille, from Old Norse gil. Pronunciation: /ɡɪl/ 1. A rivulet, small stream. Labels: UK 2. A ravine. Labels: UK
Word: gill Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Uncertain. 1. A two-wheeled frame for transporting timber.
Word: gill Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Clipping of gillian, from the female name Gillian. Pronunciation: /d͡ʒɪl/ 1. Alternative form of jill (“a female ferret”). Labels: alt-of, alternative 2. A promiscuous woman; harlot, wanton. Labels: obsolete 3. A prostitute. Labels: obsolete Example: Gill comes from the Knight, that did so seek / To gaine her love; she's hir'd for a week.
Word: gill Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Clipping of gillian, from the female name Gillian. Pronunciation: /d͡ʒɪl/ 1. To act as a prostitute. Labels: obsolete Example: Comme proprement le fine of my Designs dey make; / Dam gilling Whore / Et Louis d'or
Word: Palm Sunday Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From the palm fronds supposedly laid before Jesus during his entrance to Jerusalem preceding his crucifixion. Originally Old English Palmsunnandæg or palm-sunnandæg. The current spelling dates to the 17th century. 1. The sixth Sunday in Lent, the Sunday before Easter. Example: Holonyms: Holy Week < Eastertime
Word: Easter egg Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Easter + egg. Cognate with German Low German Ooosterei (“Easter egg”), Middle High German ōsterei ("Easter egg"; > modern German Osterei). So called because eggs would be eaten during Easter to break the fasting during Lent. (No eggs, dairy, meat except fish, lard, or foods containing these ingredients could be eaten during Lent.) The computing sense is from the early 1980s, popularized by the video game Adventure. Pronunciation: /ˈiː.stəɹ ˌɛɡ/ 1. A dyed or decorated egg, traditionally associated with Easter and, in the Western European tradition, sometimes hidden for children to find. Example: Because eggs were inexpensive in most regions, the practice of decorating Easter eggs crossed all social classes and remained somewhat simple. 2. A chocolate confection in the shape of an egg, sometimes with chocolates or sweets inside. Example: I reached the first fork in the tree and there they lay—several melted Easter eggs[…] Quickly I tore open the foil and licked the melted chocolate until there wasn't a trace left on the paper. 3. An undocumented function hidden in a program or video game, typically triggered by a particular input sequence or combination of keystrokes. Example: an Easter egg that displays the names of the application's development team Example: Once found, the Easter egg will often enable the player to traverse through the game much more rapidly the second time around. 4. Any image, feature, or other content that is hidden on a video disc or in a movie, trailer, or poster. Labels: broadly Example: For the Best of Bowie DVD release, APl even concealed an Easter egg within a hidden extra. Example: The repeated appearance of a number as an Easter egg is not a new concept for J.J., Burky or those other members of Lost Labs who previously worked on Alias.
Word: Easter Bunny Part of Speech: name Etymology: From Easter + bunny, calque of German Osterhase (literally “Easter hare”). Pronunciation: /ˈiːs.tə ˈbʌ.ni/, /ˈiːs.tɚ ˈbʌ.ni/ 1. A symbolic rabbit sometimes depicted delivering Easter eggs to children. Example: An Easter Bunny Party Example: One day the old Easter Bunny looked out of his winter covert and Said to his Bunny-wife, who was busy coloring Easter eggs, “It is high time we set out to look for the Easter Lily.”
Word: Eastertide Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Easter + -tide (“period surrounding a festival”). 1. The season from Easter Day to Whitsun, inclusive thereof. Labels: uncountable Example: Meronyms: Easter, Easter Day, Easter Sunday, Holy Week, Easter Week Example: Near-synonym: Eastertime (broad sense)
Word: Victoria Cross Part of Speech: noun 1. The highest military award in the honours system of the United Kingdom, and some members of the Commonwealth of Nations. Its symbol is a form of cross pattée. Example: "Padre, you should have a row of Victoria Crosses." "No, no, it was my duty."
Word: Maltese cross Part of Speech: noun 1. A cross having four equal arms resembling arrowheads joined at the points 2. A flowering plant Lychnis chalcedonica (syn. Silene chalcedonica) of the family Caryophyllaceae 3. A position on the rings where the gymnast's body is horizontal and straight, with arms to the side; a horizontal planche. 4. Synonym of Geneva wheel.
