nandhakumarms/qualc-wiktionary-en huggingface dataset:
Word: grubber Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From grub + -er. 1. One who grubs. 2. A tool, implement, or machine of the nature of a grub axe, grub hook, etc; (dialectal) a cultivator. 3. An attacking short-distance kick in behind the defence in which the ball is bounced along the ground, using the uneven bounce of the ball to make it difficult for the defence to retrieve. Example: England had an early opportunity with a line-out deep in French territory after a clever grubber from Foden only for Lionel Nallet to burgle back possession, and they then tore into France again as Alexis Palisson was smashed backwards after taking a garryowen and Manu Tuilagi thundered into Morgan Parra. Example: Take that brilliant backline move off a scrum when Kolbe came off his left wing to put in a neat grubber for Arendse on the right wing to almost round the defense in the corner. 4. A ball that bounces unusually low such that it is difficult for the batsman to hit properly. 5. A sweetshop. Labels: UK, dated, slang Example: He could, moreover, no longer be tempted to the Grubber, for all chocolate and sweets were taboo. Example: I remember the grubber which smelt of potato chips and chocolate and the steam-heated library with books about monasteries that no one else seemed to look at, and I remember the fresh weedless lawns between the school buildings […]
Word: gully Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Origin uncertain. Possibly from a variant of Middle English golet (“esophagus, gullet”), from Old French goulet, from Latin gula (“throat”). Shift in meaning in Middle English to "water channel, ravine" may have been influenced by Middle English gylle, gille, galle (“deep narrow valley, ravine”); see gill. Compare Dutch geul. Alternatively, from a diminutive of dialectal gull (“fissue, chasm”) + -y (diminutive suffix). See gull, gullick. Pronunciation: /ˈɡʌli/ 1. A trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside. 2. A small valley. 3. A drop kerb. Labels: UK 4. A road drain. Example: A new drainage run and rainwater gullies are to be installed between the station and Oxford Road, with completion planned for December 1. 5. A fielding position on the off side about 30 degrees behind square, between the slips and point; a fielder in such a position 6. A grooved iron rail or tram plate. Labels: UK
Word: gully Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Origin uncertain. Possibly from a variant of Middle English golet (“esophagus, gullet”), from Old French goulet, from Latin gula (“throat”). Shift in meaning in Middle English to "water channel, ravine" may have been influenced by Middle English gylle, gille, galle (“deep narrow valley, ravine”); see gill. Compare Dutch geul. Alternatively, from a diminutive of dialectal gull (“fissue, chasm”) + -y (diminutive suffix). See gull, gullick. Pronunciation: /ˈɡʌli/ 1. To flow noisily. Labels: obsolete 2. To wear away into a gully or gullies. Labels: transitive
Word: gully Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Scots gully, of unknown origin. Pronunciation: /ˈɡʌli/ 1. A large knife. Labels: Northern, Scotland, UK Example: With that I made my mind up, took out my gully, opened it with my teeth, and cut one strand after another[…]
Word: Hawk-Eye Part of Speech: name Etymology: From hawk + eye, a reference to the bird of prey's noted eyesight. 1. A system, using six static television cameras and sophisticated computing, to track the path of the ball in flight.
Word: hawk-eyed Part of Speech: adj 1. Having very good eyesight. Labels: idiomatic
Word: eyesight Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English eiȝesiht, ieȝesihte, ehsihthe, eihsihthe, eȝhesihthe, equivalent to eye + sight. Pronunciation: /ˈaɪˌsaɪt/ 1. Vision or the faculty of sight. Labels: uncountable, usually Example: good eyesight Example: poor eyesight 2. View or the range of vision. Labels: uncountable, usually
Word: barrister Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From bar (a collective term for lawyers or the legal profession) and the suffix -ster. Pronunciation: /ˈbæɹ.ɪst.ə(ɹ)/ 1. A lawyer with the right to speak and argue as an advocate in higher lawcourts. Labels: Australia, Ireland, New-Zealand, UK Example: Postmen, binmen, dock workers, even barristers are now on strike. Where will all this end?
Word: Belisha beacon Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Named after Leslie Hore-Belisha, the Minister of Transport who introduced them in 1934. Pronunciation: /bəˈliːʃə ˈbiːkən/ 1. A tall black and white pole topped by a flashing orange globe, placed on either side of the road at zebra crossings; mostly now replaced by more sophisticated arrangements. Labels: Ireland, UK Example: A police constable concealed in a doorway in City Road, Finsbury, saw a youth of seventeen, who had two others with him, climb a Belisha beacon and break the globe with his fist. It was the hundredth beacon globe to be broken in Finsbury since November.
