nandhakumarms/qualc-wiktionary-en huggingface dataset:
Word: shorthand Part of Speech: verb Etymology: The noun is derived from short + hand (“handwriting; style of penmanship”). The verb is derived from the noun. Pronunciation: /ˈʃɔːthænd/, /ˈʃɔɹthænd/ 1. To render (spoken or written words) into shorthand. Labels: transitive Example: All the time she'd pretended to be fiddling with her purse over there behind the man, she'd been shorthanding him down—every word, every quotation, every date, every name. Example: Most everything is in the safe on digital media, but there were some sessions he didn't record. He'd just shorthanded his notes during and after the sessions. I never learned shorthand, so there's no way I could decipher most of it, if you know what I mean. 2. To use a brief or shortened way of saying or doing something. Labels: broadly, transitive Example: It seems to me, however one looks at it—and I am torpedoing, "shorthanding", my arguments, though they can be developed at great length—that there is no military case for a large standing Army, and I pick out three arguments that I think are tremendously important which I should like the Minister to answer, even though he may reject them. Example: By "home video" I mean to shorthand the practice of viewing at home texts that come to us via a range of sources and formats, such as cable/satellite and pay-per-view television, mail order services (that send in the mail gay-related videotapes to far-flung subscribers), Web-based media, videotapes, laser discs, and dvds. 3. To write in shorthand. Labels: intransitive Example: Steele nodded and settled on the chesterfield. He regarded Betty seriously, her notebook poised on the table beside her as she reclined in her chair. [...] "I remember," Betty acknowledged, and went on shorthanding.
Word: shopkeeper Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From shop + keeper. Pronunciation: /ˈʃɒpkiːpə/, /ˈʃɑpkiːpɚ/ 1. A trader who sells goods in a shop, or by retail, in distinction from one who sells by wholesale, or sells door to door. Example: The retail trade of the borough also suffered, for the shopkeepers found it difficult to attract the occupiers of the luxurious villas fast rising on Surbiton Hill, and the shops erected near the station [in Surbiton] made the competition still more keen.
Word: shout Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English shouten. Further origin uncertain. Possibly related to Middle English shooten (“to shoot (out)”) or from or akin to Old Norse skúta (“to chide, scold”), Old Norse skúti, skúta (“a taunt”). See also the second, rare sense of the verb scout (“to reject with contempt”). Pronunciation: /ʃaʊt/, /ʃʌʊt/, /ʃuːt/ 1. A loud burst of voice or voices; a violent and sudden outcry, especially that of a multitude expressing joy, triumph, exultation, anger, or great effort. Example: give out a shout Example: hear a desperate shout 2. A round of drinks in a pub; the turn to pay the shot or scot; an act of paying for a round of drinks. Labels: Australia, New-Zealand, UK, slang Example: “I′ll get my wine though,” taking out her wallet. “No. This is my shout,” holding up his hand as though to ward her money off. Example: Cut to the pub on a lads night out, Man at the bar cos it was his shout 3. A call-out for an emergency services team. Labels: Australia, UK, slang Example: Yet another ambulance on a shout enters Parliament Square. 4. A greeting, name-check or other mention, for example on a radio or TV program. Labels: informal Example: Next up the new single from Beyoncé, but first a shout to Barry Bloggins and his wife Belinda... 5. A suggestion; an idea. Labels: informal Example: Yeah, good shout. We might get an idea of what we're up against before we park up and do business. Example: You're bored, you decide to get a tattoo. Maybe you really like chimps. You sit down with your tattoo artist. Just the chimp, sir? No, hang on. Can you do a chimp, but in a suit? Yeah, nice shout, what about sticking a pair of glasses on him too? Love it, let's have him holding a gun as well. Hold on, will he be allowed a gun if he's short-sighted? Good question, but let's not forget the bigger issue here: he's a monkey.
Word: shout Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English shouten. Further origin uncertain. Possibly related to Middle English shooten (“to shoot (out)”) or from or akin to Old Norse skúta (“to chide, scold”), Old Norse skúti, skúta (“a taunt”). See also the second, rare sense of the verb scout (“to reject with contempt”). Pronunciation: /ʃaʊt/, /ʃʌʊt/, /ʃuːt/ 1. To utter a sudden and loud cry, as in joy, triumph, exultation or anger, or to attract attention, to animate others, etc. Labels: intransitive Example: Mom shouted to us to come sit at the table. Example: They shouted thrice; what was the last cry for? 2. To utter with a shout; to cry; to shout out Labels: transitive Example: They shouted his name to get his attention. 3. To forcefully attract attention or proclaim one’s presence. Labels: figuratively, intransitive Example: We walk’d together on the crown Of a high mountain which look’d down Afar from its proud natural towers Of rock and forest, on the hills— The dwindled hills! begirt with bowers And shouting with a thousand rills. 4. To pay for food, drink or entertainment for others. Labels: Australia, New-Zealand, slang Example: "It appears to be the general opinion that it's my business to always shout - I will shout." He took up a hat and defiantly cast twopence into it. Example: After shouting me a plate of noodles and limp vegetables, he helped me change money by introducing me to the stallholder who offered the best exchange rates. 5. To post a text message (for example, email) in upper case, regarded as the electronic messaging equivalent of oral shouting. Labels: Internet Example: Please don't shout in the chat room. 6. To treat with shouts or clamor. Labels: obsolete, transitive Example: How would these men have shouted at the laying on of the last stone of the battlements