Word: avoid like the plague Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From the deadliness of the plague and the need to avoid it. Commonly attributed to similar phrases in Latin used by the priest and theologian Saint Jerome (c. 347–420) in his letters, for example: : His igitur quasi quibusdam pestibus exterminatis veniamus ad eos,[…] Avoiding these [the Remnuoth, a class of monks in Egypt] then as though they were the plague, […] : [N]egotiatorem clericum et ex inope divitem et ex ignobili gloriosum quasi quandem pestem fuge Avoid, as you would the plague, a clergyman who is also a man of business, one who has risen from poverty to wealth, from obscurity to a high position Pronunciation: /əˈvɔɪd laɪk ðə ˈpleɪɡ/ 1. To evade or shun, if at all possible. Example: Cliché should be avoided like the plague. Example: I’m one of those people who avoids confrontations like the plague.
Word: bare poles Part of Speech: noun 1. The condition of a sailing boat when all of its sails have been taken in. Labels: idiomatic, uncountable
Word: admiral's barge Part of Speech: noun 1. A motorboat used by flag officers for harbour transport.
Word: dumb barge Part of Speech: noun 1. A barge without mast, sails, or mechanical propulsion, whether propelled by oars and poles, by the tide, or in tow of a tug.
Word: bargee Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From barge + -ee. Pronunciation: /ˈbɑː(ɹ)d͡ʒi/ 1. A crewman of a working barge. 2. A vulgar person, prone to bad language. Editors of this dictionary, when cleaning up this entry, may wish to search "bargee" at madameulalie.org for examples of its usage in the works of P.G. Wodehouse.
Word: barquentine Part of Speech: noun 1. A sailing vessel similar to a barque, but fore-and-aft (schooner) rigged on the mainmast
Word: fireplug Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From fire + plug, referring to the system used prior to fire hydrants, in which a large plug was placed into a hole in the water main, then covered with a barrel. The plug was removed when water was needed. Pronunciation: /ˈfaɪ(ə)plʌɡ/ 1. A fire hydrant. Example: She is a strong and warm-hearted and hard-working farmer in her early sixties. She is built like a fireplug.
Word: fire hydrant Part of Speech: noun 1. A device used by firefighters to obtain water from the main supply, consisting of a barrel, connections for hose and a valve assembly.
Word: bathyscaphe Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Ancient Greek βᾰθῠ́ς (băthŭ́s) Proto-Indo-European *skabʰ-der. Ancient Greek σκᾰ́πτω (skắptō) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Ancient Greek -ᾱ (-ā) Ancient Greek -η (-ē) Ancient Greek σκᾰ́φη (skắphē) French bathyscaphebor. English bathyscaphe Borrowed from French bathyscaphe. Analyzable as bathy- + Ancient Greek σκάφη (skáphē, “little boat, skiff”). Pronunciation: /ˈbæθɪˌskeɪv/, /ˈbæθɪˌskæf/ 1. A self-propelled deep-sea diving submersible for exploring the ocean depths, consisting of a crew cabin similar to a bathysphere suspended below a float filled with a buoyant liquid such as petrol. Example: The fact that the bathyscaphes are self-propelled makes it possible to use them to study the ocean microstructure in the horizontal, although the experiment should include temporal changes, which can be achieved either by using associated buoy stations or using a second suspended bathyscaphe. Example: It's ironic that when Piccard built his first bathyscaphe in the 1940s people assumed the revolutionary design had evolved from his famous stratospheric balloon. In fact, the reverse was true. In fact, Piccard's prototype bathyscaphe FNRS-2 (named for the Belgian national research foundation), which underwent sea trials in the Atlantic off Senegal in 1948, did possess all the attributes of a clumsy underwater balloon.
Word: bathysphere Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From bathy- + -sphere. A genericization from the particular bathysphere in the 1930s named Bathysphere. The name bathysphere was coined decades after the introduction of the device in the 1890s. Pronunciation: /ˈbæθɪˌsfɪə(ɹ)/ 1. A spherical steel deep-diving chamber with perspex windows, in which persons are lowered to the depths by a cable to study the oceans and deep-sea life; the precursor to the bathyscaphe.
Word: back water Part of Speech: noun 1. Alternative spelling of backwater. Labels: alt-of, alternative
Word: back water Part of Speech: verb 1. To reverse the action of the oars, paddles, or propeller, so as to force the boat or ship backward.