Word: wharf Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *hwerbaną Proto-West Germanic *hwerban Old English hweorfan Middle English wharf English wharf From Middle English wharf, from Old English hwearf (“heap, embankment, wharf”); related to Old English hweorfan (“to turn”), Old Saxon hwerf (whence German Werft and Warft), Dutch werf, Old High German hwarb (“a turn”), hwerban (“to turn”), Old Norse hvarf (“circle”), and Ancient Greek καρπός (karpós, “wrist”). Pronunciation: /ˈwɔːf/, /ˈwɔɹf/, /ˈʍɔɹf/ 1. An artificial landing place for ships on a riverbank or shore. Example: Commerce pushes its wharves into the sea. Example: Out upon the wharfs they came, / Knight and burgher, lord and dame, / And round the prow they read her name, / The Lady of Shalott. 2. Any bank of a river or shore of a sea. Labels: obsolete Example: the fat weed that roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf
Word: wharf Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *hwerbaną Proto-West Germanic *hwerban Old English hweorfan Middle English wharf English wharf From Middle English wharf, from Old English hwearf (“heap, embankment, wharf”); related to Old English hweorfan (“to turn”), Old Saxon hwerf (whence German Werft and Warft), Dutch werf, Old High German hwarb (“a turn”), hwerban (“to turn”), Old Norse hvarf (“circle”), and Ancient Greek καρπός (karpós, “wrist”). Pronunciation: /ˈwɔːf/, /ˈwɔɹf/, /ˈʍɔɹf/ 1. To secure by a wharf. Labels: transitive 2. To place on a wharf. Labels: transitive
Word: boffin Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Origin unknown; a number of possible etymologies have been suggested, but no conclusive evidence exists. One strong theory conjectures a connection from the "Mr. Boffins" of English novels, such as in Dickens' Our Mutual Friend. Pronunciation: /ˈbɒfɪn/, /ˈbɑfɪn/ 1. An engineer or scientist, especially one engaged in technological or military research. Labels: Australia, Ireland, New-Zealand, UK, informal Example: In fact, a fighting friend of mine said that he could hardly walk in any direction in this war without tumbling over a scientist who had got in the way. In the Royal Air Force, where the concentration of scientists is perhaps greatest, they have a pet name for them. They call them “Boffins.” Why, I do not know. I said to a young friend of mine in the Air Force, “Why do you call scientists ‘Boffins’?” He said, “I don’t know. What else would you call them?” Example: With a rare and beautiful ease one can now ring up a boffin, as I did the other day, and say: "As a price for not opposing our Parliamentary Powers for a new marshalling yard, the Council at X demands that the bridge over X Lane shall have 16 ft. 6 in. headroom. This means steepening our gradient from 1 in 70 to 1 in 65 for half a mile on a 20-chain curve. What difference will this make to the loads of Type "2", "3" and "4" diesels please?". Back comes the answer. 2. A person with specialized knowledge or skills, especially one who is socially awkward. Labels: Australia, Ireland, New-Zealand, UK, broadly, informal Example: — Well, last year I used to have a friend Charley [Charley was in the top sets for English, mathematics and French] but this year he doesn't speak to me any more and every time I see him he's hanging around with boffins like. When I go round to his house, now and again, he's always got his 'O' level and 'A' level books open and he's always concentrating on his work. Hanging around with boffins. / — What are boffins? / — People who work. Stay in all the time. Never go out, go down the town or nothin. And always get good letters home and pats on the back by teachers. Example: The opportunities for producers in the interactive multimedia environment are boundless. The boffins writing software programs for interactive multimedia will not be the producers of corporate communications. They need today's producers to bring their communication skills to the interactive domain, […] 3. A person with specialized knowledge or skills, especially one who is socially awkward. Labels: Australia, Ireland, New-Zealand, UK, broadly, informal
Word: mad scientist Part of Speech: noun 1. A bumbling or eccentric scientist working on questionable projects, or a villainous scientist bent on destruction; sometimes, a complex character in whom these archetypes seem to vie for supremacy. Example: The Nutty Professor franchise explores the light comedic potential of a mad scientist. Example: Dr Strangelove explores the darker comedic potential of a mad scientist. 2. A bumbling or eccentric scientist working on questionable projects, or a villainous scientist bent on destruction; sometimes, a complex character in whom these archetypes seem to vie for supremacy. Example: The mad scientists at Acme Labs have done it again! [said either approvingly or disparagingly] Example: Raffineaque, the eccentric, the "mad scientist," so called, yet one whose work in these later days has been proved to be of true worth, was for a time at the community. 3. A bumbling or eccentric scientist working on questionable projects, or a villainous scientist bent on destruction; sometimes, a complex character in whom these archetypes seem to vie for supremacy. Example: In the 1890s, some of the locals viewed the chemical plant as a folly run by mad scientists and venal aristocrats. Example: "She is coming down like a meteor," exclaimed Professor Kaye. "See, she begins to glow!" And so it was. The giant warship Behemoth, released by the forces of Nature, was falling back to earth from a height of 30 or 40 miles, and, acquiring a frightful speed, blazed up with the heat of friction in the atmosphere, like a giant meteor. Yet the world never before saw a meteor like this. As the flaming pirate came nearer, her mass glowed in the heavens like a great red-hot sun—falling, falling, until the flames reached her powder magazine. Then there was an explosion magnificent to witness, as the glowing fragments were hurled with titanic force, spreading them far across the heavens. The red-hot particles glowed like ten thousand little suns, radiating from one center. With apparent slowness the star-like remnants of the Behemoth came to earth, descending and darkening one by one, until the last bright speck had disappeared. Then the round bright moon came out of the shadows of the eclipse, and shed her radiant beams on a world freed forever from the frightful plagues and murderous amusements of the mad scientist.
Word: stock character Part of Speech: noun 1. Any fictional character drawn from some stereotype who is instantly recognizable.
Word: roughen Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From rough + -en. Pronunciation: /ˈɹʌfən/ 1. To make rough. Labels: transitive Example: The wind began to roughen the surface of the sea. Example: They roughened the edges of the stone to give it a rustic look. 2. To become rough. Labels: intransitive
Word: toughen Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From tough + -en. Pronunciation: /ˈtʌfən/ 1. To make tough. Labels: transitive Example: The new training program is designed to toughen the athletes. Example: A cold shower every morning will toughen your skin. 2. To become tough. Labels: intransitive
Word: boy in the boat Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From its shape. 1. The human clitoris. Labels: idiomatic, slang Example: Go in with your finger at the top parting of your genital lips and find that tiny penis, that nub, that "boy in the boat," and feel gently around it. Example: "It's all right here, sweetie," Gretchen said, nodding down toward her open legs as she smilingly pulled the lips of her pussy apart, exposing her boy in the boat.
