house

en-noun

house (countable and uncountable, plural houses or (dialectal) housen or (chiefly humorous) hice)

houses (plural)
housen (dialectal plural)
hice (humorous plural)
howse (alternative)

Chinese Pidgin English: houso

Nigerian Pidgin: haus

Tok Pisin: haus

Sranan Tongo: oso
→ Dutch: osso

→ Cantonese: house (hau¹ si²)

→ Japanese: ハウス (hausu)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH-der.?
Proto-Germanic *hūsą
Proto-West Germanic *hūs
Old English hūs
Middle English hous
English house
From Middle English hous, hus, from Old English hūs (“dwelling, shelter, house”), from Proto-West Germanic *hūs, from Proto-Germanic *hūsą (compare Scots hoose, West Frisian hûs, Dutch huis, German Haus, German Low German Huus, Danish hus, Faroese hús, Icelandic hús, Norwegian Bokmål hus, Norwegian Nynorsk hus and Swedish hus), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kews-, from *(s)kewH- (“to cover, hide”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English meson, measoun (“house”), borrowed from Old French maison (“house”). More at hose. The uncommon plural form housen is from Middle English husen, housen. (The Old English nominative plural was simply hūs.)

huis

debating chamber for government politicians

a house divided against itself cannot stand

it takes a heap of living to make a house a home

it takes a heap o' livin' to make a house a home

it takes a lot of living to make a house a home

the call is coming from inside the house

use the master's tools to dismantle the master's house

(US, dialect) A small stand of trees in a swamp.


house

en-verb

house (third-person singular simple present houses, present participle housing, simple past and past participle housed)

houses (present singular third-person)
housing (participle present)
housed (participle past)
housed (past)

From Middle English housen, from Old English hūsian, from Proto-Germanic *hūsōną (“to house, live, dwell”), from the noun (see above). Compare Dutch huizen (“to live, dwell, reside”), German Low German husen (“to live, dwell, reside”), German hausen (“to live, dwell, reside”), Norwegian Nynorsk husa (“to house”), Faroese húsa (“to house”), Icelandic húsa (“to shelter, house”).

cog

All you wanna do is drink a fifth, house a lasagna, and hide in a dumpster until that baby stops crying.

2019, Joe Lawson, Shameless (series 10, episode 4, "A Little Gallagher Goes a Long Way")

(Canada, US, slang, transitive) To eat; especially, to scarf down.


sugar

en-noun

sugar (countable and uncountable, plural sugars)

Tok Pisin: suga

→ Abenaki: sogal

→ Cree: ᓲᑳᐤ (sookaaw)

→ Fijian: suka

→ Gilbertese: tioka

→ Inuktitut: ᓱᑲᒃ (sokak)

→ Malecite-Passamaquoddy: sukol (or from French)

→ Maori: huka

→ Marshallese: juga

→ Samoan: suka

→ Shona: shuga

→ Sotho: tswekere

→ Tlingit: shóogaa

→ Tongan: suka

→ Tsonga: chukela

→ Tswana: sukiri

→ Unami: shukël (or from Dutch)

→ Wallisian: suka

→ Zulu: ushukela

Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch
sugar

From Middle English sugre, sucre, from Middle French sucre, from Old French çucre (circa 13th century), from Old Italian zucchero (or another vernacular of Italy), from Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar), from Persian شکر (šakar), from Middle Persian [script needed] (škl), 𐫢𐫞𐫡 (šqr /šakar/), from Sanskrit शर्करा (śárkarā, “ground or candied sugar", originally "grit, gravel”). Akin to Ancient Greek κρόκη (krókē, “pebble”). Doublet of jaggery and sucro-.

շաքար

generic term for sucrose, glucose, fructose, etc

a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down

a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down

modified Sheather's sugar flotation method

I think John has a little bit of sugar in him.

There are depths and heights of beauty in him beyond tears - but there is no sugar, not even any honey.

1998, Lene Østermark-Johansen, Sweetness and Strength, →ISBN:

The crossdresser is showing the desire to be "sugar and spice" through feminine clothing and through the expression of feminine feelings.

1999, Peggy J. Rudd, My Husband Wears My Clothes, →ISBN:

Because of Patrick's mannerisms, the players teased him by referring to him as “Sweetness” or saying that he had “sugar” in his pants.

2008, Reuben A. Buford May, Living Through the Hoop, →ISBN:

(chiefly southern US, slang, uncountable) Effeminacy in a male, often implying homosexuality.

ploma

slang: effeminacy in a male, often implying homosexuality


sugar

en-verb

sugar (third-person singular simple present sugars, present participle sugaring, simple past and past participle sugared)

sugars (present singular third-person)
sugaring (participle present)
sugared (participle past)
sugared (past)
shugar (alternative)

To sugar off, I prefer using a kettle that will hold about half a. barrel; and boil over a brisk, steady fire, till on dropping some of the syrup into cold water it will break like glass, then dip it into wooden trays to cool, and when it is grained stir it briskly.

1851, J. D. H., “On Making Maple Syrup”, in The Ohio Cultivator, volume 7, page 91:

A long time ago my grandmother and I used to boil maple sap. When she sugared off, I stood there.

1994, “Sugaring Off”, in Nindinawemaagan Giwitaa'ayeyii, volume 6, page 55:

During the spring in Quebec and Ontario, maple syrup is harvested, or "sugared off," a process which is usually celebrated as a social event.

2004, Lois Sakany, Canada: A Primary Source Cultural Guide:

(US, Canada, regional) In making maple sugar, to complete the process of boiling down the syrup till it is thick enough to crystallize; to approach or reach the state of granulation; with the preposition off.


tail

Sranan Tongo: tere

From Middle English tail, tayl, teil, from Old English tæġl (“tail”), from Proto-West Germanic *tagl, from Proto-Germanic *taglą (“hair, fiber; hair of a tail”), from Proto-Indo-European *doḱ- (“hair of the tail”), from Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- (“to tear, fray, shred”). Cognate with Scots tail (“tail”), Saterland Frisian Tail (“tail, end”), West Frisian teil (“tail”), Dutch teil (“tail, haulm, blade”), Low German Tagel (“twisted scourge, whip of thongs and ropes; end of a rope”), German Zagel (“tail”), dialectal Danish tavl (“hair of the tail”), Swedish tagel (“hair of the tail, horsehair”), Norwegian tagl (“tail”), Icelandic tagl (“tail, horsetail, ponytail”), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌲𐌻 (tagl, “hair”). In some senses, apparently by a generalization of the usual opposition between head and tail.

hali

of cattle, in addition to reptiles, amphibians, and basically all animals that do not fall into the other categories; also used for inanimate objects and figuratively

have the world by the tail on a downhill pull

mackerel sky and mare's-tails make lofty ships carry low sails

mackerel sky and mare's-tails make tall ships carry low sails

the cow knows not the worth of its tail till it loses it

trust someone as far as one could fling a bull by the tail

By Goddis sydes, syns I her thyder broughte, / She hath gote me more money with her tayle / Than hath some shyppe that into Bordews sayle.

1499, John Skelton, The Bowge of Courte:

They were wont to wipe their tailes [translating cul] (this vaine superstition of words must be left unto women) with a sponge, and that's the reason why Spongia in Latine is counted an obscene word[…].

1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 49, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

(now colloquial, chiefly US) The buttocks or backside.


blade

From Middle English blade, blad, from Old English blæd (“leaf”), from Proto-West Germanic *blad, from Proto-Germanic *bladą, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥h₃-o-to-m, from *bʰleh₃- (“to thrive, bloom”).
See also West Frisian bled, Dutch blad, German Blatt, Danish blad, Irish bláth (“flower”), Welsh blodyn (“flower”), Tocharian A pält, Tocharian B pilta (“leaf”), Albanian fletë (“leaf”). Similar usage in German Sägeblatt (“saw blade”, literally “saw leaf”). Doublet of blat. More at blow.

teh

typically sharp-edged working end of a knife or other cutting tool

(slang, chiefly US) A homosexual, usually male.

(slang, chiefly US) An area of a city which is commonly known for prostitution.


heavy

en-adj

heavy (comparative heavier, superlative heaviest)

heavier (comparative)
heaviest (superlative)

Sranan Tongo: hebi

From Middle English hevy, heviȝ, from Old English hefiġ, hefeġ, hæfiġ (“heavy; important, grave, severe, serious; oppressive, grievous; slow, dull”), from Proto-West Germanic *habīg (“heavy, hefty, weighty”), from Proto-Germanic *habīgaz (“heavy, hefty, weighty”), from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂p- (“to take, grasp, hold”).
Cognate with Scots hevy, havy, heavy (“heavy”), Dutch hevig (“violent, severe, intense, acute”), Middle Low German hēvich (“violent, fierce, intense”), German hebig (compare heftig (“fierce, severe, intense, violent, heavy”)), Icelandic höfugur (“heavy, weighty, important”), Latin capāx (“large, wide, roomy, spacious, capacious, capable, apt”).

cog

The Moody Blues are, like, heavy.

(dated, late 1960s, 1970s, US) Profound.


near

en-adj

near (comparative nearer, superlative nearest)

nearer (comparative)
nearest (superlative)

off

antonym(s) of “side of an animal or vehicle”

From Middle English nere, ner, from Old English nēar (“nearer”, comparative of nēah (“nigh”), the superlative would become next), influenced by Old Norse nær (“near”), both originating from Proto-Germanic *nēhwiz (“nearer”), comparative of the adverb *nēhw (“near”), from the adjective *nēhwaz, ultimately from Pre-Proto-Germanic *h₂nḗḱwos, a lengthened-grade adjective derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂neḱ- (“to reach”).
Cognate with Old Frisian niār (“nearer”), Dutch naar (“to, towards”), German näher (“nearer”), Danish nær (“near, close”), Norwegian nær (“near, close”) Swedish nära (“near, close”). See also nigh.
Near appears to be derived from (or at the very least influenced by) the North Germanic languages; compare Danish nær (“near, close”), Norwegian nær (“near, close”) Swedish nära (“near, close”), as opposed to nigh, which continues the inherited West Germanic adjective, like Dutch na (“close, near”), German nah (“close, near, nearby”), Luxembourgish no (“nearby, near, close”). Both, however, are ultimately derived from the same Proto-Germanic root: *nēhw (“near, close”).

cog

the near ox; the near leg

(dated) Next to the driver, when he is on foot; (US) on the left of an animal or a team.


suck

en-verb

suck (third-person singular simple present sucks, present participle sucking, simple past and past participle sucked)

sucks (present singular third-person)
sucking (participle present)
sucked (participle past)
sucked (past)

→⇒ Vietnamese: sục

From Middle English souken, suken, from Old English sūcan (“to suck”), from Proto-West Germanic *sūkan, from Proto-Germanic *sūkaną (“to suck, suckle”), from Proto-Indo-European *sewg-, *sewk- (“to suck”). Cognate with Scots souke (“to suck”), obsolete Dutch zuiken (“to suck”), Limburgish zuken, zoeken (“to suck”). Akin also to Old English sūgan (“to suck”), West Frisian sûge, sûge (“to suck”), Dutch zuigen (“to suck”), German saugen (“to suck”), Swedish suga (“to suck”), Icelandic sjúga (“to suck”), Latin sūgō (“suck”), Welsh sugno (“suck”). Related to soak.

der

don't try to teach grandma how to suck eggs

Schumacher recalls Bucher had also written 'Communism sucks' on the underside of his table

1969 November 2, Sid Moody with Jules Loh and Richard Meyer, “The USS Pueblo: 22: Panmunjom: General Pak Had One Last Trump”, in Charlotte Observer, page H-25:

it has a few very high points . . . but as a novel, it sucks

1970 January 8, Hunter S. Thompson, “[letter to Steve Geller]”, in Fear and Loathing in America, New York: Simon & Schuster, published 2000, →ISBN, page 251:

Garfield: Well, another year is almost under the belt / And I've had 313 pretty good days / The Mondays sucked.

