ADA

A.D.A. (alternative)
A. D. A. (alternative)

American Dental Association
w:American Dental Association

(US) Initialism of American Dental Association.

American Diabetes Association
w:American Diabetes Association

(US) Initialism of American Diabetes Association.

w:Air Defense Artillery Branch (United States Army)

(US) Initialism of Air Defense Artillery.


SM

(US, astronautics) Initialism of service module.

(US, military) Abbreviation of standard missile.


CC

en-noun

CC (countable and uncountable, plural CCs)

(US, military, historical) The US Navy hull classification symbol for a battlecruiser; the only such ships authorized by Congress were of the Lexington-class, which were cancelled under the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty with two being converted to aircraft carriers.


megameter

/ˈmɛɡəˌmiːtəɹ/

Common numbers like distances would never be expressed in megameters or nanomiles — it would bring us too close to the Dilbertian world of pocket protectors and calculator holsters.

2009, J. Scott Turner, The Extended Organism: The Physiology of Animal-Built Structures, page 15:


dag

Dag, yo.

2002 December 2, Michael Chapman; Matthew Chapman, “Teen Girl Squad Issue #1”, in Homestar Runner, spoken by Strong Bad as What's Her Face (Matthew Chapman):

(US, informal) Expressing shock, awe or surprise; used as a general intensifier.


fag

Probably from fag end (“remnant”), from Middle English fagge (“flap”).

(US, technical) In textile inspections, a rough or coarse defect in the woven fabric.


fag

1921 John Lind, The Female Impersonators (Historical Documentation of American Slang v. 1, A-G, edited by Jonathan E. Lighter (New York: Random House, 1994) page 716.
Androgynes known as “fairies,” “fags,” or “brownies.”

In schizophrenics, however, the homosexual outlet is sooner or later ... ideas that strangers call them "cs," "fairy," "woman," "fag," " fruit," etc.). ...

1926, American Neurological Association with New York Neurological Association et al., Journal of nervous and mental disease, volume 94, page 467:

When they pick out a set of clubs for him to rent, he is so indifferent and silent the freckled kid in charge stares at him as if he's a moron. The thought flits through his brain that Eccles is known as a fag and he has become the new pet.

1960, John Updike, 'Rabbit, Run', page 111:

A couple of days later, Trisha tells Madelyn there is a rumor going around that she's a fag.

2006, Lynn Mickelsen, Confusion Turned to Chaos:

... what appeared to be overt appeals to anti-gay sentiment. When House Majority Whip Dick Armey referred to fellow Congressman Barney Frank as "Barney Fag" in 1995, he suffered a barage of negative publicity that prompted him to explain his choice of words as a slip of the tongue.

2008, Paul Ryan Brewer, Value war: public opinion and the politics of gay rights, →ISBN, page 60:

(chiefly US, Canada, vulgar, usually offensive, sometimes endearing) A homosexual man, especially (usually derogatory) an effeminate or unusual one.

死基佬 (sei² gei¹ lou², literally “damn homosexual”)

Why did you do that, you fag?

(US, vulgar, derogatory, offensive) An annoying person.


mercury

mercury (countable and uncountable, plural mercuries)

mercuries (plural)
mercurie (alternative)

From Middle English mercurie, borrowed from Latin Mercurius. The chemical name comes from the planet Mercury. In medieval alchemy, the seven known metals—quicksilver, gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin—were associated with the seven planets. Quicksilver was associated with the fastest planet, named after the Roman god Mercury, associated with speed and mobility. The astrological symbol for the planet became one of the alchemical symbols for the metal, and Mercury became an alternative name for the metal. Mercury is the only metal for which the alchemical planetary name survives, as it was decided it was preferable to quicksilver as a chemical name.
The chemical symbol Hg came from Latin hydrargyrus.

шти̑р (but this more often means purple amaranth)

štȋr (but this more often means purple amaranth)

(US, regional) The poison oak or poison ivy.

Any of several types of plant.
The poison oak or poison ivy.


bus

→ Arabic: بَاص (bāṣ)

⇒ Burmese: ဘတ်စ်ကား (bhatcka:)

→ Cantonese: 巴士

→ Mandarin: 巴士 (bāshì)

→ German: Bus m

→ Hindi: बस (bas)

→ Irish: bus

desctree

→ Japanese: バス (basu)
→ Hakka: 巴士 (pa-sṳ́)
→ Hokkien: 巴士 (bá-suh)
→ Kavalan: basu
→ Sakizaya: basu

→ Korean: 버스 (beoseu)

→ Kurtöp: བས (bas)

→ Malay: bas

→ Pashto: بس

⇒ Sanskrit: बसयान (basayāna)

→ Scottish Gaelic: bus

→ Thai: บัส (bát)

→ Tibetan: འབའ་སེ ('ba' se)

→ Urdu: بس

→ Welsh: bws

Clipping of omnibus. Formerly often spelt 'bus. The electrical sense is derived from figurative application of the automotive sense.

(automotive) A motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads.

(chiefly US, Canada) A coach, a bus used for long travels.


bus

en-verb

bus (third-person singular simple present busses or buses, present participle bussing or busing, simple past and past participle bussed or bused)

busses (present singular third-person)
buses (present singular third-person)
bussing (participle present)
busing (participle present)
bussed (participle past)
bussed (past)
bused (participle past)
bused (past)

But if you ask me to bus my children / I hope the cops take down your name

1966, Phil Ochs, “Love Me, I'm a Liberal”, in Phils Ochs in Concert:

...to strike down Detroit's federal court order to bus students across school district lines for the purpose of desegregation and therefore nullify many busing programs throughout the country.

2008, Ashley R. Holm, Racial Differences in Student Engagement and Attainment: A Study of Topeka High School, 1939--1984, ProQuest, →ISBN, page 23:

(transitive, automotive, transport, chiefly US) To transport students to school, often to a more distant school for the purposes of achieving racial integration.

He bussed tables as the restaurant emptied out.

He was hired to bus tables, but after a few incidents they moved him to the kitchen.

2019, Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys, Fleet, page 13:

(transitive, US, food service) To clear meal remains from.

He’s been bussing for minimum wage.

(intransitive, US, food service) To work at clearing the remains of meals from tables or counters; to work as a busboy.


school

en-noun

school (countable and uncountable, plural schools)

Australian Kriol: skul

Bislama: skul

Nigerian Pidgin: skul

Tok Pisin: skul, sikul

Pijin: skul

→ Maori: kura

→ Swahili: skule, skuli

From Middle English scole, from Old English scōl (“place of education”), from Late Latin schola, scola (“learned discussion or dissertation, lecture, school”), from Ancient Greek σχολή (skholḗ, “spare time, leisure”), from Proto-Indo-European *seǵʰ- (“to hold, have, possess”). Doublet of schola and shul.
Compare Old Frisian skūle, schūle (“school”) (West Frisian skoalle, Saterland Frisian Skoule), Dutch school (“school”), German Low German School (“school”), Old High German scuola (“school”), German Schule (“school”), Old Norse skóli (“school”).
Influenced in some senses by Middle English schole (“group of persons, host, company”), from Middle Dutch scole (“multitude, troop, band”). See school (“group”). Related also to Old High German sigi (German Sieg, “victory”), Old English siġe, sigor (“victory”).

cog

German <i class="Latn mention" lang="de">Sieg</i>

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class IV § 542. School

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/36 § graduate school

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/39 § high school

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/46 § junior high school

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/52 § middle school

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/57 § normal school

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/58 § open classroom school

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/65 § preparatory school

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/67 § public school

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/75 § secondary school

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/80 § special school

Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II/83 § summer school

Our children attend a public school in our neighborhood.

Harvard University is a famous American postsecondary school.

(Canada, US) An institution dedicated to teaching and learning; an educational institution.

шко́ла

specialised, e.g. music, language school

an institution dedicated to teaching and learning before college or university


sex

en-verb

sex (third-person singular simple present sexes, present participle sexing, simple past and past participle sexed)

sexes (present singular third-person)
sexing (participle present)
sexed (participle past)
sexed (past)
sexe (alternative)
s*x (alternative)

From Middle English sexe (“gender”), from Old French sexe (“genitals; gender”), from Latin sexus (“gender; gender traits; males or females; genitals”), from Proto-Italic *seksus, from Proto-Indo-European *séksus, from *sek- (“to cut, cut off, sever”), thus meaning "section, division" (into male and female).
Usage for women influenced by Middle French le sexe (“women”) (attested in 1580). Usage for third and additional sexes calqued from French troisième sexe, referring to masculine women in 1817 and homosexuals in 1847. First used by Lord Byron and others in English in reference to Catholic clergy. Usage for sexual intercourse first attested in 1899 (in the writings of H. G. Wells).

der

As good as Muddah had handled me in bed, sexing her hadn't done a damn thing to take my mind off my cousin Smoove.

2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 102:

He shows some glimpses, but most of the released singles are about flossing, partying, and sexing women.

2007, Mickey Hess, Icons of hip hop : an encyclopedia of the movement, music, and culture. 2, Greenwood Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 427:

Sex with Ivory had gotten better than sexing his wife. Herschel laughed with Ivory, cried with Ivory. They dreamt aloud together. Unlike Nikki, Ivory believed in him. Every man needed a woman who believed in him.

2009, HoneyB, Single Husbands, Grand Central Publishing, →ISBN:

"Do you ever think about how you're betraying your client while you're sexing his wife?"

2012, Janice Jones, His Woman, His Wife, His Widow, Urban Books, →ISBN:

Wosick-Correa, K. R., 81 Joseph, L. J. Sexy ladies sexing ladies: Women as consumers in strip clubs. Journal of Sex Research, 45, 3 (July 2008), 201-216.

2014, Jerrold S. Greenberg, Clint E. Bruess, Sara B. Oswalt, Exploring the Dimensions of Human Sexuality, Jones & Bartlett Publishers, →ISBN, page 731:

His body shook uncontrollably as he imagined another man sexing his wife.

2014, Anya Nicole, Judgment Day, Urban Books, →ISBN:

The last thing a jealous husband wants to think about is another man sexing his wife when he's dead and gone.

2015, Pimpin' Ken, The Art of Human Chess: A Study Guide to Winning, →ISBN, page 117:

Sexing his wife anally would remind him of having sex with Baron.

2016, Nisa Santiago, Killer Dolls - Part 3, Melodrama Publishing, →ISBN:

The neighbor guy, I just came to understand, is sexing the lady across the street from him. He's got a girlfriend. She is married. While I don't think that is particularly cool, I also don't think it is any of my business either.

2019, Michael Jean Nystrom-Schut, Foundations of Philosophy: The Basics of the Balance (Volume Iil), AuthorHouse, →ISBN:

(chiefly US, colloquial, transitive) To have sex with.

Our baby is eighteen months old now, and cries when we sex

1921 August 20, Kenneth Burke, letter to Malcolm Cowley:

(chiefly US, colloquial, intransitive) To have sex.


shopping cart

/ˈʃɑpɪŋ kɑɹt/

(US, Canada, Philippines) A conveyance used to carry groceries and other items while shopping in a store.

عَرَبَة

conveyance used to carry items while shopping


PC

en-noun

PC (countable and uncountable, plural PCs)


PC

(US, navy) Initialism of Coastal Patrol.

Presbyterian Church
w:Presbyterian Church


PG

PG (countable and uncountable, plural PGs)

I've had it. That's it George! For one year now, I've been providing X-rated entertainment and you reciprocate with PG! It's an iniquitous arrangement!

1979, Blake Edwards, 10, spoken by Neighbor:

(uncountable, film, British, US, Philippines) Initialism of parental guidance, a rating for a film that may be viewed by minors at their parents' discretion.