Word: brass monkeys Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From the phrase cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey - supposedly a reference to the brass container for cannon balls on a British man-of-war (but this seems to have been discredited). 1. Very cold. Labels: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, idiomatic, informal, not-comparable Example: Blimey, it's brass monkeys out there today.
Word: brass monkeys Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From the phrase cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey - supposedly a reference to the brass container for cannon balls on a British man-of-war (but this seems to have been discredited). 1. plural of brass monkey Labels: form-of, plural
Word: Sinn Fein Part of Speech: name 1. Alternative spelling of Sinn Féin. Labels: alt-of, alternative
Word: unbuckle Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English unbokelen, onbokelen, equivalent to un- + buckle. 1. to unfasten (the buckle of (a belt, shoe, etc)) Labels: transitive
Word: marching band Part of Speech: noun 1. A group of instrumental musicians who generally perform outdoors, and who often incorporate movement, usually some type of marching, with their musical performance. Example: No, republicans did not celebrate; they took their placards and their yellow T-shirts to Trafalgar Square, where their voices could (almost) be heard against a backdrop of marching bands and pealing bells.
Word: bagpipe Part of Speech: noun Pronunciation: /ˈbæɡˌpaɪp/ 1. singular of bagpipes Labels: form-of, singular 2. Attributive form of bagpipes. Labels: attributive, form-of
Word: bagpipe Part of Speech: verb Pronunciation: /ˈbæɡˌpaɪp/ 1. To play the bagpipes. 2. To lay (the mizzen) aback by bringing the sheet to the mizzen rigging. 3. To masturbate a person's penis in one's armpit. Labels: slang Example: Until he met Sebastian, Tom had never even heard of bagpiping, and is generally too ticklish to be really good at it.
Word: bubble and squeak Part of Speech: noun Etymology: (food): Named from the sounds during cooking. 1. Cabbage and mashed potatoes etc. fried together. Labels: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, countable, uncountable Example: “But if she had rank and title?” “Rank and title! Bubble and squeak! No, not half so good as bubble and squeak. English beef and good cabbage. But foreign rank and title!—foreign cabbage and beef!—foreign bubble and foreign squeak!” Example: “Better have it—better have it first. No hurry. What've you got in the pot that smells so good?” “Bubble and squeak, sir.” “Bubble and squeak! Ah!” And with those words the agent withdrew to where, in a farm wagon drawn up by the side of the road, three men were solemnly pulling at their pipes. 2. A Greek. Labels: Cockney, countable, slang, uncountable
Word: bunk off Part of Speech: verb 1. To leave. Labels: literally 2. To play truant Labels: UK, slang Example: We all bunked off school yesterday to watch the football. Example: “You better be off to school now, young lady. You don’t want to be late…” “I suppose so,” mumbled Zoe. Sometimes she wondered why she didn’t just bunk off like so many of the others.
Word: car park Part of Speech: noun Pronunciation: /ˈkɑːpɑːk/, /ˈkɑɹ ˌpɑːɹk/ 1. An outdoor area or a building where cars may be parked. Labels: Commonwealth, Hong-Kong, Ireland Example: It is important also that we improve car park security. Example: The dog lumbered his way across the car park to a point where he had to cross Emmons′s path. 2. An outdoor area or a building where cars may be parked. Labels: Australia, Commonwealth, Hong-Kong, Ireland, New-Zealand 3. A road with serious traffic congestion preventing the movement of vehicles. Labels: Commonwealth, Ireland, figuratively, humorous
Word: chancer Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From chance + -er. Pronunciation: /ˈtʃɑːn.sə(ɹ)/ 1. A scheming opportunist. Labels: Ireland, UK, slang Example: Actually, that's exactly what O'Dowd is doing in Get Shorty, presenting a taciturn thug with chewed up charm, a chancer pitching a movie in Hollywood. Example: From then on, Emin became fixed in many minds as the drunken chancer who boasted about her promiscuity and called it art.
Word: cop off Part of Speech: verb 1. To leave school or work early without permission. Labels: intransitive, slang Example: I knew he was gonna cop off from school. 2. To make out; to have sex. Labels: intransitive, slang Example: Couples were copping off all over the party.
Word: coving Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From cove + -ing. Pronunciation: /ˈkəʊvɪŋ/ 1. A concave surface forming a junction between a ceiling and a wall. Example: Aluminium treadplate is used for the corridor, kitchen, and pantry floor, with aluminium covings. Example: The gilt lantern burned palely in the stairwell, but in the dining room the ordinary shadows deepened in the corners and hung like smoke in the coving of the ceiling. 2. The vertical sides connecting the jambs with the breast of a fireplace. 3. A method of urban planning used in subdivision and redevelopment of cities characterized by non-uniform lot shapes.
