nandhakumarms/qualc-wiktionary-en huggingface dataset:
Word: waft Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English waften, of uncertain origin. Possibly from unattested Old English *wafettan, from wafian (“to wave”) + -ettan, or perhaps borrowed from Middle Dutch wachten (“to guard, provide for”). See also German wabern (“to waft”), Faroese veiftra (“to wave”) and Icelandic váfa (“to fluctuate, waver, doubt”). Pronunciation: /wɑft/, /wɒft/, /wɔft/, /wɑːft/, /wæft/ 1. To (cause to) float easily or gently through the air. Labels: ergative Example: A breeze came in through the open window and wafted her sensuous perfume into my eager nostrils. Example: I will sing of stately Aphrodite, gold-crowned and beautiful, whose dominion is the walled cities of all sea-set Cyprus. There the moist breath of the western wind wafted her over the waves of the loud-moaning sea in soft foam, and there the gold-filleted Hours welcomed her joyously. 2. To be moved, or to pass, on a buoyant medium; to float. Labels: intransitive Example: Unhappy Aureng-Zebe is in disgrace; / And your Morat, proclaimed the successor, / Is called, to awe the city with his power. / Those trumpets his triumphant entry tell, / And now the shouts waft near the citadel. Example: They gather one by one, trickling into the shady courtyard, the familiar hum of Mass. Ave. wafting in from behind brick buildings and iron gates. 3. To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon. Example: […] but ſoft: who wafts vs yonder.
Word: waft Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English waften, of uncertain origin. Possibly from unattested Old English *wafettan, from wafian (“to wave”) + -ettan, or perhaps borrowed from Middle Dutch wachten (“to guard, provide for”). See also German wabern (“to waft”), Faroese veiftra (“to wave”) and Icelandic váfa (“to fluctuate, waver, doubt”). Pronunciation: /wɑft/, /wɒft/, /wɔft/, /wɑːft/, /wæft/ 1. A light breeze. Example: It lay before him white and ghaistly, with mist blowing in wafts across it and a slow swaying of the tides. 2. Something (such as an odor or perfume) that is carried through the air. Example: Meanwhile, the wafts from his old home pleaded, whispered, conjured, and finally claimed him imperiously. Example: Patrol Magazine says of this Oxford, Miss., band: "Guitars are responsible for every noise in Colour Revolt's mix—not a single note of piano, waft of synthesizer, or evidence of electronic tampering are to be found.[…]" 3. A flag used to indicate wind direction or, with a knot tied in the center, as a signal; a waif, a wheft. 4. A loose noncommittal shot, usually played to a ball pitched short of length and well wide of the off stump. Labels: slang
Word: gently Part of Speech: adv Etymology: From Middle English gentilly, gentlych, gentilliche, equivalent to gentle + -ly, with *-lely simplified to -ly by haplology. Pronunciation: /ˈd͡ʒɛntli/, [ˈd͡ʒɛ̃ɾ̃li], [ˈd͡ʒɛnli] 1. In a manner characterized by gentleness Example: First, marinate the tofu. In a bowl, whisk the kecap manis, chilli sauce, and sesame oil together. Cut the tofu into strips about 1cm thick, mix gently (so it doesn't break) with the marinade and leave in the fridge for half an hour. Example: The plane is travelling impossibly slowly – 30km an hour – when it gently noses up and leaves the ground. With air beneath them, the rangy wings seem to gain strength; the fuselage that on the ground seemed flimsy becomes elegant, like a crane vaunting in flight. It seems not to fly, though, so much as float. 2. In a manner characterized by gentleness Example: From Blackwater there is a more or less level run through gently rolling farmlands and downs to Merstone, with its island platform and passing loop. 3. In a manner characterized by gentleness Example: I look at the world, and I notice it's turning / While my guitar gently weeps / With every mistake, we must surely be learning / Still my guitar gently weeps 4. From a gentle or high-class family. Labels: historical Example: gently born 5. In the manner of one of gentle birth; in a manner that reflects the traditional virtues of the gentry: courteously, nobly. Labels: obsolete
Word: waggle Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English wagelen (attested in wagelyng), possibly a borrowing of Middle Low German wagelen; equivalent to wag + -le (“(frequentative)”). Compare continental equivalents Middle High German wacken ( > Danish vakle, German wackeln), Swedish vagla, West Frisian waggelje, Low German wackeln, Dutch waggelen. Pronunciation: /ˈwaɡəl/ 1. To move (something) with short, quick motions; to wobble. Labels: transitive Example: The Mole waggled his toes from sheer happiness, spread his chest with a sigh of full contentment, and leaned back blissfully into the soft cushions. Example: Oscar turned to someone who wasn't there and waggled his head. "Hoo, boy," he said. 2. To quickly raise and lower in rapid succession, usually as an implication of slyness, smugness, or suggestiveness. Labels: transitive 3. To reel, sway, or move from side to side; to move with a wagging motion; to waddle. Labels: intransitive Example: I know you by the waggling of your head. Example: Why do you go Nodding and Waggling so like a Fool, as if you were Hipshot? says the Goose to her Gosselin.
Word: waggle Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English wagelen (attested in wagelyng), possibly a borrowing of Middle Low German wagelen; equivalent to wag + -le (“(frequentative)”). Compare continental equivalents Middle High German wacken ( > Danish vakle, German wackeln), Swedish vagla, West Frisian waggelje, Low German wackeln, Dutch waggelen. Pronunciation: /ˈwaɡəl/ 1. An instance of waggling. 2. A wobbling motion. Example: Give the cable a waggle to let it come out quicker. 3. The preliminary swinging of the club head back and forth over the ball in the line of the proposed stroke.