LES

LES (countable and uncountable, plural LESs)

Leave and Earnings Statement
w:Leave and Earnings Statement

(military, US) Initialism of Leave and Earnings Statement.


LES

Coordinate term: UES


bolt

→ Irish: bolta

→ Japanese: ボルト (boruto)

→ Maltese: bolt

desctree

→ Russian: болт (bolt)
→ Azerbaijani: bolt
→ Ingrian: boltta

→ Scottish Gaelic: bolta

From Middle English bolt, from Old English bolt, from Proto-West Germanic *bolt, from Proto-Germanic *bultaz, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeld- (“to knock, strike”). Compare Lithuanian beldu (“I knock”), baldas (“pole for striking”). Akin to Dutch and West Frisian bout, German Bolz or Bolzen, Danish bolt, Swedish bult, Icelandic bolti.

der

(US, politics) A refusal to support a nomination made by the party with which one has been connected; a breaking away from one's party.


bolt

en-verb

bolt (third-person singular simple present bolts, present participle bolting, simple past and past participle bolted)

bolts (present singular third-person)
bolting (participle present)
bolted (participle past)
bolted (past)

John Silber charged that people who bolted the Democratic Party in this election are "Kamakaze ^([sic]) liberals", beneath contempt and clearly too stupid to deserve to vote.

1990 December 9, Richard Braun, “A Whole New Day For The Party: Giving Us A Voice”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 21, page 5:

(US, politics) To refuse to support a nomination made by a party or caucus with which one has been connected; to break away from a party.


screw

From Middle English screw, scrue (“screw”); apparently, despite the difference in meaning, from Old French escroue (“nut, cylindrical socket, screwhole”), from Latin scrōfa (“female pig”) through comparison with the corkscrew shape of a pig's penis. There is also the Old French escruve (“screw”), from Old Dutch *scrūva ("screw"; whence Middle Dutch schruyve (“screw”)), which probably influenced or conflated with the aforementioned, resulting in the Middle English word.
more on the etymology of screw
Old French escroue (whence Medieval Latin scrofa (“nut, screwhole”)), is believed to be an adaptation of Latin scrōfa (“sow, female pig”); but this development is not found in other Romance languages. (For change in meaning, compare also Spanish puerca, Portuguese porca, both ‘sow; screw nut’, and is based on the fact that a boar's penis has a screw-like tip, making the sow's vulva equivalent to a screw nut by analogy).
Old Dutch *scrūva possibly derives from Proto-Germanic *skrūbō (“screw”), from *skru- (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keru-, *(s)ker- (“to cut”), and is related to German Schraube (“screw”), Low German schruve, schruwe (“screw”), Dutch schroef (“screw”), West Frisian skroef (“screw”), Danish skrue (“screw”), Swedish skruv (“screw, peg”), Icelandic skrúfa (“screw”).
Compare also Occitan escrofa (“screw nut”), Calabrese scrufina (“screw nut”), which may be borrowings of the Old French word, or parallel developments.

gloss

"screw"; whence Middle Dutch <i class="Latn mention" lang="dum">schruyve</i> (“screw”)

cog

the first turn of the screw pays all debts

(US, slang, dated) An instructor who examines with great or unnecessary severity; also, a searching or strict examination of a student by an instructor.


screw

en-verb

screw (third-person singular simple present screws, present participle screwing, simple past and past participle screwed)

screws (present singular third-person)
screwing (participle present)
screwed (participle past)
screwed (past)

have one's head screwed on the right way

would lose one's head if it wasn't screwed on

(US, slang, dated) To examine (a student) rigidly; to subject to a severe examination.

If you don't like it, fuckin' screw! It's Shit Ass Pet Fuckers. That's the way it's going to be.

c. 2009, Louis CK, Shit Ass Pet Fuckers:

(intransitive, US, slang, often imperative, dated) To leave; to go away; to scram.


pint

From Middle English pinte, from Old French pinte, assumed from Vulgar Latin *pincta (“a mark used to indicate a level of quantity against a larger measure”), from Latin picta (“painted”), from Latin pingō (“paint”, verb). Doublet of pinto and Pinto.

halstuoppi

closest equivalent in traditional Finnish units

16 US fluid ounces [473 millilitres] for liquids (a US liquid pint) or

approximately 33.6 cubic inches [550.6 cubic centimeters] for dry goods (a US dry pint).


democrat

From French démocrate, from démocratie (modelled on aristocrate (“aristocrat”)), equivalent to demo- + -crat.

(US, historical) A large light uncovered wagon with two or more seats.


crosswalk

(US) A point designated for pedestrians to cross a street.

yayaq keçidi

place where pedestrians can cross a street


bach

en-verb

bach (third-person singular simple present baches, present participle baching, simple past and past participle bached)

baches (present singular third-person)
baching (participle present)
bached (participle past)
bached (past)

The New York Times
The New York Times Company

(US) To live apart from women, as during the period when a divorce is in progress.


tool

From Middle English tool, tol, from Old English tōl (“tool, implement, instrument”, literally “that with which one prepares something”), perhaps borrowed from Old Norse tól, but at any rate ultimately from Proto-Germanic *tōlą (“that which is used in preparation, tool”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- (“to tie to, secure”), equivalent to taw (“to prepare”) + -le (agent suffix). Cognate with Scots tuil (“tool, implement, instrument, device”), Icelandic tól (“tool”), Faroese tól (“tool, instrument”). Related to Old English tāwian (“to make, prepare, or cultivate”); see taw, and tow ("fibres used for spinning").

mjet

mechanical device intended to make a task easier

In my city keep a tool
Lil nigga you know the rules

2019 January 2, Burna Bandz (lyrics and music), “Goons” (track 13), in Compact Burna:

(slang, Canada, US, MTE, MLE, and possibly wider) A handgun.


hook

en-verb

hook (third-person singular simple present hooks, present participle hooking, simple past and past participle hooked)

hooks (present singular third-person)
hooking (participle present)
hooked (participle past)
hooked (past)

sometimes in Northern England and Ireland, otherwise obsolete

From Middle English hoke, from Old English hōc, from Proto-West Germanic *hōk, from Proto-Germanic *hōkaz, variant of *hakô (“hook”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kog-, *keg-, *keng- (“peg, hook, claw”).
Cognates
Compare West Frisian heak, Dutch haak (“hook”)) (compare West Frisian/Dutch hoek (“hook, angle, corner”), Low German Hook, Huuk); also related to hake.


bill

→ Swahili: bili

→ Thai: บิล (bin)

→ Tokelauan: pili

→ Jamaican Creole: bills

From Middle English bille, from Anglo-Norman bille, from Old French bulle, from Medieval Latin bulla (“seal, sealed document”). Doublet of bull (“papal bull; bubble”) and bulla.

dbt

l-vocalizing: UK, General Australian, New Zealand

He gave the change for a three dollar bill. Upon examination, the bill proved to be counterfeit.

1830, anonymous author, The Galaxy of Wit: Or, Laughing Philosopher, Being a Collection of Choice Anecdotes, Many of Which Originated in or about "The Literary Emporium":

[…]So I wropped 'em up in a five dollar bill and tied 'em up and sent 'em, and they ain't back yet.”

1935, Cabins in the Laurel, University of North Carolina Press, published 19 March 2014, →ISBN, page 231:

I ran into the Devil, babe, he loaned me 20 bills.

1970, “Friend of the Devil”, performed by Grateful Dead:

(US, Canada) A piece of paper money; a banknote.

There was no excuse, simply no excuse for not making four or five bills a week. A little initiative, that's all.

1954, Budd Schulberg, On the Waterfront, Random House, page 25:

All we got from her was Stranahan's location, and barely that. A house in the bay, she said. A house with a windmill. Easiest five bills that woman ever made.

1989, Carl Hiaasen, Skin Tight, Penguin Group, →ISBN, page 113:

(slang, Canada, US) One hundred dollars.

A piece of paper money; a banknote.
One hundred dollars.


quintillion

Previous: quadrillion. Next: sextillion.

Previous: quadrilliard. Next: quintilliard.

Last week, we used[…]the BBC News website's biggest number: 9,223,372,036,854,775,808, that's 9.2 quintillion[…][the maximum video viewer count on YouTube's] updated counter software.

2014, “Small Data: Those big numbers keep on coming”, in BBC News Magazine Monitor, BBC:

“I’m not sure I understand why we have to send a quadrillion-credit mission to another galaxy.”
He looked fleetingly amused. “Quintillion... and we don’t have a choice, Harper. Any of us, really, but humanity especially.”

2017 November, N. K. Jemisin, Mac Walters, chapter 1, in Mass Effect Andromeda: Initiation, 1st edition (Science Fiction), Titan Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 32:

You are currently logged on to the largest version of the internet that has ever existed. By clicking and scrolling, you’re one of the 5 billion–plus people contributing to an unfathomable array of networked information—quintillions of bytes produced each day.

2023 December 18, Charlie Warzel, “Nobody Knows What’s Happening Online Anymore”, in The Atlantic:

(US, modern British & Australian, short scale) A billion billion: 1 followed by eighteen zeros, 10¹⁸.

modern British & Australian; short scale; modern British & Australian; short scale

կվինտիլիոն

a billion billion, 1018 — see also trillion


real

UK

US

From Middle English real, from Old French reel, from Late Latin reālis (“actual”), from Latin rēs (“matter, thing”), from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁ís (“wealth, goods”). Doublet of realis.

der

When I told him the truth, he got real mad.


labor

en-noun

labor (countable and uncountable, plural labors)

(chiefly US) Alternative spelling of labour


labor

en-verb

labor (third-person singular simple present labors, present participle laboring, simple past and past participle labored)

labors (present singular third-person)
laboring (participle present)
labored (participle past)
labored (past)
labour (alternative)


recycle

recycle (third-person singular simple present recycles, present participle recycling, simple past and past participle recycled)

recycles (present singular third-person)
recycling (participle present)
recycled (participle past)
recycled (past)

→ Dutch: recyclen

→ German: recyceln, recyclen

[ˌɹiːˈsaɪkɫ̩]

/ˌɹɪˈsaɪkəl/

[ˌɹɪ̝ˈsaɪkɫ̩]

[ɹɪˈsəi̯k(ə)ɫ]

Recruits cannot fail this portion of their training and become a Marine. Anyone who fails may be “recycled” through training up to three more times to try again, but will be sent home if success in this program is not achieved.

2006, Barbara Schading, Richard Schading, A Civilian's Guide to the U.S. Military, page 102:

(US, military, transitive) To put (a person) through a course of training again.


trash

en-noun

trash (countable and uncountable, plural trashes)

From Middle English trasch, trassh, probably a dialectal form of *trass (compare Orkney truss, English dialectal trous), from Old Norse tros (“rubbish, fallen leaves and twigs”). Compare Norwegian trask (“lumber, trash, baggage”), Swedish trasa (“rag, cloth, worthless fellow”), Swedish trås (“dry fallen twigs, wood-waste”). Compare also Old English þreax (“rottenness, rubbish”).

cog

one man's trash is another man's treasure

A haunch of venison would be trash to a Brahmin.

1828, Walter Savage Landor, “Robert Southey and Porson”, in Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and Statesmen, volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:

(chiefly Canada, US) Useless physical things to be discarded; rubbish; refuse.

refuse

(chiefly Canada, US, metonymically) A container into which things are discarded.

When your life is trash, you don't have much to lose.

(chiefly Canada, US, figurative) Something worthless or of poor quality.

(chiefly Canada, US, slang, derogatory) People of low social status or class. (See, for example, white trash or Eurotrash.)

Near-synonyms: stan; see also Thesaurus:fan

I am Harry Potter trash.