Word: hull Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English hul, hulle, holle (“seed covering, hull of a ship”), from Old English hulu (“seed covering”), from Proto-Germanic *hul-, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover, hide”); or possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kal- (“hard”). Compare Dutch hul (“hood”), German Hülle (“cover, wrap”), Hülse (“hull”); also Old Irish calad, calath (“hard”), Latin callus, callum (“rough skin”), Old Church Slavonic калити (kaliti, “to cool, harden”). For the sense development, compare French coque (“nutshell; ship's hull”), Ancient Greek φάσηλος (phásēlos, “bean pod; yacht”). Pronunciation: /hʌl/, /hʊl/ 1. The outer covering of a fruit or seed. 2. Any covering.
Word: hull Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English hul, hulle, holle (“seed covering, hull of a ship”), from Old English hulu (“seed covering”), from Proto-Germanic *hul-, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover, hide”); or possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kal- (“hard”). Compare Dutch hul (“hood”), German Hülle (“cover, wrap”), Hülse (“hull”); also Old Irish calad, calath (“hard”), Latin callus, callum (“rough skin”), Old Church Slavonic калити (kaliti, “to cool, harden”). For the sense development, compare French coque (“nutshell; ship's hull”), Ancient Greek φάσηλος (phásēlos, “bean pod; yacht”). Pronunciation: /hʌl/, /hʊl/ 1. To remove the outer covering of a fruit or seed. Example: She sat on the back porch hulling peanuts.
Word: hull Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English holle, hoole (“hull, hold of a ship, ship”), of uncertain origin. Possibly a variant and special use of Etymology 1 above, conformed to hull. Alternatively, a variant of Middle English hole, hoole, holle (“hiding place, lair, den, shelter, compartment”, literally “hole, hollow”), related to Middle Dutch and Dutch hol (“hole, ship's cargo hold”). More at hole. Pronunciation: /hʌl/, /hʊl/ 1. The body or frame of a vessel, such as a ship or plane. Example: VVhen you haue berthed or brought her [the ship] vp to the planks, vvhich are thoſe thicke timbers vvhich goeth fore and aft on each ſide, vvhereon doth lie the beames of the firſt Orlop, vvhich is the firſt floore to ſupport the plankes doth couer the Hovvle, thoſe are great croſſe timbers, that keepes the ſhip ſides aſunder, the maine beame is euer next the maine maſt, […] Example: Deep in their hulls our deadly bullets light, / And through the yielding planks a passage find. 2. The smallest set that possesses a particular property (such as convexity) and contains every point of A; slightly more formally, the intersection of all sets which possess the specified property and of which A is a subset. Example: The orthogonal convex hull of an orthogonal polygon is the smallest orthogonally convex polygon that encloses the original polygon. Example: holomorphically convex hull; affine hull; injective hull
Word: hull Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English holle, hoole (“hull, hold of a ship, ship”), of uncertain origin. Possibly a variant and special use of Etymology 1 above, conformed to hull. Alternatively, a variant of Middle English hole, hoole, holle (“hiding place, lair, den, shelter, compartment”, literally “hole, hollow”), related to Middle Dutch and Dutch hol (“hole, ship's cargo hold”). More at hole. Pronunciation: /hʌl/, /hʊl/ 1. To drift; to be carried by the impetus of wind or water on the ship's hull alone, with sails furled. Labels: intransitive, obsolete Example: We goe not, but we are carried: as things that flote, now gliding gently, now hulling violently, according as the water is, either stormy or calme. Example: […] Thus hulling in The wild sea of my conscience, I did steer Toward this remedy, whereupon we are Now present here together: 2. To hit (a ship) in the hull with cannon fire etc. Labels: transitive Example: During this action, we had not a man killed or wounded, although the enemy often hulled us, and once, in particular, a shot coming into one of our ports, dismounted one of our guns between decks […]
Word: ceteris paribus Part of Speech: adv Etymology: From Latin cēterīs, the ablative plural of cēterus (“the other, the rest”), + paribus, the ablative case plural of pār (“equal”). Pronunciation: /ˈsɛtəɹɪs ˈpæɹɪbəs/ 1. All things being equal; with all other things or factors remaining the same; other things held constant; all else unchanged. Labels: not-comparable Example: And therefore 'tis not to be doubted, but could we make a Microscope to have one only refraction, it would, cæteris paribus, far excel any other that had a greater number. Example: On closer inspection it appeared that steel annealed at 100° is, cæteris paribus, more easily soluble than glass hard steel; steel annealed at 200° more easily soluble than steel annealed at 100°, and steel annealed at 360° more easily soluble than steel annealed at 200°.