Word: wage earner Part of Speech: noun 1. Someone who works for wages, especially if that wage supports a household.
Word: wage slave Part of Speech: noun 1. Someone who works for wages and has little to no professional autonomy. Example: The catch is that you have to be invested in order to gnaw on it. The superwealthy will do fine buying and selling things. But many wage slaves just don't have the cash. Example: Yankovic stars as George Newman, a daydreaming wage slave whose overactive imagination keeps standing between him and a steady paycheck. 2. Someone who does very unpleasant or drudging work for a wage. Labels: informal
Word: variorum Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Latin variōrum, genitive plural masculine of varius (“various”), in the phrase editio cum notis variorum (“edition with various notes”). Pronunciation: /vɛːɹɪˈɔːɹəm/ 1. An edition of a written work (especially the complete works of a classical writer) showing the notes and readings of a variety of different editors or commentators. Example: Johnson set out to produce a variorum, compiling and summarising the history of Shakespearean emendation and annotation Example: The walls of the narrow hallway are covered with paintings, including several by William Burroughs, made during Burroughs's London phase, when Miles took on archival duties and compiled a bibliography of his work; he has also edited a variorum edition of Allen Ginsberg's Howl.
Word: chick flick Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From chick (“young woman”) + flick (“movie”), chosen for the rhyme. 1. A film, typically about romance, which is generally more popular with women than men. Labels: colloquial, derogatory, informal Example: She went with a couple friends to see a chick flick about some girl dating an astronaut. Example: I was on a flight from New York to Seattle when a long delay on the tarmac prompted the airline to offer us a free movie. As the flight attendant read the choices aloud, a young man across the aisle said, “I don’t watch chick flicks!” 2. A sexually exploitative or pornographic film depicting women, intended for straight men. Labels: dated, slang Example: Films like Russ Meyers’ ‘Beyond the Valley of the Dolls’ (1970) and ‘Twilight People’ (1972) […] Corman’s ‘Black Mama, White Mama’ (1972), another chick-flick set in a slammer in the Philippines. 3. Any film depicting young women or teenage girls as the main characters. Labels: derogatory, slang
Word: skin flick Part of Speech: noun 1. A pornographic film. Labels: US, slang Example: Trading is scheduled to begin next month in the shares of another purveyor of erotica, Olympia Press; its latest skin flick, "Barbara," cost $32,000 to make, grossed $11,700 in its second week in Manhattan and is scheduled for national distribution. Example: ALAN: Well... where would we go? / JILL: The pictures! There's a skinflick over in Winchester! I've never seen one, have you? / ALAN: No.
Word: full monty Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Unknown. First appeared in print in 1980s, but probably existed before that. The most common theory for its origin is that a purchase (especially that of a full three-piece suit) from Montague Maurice Burton (1885–1952), founder of Burton Menswear, was known as a "full Monty". According to the OED, this etymology is "perhaps the most plausible". The nudity definition comes via the movie The Full Monty, in which it is used as a euphemism for removing all one's clothes when stripping. 1. Everything; the whole package. Labels: UK, colloquial, countable Example: I thought he was only going to buy the basic kit, but he bought the full monty. 2. A full breakfast. Labels: UK, colloquial, countable Example: A 'Full Monty' breakfast the following morning helped Harry recover his high spirits. Example: One of us, it became clear as we strolled the aisles of the grocery, believed that every day should begin with a “full monty” breakfast—sausage, eggs, gravy and biscuits. 3. Nudity. Labels: UK, colloquial, countable, uncountable Example: It is just as well the letter was tightly sealed, because there were photographs in it showing me and others in Full Monty. That is to say we were all buck naked.
Word: full monty Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Unknown. First appeared in print in 1980s, but probably existed before that. The most common theory for its origin is that a purchase (especially that of a full three-piece suit) from Montague Maurice Burton (1885–1952), founder of Burton Menswear, was known as a "full Monty". According to the OED, this etymology is "perhaps the most plausible". The nudity definition comes via the movie The Full Monty, in which it is used as a euphemism for removing all one's clothes when stripping. 1. Nude. Labels: UK, colloquial, not-comparable Example: Becoming male strippers and appearing full monty provides the connection. Example: Her breasts were always a surprise to men the first time she went full monty. Because she was so tall and slim and athletic, they probably expected pancakes.
Word: perforated Part of Speech: adj 1. Pierced with holes. Labels: not-comparable 2. Pierced with holes. Labels: not-comparable
Word: perforated Part of Speech: verb 1. simple past and past participle of perforate Labels: form-of, participle, past
Word: washing machine Part of Speech: noun 1. A machine, usually automatic, that washes clothes, etc. Example: She put all the dirty clothes in the washing machine.
Word: waistline Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree English waist Proto-Indo-European *līno-der.? Proto-Germanic *līną Proto-Germanic *līnǭ Proto-West Germanic *līnā Old English līne Middle English line English line English waistline From waist + line. Pronunciation: /ˈweɪstˌlaɪn/ 1. a line around the body at the waist; its measurement 2. the narrowest part of a garment, usually at the waist, but may be above or below depending on the dictates of fashion or the whim of the designer 3. person having a large waistline Labels: slang 4. The horizontal line just below the windows of a car or other vehicle. Example: [...] with the adoption of a curved bodyside profile Bulleid considerably raised the height of the waistline and at the shoulder height of seated passengers, just where the extra space was most needed.