(chiefly Canada, US, fandom slang, humorous, uncountable) A fan who is excessively obsessed with their fandom and its fanworks.


trash

en-verb

trash (third-person singular simple present trashes, present participle trashing, simple past and past participle trashed)

trashes (present singular third-person)
trashing (participle present)
trashed (participle past)
trashed (past)

Fatcat also fails to warn you that unformatting will trash any files copied to the unintentionally formatted disk.

The burglars trashed the house.


googolplex

googolplexes (plural)
googleplex (alternative)

Columbia University
Edward Kasner
Mathematics and the Imagination

From googol + -plex, coined by American mathematician Milton Sirotta in 1920 who was then the young nephew of mathematician Edward Kasner. First published and defined in the book Mathematics and the Imagination (1940).

coin

To a mathematician, a googolplex is the figure 1 followed by a googol of zeroes (a googol being the figure 1 followed by a mere 100 zeroes). To a real-estate man, it's one infinitesimal parcel of a plot of land.

1962, Newsweek: The International Newsmagazine, volume 60, New York, N.Y.: Newsweek LLC, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 54:

Competition among bidders eventually resulted in the discovery of the "Googolplex," a quantity supposedly as near to nothing as possible—one over one with countless zeros [as the size of the portion of land the bidder would accept as security for a tax lien]. This, however, was not the limit of minuteness. The "Googolplex of a Googolplex," or "Gee Gee" for short, became the common bid in the sale of City of Miami tax certificates. There has apparently been no authoritative determination of the effect of an outstanding Miami tax certificate […]

1976, Ralph E. Boyer, Florida Real Estate Transactions, New York, N.Y.: Matthew Bender & Co., →OCLC, pages 930–931:

(US, real estate, nonstandard, rare) An infinitesimally small portion of land, defined for legal purposes.


pop

en-noun

pop (countable and uncountable, plural pops)

From Middle English pop, poppe (“a blow; strike; buffet”) (> Middle English poppen (“to strike; thrust”, verb)), of onomatopoeic origin – used to describe the sound, or short, sharp actions. The physics sense is part of a facetious sequence "snap, crackle, pop", after the mascots of Rice Krispies cereal.

cog

Immature peanuts, called "pops," are often included when the peanuts are boiled at home […]

1986, Mid-America Folklore, volume 14, page 6:

If the peanuts weren't yet mature, boiling them would make the tiny nuts—or “pops,” as they're called at that immature stage—swell up and become more filling.

2013, Becky Billingsley, A Culinary History of Myrtle Beach & the Grand Strand:

(US, mostly in plural) A small, immature peanut, boiled as a snack.


sextillion

From sext- (“six”) + -illion; originally the sixth power of a million, 10³⁶.

Previous: quintillion. Next: septillion.

(US, British, Australia, short scale) A trillion billion: 1 followed by 21 zeros, 10²¹.

հազար եռիլիոն

a trillion billion, 1021 — see also trilliard

a long scale thousand trillion (trilliard)


way

ways (plural)
waye (alternative)
waie (alternative)

From Middle English way, wey, from Old English weġ, from Proto-West Germanic *weg, from Proto-Germanic *wegaz, from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-. Doublet of voe and possibly via.

don't let the door hit you on the way out

his driveway doesn't go all the way to the road

one's elevator doesn't go all the way to the top

someone's driveway doesn't go all the way to the road

the real treasure is the friends we made along the way

there's more than one way to cook an egg

there's more than one way to crack an egg

there's more than one way to peel an orange

the way to a man's heart is through his stomach

you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows

Way to ruin the moment, guys.

Jimmy leaned forward holding his ear, the personification of naïveté, looking as young as a baby with his oh-so-innocent face. “Oh, way to get us busted, Jimmy,” Curt hissed under his breath.

2001, Joshua Nedelman, The Garden of Eastern, page 36:

Oh, way to start a rumor, Hope. Angel glared the silent statement at her sister.

2009, Linda Winfree, Fall in Me, page 165:

"Oh, way to care about how I feel." His voice took on an exaggerated “Valley Girl” tone.

(US, As the head of an interjectory clause, followed by an infinitive starting with “to”) Acknowledges that a task has been done well, chiefly in expressions of sarcastic congratulation.

As the head of an interjectory clause; followed by an infinitive starting with “to”; As the head of an interjectory clause; followed by an infinitive starting with “to”


slash

Originally a verb of uncertain etymology. Possibly from French esclachier (“to break”). Used in the Wycliffe Bible as slascht (see 1 Kings 5:18) but otherwise unattested until 16th century. Conjunctive use from various applications of the punctuation mark ⟨/⟩. See also slash fiction.

We passed over the shoulder of a ridge and around the edge of a fire slash, and then we had the mountain fairly before us.

1895, Henry Van Dyke, Little Rivers: A Book of Essays in Profitable Idleness:

(US and Canada) A clearing in a forest, particularly one made by logging, fire, or other violent action.

Initial inquiries among professional typists uncover names like slant, slant line, slash, and slash mark. Examination of typing instruction manuals discloses additional names such as diagonal and diagonal mark, and other sources provide the designation oblique.

1965, Dmitri A. Borgmann, Language on Vacation, page 240:

(originally US, typography) The slash mark: the punctuation mark ⟨/⟩.

(often proscribed) Any similar typographical mark, such as the backslash ⟨\⟩.

Slash generated during logging may constitute a fire hazard.

(US and Canada) The loose woody debris remaining from a slash; the trimmings left while preparing felled trees for removal.


slash

en-verb

slash (third-person singular simple present slashes, present participle slashing, simple past and past participle slashed)

slashes (present singular third-person)
slashing (participle present)
slashed (participle past)
slashed (past)

The province's traditional slash-and-burn agriculture was only sustainable with a much smaller population.

(US, Canada) To clear land, (particularly forestry) with violent action such as logging or brushfires or (agriculture, uncommon) through grazing.


slash

Saul Hudson is a famous musician/songwriter.

What this, the Slashie, means is that you consider me the best actor slash model and not the other way around.

2001, Drake Sather, Ben Stiller, John Hamburg, Zoolander, spoken by Fabio Lanzoni:

“It’s been a joke-slash-tragedy,” the restaurant host, 29, said of the president’s tumultuous far-right administration as she cast her vote against him in her country’s most important election in decades.

2022 October 2, Tom Phillips, “‘A day of hope’: Lula fans eager to see Bolsonaro defeated”, in The Guardian:

(Canada, US) Used to connect two or more identities in a list.

Alternatives can be marked by the slash/stroke/solidus punctuation mark, a tall, right-slanting oblique line.
Read: Alternatives can be marked by the slash-slash-stroke-slash-solidus punctuation mark, a tall, right-slanting oblique line.


slash

Uncertain. Compare British dialectal slashy (“wet and dirty, miry”) and Scots slash (“act of walking forcefully through water or mud”) and slatch (“wet and muddy place, mire”). Perhaps related to Swedish slask (“slush”).
Compare also slash (“clearing in a forest”): in many cases it is difficult to tell whether that sense or this one is meant. (Also compare flash (“a marsh; a pool of water”).)

m+

On the North side of one of ye Windings of a great Slash or Swamp called ye Roundabout.

1687, Colonial Virginia Patents 7, page 590, quoted in 1940, George Davis McJimsey, Topographic Terms in Virginia, page 120

three acres one Rood and Six pole of Land … Extending Northward along the Ditch thirty six poles and two fifths of a pole to a slash called Pitch and Tar Slash or Swamp[,] then along that Slash till it come to the Main Cart road westward …

1694, Edmond Andros, Isabella Mackland, colonial Virginia record (granting land to Robert Beverly), quoted in 1988, Beverley Fleet, Virginia Colonial Abstracts, page 318

720 acres "lying in the Forrest between Rappahannock and Mattapony river". Adjoins Goldman's land, the line of Robins by and old Indian path in a slash, the land of Majr Robert Beverley, deceased.

1694 October 26, colonial Virginia record (regarding Capt. Richard Halle of the County of Essex)m quoted in 1988, Beverley Fleet, Virginia Colonial Abstracts, page 406

Thence . . . to two small pines by a Slash or Sunken ground. . . . Thence . . . to two white oaks by a slash in lowground.

1714, Colonial Virginia Patents 10, pages 153, 168, quoted in 1940, George Davis McJimsey, Topographic Terms in Virginia, page 121

Beginning at the North side of a Slash incomposeing Long …

1715, Colonial Virginia Patents 10, 247, quoted in 1940, George Davis McJimsey, Topographic Terms in Virginia, page 121

80 acres in Amelia Co., in the fork betw Persimmon Slash and the Gulley[.]

1747 September, John Garrott, Virginia deed (of Amelia County, Deed Book 2, page 542) quoted in 1988, Beverley Fleet, Virginia Colonial Abstracts, page 459

[…] second growth long-leaf yellow slash. And also we have a short-leaf pine.

1932, Mr. Yon, statement regarding a waterway from Choctawhatchee Bay to West Bay, Florida, printed in the Hearings of the United States House Committee on Rivers and Harbors (1932), page 8

Slash pine (Pinus caribaea Morelet) / Slash pine is also known as yellow slash, swamp pine, hill slash, and Cuban pine.]

[1935, Miscellaneous Publication, issue 209, page 15

(eastern US, uncommon) A slash pine, which grows in such (swampy) areas.


snowball

From Middle English snoweball, snoweballe, snaweballe, snayballe, equivalent to snow + ball. Cognate with Scots snawbaw, German Schneeball, Luxembourgish Schnéiball, Dutch sneeuwbal, Afrikaans sneeubal, Limburgish snieëbal, West Frisian sniebal, Saterland Frisian Sneebaal, Sneebal, Swedish snöboll, Elfdalian sniųoboll, Danish snebold, Norwegian Bokmål snøball, Norwegian Nynorsk snøball and Icelandic snjóbolti.


rock

en-noun

rock (countable and uncountable, plural rocks)

From Middle English rocke, rokke (“rock formation”), from Old English *rocc (“rock”), as in Old English stānrocc (“high stone rock, peak, obelisk”), and also later from Anglo-Norman roque, (compare Modern French roc, roche, rocher), from Medieval Latin rocca (attested 767), of uncertain origin, sometimes said to be of Celtic (in particular, perhaps Gaulish) origin (compare Breton roc'h). Related also to Middle Low German rocke (“rock ledge”). One suggestion is that it derives from Vulgar Latin *rupica, from rupes (compare rupico).

rockcress

Brassicaceae: Arabis, Arabidopsis, Boechera spp.

Some fool has thrown a rock through my window.

(chiefly UK, Ireland) A boulder or large stone; or (US, Canada) a smaller stone; a pebble.

I ain't guilty, ‘cause even though I sell rocks / It feels good puttin' money in your mailbox

1995, “Dear Mama”, in Me Against the World, performed by 2Pac:

When I necked five-quid bottles of vodka, I did not read the label. When I scored rocks and bags off tumbleweed hobos blowing through the no-man's-land of Hackney estates, I conducted no litmus test.

2014, Russell Brand, “Prologue”, in Revolution, →ISBN, page xiii:

(US, slang) A crystallized lump of crack cocaine.

(US, slang) An unintelligent person, especially one who repeats mistakes.

(US poker slang) An extremely conservative player who is willing to play only the very strongest hands.

Yo homie, pass the rock!

It [the original Space Jam limped to 88 minutes with detours into Jordan’s swanky mansion and forced its cartoon cavalry to compete for screen time against Wayne Knight and a bunch of basketball players who delivered their lines much less confidently than they put the rock through the net.

2021 July 14, A. A. Dowd, “Space Jam: A New Legacy is one big, witless commercial for Warner Bros. properties”, in The A.V. Club:

Now, you should never make the last out of an inning at third, and when a player does it, everyone knows he pulled a rock.