Word: shout Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English shout(e), from Middle Dutch schûte (“boat or light ship”). Doublet of schuit, see there for more. Compare scout (“swift sailing boat”). Pronunciation: /ʃaʊt/, /ʃʌʊt/, /ʃuːt/ 1. A flat-bottomed boat, a barge (for carrying cargo, etc), now especially a light boat used in duck-shooting. Labels: UK, dialectal Example: Although the density of the flour in particular would be less than that of the wheat, an equivalent 200 quarters of wheat per shout would not seem out of the question here. Again using Table 4, this suggests quite large boats carrying nearly 35 tons. If the 'Blackfriars 3' shout did indeed carry only 7.5 tons, then the shouts coming from Henley in 1345 were considerably bigger vessels, […]
Word: shortly Part of Speech: adv Etymology: From Middle English schortly, schortliche, from Old English sċortlīċe (“shortly; before long; soon”), equivalent to short + -ly. Pronunciation: /ˈʃɔɹtli/ 1. In a short or brief time or manner; quickly. Labels: not-comparable Example: […] his two ill-conditioned, canine favorites, which sat shivering before the smoky little fire, barking shortly and sharply now and then, by way of hinting for some slight refreshment. 2. In or after a short time; soon. Labels: not-comparable Example: The past perfect progressive is used for actions and situations which had continued up to a past moment or shortly before it. Example: No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait. 3. In few words. Labels: not-comparable Example: Ideas are generally expressed more shortly in verse than in prose Example: We shall not describe this tragical scene too fully; but we thought ourselves obliged, by that historic integrity which we profess, shortly to hint a matter which we would otherwise have been glad to have spared. 4. In an irritable ("short") manner. Labels: not-comparable Example: "Stop interrupting me, will ya?" she said shortly. Example: 'Well, I still think it was a rather off-hand way for you—for anyone—to behave,' he said shortly. Suddenly Melody felt trapped—and annoyed. And she didn't like being spoken to like a child, either.
Word: shred Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English shrede, shred (“fragment, piece, scrap; piece cut off from something; strip of material; ornamental strip hanging from the edge of a garment; thread; band or thread woven in a garment; element, streak; plant (?)”) [and other forms], from Late Old English sċrēad, sċrēade (“piece cut off from something; a paring; a shred”), from Proto-Germanic *skraudō (“a piece, shred; a crack; a cut”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off”). Doublet of escrow. Pronunciation: /ʃɹɛd/ 1. A fragment of something; a particle; a piece; also, a very small amount. Example: There isn’t a shred of evidence to support his claims. Example: His gayeſt flooriſhes are but Gaſcoignes Weedes, or Tarletons trickes, or Greenes crankes, or Marlowes bravadoes; his jeſts, but the dregges of common ſcurrilitie, or the ſhreds of the Theater, or the of-ſcouring of new pamflets: […] 2. A long, narrow piece (especially of fabric) cut or torn off; a strip; specifically, a piece of cloth or clothing. Example: To leaue him that bare a Monarkes minde, / For a king of clovvts, of very ſhreads. Example: […] Gold being grovvn ſomevvhat churliſh by recovering, is made more pliant by throvving in ſhreds of tanned Leather, or any Leather oiled. 3. A long, narrow piece (especially of fabric) cut or torn off; a strip; specifically, a piece of cloth or clothing. Labels: broadly 4. A long, narrow piece (especially of fabric) cut or torn off; a strip; specifically, a piece of cloth or clothing. Example: Three shreds of celery in a glass. 5. A piece of gold or silver lace or thread. Labels: archaic Example: But, vvhen a tvvelvemonth paſs'd avvay, / Jack found his goddeſs made of clay; / Found half the charms that deck'd her face, / Aroſe from povvder, ſhreds, or lace; […] 6. A shard or sherd (“a piece of broken glass or pottery”). Labels: rare Example: And when he neared Brandon he pulled up, sorted his pots, kept the whole ones, threw the shreds at the rabbits, and walked on into Brandon solemnly, leading the mare, and crying "Pots!" 7. A tailor. Labels: obsolete Example: Mer[curie]. Is it ſo, ſir, you impudent Poultroun? you ſlaue, you liſt, you ſhreds, you.— […] Ana[ides]. S'foot, vve muſt vſe our taylors thus. Example: As if thou ere vver't angry / But vvith thy Taylor, and yet that poore ſhred / Can bring more to the making vp of a man, / Then can be hop'd from thee: […]
Word: shred Part of Speech: adj Etymology: The verb is derived from Middle English shreden, shred (“to chop, cut up; to cut, hack; to wound with a knife; to cut off a part of (something); to prune, trim”) [and other forms], from Old English sċrēadian (“to cut up, shred; to cut off; to prune, trim”), from Proto-West Germanic *skraudōn, related to Proto-West Germanic *skraudan (“to cut up; to shred”), from Proto-Germanic *skraudaną (“to cut up; to shred”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off”). The adjective is derived from the past participle form of the verb. Pronunciation: /ʃɹɛd/ 1. Synonym of shredded (“cut or torn into narrow strips or small pieces”). Example: The ſtinging alſo of ſhred Horſ-hair, which in meriment is often ſtrew'd between the ſheets of a Bed, ſeems to proceed from the ſame cauſe.