Word: Bunsen Part of Speech: name Etymology: Borrowed from German Bunsen. Pronunciation: /ˈbʌnsən/ 1. A German surname.
Word: Bunsen Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Borrowed from German Bunsen. Pronunciation: /ˈbʌnsən/ 1. Ellipsis of Bunsen burner. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, informal 2. A turner (a pitch on which the ball turns easily). Labels: informal, slang
Word: backwater Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From back + water. 1. The water held back by a dam or other obstruction. Example: […] The backwater separates the main line from Hinksey marshalling yards 2. A remote place: somewhere that remains unaffected by new events, progresses, ideas, etc; any field of endeavor that figuratively resembles such a place. Labels: figuratively, idiomatic, usually Example: Near-synonyms: (place) jerkwater town, one-horse town, Podunk; see also Thesaurus:remote place Example: an academic backwater 3. A rowing stroke in which the oar is pushed forward to stop the boat; see back water 4. Water used in the papermaking process. Recycled to reduce usage of fresh water, and usually containing residual amounts of chemicals and fibres. Example: The back-water (overflow) can be used for "thinning down" the chests when emptying. If "Wastive" does this, his mind will be at ease regarding waste of pulp, and his machine-men will be happy and do their work much better than by trying to use all the back-water on the paper machine.
Word: backwater Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From back + water. 1. To row or paddle a backwater stroke. 2. To vacillate on a long-held position. Labels: idiomatic
Word: backstaff Part of Speech: noun 1. An early navigational instrument for measuring the altitude of the sun and hence calculating latitude.
Word: paucity Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English paucete, paucite, paucyte, partly from Middle French paucité and partly from its etymon, Latin paucitās (“a small number, fewness, scarcity”), from paucus (“few, little”). Related to few. Pronunciation: /ˈpɒs.ɪ.ti/, /ˈpɔs.ɪ.ti/, [ˈpɔs.ɪ.ɾi], /ˈpɑ.sɪ.ti/, [ˈpɑ.sɪ.ɾi] 1. Fewness in number; too few. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: But when I had crossed the threshold, I was astonished at the paucity of facts to be gleaned from the inmates themselves. Example: For sheer paucity of railway facilities, probably the record in Great Britain is held by the Scottish county of Nairn, which has about eight miles of railway and two stations—Nairn and Auldearn. 2. A smallness in size or amount that is insufficient; meagerness, dearth. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: It cannot be denied it [the chameleon] is (if not the moſt of any) a very abſtemious animall, and ſuch as by reaſon of its frigidity, paucity of bloud, and latitancy in the winter (about which time the obſervations are often made) will long ſubſist without a viſible ſuſtentation. Example: Now came shipwrecks and life in open boats, with the usual paucity of food.
Word: backstay Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From back + stay. 1. A part of the rigging of a sailing ship extending from the top of the mast (masthead) to the back of the ship; they support the strain on all upper masts and provide additional support to the shrouds when the wind is abaft the beam. 2. A strengthening or supporting piece that is built into the back of something.
Word: bald-headed Part of Speech: adj 1. Having a bald head. 2. (of a square-rigged ship) not having the royals set. 3. (of a fore-and-aft rigged ship) having the topmasts struck down.
Word: baleen Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English baleyne, from Old French baleine (“whale, whalebone”), from Latin balaena (“whale”), from Ancient Greek φάλαινα (phálaina, “whale”). Pronunciation: /bəˈliːn/, /ˈbeɪliːn/ 1. keratinous material that makes up the plates in the mouth of the baleen whale (Mysticeti), which it uses to trap its food; formerly used in corsetry. Labels: uncountable Example: “You have probably never seen anything like this before, Mr. Toler. It is baleen, or if you prefer it, whalebone, taken from the mouth of the bowhead whale. It is used by the whale to filter its food.” 2. A baleen whale (Mysticeti). Labels: countable Example: Scammon estimates the number of baleens killed in the years 1835-72 at 131,000; once again, his figure needs to be adjusted. 3. Any whale or large fish. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable Example: The Balene is a fishe great and huge, much like to the Whale, and is so called, because of his outcasting and shedding of water, for they throwe water higher then other great fishes of the sea.