1990 December 31, Jim Davis, Garfield Takes Up Space (Garfield) (comic):

(chiefly Canada, US, intransitive, stative, colloquial, sometimes vulgar) To be inferior or objectionable: a general term of disparagement, sometimes used with at to indicate a particular area of deficiency.

духам

colloquial: term of general disparagement


pull

en-verb

pull (third-person singular simple present pulls, present participle pulling, simple past and past participle pulled)

pulls (present singular third-person)
pulling (participle present)
pulled (participle past)
pulled (past)

push

antonym(s) of “apply force to (something) so it comes towards one”

-ʊl (accents with foot–goose merger or full–fool merger)

Verb from Middle English pullen, from Old English pullian (“to pull, draw, tug, pluck off”), of uncertain ultimate origin. Related to West Frisian pûlje (“to shell, husk”), Middle Dutch pullen (“to drink”), Middle Dutch polen (“to peel, strip”), Low German pulen (“to pick, pluck, pull, tear, strip off husks”), Icelandic púla (“to work hard, beat”).
Noun from Middle English pul, pull, pulle, from the verb pullen (“to pull”).

cog

it's not the whistle that pulls the train

pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire

Wow, Joyce pulls, actually.

2025 January 7, David Willis (cartoonist), Jennifer Billingsworth (character), "Coincidence", Dumbing of Age (webcomic)

(ambitransitive, US, slang) To interest (someone) in dating or pursuing one (whether or not this has led to sex).

(rail transportation, US) Of a railroad car, to pull out from a yard or station; to leave.


dust

en-verb

dust (third-person singular simple present dusts, present participle dusting, simple past and past participle dusted)

dusts (present singular third-person)
dusting (participle present)
dusted (participle past)
dusted (past)

From Middle English dust, doust, from Old English dūst (“dust, dried earth reduced to powder; other dry material reduced to powder”), from the fusion of Proto-Germanic *dustą (“dust”) and *dunstą (“mist, dust, evaporation”), both from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, raise dust”).
Cognate with Scots dust, dist (“dust”), Dutch duist (“pollen, dust”) and dons (“down, fuzz”), German Dust (“dust”) and Dunst (“haze”), Swedish dust (“dust”), Icelandic dust (“dust”), Latin fūmus (“smoke, steam”). Also related to Swedish dun (“down, fluff”), Icelandic dúnn (“down, fluff”). See down.

der

He added in a casual tone: ‘The girl can dust. I’d like to talk to you a little, soldier.’

1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 75:

(intransitive, chiefly US slang) To leave quickly; to rush off.

(transitive, chiefly US slang) To defeat badly, to thrash.

Kyle Reese: You have to be careful because the [Hunter-Killer robots] use infrared. They’re not too bright. John taught us ways to dust them.

1984, The Terminator, spoken by Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), Los Angeles, Calif.: Orion Pictures; distributed by MGM Home Entertainment, published 1984:


smoke

en-verb

smoke (third-person singular simple present smokes, present participle smoking, simple past smoked, past participle smoked or (rare, nonstandard) smoken)

smokes (present singular third-person)
smoking (participle present)
smoked (past)
smoked (participle past)
smoken (nonstandard participle past rare)
smoak (alternative)

Dutch: smoken

Sranan Tongo: smoko

From Middle English smoken, from Old English smocian (“to smoke, emit smoke; fumigate”), from Proto-West Germanic *smokōn, from Proto-Germanic *smukōną (“to smoke”), ablaut derivative of Proto-Germanic *smaukaną (“to smoke”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mewg- (“to smoke”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian smookje (“to smoke”), West Frisian smoke (“to smoke”), Dutch smoken (“to smoke”), Low German smöken (“to smoke”), German Low German smoken (“to smoke”). Related also to Old English smēocan (“to smoke, emit smoke; fumigate”), Bavarian schmuckelen (“to smell bad, reek”).

cog

(transitive, US military slang) To punish (a person) for a minor offense by excessive physical exercise.


snow

en-noun

snow (countable and uncountable, plural snows)

The noun is derived from Middle English snaw, snou, snow (“snow; accumulation of snow; snowfall; snowstorm; whiteness”), from Old English snāw (“snow”), from Proto-West Germanic *snaiw (“snow”), from Proto-Germanic *snaiwaz (“snow”), from Proto-Indo-European *snóygʷʰos (“snow”), from *sneygʷʰ- (“to snow”).
The verb is derived from Middle English snouen (“to snow; (figurative) to shower”), from snou, snow (noun) (see above) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs). Displaced Old English snīwan, whence English snew (obsolete).
Verb sense 2.3.2 (“to convince or hoodwink (someone)”) probably refers to a person being blinded or confused by a snowstorm.
Cognates
* Albanian nehë (“place where the snow melts”) (dialectal)
* Ancient Greek νίφα (nípha)
* Danish sne (“snow”)
* Dutch sneeuw (“snow”)
* German Schnee (“snow”)
* Icelandic snjór (“snow”)
* Latin nix (“snow”)
* Norwegian snø (“snow”)
* Russian снег (sneg)
* Sanskrit स्नेह (snéha, “oil, grease”)
* Scots snaw (“snow”)
* Swedish snö (“snow”)
* West Frisian snie (“snow”)

сы

partly frozen, crystalline state of water that falls from the atmosphere as precipitation in flakes; falling of such flakes; accumulation of them as a white layer

there may be snow on the mountaintop but there's fire in the valley

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

Aren’t I telling you that’s why I didn’t taste it? […] Besides, if it wasn’t poison, it might be ‘snow’ or something.

1930, Dorothy L. Sayers, chapter X, in Strong Poison, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, published April 1967, →ISBN, page 85:

Something resembling snow (sense 1) in appearance or color.

(originally US, slang) Cocaine; also (less frequently), heroin or morphine.


snow

en-verb

snow (third-person singular simple present snows, present participle snowing, simple past snowed or (dialectal) snew, past participle snowed or (dialectal) snown)

snows (present singular third-person)
snowing (participle present)
snowed (past)
snew (dialectal past)
snowed (participle past)
snown (dialectal participle past)
snow (infinitive)

sataa

(intransitive) of a thing: to fall like snow; (transitive) to cause (something) to fall like snow

valkaista

to cause (hair) to turn white; to cause (someone) to have white hair

huijata

to convince or hoodwink (someone) — see also convince, hoodwink

[…] I concluded that the best thing would be to try to snow him a little, so I said that I had heard many marvelous reports about the Wariri. As I couldn't think of any details just then, I was just as glad that he didn't ask me to be specific.

1959 February 23, Saul Bellow, chapter XI, in Henderson the Rain King […], New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →OCLC, page 133:

She'll expose you / When she snows you / 'Cause she knows you

1974 (date written), Donna Weiss, Jackie DeShannon (lyrics and music), “Bette Davis Eyes”, in Mistaken Identity, performed by Kim Carnes, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif.: EMI America Records, published 10 March 1981:

(originally US, slang) To convince or hoodwink (someone), especially by presenting confusing information or through flattery.

[T]he Adventurer knew that despite what [Mike] Caro had said, there was a good chance that he was "snowing" (playing a hand that had no value and could win only if his opponent threw his cards away). Notice that this creates a dilemma for the Adventurer. If he bets and Caro is on a snow, he will lose a bet, but if he checks and his opponent is not on a snow, he also will lose a bet.

1999 May, Mason Malmuth, “Free Bets and Other Topics”, in Gambling Theory and Other Topics, Las Vegas, Nev.: [Creel Printers for] Two Plus Two Publishing, →ISBN, part 2 (Theory in Practice), page 84:

(poker) To bluff (an opponent) in draw poker by playing a hand which has no value, or by refusing to draw any cards.

bluffata

to bluff (an opponent) in draw poker by playing a hand which has no value, or by refusing to draw any cards

She looked snowed, weaved around funny, didn't seem to know much what was going on.

1934 July, Raymond Chandler, “Smart-Aleck Kill”, in The Smell of Fear, London: Hamish Hamilton, published December 1965, →OCLC, section VII, page 202:

(US, slang, chiefly passive voice) To cause (someone) to be under the effect of a drug; to dope, to drug.


princess

From Middle English princesse, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman princesse, Old French princesse. By surface analysis, prince + -ess.

Jonathan, if you hear this, you're a beautiful princess, but you're also a big, fat dork.

2020 September 15, Justmaiko, 2:13 from the start, in Trying Viral TikTok Life Hacks. **They Actually Work!!**:

(derogatory, chiefly US) A young girl or woman (or less commonly a man) who is vain, spoiled, or selfish; a prima donna.

prinsessa

young girl or woman who is vain, prima donna


county

en-noun

county (countable and uncountable, plural counties)

→ German: County

→ Swahili: kaunti

From Middle English countee, counte, conte, from Anglo-Norman counté, Old French conté (French comté), from Latin comitātus (“jurisdiction of a count”), from comes (“count, earl”). Cognate with Spanish condado (“county”) and Italian contea (“county”). Doublet of comitatus, borrowed directly from Latin. Mostly displaced native Old English sċīr, whence Modern English shire.

der

He can't come; he's up in the county for agg assault.

Okay gentlemen, you've both been to county before, I'm sure. Here it comes.

1994, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary, Pulp Fiction, spoken by The Wolf (Harvey Keitel):

(US, slang, uncountable) A jail operated by a county government.


analog

[ˈɛən.əˌlɔɡ]

[ˈɛən.əˌlɑɡ]

First attested in the early 19th century; from French analogue, from Ancient Greek ἀνάλογος (análogos, “proportionate”), from ἀνά (aná, “up to”) + λόγος (lógos, “ratio”).

der

time stretch analog-to-digital converter

an analog (paper) map

But for these digital natives, the stubborn analog wonders of skin, handshakes, hugs, bread and wine, faces, names and spontaneous conversation is part of what intrigued them and kept them going to church.

2022 January 30, Tish Harrison Warren, “Why Churches Should Drop Their Online Services”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Not that I expect my children’s generation to be shocked by it all. Unlike my analog upbringing, they were born into a digital world.

2021 November 18, Kara Swisher, “The Prescience of 1970’s ‘Future Shock’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

But what, exactly, is a platform? In the analog world, a platform is where you catch a train or launch a rocket or give a speech — somewhere you go to do something else.

2021 September 15, Reeves Wiedeman, “Why Does Every Company Now Want to Be a Platform?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Not relating to, or pre-dating, digital technology such as computers and the Internet; relating to real life.


North America

/ˌnɔː(ɹ)θ əˈmɛɹɪkə/

(US, Canada) Canada and the United States as a unit to the exclusion of Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean nations, and Greenland; roughly equivalent to Northern America. Often used to describe things in a context that includes only the US and Canada.


handle

desctree

→ Japanese: ハンドル (handoru)
→ Hokkien: 捍多路 (hăn-tó͘-luh)
→ Sakizaya: handulu

From Middle English handel, handle, from Old English handle (“a handle”), from handlian (“to handle, feel, deal with, discuss”). See verb below. Cognate with Danish handel (“a handle”).

Josh bought a fifth of Evan Williams for Andrew as a token of gratitude and Ray, because of the financial constraints, purchased the cheapest handle of whiskey he could find: Heaven Hill.

2014, Ray Stoeser, Josh Cuffe, Bury My Body Down By the Highway Side, page 83:

(US) A half-gallon (1.75-liter) bottle of alcohol.


bo

‘Never heard of him,’ he smiled. ‘On your way, bo.’

1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin, published 2010, page 255:


g

en-noun

g (countable and uncountable, plural gs)

Alternative form: G

(chiefly US) Abbreviation of grand (“thousand (dollars, pounds etc.)”).


p

(chiefly US, Stenoscript) Alternative spelling of p.m. (“post meridiem”) or pm


wedge

wedge (countable and uncountable, plural wedges)

From Middle English wegge (“wedge”), from Old English weċġ (“wedge”), from Proto-West Germanic *wagi, from Proto-Germanic *wagjaz.