Word: shrive Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English schryven, from Old English sċrīfan (“1. to decree, pass judgement, prescribe, 3. (of a priest) to prescribe penance or absolution”), from Proto-West Germanic *skrīban, from late Proto-Germanic *skrībaną, a borrowing from Latin scrībō (“write”). Compare West Frisian skriuwe (“to write”), Low German schrieven (“to write”), Dutch schrijven (“to write”), German schreiben (“to write”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk skrive (“to write”), Swedish skriva (“to write”), Icelandic skrifa (“to write”). More at scribe and scribble. Pronunciation: /ˈʃɹaɪv/ 1. To hear or receive a confession (of sins etc.). Labels: intransitive, transitive Example: If he have the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he should shrive me than wive me. Example: Doubtless he shrives this woman, […] / Else ne'er could he so long protract his speech. 2. To free from guilt, to absolve. Labels: transitive Example: I will not madly deem that power Of Earth may shrive me of the sin Unearthly pride hath revell’d in— […] Example: My sins as scarlet are; let me go hence, / And in some cloister's school of penitence, / Across those stones, that pave the way to heaven, / Walk barefoot, till my guilty soul is shriven! 3. To prescribe penance or absolution. Labels: transitive 4. To confess, and receive absolution. Labels: intransitive, reflexive Example: c. 1798-1845, unknown author, The Croppy Boy 'Twas a good thought, boy, to come here and shrive.
Word: shroud Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English shroud, from Old English sċrūd, from Proto-Germanic *skrūdą. Cognate with Old Norse skrúð (“the shrouds of a ship”) ( > Danish, Norwegian skrud (“splendid attire”)). Pronunciation: /ˈʃɹaʊ̯d/, /ˈʃɹæʊ̯d/, /ˈʃɹaːd/ 1. That which clothes, covers, conceals, or protects; a garment. Example: swaddled, as new born, in sable shrouds Example: Every time we came a research area, we had to pause while the scientists threw grey shrouds over prototypes that I wasn’t to see. 2. Especially, the dress for the dead; a winding sheet. Example: O, bid me leap, rather than marry Paris, From off the battlements of any tower, […] Or bid me go into a new-made grave And hide me with a dead man in his shroud […] Example: Yet let us goǃ England is in her shroud – we may not enchain ourselves to a corpse. 3. That which covers or shelters like a shroud. Example: Jura answers through her misty shroud. 4. A covered place used as a retreat or shelter, as a cave or den; also, a vault or crypt. Example: The shroud to which he won / His fair-eyed oxen. Example: a vault, or shroud, as under a church 5. One of a set of ropes or cables (rigging) attaching a mast to the sides of a vessel or to another anchor point, serving to support the mast sideways; such rigging collectively. Example: Then - a shock of water, a wild rush of boiling foam, and I was clinging for my life to the shroud, ay, swept straight out from it like a flag in a gale. 6. One of the two annular plates at the periphery of a water wheel, which form the sides of the buckets; a shroud plate. 7. A streamlined protective covering used to protect the payload during a rocket-powered launch.
Word: shroud Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English schrouden (> Anglo-Latin scrudāre), from Middle English schroud (“shroud”) (see above). Pronunciation: /ˈʃɹaʊ̯d/, /ˈʃɹæʊ̯d/, /ˈʃɹaːd/ 1. To cover with a shroud. Example: The ancient Egyptian mummies were shrouded in a number of folds of linen besmeared with gums. Example: The sliding door, which is fitted with a drop light, is shrouded with bristle-type draught excluders. 2. To conceal or hide from view, as if by a shroud. Example: The details of the plot were shrouded in mystery. Example: The truth behind their weekend retreat was shrouded in obscurity. 3. To take shelter or harbour. Example: [T]hough this my vvorke, ovvne not vvorth enough to deſerve your patronage, yet ſuch is your benigne humanity, that I am confident you vvill daigne it your protection, under vvhich it vvillingly ſhrovvdes it ſelfe. Example: If your stray attendance be yet lodged, / Or shroud within these limits.
Word: shroud Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Variant of shred. Pronunciation: /ˈʃɹaʊ̯d/, /ˈʃɹæʊ̯d/, /ˈʃɹaːd/ 1. The branching top of a tree; foliage. Example: Behold, the Assyrian was a Cedar in Lebanon with faire branches, and with a shadowing shrowd, and of an hie stature, and his top was among the thicke boughes.
Word: shroud Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Variant of shred. Pronunciation: /ˈʃɹaʊ̯d/, /ˈʃɹæʊ̯d/, /ˈʃɹaːd/ 1. To lop the branches from (a tree). Labels: UK, dialectal, transitive
Word: shy Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From Middle English shy (“shy”), from Old English sċēoh (“shy”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeuh (“shy, fearful”), from Proto-Germanic *skeuhaz (“shy, fearful”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian skjou (“shy”), Dutch schuw (“shy”), German scheu (“shy”), Danish sky (“shy”). Pronunciation: /ʃaɪ/ 1. Easily frightened; timid. Example: The horses of the army, and those of the royal stables, having been daily led before me, were no longer shy, but would come up to my very feet without starting. 2. Reserved; disinclined to familiar approach. Example: He is very shy with strangers. Example: VVhat makes you ſo ſhy of late, my good Friend? There's no Body loves you better than I, nor has taken more Pains in your Affairs: […] 3. Cautious; wary; suspicious. Example: We grant, although he had much wit, / H' was very shy of using it; / As being loth to wear it out, / And therefore bore it not about, Example: Princes are, by wisdom of state, somewhat shy of their successors. 4. Short, insufficient or less than. Labels: informal Example: By our count your shipment came up two shy of the bill of lading amount. Example: It is just shy of a mile from here to their house. 5. Less likely to reveal whom they will vote for than average, chiefly in the context of the collective effect this has on polling accuracy. Labels: UK, US Example: Pollsters need to remember the shy Tory factor.
