table

en-verb

table (third-person singular simple present tables, present participle tabling, simple past and past participle tabled)

tables (present singular third-person)
tabling (participle present)
tabled (participle past)
tabled (past)
tyebble (alternative)

Inherited from Middle English table, tabel, tabil, tabul, from Old English tabele, tabul, tablu, tabule, tabula (“board”); also as tæfl, tæfel, an early Germanic borrowing of Latin tabula (“tablet, board, plank, chart”). The sense of “piece of furniture” is from Old French table, of same Latin origin; Old English used bēod or bord instead for this meaning: see board. Doublet of tabula and tavla.

der

The legislature tabled the amendment, so they will not be discussing it until later.

The motion was tabled, ensuring that it would not be taken up until a later date.

(chiefly US) To remove from the agenda, to postpone dealing with; to shelve (to indefinitely postpone consideration or discussion of something).


tram

→ German: Tram

→ Hindi: ट्राम (ṭrām)

desc

→ Urdu: ٹرام

→ Urdu: ٹرام

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
Oxford University Press

Possibly from Low German traam (“tram, shaft of a barrow”), from Middle Low German and Middle Dutch trame (“narrow shaft, beam”), said to be ultimately from a lost West Germanic (Ingvaeonic) word, probably from Proto-Germanic *drum (“splinter, fragment”), from Proto-Indo-European *térmn̥ (“peg, post, boundary”), cognate with Latin terminus.
Compare Middle Low German treme; West Flemish traam, trame.
The popular derivation from the surname of the English pioneer tramway builder Benjamin Outram (1764–1805) is false: the term pre-dated him.
The sense of a rail vehicle derives from tram-way, in its earliest sense meaning literally a log-covered road, but later applied to the earliest wooden railways, used for transporting coal in carts which came to be called "trams".

der

The game Half-Life, for example, begins with a movie in which Gordon Freeman, the player's avatar, takes a tram ride through the Black Mesa research complex while a voice explains why he is there.

2013, Ernest Adams, “Storytelling”, in Fundamentals of Game Design, 3rd edition, [San Francisco, Calif.]: New Riders, →ISBN, page 215:

It's possible that my family took the tram to Roosevelt Island at some point and the experience embedded itself deep into my imagination where it mixed with other flights of fancy (pun intended) of flying through a Gotham-like city like Batman.

2014, Vivienne Gucwa, “Skylines”, in NY through the Lens, Cincinnati, Oh.: Print Books, →ISBN, page 129:

Taking advantage of the VIP Experience at Universal Studios provides a more intimate and authentic look at the studio than does the regular studio tram tour. […] The VIP Experience gets you off the tram and behind the scenes: into sound stages, prop warehouses, and production facilities and on the sets of shows in production.

2005, Jan Friedman, Eccentric California, Chalfont St. Peter, Buckinghamshire: Bradt Travel Guides, →ISBN, page 124:

Each morning, still-groggy early-bird park-goers stumble from the parking-lot tram and head straight to La Brea's cafeteria-style Express for a caffeinated pick-me-up or a meal to start the day.

2007, Matthew Richard Poole, Frommer's Los Angeles 2008, Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 236:

(US) A train with wheels that runs on a road; a trackless train.


tram

en-verb

tram (third-person singular simple present trams, present participle tramming, simple past and past participle trammed)

trams (present singular third-person)
tramming (participle present)
trammed (participle past)
trammed (past)

My invention consists of a frame suspended from another frame, on which the stone rests, and is leveled by screws from below, on which suspended frame are screws, which, being adjusted in the frame when the stone is first leveled by its face, serve afterward to level the stone at any time without removing the runner, and this lower frame serves for tramming the spindle; […]

1875 October 29, James T. Beckwith, “[Patent number] 171,974. Leveling and Tramming Apparatus for Millstones. James T. Beckwith, Cameron Mills, N.Y. [Filed Oct. 29, 1875.]”, in Specifications and Drawings of Patents Issued from the United States Patent Office for January, 1876: Patents No. 171,641 to 172,817; Reissues No. 6,831 to 6,885, Inclusive, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, published 1876, →OCLC, page 315, column 1:

mechanical engineering
mechanical engineering

(US, transitive) To align a component in mechanical engineering or metalworking, particularly the spindle of a mill or drill press, as historically accomplished using a trammel.


trailer

→ Armenian: թրեյլեր (tʻreyler)

→ Dutch: trailer

→ Estonian: treiler

→ Finnish: traileri

→ Galician: tráiler

→ Greek: τρέιλερ (tréiler)

→ Japanese: トレーラー (torērā)

→ Portuguese: trailer

→ Romanian: treiler

→ Russian: тре́йлер (tréjler)

→ Spanish: tráiler

→ Swahili: trela

From trail + -er. The film sense derives from the fact that previews were formerly shown after the main feature, rather than before as is usual today.