Word: whim Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Clipping of whim-wham. Pronunciation: /wɪm/, /ʍɪm/ 1. A fanciful impulse, or sudden change of idea. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Let ev’ry Man enjoy his whim; / What’s He to Me, or I to him? Example: “No, it is not for a wager; it is a whim of mine, which I fancy from the tone of your conversation you could understand, being apparently somewhat whimsical yourself.” “So far as whim goes, be assured of my sympathy.” 2. A large capstan or vertical drum turned by horse power or steam power, for raising ore or water, etc., from mines, or for other purposes. Labels: countable, uncountable
Word: whim Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Clipping of whim-wham. Pronunciation: /wɪm/, /ʍɪm/ 1. To be seized with a whim; to be capricious. Labels: intransitive, rare
Word: whim Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Compare whimbrel. Pronunciation: /wɪm/, /ʍɪm/ 1. A bird, the Eurasian wigeon.
Word: fanciful Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From fancy + -ful. Pronunciation: /ˈfænsɪfl̩/ 1. Imaginative or fantastic; ignoring reality. Example: Near-synonyms: conceptual, fancied, ideal, notional Example: It was fanciful to suppose that all he had to do would be to stride into a top law firm and he would be hired on the spot. 2. Unreal or imagined.
Word: imaginative Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From Middle English ymagynatif, from Middle French imaginatif, from Medieval Latin imāginātīvus. By surface analysis, imagine + -ative. Pronunciation: /ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪnətɪv/, /-ənətɪv/, /ɪˈmæd͡ʒnətɪv/ 1. Having a lively or creative imagination. Example: an imaginative boy Example: No doubt kibitzers are highly imaginative. How else could they see wins and brilliant combinations that do not exist? 2. Tending to be fanciful or inventive. Example: an imaginative story 3. False or imagined.
Word: inventive Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From Middle English inventif, inventyfe, borrowed from Old French inventif, borrowed from Medieval Latin inventivus. By surface analysis, invent + -ive. Pronunciation: /ɪnˈvɛntɪv/ 1. Of, or relating to invention; pertaining to the act of devising new mechanisms or processes. Example: an inventive pursuit Example: At the other end, Dortmund were producing some typically inventive approach play but struggled to find a way through the visitors' defence, and were unable to find a finish when they did. 2. Possessed of a particular capacity for the design of new mechanisms or processes, creative or skilful at inventing. Example: an inventive fellow 3. Purposely fictive. Example: an inventive story
Word: sass Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Variant of sauce. Pronunciation: /sæs/ 1. The quality of being sassy. Labels: uncountable Example: This girl has a lot of sass. 2. Backtalk, cheek, sarcasm. Labels: US, uncountable Example: Say—if you give me much more of your sass I'll take and bounce a rock off'n your head. Example: Looky here—mind how you talk to me; I’m a-standing about all I can stand now—so don’t gimme no sass. 3. Vegetables used in making sauces. Labels: archaic, uncountable 4. A subgenre of screamo music. Labels: uncountable
Word: sass Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Variant of sauce. Pronunciation: /sæs/ 1. To talk, to talk back. Labels: US, informal, intransitive Example: The duke he begun to abuse him for an old fool, and the king begun to sass back; and the minute they was fairly at it, I lit out, and shook the reefs out of my hind legs, and spun down the river road like a deer—for I see our chance; and I made up my mind that it would be a long day before they ever see me and Jim again. Example: “But, good land! what did he want to sass back for? You see, it couldn’t do him no good, and it was just nuts for them.” 2. To speak insolently to. Labels: US, informal, transitive Example: Don’t sass your teachers! Example: “This isn’t any of your business, Ilse Burnley,” muttered Jennie, sullenly. “Oh, isn’t it? Don’t you sass me, Piggy-eyes.” Ilse walked up to the retreating Jennie and shook a sunburned fist in her face.
Word: glory box Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Probably related to UK dialect glory hole (“place for storing odds and ends”). 1. A woman's storage box containing items saved for her wedding or married life. Labels: Australia, New-Zealand Example: 1985, Janet McCalman, Struggletown: Public and Private Life in Richmond, 1900-1965, Melbourne University Press, page 148, Every girl who hoped to marry had started early on her glory box, sewing and embroidering household linen, buying sheets and towels on cash order. Example: Trousseaux and glory boxes could be slowly built up while women were engaged in the paid workforce, before marriage heralded the loss of an independent income.
Word: keyserver Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From key + server. 1. In public key cryptography, the server that stores and distributes the public key files.
Word: cars Part of Speech: noun Pronunciation: /ˈkɑɹz/, /ˈkɑːz/ 1. plural of car Labels: form-of, plural
Word: loved Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English loved, luvd, from Old English lufode, first and third person singular past indicative of lufian; and Middle English loved, iloved, from Old English ġelufod, past participle of lufian; both equivalent to love + -ed. Pronunciation: /lʌvd/ 1. simple past and past participle of love Labels: form-of, participle, past
Word: loved Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From Middle English loved, luvd, from Old English lufode, first and third person singular past indicative of lufian; and Middle English loved, iloved, from Old English ġelufod, past participle of lufian; both equivalent to love + -ed. Pronunciation: /lʌvd/ 1. Being the object of love.