Word: shy Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English shy (“shy”), from Old English sċēoh (“shy”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeuh (“shy, fearful”), from Proto-Germanic *skeuhaz (“shy, fearful”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian skjou (“shy”), Dutch schuw (“shy”), German scheu (“shy”), Danish sky (“shy”). Pronunciation: /ʃaɪ/ 1. To avoid due to caution, embarrassment or timidness. Labels: intransitive Example: Courts might tend to shy from limiting Congress under such a vague standard. 2. To jump back in fear. Labels: intransitive Example: The horse shied at the unexpected approach of a motor vehicle. 3. To throw sideways with a jerk; to fling. Labels: transitive Example: to shy a stone Example: shy a slipper 4. To throw a ball with two hands above the head, especially when it has crossed the side lines in a football (soccer) match. Labels: Scotland, intransitive, transitive 5. To hit the ball back into play from the sidelines in a shinty match. Labels: Scotland
Word: shy Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English shy (“shy”), from Old English sċēoh (“shy”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeuh (“shy, fearful”), from Proto-Germanic *skeuhaz (“shy, fearful”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian skjou (“shy”), Dutch schuw (“shy”), German scheu (“shy”), Danish sky (“shy”). Pronunciation: /ʃaɪ/ 1. An act of throwing. Example: Foker discharged a prodigious bouquet at her, and even Smirke made a feeble shy with a rose, and blushed dreadfully when it fell into the pit Example: If Lord Brougham gets a stone in his hand, he must, it seems, have a shy at somebody. 2. A place for throwing. Example: coconut shy 3. A sudden start aside, as by a horse. 4. In the Eton College wall game, a point scored by lifting the ball against the wall in the calx. 5. A throw-in from the sidelines, using two hands above the head. Labels: Scotland 6. In shinty, the act of tossing the ball above the head and hitting it with the shaft of the caman to bring it back into play after it has been hit out of the field. Labels: Scotland 7. A gibe; a sneer. Labels: archaic
Word: siesta Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Borrowed from Spanish siesta, from Latin sexta (“the sixth hour from dawn, noon, midday”). Doublet of sext. Pronunciation: /siˈɛstə/ 1. A nap, especially an afternoon one taken during the hottest part of the day in some cultures. Labels: countable Example: One humid afternoon a visitor did arrive to disturb Rottcodd as he lay deeply hammocked, for his siesta was broken sharply by a rattling of the door handle […] Example: When it's time for siesta, you can watch them go by / Beautiful faces, no cares in this world 2. Laid-back attitudes to work or laziness, especially by a Hispanic person. Labels: attributive, offensive, sometimes Example: Lest we think all of this is due to the proverbial inefficiency of the Latin American - 'siesta people' - we can see some of these signs, perhaps in a less dramatic way, in European societies and in the celebrated 'tigers' of South East Asia. Example: I had eaten a simple lunch, and in the relaxed siesta attitude that pervaded the place I settled back in my chair and looked at the mountains behind in all their austerity.
Word: siesta Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Borrowed from Spanish siesta, from Latin sexta (“the sixth hour from dawn, noon, midday”). Doublet of sext. Pronunciation: /siˈɛstə/ 1. to take a siesta; to nap. Labels: intransitive
Word: sigh Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English sighen (“to sigh”), back-formation from sighte, past tense form of siken, from Old English sīcan, from Proto-West Germanic *sīkan, perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seykʷ- (“to pour out”). Pronunciation: /saɪ/ 1. To inhale a larger quantity of air than usual, and immediately expel it; to make a deep single audible respiration, especially as the result or involuntary expression of fatigue, exhaustion, grief, sorrow, frustration, or the like. Labels: intransitive Example: When she saw it wasn't damaged, she sighed with relief. Example: He sighed. It was going to be a long night. 2. To lament; to grieve. Labels: intransitive Example: He sighed deeply in his spirit. 3. To utter sighs over; to lament or mourn over. Labels: transitive Example: Ages to come, and men unborn, / Shall bless her name, and sigh her fate. Example: The lassie had grace given her to refuse, but with a woeful heart, and Heriotside rode off in black discontent, leaving poor Ailie to sigh her love. He came back the next day and the next, but aye he got the same answer. 4. To make a sound like sighing. Labels: intransitive Example: The wind sighed in the trees. Example: And the coming wind did roar more loud, / And the sails did sigh like sedge. 5. To exhale (the breath) in sighs. Labels: transitive Example: She sighed a sigh that was nearly a groan. Example: sigh a note and sing a note 6. To express by sighs; to utter in or with sighs. Labels: transitive Example: "I guess I have no choice," she sighed. Example: She sighed her frustrations.
Word: sigh Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English sighe (“sigh”), from sighen (“to sigh”) (see ). Pronunciation: /saɪ/ 1. A deep, prolonged audible inhale and exhale of breath; as when fatigued, frustrated, grieved, or relieved; the act of sighing. Example: To Pollyanna the air was all the more stifling after that cool breath of the out of doors; but she did not complain. She only drew a long quivering sigh. 2. a manifestation of grief; a lament. Labels: figuratively 3. A person who is bored. Labels: Cockney, slang
Word: sigh Part of Speech: intj Etymology: From Middle English sighe (“sigh”), from sighen (“to sigh”) (see ). Pronunciation: /saɪ/ 1. An expression of fatigue, exhaustion, grief, sorrow, frustration, or the like, often used in casual written contexts. Example: Sigh, I'm so bored at work today.