תווית סוף

in computing: value used to signal the end of a list of data

We drove our trailer to Yellowstone Park.

(US) A furnished vehicle towed behind another, and used as a dwelling when stationary.

The young couple′s first home was in a trailer.

(US) A prefabricated home that could be towed to a new destination but is typically permanently left in an area designated for such homes.

фургон

prefabricated home that could be towed but typically is not

The trailer for that movie makes it seem like it would be fun.

(chiefly US, media) A preview of a film, video game or TV show.


sunup

en-noun

sunup (countable and uncountable, plural sunups)

“Shagbark, that was risky on your part; even where it lies it is much closer than I like, for we shall all have to see it in the morning.”
“No, you won’t; it’ll be gone afore sunup.”

1909, Edward S. Ellis, Alden the Pony Express Rider:

(US) The time of day when the sun appears above the eastern horizon.

(US) The change in color of the sky at sunup.


cafeteria

cafeterias (plural)
caféteria (alternative)
cafétéria (alternative)
cafeterie (alternative)

Borrowed from Spanish cafetería (“coffeehouse”), from cafetera (“coffee maker”), from French cafetière, from café, from Ottoman Turkish قهوه (kahve) (Turkish kahve), from Arabic قَهْوَة (qahwa, “coffee”). Doublet of cafetière.

bor+

(chiefly US, Canada) A restaurant in which customers select their food at a counter then carry it on a tray to a table to eat.

kahvio

as part of a larger entity such as a large retail store

(chiefly US, Canada) A dining area in an institution where meals may be purchased (as above), provided, or brought in from elsewhere.


herb

en-noun

herb (countable and uncountable, plural herbs)

From Middle English herbe, erbe, from Old French erbe (French herbe), from Latin herba. Initial h was restored to the spelling in the 15th century on the basis of Latin, but it remained mute until the 19th century and still is for many speakers. Doublet of yerba.

George (AO) describes the tie between fighting and respect: 'Cause some people could come up to you and say, “Ah, he's a herb, he can't fight. He's nothing.”

2008, Maryann Dickar, Corridor Cultures: Mapping Student Resistance at an Urban School, page 88:

(countable, US, slang) (always with pronounced /h/) A lame or uncool person.


ton

→ Tokelauan: tone, tane

Variant of tun (“cask”), influenced by Old French tonne (“ton”).

ton

various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun

Any of various units of volume, originally notionally equal to the contents of a tun, particularly:

The measurement ton of (US) 40 or (UK) 42 cubic feet (about 1.1 or 1.2 m³).


INS

w:Immigration and Naturalization Service

(US, historical) Initialism of Immigration and Naturalization Service.


ordinance

ordinances (plural)
ordinaunce (alternative)

From Middle English ordinaunce (ca. 1300), from Old French ordenance (“decree, command”) (modern French ordonnance), from Medieval Latin ordinantia, from ordinans, the present participle of ordino (“put in order”) (whence ordain). Doublet of ordonnance.

der

Enactive. Expositive. / Art. 57. XIII 2. The Registrative, or say Recordative: exercised, by the arrangements and operations, by which, in conformity to corresponding ordinances and mandates, the accounts, given at different periods by the exercise of the statistic function, are kept in contiguity, and in a regular series, for the purpose of reference and comparison.

1830, Jeremy Bentham, Constitutional code: for the use all nations and all governments ..., volume 1, page 251:

According to the weatherperson, spring arrived in Hartford, Conn., on Monday, March 20 at 6:34 p.m. But gay people here didn't need a weatherperson to feel the gust of fresh air at a hearing on the proposed gay rights ordinance before the City Council that night at 7:30.

1978 April 8, Eric Gordon, “Hartford Hears Testimony on Gay Rights Bill”, in Gay Community News, page 1:

Alderman Richard Mell then pushed through antipeddling ordinances in the 33rd and 47th wards.

1997 May 9, Neal Pollack, “The Pushcart War”, in Chicago Reader:

(US) A local law, passed by e.g. a city.


burglarize

en-verb

burglarize (third-person singular simple present burglarizes, present participle burglarizing, simple past and past participle burglarized)

burglarizes (present singular third-person)
burglarizing (participle present)
burglarized (participle past)
burglarized (past)
burglarise (alternative)

/ˈbɜː(ɹ)ɡləɹaɪz/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-burglarize.wav

People who would now attempt to burglarize in top-boots, would be as mad as if they were to adopt that costume for picking pockets.

1829 July 5, [ William Hazlitt ?], “The Advantages of Committing Burglary in cuerpo Elucidated”, in The Atlas, London, page 442:

[M]en exclaim against you as the most bungling of "cabbagers" ... that ever burglarised upon the property of Shakespeare!

1839 December 7, "Mustard-Seed", “To Sir Charles Shaw, K. C. T. S., &c., &c.”, in Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, Manchester, page 6:

In this dilemma there were but two resources open to the infuriated stewards, -- one to carry the key vi et armis; the other, to burglarize the cellar.