Word: glory hole Part of Speech: noun 1. A hole in a screen or wall big enough to allow an erect penis to be stuck through, made to facilitate anonymous sex with another person. Labels: slang Example: The boy looks into Mugwump eyes blank as obsidian mirrors, pools of black blood, glory holes in a toilet wall closing on the Last Erection. Example: One trick I used is turning things into a word problem. For example, if there are three glory holes in the bathroom at the club and 28 guys at the circuit party, how many rotations of guys will it take before everybody's had a turn? 2. A hole in the side of a furnace used to heat glass held on a metal rod. 3. A hole in a mineshaft where an orebody is mined upwards until it breaks through the surface into the open air. 4. An excavation into the sea floor designed to protect the wellhead equipment installed at the surface of a petroleum well from icebergs or pack ice. 5. A military trench. Labels: slang 6. In the merchant and Royal Navy: 7. In the merchant and Royal Navy: 8. In the merchant and Royal Navy: 9. A bell-mouth spillway; a spillway (a structure in the reservoir above a dam that allows overflowing water to be released in a controlled fashion) that is shaped like an upside-down bell, thereby giving the appearance of a hole in the surface of the water. 10. An especially good place to fish, a particularly rich fishing spot. Labels: Canada 11. A deep built-in cupboard under the eaves or stairs of a house used for general storage, particularly of unrelated or unwanted items stored in some disorder. Labels: Northern-England, Scotland
Word: glory hole Part of Speech: verb 1. Alternative form of gloryhole. Labels: alt-of, alternative
Word: willie Part of Speech: noun Pronunciation: /ˈwɪli/ 1. Alternative spelling of willy Labels: alt-of, alternative
Word: suppurate Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Latin suppūrātus, past participle of suppūrō, from pūr-, stem of pūs. Pronunciation: /ˈsʌpjəreɪt/ 1. To form or discharge pus. Labels: intransitive Example: Their suppurating wounds, their goitres, their tumours are hideously evident on their hairless bodies. Example: The only difference being Bezos was worth $60.7bn, while Bloodworth and his fellow “associates” walked back at midnight to fetid digs “with heavy legs supporting suppurating feet which over the course of the day had puffed up half a size bigger”. 2. To cause to generate pus. Labels: transitive Example: to suppurate a sore
Word: halves Part of Speech: noun Pronunciation: /hɑːvz/, /haːvz/, /hɐːvz/, /hævz/, /hɛəvz/ 1. plural of half Labels: form-of, plural
Word: halves Part of Speech: verb Pronunciation: /hɑːvz/, /haːvz/, /hɐːvz/, /hævz/, /hɛəvz/ 1. third-person singular simple present indicative of halve Labels: form-of, indicative, present, singular, third-person
Word: fleshy Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From Middle English fleisshy, fleischy, fleschi, equivalent to flesh + -y. Piecewise doublet of fleischig. Pronunciation: /ˈflɛʃi/ 1. Of, related to, or resembling flesh. Example: Mr. Creakle . . . showed me the cane, and asked me what I thought of THAT? . . . Did it bite? At every question he gave me a fleshy cut with it that made me writhe. Example: [O]ver reefs and banks of shining rock, a bristling beard of spiky and fleshy vegetation was straining into view. 2. Having considerable flesh; plump. Example: The King's face was slightly more fleshy than mine, the oval of its contour the least trifle more pronounced. Example: He was a large fleshy man, weighing at least two hundred pounds, and he quickly became a faithful representation of a quivering jelly-mountain of fat. 3. Rich and smooth, with significant body or texture. Example: a fleshy wine
Word: basa Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Vietnamese ba sa. 1. The catfish Pangasius bocourti.
Word: perforate Part of Speech: verb Etymology: The adjective is first attested in 1425, in Middle English, the verb in 1538; from Middle English perforat(e) (“perforated, pierced”), borrowed from Latin perforātus, the perfect passive participle of perforō (“to bore or pierce through, to perforate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from per- (“through, thorough”) + forō (“to bore, pierce”). Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English. Pronunciation: /ˈpəːfəreɪt/ 1. To pierce; to penetrate. Labels: transitive 2. To make a line of holes in (a thin material) to allow separation at the line. Labels: transitive Example: to perforate a sheet of postage stamps
Word: perforate Part of Speech: adj Etymology: The adjective is first attested in 1425, in Middle English, the verb in 1538; from Middle English perforat(e) (“perforated, pierced”), borrowed from Latin perforātus, the perfect passive participle of perforō (“to bore or pierce through, to perforate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from per- (“through, thorough”) + forō (“to bore, pierce”). Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English. Pronunciation: /ˈpəːfəreɪt/ 1. Perforated. Labels: not-comparable, obsolete Example: An Earthen Pot perforate at the Bottom to let in the Plant. 2. Perforated, having a hole. Labels: not-comparable, obsolete Example: Suche abuses can not be longe hydde frome princis, that haue their eares perforate (as is the prouerbe). 3. Perforated. Labels: not-comparable Example: A species of remarkable appearance with mature leaf laminae often so profoundly perforate as to resemble a fragile net of tissue.