Word: silhouette Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Basque *zuLo Basque zulo Basque Ziloetabor. ▲ Basque zulo Basque Zilhoetabor. French silhouetteubor. English silhouette The noun is a unadapted borrowing from French silhouette, from the surname of Étienne de Silhouette (1709–1767), France’s Controller-General of Finances. It has been suggested that the word refers to one or more of the following: * De Silhouette’s penny-pinching policies which led to the French term à la Silhouette, applied to things perceived as austere or cheap, akin to an outline filled only with black. * The fact that de Silhouette only held the office of Controller-General of Finances for about eight months from 4 March to 21 November 1759. * De Silhouette’s outline portraits which he made to decorate his château at Bry-sur-Marne, Val-de-Marne. De Silhouette’s surname is a gallicized form of Basque Ziloeta or Zilhoeta (modern Basque Zulueta), from the local plural stem (see -ak) of zulo (“hole, pit; den, hiding place”), from Proto-Basque *zuLo (“hole”). The verb is derived from the noun. Pronunciation: /ˌsɪlʊˈɛt/, /ˌsɪluˈɛt/, /-lə-/, /-ˈwɛt/ 1. An artistic depiction, often of a person's profile, in the form of an outline without any other visual details, similar to a shadow, made by cutting a piece of black paper, filling in an outline with a solid colour (usually black), etc. Example: She had a feeble pencil drawing of the vicarage in Dorsetshire, and silhouettes of her father and mother, which were hung up in the lodgings wherever she went. Example: [A] portion of the John Boyd Thacher collection of commissions, documents, autograph letters and portraits; a case containing silhouets of famous Colonial personages, a silhouet ring, some smoked silhouets, […] 2. A dark outline of someone or something seen against a brighter background. Labels: broadly Example: I could see a silhouette of a figure looking out from the window, but I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. Example: All we could see were ghostly-looking silhouettes of ships gliding here and there through the clouds; and I am sure the coachman's remark was quite correct, that it was a pity the day was so misty. 3. An outline of a garment as it appears on a wearer. Labels: broadly Example: A-line is a classic silhouette for dresses and skirts. Example: Dresses have departed from the straight-line severity of last season and show great diversity of design. One may choose the semi-princess silhouet or the flared peplum, the bloused silhouet, the bolero or the caplet effects. 4. A brief written description of someone or something; an outline, a sketch. Labels: figuratively Example: [A]t my elbow stood a tall man, young, though probably five or six years older than I—in other respects of an appearance the opposite to common-place; though just now, as I am not disposed to paint his portrait in detail, the reader must be content with the silhouette I have just thrown off; […]
Word: silhouette Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Basque *zuLo Basque zulo Basque Ziloetabor. ▲ Basque zulo Basque Zilhoetabor. French silhouetteubor. English silhouette The noun is a unadapted borrowing from French silhouette, from the surname of Étienne de Silhouette (1709–1767), France’s Controller-General of Finances. It has been suggested that the word refers to one or more of the following: * De Silhouette’s penny-pinching policies which led to the French term à la Silhouette, applied to things perceived as austere or cheap, akin to an outline filled only with black. * The fact that de Silhouette only held the office of Controller-General of Finances for about eight months from 4 March to 21 November 1759. * De Silhouette’s outline portraits which he made to decorate his château at Bry-sur-Marne, Val-de-Marne. De Silhouette’s surname is a gallicized form of Basque Ziloeta or Zilhoeta (modern Basque Zulueta), from the local plural stem (see -ak) of zulo (“hole, pit; den, hiding place”), from Proto-Basque *zuLo (“hole”). The verb is derived from the noun. Pronunciation: /ˌsɪlʊˈɛt/, /ˌsɪluˈɛt/, /-lə-/, /-ˈwɛt/ 1. Often followed by against or upon: to depict (oneself or someone, or something) as a silhouette (noun sense 1 or noun sense 2.1); to project (oneself or someone, or something) upon a background, so as to be like a silhouette. Labels: reflexive, transitive Example: We guided ourselves, by the fitful flashes of forked and sheet lightning combined, towards a ghostly point, whose deeper blackness silhouetted it against the shades. Example: [N]ot only the passing figure of the young girl was seen, but the dazzling green and gold of the hillside, and the far-off silhouetted crests of the Coast Range. 2. To appear as a silhouette. Labels: intransitive Example: [T]he distant islands […] lay dark and massive across our path, their huge crowns silhouetting in clear-cut outlines against the eastern sky, […]
Word: simply Part of Speech: adv Etymology: From Middle English symply, symplely; equivalent to simple + -ly, with *-lely simplified to -ly by haplology. Pronunciation: /ˈsɪmpli/, /ˈsəmpli/ 1. In a simple way or state; considered in or by itself; without addition; alone. 2. Plainly; without art or subtlety Example: ‘No,’ said Stephen simply. 3. Foolishly; stupidly. Example: Mrs. Thorold had told her sons that a young lady was visiting at the house, whose history she had given them in short hand, describing her as a dependent on the late Mrs. Willoughby, whom her son had very simply intended to marry at Alvestone […]. 4. Merely; solely. Labels: focus Example: I was simply asking a question. Example: A “moving platform” scheme[…]is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails.[…]This set-up solves several problems […]. Stopping high-speed trains wastes energy and time, so why not simply slow them down enough for a moving platform to pull alongside? 5. absolutely, positively. Example: That was a simply wonderful dessert. Example: This type of comportment simply won't be tolerated. 6. Frankly. Example: Simply, he just fired you. Example: It was, quite simply, the best there was in stock.
Word: Sisyphean Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From Sisyphus + -ean, from Ancient Greek Σίσυφος (Sísuphos). Sisyphus was a Greek mythical figure who was doomed to endlessly roll a boulder up a hill in Tartarus, only to have it roll back down again. Pronunciation: /ˌsɪsəˈfiːən/ 1. Incessant or incessantly recurring, but futile. Labels: not-comparable Example: Sisyphean task Example: Sisyphean labors 2. Relating to Sisyphus. Labels: Greek, not-comparable
Word: site Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English site, from Anglo-Norman site, from Latin situs (“position, place, site”), from sinere (“to put, lay, set down, usually let, suffer, permit”). Doublet of sitio and situs. Pronunciation: /saɪt/ 1. To situate or place a building or construction project. Example: The U.K. government is dusting off an alternative plan to site the center at a military outfit such as Porton Down. Example: A reassessment of the requirements of the gold mining industry, including uranium production, for the next few years has revealed the urgent necessity for the provision of additional power, and steps have been taken to site and plan a new station.