2014, Joe Morgan, Richard Lally, Baseball For Dummies, page 227:


brash

en-adj

brash (comparative brasher or more brash, superlative brashest or most brash)

brasher (comparative)
more brash (comparative)
brashest (superlative)
most brash (superlative)

Compare American English bresk, brusk (“fragile, brittle”).

Hickory axles […] all cut from tough butt logs. Brash timber is excluded.

1886, The Lumberman's Hand Book, page 24:

Brash wood, when tested in bending, breaks with a short, sharp fracture instead of developing a splintering failure and absorbs a comparatively small amount of work between the elastic limit and final failure

1919, Forest Products Laboratory, Wood in Aircraft Construction:

[…] brash timber, which is liable to snap; […]

2000, Jean-Nicolas-Louis Durand, Précis of the Lectures on Architecture (page 94)

(US, colloquial, dated) Brittle (said e.g. of wood or vegetables).


lunch

en-noun

lunch (countable and uncountable, plural lunches)

→ Bengali: লাঞ্চ (lanco)

→ Cantonese: lunch

→ Dutch: lunch

→ French: lunch

→ German: Lunch

→ Japanese: ランチ (ranchi)

→ Korean: 런치 (reonchi)

→ Norwegian Bokmål: lunsj

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: lunsj

→ Polish: lunch

→ Portuguese: lanche

→ Russian: ланч (lanč), ленч (lenč)

→ Spanish: lonche

→ Swedish: lunch

→ Ukrainian: ланч (lanč)

→ Yiddish: לאָנטש (lontsh)

Recorded since 1580 in the sense “piece, hunk”. The word luncheon with the same meaning is presumably an extension on the pattern of puncheon (“cask”) and truncheon (“cudgel”). But earliest found forms include lunshin and lunching, which are equivalent to lunch + -ing, with the suffix -ing possibly later modified to imitate a French origin.
The sense “light meal” is first attested for luncheon in 1652 and for lunch in 1829, so in this sense the latter is probably a shortening of the former.
Lunch is possibly a derivative of lump (as hunch is from hump. See hunch for more), or represents an alteration of nuncheon, from Middle English nonechenche (“light midday meal”) (see nuncheon) and altered by northern English dialect lunch (“hunk of bread or cheese”) (1590), which perhaps is from lump or from Spanish lonja (“a slice”, literally “loin”).

cog

there ain't no such thing as a free lunch

After the funeral there was a lunch for those who didn't go to the cemetery.

(Minnesota, US) Any small meal, especially one eaten at a social gathering.


college

colleges (plural)
colledg (alternative)
colledge (alternative)

⇒ Bengali: কলেজ (kolej)

→ Finnish: college

⇒ Hindustani:

desc

Hindi: कालिज (kālij), कॉलेज (kŏlej), कालेज (kālej)

Urdu: کالِج (kālij)

→ Russian: ко́лледж (kólledž), колле́дж (kollédž)

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: ко̀леџ

Latin script: kòledž

→ Slovene: koledž

→ Ukrainian: ко́ле́дж (kólédž)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-?
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm
Proto-Italic *kom
Old Latin com
Latin cum
Latin con-
Latin lēx
Latin -ō
Latin lēgō
Latin collēga
Proto-Indo-European *-yōs
Proto-Italic *-jōs
Old Latin -ios
Latin -ius
Latin -ium
Latin collēgiumbor.
Old French college
Middle French collegebor.
Middle English college
English college
From Middle English college, from Middle French college, from Old French college, from Latin collēgium. Doublet of collegium.

大專 /大专

postsecondary institution that does not award bachelor's degrees

مَعْهَد

non-specialized, semi-autonomous division of a university

She's still in college

These should be his college years, but he joined the Army.

(chiefly US) An institution of higher education teaching undergraduates.

колле́ж

somewhat dated or French/Belgian context

opiskelu

attendance at an institution of higher education


public school

public schools (plural)
public-school (alternative)

From public (originally, "communal" and contrasted with personal tutors; later, "state-run" and contrasted with private schools) + school.

The Court voted for the erecting a Publick Schooll or Colledge in Cambridge.

1636, Harvard College Records, published 1925, I.171:

The Governor and Provincial Council shall erect and order all public Schooles.

1683, Pennsylvania Frame of Government, §10:

By Act of Parliament no school is to be kept within two miles of a publick school.

1702, Henry Paton, Minnigaff Parish Records: the Session Book of Minnigaff, 1694-1750, published 1939:

A subscription... by a great part of the settlers and others to build a Public School at the Green Hills.

1804 August 12, Sydney Gazette, section 1:

Hardly anywhere in France... can the private boys' schools, whether they be lay or congreganist, hold their own in the competition with the public schools.

1861, Matthew Arnold, The Popular Education of France, with Notices of that of Holland and Switzerland, x.105:

Every school under the management of the school board of a parish shall be deemed a parish school, and every school under the management of the school board of a burgh shall be deemed a burgh school, and all such schools are hereby declared to be public schools within the meaning of this Act.

1872, Acts of Parliament 35 & 36 under Victoria (Scotland), c.62, §25

Public Schools... are distinguished from those which until recently were entitled Grammar Schools.

As to the two races involved in this question of public schools the difference is this: the negroes do not wish mixed schools; the white people will not have them.

If our public schools fail to furnish an education fully as good as can be obtained in private schools, intelligent, conscientious, and well-to-do parents will withdraw their children.

Public Schools. Course of Instruction... Class III. To include at least reading, writing, arithmetic, outlines of history and geography, and lessons on natural objects.

1904, Cape of Good Hope C.S. List, section 267:

The term ‘public school’ has a different connotation in New Zealand. It implies the Borough or County school; the school provided by the State.

1932, Nelle Scanlan, Pencarrow, section 256:

(Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Philippines, formerly Scottish) A publicly funded and administered school; (UK, Ireland) such schools in the context of other countries


vodka

en-noun

vodka (countable and uncountable, plural vodkas)

vodkas (plural)
vodki (alternative)
vodky (alternative)

→ Cebuano: bodka

→ Welsh: fodca

From Russian во́дка (vódka), from вода́ (vodá, “water”) + -ка (-ka, “-let: forming diminutives”). The archaic Russian name for vodka was хле́бное вино́ (xlébnoje vinó, “grain wine”); V. Pokhlyobkin's research suggests the present name derived from expressions concerning the dilution of the initial pure distilled spirit such as "vodka of grain wine".
Cognates include Sanskrit उदक (udaka), Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr) → English hydro-, English whisky and English water.

standards of identity
standard of identity

(US standards of identity) Neutral spirits distilled (or treated after distillation) so as to have no distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color.


octillion

一極 /一极

a trillion quintillion, 1048 — see also quindecillion

Altogether it takes seven billion billion billion (that’s 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, or seven octillion) atoms to make you.

2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Black Swan (2020), pages 5–6:

(US, modern British and Australia, short scale) A thousand trillion trillion, a billion billion billion: 1 followed by 27 zeros, 10²⁷.


side

side (countable and uncountable, plural sides)

From Middle English side, from Old English sīde (“side, flank”), from Proto-Germanic *sīdǭ (“side, flank, edge, shore”), from Proto-Indo-European *sēy- (“to send, throw, drop, sow, deposit”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Siede (“side”), West Frisian side (“side”), Dutch zijde, zij (“side”), German Low German Sied (“side”), German Seite (“side”), Danish and Norwegian side (“side”), Swedish sida (“side”).
The LGBTQ slang sense was coined by sex therapist and author Joe Kort in 2010 and popularized in 2013. The sense was coined by analogy with top and bottom and based on the metaphor of a box which has a top, bottom, and sides.

coinage

know which side one's bread is buttered on

laugh out of the other side of one's mouth

not be able to hit the broad side of a barn

the apples on the other side of the wall are the sweetest

the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence

the grass is always greener on the other side of the road

Do you want a side of cole-slaw with that?

(US, Philippines, colloquial) A dish that accompanies the main course; a side dish.


switch

→ Gulf Arabic: سويچ (swīč)

→ German: Switch

Perhaps from Middle Dutch swijch (“twig”), first attested in c. 1592. The mechanical device for altering the direction of something sense is first attested in c. 1797, pertaining to pivoted rails on minecart railways, which were once wooden.

камута́тар

system allowing the interconnection of telephone lines

(rail transport, US, Philippines) A movable section of railroad track which allows the train to be directed down one of two destination tracks; (set of) points.


jibe

en-verb

jibe (third-person singular simple present jibes, present participle jibing, simple past and past participle jibed)

jibes (present singular third-person)
jibing (participle present)
jibed (participle past)
jibed (past)
gibe (alternative)
gybe (alternative)

Origin unknown; perhaps related to chime (“to cause to sound in harmony”).

unknown

Origin unknown

That explanation doesn’t jibe with the facts.

[T]here is something wrong with your figures. They do not jibe with experience. They do not jibe with prices. They do not jibe with what we know.

1926 May 13, Henry H. Glassie (witness), “Statement of Henry H. Glassie, Member of United States Tariff Commission”, in Investigation of the Tariff Commission: Hearings before the Select Committee on Investigation of the Tariff Commission, United States Senate, Sixty-ninth Congress, First Session […] Part 1 […], Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 529:

This did not jibe with the objectivist view that metaphor is of only peripheral interest in an account of meaning and truth and that it plays at best a marginal role in understanding.

1980, George Lakoff, Mark Johnson, chapter 27, in Metaphors We Live By:

(intransitive, Canada, US, informal) To accord or agree.


jibe

(nautical, now chiefly US) Alternative spelling of gybe


jibe

jibes (present singular third-person)
jibing (participle present)
jibed (participle past)
jibed (past)


LLC

In the context of LLC formation, your home state is the state where you originally registered (i.e., the domestic LLC). In general, LLCs are governed by the laws of their home states. So, for example, you can refer to your home state’s laws to resolve issues related to the internal affairs of your business.

2023 November 15, Kelsie Anderson, Jason Cother, Kristen Coates, “5 best states to form an LLC in 2024”, in CNN:

Limited Liability Company
limited liability company#English

(business, law, US) Initialism of Limited Liability Company.


real estate

Estate that is real, in the legal sense of "relating to immovable tangible property". This sense of the word ultimately goes back to Latin, where reālis could be used similarly.

They failed to find any investors for the construction of new real estate on the north side.

(US, Canada, Australia) Property that cannot easily be moved, usually buildings and the ground they are built on.


Americanize

en-verb

Americanize (third-person singular simple present Americanizes, present participle Americanizing, simple past and past participle Americanized)

Americanizes (present singular third-person)
Americanizing (participle present)
Americanized (participle past)
Americanized (past)
Americanise (alternative)

From American + -ize; first attested in 1797.

United States of America
United States of America

(US, Canada) To render American; to adapt to the custom, culture, or style of the United States of America.

(US, Canada) To localize a medium for sale or use in the United States.


proctor

proctors (plural)
proctour (alternative)

Inherited from Middle English procatour, contraction of procuratour; compare proxy. Doublet of procurator.