Word: ballast tank Part of Speech: noun 1. One of several external or internal tanks fitted in submarines; when filled with seawater they allow the boat to submerge; when emptied using compressed air buoyancy is restored and the vessel rises towards the surface. Auxiliary ballast tanks within the pressure hull allow the submarine to be trimmed.
Word: batten down Part of Speech: verb 1. To close or make watertight, referring to hatches and cargo. 2. To secure. Labels: transitive 3. To prepare for adversity. Labels: intransitive
Word: batten down the hatches Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From the practice aboard a ship of sealing hatches to prevent water getting below-decks in a storm by using covers secured by strips of material, called battens, firmly attached to the frame of the hatch opening. 1. To prepare for trouble. Labels: idiomatic Example: It's time to batten down the hatches and prepare for the coming challenge.
Word: battle honours Part of Speech: noun 1. The names of battles and actions in which a warship (or a previous namesake) has taken part, usually displayed on a board in a prominent position Labels: plural, plural-only
Word: take the piss Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Possibly from piss-proud (“falsely presenting as successful”). In which case taking the piss out of would mean deflating their false pride, usually through disparagement or mockery. As the piss-proud metaphor became dated, taking the piss out of someone came to refer to disparagement or mockery itself, regardless of the pride of the subject. Eventually the shortened, intransitive form taking the piss became common. 1. To tease, ridicule or mock (someone). Labels: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, idiomatic, intransitive, slang, vulgar Example: You know, cos he was like taking the piss out of them and they took the piss out of him. Example: A lot of that stuff that people take the piss out of all the time is actually useful. 2. To subject those present to teasing, ridicule or mockery, or to show contempt. Labels: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, idiomatic, intransitive, slang, vulgar Example: He's either taking it easy or taking the piss by arriving at the eleventh hour. 3. To be outrageously unreasonable. Labels: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, idiomatic, intransitive, slang, vulgar Example: I've got three exams on the same day! That's taking the piss!
Word: square metre Part of Speech: noun 1. A standard unit of area, regardless of its shape, equal to the area of a square whose sides are one metre long (that is, an area one meter square) Symbol: m² Example: A floor 4 metres square contains four squared square metres. Example: There's not nearly enough mortar for thirty-two square metres of wall.
Word: instant messages Part of Speech: noun 1. plural of instant message Labels: form-of, plural
Word: instant messages Part of Speech: verb 1. third-person singular simple present indicative of instant message Labels: form-of, indicative, present, singular, third-person
Word: battle cruiser Part of Speech: noun 1. Alternative form of battlecruiser. Labels: alt-of, alternative
Word: instant messenger Part of Speech: noun 1. A computer application which allows instant text communication between two or more people through a network or the Internet in its entirety.
Word: beachcomber Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg-der. Proto-Germanic *bakiz Proto-West Germanic *baki Old English bæċ Middle English bache English beach English comber English beachcomber From beach + comber. Pronunciation: /ˈbit͡ʃˌkoʊmɚ/ 1. A seaman who is not prepared to work but hangs around port areas living off the charity of others. Example: The society of beach-combers always repays the small pains you need be at to enjoy it. They are easy of approach and affable in conversation. 2. Any loafer around a waterfront. 3. A person who collects marine salvage at the coast. Example: Now and again a wreck was to be seen, or a vessel left lonely and sad on a reef, her rigging dismantled and only waiting for beachcombers to come and break her up for the sake of her timber and old iron. 4. A long rolling wave of the sea.
Word: nom de plume Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Pseudo-Gallicism, derived from nom (“name”) + de (“of”) + plume (“feather”), by analogy with the borrowed nom de guerre. Pronunciation: /ˌnɒm də ˈpluːm/, /ˌnɒ̃ -/, /ˌnɑm də ˈplum/ 1. A pen name or pseudonym. Example: When King's authorship of Thinner was concealed behind the nom de plume Richard Bachman, the novel sold relatively well.
Word: pen name Part of Speech: noun 1. A fictitious name used by an author in place of their actual name; a writer's pseudonym. Example: Within a week of King's acknowledging the Bachman pen name, several sources —publishers, book dealers, readers, and fans—had mentioned a number of possible other pseudonyms; obviously, if King admitted to two pen names, John Swithen and Richard Bachmann, there might be others. Example: In their time, it was fashionable to sign letters using a pen name. These pen names were borrowed from characters in classical literature.