Word: Crimbo Part of Speech: name 1. Alternative form of Chrimbo. Labels: alt-of, alternative
Word: crisps Part of Speech: noun Pronunciation: /kɹɪsps/ 1. plural of crisp Labels: form-of, plural
Word: dodgy Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From dodge (verb) + -y. First used in mid-19th century England. Pronunciation: /ˈdɒd͡ʒ.i/ 1. Evasive and shifty. Labels: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, colloquial Example: Asked why, a spokesman gave a dodgy answer about legal ramifications. 2. Unsound and unreliable. Labels: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, colloquial Example: Never listen to dodgy advice. Example: The dodgy old machine kept breaking down. 3. Dishonest. Labels: colloquial Example: The more money the better, because there is always that dodgy politician or corrupt official to bribe. Example: I am sure you wouldn't want to be seen buying dodgy gear, would you? (stolen goods). 4. Risky. Labels: colloquial Example: This is a slightly dodgy plan, because there is a lot that is being changed for this fix. Example: “The market is getting edgier and edgier, and what is accepted in the marketplace gets dodgier and dodgier,” said Martin E. Abrams, the executive director of the Center for Information Policy Leadership at the law firm Hunton & Williams, a research organization financed by companies like Google, Microsoft and Best Buy. 5. Deviant. Labels: colloquial Example: He's a dodgy Peeping Tom. 6. Uncomfortable and weird. Labels: colloquial Example: The situation was right dodgy. Example: I'm feeling dodgy today, probably got the flu.
Word: rigor mortis Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Learned borrowing from New Latin rigor mortis (literally “stiffness of death”). First attested in 1842. 1. Temporary stiffness of the body's muscles and joints following death. Labels: uncountable, usually Example: Such are the principal phenomena observed during that form of contraction which I conceive to be analogous to the rigor mortis... Example: Then we carried in poor Austin from the yard. His muscles were set as hard as a board in the most exaggerated rigor mortis, while the contraction of the fibres had drawn his mouth into a hard sardonic grin.
Word: rigor mortis Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Learned borrowing from New Latin rigor mortis (literally “stiffness of death”). First attested in 1842. 1. To stiffen the muscles and joints with, or as if with, rigor mortis. Example: As Olive was in the kitchen making some tea I asked what kind of louse the host was. “The kind you like to see laying out on a mortuary slab rigor mortising before the introduction.” Example: Hands / Responding to bold brain waves, / Hiding feelings, / Twiddling facts, / Dating destinies, / Doting on things, / Withering in death traps, / Snapping brittle, / Folding stiffly / When movement ceases / And rigor mortises the joints.
Word: drawing pin Part of Speech: noun 1. A tack for attaching paper to a drawing board etc.
Word: dustbin Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From dust + bin, as used for disposing of dust (originally ash from domestic fires) and other rubbish. Pronunciation: /ˈdʌstbɪn/ 1. A bin for holding rubbish until it can be collected; a garbage can. Labels: Commonwealth, Ireland Example: Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.
Word: engaged tone Part of Speech: noun 1. An audible signal to the calling party that indicates failure to complete the requested connection; a busy signal. Labels: Ireland, UK
Word: ex-directory Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From Latin ex (“out of”) + directory. 1. Of a telephone number or its owner: not in the directory; unlisted. Labels: Ireland, UK, not-comparable
Word: fairy cake Part of Speech: noun 1. A small cake baked in a small paper cup; a cupcake. Labels: Ireland, UK
Word: fizzy drink Part of Speech: noun 1. A non-alcoholic, carbonated beverage such as fizzy lemonade or cola. Labels: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK
Word: green fingers Part of Speech: noun Etymology: PIE word *pénkʷe From green (adjective) + fingers, possibly popularized by the British gardener and radio and television broadcaster Cecil Henry Middleton (1886–1945). Pronunciation: /ɡɹiːn ˈfɪŋɡəz/, /ɡɹin ˈfɪŋɡəɹz/ 1. A seemingly natural gardening ability. Labels: idiomatic, informal, plural, plural-only Example: To some they are a rural escape in the centre of the city, to others they are a chance to test their green fingers and design skills. Now London mayor Boris Johnson has found a new use for urban roof gardens – as a key weapon on the front line against global warming.
Word: helter-skelter Part of Speech: adv Etymology: In form a reduplication (similar to hurry-scurry and harum-scarum, both with initial /h-/ and /sk-/); perhaps based on Middle English skelten ("to hasten; to raise an alarm"), or maybe related to Old High German skeltan (“scold”) from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- (“make noise, yell”), employed as a fossil word. Pronunciation: /ˌhɛltɚˈskɛltɚ/, /ˌhɛltəˈskɛltə/ 1. In confused, disorderly haste. Example: The winds knocked huge trees helter-skelter all over my garden. Example: But the butterflies were dead. A whiff of rotten eggs had vanquished the pale clouded yellows which came pelting across the orchard and up Dods Hill and away on to the moor, now lost behind a furze bush, then off again helter-skelter in a broiling sun.
Word: helter-skelter Part of Speech: adj Etymology: In form a reduplication (similar to hurry-scurry and harum-scarum, both with initial /h-/ and /sk-/); perhaps based on Middle English skelten ("to hasten; to raise an alarm"), or maybe related to Old High German skeltan (“scold”) from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- (“make noise, yell”), employed as a fossil word. Pronunciation: /ˌhɛltɚˈskɛltɚ/, /ˌhɛltəˈskɛltə/ 1. Carelessly hurried and confused. Example: After World War II, from 1945 until the early 1960s, the helter-skelter growth of the reprint industry went largely unheeded by the general publishing industry, then under its own mounting pressures to publish new works for a growing reading public and ever-larger numbers of educational institutions. Example: Although his existential thoughts seem to have been tossed onto the page in helter-skelter fashion, what Gilboa does here is to open his mind and heart to the reader through verbal jaggedness and poetic unneatness.