(Canada, US, Philippines) A person who supervises students as they take an examination, in the United States at the college/university level; often the department secretary, or a fellow/graduate student; an invigilator.


proctor

proctor (third-person singular simple present proctors, present participle proctoring, simple past and past participle proctored)

proctors (present singular third-person)
proctoring (participle present)
proctored (participle past)
proctored (past)
proctour (alternative)

(Canada, US, Philippines) to function as a proctor


Christmas

en-proper noun

Christmas (countable and uncountable, plural Christmases or Christmasses)

Christmases (plural)
Christmasses (plural)
Christmass (alternative)
Christmasse (alternative)
Xmas (alternative)
X-mas (alternative)
Xtmas (alternative)

→ Afrikaans: Krismis

desctree

→ Gilbertese: Kiritimati
→ English: Kiritimati

→ Golin: geresma

→ Hawaiian: Kalikimaka

desc

→ Hindi: क्रिसमस (krismas), क्रिस्मस (krismas)

→ Hopi: Kyesmis

→ Japanese: クリスマス (Kurisumasu)

→ Korean: 크리스마스 (Keuriseumaseu)

→ Maori: Kirihimete

→ Marshallese: Kūrijm̧ōj

→ Mon: ခရေတ်သမာတ်

→ Mon: ခရေတ်သမာတ်

→ Burmese: ခရစ္စမတ် (hka.racca.mat)

→ Spanish: Crismes

→ Swahili: Krismasi

The proper noun is derived from Middle English Cristemasse, Criste-mas (“Christmas Day; season of Christmas; Christmas festivities”) [and other forms], from Old English Cristes mæsse (“Christmas”, literally “Christ’s mass”), from Crist (“Christ”) + -es (possessive marker) + mæsse (“a mass (celebration of the Eucharist)”). The English word is analysable as Christ + -mas (suffix denoting a holiday or sacred day). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Kristmisse (“Christmas”), West Frisian Krystmis (“Christmas”), Dutch Kerstmis (“Christmas”), German Low German Karstmis (“Christmas”).
The noun, adjective, and verb are derived from the proper noun.
Adjective sense 1 (“red and green in color”) refers to these colors being traditionally associated with Christmas.

cog

A number of places in the United States:

An uninhabited mining community in Gila County, Arizona.

census-designated place
census-designated place

A census-designated place in Orange County, Florida.

An unincorporated community in Au Train Township, Alger County, Michigan.

An unincorporated community in Bolivar County, Mississippi


apothecary

apothecaries (plural)
apothecarie (alternative)
appothecarie (alternative)
apothicarie (alternative)
apoticary (alternative)
ypothecar (alternative)
ypothegar (alternative)
pothecary (alternative)
potycary (alternative)
potycarye (alternative)
poticary (alternative)
poticarie (alternative)
pottecary (alternative)
potticary (alternative)

desc

அப்போதிக்கரி

→ Tamil: அப்போதிக்கரி (appōtikkari)

/əˈpɒθəkəɹi/

/əˈpɑθəˌkɛəɹi/

From Old French apotecaire (whence French apothicaire), from Medieval Latin apothecarius (“storekeeper”), from Latin apotheca (“(originally) repository, storehouse, warehouse; (later) shop, store”), from Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (apothḗkē, “a repository, storehouse”), from ἀπό (apó, “away”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put”), literally “a place where things are put away”. Doublet of boutique and bodega.

af

[T]he poticaries and barbarus wryters call it [the iris] Irios in the genetiue caſe.

1562, Wylliam Turner [i.e., William Turner], “Of the Herbe Called in Latin Irio”, in The Second Parte of Guilliam Turners Herball⸝ […], Cologne: […] Arnold Birckman, →OCLC, folio 23, recto:

O true Appothecarie! / Thy drugs are quicke. Thus with a kiſſe I die.

c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 75, column 2:

The girls, though their illness was long and dangerous, recovered under Mrs. Palmer's care, who watched over them as if they had been her own; and from that time an affection, as valuable as it was pleasant, sprang up between them. When Lady Anne returned, she called, and talked about every thing but the apothecary's bill.

1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter V, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 62:

It amused me to see the bustle and the life in the apothecary's shop across the street.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 2:

(archaic in US, dated in UK) Synonym of pharmacist: a person who sells medicine, especially (historical) one who made and sold their own medicines in the medieval or early modern eras.


libertarian

libertarians (plural)
Libertarian (alternative)

/ˌlɪb.əˈtɛə.ɹɪ.ən/

Foundation for Economic Education
Joseph Déjacque
Leonard Read
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
William Belsham
lois scélérates

The noun is derived from liber(ty) + -arian (suffix denoting an advocate of or believer in something). The adjective is derived from the noun.
sense development
The word was first attested in English in 1789 in William Belsham’s Essays: see the quotation. This was contrasted with necessitarian, in the context of free will, and was not used in the more frequently encountered modern sense.
Compare French libertaire (“person with extreme left-wing beliefs, anarchist”), from liberté (“freedom”) + -aire (suffix forming nouns). Libertaire is derived from Latin libertas. The French word was first attested in a May 1857 letter by the French anarcho-communist Joseph Déjacque (1821–1865) to the anarchist philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809–1865), reading: “Anarchiste juste-milieu, libéral et non LIBERTAIRE [A centrist anarchist, liberal and not LIBERTARIAN] […]”. It was popularized as a euphemism for anarchiste in the 1890s, following the French lois scélérates (literally “villainous laws”) under which anarchist publications were banned.
Sense 3.2 (“believer in right-libertarianism”) developed in the United States in the 1940s and was popularized in the 1950s. In the 1940s, Leonard Read (1898–1983), the founder of the Foundation for Economic Education, a free-market think tank, began calling himself “libertarian” in contrast with a “classical liberal”. In 1955, Dean Russell also promoted the use of the word, writing: “Let those of us who love liberty trade-mark and reserve for our own use the good and honorable word ‘libertarian’.”

cog

(politics) One who advocates libertarianism (“a political philosophy maintaining that all persons are the absolute owners of their own lives, and should be free to do whatever they wish with their persons or property, provided they allow others that same liberty”); also, a member of a political party supporting libertarianism.

(chiefly US) A believer in right-libertarianism, a political doctrine that emphasizes individual liberty and a lack of governmental intervention, oversight, and regulation, both in economic matters (that is, a belief in the free market) and in personal behaviour provided that no one's rights are threatened or violated.


libertarian

en-adj

libertarian (comparative more libertarian, superlative most libertarian)

more libertarian (comparative)
most libertarian (superlative)
Libertarian (alternative)

/ˌlɪb.əˈtɛə.ɹɪ.ən/

a libertarian capitalist

For a long time, libertarian was interchangeable in France with anarchist but in recent years, its meaning has become more ambivalent. Some anarchists like David Guérin will call themselves ‘libertarian socialists’, partly to avoid the negative overtones still associated with anarchism, and partly to stress the place of anarchism with the socialist tradition. Even Marxists of the New Left like E[dward] P[almer] Thompson call themselves ‘libertarian’ to distinguish themselves from those authoritarian socialists and communists who believe in revolutionary dictatorship and vanguard parties.

1991, Peter H[ugh] Marshall, “The Relevance of Anarchism”, in Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism, London: Harper Perennial, published 2008, →ISBN, part 7 (The Legacy of Anarchism), page 641:

Rand Paul's presidential campaign has drafted in his father, libertarian icon Ron Paul, to directly attack Republican rival Ted Cruz in a robocall in Iowa, the first time the former presidential candidate has gone on the offensive on his son’s behalf.

2016 January 13, Ben Jacobs, “Ron Paul criticizes Cruz's absence from Fed vote in support of son's campaign”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-04-27:

Anonymous activities have over the years leaned incoherently to the libertarian left and right, and everything in between, singling out everyone from Justin Bieber fans to feminists, fascists, cybersecurity specialists, and engaged in the kind of pervert-exposing vigilantism that blue-collar tabloid readers have long been mocked for.

2017, Angela Nagle, “The Leaderless Digital Counter-revolution”, in Kill All Normies: The Online Culture Wars from Tumblr and 4chan to the Alt-right and Trump, Alresford, Hampshire: Zero Books, John Hunt Publishing, →ISBN, page 13:

(originally US, politics) Relating to, or advocating, libertarianism; also, relating to a political party supporting libertarianism.

自由的

relating to, or advocating, libertarianism; relating to a political party supporting libertarianism


MEP

Mars Exploration Program
w:Mars Exploration Program

(astronomy, NASA, US) Initialism of Mars Exploration Program.


bang

From Middle English *bangen, from Old English *bangian or borrowed from Old Norse banga (“to pound, hammer”); both from Proto-Germanic *bangōną (“to beat, pound”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰen- (“to beat, hit, injure”). Cognate with Scots bang, bung (“to strike, bang, hurl, thrash, offend”), Icelandic banga (“to pound, hammer”), Old Swedish bånga ("to hammer"; whence modern Swedish banka (“to knock, pound, bang”)), Danish banke (“to beat”), bengel (“club”), Low German bangen, bangeln (“to strike, beat”), West Frisian bingel, bongel, Dutch bengel (“bell; rascal”), German Bengel (“club”), bungen (“to throb, pulsate”).
In the sense of a fringe of hair, from bang off.
In the sense of abrupt left turn, from Boston left and associated risk of a crash.

gl

"to hammer"; whence modern Swedish <i class="Latn mention" lang="sv">banka</i> (“to knock, pound, bang”)

Audio (US)

Tiffany has long hair and bangs.

his hair cut in front like a young lady's bang

1880, William Dean Howells, The Undiscovered Country:

She was not much to look at. Her red hair hung in an uncurled bang over her forehead

1902, Barbara Baynton, Squeaker's Mate; reprinted in Carmel Bird, editor, The Penguin Century of Australian Stories, 2000, →ISBN:

(US, archaic) Synonym of bangs: hair hanging over the forehead, especially a hairstyle with such hair cut straight across.

bangs

An e-mail address with an ! is called a bang path.

Incidentally, a useful abbreviation for "Exclamation point" is "Bang."

1980, C.W. Wilkinson, Peter H. Clarke, Dorothy C.M. Wilkinson, Communicating through Letters and Reports, 7th edition, page 651:

(chiefly US) The symbol !, known as an exclamation point.

(slang, US, Boston area) An abrupt left turn.


bang

en-verb

bang (third-person singular simple present bangs, present participle banging, simple past and past participle banged)

bangs (present singular third-person)
banging (participle present)
banged (participle past)
banged (past)
bang (infinitive)
bangue (alternative)

Audio (US)

You know I still bang.

(US, slang) Shortened form of gangbang, to participate in street gang criminal activity.


shit on a shingle

(US, military, slang, vulgar) Creamed chipped beef on toast.


movie

→ Bengali: মুভী (mubhi), মুভি (mubhi)

→ Hindi: मूवी (mūvī)

→ Japanese: ムービー (mūbī)

→ Korean: 무비 (mubi)

desc

→ Urdu: مُووِی (mūvī)

→ Urdu: مُووِی (mūvī)

→ Yiddish: מוּווי (muvi)

From moving (picture) + -ie. Attested since at least 1912 (if not 1908), originally in American English.

(chiefly Canada, US, Australia) A recorded sequence of images displayed on a screen at a rate sufficiently fast to create the appearance of motion; a film.

Let's go to the movies.

(usually in the plural, chiefly Canada, US, Australia) A cinema; a movie theatre.


lemonade

en-noun

lemonade (countable and uncountable, plural lemonades)

→ Japanese: レモネード (remonēdo)

→ Korean: 레모네이드 (remoneideu)

→ Welsh: lemonêd

From French limonade, equivalent to lemon + -ade.

നാരങ്ങാവെള്ളം

nāraṅṅāveḷḷaṁ

(US, Canada, India, Philippines) A flavoured beverage consisting of water, lemon, and sweetener, sometimes ice, served mainly as a refreshment.


mail

mail (countable and uncountable, plural mails)

→ Japanese: メール

From Middle English male, from Anglo-Norman male, Old French male (“bag, wallet”), from Frankish *malha (“bag”), from Proto-Germanic *malhō (“bag, pouch”), from Proto-Indo-European *molko- (“leather pouch”). Compare Dutch maal.

der

It should be in your mail today, unless the post office lost it!

en:physical material conveyed by the postal service

The (physical) material conveyed by the postal service.

(chiefly US, uncountable) The letters, parcels, etc. delivered to a particular address or person.


furnace

From Middle English forneys, from Old French fornais (French fournaise), from Latin fornāx.