Word: Raynaud's disease Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Named after Maurice Raynaud, the French doctor who described the disease. 1. A disease characterized by low blood flow to the fingers, toes, and/or ears. Labels: uncountable
Word: poka Part of Speech: noun Pronunciation: /ˈpoʊkə/ 1. Misspelling of polka. Labels: alt-of, misspelling
Word: trivial Part of Speech: adj Etymology: PIE word *tréyes * From Latin triviālis (“appropriate to the street-corner, commonplace, vulgar”), from trivium (“place where three roads meet”). Compare trivium, trivia. * From the distinction between trivium (“the lower division of the liberal arts; grammar, logic and rhetoric”) and quadrivium (“the higher division of the seven liberal arts in the Middle Ages, composed of geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, and music”). Pronunciation: /ˈtɹɪv.i.əl/, /ˈtɹɪv.jəl/ 1. Ignorable; of little significance or value. Example: "All which details, I have no doubt, Jones, who reads this book at his Club, will pronounce to be excessively foolish, trivial, twaddling, and ultra-sentimental." Example: In fact, the influence of signage in a certain area may exist anywhere on a continuum from profoundly effective to utterly trivial or completely insignificant, irrespective of the intent motivating the signs. 2. Commonplace, ordinary. Example: As a scholar, meantime, he was trivial, and incapable of labour. 3. Easy; requiring little skill or effort. 4. Concerned with or involving trivia. 5. Relating to or designating the name of a species; specific as opposed to generic. 6. Of, relating to, or being the simplest possible case. 7. Of, relating to, or being the simplest possible case. 8. Self-evident. 9. Pertaining to the trivium. 10. Indistinguishable in case of truth or falsity.
Word: trivial Part of Speech: noun Etymology: PIE word *tréyes * From Latin triviālis (“appropriate to the street-corner, commonplace, vulgar”), from trivium (“place where three roads meet”). Compare trivium, trivia. * From the distinction between trivium (“the lower division of the liberal arts; grammar, logic and rhetoric”) and quadrivium (“the higher division of the seven liberal arts in the Middle Ages, composed of geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, and music”). Pronunciation: /ˈtɹɪv.i.əl/, /ˈtɹɪv.jəl/ 1. Any of the three liberal arts forming the trivium. Labels: obsolete Example: Tryuyals, & quatryuyals, ſo ſore now they appayre That Parrot the Popagay, hath pytye to beholde How the reſt of good lernyng, is roufled vp & trold Example: St. Edmund was bred in this University in the Trivials and Quadrivials till he was Professor of Arts
Word: lamington Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Uncertain. Although current dictionaries all associate it with Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, the earliest publication of this derivation is by John Hepworth in the Nation Review of July 1977. An earlier (1966) reference gives the cake but does not associate it with the Baron, suggesting the theory was not current in the 1960s. It has also been claimed that the name comes from Lamington, South Lanarkshire. Pronunciation: /ˈlæmɪŋtən/ 1. A small square Australian/New Zealand cake made with sponge cake covered on all sides (including top and bottom) with chocolate and desiccated coconut. Labels: Australia, New-Zealand Example: Women were also known for their cooking skills although this was not so much in the provision of meals (which were ‘simple and wholesome’), but in the production of confectionery, ranging from scones, biscuits, sponges, cakes, etc., to such noted Australian and New Zealand delicacies as lamingtons and pavlova. Example: Lamingtons are little sponge cakes coated in chocolate and grated coconut.
Word: lamington drive Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From lamington + drive (“fundraiser”). 1. A club or school fundraising event where volunteers make lamingtons for sale. Labels: Australia Example: From a modest beginning, relying on ‘funds raised through lamington drives and the sale of home-made jams and cakes by a loyal and dedicated band of childless wives and would-be grandmothers’, Pivet Australia developed into a $5 million dollar complex with a team of scientists and technicians of international renown. Example: Jan and Fergus are recommending activities like raffles and lamington drives and car washes - which are all well and good but will raise the entrants hardly any money.
Word: botch Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English bocchen (“to mend”), of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old English bōtettan (“to improve; cure; remedy; repair”), related to boot, or from Middle Dutch botsen, butsen, boetsen (“to repair; patch”), related to beat. Doublet of bodge. Pronunciation: /bɒt͡ʃ/, /bɑt͡ʃ/ 1. To perform (a task) in an incompetent or unacceptable manner; to make a mess of something. Labels: transitive Example: A botched haircut seems to take forever to grow out. Example: And other diuels that ſuggest by treaſons, / Do botch and bungle vp damnation, / VVith patches, colours, and vvith formes being fetcht / From gliſt'ring ſemblances of piety: […] 2. To do (something) without care or skill, or clumsily. Labels: transitive 3. To mend or repair (something) clumsily. Labels: transitive
Word: botch Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English bocchen (“to mend”), of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old English bōtettan (“to improve; cure; remedy; repair”), related to boot, or from Middle Dutch botsen, butsen, boetsen (“to repair; patch”), related to beat. Doublet of bodge. Pronunciation: /bɒt͡ʃ/, /bɑt͡ʃ/ 1. An action, job, or task that has been performed very badly; a ruined, defective, or clumsy piece of work. Labels: transitive Example: That I require a cleareneſſe; and with him; / To leaue no Rubs nor Botches in the Worke: 2. A patch put on, or a part of a garment patched or mended in a clumsy manner. Labels: transitive 3. A mistake that is very stupid or embarrassing. Labels: transitive 4. A messy, disorderly or confusing combination; a conglomeration; hodgepodge. Labels: transitive 5. One who makes a mess of something. Labels: archaic, transitive Example: If it was the last word I ever spoke, Puddock, you're a good natured—he 's a gentleman, sir—and it was all my own fault; he warned me, he did, again' swallyin' a dhrop of it—remember what I'm saying, Doctor—'twas I that done it; I was always a botch, Puddock, an' a fool; and—and—gentlemen—good-by.