Word: skate Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Back-formation from Dutch schaats, from Middle Dutch schāetse, from Old Northern French escache (“a stilt, trestle”) (compare French échasse and English scatch), from a Germanic language, perhaps Frankish *skakkjā (“stilt”, literally “thing that moves”), related to *skakan (“to shake, swing”). Pronunciation: /skeɪt/ 1. A runner or blade, usually of steel, with a frame shaped to fit the sole of a shoe, made to be fastened under the foot, and used for gliding on ice. Example: They open or shut, according as the foot to which the skate is attached moves downwards or upwards and the swimmer advances by the alternate motion of his limbs, as in mounting a stair, keeping the body and head inclined a little forward, as in skating. 2. Ellipsis of ice skate. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis 3. Ellipsis of roller skate. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis 4. The act of skateboarding Example: There's time for a quick skate before dinner. 5. The act of roller skating or ice skating Example: The boys had a skate every morning when the lake was frozen. 6. A makeshift handcar. Labels: Philippines
Word: skate Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Back-formation from Dutch schaats, from Middle Dutch schāetse, from Old Northern French escache (“a stilt, trestle”) (compare French échasse and English scatch), from a Germanic language, perhaps Frankish *skakkjā (“stilt”, literally “thing that moves”), related to *skakan (“to shake, swing”). Pronunciation: /skeɪt/ 1. To move along a surface (ice or ground) using skates. 2. To skateboard. 3. To use the skating technique. 4. To get away with something; to be acquitted of a crime for which one is manifestly guilty. Labels: slang 5. To move smoothly and easily. Example: Addressing a short pass from Henderson, he always felt too smart for Mykola Matviyenko, taking a step to lure him one way; dropping his shoulder and skating in the other direction, further inside.
Word: skate Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Back-formation from Dutch schaats, from Middle Dutch schāetse, from Old Northern French escache (“a stilt, trestle”) (compare French échasse and English scatch), from a Germanic language, perhaps Frankish *skakkjā (“stilt”, literally “thing that moves”), related to *skakan (“to shake, swing”). Pronunciation: /skeɪt/ 1. Pertaining to the technique of skating. Labels: not-comparable
Word: skate Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English skat, scate (also schat), from Old Norse skata (“skate”). Cognate with Icelandic skata (“skate, ray”), Norwegian skate (“skate”). Pronunciation: /skeɪt/ 1. A fish of the family Rajidae in the superorder Batoidea (rays) which inhabit most seas. Skates generally have small heads with protruding muzzles, and wide fins attached to a flat body. Example: The fishermen crowding in the cafés were also waiting for the end of the storm, when the fish, reassured, would rise to the surface after the bait. Soles, hog fish and skate were returning from their nocturnal expeditions. Day was now breaking. Example: Other deep creatures now being harvested or targeted as seafood include rattails, skates, squid, red crabs, orange roughy, black oreos, smooth oreos, hoki, blue ling, southern blue whiting, sablefish, black scabbard fish and spiny dogfish.
Word: skate Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Origin uncertain, but probably related to skite. Pronunciation: /skeɪt/ 1. A worn-out horse, a nag, a jade. 2. Alternative form of skite (“a mean or contemptible person”). Labels: alt-of, alternative
Word: skimp Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Perhaps of North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skimpijaną (“to skip, dance, gesture, mock”). Cognate with Icelandic skimpa (“to scoff at, scorn”), dialectal Swedish skimpa (“to skip, dance”), Faroese skumpa (“to shove, bump”), German schimpfen (“to grumble, scold”), Dutch schimpen (“to mock, make fun of, scold”). Possibly distantly related to change. Pronunciation: /ˈskɪmp/, /ˈskɘmp/ 1. To mock, deride, scorn, scold, make fun of. Labels: Northern-England, Scotland Example: I thought Adie was only skimpin' me.
Word: skimp Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Probably related to scamp and scrimp. Pronunciation: /ˈskɪmp/, /ˈskɘmp/ 1. To slight; to do carelessly; to scamp. Labels: transitive Example: I got out my wallet and let him have a look at my licenses, detective and driver's. He didn't skimp it, being a lawyer. 2. To make insufficient allowance for; to scant; to scrimp. Example: The temptation to skimp examinations and maintenance procedures, to save time or overcome staff shortages, must be resisted, and supervisors must insist on strict adherence to maintenance schedules and quality of workmanship. Example: Apple’s investment bought something. Its shows feel professional. They look like premium products that no one skimped on. 3. To save; to be parsimonious or stingy. Labels: intransitive
Word: skimp Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Probably related to scamp and scrimp. Pronunciation: /ˈskɪmp/, /ˈskɘmp/ 1. Scanty. Labels: UK, US, colloquial, dated, dialectal
Word: skimp Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Probably related to scamp and scrimp. Pronunciation: /ˈskɪmp/, /ˈskɘmp/ 1. A skimpy or insubstantial thing, especially a piece of clothing. Example: I remembered how fierce it hurt and how it blistered. All that pain from just a skimp of flesh. 2. Underwear. Labels: colloquial, in-plural Example: While presenting a rundown of the sexiest soap stars in the world in this week's ZOO, Hollyoaks' Gemma Atkinson very kindly stripped down to her skimps herself.