հնոց

device for heating in a factory, melting metals, etc

there may be snow on the rooftop but there is fire in the furnace

HVAC services include furnace maintenance.

(US, Canada) A device that provides heat for a building.


Christmas tree

Christmas trees (plural)
Christmas's tree (alternative)
X-mas tree (alternative)
Xmas tree (alternative)

PIE word
 *dóru
[[File:Emoji u1f384.svg|thumb||200px|The emoji for Christmas tree: see the entry at 🎄.]]
From Christmas + tree, a calque of German Weynacht Baum (obsolete, 17th c.), Weihnachtsbaum, from Weynacht, Weihnacht (literary or poetic variant of Weihnachten (“Christmas”)) + -s- (genitive interfix) + Baum (“tree”). The custom of Christmas trees was adopted in the United Kingdom from Germany in the 19th century, having been popularized by their use by the royal family during the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901.
Sense 3 (“Christmas party”) refers to the fact that there is usually a Christmas tree (sense 1) at the event.

joulukuusi

something which resembles a Christmas tree in appearance or shape

The existing ramp, the part that the B-52 used, a great amount of it was out in the alert area, on what we call a christmas tree^([sic]) stub at the end of the runway, in a dispersed posture.

1968 May 1, Colonel Fenlon, witness, “Statement of Maj. Gen. G. H. Goddard, Director of Civil Engineering, U.S. Air Force—Resumed”, in Military Construction Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1969: Joint Hearings before the Subcommittees on Military Construction of the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate, Ninetieth Congress, Second Session on H.R. 18785, an Act Making Appropriations for Military Construction for the Department of Defense for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1969, and for Other Purposes […], Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 350:

At the eastern tip of the runway-taxiway lay the alert area for about nine aircraft, along with an alert building for the airmen to live. This area, called the "Christmas Tree" as a result of the Christmas tree shape of the runway pattern for alert aircraft, had compacted gravel base for concrete, but had not been paved.

1975, Robert Herman Kelting, The Great Bong Bungle, volume I (unpublished dissertation), Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin–Madison, →OCLC, page 21:

The current alert area consists of a "Christmas Tree" configuration with alert parking stubs angled at 45° off of a central taxiway.

1983 April 19, Norman G. Delbridge, Jr., witness, “Questions Submitted by Senator Strom Thurmond, Answers Supplied by Gen. Norman G. Delbridge, Jr., Assistant Chief of Engineers, Office of the Chief of Engineers, Department of the Army”, in Military Construction Authorization Fiscal Year 1984: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Military Construction of the Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate, Ninety-eighth Congress, First Session on S. 720, a Bill to Authorize Certain Construction at Military Installations for Fiscal Year 1984, and for Other Purposes […] (S. Hrg. 98-448), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 252:

(by extension) Something which resembles a Christmas tree (sense 1) in appearance (for example, in having coloured lights) or shape.

(US, aviation, historical) An alert area at an air base with aircraft parked in stubs arranged at a 45-degree angle to a central taxiway to enable them to move rapidly to a runway; these were constructed by the Strategic Air Command of the United States Air Force during the Cold War (generally 1947–1991).


gasoline

en-noun

gasoline (usually uncountable, plural gasolines)

gasolines (plural)
gasolene (alternative)

→ Japanese: ガソリン (gasorin)

→ Korean: 가솔린 (gasollin)

desctree

→ Spanish: gasolina
→ Bikol Central: gasolina
→ Cebuano: gasolina
→ Hiligaynon: gasolina
→ Tagalog: gasolina
→ Zoogocho Zapotec: gasolin

→ Wu: 隑斯林 /𬮿斯林 (⁶ge-sy-lin)

From Cazeline (possibly influenced by Gazeline, the name of an Irish copy), a brand of petroleum-derived lighting oil, from the surname of the man who first marketed it in 1862, John Cassell, and the suffix -eline. The name Cassell is from Anglo-Norman castel (cognate of English castle), from Old French castel, from Latin castellum, diminutive of castrum. The suffix -eline is from Ancient Greek ἔλαιον (élaion, “oil, olive oil”), from ἐλαία (elaía, “olive”). Gasolene is found from 1863, and gasoline from 1864.

der

[…] naphtha of specific gravity exceeding eighty degrees […] and of the kind usually known as gasoline, shall be subject to a tax of five per centum ad valorem.

1864, Congress of the United States, Internal Revenue Act §94:

So you punched out a window for ventilation. Was that before or after you noticed you were standing in a lake of gasoline?

Localities across New Jersey imposed curfews to prevent looting. In Monmouth, Ocean and other counties, people waited for hours for gasoline at the few stations that had electricity. Supermarket shelves were stripped bare.

2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, “New Jersey Continues to Cope with Hurricane Sandy”, in New York Times, retrieved 2012-10-31:

(uncountable, Canada, US, Philippines) A flammable liquid consisting of a mixture of refined petroleum hydrocarbons, mainly used as a motor fuel; petrol.


fruitcake

en-noun

fruitcake (countable and uncountable, plural fruitcakes)

fruitcakes (plural)
fruit-cake (alternative)
fruit cake (alternative)

From fruit + cake, first use appears c. 1687. Sense of a crazy person, c. 1952 (predated by nutty as a fruitcake, c. 1911-12).

(US, slang, colloquial, derogatory, dated) A homosexual male.


railroad

Jersey Dutch: railroad

Many railroads roughly follow the trace of older land - and/or water roads

(chiefly US, Philippines) A permanent track consisting of fixed metal rails to drive trains or similar motorized vehicles on.

(chiefly US) The transportation system comprising such tracks and vehicles fitted to travel on the rails, usually with several vehicles connected together in a train.

Railroads can only compete fully if their tracks are technically compatible with and linked to each-other

(chiefly US) A single, privately or publicly owned property comprising one or more such tracks and usually associated assets


bar

bar (countable and uncountable, plural bars)

→ Albanian: bar m

→ Arabic: بَار m (bār)

→ Armenian: բար (bar)

→ Bulgarian: бар (bar)

→ Burmese: ဘား (bha:)

→ Chichewa: bála

→ Cantonese: 吧 (baa¹)

→ Czech: bar m

→ Danish: bar c

→ Dutch: bar m

→ Esperanto: baro

→ Estonian: baar

→ French: bar m
→ Romanian: bar

→ Galician: bar m

→ Georgian: ბარი (bari)

→ German: Bar f

→ Greek: μπαρ n (bar)

→ Gulf Arabic: بار (bār)

→ Hebrew: בָּר (bar), בָּאר (bár)

→ Hungarian: bár (also via German)

→ Icelandic: bar m

→ Irish: beár m

→ Italian: bar m

→ Japanese: バー (bā)

→ Khmer: បារ (baa)

→ Korean: 바 (ba)

→ Lithuanian: bãras m

→ Macedonian: бар m (bar)

→ Malagasy: ba

→ Mandarin: 吧 (bā)

→ Norwegian:

Bokmål: bar m

Nynorsk: bar m

→ Persian: بار (bâr)

→ Polish: bar m

→ Portuguese: bar m

→ Russian: бар m (bar)

→ Serbo-Croatian: ба̑р m, bȃr m

→ Slovene: bȃr m

→ Spanish: bar m

→ Swahili: baa

→ Swedish: bar c (see there for further descendants)

→ Thai: บาร์ (baa)

→ Turkish: bar

→ Xhosa: íbhári

→ Zulu: ibha

From Middle English barre, from Old French barre (“beam, bar, gate, barrier”), from Vulgar Latin *barra, of uncertain origin. Doublet of barre.

der

He's studying hard to pass the Bar this time; he's failed it twice before.

(US, Philippines, law, usually with the) The bar exam, the legal licensing exam.


economy

en-noun

economy (countable and uncountable, plural economies)

economies (plural)
oeconomy (alternative)
œconomy (alternative)

From Middle English yconomye, yconomy, borrowed via Old French [Term?] or Medieval Latin from Latin oeconomia, from Ancient Greek οἰκονομία (oikonomía, “management of a household, administration”), from οἶκος (oîkos, “house”) + νέμω (némō, “distribute, allocate”). By surface analysis, eco- + -nomy. The first recorded sense of the word economy, found in a work possibly composed in 1440, is “the management of economic affairs”, in this case, of a monastery.

اِقْتِصاد

effective management of the resources of a community or system

(US) The part of a commercial passenger airplane or train reserved for those paying the lower standard fares; economy class.


economy

oeconomy (alternative)
œconomy (alternative)

Numerous web sites have tips on how to fly economy.

(US) In or via the part of a commercial passenger airplane reserved for those paying the lower standard fares.


nexus

en-noun

nexus (countable and uncountable, plural nexuses or nexusses or (rare) nexus)

nexuses (plural)
nexusses (plural)
nexus (plural rare)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-nexus.wav

From Latin nexus (“connection, nexus; act of binding, tying or fastening together; something which binds, binding, bond, fastening, joint; legal obligation”), from nectō (“to attach, bind, connect, fasten, tie; to interweave; to relate; to unite; to bind by obligation, make liable, oblige; to compose, contrive, devise, produce”) + -tus (suffix forming verbal nouns).

der

(Canada, US, finance, law) The relationship between a vendor and a jurisdiction for the purpose of taxation, established for example by the vendor operating a physical store in that jurisdiction.


zoo

Clipping of zoological garden or zoological park, now the usual form. See zoology. Sense 5: clipping of zoophile or zoophilia.

I'm not all that unhappy about being out on an actual patrol, but there's a worried feeling wandering around the back of my mind, not exactly fear, more like a sort of lurking anxiety at being out in the dreaded jungle, the zoo, where the enemy hides.

2013, E. E. "Doc" Murdock, My Vietnam War (page 152)


Mountie

(US, informal, law enforcement) A law officer, particularly one patrolling rural highways.


incarcerate

en-verb

incarcerate (third-person singular simple present incarcerates, present participle incarcerating, simple past and past participle incarcerated)

incarcerates (present singular third-person)
incarcerating (participle present)
incarcerated (participle past)
incarcerated (past)

/ɪnˈkɑː.səˌɹeɪt/

/ɪnˈkɑɹ.səˌɹeɪt/

From Medieval Latin incarcerātus, past participle of incarcerō (“to imprison”), from Latin in- (“in”) + carcer (“a prison”), meaning "put behind lines (bars)" – Latin root is of a lattice or grid. Related to cancel (“cross out with lines”) and chancel (“area behind a lattice”). See also carcerate and cancer.

Tolokonnikova has also been an effective public speaker even while incarcerated, but she has spoken out on politics and freedom in general rather than prisoners’ rights.

2013 September 23, Masha Gessen, “Life in a Russian Prison”, in New York Times, retrieved 2013-09-24:

(chiefly US) To lock away; to imprison, especially for breaking the law.


shanghai

shanghai (third-person singular simple present shanghais, present participle shanghaiing, simple past and past participle shanghaied or shanghai'd)

shanghais (present singular third-person)
shanghaiing (participle present)
shanghaied (participle past)
shanghaied (past)
shanghai'd (participle past)
shanghai'd (past)
shanghae (alternative)
shangeye (alternative)

1871, from the important Chinese port Shanghai, as a verb with reference to the former practice by some shippers on the West Coast of the United States of press-ganging crews for fishing or shipping in the Pacific Ocean.

強迫 /强迫

to force or trick into work, especially joining a ship

(transitive) To force or trick someone to go somewhere or do something against their will or interest, particularly

(US law enforcement slang) To trick a suspect into entering a jurisdiction in which they can be lawfully arrested.

“Why, if you so loved and cherished the armed guard,” Captain Banning continued, “did you arrange for transfer?”
“I never, sir! ... But he shanghaied me out of the armed guard pronto.”