I ordered a chicken parm wedge from the deli.

She hoped it wasn't a meatball wedge, because there's so much garlic in school meatballs that it might make my breath smell and knock the agent out of his chair.

1983, Marlene Fanta Shyer, Adorable Sunday, Scholastic:

Most people realize there are a lot of different names for that type of sandwich, so Scalone wondered what was so funny about wedge?

2019 October 10, Mark Lungariello, “It's called a wedge in Westchester: Not a hoagie, sub or a grinder”, in The Journal News:

(US, regional) A sandwich made on a long, cylindrical roll.

The wedge is used in Czech and is illustrated by the Czech name for the diacritic, haček.

1982, Thomas Pyles, John Algeo, The Origins and Development of the English Language, 3rd edition, page 49:

The tilde and the circumflex have a place in the ASCII scheme but the wedge and the umlaut do not.

1996, Geoffrey Keith Pullum, William A. Ladusaw, Phonetic Symbol Guide, 2nd edition, page xxvi:

The háček or ‘wedge’ ⟨ˇ⟩ is a diacritic commonly used in Slavic orthographies. […] As a tone mark the wedge is used iconically for a falling-rising tone as in Chinese Pinyin.

1999, Florian Coulmas, “háček”, in The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems, page 193:

Any symbol shaped like a V in some given orientation.


ese

(US) dude, man. (Usually used vocatively).


stroke

en-verb

stroke (third-person singular simple present strokes, present participle stroking, simple past and past participle stroked)

strokes (present singular third-person)
stroking (participle present)
stroked (participle past)
stroked (past)
stroke (infinitive)

The verb is derived from Middle English stroken, straken (“to caress, fondle, pat, rub, smooth, stroke; to pass something over (someone or something); to brush or rub against;”) [and other forms], from Old English strācian (“to stroke”), from Proto-West Germanic *straikōn (“to caress, stroke”), from *straik (“a line, stroke; a dash”) (see further at etymology 1) + *-ōn (suffix forming verbs from nouns).
The noun is derived from the verb.
Cognates
* German streicheln (“to stroke, fondle”)
* German Low German straken, strieken, strakeln, striekeln (“to stroke; caress; fondle”)
* Middle Low German strēken, Middle Dutch strēken (modern Dutch streeken)
* Old High German strīhhan, streihhōn, Middle High German strīchen (modern German streichen (“to stroke; to rub; to spread; to apply; to paint; to cancel; to cross out, strike out; to delete; to discard”))
* Saterland Frisian strookje (“to stroke; caress”)
* West Frisian streakje (“to stroke; caress”)

nb...

strok, stroke, (Northern England, Scotland) straike, strake, (Early Middle English) straca, stracien

cog

(by extension, chiefly US, politics) To influence (someone) by convincing or flattering them.


stroke

(chiefly US) A flattering or friendly act, comment, etc., done or made to a person to influence them.


nut

→ Japanese: ナット (natto)

From Middle English nute, note, from Old English hnutu, from Proto-West Germanic *hnut, from Proto-Germanic *hnuts (“nut”), from a root *knu- possibly shared with Proto-Celtic *knūs and Latin nux (“nut”). Based on the form of the nouns and the restriction of the root to Germanic, Celtic and Italic, it has been argued to be of non-Indo-European (substrate) origin.
See also West Frisian nút, Dutch noot, German Nuss, Danish nød, Swedish nöt, Norwegian nøtt.

dió

walnut in particular and an element in the name of some other nuts

dióféle

literally: ’walnut-like’, the family of this fruit

walnuts, hazelnuts/peanuts, chestnuts, and related fruits

even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while

(US, slang) Monthly expense to keep a venture running.

My attorney was waiting in a bar around the corner. “This won't make the nut,” he said, “unless we have unlimited credit.”

1971, Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Harper Perennial, published 2005, page 11:

(US, slang) The amount of money necessary to set up some venture; set-up costs.

perustamiskustannukset

(US, slang) A stash of money owned by an extremely rich investor, sufficient to sustain a high level of consumption if all other money is lost.


clutch

clutches (plural)
cletch (alternative)
clitch (alternative)
cleach (alternative)
cleak (alternative)
cleek (alternative)
cleik (alternative)
click (alternative)
clouch (alternative)

→ Dutch: kluts (“clutch”)

From Middle English clucchen, clicchen, cluchen, clechen, cleken, from Old English clyċċan (“to clutch, clench”), from Proto-West Germanic *klukkjan, from Proto-Germanic *klukjaną, from Proto-Germanic *klu- (“to ball up, conglomerate, amass”), from Proto-Indo-European *glew- (“to ball up; lump, mass”).
Cognate with Swedish klyka (“clamp, fork, branch”). The noun is from Middle English cleche, cloche, cloke ("claw, talon, hand"; compare Scots cleuk, cluke, cluik (“claw, talon”)), of uncertain origin, with the form probably assimilated to the verb.
Alternative etymology derives Old English clyċċan from Proto-Germanic *klēk- (“claw, hand”), from Proto-Indo-European *glēk-, *ǵlēḱ- (“claw, hand; to clutch, snatch”). If so, then cognate with Irish glac (“hand”).

gloss

to come in clutch

And when it came to the clutch, Johnny Mize, who was washed up five years ago, would crack out a pinch double, or Mickey Mantle, who is not yet ready for the big leagues, would slam out a home run.

1951 October 8, “Baseball: A Great Year”, in LIFE, page 48:

He is the player who has come through so often in the clutch during his days at Camarillo.

1985 June 1, Johannes Telesaar, “Camarillo Loses in the 4-A Final by a Foot at First”, in Los Angeles Times:

Stempel came through in the clutch again. GM's across-the-board launch of the catalytic converter was a coup that left Ford and Chrysler gaspind in the dust.

2013 May 14, Paul Ingrassia, Joseph B. White, Comeback: The Fall & Rise of the American Automobile Industry, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

But not just strong women: women who don’t turn to a man in the clutch; women whose strength is inseparable from the walls they’ve built around themselves.

2016 May 1, Frank Bruni, “Jodie Foster Is Still Afraid of Failure”, in The New York Times:

(US) An important or critical situation.


clutch

en-adj

clutch (comparative more clutch, superlative most clutch)

more clutch (comparative)
most clutch (superlative)
cletch (alternative)
clitch (alternative)
cleach (alternative)
cleak (alternative)
cleek (alternative)
cleik (alternative)
click (alternative)
clouch (alternative)

NC State made the most of their overtime possession scoring a touchdown on some very clutch plays.

2006, Bryan Hogan, Three Days for Goodbye, page 19:

I start with his most obvious characteristic: he was clutch. He is Mr. Clutch. In the last chapter I mentioned that Bernie Williams was clutch, which was a valid assessment, but nobody on the Yankees was as clutch as Jeter was.

2009, Scott Trocchia, The 2006 Yankees: The Frustration of a Nation, A Fan's Perspective, page 21:

It doesn't get more clutch than that!

2009, Mark Stewart, Clutch Performers, →ISBN, page 34:

(US, Canada) Performing or tending to perform well in difficult, high-pressure situations.


settle

en-verb

settle (third-person singular simple present settles, present participle settling, simple past and past participle settled)

settles (present singular third-person)
settling (participle present)
settled (participle past)
settled (past)
sattle (alternative)

remove

antonym(s) of “to place in a fixed or permanent condition”

From a merger of two verbs:
* Middle English setlen, from Old English setlan (“to settle, seat, put to rest”), from Old English setl (“seat”) (compare Dutch zetelen (“to be established, settle”)) and
* Middle English sahtlen, seihtlen (“to reconcile, calm, subside”), from Old English sahtlian, ġesehtlian (“to reconcile”), from Old English saht, seht (“settlement, agreement, reconciliation, peace”) (see saught, -le).
German siedeln (“to settle”) is related to the former of the two verbs, but is not an immediate cognate of either of them.

cog

to settle a minister

To establish or become established in a steady position:

(transitive) In particular, to establish in life; to fix in business, in a home, etc.

(transitive, US, obsolete) In particular, to establish in pastoral office; to ordain or install as pastor or rector of a church, society, or parish.


flash

en-noun

flash (countable and uncountable, plural flashes)

→ Catalan: flaix

→ Polish: flesz

In some senses, from Middle English flasshen, a variant of flasken, flaskien (“to sprinkle, splash”), which was likely of imitative origin; in other senses probably of North Germanic origin akin to Swedish dialectal flasa (“to burn brightly, blaze”), related to flare. Compare also Icelandic flasa (“to rush, go hastily”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

I reached a flash out of my car pocket and went down-grade and looked at the car.

1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, OCLC 747046957; republished London: Penguin Books, 2011, ISBN 978-0-241-95628-1, page 34

(colloquial, US) A flashlight; an electric torch.


flash

en-adj

flash (comparative more flash, superlative most flash)

more flash (comparative)
most flash (superlative)

onomatopoeic

imitative

(US, slang) Occurring very rapidly, almost instantaneously.


muffler

→ Japanese: マフラー

→ Spanish: mofle

→ Welsh: myffler

Holonym: exhaust system

Comeronyms: catalytic converter, exhaust pipe, tailpipe, sidepipe, manifold, header

(US, automotive) A part of the exhaust pipe of a car that dampens the noise the engine produces.


femme

Borrowed from French femme (“woman”). Doublet of feme, femina, and hembra.

Then I turned to him and said, "O my lord, I have that to propose to thee wherein thou must not cross me; and this it is that, when we reach Baghdad, my native city, I offer thee my life as thy handmaiden in holy matrimony, and thou shalt be to me baron and I will be femme to thee."

1885, Richard Francis Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 18:

Theodore J. Flicker and George Kirgo have penned a good script in which Elvis is played off against four femmes […].

1983, Variety's Film Reviews: 1964–1967:

A woman, a wife; (now chiefly Canada, US) a young woman or girl.


femme

en-adj

femme (comparative more femme, superlative most femme)

more femme (comparative)
most femme (superlative)

Admittedly, Kiedis was concerned about the lack of femme rockers on the bill: the only women featured were in British band Lush, who would open each day's festivities before a few hundred curious onlookers.

2009, Jeff Apter, Fornication: The Red Hot Chili Peppers Story:

High heels are something like neckties for women, in that it can be harder to look both formal and femme without them.

2019 March 20, Summer Brennan, “Sex, power, oppression: why women wear high heels”, in The Guardian:

(chiefly Canada, US, journalism, entertainment) Pertaining to a femme; feminine, female.


zilch

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

Probably from Joe Zilch, a placeholder name (compare John Doe) used by Nunnally Johnson in his column in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle from 1923; in turn from Joe Zilch, an unseen character referenced in comedian Frank Tinney's stage routine. Compare the rare German surname Zilch.

Zilch, adj. Nothing, zero...

1966, University of South Dakota, Current Slang:

...gorgeous faces but zilch talent...

1977 February 3, The Telegraph, page 14:

(informal, chiefly US) No, zero, non-existent.


zilch

en-verb

zilch (third-person singular simple present zilches, present participle zilching, simple past and past participle zilched)

zilches (present singular third-person)
zilching (participle present)
zilched (participle past)
zilched (past)

We zilched them on that rubber.

1969, University of South Dakota, Current Slang:

My favorite film of 1989 got zilched... That would be Field of Dreams.

(informal, US sports) To cause to score nothing, to thoroughly defeat.


dingus

Probably of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from Dutch dinges (“thingamajig, thingy; whatshisname, whatshername”), ding (“thing”). Probably also partly a borrowing from Afrikaans in view of its South African occurrence. The spelling dingus is remodeled to look like a Latin word ending in -us.

bor

I just lost my keys again. Now I feel like a dingus.