Word: skive Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Probably from French esquiver (“slink away”), from Middle French esquiver (“to escape”), from Spanish esquivar (“to avoid, reject, elude”), from esquivo (“contemptuous, loathsome”), itself from Old French eschiver, of East Germanic origin, from Gothic *𐍃𐌺𐌹𐌿𐌷𐍃 (*skiuhs, “afraid, barefaced”), from Proto-Germanic *skeuhaz (“afraid, frightened”). Cognate with English shy, eschew. Pronunciation: /ˈskaɪv/ 1. To avoid one's lessons or work (chiefly at school or university); shirk. Labels: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, informal Example: Truancies, rather bewilderingly, have risen among children on the programme; the government hopes this is because children skive more as they get older. Example: Work experience as an arsey teenager is pretty straightforward: disappear into the storeroom, smoke a few cigarettes, text your mates and watch the minute hand tick slowly by. If there's nowhere suitable to hide, all you need is a vacant computer and you can chat to your skiving associate in the building next door.
Word: skive Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Probably from French esquiver (“slink away”), from Middle French esquiver (“to escape”), from Spanish esquivar (“to avoid, reject, elude”), from esquivo (“contemptuous, loathsome”), itself from Old French eschiver, of East Germanic origin, from Gothic *𐍃𐌺𐌹𐌿𐌷𐍃 (*skiuhs, “afraid, barefaced”), from Proto-Germanic *skeuhaz (“afraid, frightened”). Cognate with English shy, eschew. Pronunciation: /ˈskaɪv/ 1. Something very easy, where one can slack off without penalty. Labels: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, informal Example: Mr Smith's history classes are a total skive. 2. An act of avoiding lessons or work. Labels: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, informal Example: I got the bus to school, and the driver gave me the eye, thinking I was on the skive, and I started to explain that there was something up with my head, but then I couldn't be bothered. Example: Another school skive! I only realised this when my dentist's receptionist told me to expect a fair wait till I could be seen.
Word: skive Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Probably from Dutch schijf (“slice”), probably influenced by shive. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skībǭ (“a shaving; slice”). Cognate to English shive, German Scheibe (“slice”), Old Norse skífa (“to cut into slices, slice”). Pronunciation: /ˈskaɪv/ 1. A rotating iron disk coated with oil and diamond dust used to polish the facets of a diamond. Example: This accident sometimes occasions a flaw in the diamond, and always damages the skive, by tearing up its surface. Example: When the cut diamond is fixed in the dop, and that is adjusted in the tongs, the stone is placed upon the skive, which, being set in motion, if the diamond be examined in the course of from ten to fifteen minutes time, the facet will appear to have lost a part of the gray colour it had obtained from the process of cutting, and a brilliant lustre or polish will begin to appear, which is solely produced from the imbedded powder with which the surface of the skive is charged. 2. An angled cut or bevel at the edge of something. Example: There would be no need for medial heel skive and the heel cup can be of normal depth. Example: The angle and the depth of skives should be specified.
Word: skive Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Probably from Dutch schijf (“slice”), probably influenced by shive. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skībǭ (“a shaving; slice”). Cognate to English shive, German Scheibe (“slice”), Old Norse skífa (“to cut into slices, slice”). Pronunciation: /ˈskaɪv/ 1. To pare or shave off the rough or thick parts of. Example: In the leather industry skive has another connotation, concerning splitting the skin perpendicularly to its thickness into thin layers. Imagine now being able to skive at the nanoscale. Example: Following the photo above from top to bottom, round off each end and skive the flesh side then using an old chisel the same width of the lace, cut a hole – open this out and thread each lace into the opposing hole – pull tight gently and flatten with a rubber hammer or other item, but gently.
Word: slack Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From Middle English slak, from Old English slæc (“slack”), from Proto-Germanic *slakaz. For sense of coal dust, compare slag. Pronunciation: /slæk/ 1. Lax; not tense; not firmly extended. Example: a slack rope 2. Weak; not holding fast. Example: a slack hand 3. Moderate in some capacity. Example: a slack oven 4. Moderate in some capacity. Example: a slack wind 5. Lacking diligence or care; not earnest or eager. Example: slack in duty or service Example: The Lord is not ſlacke cõcerning his promiſe (as ſome men count ſlackneſſe)[…]. 6. Not active or busy, successful, or violent. Example: Business is slack. Example: the slack period following the main tourist season 7. Excess; surplus to requirements. Example: the slack capacity of an oil pipeline 8. Vulgar; sexually explicit, especially in dancehall music. Labels: Caribbean, Jamaica, slang 9. Lax.
Word: slack Part of Speech: adv Etymology: From Middle English slak, from Old English slæc (“slack”), from Proto-Germanic *slakaz. For sense of coal dust, compare slag. Pronunciation: /slæk/ 1. Slackly. Labels: not-comparable Example: slack dried hops Example: Her clothes hung slack on her.
Word: slack Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English slakken, slaken, from Old English slacian, from Proto-Germanic *slakōną (“to slack, slacken”). Pronunciation: /slæk/ 1. To slacken. Labels: ambitransitive Example: I maruell I heare no nevves of Dromio, either hee ſlackes the matter, or betrayes his maiſter, I dare not motion anie thing to Stellio, till I knovve vvhat my boy hath don; Ile hunt him out, if the loiterſacke be gone ſpringing into a tauerne, Ile fetch him reeling out. Example: In this business of growing rich, poor men […] should slack their pace. 2. To mitigate; to reduce the strength of. Labels: obsolete Example: Ne did ſhe let dull ſleepe once to relent, / Nor wearineſſe to ſlack her haſt, but fled / Euer alike,[…]. 3. To lose cohesion or solidity by a chemical combination with water; to slake. Example: Lime slacks. 4. To refuse to work as hard as one is supposed to. Example: I can't afford to slack. This job is all I have!