There was a urologist for his urine, a lymphologist for his lymph, an endocrinologist for his endocrines, a psychologist for his psyche, a dermatologist for his derma; there was a pathologist for his pathos, a cystologist for his cysts, and a bald and pedantic cetologist from the zoology department at Harvard who had been shanghaied ruthlessly into the Medical Corps by a faulty anode in an I.B.M. machine and spent his sessions with the dying colonel trying to discuss Moby Dick with him.

(US military slang) To transfer a serviceman against their will.


shanghai

shanghais (plural)
shanghae (alternative)
shangeye (alternative)

The ‘shanghai’ is the glaring daub required by some frame-makers for cheap auctions. They are turned out at so much by the day's labor, or at from $12 to $24 a dozen, by the piece.


skin

skin (third-person singular simple present skins, present participle skinning, simple past and past participle skinned)

skins (present singular third-person)
skinning (participle present)
skinned (participle past)
skinned (past)
skinne (alternative)

From Middle English skyn, skinn, from Old English scinn, from Old Norse skinn (“animal hide”), from Proto-Germanic *skinþą, from Proto-Indo-European *sken- (“to split off”), nasal variant of *skeh₁i-d- (“to cut”). Partially displaced native Old English hȳd (“skin, hide”), from which derives hide. Related to shin.
Cognate with Dutch schinde (“bark”), dialectal German Schinde (“fruit peel”); also Breton skant (“scales”), Old Irish ceinn, Irish scainim (“I tear, burst”), Latin scindere (“to split, divide”), Sanskrit छिनत्ति (chinátti, “he splits”).

cog

(US, slang, archaic) To produce, in recitation, examination, etc., the work of another for one's own, or to use cribs, memoranda, etc., which are prohibited.

luntata

to produce the work of another for one's own, or to use cribs


tap

en-verb

tap (third-person singular simple present taps, present participle tapping, simple past and past participle tapped)

taps (present singular third-person)
tapping (participle present)
tapped (participle past)
tapped (past)
tap (infinitive)

The verb is derived from Middle English tappen, teppen (“to give (something) a knock or tap; to hit (something) lightly, pat, tap”), either:
* imitative of the making of a tapping sound; or
* from Old French tapper, taper (“to tap”) (modern French taper), from Frankish *tappōn, *dabbōn (“to strike”), or from Middle Low German tappen, tapen (“to rap, strike, tap”), both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *dab- (“to strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰebʰ- (“to beat, strike; to stun; to be speechless”). Doublet of dab.
Verb sense 1.1.1 (“to arrest (someone)”) and sense 1.6 (“to choose or designate (someone) for a duty, etc.”) allude to a police officer or other person tapping someone on their shoulder to catch their attention or to select them.
The noun is derived from Middle English tap, tappe (“light blow or hit”), and then either:
* from Middle English tappen (verb) (see above); or
* from Old French tape (“light slap or touch, pat”) (modern French tape), from tapper, taper (verb) (see above).
Cognates
* German tappen (“to fumble; to grope”)
* Icelandic tappa, tapsa, tæpta (“to tap”)

der

to tap shoes

(British, dialectal or US) To repair (an item of footwear) by putting on a new heel or sole, or a piece of material on to the heel or sole.

He was tapped by the president to act as a special counsel.

One day reconnaissance informs us that the krauts have moved up their forward outposts in our sector. It could be the prelude to an attack. A patrol is organized to knock out the positions. In our platoon Kerrigan, Berner, and Thompson get tapped for service.

1949, Audie Murphy, To Hell and Back, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →OCLC, page 132:

Hardly a radical, she was more the type that got tapped for a student-faculty committee.

2013 January 20, Emily Bazelon, “‘My Beloved World,’ by Sonia Sotomayor”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-09-19:

'Special Agent Hudgins,' he said, holding the door wide open. 'My office was closest to the scene so I got tapped to secure it for you Cincinnati guys. But I have to tell you, this wasn't what I expected when I got the call to come out here.'

2014, Karen Rose, Closer Than You Think, London: Headline Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 463:

Unbeknownst to Rosquette, the contract killer he'd just tapped for the job was an FBI informant.

2018 March 9, Drew Schwartz, “This New Yorker Hired a Hitman to ‘Take Care of’ His Noisy Neighbors, Feds Say”, in VICE, archived from the original on 2023-11-07:

With his so-called election-fraud lawsuits being thrown out left and right, the president [Donald Trump] has tapped his personal lawyer [Rudy Giuliani] to spearhead his campaign's remaining legal options. Insiders are reportedly "concerned."

2020 November 14, Charlotte Klein, “Trump Apparently Thinks Rudy Giuliani Can Save His Flailing Court Battles”, in Radhika Jones, editor, Vanity Fair, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-01:

Valentino Taps Thai Actress Freen Sarocha as Brand Ambassador […] Thai actress Freen Sarocha has been appointed the house’s first female brand ambassador from Thailand.

2025 January 3, Sofia Celeste, “Valentino Taps Thai Actress Freen Sarocha as Brand Ambassador”, in wwd.com:

(chiefly US, informal) To choose or designate (someone) for a duty, an honour, membership of an organization, or a position.


tap

en-noun

tap (countable and uncountable, plural taps)

She had a good figure, was twenty-one, five-feet-five, hair probably brown (dyed blond), brown cloth coat, rabbit-skin collar, cotton print dress, brown calf shoes (heel taps a little run over), scuff on the right toe.

1954 June 10, John Steinbeck, “Enter Suzy”, in Sweet Thursday, 1st British edition, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, page 33:

(British, dialectal or US) A piece of leather or other material fastened upon the bottom of an item of footwear when repairing the heel or sole; also (England, dialectal) the sole of an item of footwear.


primary

en-verb

primary (third-person singular simple present primaries, present participle primarying, simple past and past participle primaried)

primaries (present singular third-person)
primarying (participle present)
primaried (participle past)
primaried (past)

/ˈpɹaɪˌmɛɹi/

Borrowed from Latin prīmārius (“of the first (rank); chief, principal; excellent”), from prīmus (first; whence the English adjective prime) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary); compare the French primaire, primer, and premier. Doublet of premier.

bor

In the New England town where he ran a “couple of night clubs” . he was “primarying the mayor."

1974, Stan Steiner, The Islands: the Worlds of the Puerto Ricans, page 191:

What political facts of life underpin the hopes and dreams of democratic politicians who would take on the awesome task of “primarying” a two-term incumbent governor

1980, Empire State Report, volumes 6-7, page 303:

Each of the past few election cycles has featured at least one instance of “primarying,” a challenge to an incumbent on the grounds that he or she is not sufficiently partisan.

2014, Sanford L. Jacobs, The Little Black Book of Political Wisdom:

The ad calls for loyal Tea Party members to step forward and run against all eighty-seven of the traitors in order to primary them.

2014, Uncle Sam, How Fox News KO'd The Republican Party:

These instances of “primarying,” according to many, make Congress more partisan and extreme.

2014, Robert G. Boatright, Congressional Primary Elections, page 8:

According to Boatright, 774 instances of challengers “primarying” sitting House incumbents occurred between 1970 and 2010.

2017, Aaron S. King, Unfolding Ambition in Senate Primary Elections, page 19:

Democrats have made “primarying” a key technique for shifting the balance of power in Congress to the left.

2019, Lawrence Lessig, They Don't Represent Us: Reclaiming Our Democracy:

In the last midterm election, every member of Congress who was defeated in a primary lost to a candidate who was more ideologically extreme. The message that sends to every other member is clear: If you work across the aisle to solve problems, prepare to be primaried and potentially defeated.

2020 August 7, Marc Merrill, Kathryn Murdoch, “How philanthropy could fix America’s broken politics”, in Fortune:

Richard Hopkins, an epidemiologist who spent 19 years at the Florida Department of Health, told the Post, in reference to DeSantis administration officials, “They keep hoping it’s going to go away by itself. I don’t know what’s going on -- whether they’re afraid that they will get primaried by someone to their right if they take appropriate public health action.”

2020 July 28, Steve Benen, “DeSantis' response panned as 'divorced from scientific evidence'”, in MSNBC:

Trump has most Republican congressmen leery of opposing him on any issue, mainly out of fear of getting "primaried" by a Trump loyalist.

2020 August 11, Joe Traynor, “COMMUNITY VOICES: The test is coming for Republicans”, in The Bakersfield Californian:

(US, politics, transitive, intransitive) To challenge (an incumbent sitting politician) for their political party's nomination to run for re-election, through running a challenger campaign in a primary election, especially one that is more ideologically extreme.

Both were worried that Bailey would break some of their delegate commitments to keep them from primarying.

1981, Joseph I. Lieberman, The Legacy: Connecticut Politics, 1930-1980, page 171:

First, I'd challenge my opponent for the convention nomination. If I didn't prevail at the convention, that would be my answer. I wouldn't “primary” him—meaning, I wouldn't force a statewide primary election if he and I were the only two candidates in the field.

2011, Christine O'Donnell, Troublemaker: Let's Do What It Takes to Make America Great Again, page 169:

“That’s the fun part - finding out who’s the unknown person who may want to primary to get one of the positions,” Kolenberg said.

2017 July 13, Angela Carella, “Stamford town clerk seeks nomination despite ballot probe”, in Stamford Advocate:

(US, intransitive, transitive) To take part in a primary election.


dumbass

dumbasses (plural)
dumb-ass (alternative)
dumb ass (alternative)
dumbarse (alternative)

From dumb + ass. It is likely that ¹ass (= donkey), not ²ass (= buttocks), was the original sense within this compound noun (solid compound or open compound), but neither sense is precluded, and many people today may uncritically parse the term in the latter way, even if it is misapprehensive. Apparent analogy with forms such as hard-ass and big-ass would naturally lend support to the second parsing. A similar synergy can be seen in the fact that the terms buttload and assload originated as literally meaning a cartload and the load transportable by a single donkey (respectively), but probably most English speakers today would assume that their derivation involves the buttocks.

The dumbass walked off with my car keys and left me hers.

(US, sometimes considered, vulgar, slang, mildly derogatory) A stupid or foolish person.


dumbass

en-adj

dumbass (comparative more dumbass or dumberass, superlative most dumbass or dumbestass)

more dumbass (comparative)
dumberass (comparative)
most dumbass (superlative)
dumbestass (superlative)
dumb-ass (alternative)
dumb ass (alternative)
dumbarse (alternative)

That dumbass driver ruined my car!

I zipped my coat up to the neck, worried now that going to the march was more dumbass than I'd thought. It got closer—the only frigging thing in the road!—and I realized I was shaking. I couldn't move.

2015, Jason Reynolds, Brendan Kiely, All American Boys, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

(US, vulgar, slang, mildly derogatory) Stupid, foolish.


sandwich

[ˈsæmˌwɪt͡ʃ]

[ˈsæ̃ˌwɪt͡ʃ]

Named after its supposed inventor, the Earl of Sandwich (see Sandwich).

sammich (alternative)
Sandwich (alternative)

(US) Of a meal or serving size that is smaller than a dinner.


berry

→ Indonesian: beri

→ Japanese: ベリー (berī)

desc

→ Thai: เบอร์รี (bəə-rîi)

→ Thai: เบอร์รี (bəə-rîi)

Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *bazją
Proto-West Germanic *baʀi
Old English berġe
Middle English berye
English berry
From Middle English berye, from Old English berġe, from Proto-West Germanic *baʀi, from Proto-Germanic *bazją.
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Bäie, West Flemish beier, German Beere, Icelandic ber, Danish bær.
The slang sense "police car" may come from the lights on the vehicles' roofs.

etymon

the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice

the darker the berry, the sweeter the juice

(slang, US, African-American) A police car.