(informal, Canada, US, derogatory, sometimes affectionately humorous) A foolish, incompetent, or silly person.


perch

From Middle English perche, from Old French perche, from Latin perca, from Ancient Greek πέρκη (pérkē, “perch”), cognate with περκνός (perknós, “dark-spotted”).

Any of the about 200 related species of fish in the taxonomic family Percidae, especially:


mustache

“My Continental prominence is improving,” I commented dryly. ¶ Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan. ¶ “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”

1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, “Zollenstein”, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 41:


American

Americans (plural)
Am. (alternative)
Amer. (alternative)
Americanian (alternative)
Murican (alternative)

Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *amalą
Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ-
Proto-Indo-European *-s
Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs
Proto-Celtic *rīxsbor.
Proto-Germanic *rīks
Proto-Germanic *Amalarīksder.
Proto-Indo-European *ḱey-
Proto-Indo-European *-mos
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóymos
Proto-Indo-European *tḱóymos
Proto-Germanic *haimaz
Proto-Germanic *rīks
Proto-Germanic *Haimarīksder.?
Italian Amerigoder.
New Latin Americalbor.
English America
Middle English -n
English -n
English American
From America + -n. compare Latin americānus.

etymon

(uncountable, US printing, rare, dated) A size of type smaller than German, 1-point type.


attorney

en-noun

attorney (plural attorneys or (obsolete) attornies)

attorneys (plural)
attornies (obsolete plural)
actorney (alternative)

→ Punjabi: ਅਟਾਰਨੀ (aṭārnī)

→ Welsh: atwrnai

From Middle English attourne, from Old French atorné, past participle of atorner, atourner, aturner (“to attorn”), in the sense of "one appointed or constituted".

If those attempts are unsuccessful, the attorney requesting the interrogatories may file a motion for sanctions with the court. The sanctions range from attorney fees to prohibiting the nonanswering party from presenting or defending claims.

2013, James J. Gross, It's Splitsville: Surviving Your Divorce, page 240:

“Conflicting out” attorneys is the way a husband will make sure his wife doesn't hire any of the most aggressive lawyers in town.

(US) A lawyer; one who advises or represents others in legal matters as a profession.

(Philippines, sometimes US) An honorific given to lawyers and notaries public, or those holders by profession who also do other jobs. Usually capitalized or abbreviated as Atty.


loan

en-verb

loan (third-person singular simple present loans, present participle loaning, simple past and past participle loaned)

loans (present singular third-person)
loaning (participle present)
loaned (participle past)
loaned (past)

From Middle English lone, lane, from Old Norse lán, from Proto-Germanic *laihną, from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave (over)”).
Cognate with Icelandic lán, Swedish lån, Danish lån, German Lehen (“fief”), Dutch leen (“fief”), West Frisian lien, North Frisian leen (“fief; loan; office”), Scots lane, lain, len, Old English lǣn. More at lend.

cog

In the course of a correspondence that passed between us at this period, he mentioned, to my utter astonishment, the fact of his having loaned Neilson 81000 to buy my bill on Maryland; and stated that he could not proceed to make the payment until Neilson refunded the money.

1820 June 1, William King, Letters to James Monroe: President of the United States, from William King:

All the rest—six out of eleven, more than half—were loaned to him.

1992, Carlo Ginzburg, The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller, page 30:

Upon maturity of the debt, the investment bank returns the loaned shares.
On the date of issuance, the entity should record the loaned shares at their fair value and recognize them as an issuance cost, with an offset to additional paid-in capital.

2015, Joanne M. Flood, Wiley GAAP 2015: Interpretation and Application of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, page 574:

(usually ditransitive, US, dated and occasionally proscribed in UK, informal) To lend (something) to (someone).


band

→ Japanese: バンド (bando)

→ Korean: 밴드 (baendeu)

Inherited from Middle English band (also bond), from Old English beand, bænd, bend (“bond, chain, fetter, band, ribbon, ornament, chaplet, crown”), from Proto-Germanic *bandą, *bandiz (“band, fetter”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to tie, bind”). Middle English band reinforced by Old French bande. Cognate with Dutch band, German Band, Danish bånd, Swedish band, Icelandic band (“band”). Related to bond, bind, bend.

inh

(especially US) A ring, such as a wedding ring (wedding band), or a ring put on a bird's leg to identify it.


mayor

mayors (plural)
maiere (alternative)
maieur (alternative)
mar (alternative)
mayere (alternative)
meer (alternative)
mehir (alternative)
meir (alternative)
meire (alternative)
mer (alternative)
mere (alternative)
meyhir (alternative)
meyr (alternative)
maier (alternative)
mayer (alternative)
mayr (alternative)
meyer (alternative)
meyre (alternative)
maiour (alternative)
mair (alternative)
maire (alternative)
mare (alternative)
mayre (alternative)
maior (alternative)
major (alternative)
mawer (alternative)
majer (alternative)
mayour (alternative)

→ Cebuano: mayor

→ Swahili: meya

→ Tok Pisin: meya

Circa 1300; from Middle English maire, from Old French maire (“head of a city or town government”) (13th century), from Latin maior (“bigger, greater, superior”), comparative of magnus (“big, great”). Doublet of major. Displaced Old English burgealdor.

provost

of Scottish burghs & historical French bourgs

(chiefly US) A largely ceremonial position in some municipal governments that presides over the city council while a contracted city manager holds actual executive power.


hoop

en-noun

hoop (countable and uncountable, plural hoops)

From Middle English hoop, hoope, from Old English hōp (“mound, raised land; in combination, circular object”), from Proto-Germanic *hōpą (“bend, bow, arch”) (compare Saterland Frisian Houp (“hoop”), Dutch hoep (“hoop”), Old Norse hóp (“bay, inlet”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kāb- (“to bend”) (compare Lithuanian kabė (“hook”), Old Church Slavonic кѫпъ (kǫpŭ, “hill, island”)). More at camp.

cog

Articles ranging from Chris Johnson's "For Europeans, hoops is the second-most beautiful game" for The Globe and Mail to Adam Minter's "China Is Hoops Country" for Bloomberg Opinion have detailed the rise in basketball in a wide range of countries, including the most populous ones in the world.

2018 July 30, Bruce Y. Lee, “How This Sport Is Changing Kids' Health Around The World”, in Forbes:

(US, in the plural, metonymically) The game of basketball.


delegate

From Middle English delegat, from Old French delegat, from Latin dēlēgātus.

(US) An appointed representative in some legislative bodies.


burglary

en-noun

burglary (countable and uncountable, plural burglaries)

From New Latin burglaria. Equivalent to burglar + -y. Displaced native Old English hūsbryċe (literally “house-breach”).

ncog

The crime of unlawfully breaking into a vehicle, house, store, or other enclosure with the intent to steal.

(law, US) Under the Model Penal Code, entering a building or occupied structure with purpose to commit a crime therein, unless the premises are at the time open to the public or the actor is licensed or privileged to enter.


orient

/ˈɔː.ɹɪ.ənt/

The noun is derived from Middle English orient, oriente, oryent, oryente, oryentte (“the east direction; eastern horizon or sky; eastern regions of the world, Asia, Orient; eastern edge of the world”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman orient, oriente, and Old French orient (“east direction; Asia, Orient”) (modern French orient), or directly from its etymon Latin oriēns (“the east; daybreak, dawn; sunrise; (participle) rising; appearing; originating”), present active participle of orior (“to get up, rise; to appear, become visible; to be born, come to exist, originate”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃er- (“to move, stir; to rise, spring”).
The adjective is derived from Middle English orient (“eastern; from Asia or the Orient; brilliant, shining (characteristic of jewels from the Orient)”), from Middle English orient (noun); see above.

inh

Moon, that now meetſt the orient sun, now fli'ſt / With the fixt Starrs, fixt in thir Orb that flies, [...]

1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 175–176:

(dated, poetic, also figuratively) Rising, like the morning sun.


mop

en-verb

mop (third-person singular simple present mops, present participle mopping, simple past and past participle mopped)

mops (present singular third-person)
mopping (participle present)
mopped (participle past)
mopped (past)

From Middle English mappe (also as mappel), perhaps borrowed from Walloon mappe (“napkin”), from Latin mappa (“napkin, cloth”). Believed to be from a Semitic source, variously claimed as Phoenician or Punic (the latter by Quintilian). Compare Modern Hebrew מַפָּה (mapá, “a map; a cloth”) (shortened from מַנְפָּה (manpah, “fluttering banner, streaming cloth”)). Doublet of map, nape, and nappe.

By “mopping” (stealing) the clothes and accessories necessary to effect their look, or by buying breasts, reconstructed noses, lifted chins, and female genitals, the children turn traditional ideas of labor around: […]

2013, Martha Gever, Pratibha Parmar, John Greyson, Queer Looks, page 111:


scrub

en-noun

scrub (countable and uncountable, plural scrubs)

Late Middle English in the sense of "stunted tree," a variant of shrub, possibly under Old Norse influence.

en:poorly bred livestock animal not well suited to breeding

(countable, US, stock breeding) One of the common livestock of a region of no particular breed or not of pure breed, especially when inferior in size, etc.; particularly a male animal poorly suited for breeding.


dump

en-verb

dump (third-person singular simple present dumps, present participle dumping, simple past and past participle dumped)

dumps (present singular third-person)
dumping (participle present)
dumped (participle past)
dumped (past)

→ French: domper

From Middle English dumpen, dompen, probably from Old Norse dumpa (“to thump”) (whence Danish dumpe (“to fall suddenly”)), of uncertain origin, possibly imitative of falling, similar to thump.

onomatopoeic

imitative

(transitive, US) To precipitate (especially snow) heavily.


Dutchman

From Middle English Ducheman; equivalent to Dutch + -man.


Dutchman

President Roosevelt called a press conference in the Oval Office. [...] when asked where the Billys had originated, the Dutchman smiled broadly [...].

2003, James Bradley, chapter 8, in Flyboys, New York: Little, Brown and Company:

(US) A nickname for President Franklin D. Roosevelt.


a cappella

/ˌɑ kəˈpɛl.ə/

Borrowed from Italian a cappella (“in the manner of the [Sistine] chapel”), referring to non-instrumental choirs.

bor

a capella (alternative)
acapella (alternative)
a-cappella (alternative)

Socially, a cappella groups tend to be tight-knit ensembles in which close interpersonal relationships are formed.

2012, Joshua S. Duchan, Powerful Voices, page 2:

(music, US) Related to a form of purely vocal music mostly associated with American college performance groups.


locator

(US) One who locates, or is entitled to locate, land or a mining claim.


pipe

→ Bengali: পাইপ (paip)

desc

→ Gulf Arabic: پيپ (pēp, bēb, “smoking pipe”), پايپ (pāyp, bāyb, “medium of transportation (sense 2.1)”)

→ Hindi: पाइप (pāip)

→ Japanese: パイプ (paipu)

→ Korean: 파이프 (paipeu)

→ Malay: paip

→ Maori: paipa

→ Russian: пайп (pajp)

→ Urak Lawoi': ปาเฮะ (pahëq)

From Middle English pīpe, pype (“hollow cylinder or tube used as a conduit or container; duct or vessel of the body; musical instrument; financial records maintained by the English Exchequer, pipe roll”), from Old English pīpe (“pipe (musical instrument); the channel of a small stream”), from Proto-West Germanic *pīpā. Reinforced by Vulgar Latin *pīpa, from Latin pipire, pipiare, pipare, from pīpiō (“to chirp, peep”), of imitative origin. Doublet of fife.
The “storage container” and “liquid measure” senses are derived from Middle English pīpe (“large storage receptacle, particularly for wine; cask, vat; measure of volume”), from pīpe (above) and Old French pipe (“liquid measure”). In specific contexts, calques similar units of measure such as Portuguese pipa.
The verb is from Middle English pīpen, pypyn (“to play a pipe; to make a shrill sound; to speak with a high-pitched tone”), from Old English pīpian (“to pipe”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

inh

Meanings relating to a smoking implement.