Word: beam-ends Part of Speech: noun 1. The ends of the transverse beams of a ship. Labels: plural, plural-only Example: The ship is lying over half upon her beam-ends; lee scuppers under water, and forecastle all in a smother of foam. Example: It began to be chill; the tide was rapidly fleeting seaward, the schooner settling more and more on her beam-ends.
Word: bear up Part of Speech: verb 1. To sail close to the wind. 2. To endure hardship cheerfully or without complaining. Labels: idiomatic, intransitive 3. To support; to keep from falling or sinking. Labels: idiomatic, transitive Example: Afterwards the Lord renued this Covenant with Noah, Gen. 6.10. and did further reveale it in another Type, namely, the ſaving of Noah and his family in the Arke, which was borne up by the flood of Waters; […] Example: [Religious hope] does not only bear up the mind under her sufferings.
Word: bear down Part of Speech: verb 1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see bear, down. 2. To steer away from the wind; to approach from windward. 3. To push (someone) to the ground; to defeat, overcome. Labels: transitive 4. To maintain one's position against (someone) in a debate; to stand one's ground against. Labels: obsolete, transitive Example: And they sayd unto her: thou arte mad. And she bare them doune that hit was even so. 5. To intensify one's efforts. Labels: intransitive Example: It's 9:41, 58 degrees, and I'm flunking out. Time to bear down. Example: When Furyk spots another Arizona alum on Tour, one of them will utter the official U of A exhortation, which dates to the 1920s, when on his deathbed the school's quarter-back urged the football team to "bear down." Few on Tour bear down like Furyk. He has his plan and sticks to it. 6. To approach in a determined manner. Labels: intransitive, with-on Example: Huth headed wide inside two minutes, Andy Wilkinson blasted over from Shotton's cut-back and Jones was squeezed out when bearing down on goal. 7. To exert downward pressure on one's abdomen, as in giving birth, forcing out feces, and some similar bodily maneuvers. Labels: intransitive
Word: zoopsia Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From zoo- + -opsia. Pronunciation: /zuːˈɒpsɪə/ 1. Visual hallucinations in which a person perceives animals that are not actually present. Labels: uncountable, usually Example: One of her most persistent hallucinations was a small brightly patterned snake moving across the floor in the periphery of her vision. Her zoöpsia was accompanied by a terror of real animals.
Word: zorro Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Borrowed from Spanish zorro. Pronunciation: /ˈzoɹ.oʊ/, /ˈsoɹ.oʊ/ 1. A South American canid of the species Lycalopex culpaeus, visually similar to (and sometimes referred to as) a fox but more closely related to a wolf.
Word: hendecasyllabic Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Borrowed from Latin hendecasyllabus, from Ancient Greek ἑνδεκασύλλαβος (hendekasúllabos), from ἕνδεκα (héndeka, “eleven”) + συλλαβή (sullabḗ, “syllable”). Pronunciation: /hɛnˌdɛk.ə.sɪˈlæb.ɪk/, /henˌdek.ə.sɪˈlæb.ɪk/ 1. Having eleven syllables. Labels: not-comparable
Word: hendecasyllabic Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Borrowed from Latin hendecasyllabus, from Ancient Greek ἑνδεκασύλλαβος (hendekasúllabos), from ἕνδεκα (héndeka, “eleven”) + συλλαβή (sullabḗ, “syllable”). Pronunciation: /hɛnˌdɛk.ə.sɪˈlæb.ɪk/, /henˌdek.ə.sɪˈlæb.ɪk/ 1. A word or line of eleven syllables.
Word: bear in with Part of Speech: verb 1. To approach nearer to (a ship).
Word: bear off from Part of Speech: verb 1. To stand further off from (a ship)
Word: beat to quarters Part of Speech: verb Etymology: See beat (“to signal beating a drum”) 1. To summon the crew of a sailing man-of-war to their stations for action against an enemy. Labels: intransitive
Word: Beaufort scale Part of Speech: name Etymology: Created by Irish hydrographer and British navy officer Francis Beaufort in 1806. Pronunciation: /ˈbəʊ.fərt ˌskɛɪl/ 1. An empirical measure for the intensity of the wind based mainly on the state of the sea or wave conditions.