Word: helter-skelter Part of Speech: noun Etymology: In form a reduplication (similar to hurry-scurry and harum-scarum, both with initial /h-/ and /sk-/); perhaps based on Middle English skelten ("to hasten; to raise an alarm"), or maybe related to Old High German skeltan (“scold”) from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- (“make noise, yell”), employed as a fossil word. Pronunciation: /ˌhɛltɚˈskɛltɚ/, /ˌhɛltəˈskɛltə/ 1. Confusion or turmoil. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: ‘I hardly know, — I imagine that it was with some dim idea of Marjorie’s being able to get in if she returned while I was absent, — but the truth is I was in such a condition of helter skelter that I am not prepared to swear that I had any reasonable reason.’ Example: (Oh, oh, oh) / I'm looking for some shelter / (Oh, oh, oh) / From the helter-skelter / (Oh, oh, oh) / Just keep me away from / All who conspire / (Enemy fire...) 2. An amusement ride consisting of a slide that spirals down around the exterior of a tapering central tower, most commonly modeled after lighthouses. Labels: UK, countable, uncountable Example: He is finishing, this week, a remarkable thing called a helter skelter: This is a circular building 50 feet high which people climb, by means of an interior winding stair. At the top they each take a seat in a semicircular wooden trough which curls around the outside of the house, gradually leading towards the ground with a terrific rush, they slide down this and are rapidly delivered on to the grass below. Example: When I get to the bottom, I go back to the top of the slide Where I stop, and I turn, and I go for a ride 'Till I get to the bottom, and I see you again [...] Well, look out, helter-skelter She's coming down fast Coming down fast on the helter-skelter, woo
Word: high street Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English high strete, highestrete, haye-strete, hye strete, heiȝe strete, from Old English hēahstrǣt (“high road”), equivalent to high + street. 1. The main street of any town. Labels: Ireland, UK Example: Near-synonym: high road (precisely coordinate) 2. Mainstream shops, banks, etc. that can be found on such a street, in contrast to more specialist shops and services. Labels: Ireland, UK Example: Woolworths has had a presence on the UK High Street for almost a century. Example: The spending in and around local stations is creating micro-economies that are benefiting Great Britain's high streets, independent businesses and economic growth, both locally and on a national level. 3. Physical, bricks and mortar shops, in contrast to Internet shops. Labels: Ireland, UK
Word: hosepipe Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From hose + pipe. 1. A flexible pipe for carrying water or other liquids. Labels: South-Africa, Southern-US, UK Example: In a hot three-week drought that had begin in July he could have saved it, despite the hosepipe ban. But he had been too busy to haul full buckets the garden's length. Example: Specifically, [Roger] Bailey [the chief technical officer of the Thames Tideway Tunnel] is hoping for “storm test three”, a downpour so heavy that it fills the 16 mile-long tunnel to 90 per cent of its capacity. That’s because London has been so dry since the sewer was connected in February that engineers haven’t been able to fully test whether it works as intended. Despite Southern Water lifting its hosepipe ban last week, more than 7 million people in England are still under a ban. England had its driest spring in more than a century, while the Environment Agency recently warned that drought is likely to continue into next year. According to the Met Office, the City of London has had just 61 per cent of average rainfall since February. “We don’t really want to wish lots and lots of rain and storms on people, but we do want to test our tunnel,” Bailey said. The £4.6 billion Thames Tideway is one of the city’s deepest tunnels and measures seven metres in diameter, much bigger than Tube lines.
Word: hosepipe Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From hose + pipe. 1. To film with erratic panning movements of the camera.
Word: rigour Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English rigour, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French rigor, from Latin rigor (“stiffness, rigidity, rigor, cold, harshness”), from rigere (“to be rigid”). Compare French rigueur. Pronunciation: /ˈɹɪɡə(ɹ)/ 1. Severity or strictness. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour. 2. Harshness, as of climate. Labels: countable, uncountable 3. A feeling of cold with shivering accompanied by a rise in body temperature. Labels: countable, uncountable 4. Character of being unyielding or inflexible. Labels: countable, uncountable 5. Shrewd questioning. Labels: countable, uncountable 6. Higher level of difficulty. Labels: countable, uncountable 7. Misspelling of rigor (“rigor mortis”). Labels: UK, alt-of, countable, misspelling, uncountable
Word: contravention Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle French contravention. Pronunciation: /ˌkɒntɹəˈvɛntʃən/ 1. The act of contravening (a rule, regulation, law, or order) or of not fulfilling (an obligation, promise, or agreement). Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Their contravention of the treaty increased international tensions. Example: […]and the Royal Navy's officers, sometimes in direct contravention of their orders, decided that they would board and capture any slaver they came across, regardless of whatever flag they flew[…]
Word: auto-da-fe Part of Speech: noun 1. Alternative form of auto da fe. Labels: alt-of, alternative
Word: up the duff Part of Speech: prep_phrase Etymology: Unknown; the OED states that the phrase was originally Australian. Possibly related to in the pudding club (duff is a type of pudding) and thus related to dough. 1. Pregnant. Labels: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, colloquial, slang Example: Lynda up the duff—what odds do you put on that, eh, Mr Clever Dick, eh? That's shut his gob. That's put a crease in his brand-new suit. Example: At 19, he was married (‘only because she was up the duff’ he explains gallantly).