Four rounds and Enright still on his feet and a hundred and fifty thousand berries gone if he stays two more!


translator

translators (plural)
tr. (alternative)
trans. (alternative)
transl. (alternative)
translater (alternative)
translatour (alternative)
translatoure (alternative)
traunslatour (alternative)
translacttor (alternative)
translature (alternative)
translatar (alternative)
translatare (alternative)

[ˌtʰɹænzˈleɪtʰɚ]

[ˌtʰɹænzˈleɪɾɚ]

Directly from Latin trānslātor and French translator, and also from Middle English translatour, from Old French translatour, translateur, etc., from Latin trānslātor, from trānslātus (“carried across”) + -or (“-er: forming agent nouns”), from trānsferō (“carry across”), from trans (“across”) + ferō (“bear, carry”), q.v. Equivalent to translate + -or.

vertaler

someone or something that translates meaning from one language to another

A person or thing that translates meaning from one language into another, particularly

(chiefly US) A relay station that retransmits incoming television signals after automatically adjusting their frequency to avoid interference.


toilet paper

en-verb

toilet paper (third-person singular simple present toilet papers, present participle toilet papering, simple past and past participle toilet papered)

toilet papers (present singular third-person)
toilet papering (participle present)
toilet papered (participle past)
toilet papered (past)
toilet-paper (alternative)
TP (alternative)

The football team toilet papered the Smith's house again...this time with paper towels in their trees.

(US) To cover someone's house (and trees and shrubs) with toilet paper or other similar paper product, often as a celebratory event, without the "victim's" knowledge. Sometimes also performed as an act of hazing.


fail

en-noun

fail (countable and uncountable, plural fails)

Inherited from Middle English failen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman faillir, from Vulgar Latin *fallire, alteration of Latin fallere (“to deceive, disappoint”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰāl- (“to lie, deceive”) or Proto-Indo-European *sgʷʰh₂el- (“to stumble”).
Compare Dutch feilen, falen (“to fail, miss”), German fehlen (“to fail, miss, lack”), Danish fejle (“to fail, err”), Swedish fela (“to fail, be wanting, do wrong”), Icelandic feila (“to fail”), Spanish fallar (“to fail, miss”).

cog

(slang, US) A failure (something incapable of success).


fail

en-adj

fail (comparative more fail, superlative most fail)

more fail (comparative)
most fail (superlative)
faile (alternative)

(slang, US) Unsuccessful; inadequate; unacceptable in some way.


boomerang child

en-noun

boomerang child (plural boomerang children)

/ˈbuːməɹæŋ ˌt͡ʃaɪld/

/ˈbuməɹæŋ ˌt͡ʃaɪld/

From boomerang + child, a reference to the ability of a boomerang to return to the thrower after being thrown.

It has been said that "when the going gets tough, the tough get going." But that saying doesn't set too well with today's generation of so-called "boomerang children." Chicago Sun-Times writer Ellen James Martin describes "boomerang children" as "grown offspring who move away from home for college, a job or marriage. Then something goes amiss and they're back home. Times are harsh. It's very expensive to live." [...] Not all "boomerang children" are young. The U.S. Census Bureau's study of Living Arrangements of Never-Married Adults In 1990 reports that 23 per cent of the 35–39 age group lived with their parents.

1991 December 2, “Sidney Poitier Blames Parents for Children who Don’t Know how to Survive Tough Times”, in Robert E[dward] Johnson, editor, Jet, volume 81, number 7, Chicago, Ill.: Johnson Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 24:

Of course, in some homes there are, as my grandmother would say, "good and grown" children still living at home, and other children, now called "boomerang children," coming back home with their children.

2010, Barbara A. Moody-Hamilton, “Introduction”, in From the Cradle to the Crypt, Pittsburgh, Pa.: Red Lead Press, →ISBN, page xiii:

Although Christina's stepsister, Ashley, was successfully launched to college, the fact that she was then living at home with Shoshana made her launching incomplete and therefore she was a boomerang child. Liz's brother, David, could also have been considered a boomerang child. Although he still lived in his own apartment, he was dependent on his parents for financial support and therefore affected their plans as a couple.

2015, Judy Esposito, Abbi Hattem, “Families and the Family Life Cycle”, in Introduction to Family Counseling: A Case Study Approach, Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publishing, →ISBN:

[W]e see the increase of the phenomenon of the "boomerang child," where young adults return to the parental home at least once after the initial departure. Returning to the parental home could have a variety of consequences for both the "boomerang child" and the family. Despite the fact that there have been numerous media and academic descriptions and depictions of these boomerang children, it could well be that these children feel to some extent disenfranchised, alone, and alienated from the rest of the world.

2016, D. Nicole Farris, “Introduction to Boomerang Children: Prevalence and Potential Questions”, in Boomerang Kids: The Demography of Previously Launched Adults (Springer Briefs in Population Studies), Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, section 1.1. (More about Boomerang Children), pages 3–4:

boomerang kid

(originally US, informal) Synonym of boomerang kid (“a young adult who has moved back into the parental home after a period of independence”)


songster

From Middle English songster, sangester, sangstere, from Old English sangestre (“a female singer; songstress”), equivalent to song + -ster. Cognate with Scots sangstar (“singer; songster”). Compare also West Frisian sjongster (“singer; female singer; vocalist”).

cog

Because the Jew was often compelled to sing and dance to a fixed Mah Yafit melody at the wild orgies of the paritzim (wealthy Polish landowners), many deliberately discontinued singing Mah Yafit, thus causing the text to be removed from numerous Siddurim and songsters in the early 1900s.

1996, Macy Nulman, The Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer, page 234:


strong

en-adj

strong (comparative stronger, superlative strongest)

stronger (comparative)
strongest (superlative)
strang (alternative)
stronk (alternative)

Sranan Tongo: tranga

Aukan: taanga

Saramaccan: taánga

From Middle English strong, strang, from Old English strang, from Proto-West Germanic *strang, from Proto-Germanic *strangaz (“tight, strict, straight, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *strengʰ- (“taut, stiff, tight”). Cognate with Scots strang (“strong”), Saterland Frisian strang, West Frisian string (“austere, strict, harsh, severe, stern, stark, tough”), Dutch streng (“strict, severe, tight”), German streng (“strict, severe, austere”), Swedish sträng, strang (“severe, strict, harsh”), Norwegian strang (“strong, harsh, bitter”), Norwegian streng (“strong, hard”), Icelandic strangur (“strict”), Latin stringō (“tighten”).

cog

a chain is only as strong as its weakest link

the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must

You're working with troubled youth in your off time? That’s strong!


pole

From Middle English pole, pal, from Old English pāl (“a pole, stake, post; a kind of hoe or spade”), from Proto-West Germanic *pāl (“pole”), from Latin pālus (“stake, pale, prop, stay”), perhaps from Old Latin *paxlos, from Proto-Italic *pākslos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- (“to nail, fasten”). Doublet of peel, pale, and palus.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots pale, paill (“stake, pale”), North Frisian pul, pil (“stake, pale”), Saterland Frisian Pool (“pole”), West Frisian poal (“pole”), Dutch paal (“pole”), German Pfahl (“pile, stake, post, pole”), Danish pæl (“pole”), Swedish påle (“pole”), Icelandic páll (“hoe, spade, pale”), Old English fæc (“space of time, while, division, interval; lustrum”).

cog

poll (one pronunciation or with the doll–dole merger)

not touch something with a ten-foot pole

(US, African-American Vernacular, slang) A rifle.


hockey

Unknown, 16th century. Of uncertain origin; possibly related to hook due to the curvature of the stick, or from French hoquet.

(Canada, US) Ice hockey, a game on ice in which two teams of six players skate and try to score by shooting a puck into the opposing team's net, using their sticks.


hockey

“I thought she'd just gone to pee but I reckon she must be making hockey too.”

My anger surged back a pace. “Harry Boone is a lickspittle, butt kissing, hunk of horse hockey,” I said precisely.


hamburger

en-noun

hamburger (countable and uncountable, plural hamburgers)

hamburgers (plural)
hamburgher (alternative)

→ Burmese: ဟမ်ဘာဂါ (hambhaga)

→ Dutch: hamburger

→ Estonian: hamburger

→ French: hamburger m

→ German: Hamburger m

→ Bulgarian: хамбургер (hamburger)

→ Hungarian: hamburger

→ Japanese: ハンバーガー

→ Italian: hamburger m

desc

→ Khmer: ហាំប៊ឺហ្គឺ (hambɨɨgɨɨ)

→ Khmer: ហាំប៊ឺហ្គឺ (hambɨɨgɨɨ)

→ Korean: 햄버거 (haembeogeo)

→ Macedonian: хамбургер (hamburger)

→ Mongolian: хамбургер (xamburger)

→ Persian: همبرگر

→ Polish: hamburger

→ Portuguese: hambúrguer m

→ Romanian: hamburger m

→ Russian: га́мбургер (gámburger)

→ Mongolian: гамбургер (gamburger)

→ Swahili: hambaga

แฮมเบอร์เกอร์

→ Thai: แฮมเบอร์เกอร์ (hɛm-bəə-gə̂ə)

→ Thai: แฮมเบอร์เกอร์ (hɛm-bəə-gə̂ə)

→ Turkish: hamburger

→ Vietnamese: hăm-bơ-gơ

/ˈhæmˌbɜː.ɡə/

/ˈhæmˌbɝ.ɡɚ/

Shortening of Hamburger sandwich, Hamburger steak, etc.; or, less likely, borrowed from German Hamburger (“native of Hamburg”), equivalent to Hamburg + -er.

The truck hit the deer and turned it into hamburger.

I'm going to make you into hamburger if you do that again.

(US, colloquial, somewhat crude) An animal or human, or the flesh thereof, that has been badly injured as a result of an accident or conflict.

Coordinate term: hot dog

(US, education, informal) Describing the shape of a rectangular piece of paper folded in half so that it forms a short rectangle.


tie

From Middle English teye (“cord, chain”), from Old English tēag, tēah (“cord, chain”), from Proto-West Germanic *taugu, from Proto-Germanic *taugō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dewk-. Compare Danish tov, Icelandic taug.

(rail transport, US) A horizontal wooden or concrete structural member that supports and ties together rails.

I thought José was still a point down. I thought he needed another takedown to tie and pull ahead, so I ordered José to let his man up. I looked up too late, realizing that José already scored a tie. By that point, the New Jersey champion got his ...

2010, Scott Glabb, A Saint in the City: Coaching At-risk Kids to Be Champions, Tate Publishing, →ISBN, page 146:

[…] game in the championships shouldering a vast disadvantage and was in due course defeated by Egyetértés, one of the newcomers in the first league. Eger, the other novice in the championships, also took off successfully scoring a tie with the Ruha ETO.

1971, Budapress News Service, Budapress Bulletin, volume 10, issues 27-52, page 8

(sports, US) An equalizer, a run, goal, point, etc which causes participants in a competition to be placed equally or have the same score(s).


tie

en-verb

tie (third-person singular simple present ties, present participle tying, simple past and past participle tied)

ties (present singular third-person)
tying (participle present)
tied (participle past)
tied (past)

From Middle English teien, teiȝen, from Old English tīġan, tīeġan, from Proto-West Germanic *taugijan, from Proto-Germanic *taugijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to tug, draw”). Cognate with Icelandic teygja.

der

would lose one's head if it wasn't tied on

He tied me for third place.

(US, transitive) To have the same score or position as (another) in a competition or ordering.

[…] It seems they have sort of betrothal teas — can you tie it?"
"Heavens!" said Mary […]

As the door slammed Pete turned to Hally, fuming. "Can you tie that? A little twopenny cold frightening him off."

1940, Woman's Home Companion, volume 67, numbers 1-4, page 134:

(US, dated, colloquial) To believe; to credit.