(Canada, US, colloquial, historical) The distance travelled between two rest periods during which one could smoke a pipe.


pipe

en-verb

pipe (third-person singular simple present pipes, present participle piping, simple past and past participle piped)

pipes (present singular third-person)
piping (participle present)
piped (participle past)
piped (past)

onomatopoeic

imitative

[…] who ostensibly was handed an all-day sucker by a warm-hearted bandit in the act of robbing a candy store of $40, there was no moral outcry. "Find the girl," was the immediate response of competing editors to their reporters at police headquarters. The men of the press, who knew a piped story when they saw one, quickly found another little girl, presented her with a lollipop, and photographed her skipping rope in front of the candy store.

1981, Elie Abel, What's News: The Media in American Society, page 259:

If there was a lull in criminal activity, reporters were not above "piping" a story.

Reporters today supposedly do not use "piped" stories because they are unethical.

2008, Homer L. Hall, Logan H. Aimone, High School Journalism, page 91:

(US, journalism, slang) To invent or embellish (a story).


masher

Either by analogy with masher (“one who presses, softens”), or more likely from Romani masha (“a fascinator, an enticer”), mashdva (“fascination, enticement”). Originally used in theater, and recorded in US in 1870s.
Either originally borrowed as masher, from masha, or from mash + -er.

bor

"Oh, gee!" remarked the Girl from Sieber-Mason's, glancing up with the most capable coolness. "Ain't there any way to ever get rid of you mashers? I've tried everything from eating onions to using hatpins. Be on your way, Freddie."

c. 1900, O. Henry, The Ferry of Unfulfilment:

"Mama! Do you think that I'd allow a common masher-- Now, really Mama! I have my standards where men are concerned..."

(Australia, Canada, US, dated) A man who makes often unwelcome advances to women, as in a subway.


generation

en-noun

generation (countable and uncountable, plural generations)

/ˌd͡ʒɛnəˈɹeɪʃən/

Inherited from Middle English generacioun, from Anglo-Norman generacioun, Middle French generacion, and their source, Latin generātiō, from generāre (“to beget, generate”). By surface analysis, generate + -ion.

inh+

Thy Mothers of my generation: what's she, if I be a Dogge?

c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

(now US, dialectal) Race, family; breed.


penultimate

From Latin paenultimus (“penultimate”) + -ate (adjective-forming suffix), from paene (“almost”) + ultimus (“last”). Equivalent to pene- + ultimate. Compare French pénultième.

af

[…] they [the sounds of an echo] next strike the ultimate secondary object, then the penultimate and antepenultimate; […]

1677, Robert Plot, “Of the Heavens and Air”, in The natural history of Oxford-shire: Being an Essay Toward the Natural History of England, page 15:

But it should frequently happen that offspring should resemble its penultimate rather than its latest phase, and should thus be more like a grand-parent than a parent.

1878, Samuel Butler, chapter 10, in Life and Habit:

“Your clothes don't weigh more'n seven pounds. And seven from—hum—say one hundred an' twenty-three—one hundred an' sixteen is your stripped weight.”
But at the penultimate word, Mary cried out with sharp reproof:
“Why, Billy Roberts, people don't talk about such things.”

1913, Jack London, chapter 3, in The Valley of the Moon:

(UK, in US usually formal, literary or scholarly) Next to last, second to last; immediately preceding the end of a sequence, list, etc.


churn

en-verb

churn (third-person singular simple present churns, present participle churning, simple past and past participle churned)

churns (present singular third-person)
churning (participle present)
churned (participle past)
churned (past)

Noun from Middle English chyrne, cherne, kyrne ( > Scots kirn), from Old English ċyrn, ċyrin, ċirin (“churn”), from Proto-Germanic *kirnijǭ (“churn”); verb from Middle English chyrnen from Old English ċernan, from Proto-Germanic *kirnijaną (“to churn, stir”), of unknown origin. Cognate with West Frisian tsjerne, Dutch karn, Walloon serene, German Karn, Kirne, Norwegian Bokmål kjerne, Danish kærne, Swedish kärna, Icelandic kirna.

der

(US, informal, finance, travel) To continually sign up for new credit cards in order to earn signup bonuses, airline miles, and other benefits.


size

en-noun

size (countable and uncountable, plural sizes)

→ Cantonese: size (saai1 si2)

→ Irish: saghas

→ Japanese: サイズ (saizu)

→ Korean: 사이즈 (saijeu)

→ Malay: saiz

→ Persian: سایز (sâyz)

→ Urdu: سائز (sāiz)

Attested since the 14th century, originally meant a “law or regulation that determines the amount to be paid”, from Middle English syse, sise (“regulation, control, limit”), from Old French cise, sise, aphetism of assise (“assize”), from the verb asseoir (“to sit down”), from Latin assidēre, composed of ad- (“to, towards, at”) + sedeō (“sit; settle down”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed-. Displaced native Old English miċelnes (literally “bigness”).

ncog

(US) Short for chili size (“hamburger served with chili con carne”).


slingshot

(chiefly US, Philippines) A Y-shaped stick with an elastic sling between the arms used for shooting small projectiles.

blorë

Y-shaped stick with an elastic sling between the arms used for shooting small projectiles — see also sling

tiragomas (specifically Cantabria, Basque Country, Soria, La Rioja and Aragon)

bean shooter

stick with elastic band for shooting projectiles


feces

From Latin faecēs, nominative plural of faex (“residue, dregs”), further origin unknown; possibly borrowed from a substrate language.

faeces (alternative)
fæces (alternative)

We are also extracting DNA, both from blood collected during immobilizations and from hyena feces.

2011 June 21, Kay E. Holekamp, “Why Study Hyenas?”, in The New York Times:

Digested waste material (typically solid or semi-solid) discharged from a human or other mammal's stomach to the intestines; excrement.


kernel

→ Japanese: カーネル (kāneru)

From Middle English kernel, kirnel, kürnel, from Old English cyrnel, from Proto-West Germanic *kurnil, diminutive of Proto-Germanic *kurną (“seed, grain, corn”), equivalent to corn + -le. Cognate with Yiddish קערנדל (kerndl), Middle Dutch kernel, cornel, Middle High German kornel. Related also to Old Norse kjarni (“kernel”).

der

(botany, US) The stone of certain fruits, such as peaches or plums.

կորիզ

(US) stone of certain fruits, such as peaches or plums


garden

en-verb

garden (third-person singular simple present gardens, present participle gardening, simple past and past participle gardened)

gardens (present singular third-person)
gardening (participle present)
gardened (participle past)
gardened (past)

From Middle English gardyn, garden, from Anglo-Norman gardin, from Frankish *gardin-, oblique stem of *gardō (“enclosure, yard”), from Proto-Germanic *gardô (“enclosure, garden, house”), whence also inherited English yard. (compare Old French jart alongside jardin, Medieval Latin gardīnus). Doublet of jardin. Displaced Old English wyrttūn.
Cognates
Cognate with West Frisian gard, Low German Goorn, Dutch gaard, gaarde, German Garten, Icelandic garður, French jardin, Spanish jardín, Italian giardino, Sicilian jardinu.

der

I love to garden—this year I'm going to plant some daffodils.

(intransitive, chiefly Canada, US) To grow plants in a garden; to create or maintain a garden.

bahçe işi ile/işiyle meşgul olmak/uğraşmak


airplane

airplanes (plural)
aeroplane (alternative)
aëroplane (alternative)

/ˈɛːˌpleɪ̯n/

/ˈɛəˌpleɪ̯n/

/ˈɛɚˌpleɪ̯n/

Alteration of aeroplane (Borrowed from French aéroplane, from Ancient Greek ἀερόπλανος (aeróplanos, “wandering in air”), from ἀήρ (aḗr, “air”) + πλάνος (plános, “wandering”). First used by Joseph Pline in an 1855 patent.https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Aircraft_Design/NeHoahlhCGMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Joseph+Pline+glider&pg=PA3&printsec=frontcover;https://books.google.at/books?id=fSQUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA768&dq=Joseph+Pline+brevet+1855&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjgk5Cz_a_wAhXZhf0HHdjNAJwQ6AEwAnoECAIQAg#v=onepage&q=Joseph%20Pline%20brevet%201855&f=false)

(chiefly US, Canada, Philippines) A powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings.

飛行機 /飞行机

fî-hàng-kî, pî-hàng-kî, fî-yàng-kî, pî-yàng-kî

So, he'd take a spoon and he'd start playing airplane, circling the spoon around in the air until it was ready to land in the runway of my mouth.

1988, Matthew Linn, Sheila Fabricant, Dennis Linn, Healing the Eight Stages of Life, Paulist Press, →ISBN, page 66:

Willis wondered what this fellow wanted to do, spoon feed him? Play airplane?

1997 03, Maria Flook, Open Water, Ecco Press, →ISBN:

For instance, Jan has taken to playing airplane with the spoon to get Charley to attend to the spoon and want to take it into his mouth.

2013 May 13, Theo L. Dorpat, Michael L. Miller, Clinical Interaction and the Analysis of Meaning: A New Psychoanalytic Theory, Routledge, →ISBN:

(chiefly US, Canada, Philippines) A game to encourage small children to eat, in which the parent or carer pretends a spoonful of food is an aircraft flying into the child's mouth.


file

→ Armenian: ֆայլ (fayl)

→ Azerbaijani: fayl

→ Belarusian: файл (fajl)

→ Bulgarian: файл (fajl)

→ Bengali: ফাইল (phail)

→ Burmese: ဖိုင် (hpuing)

→ Dutch: file

→ Estonian: fail

→ Finnish: faili

→ German: File

→ Hindi: फ़ाइल (fāil)

→ Hungarian: fájl

→ Italian: file

→ Japanese: ファイル (fairu)

→ Korean: 파일 (pail)

→ Lao: ໄຟລ໌ (fain)

→ Latvian: fails

→ Lithuanian: failas

→ Macedonian: фајл (fajl)

→ Malay: fail

→ Maltese: fajl

→ Oromo: faayila

→ Persian: فایل (fâyl)

→ Portuguese: file

→ Russian: файл (fajl)

→ Kazakh: файл (fail)

→ Kyrgyz: файл (fayl)

→ Mongolian: файл (fajl)

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: фајл

Latin script: fajl

→ Slovak: fajl

→ Swahili: faili

→ Tajik: файл (fayl)

→ Thai: ไฟล์ (faai)

→ Turkmen: faýl

→ Ukrainian: файл (fajl)

→ Urdu: فائل (fāil)

→ Uzbek: fayl

→ Welsh: ffeil

From Old French fil (“thread”), from Latin fīlum (“thread”). Doublet of filum.

The Nonfiction Vertical File: […]I spent my university years working in the library at the Maritime School of Social Work. One of my responsibilities was to keep the library's vertical file up to date. The vertical file was a cabinet full of current newspaper and magazine clippings on topics of interest to the students and faculty of the school.

2010, Beth Critchley Charlton, Englaging the DisEngaged, page 71:


quadrillion

→ Welsh: cwadriliwn

From French quadrillion, from quadri- (“four”) + -illion.

Previous: trilliard. Next: quadrilliard.

A man named Chris Reynolds was credited $92 quadrillion USD on his paypal account, "This unexpected influx of wealth elevated him to the status of the richest person on the planet and the only quadrillionaire to have ever existed". Following this, after the man reported this error and it was fixed, "PayPal owned up to their mistake and thanked the richest man of all time for understanding the situation, saying: 'This is obviously an error and we appreciate that Mr. Reynolds understood this was the case'".

2013 July, Microsoft Network, Richest Man of All-Time Dramatically Gained and Lost His Entire Fortune in Just 2 Minutes:

“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:

Integrating data from all continents and major biomes, we conservatively estimate 20 × 10¹⁵ (20 quadrillion) ants on Earth, with a total biomass of 12 megatons of dry carbon.