Word: invigilator Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From invigilate + -or, from Latin invigilatus, past participle of invigilo. Pronunciation: /ɪnˈvɪd͡ʒɪleɪtəɹ/ 1. A person who supervises students during an examination; a proctor Labels: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK 2. A person who supervises a gallery at a museum. Labels: Ireland, UK, archaic
Word: loudhailer Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From loud + hailer. 1. A megaphone or bullhorn. Labels: Ireland, UK Example: It's a grotesque, misleading smear on a diverse group of individuals – a bit like claiming all Muslims are terrorists (which, coincidentally, the guy beside them is currently doing through a loudhailer). Example: As Ukrainian forces struggled to hold the flattened city, it was claimed that civilians in captured territory were being deceived into leaving shelters to be bussed out to Russian camps by soldiers wielding loudhailers. […] Russian soldiers with loudhailers were instead said to be driving around parts of the city claiming that the city of Odesa has fallen and that other havens for refugees were now rejecting fleeing people.
Word: mains Part of Speech: noun Pronunciation: /meɪnz/ 1. plural of main Labels: form-of, plural
Word: mains Part of Speech: noun Pronunciation: /meɪnz/ 1. The domestic electrical power supply, especially as connected to a network or grid. Labels: UK, uncountable Example: I plugged it into the mains and it blew up! Example: We don't have mains power out here, only a generator. 2. A large-scale network or grid supplying any of various other services, such as water, gas or sewerage, to properties. Labels: UK, uncountable Example: We have gas heating, but it's bottled gas, not mains gas. Example: The properties formerly relied on a well, but are now connected to the mains water supply. 3. The main course of a meal. Labels: uncountable
Word: mains Part of Speech: verb Pronunciation: /meɪnz/ 1. third-person singular simple present indicative of main Labels: form-of, indicative, present, singular, third-person
Word: mains Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Related to manse. Pronunciation: /meɪnz/ 1. The farm attached to a mansion house. Labels: Scotland Example: Though no minister would visit the Skerburnfoot, or, if he went, departed quicker than he came, the girl Ailie attended regular at the catechising at the mains of Sker.
Word: minder Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English mynder, mendowre (“one who has a good memory; bears in mind; watches over; a keeper”); equivalent to mind + -er. 1. One who minds, tends, or watches something such as a child, a machine, or cattle; a keeper. Example: With the bulky, heavy helmet for the film strapped on, I was inside a fully immersive virtual world. With de la Peña playing minder and holding a tether which prevented me from bumping into walls, I somehow ended up inside the news story. 2. A personal bodyguard. Labels: UK 3. A monitor assigned by the authorities to someone, such as a foreign visitor (to exercise control over their contacts with the populace) or a journalist or someone who is speaking to journalists (to monitor and control what they say). Example: The twenty-eight journalists who sailed with the task force were accompanied by seven censors or 'minders' from the MoD, as well as by military press officers attached to each unit. Example: Once again the employers, now closely gripped by Central Government minders, offered 4 % now and 7 % in one year's time, and all tied to modernisation. This was not what the FBU had bargained for. So the strike started. 4. One who is taken care of, such as a pauper child in the care of private person; a ward. Labels: obsolete
Word: naff off Part of Speech: verb 1. A mild version of fuck off Labels: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, slang Example: Princess Anne caused controversy when she told photographers to “naff off” in 1982. Example: Oi, you cheeky slag / Naff off
Word: nark Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Uncertain. Perhaps from Angloromani nok (“nose”), from Romani nakh, from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀡𑀓𑁆𑀓 (ṇakka), ultimately a doublet of nose. Pronunciation: /nɑːk/, /nɑːɹk/ 1. A police spy or informer. Labels: Ireland, UK, slang Example: So I went and laid down on the grass. While laying there I piped a reeler whom I knew. He had a nark (a policeman's spy) with him. So I went and looked about for my two pals, and told them to look out for F. and his nark. Example: the bystander. […] She thought you was a copper's nark, sir. / the note taker [with quick interest] Whats a copper's nark? / the bystander [inapt at definition] It's a—well, it's a copper's nark, as you might say. What else would you call it? A sort of informer. 2. An unpleasant person, especially one who makes things difficult for others. Labels: Australia, slang
Word: nark Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Uncertain. Perhaps from Angloromani nok (“nose”), from Romani nakh, from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀡𑀓𑁆𑀓 (ṇakka), ultimately a doublet of nose. Pronunciation: /nɑːk/, /nɑːɹk/ 1. To serve or behave as a spy or informer; to tattle. Labels: intransitive, slang, transitive Example: “If you nark on me, I’ll rip your arms off,” said Tim to his brother, as he passed him a joint. Example: I don’t trust that guy; he’s gonna nark us out. 2. To annoy or irritate. Labels: slang, transitive Example: It really narks me when people smoke in restaurants. 3. To complain. Labels: intransitive, slang Example: He narks in my ear all day, moaning about his problems. 4. To stop. Labels: imperative, often, slang, transitive Example: Nark it! I hear someone coming!