Word: botch Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English botche, from Anglo-Norman boche, from Late Latin bocia (“boss”). Pronunciation: /bɒt͡ʃ/, /bɑt͡ʃ/ 1. A tumour or other malignant swelling. Labels: obsolete, transitive Example: Botches and blaines muſt all his fleſh imboſs, 2. A case or outbreak of boils or sores. Labels: transitive Example: The Lord wil smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scabbe, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not bee healed.
Word: by hook or by crook Part of Speech: prep_phrase Etymology: From earlier by howke or crooke, by hoke ne by croke, etc., from Middle English wiþ hok or crok, wiþ hook or wiþ crok; further origin unknown. One suggestion is that the term is derived from the common of estovers, an ancient right in English law for tenants of land to gather dead wood on common land using blunt tools such as hooks and shepherd’s crooks. Pronunciation: /baɪ ˈhʊk‿ə baɪ ˈkɹʊk/, /baɪ ˈhʊk‿əɹ baɪ ˈkɹʊk/ 1. By any means possible; one way or another. Labels: idiomatic Example: She was determined to win the contract by hook or by crook. Example: Nor wyll suffre this boke / By hoke ne by croke / Prynted for to be, […]
Word: Pan-Slavism Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From pan- + Slav + -ism. 1. A movement aimed at uniting all the Slavic peoples. Labels: uncountable
Word: out to lunch Part of Speech: adj 1. Away eating lunch or for a midday break; especially, away from work or a job. Labels: not-comparable Example: She's out to lunch right now, but you may leave her a note. 2. Clueless, inattentive, or careless. Labels: idiomatic, informal, not-comparable Example: After he drove with his turn signal on for five miles, I was pretty sure he was out to lunch. Example: Zaphod Beeblebrox, adventurer, ex-hippy, good-timer, (crook? quite possibly), manic self-publicist, terribly bad at personal relationships, often thought to be completely out to lunch.
Word: baby boomer Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From baby + boomer or baby boom + -er, when there was a marked increase in birthrates throughout the Western world following the return of servicemen at the end of World War II. 1. A person born in the postwar years, generally considered in the United States and other Allied countries as between 1946 and the early 1960s. Labels: Canada, US, capitalized, sometimes Example: The baby boomers, Americans born between 1946 and 1961, are increasingly discovering that the cohorts with whom they crowded into maternity wards, elementary schools, colleges and entry-level jobs are now clogging the fast track to the top as well, demographers say.
Word: heads up Part of Speech: intj 1. Used as an informal warning, caution, or call for attention; pay attention! Labels: idiomatic Example: Heads up! I'm about to let go. Example: Heads up! The boss is coming.
Word: heads up Part of Speech: noun 1. Alternative spelling of heads-up. Labels: alt-of, alternative
Word: heads up Part of Speech: verb 1. third-person singular simple present indicative of head up Labels: form-of, indicative, present, singular, third-person
Word: heads up Part of Speech: adj 1. Containing only two players. Labels: not-comparable
Word: devotchka Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Borrowed from Russian де́вочка (dévočka, “girl”). 1. A girl, especially one of Russian descent. Labels: rare Example: This evening in the Korova there was a fair number of vecks and ptitsas and devotchkas and malchicks smecking and peeting away, and cutting through their govoreeting and the burbling of the in-the-landers with their 'Gorgor fallatuke and the worm sprays in filltip slaughterballs' and all that cal you could slooshy a popdisc on the stereo, this being Ned Achimota singing 'That Day, Yeah, That Day'. Example: His arm wrapped her shoulders, and he dropped a kiss on her head. "Come on, devotchka. I'm taking you home."
Word: knock up Part of Speech: verb Pronunciation: /nɒk ʌp/ 1. To put together, fabricate, or assemble, particularly if done hastily or temporarily. Labels: colloquial Example: I'll just knock up a quick demo for the sales presentation. 2. To awaken (someone) as by knocking at the door; rouse; call; summon; also, to go door-to-door on election day to persuade a candidate's supporters to go to the polling station and vote. See also knocker up. Labels: UK Example: However, by dint of beating about a little in the dark, and now and then knocking up a peaceable inhabitant to inquire the way, we at last came to something which there was no mistaking. Example: “Very sorry to knock you up, Watson,” said he, “but it's the common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she retorted upon me, and I on you.” 3. To exhaust; wear out; tire out; to fatigue until unable to do more. Labels: dated Example: ‘Now, mamma,’ he said, when he went out, ‘take notice, you are not to knock up your god-daughter with gossip,’ [...] Example: The day being exceedingly hot, the want of food had knocked up my followers […] 4. To become exhausted or worn out; to fail of strength; to become wearied, as with labor; to give out. Labels: dated, intransitive Example: […] the horses were beginning to knock up under the fatigue of such severe service […] Example: I met one of your dons at tea, and he said that your degree was not in the least a proof of your abilities: he said that you knocked up and got flurried in examinations. 5. To impregnate, especially out of wedlock or accidentally. See knocked up. Labels: US, slang Example: I guess his summer plans are shot now that he knocked his girlfriend up. Example: “And how many other girls has he knocked up?” “Would you keep your voice down? Mom's home.” She pressed her hands to her head. “I just don't understand how you could ditch Rowan and get knocked up by Scott, like, right away.” 6. To gently hit the ball back and forth before a tennis match, as practice or warm-up, and to gauge the state of the playing surface, lighting, etc. See knock-up. Labels: intransitive Example: The Tennis & Rackets Association - Tournament Rules Official Knock up: if the players knock up together a maximum of five minutes shall be permitted; if they knock up separately each player shall be permitted to knock up for a maximum of five minutes. 7. To make even at the edges, or to shape into book form. Example: to knock up printed sheets 8. To straighten up a stack of paper.