2022 September 19, P. Schultheiss et al., “The abundance, biomass, and distribution of ants on Earth”, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, page 1, column 2:

(US, modern British and Australian, short scale) A thousand trillion (logic: 1,000 × 1,000⁴): 1 followed by fifteen zeros, 10¹⁵.

կվադրիլիոն

a thousand trillion (1,000,000,000,000,000); a billiard — see also a thousand trillion (1,000,000,000,000,000); a billiard


boob

Clipped form of booby (“fool”). Appeared near the beginning of the twentieth century; more information at booby § Etymology 1.

Not having an ear for music it annoys me to hear the boobs squeal.

1914, George Vere Hobart, Boobs, as Seen by John Henry, →OCLC, page 75:

[BURNS AND ENSEMBLE]: Look at all those idiots. Oh, look at all those boobs. An office full of morons. A factory full of fools. Is it any wonder that I'm singing, singing the blues!?

1990, “Look At All Those Idiots” (track 9), in The Simpsons Sing The Blues (1990), performed by The Simpsons:

He said he felt like such a boob in school and nobody talked to him.

2008 April 30, “Cher: I was crazy about Tom Cruise”, in Marie Claire:

(informal, derogatory, Canada, US) An idiot; a fool.


boob

Then he got or was brought back to Mongumber he was tired to a tree and was belted by the white officer in charge put into the boob that they have ther I think of cause we cant say for a certain was was brought out of the boob dead or nearly.

1927, William Cooper, letter, in Heiss & Minter (eds.), Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature, Allen & Unwin 2008, p. 26

I begin to feel homesick for the easy drifting of boob. I guess the fact is I'm afraid of life, haven't got the guts to be a real criminal.

1965, Mudrooroo, Wild Cat Falling, HarperCollins, published 2001, page 29:


capitol

From Middle English Capitolie, via Anglo-Norman capitolie, Old French capitoile, from Latin Capitōlium (“Capitoline Hill, its temples; any similar citadel”), from the oblique stem of caput (“head”) + -ō (noun-forming suffix) or -ōlus (“-ole”, diminutive suffix) + -ium (toponym-forming suffix). Compare Latin capitō and capitulum. As a French magistrate, via French capitoul, from Capitole, the town hall of Toulouse. Doublet of Capitolium and capitoul.

capital

the city in which the government center is located

The state capitol is located smack-dab in the middle of the state's capital.

The centre of attraction was the City Hall. Two thousand flags and more ...; 2,000 electric lights... combined to make the civic capitol gorgeous... .

1901 January 1, "Twentieth Century's Triumphant Entry", The New York Times, page 1

(US) Any building or complex of buildings in which a legislature meets.


twenty-three

Uncertain. First attested 17 March 1899.

(US, obsolete) Get lost; get out: leave.


paper airplane

paper airplanes (plural)
paper aeroplane (alternative)

(US) A toy airplane made by folding up a sheet of paper.

papiervliegtuig

(US, aeronautics) An aircraft under development (so named because it remains only on paper to date; a tongue-in-cheek sense with acknowledgment of the original sense).


APL

(computer language): From the book A Programming Language (1962).

(physics, US) Initialism of Applied Physics Laboratory (at the University of Washington)


handbook

1814, from hand + book, or perhaps a reintroduction of Middle English hond book, hondebooke, from Old English handbōc (“handbook”), or a calque of German Handbuch (“handbook”). Compare Dutch handboek, Danish håndbog, Swedish handbok.

Coordinate term: sportsbook

The extent of the business done in this line is not understood by those who have not looked into it. In New York there are 50 pool rooms and 500 handbooks; in East St. Louis, 20 handbooks; in Chicago, 5 pool rooms and 200 handbooks; […]

1916, U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on interstate commerce, Prevention of Transmission of Race-gambling Bets, page 23:

Persons subject to his rule can be found operating, in addition to the wire service, wire service relays, handbooks, gambling houses, prostitution establishments, coin-operated device companies, bars, restaurants, night clubs, motels, […]

1961, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Government Operations. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Gambling and Organized Crime: Hearings:

(US, gambling) A place where illicit bets can be placed.


spider

en-noun

spider (countable and uncountable, plural spiders)

[ˈspʌɪ̯ɾə(ɹ)]

From Middle English spiþre, spydyr, spider, spiþer, from Old English spīþra (“spider”), from Proto-West Germanic *spinþrijō, from Proto-Germanic *spinnaną (“to spin”). Mostly displaced attercop (“spider, unpleasant person”), now a dialectal term.

Cut slices and lay them in cold water in the spider; boil them up two or three minutes, then pour off the water and set the spider again on the coals and brown the slices on each side.

1846, Mary Hooker Cornelius, The Young Housekeeper's Friend, page 146, recipe 28 “To fry salt pork”

In spider pan or deep skillet set over hot coals, quickly fry a few at a time in deep lard until brown.

2005, Marty Davidson, Grandma Grace's Southern Favorites, recipe for “strawberry coconuts”, Rutledge Hill Press, page 193

2008, Corona Club (San Francisco, California), Corona Club Cook Book, page 202,
Melt ½ the dry sugar in the spider, stirring with knife until all is melted.

(cooking, US, UK, chiefly historical and now dialectal) A cast-iron frying pan with three legs, once common in open-hearth cookery.


Australian

General Australian, Macquarie Dictionary

/ɔːˈstɹeɪlɪən/

Australian scrolling
Google's name for a style of scrolling with a mousepad in which the flicking direction is inverted in comparison to the "standard" style


screwball

I will not listen to this screwball any longer.


squelch

en-verb

squelch (third-person singular simple present squelches, present participle squelching, simple past and past participle squelched)

squelches (present singular third-person)
squelching (participle present)
squelched (participle past)
squelched (past)

Unknown. Perhaps a blend of squash + quell + quench. Compare also English squolsh, English squoosh.

Even the king's announcement could not squelch the rumors.

Oh 'twas your luck and mine to be squelched.

c. 1615–1616, Thomas Middleton, John Fletcher, “The Nice Valour, or, The Passionate Mad-man”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act V, scene i:

If you deceive us you will be squelched.

1858–1865, Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC:

The party’s dominant right wing squelched not only Sherman’s hopes for an early convention, but may have also put the MLA out of contention for the leadership.

1982 December 11, Frances Russell, “Economic performance buoys Pawley’s position”, in The Vancouver Sun (The Weekend Sun), Vancouver, BC, page A6:

We believe that Facebook is using privacy as a pretext to squelch research that it considers inconvenient.

2021 August 10, Laura Edelson, Damon McCoy, “We Research Misinformation on Facebook. It Just Disabled Our Accounts.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(transitive, US) To halt, stop, eliminate, stamp out, or put down, often suddenly or by force.


put up

put up (third-person singular simple present puts up, present participle putting up, simple past and past participle put up)

puts up (present singular third-person)
putting up (participle present)
put up (participle past)
put up (past)

In addition to putting up nearly 3,300 receiving yards and 32 touchdown receptions in three college seasons, he was also the main punt returner for the Sooners.

2020 April 24, Ken Belson, Ben Shpigel, “Full Round 1 2020 N.F.L. Picks and Analysis”, in the New York Times:

The last player to have more than 140 points in one season was Mario Lemieux, who put up 160 in 1995-96.

2011 August 9, John Kreiser, “The Great One's 23 unbreakable records”, in NHL.com:

(US, Canada, transitive, sports, idiomatic) To score; to accumulate scoring. Ellipsis of to put up on the scoreboard..


put down

put down (third-person singular simple present puts down, present participle putting down, simple past and past participle put down)

puts down (present singular third-person)
putting down (participle present)
put down (participle past)
put down (past)

I put down two bottles of red wine.


put out

put out (third-person singular simple present puts out, present participle putting out, simple past and past participle put out)

puts out (present singular third-person)
putting out (participle present)
put out (participle past)
put out (past)

Don't them laundry queens put out good enough to suit you?

Christ, maybe that blond was only a bitch after all. Maybe she put out even to the punks. Come to think of it, she looked a little hard-boiled.

1934, James T. Farrell, chapter 17, in The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan:

Aarfy […] tried to dissuade them from ever putting out for anyone but their husbands.

1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC:

Nobody likes a cockteaser. Either you put out or you dont.^([sic])

1964, Hubert Selby Jr., Last Exit to Brooklyn, New York: Grove Press, page 95:

If she won't put out the men will accuse her of being bourgeois and uptight.

1975, David Lodge, Changing Places: A Tale of Two Campuses, page 232:

I can't afford to waste a Saturday night here with some married bird who isn't putting out.

2003, Elizabeth M. Noble, Reading Group, page 205:

This Grosso dated this woman a couple of times, and then, when she wouldn't put out for him, he beat her up and forced her.

2005, William Heffernan, A Time Gone By:

(intransitive, originally US slang) To consent to having sex.


call

en-noun

call (countable and uncountable, plural calls)

→ Armenian: քոլ (kʻol)

→ Georgian: ქოლი (koli)

From Middle English callen, from Old English ċeallian (“to call, shout”) and Old Norse kalla (“to call; shout; refer to as; name”); both from Proto-Germanic *kalzōną (“to call, shout”), from Proto-Indo-European *golH-so- (“voice, cry”), from *gel(H)- (“to vocalize, call, shout”).
Cognates
* Scots call, caw, ca (“to call, cry, shout”)
* Dutch kallen (“to chat, talk”),
* German kallen (“to call”)
* Swedish kalla (“to call, refer to, beckon”)
* Norwegian kalle (“to call, name”)
* Danish kalde (“to call, name”)
* Icelandic kalla (“to call, shout, name”)
* Welsh galw (“to call, demand”)
* Polish głos (“voice”)
* Lithuanian gal̃sas (“echo”)
* Russian голос (golos, “voice”)
* Albanian gjuhë (“language, tongue”).

cog

the call is coming from inside the house

(US, law) A reference to, or statement of, an object, course, distance, or other matter of description in a survey or grant requiring or calling for a corresponding object, etc., on the land.


know-it-all

know-it-alls (plural)
know-all (alternative)

We had it all figured out, but this know-it-all marched in with "the correct way of solving it", leaving our experiment in shambles.

The same holds true for supporting details—they help you to learn more about a topic. Be a know it all by sharing these details and supporting details with friends.

2004, Princeton Review, Know It All! Grades 9-12 Reading, The Princeton Review, →ISBN, page 22:

She's a mean, bossy know-it-all.

2005, Pansie Hart Flood, Tiger Turcotte Takes on the Know-it-all, Carolrhoda Books, →ISBN:

Have you ever gone shopping with a Know-It-All girlfriend and she insists, without your consent or consulting you first, to choose your outfits for you?

2012, Joe Ike, How do I relate with a “know-it-all”?, xBusinessServices Corp., page 60

(chiefly US, derogatory) Someone who claims to be knowledgeable or an expert in something, obnoxiously dismissing the opinions, advice, suggestions, etc. of others.

ամենագետ

someone who obnoxiously claims to be knowledgeable on a subject

知ったかぶりをする人

no exact term exists, the term for the action is idiomatic


ABC

en-noun

ABC (countable and uncountable, plural ABCs or ABC's)

ABCs (plural)
ABC's (plural)
absey (alternative)

From Middle English abece, ABC, from the first three letters of the Latin alphabet, standing for the whole alphabet.

Do you know your ABC? (US: Do you know your ABCs?)

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press

(uncountable, countable, usually plural in Canada, US) The English alphabet.


ABC

ABC (countable and uncountable, plural ABCs)

Pennsylvania is one of 18 alcoholic beverage control states, commonly known as “ABC states.” In an ABC state, the state government controls the sale and distribution of various alcoholic beverages, depending on state law.