Word: nark Part of Speech: noun Etymology: See narc. Pronunciation: /nɑːk/, /nɑːɹk/ 1. Alternative form of narc (narcotics officer). Labels: alt-of, alternative, slang
Word: nookie Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Possibly from Dutch neuken (“to fuck”). Compare cognate and synonymous German Low German nöken, nucken. Pronunciation: /ˈnʊki/ 1. Sex or other sexual activity, especially if illicit. Labels: slang, uncountable Example: I came home early and caught them on the couch having a bit of nookie. Example: Yeah. Maybe we/ll^([sic]) make the rounds of the bars. I could use a little nookie. Thats^([sic]) what I need, a good piece of ass. 2. An attractive woman, when considered as a sex object. Labels: slang, uncountable Example: I’m smelling like dope and I’m shooting for more / Eyes glued to the nookie moving slow on the floor
Word: nookie Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Possibly from or related to German Nuckel (“pacifier; teat”), nuckeln (“to suck”), both attested from the 17th century, in which case the German brand name NUK, though officially an acronym, could be named after the generic word. Pronunciation: /ˈnʊki/ 1. A pacifier. Labels: US
Word: oilseed rape Part of Speech: noun 1. The rape plant, having bright yellow flowers; source of an edible oil
Word: orientate Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From orient + -ate or a back-formation from orientation. Compare French orienter and Italian orientare. Pronunciation: /ˈɒɹi.ənteɪt/ 1. To face a given direction. Labels: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, intransitive 2. To determine one's position relative to the surroundings; to orient (oneself). Labels: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, reflexive Example: He[…]stood for a moment, orientating himself exactly in the light of his knowledge. Example: He came out of the station and took some time to orientate himself. 3. To arrange in order; to dispose or place (a body) so as to show its relation to other bodies, or the relation of its parts among themselves. Example: The one preferred is to make the dominant forms first order, that is, orientated in such a way as to intersect both horizontal crystallographic axes. 4. To position (something), to align relative to a given position. Labels: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, transitive Example: Try to orientate your students towards the science subjects. 5. To move or turn toward the east; to veer from the north or south toward the east. Labels: archaic
Word: transgression Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English transgressioun, from Old French transgression, from Late Latin trānsgressiō, from Latin trānsgressus (perfect active participle of trānsgredior (“to step across”)) + -iō. Pronunciation: /trɑːnzˈɡrɛʃn/, /tɹænsˈɡɹɛʃən/ 1. A violation of a law, duty or commandment. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: And Ioshua said vnto the people, Ye cannot serue the Lord: for hee is an holy God: he is a ielous God, he will not forgiue your transgressions nor your sinnes. 2. An act that goes beyond generally accepted boundaries. Labels: countable, uncountable 3. A relative rise in sea level resulting in deposition of marine strata over terrestrial strata. Labels: countable, uncountable
Word: raï Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From French raï, from Algerian Arabic راي (rāy, “opinion”), from Arabic رَأْي (raʔy, “opinion”). Pronunciation: /ɹaɪ/, /ɹʌiː/ 1. A form of music, originating in Oran, Algeria from Bedouin shepherds. Labels: uncountable Example: Rai arrives in the US, in some ways, as the latest rage to hit the World Music record bins, the result of a new post-modern global marketing strategy. Example: 1997: Karen Fog Olwig & Kirsten Hastrup, Siting Culture: The Shifting Anthropological Object — chapter 3: “Which world? On the diffusion of Algerian raï to the West” (by Marc Schade-Poulsen), p59: INTRODUCTION →ISBN (10); →ISBN (13))^† This chapter deals with raï music from Algeria. Since its emergence in the late 1970s, raï has spread throughout the world and stands today as an exponent of “World Music”. The chapter traces a transnational process that has taken place in the 1980s: the diffusion of raï from the cabarets of Oran (the second largest city of Algeria) to the stereo racks in the West. It evokes the existence of different places and spaces for the consumption of raï.
Word: rai Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Borrowed from Yapese raay. 1. stone money Labels: countable, uncountable
Word: rai Part of Speech: noun 1. Alternative spelling of raï (“musical style”). Labels: alt-of, alternative, uncountable
Word: rai Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Borrowed from Thai ไร่ (râi). 1. A unit of area used in Thailand that is equal, in modern times, to 1,600 square metres (16 ares, 0.16 hectares, 0.3954 acres). Labels: countable, uncountable
Word: minaret Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Arabic مَنَارَة (manāra)bor. Ottoman Turkish منارهbor. French minaretbor. English minaret First attested in 1682. Borrowed from French minaret, from Ottoman Turkish مناره (Turkish minare), from Arabic مَنَارَة (manāra, “lighthouse”). See note on pronunciations and borrowing of words with ـَة (-a). From the same Proto-Semitic root *nūr- (“light”) as menorah. Pronunciation: /ˈmɪnəɹɛt/, /mɪnəˈɹɛt/ 1. The tall slender tower of an Islamic mosque, from which the muezzin recites the adhan (call to prayer). Example: And in the background of the picture, just out of focus behind the man, was a soaring minaret outlined against a shockingly blue sky.
Word: djellaba Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From French djellaba, from Algerian Arabic جلابة (jallāba). 1. A loose-fitting, ankle-length hooded robe worn by men in North Africa. Example: Dignified gentlemen in sober djellabas, of excellent cut and material, their wives in equally sober djellabas, sat in the tea shops with their children and servants, sipping mint tea.
Word: jellaba Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Moroccan Arabic جلابة (jallāba). 1. Alternative form of djellaba. Labels: alt-of, alternative Example: And it wasn't his suit that worried the people on the green tram, even though most of the other men wore flowing jellabas.
Word: parkie Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From park + -ie. 1. A parkkeeper; an employee of a public park. Labels: slang 2. An Aboriginal who sleeps rough in parks. Labels: Australia, New-Zealand, colloquial Example: Walking into the inner-city Brisbane suburb of West End one morning, I witnessed a group of Aboriginal “parkies” being moved on from a corner of the main road. Example: The health service was a sanctuary for Aboriginal people, especially the “parkies” – a young Roach among them – who were living on the nearby streets, many having gravitated to inner-city Melbourne to try to trace their families after years spent on reserves and missions. 3. A parking or traffic warden. Labels: Ireland, UK, slang 4. A person with Parkinson's disease. Labels: slang Example: Some people with Parkinson’s embrace being called a ‘Parkie’, while others hate the term.