Word: lectionary Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Learned borrowing from Ecclesiastical Latin lēctiōnārium. 1. A book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christian or Jewish worship on a given day or occasion. Labels: Judaism
Word: hydric Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From hydro- + -ic. 1. Characterized by, or requiring, moisture. Labels: not-comparable 2. Sufficiently wet to inhibit the survival of many species. Labels: not-comparable Example: Hydric environments, a form of extreme environment for trees, are often inhabited by relatively few species. 3. Relating to hydrogen. Labels: not-comparable 4. Relating to alcohols. Labels: not-comparable
Word: becalm Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épsder. Proto-Indo-European *h₁epider. Proto-Indo-European *h₁pi Proto-Germanic *bider. Proto-Germanic *bi- Proto-West Germanic *bi- Old English be- Middle English bi- English be- English calm English becalm From be- + calm. Pronunciation: /bɪˈkɑːm/, /bɪˈkɑm/, /bɪˈkɑlm/, /bɪˈkɔm/ 1. To make calm or still; make quiet; calm. Labels: obsolete, transitive Example: […] there is neither house nor landes, nor great store of gold & siluer, nor honor and noblenes of blood, nor greatnes of office, and estate, nor the grace and vehemencie of speach, which doth so much lighten, and so sweetlie becalme the life of man, as an vndefiled conscience […] Example: Almighty Beauty quite becalms my Rage: In looking on thee, I forget thy Crimes: 2. To deprive (a ship) of wind, so that it cannot move (usually in passive). Labels: transitive Example: 1555, Richard Eden (translator), The decades of the newe worlde or west India conteynyng the nauigations and conquestes of the Spanyardes by Peter Martyr d’Anghiera, London: Edward Sutton, “The seconde v[o]yage to Guinea,” p. 351, […] there we were becalmed the .xx. day of Nouember from .vi. of the clocke in the mornynge vntyll foure of the clocke at after none. Example: In the following two days, they made fast progress, strong easterly winds driving them down the Channel to where it opened out into the Atlantic; there, they were briefly becalmed.
Word: becket Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Compare Dutch bek (“beak”) beak, and English beak. Pronunciation: /ˈbɛkɪt/ 1. A short piece of rope spliced to form a circle 2. A loop of rope with a knot at one end to catch in an eye at the other end. Used to secure oars etc. at their place. 3. A loop of thread, typically braided, attached at each end to a jacket. Used to pass through the brooch bar of medals to affix them to the jacket without damaging it. 4. The clevis of a pulley block. 5. An eye in the end of a rope. 6. A pocket in clothing. Labels: slang Example: At the same time, mind, I must have a bit of a frolic occasionally, for that's all the pleasure I has, when I gets a little chink in my becket; and ye know, too, that I don t care much for that stuff, for a dollar goes with me as fur as a gold ounce does with you, when ye put on your grand airs, and shower it about like a nabob. 7. A method of joining fabric, for example the doors of a tent, by interlacing loops of cord (beckets) through eyelet holes and adjacent loops. 8. A spade for digging turf in the Fens. Labels: England, dialectal, historical Example: The tool with which the cesses are dug is called a becket […] It is a wooden spade of a rectangular shape, quite flat, and shod with iron. An iron notch projecting at right angles to the plane of the blade cuts into the peat, and forms the side of the cess. The workman stands above and drives the becket almost vertically into the soft peat. Example: In the earlier time sods or hassocks were dug with a moorland spade, heart-shaped, but about 1856 a tool eighteen inches long and four inches wide, with an iron flange, called a becket was used […] The becket was first used in Isleham Fen and was of smaller dimensions than that used in Burwell Fen, being fourteen inches long and two and a half inches wide. 9. chough (the bird) Labels: obsolete Example: Cornish choughs, or “beckets”, as they are sometimes known, are seen on Thomas Wolsey’s coat of arms; they are a reference to his namesake, Thomas Becket.
Word: fighter plane Part of Speech: noun 1. A military aircraft primarily designed to attack enemy aircraft. Frequently shortened to fighter.
Word: funereal Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From Middle French funerail, from Latin funereus + -al. Pronunciation: /fjuːˈnɪəɹɪ.əl/ 1. Of or relating to a funeral. Example: From the belfries far and near the funereal deathbell tolled unceasingly while all around the gloomy precincts rolled the ominous warning of a hundred muffled drums punctuated by the hollow booming of pieces of ordnance. Example: Seven were chosen to push the funereal boat to the water, in honor of the seven faces of god. 2. Similar to or befitting the mood or elements of a funeral: slow; black colors; formal; dignified or solemn. Labels: figuratively Example: A funereal gloom prevailed over the whole ſcene. Example: "Sounds curst funereal, Zeb! O my poor nunky! Go fetch 'em, Sergeant, and let me see 'em—'twill distress and pain me I know but—go fetch 'em!"