2011, Richard A. McGowan, “State-Controlled Liquor Stores I: Pennsylvania”, in Privatize This? Assessing the Opportunities and Costs of Privatization, Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 89:

(US) Initialism of alcoholic beverage control.


ABC

w:Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad

(US, rail transport) Initialism of Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad.


kick out

en-verb

kick out (third-person singular simple present kicks out, present participle kicking out, simple past and past participle kicked out)

kicks out (present singular third-person)
kicking out (participle present)
kicked out (participle past)
kicked out (past)


kick off

kick off (third-person singular simple present kicks off, present participle kicking off, simple past and past participle kicked off)

kicks off (present singular third-person)
kicking off (participle present)
kicked off (participle past)
kicked off (past)

It's a wonder that old dog hasn't kicked off yet.

(intransitive, US, idiomatic, colloquial, euphemistic) To die or quit permanently.

The washer was working fine until it kicked off in the middle of a cycle.

The circuit breaker, a power failure, and the e-stop button are the only things we can think of that might have caused that pump to kick off when it did.

(intransitive, US, idiomatic) To shut down or turn off suddenly.

A week after we kicked off her calf that cow was still bawling.

(transitive, US, idiomatic, ranching, slang) To force the weaning of a bovine cow's calf by restricting the calf's access to its mother's udders, whether by literally kicking it away or another method.


NSA

National Security Agency
w:en:National Security Agency

National Surveillance Agency
w:en:National Security Agency

(government, US) Initialism of National Security Agency.

(government, US, humorous) Initialism of National Surveillance Agency.

(government, US, humorous, nickname) Initialism of No Such Agency.

Initialism of National Security Agency.
Initialism of No Such Agency.

Alternative forms: N.S.A., N. S. A.


NRA

National Recovery Act
w:National Recovery Act

(US, historical, 1930s) Initialism of National Recovery Act.

National Rifle Association of America
w:National Rifle Association of America

(US) Initialism of National Rifle Association of America.


DOJ

DAR

executive departments of the Philippines

DOJ is asking for $64,618 per day, per violation of the CWA and $55,808 per day or $2,232 per barrel of oil or unit of hazardous substance, per violation of the CWA – but it was not immediately clear from the suit how many days the DOJ considered the violation to be applicable.

2023 March 31, Alisha Ebrahimji and Andi Babineau, “US Justice Department sues Norfolk Southern following train derailment in East Palestine”, in CNN:

United States Department of Justice
w:United States Department of Justice

(US) Initialism of United States Department of Justice; also DoJ.


FEMA

Alternative form: Fema

FEMA produces maps showing which areas are at risk from flooding, so that homeowners, builders and local officials can make informed decisions about where and how to build houses.

2021 August 26, Christopher Flavelle, “How Government Decisions Left Tennessee Exposed to Deadly Flooding”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

After a disaster, the two agencies chiefly responsible for helping victims are FEMA, which focuses on emergency shelter and limited home repairs, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which funds long-term rebuilding.

2022 July 23, Christopher Flavelle, Edmund D. Fountain, “How the Government Is Failing Americans Uprooted by Calamity”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Federal Emergency Management Agency
w:Federal Emergency Management Agency

(US) Acronym of Federal Emergency Management Agency.


CFC

Combined Federal Campaign
w:Combined Federal Campaign

(US) Initialism of Combined Federal Campaign.


dame

60th British Academy Film Awards
Judi Dench
Order of the British Empire

From Middle English dame, dam (“noble lady”), from Old French dame (“lady; term of address for a woman; the queen in card games and chess”), from Latin domina (“mistress of the house”), feminine form of dominus (“lord, master, ruler; owner of a residence”), or from Latin domus (“home, house”). Doublet of domina and donna.

der

I can see that would be the kind of a chap that the dames would stand for everlastingly.

1903 March, Guy Wetmore Carryl, The Lieutenant-Governor: A Novel, Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company; Riverside Press, Cambridge [Mass.], →OCLC, page 37:

There is nothin' like a dame / Nothin' in the world. / There is nothin' you can name / That is anythin' like a dame.

1949, Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics), Richard Rodgers (music), “There Is Nothing Like a Dame”, in South Pacific; published in Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics), Oscar Hammerstein II, Joshua Logan (book), Albert Sirmay [i.e., Albert Szirmai] (vocal score editor), South Pacific. A Musical Play. [...] Adapted from James A. Michener’s [...] Tales of the South Pacific [...], New York, N.Y.: Williamson Music; Milwaukee, Wis.: Hal Leonard, 1949, →OCLC, page 30:

(US, dated, informal, slightly derogatory) A woman.

daami

(US, dated, informal, slightly derogatory) a woman


dummy

en-adv

dummy (comparative more dummy, superlative most dummy)

more dummy (comparative)
most dummy (superlative)
dumbie (alternative)
dumby (alternative)

From dumb + -y. Pacifier sense from dummy teat where dummy is in the sense of a nonfunctional replica.

It's dummy hot outside.


tank

→ Afrikaans: tenk

→ Albanian: tank

→ Gulf Arabic: تانْكي (tānki)

→ Armenian: տանկ (tank)

→ Assamese: টেংকি (teṅki)

→ Asturian: tanque

→ Azerbaijani: tank

→ Bashkir: танк (tank)

→ Belarusian: танк (tank)

→ Bengali: ট্যাংক (ṭêṅko)

→ Burmese: တင့်ကား (tang.ka:)

→ Buryat: танк (tank)

→ Catalan: tanc

→ Chechen: танк (tank)

→ Chinese:

Mandarin: 坦克 (tǎnkè)

→ Chuvash: танк (tank)

→ Czech: tank

→ Danish: tank

→ Dutch: tank

→ Dzongkha: ཏེངཀ (tengk)

→ Eastern Mari: танк (tank)

→ Estonian: tank

→ Fiji Hindi: tanki

→ Finnish: tankki

→ French: tank

→ Galician: tanque

→ Georgian: ტანკი (ṭanḳi)

→ German: Tank

→ Greek: τανκ (tank)

→ Greenlandic: tanki

→ Hebrew: טנק (tank)

desctree

→ Hindi: टंकी (ṭaṅkī)
→ Burmese: တိုင်ကီ (tuingki)

→ Hungarian: tank

→ Indonesian: tank

→ Italian: tank, tanca

→ Japanese: タンク (tanku)

→ Kazakh: танк (tank)

→ Korean: 탱크 (taengkeu)

→ Kumyk: танк (tank)

→ Kyrgyz: танк (tank)

→ Lao: ຖັງ (thang)

→ Latvian: tanks

→ Lezgi: танк (tank)

→ Lithuanian: tankas

→ Macedonian: тенк (tenk)

→ Malay: tank

→ Maori: taika

→ Norwegian: tank, tanks

→ Ossetian: танк (tank)

→ Persian: تانک (tânk)

desc

→ Portuguese: tanque (“armored vehicle”)

→ Quechua: tanki

→ Romanian: tanc

→ Romansch: tanc

desctree

→ Russian: танк (tank), танкъ (tank) — Pre-reform orthography (1918)
→ Armenian: տանկ (tank)
→ Kazakh: танк (tank)
→ Mongolian: танк (tank)

→ Carpathian Rusyn: танк (tank)

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: тенк

Latin script: tenk

→ Sidamo: tanke

→ Slovak: tank

→ Slovene: tank

→ Swahili: tangi

→ Tajik: танк (tank), тонк (tonk)

→ Tamil: தாங்கி (tāṅki)

→ Tatar: танк (tank)

→ Thai: ถัง (tǎng)

→ Tokelauan: tane

→ Turkish: tank

→ Turkmen: tank

→ Ukrainian: танк (tank)

→ Upper Sorbian: tank

→ Urdu: ٹینک (ṭaink)

→ Uyghur: تانكا (tanka)

→ Uzbek: tank

→ Vietnamese: xe tăng, tăng

→ Walloon: tank

→ Welsh: tanc

→ Yakut: тааҥка (taañka)

→ Yiddish: טאַנק (tank)

From Portuguese tanque (“tank, liquid container”), from an Indo-Aryan language such as Gujarati ટાંકી (ṭā̃kī, “cistern”) or Marathi टांकी (ṭāṅkī). Compare the Arabic verb اِسْتَنْقَعَ (istanqaʕa, “to become stagnant, to stagnate”).
In the sense of armoured vehicle, first attested in 1915, prototypes were described as tanks for carrying water to disguise their nature as well as due to physical resemblance.

der

drunk tank

The sheriff threw us in the tank without charges!

By the nature of imprisonment, one is perceived by free society as something subhuman. By the nature of being on a protective custody tank, a "gay tank", everyone there is seen as members of the lowest caste in the system.

1985 April 13, Philip Brasfield, “Echoes Inside of What's Outside”, in Gay Community News, page 4:

It was Christmas Eve, babe, in the drunk tank / An old man said to me, “Won't see another one”

1987, Shane MacGowan, Jem Finer (lyrics and music), “Fairytale of New York”, in If I Should Fall from Grace with God, performed by The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl:

(US, slang) A prison cell, or prison generally.


half and half

en-noun

half and half (countable and uncountable, plural half and halfs)

A mixture of two things, generally in about equal proportions.

(US) A mixture of cream and milk often used in coffee, defined by the US Food and Drug Administration to contain between 10.5% and 18% milk fat.

(US) A mixture of half lemonade and half iced tea.


coke

1909, from the name of the American company Coca-Cola and the beverage it produced; the drink was named for two of its original ingredients, coca leaves and cola nut.

(US, chiefly Southern US, New Mexico, informal) Alternative letter-case form of Coke (any soft drink, regardless of type).


delta

From Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta), borrowed from a Phoenician word for "door", ultimately from Proto-Semitic *dalt-. Doublet of dalet.
* (river): from the triangular shape of the majuscule Greek letter delta Δ
* (USSF): from the delta wing, symbol of the USSF, a triangular wing, shaped like the majuscule Greek letter delta Δ

(US, military, U.S. Space Force) A military unit, nominally headed by a colonel, equivalent to a USAF operations wing, or an army regiment.


natural

natural (countable and uncountable, plural naturals)

naturals (plural)
naturall (alternative)
nat'ral (alternative)

/ˈnæt͡ʃ(ə)ɹəl/

From Middle English natural, borrowed from Old French natural, naturel, from Latin nātūrālis, from nātus, the perfect participle of nāscor (“be born”, verb). Displaced native Old English ġecynde. By surface analysis, nature + -al.

Chinosole, who stopped straightening her hair and cut it into a natural while at a predominantly white college, was quite uneasy with the style

2002, Maxine Leeds Craig, Ain't I a Beauty Queen?: Black Women, Beauty, and the Politics of Race, Oxford University Press, →ISBN:

I wanted to do it for so long — throw out my chemically relaxed hair for a natural.

2012, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Chicken Soup for the African American Soul: Celebrating and Sharing Our Culture One Story at a Time, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

Third, it insinuates that black afro hairstyles (e.g., naturals) relate to African cultural heritage, which is largely untrue.

2015, Carmen M. Cusack, HAIR AND JUSTICE: Sociolegal Significance of Hair in Criminal Justice, Constitutional Law, and Public Policy, Charles C Thomas Publisher, →ISBN, page 155:

(US, colloquial) A hairstyle for people with Afro-textured hair in which the hair is not straightened or otherwise treated.


daily

From Middle English dayly, from Old English dæġlīċ, from Proto-West Germanic *dagalīk, from Proto-Germanic *dagalīkaz (“daily”), equivalent to day + -ly. Cognate with Scots dayly, daly (“daily”), German Low German dagelk, dagelik (“daily”), Dutch dagelijks (“daily”), German täglich (“daily”), Danish daglig (“daily”), Swedish daglig (“daily”), Icelandic daglegur (“daily”).

Something that is produced, consumed, used, or done every day.

(US, automotive, colloquial) A daily driver.