Word: parky Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Etymology tree English park Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English parky From park + -y. Pronunciation: /ˈpɑrki/, /ˈpɑːki/ 1. Of, from, or related to a park or parks generally, especially parklike. Example: We went to a beautiful parky place over by the river. 2. Having parks or parklike areas. Example: Yellowstone has always been parky country.
Word: parky Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree English park Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English parky From park + -y. Pronunciation: /ˈpɑrki/, /ˈpɑːki/ 1. Alternative spelling of parkie: a parkkeeper. Labels: alt-of, alternative
Word: parky Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Uncertain, but probably from parky above or from dialectical pronunciation of perky. Pronunciation: /ˈpɑrki/, /ˈpɑːki/ 1. Synonym of chilly: somewhat cold but not extremely so. Labels: UK, informal Example: Gene Hunt: [seeing a woman in a sari] A bit parky to be out in just her nighty.
Word: hamartia Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Ancient Greek ἁμαρτία (hamartía, “tragic failure, sinful nature”), from the verb ἁμαρτάνω (hamartánō, “to miss the mark”). Pronunciation: /həˈmɑː.ti.ə/, /ˌhæˌmɑɹˈtiː.ə/, /ˌhɑːˌmɑɹˈtiː.ə/ 1. The tragic flaw of the protagonist in a literary tragedy. Labels: Greek, uncountable, usually Example: Creon's main hamartia was his excessive pride. Example: Understanding hamartia as “ignorance of the injurious act,” Lacan distinguishes Greek tragedy from the Renaissance version on the basis that the latter supplants hamartia with the hero's privileged knowledge. 2. Sin. Labels: uncountable, usually Example: As a consequence of the primeval peripety, the Adamic fall narrated in Genesis 3, they have all inherited the catastrophic and tragic hamartia, as it were, of original sin, the engrained powerlessness of the soul to will the good, much less to do it, along with the deep disorientation of the soul's root desire. 3. A focal malformation consisting of disorganized arrangement of tissue types. Labels: uncountable, usually
Word: break-in Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Deverbal from break in. Pronunciation: /ˈbɹeɪkˌɪn/ 1. The act of entering a place with the intent to steal or commit some other offense; an instance of breaking and entering. Example: There was a break-in at the shop; everything was taken.
Word: break-in Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Coined by Bill Buchanan and Dickie Goodman to describe their then-new song The Flying Saucer, referring to how material from one song would break into their song. Pronunciation: /ˈbɹeɪkˌɪn/ 1. A novelty record where a question is asked or a comment is raised, and the replies are lyrics from other songs, sampled from the recordings. Labels: attributive, often Example: Described by Ken Simpson as a ... novelty record where ‘snippets of current hits’ are inserted into ‘a little melodrama almost set up as a newscast’ (Simpson 2016), the first example of a break-in record that I am aware of is ... The Flying Saucer.
Word: monkey business Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From monkey + business, probably a calque of Bengali বাঁদরামি (bãdrami, “mischief”, literally “monkey-behaviour”), from বাঁদর (bãdor, “monkey”) + -আমি (-ami, suffix forming nouns referring to the properties, qualities, or states of the words to which it is attached), from the perception that monkeys behave mischievously. Pronunciation: /ˈmʌŋkɪ ˌbɪznɪs/, /-nɪz/, [-nəs], [-nəz], /ˈmʌŋki ˌbɪznɪs/ 1. Activity that is mischievous, stupid, or time-wasting. Labels: idiomatic, informal, uncountable Example: Stop all this monkey business and do your homework! Example: I’m going to take off the cuffs, Slim, and off you, Jerry. But don’t try any monkey business. When Peters answers the door, you tell him everything’s O. K., and that you’re the committee, see? Once the door’s open, we’ll do the rest. 2. Activity that is morally questionable or even mildly illegal. Labels: idiomatic, informal, uncountable Example: She wondered what sort of monkey business her neighbour was up to, sneaking out of his house at 1:00 am. Example: If you ever hear a man talking about his duty as a citizen, by the Living Jingo dont trust him. … He's up to some kind of monkey business nine times out of ten. You dont know what a relief it is to me that you and Joe are comfortably settled in life.
Word: min Part of Speech: noun Pronunciation: /mɪn/ 1. Abbreviation of minute. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of 2. Clipping of minute. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, colloquial Example: Dinner's ready, darling! – Be there in a min!
Word: min Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From Middle English min, from Old English min (“less; small, mean”), from Proto-West Germanic *minni, from Proto-Germanic *minniz (“less”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“small, little”). Cognate with Scots min (“less, lesser”), West Frisian min (“small, bad”), Dutch min (“less, small”), Low German minn (“small, low, lean”), German minder (“less”), Icelandic minna (“less”), Latin minus (“less”). Pronunciation: /mɪn/ 1. Less; smaller; lower. Labels: Scotland, UK, dialectal, obsolete Example: The more and the minne
Word: min Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English min, minne, partly from Old English myne (“mind, intent, desire, love”), from Proto-West Germanic *muni, from Proto-Germanic *muniz (“mind, memory”); and also from Old Norse minni (“memory”), from Proto-Germanic *gaminþiją (“memory, remembrance”); both from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think”). Related to Icelandic minni (“memory”), German Minne (“love”). Pronunciation: /mɪn/ 1. Memory; remembrance. Labels: obsolete Example: […] and faith I've done that same and found me min; […]