Word: fish out of water Part of Speech: noun Etymology: * Earliest recorded uses: "fish out of the water" (1585, Lamentable Complaint of Commonality), "Fishes out of the Water" (1613, Samuel Purchas, Pilgrimage). * Earliest use of metaphor by Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales: Prologue (c. 1405) as "fissh þᵗ is waterlees". Compare also the antonymous French comme un poisson dans l'eau, German wie ein Fisch im Wasser. 1. A person in unfamiliar and often uncomfortable surroundings. Labels: idiomatic Example: [I]nto this queer assembly, something of a fish out of water and wholly out of his element, strode Cherry Bim, that redoubtable man. Example: A pitcher at bat is usually considered such a fish out of water that he is expected to foul, ground or strike out.
Word: spacefiller Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From space + filler. 1. A stamp in poor condition used to fill a space in an album until a better quality example becomes available, or if the better example is prohibitively expensive. 2. A pattern that grows quadratically by filling space with still life. Example: Spacefiller patterns might possibly even be within reach of current search programs; these would have much more predictable (and higher) growth rates from the start. Example: Other things that can be built (I see no reason why not) are a self-replicator, quadratically growing spacefiller, programmable computer/constructor, self-growing prime number sieve.
Word: cruelty Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English cruelte, from Old French crualté (French cruauté), from Latin crudelitas. By surface analysis, cruel + -ty. Pronunciation: /ˈkɹuː(.ə)lti/, [ˈkɹʉwltɪj], [ˈkɹʊwltɪj], /ˈkɹu(.ə)lti/ 1. An indifference to suffering or pleasure in inflicting suffering. Labels: uncountable Example: Fear of their cargo bred a savage cruelty into the crew. One captain, to strike terror into the rest, killed a slave and dividing heart, liver and entrails into 300 pieces made each of the slaves eat one, threatening those who refused with the same torture. Such incidents were not rare. Example: YSL, as he is often called, is equally capable of casual, aristocratic cruelty and earthy, spontaneous tenderness, and when you study his face it can be hard to distinguish boredom from rapture. 2. A cruel act. Labels: countable Example: The Begums' ministers, on the contrary, to extort from them the disclosure of the place which concealed the treasures, were, […] after being fettered and imprisoned, led out on to a scaffold, and this array of terrours proving unavailing, the meek tempered Middleton, as a dernier resort, menaced them with a confinement in the fortress of Chunargar. Thus, my lords, was a British garrison made the climax of cruelties! Example: Gay songwriter behind bars! Needs sincere letter to help ease the tension from cruelties inside the joint.
Word: brain fag Part of Speech: noun Etymology: (mild forgetfulness): Possibly originates from West Africa. 1. A condition in which male high school and college students experience mild forgetfulness, and difficulty in concentrating and maintaining a train of thought, arising from overthinking. Labels: uncountable 2. Cerebropathy. Labels: uncountable
Word: cerebropathy Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From cerebro- + -pathy, coined for medical usage prior to 1913. 1. A hypochondriacal condition verging upon insanity, occurring in those whose brains have been unduly taxed. Labels: uncountable
Word: claw hammer Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From claw + hammer, descriptive of the shape of the tool's head. 1. A hammer with two prongs protruding back from the head to allow for removing nails from wood. Labels: countable, uncountable 2. A fingerpicking technique primarily used by banjo players, but also by some guitarists. Labels: uncountable
Word: sledgehammer Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Compound of sledge + hammer. Pronunciation: /ˈslɛd͡ʒhæmə/, /ˈslɛd͡ʒhæmɚ/ 1. A hammer that consists of a large, heavy, broad and flat block of metal (the head) attached to a handle typically 0.5 meter to 1 meter long. The sledgehammer's design is meant to allow it to be swung powerfully, and to distribute force over a wide area upon impact. Example: These were succeeded by anchor and chain-cable forges, where sledgehammers were dinging upon iron all day long. Example: They take sledgehammers to statues with an uncommon gusto – destroying in seconds what may have survived centuries.