(US, film, television) Raw, unedited footage traditionally developed overnight and viewed by the cast and crew the next day.


daily

en-verb

daily (third-person singular simple present dailies, present participle dailying, simple past and past participle dailied)

dailies (present singular third-person)
dailying (participle present)
dailied (participle past)
dailied (past)
dayly (alternative)

(US, automotive, colloquial) To drive an automobile frequently, on a daily basis, for regular and mundane tasks.


bishop

Tok Pisin: bisop

→ Hawaiian: pīhopa

→ Japanese: ビショップ

→ Kannada: ಬಿಷಪ್ (biṣap)

→ Korean: 비숍 (bisyop)

→ Maori: pīhopa

→ Thai: บิชอป (bì-chɔ́p)

From Middle English bischop, bishop, bisshop, biscop, from Old English bisċop (“bishop”), from Proto-West Germanic *biskop, from Vulgar Latin (e)biscopus, from classical Latin episcopus (“overseer, supervisor”), from Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos, “overseer”), from ἐπί (epí, “over”) + σκοπός (skopós, “watcher”), used in Greek and Latin both generally and as a title of civil officers. Cognate with all European terms for the position in various Christian churches; compare bisp.

аҷҟәандар

church official, supervisor of priests and congregations

titular bishop

as over a diocese without a congregation

If, by her bishop, or her 'grace' alone,
A genuine lady, or a church, is known.


beverage

en-noun

beverage (countable and uncountable, plural beverages)

beverages (plural)
beveridge (alternative)

list of English words with dual French and Anglo-Saxon variations

/ˈbɛv(ə)ɹɪd͡ʒ/

From Middle English beverage, from Old French beverage, variant of bevrage, from beivre (“to drink”), variant of boivre (“to drink”), from Latin bibō. Related to imbibe.

He knew no Beverage but the flowing Stream; / His taſteful well-earn'd Food the ſilvan Game, […]

1748, James Thomson, “Canto II”, in The Castle of Indolence: […], London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, stanza VII, page 44:

[W]here coffee is used as a constant beverage, the gravel and the gout are scarcely known.

1848, J. S. Skinner & Son, editor, The Plough, The Loom and the Anvil, volume I, Philadelphia: J. S. Skinner & Son, page 137:

(chiefly Canada, US) A liquid to consume; a drink, such as tea, coffee, liquor, beer, milk, juice, or a soft drink, usually excluding water.


kilometer

/kəˈlɑmɪtəɹ/

/kɪˈlɑmɪtəɹ/

When classes start in September, the University of Macau’s new campus — still under construction on about a square kilometer, or roughly 250 acres, on Hengqin Island in southern Guangdong Province — will be “handed over” to Macau governance in accordance with a 2009 bill by the National People’s Congress in Beijing.

2013 July 14, Joyce Lau, Calvin Yang, “University of Macau Moves Over the China Border”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2013-07-18, Asia Pacific:

At around 5:30 a.m., crewmembers of a JCG patrol boat received an SOS from the 106,726-ton freighter Anangel Courage. The patrol vessel and a JCG plane found the freighter on the high seas about 67 kilometers away from Uotsuri Island, one of the Senkaku Islands, which are also claimed by China.

2016 August 11, “Chinese fishing boat collides with Greek freighter near Senkakus, 6 rescued”, in The Mainichi, archived from the original on 2016-08-12:


decameter

Borrowed from French décamètre. Equivalent to deca- + meter.


CBC

Congressional Black Caucus
w:Congressional Black Caucus

(US) Initialism of Congressional Black Caucus.


CBC

Like many Canadian-born Chinese (CBCs), Yao's parents are from Hong Kong. Brought up in multicultural Toronto, she, like other young CBCs, is stuck between two cultures.

1996 September 8, Kenny Yum, “Bridging the cultural divide”, in South China Sunday Morning Post:

According to most CBC students, Hong Kong Chinese were considered to be FOBs because they continued to partake in Hong Kong popular culture, and they were physically distinctive in terms of their Hong Kong styles of fashion.

1999, Cam Hue Lau, Role of Chinese Social Clubs in Chinese Identity: An Exploration of a Group of University Students (MA thesis), Calgary, Alberta: University of Calgary, page 92:

ESLs felt that they were better than CBCs because of their perceived cultural "authenticity," their loyalty to the home country, and their detailed knowledge of a language and culture that was not Canadian. And CBCs felt that they were better than ESLs because they had adapted to Canadian culture, were more interested in the present as opposed to the perceived obsession that ESLs had with the past, and were more aware of North American popular culture, such as style and music.

2008, Shauna Pomerantz, Girls, Style, and School Identities: Dressing the Part, New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, pages 80–81:

This survey has successfully identified some causative patterns and risk factors for CBCs leaving bicultural Chinese churches, which indicate where preventative kinds of leadership measures can be taken. For example, the research revealed that the life stage when the majority leave is young adulthood; that most CBCs deliberated for a lengthy period of time, assessing their options, before exiting; and that follow-up with them appears to have been minimal or nonexistent.

2015, Matthew Richard Sheldon Todd, English Ministry Crisis in Chinese Canadian Churches: Towards the Retention of English-Speaking Adults from Chinese Canadian Churches through Associated Parallel Independent English Congregational Models, Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, →ISBN, page 115:

(Canada, US) Initialism of Canadian-born Chinese.


UPN

United Paramount Network
w:United Paramount Network

(television, US) Initialism of United Paramount Network.


NHL

National Historic Landmark
w:National Historic Landmark

(US) Initialism of National Historic Landmark.


flight

flight (countable and uncountable, plural flights)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *plew-
Proto-Indo-European *plewk-der.
Proto-Germanic *fleuganą
Proto-West Germanic *fleugan
Proto-West Germanic *-þi
Proto-West Germanic *fluhti
Old English flyht
Middle English flight
English flight
From Middle English flight, from Old English flyht (“flight”), from Proto-West Germanic *fluhti (“flight”), derived from *fleuganą (“to fly”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to fly”), enlargement of *plew- (“flow”). Analyzable as fly + -t (variant of -th).
Cognate with West Frisian flecht (“flight”), Dutch vlucht (“flight”), German Flucht (“flight”) (etymology 2).

etymon

(US, naval) A numbered subclass of a given class of warship, denoting incremental modernizations to the original design.


asterisk

asterisks (plural)
asterisc (alternative)
asterix (alternative)

/ˈæstəˌɹɪsk/

The New York Times
The New York Times Company

The noun is derived from Middle English asterisk [and other forms], from Late Latin asteriscus (“asterisk; small star”), from Ancient Greek ἀστερῐ́σκος (asterĭ́skos, “asterisk; small star”), from ᾰ̓στήρ (ăstḗr, “celestial body (star, planet, and other lights in the sky such as meteors)”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs- (“to burn; to glow”)) + -ῐ́σκος (-ĭ́skos, diminutive suffix).
Sense 1.1.2 (“something which is of little importance or which is marginal”) refers to the use of an asterisk to denote a footnote or marginal note in a text; in other words, information that is not important enough to be incorporated into the main text. Sense 1.1.3 (“blemish in an otherwise outstanding achievement”) refers to the use of an asterisk in a sporting record to indicate that the record is qualified in some manner (for example, that the sportsperson was found to have taken performance-enhancing drugs at the time).
The verb is derived from the noun.

tähti

small star; something resembling or shaped like a star

They came into the tournament highly ranked, but with a little bit of an asterisk as their last two wins had been unconvincing.

(dated) A small star; also (by extension), something resembling or shaped like a star.

The star-shaped symbol *, which is used in printing and writing for various purposes, including to refer a reader to a note at the bottom of a page or in a margin, and to indicate the omission of letters or words; a star.

(US, sports, figuratively) A blemish in an otherwise outstanding achievement.


PBS

en-noun

PBS (countable and uncountable, plural PBSs)

phosphate-buffered saline
w:phosphate-buffered saline

(US, biology) Initialism of phosphate-buffered saline: a buffer solution commonly used in biological research.


PBS

(Canada, US, television) Initialism of Public Broadcasting Service.


NPR

First, I think that the NPR leadership made a mistake in appearing to fire Williams in a snit, rather than not renewing his contract, at the next opportunity, because of longstanding differences in journalistic values.

2010 October 25, James Fallows, “Why NPR Matters (Long)”, in The Atlantic:

National Public Radio
w:National Public Radio

(US, radio) Initialism of National Public Radio.


prom

Would you like to be my prom date?

The greatest moment in my life was the junior/senior prom that we had back in April 2009.

(US) A formal ball held at a high school or college on special occasions; e.g,. near the end of the academic year.

бал

студенческий


decimeter

Borrowed from French décimètre. Equivalent to deci- + meter.


millimeter

[ˈmɪləˌmiɾɚ]

From French millimètre, as if milli- + meter.


AAA

Agricultural Adjustment Act
w:Agricultural Adjustment Act

(US, historical, law) Initialism of Agricultural Adjustment Act.

Black's ideas were first implemented when Congress passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933,* which became the heart and soul of New Deal* agricultural policy. The legislation created the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) to implement Black's ideas. […] Under the Agricultural Adjustment Act, the AAA would negotiate “marketing agreements” in which individual farmers agreed to reduce production.

2001, James S. Olson, “Agricultural Adjustment Administration”, in Historical Dictionary of the Great Depression, 1929–1940, Greenwood Press, →ISBN, page 5:

(US, historical, law) Initialism of Agricultural Adjustment Administration.

Through its major professional organization, the American Anthropological Association (AAA), the discipline hoped to find a solution to its crisis through reorganization. Completed in 1984, nine affiliated societies signed a merger agreement with the AAA.

2003, Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, “Introduction”, in Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, editor, Ethics and the Profession of Anthropology: Dialogue for Ethically Conscious Practice, 2nd edition, AltaMira Press, →ISBN, page xii:

American Anthropological Association
w:American Anthropological Association

(US) Initialism of American Anthropological Association.

Ahead of one of the busiest travel periods of the year, the American Automobile Association (AAA) said more than 112 million people planned to travel 50 miles (80 km) or more from home between 23 December and 2 January.

2022 December 23, Jon Henley, Edward Helmore, Maya Yang, “Gigantic US winter storm leaves millions without power and cancels holiday plans”, in The Guardian:

American Automobile Association
w:American Automobile Association

(US, automotive) Initialism of American Automobile Association.

w:Associated Actors and Artistes of America

(US, historical) Initialism of Actors and Artistes of America; now the AAAA or 4As.

Army Audit Agency
w:United States Army Audit Agency

(US, dated)Initialism of Army Audit Agency; more commonly the USAAA.


AAA

(sports, Canada, US) The highest level of minor league baseball, often used by extension in other sports to indicate the highest level of minor league play in that sport as well.


subway

In 1884 Greathead was part of a syndicate that obtained powers for another subway – 'The City of London & Southwark Subway'. The term 'subway' sounded more sophisticated than 'underground railway', which was associated with the sulphurous Metropolitan, and it would be adopted by New York for its own electric metro when work started on that in 1904.

2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 98:

(Canada, US, Scotland, South Africa) An underground railway, especially for mass transit of people in urban areas.

Just before you leave, the subway comes. You get on. It stops at the next station.

1981 April 29, Russel Baker, “And Only Sixty Cents”, in The New York Times:

(Canada, US, Scotland, South Africa) A train that runs on such an underground railway.

(Canada, US) A rapid transit system, regardless of the elevation of its right of way; a metro system.


subway

en-verb

subway (third-person singular simple present subways, present participle subwaying, simple past and past participle subwayed)

subways (present singular third-person)
subwaying (participle present)
subwayed (participle past)
subwayed (past)

I suppose I could have subwayed around town in search of froufrou French pastry shops.

2008 February 13, Melissa Clark, “From Paris, With Hustle”, in New York Times:

(intransitive, US, informal) To travel by underground railway.

that and a nickel will get you on the subway

that and a token will get you on the subway