Word: slack Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Either from the adjective in Etymology 1 or the verb in Etymology 2. Pronunciation: /slæk/ 1. A temporary speed restriction where track maintenance or engineering work is being carried out at a particular place. Example: This pitfall, beginning in February and finishing in May, resulted in a drop of about 3 ft. in the platform level; during this period it was necessary to level the track three times weekly, and impose a service slack of 15 m.p.h. The subsidence appears now to have finished, and normal speed is once again permitted. Example: The train runs slowly with frequent slacks for bridge and culvert repairs. At one point occurs the changeover from left- to right-hand running.
Word: slack Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English slak, from Old Norse slakki (“a slope”). Cognate with Icelandic slakki, Norwegian slakke. Pronunciation: /slæk/ 1. A valley, or small, shallow dell; a sag or saddle in a ridge. Labels: countable Example: Red Ringan sped, and the spearmen led, Up Goranberry Slack; Aye, many a wight, unmatched in fight, Who never more came back. And bloody set the westering sun, And bloody rose he up; […] Example: "I see some folk coming through the slack yonder, […]" 2. A flat-bottomed, hollow zone within a sand-dune system that has developed over impervious strata, sometimes due to erosion or blow-out of the dune system; its flat base level is therefore close to or at the permanent water-table level, and therefore has rich, marshy flora, with Salix species (willows) as typical woody colonisers.
Word: slack Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Of unknown origin. Possibly related to Middle Dutch slacke or Middle Low German slecke. Doublet of slag. Pronunciation: /slæk/ 1. Small coal; coal dust. Labels: uncountable Example: One of the important improvements of recent years has been attained by mixing the peat pulp as it passes through the grinding machine, with other inflammable materials, such as bituminous coal dust, or slack […] Example: It had rather a woolly and uneven beat and was inclined to prime, but there was no trouble with steaming even though the tender contained mostly small slack and dust.
Word: slag Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Borrowed from Middle Low German slagge, slaggen (“slag, dross”), from Old Saxon *slaggo, from Proto-West Germanic *slaggō, from Proto-Germanic *slaggô, from Proto-Germanic *slagōną (“to strike”) + *-gô (diminutive suffix). Compare Middle Low German slāgen (“to strike”), since originally the splinters struck off from the metal by hammering, from *slagōn, from Proto-West Germanic *slagōn. Compare also Old Saxon slegi, from Proto-West Germanic *slagi. See also Dutch slak, German Schlacke, Swedish slagg; also compare English slay. Pronunciation: /ˈslæɡ/, [ˈslæɡ], /ˈsleɪ̯ɡ/, [ˈsleɪ̯ɡ] 1. To produce slag. Labels: transitive 2. To become slag; to agglomerate when heated below the fusion point. Labels: intransitive 3. To reduce to slag. Labels: transitive 4. To talk badly about; to malign or denigrate (someone). Labels: UK, slang, transitive Example: If you slag off the other person, then—to the extent that your child identifies with that person as their parent—you are slagging off a part of them. Example: Rather than wait for her to start slagging my mother, I would disappear for a couple of days and inevitably, because I was getting no love at home, I began to stray once again. 5. To make fun of; to take the piss (tease, ridicule or mock). Labels: Ireland, slang, transitive 6. To spit. Labels: Australia, intransitive, slang
Word: slake Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English slaken (“to render slack, to slake”), from Old English sleacian, from Old English slæc (“slack”). Unrelated to, but possibly influenced by, the Old Norse sløkkva (“to extinguish”), compare Swedish släcka in the phrase släcka sin törst (“quench one's thirst”), släcka elden (“put out the fire”), and släckt kalk (“slaked lime”). Pronunciation: /sleɪk/ 1. To satisfy (thirst, or other desires). Labels: transitive Example: slake the heavenly fire Example: It could not slake mine ire nor ease my heart. 2. To cool (something) with water or another liquid. Labels: transitive Example: Notes for landscape tones. Long sequences of tempera. Light filtered through the essence of lemons. An air full of brick-dust - sweet smelling brick dust and the odour of hot pavements slaked with water. 3. To become mixed with water, so that a true chemical combination takes place. Labels: intransitive Example: The lime slakes. 4. To mix with water, so that a true chemical combination takes place. Labels: transitive Example: to slake lime 5. Of a person: to become less energetic, to slacken in one's efforts. Labels: intransitive, obsolete 6. To slacken; to become relaxed or loose. Labels: intransitive, obsolete Example: When the body's strongest sinews slake. 7. To become less intense; to weaken, decrease in force. Labels: intransitive, obsolete Example: wherfor the quene waxed wroth with sir Launcelot / and vpon a day she called sir launcelot vnto her chamber and saide thus / Sir launcelot I see and fele dayly that thy loue begynneth to slake / for thou hast no Ioye to be in my presence / but euer thou arte oute of thys Courte "wherefore the queen waxed wroth with Sir Launcelot. And upon a day she called Sir Launcelot unto her chamber, and said thus: Sir Launcelot, I see and feel daily that thy love beginneth to slake, for thou hast no joy to be in my presence, but ever thou art out of this court" 8. To go out; to become extinct. Labels: intransitive, obsolete Example: His flame did slake.
Word: slake Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Probably connected with Icelandic sleikja, "to lick", and German schlecken (“to lick”). Pronunciation: /sleɪk/ 1. To besmear. Labels: Scotland, transitive
Word: slake Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Probably connected with Icelandic sleikja, "to lick", and German schlecken (“to lick”). Pronunciation: /sleɪk/ 1. A sloppy mess. Labels: Scotland