Word: buttinsky Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From butt in (“to join a conversation or situation in which one is not welcome or invited, interject”) + -sky (a variant of -ski (suffix added to a word, name, or phrase to invoke Russianness, Polishness, or a more general Slavicness)), humorously modelled after Russian surnames, and originally and often used in the form of a surname. Pronunciation: /bʌˈtɪnski/, [-ˈɾɪn-] 1. One who is prone to butt in, interrupt, or get involved where they are not welcome; a busybody. Labels: derogatory, informal Example: I wish I had never met that nosy buttinsky! Example: Well, all right then! If you think I'm a buttinsky, then I'll just butt in! 2. A robust portable one-piece telephone instrument with clips, used by technicians and lines staff for testing telephone circuits or making a temporary connection to a telephone line. Labels: informal
Word: impromptu Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Borrowed from French impromptu. Pronunciation: /ɪmˈpɹɒmptju/, /ɪmˈpɹɑmpt(j)u/ 1. Improvised; without prior preparation, planning or rehearsal. Labels: not-comparable Example: The party began with an impromptu rendition of 'Happy Birthday'. Example: an impromptu speech
Word: impromptu Part of Speech: adv Etymology: Borrowed from French impromptu. Pronunciation: /ɪmˈpɹɒmptju/, /ɪmˈpɹɑmpt(j)u/ 1. Extemporaneously; without prior preparation, planning, or rehearsal. Labels: not-comparable Example: happened impromptu Example: was done impromptu
Word: impromptu Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Borrowed from French impromptu. Pronunciation: /ɪmˈpɹɒmptju/, /ɪmˈpɹɑmpt(j)u/ 1. A short musical composition for an informal occasion often with the character of improvisation and usually to be played solo. Example: The second impromptu is a dance-like Allegretto in A flat major, with a trio in D flat major employing arpeggiated textures. 2. Any composition, musical or otherwise, that is created on the spot without preparation. Labels: broadly
Word: big screen Part of Speech: noun 1. The large viewing surface upon which films are projected in a cinema. Example: You should watch Star Wars on the big screen for the full effect. Example: He also became a big screen star. The 2014 film Paddington included scenes shot within his namesake terminus, [...]. 2. Movies, or that which is related to movies or cinema. Labels: broadly, idiomatic Example: Stars of the stage and the big screen gathered for the awards ceremony. Example: Jane Smith made her big-screen debut in 2005, appearing as a librarian in a Hollywood crime thriller.
Word: on the blink Part of Speech: prep_phrase Etymology: Presumably from an appliance with poor electrical connection blinking from intermittent connection. 1. Usually of a mechanical or electrical device, functioning erratically, malfunctioning; not working or not working well. Labels: Australia, UK, informal Example: My toaster is on the blink, making either charcoal or cold bread. Example: I'm so tired, I haven't slept a wink / I'm so tired, my mind is on the blink
Word: buckle down Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From buckle + down. 1. To apply oneself to study, or a task or work; to focus on or take a serious attitude towards something; to put forth the needed effort. Labels: idiomatic, intransitive Example: If he would buckle down and do his homework, he could be an excellent student. Example: I confess that the recollection of what this bell could do when it buckled down to it gave me pause as I stood that night at 12.30 p.m. prompt beside the outhouse where it was located.
Word: variegated Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Etymology tree Latin varius Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti Proto-Italic *agō Latin agō Late Latin variegōbor. English variegate English -ed English variegated From variegate + -ed. Pronunciation: /ˈvɛəɹi.əˌɡeɪtɪd/, /ˈvɛəɹɪˌɡeɪtɪd/, /ˈvɛ(ə)ɹi.əˌɡeɪtɪd/, /ˈvæɹ-/ 1. Streaked, spotted, or otherwise marked with a variety of color. Example: There I beheld the painter of the year diſplaying his variegated fancies on his leafy tablets, and, with the pencil of power dipped in the æthereal bow, writing the leſſons of wiſdom divine on the fair forehead of blooming Nature. Example: From the heights a view was now and then obtained between the lofty pine and fir-trees of the valley below with its smiling fields and variegated woods of birch and alder trees, between which the river wound like a narrow silvery streak. 2. Very colorful. Labels: broadly 3. Varied, heterogeneous, motley Labels: broadly Example: The challenge to heterosexuality requires that we claim, not deny, our queer character. It's sexual, it's variegated, sometimetimes its messy and, for better or worse, it's ours.
Word: variegated Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Etymology tree Latin varius Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti Proto-Italic *agō Latin agō Late Latin variegōbor. English variegate English -ed English variegated From variegate + -ed. Pronunciation: /ˈvɛəɹi.əˌɡeɪtɪd/, /ˈvɛəɹɪˌɡeɪtɪd/, /ˈvɛ(ə)ɹi.əˌɡeɪtɪd/, /ˈvæɹ-/ 1. simple past and past participle of variegate Labels: form-of, participle, past
Word: crank out Part of Speech: verb 1. To produce in large volumes mechanically or as if by machine. Labels: idiomatic Example: Near-synonym: churn out Example: The teenager spent hours cranking out volumes of bad poetry.
Word: beside oneself Part of Speech: prep_phrase Etymology: Possibly derived from Ancient Greek παράνοια (paránoia, “madness”), from παράνοος (paránoos, “demented”), from παρά (pará, “beyond, beside”) + νόος (nóos, “mind, spirit”), with "beside mind" evolving into "beside oneself". 1. Overcome; consumed by an emotion. Labels: idiomatic Example: His widow was beside herself with grief. Example: [...] he contemplated it most calmly. Comparatively, all other men, North and South, were beside themselves.
Word: Maxwell's demon Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Named after physicist James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) and demon, and probably from Greek daemon, a mythological being intermediate between gods and men. 1. A hypothetical creature in a thought experiment. Maxwell’s demon, if it existed, would act as a sort of gate guard by sorting between higher-energy molecules and lower-energy molecules within an enclosed space. Because such a sorting process would tend to decrease entropy, it would violate the second law of thermodynamics. Example: She did gather that there were two distinct kinds of this entropy. One having to do with heat-engines, the other to do with communication. The equation for one, back in the ’30's, had looked very like the equation for the other. It was a coincidence. The two fields were entirely unconnected, except at one point: Maxwell's Demon.
Word: conspicuous Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From Latin conspicuus (“visible, striking”), from cōnspicere (“to notice”), from con- (“with, together”) + specere (“to look at”). Pronunciation: /kənˈspɪk.ju.əs/ 1. Obvious or easy to notice. Example: He was conspicuous by his absence. Example: “No, don't,” replied the superintendent; “in fact, I'd rather you made yourself conspicuous elsewhere. Go down to the landing stage and cross to New Brighton or Wallasey—doesn't matter which—and come back. No doubt you will be seen, and reported to have gone across.” 2. Noticeable or attracting attention, especially if unattractive. Example: He had a conspicuous lump on his forehead. Example: For his height he had a small face. The combination made him conspicuous.
Word: thermodynamics Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰer-der. Ancient Greek θερμός (thermós)der. English thermo- Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂-der. Proto-Hellenic *dunamai Ancient Greek δῠ́νᾰμαι (dŭ́nămai) Ancient Greek δύναμις (dúnamis) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Hellenic *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós) Ancient Greek δυναμικός (dunamikós)lbor. French dynamiqueder. English dynamic Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic Old English -as Middle English -es English -s English -ics English dynamics English thermodynamics From thermo- + dynamics. First attested in the 1850s. Pronunciation: /ˌθɜː(ɹ)moʊdaɪˈnæmɪks/, /-məʊ-/, /-mə-/, /-dɪ-/ 1. The science of the conversions between heat and other forms of energy. Labels: uncountable Example: “3D photochemistry plays a huge role because it provides heating or cooling, which can affect the thermodynamics and perhaps the atmospheric composition of a planetary system,” Chen said. Example: The top-hatted “drinking bird,” once a fixture in science classrooms for demonstrating the basics of thermodynamics, is making a surprising comeback — as the inspiration for a new clean-energy generator that could one day power your watch and phone.
Word: etude Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From around the year 1837, borrowed from French étude (“study”) from Latin studium. Doublet of studio and study. Pronunciation: /eɪˈtjuːd/, /eɪˈtuːd/, /ˈeɪˌtud/, /ˈeɪˌtjud/ 1. A short piece of music, designed to give a performer practice in a particular area or skill. Example: The etudes with metronome markings should be played in tempo, all others should be considered rubato.
Word: thermodynamic Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰer-der. Ancient Greek θερμός (thermós)der. English thermo- Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂-der. Proto-Hellenic *dunamai Ancient Greek δῠ́νᾰμαι (dŭ́nămai) Ancient Greek δύναμις (dúnamis) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Hellenic *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós) Ancient Greek δυναμικός (dunamikós)lbor. French dynamiqueder. English dynamic English thermodynamic From thermo- + dynamic. Pronunciation: /ˌθɝmoʊdaɪˈnæmɪk/ 1. Of, or relating to the conversion of heat into other forms of energy. Labels: not-comparable Example: The locomotive is designed to give a high and sustained tractive effort at moderate speed on steep gradients. To attain this result, M. Chapelon, in experiments dsting back to 1940, aimed at improving the thermodynamic efficiency. Example: When calcium oxide is combined with CO2, it naturally forms calcium carbonate over time due to thermodynamic equilibrium, explains the researcher. 2. Of, or relating to thermodynamics. Labels: not-comparable
Word: thermodynamic equilibrium Part of Speech: noun 1. The state of a system in which its energy distribution is such that all parts of the system have the same temperature and no heat flows. Labels: countable, uncountable
Word: obbligato Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Italian obbligato. Piecewise doublet of obliged. Pronunciation: /ɒblɪˈɡɑːtəʊ/ 1. An obbligato section; a prominent countermelody, often written to be played or sung above the principal theme (in a higher pitch range). Example: The noise of the traffic outside the building on the boulevard made an unmusical obbligato to my thinking.
Word: rarely Part of Speech: adv Etymology: Etymology tree English rare Middle English -ly English -ly English rarely From rare + -ly. Pronunciation: /ˈɹɛːli/, /ˈɹɛəɹli/, /ɹɛli/, /ɹeə.liː/, /ɹeəɹliː/ 1. Not occurring at a regular interval; seldom; not often. Example: We rarely go to the theatre. Example: Rarely do you ever find an eagle this far up the river. 2. Unusually well; excellently. Example: After all the schooling, I can finally write rarely now. 3. To a rare degree; very. Example: I became a rarely good judge of the best in modern painting. Example: others speake very honourably of his life and death, and in all other circumstances declare him to have beene a most excellent and rarely virtuous man.