1840 May 1, "Shamrock", “Steeple-Chasing in Ireland”, in The Sporting Review, London, page 364:

Deaseley Brothers & Dodge, wholesale dry goods store, was burglarized last night, and three thousand dollars worth of silks taken. No arrests.

1856 November 1, Louisville Daily Courier, Louisville, KY, page 3:

I also told you my house had been thoroughly burglarized three times,

1856 December 16, "The London Scoundrel", “A Plea for the Gallows (Letter to the Editor)”, in The Times, London, page 10:

We see in a telegraphic despatch from across the boundary line that a store was "burglarized" a short time ago.

1865 September 25, Upper Canada Law Journal, Toronto, page 228:

Burglarize, to, a term creeping into journalism. ... The word has a dangerous rival in the shorter burgle.

1872, M. Schele De Vere, Americanisms: The English of the New World, New York: Charles Scribner, page 587:

During a recent burglary epidemic a police superintendent one night made a tour of inspection through the burglarised district.

1903 March 31, “From Day To Day”, in The Express and Telegraph, Adelaide, page 1:

This attempt to burglarize the house betrayed the caliber of the enemy.

1922, Victor Appleton, chapter 9, in Tom Swift And His Electric Locomotive, New York: Grossett and Dunlap, page 82:

Police said they believed the woman interrupted Harvey as he attempted to burglarize nearby cars.

2007 December 14, Robert Muirhead, “Man sent to prison for robbing woman at gunpoint”, in Journal Inquirer.com, Connecticut, page 228:

(ambitransitive, chiefly Canada, US) To commit burglary.


keen

en-adj

keen (comparative keener or more keen, superlative keenest or most keen)

keener (comparative)
more keen (comparative)
keenest (superlative)
most keen (superlative)
keene (alternative)
kene (alternative)

From Middle English kene (“bold, brave, sharp”), from Old English cēne (“keen, fierce, bold, brave, warlike, powerful; learned, clever, wise”), from Proto-Germanic *kōniz (“knowledgeable, skilful, experienced, clever, capable”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know”).
Cognate with Danish køn (“handsome, pretty”), Dutch kien (“smart, wise, able”), koen (“daring, valiant, doughty, courageous”), German kühn (“bold, daring, audacious, hardy, valiant, venturesome”), Icelandic kænn (“wise, crafty, clever, able”), Faroese kønur (“expert (in, on), experienced, skilful, able, capable”), Scots keen (“lively, brisk; avaricious”). Related to Old English cunnan (“to know how to, be able to”). More at cunning, can.

cog

I just got this peachy keen new dress.

Oh, but they're weird and they're wonderful / Oh, Bennie, she's really keen / She's got electric boots, a mohair suit / You know I read it in a magazine, oh / B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets

1974 February 4, “Bennie and the Jets”, in Elton John (lyrics), Bernie Taupin (music), Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, performed by Elton John, Davey Johnstone, Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson, track 3:

Well our hosts here attacked us with a fantastic Dismodulating Anti Phase stun ray and then invited us to this amazingly keen meal by way of making it up to us.

1985, Douglas Adams, The Original Hitchhiker Radio Scripts, New York, N.Y.: Harmony Books, →ISBN, page 82:


sea lion

sea lions (plural)
sea-lion (alternative)
sealion (alternative)

From sea + lion, named from its marine habitat and its lion-like barking roar and mane. Compare Middle English see hound, cee-hound, se hound (“beaver”, literally “sea-hound”).

(US, slang, historical) A steamer transporting cattle from the ports of Texas.

(US, slang, historical) A cow or bull transported by steamer from the ports of Texas.


wrench

wrenches (plural)
wrenche (alternative)
wrinche (alternative)
wringe (alternative)

From Middle English wrench, from Old English wrenċ, from Proto-Germanic *wrankiz (“a turning, twisting”). Compare German Rank (“plot, intrigue”).

inh

(US) A hand tool for making rotational adjustments, such as fitting nuts and bolts, or fitting pipes; a spanner.


draft

en-noun

draft (countable and uncountable, plural drafts)

A phonetic spelling of draught (compare laughter), from Middle English draught, draght (“that which is pulled; that which is drawn up, a design”), from Old English *dreaht, *dræht, from Proto-West Germanic *drahti, *drahtu, from Proto-Germanic *drahtuz (“a pulling, drawing”), equivalent to draw (“to draw, drag”) + -t. Cognate with Dutch dracht, German Tracht, Icelandic dráttur.

inh

He left the country to avoid the draft.

(US, Canada, usually with the) Conscription; the system of forcing people to serve in the military.

(politics, US) A system of forcing or convincing people to take an elected position.

(sports, US) A system of assigning rookie players to professional sports teams.


draft

en-verb

draft (third-person singular simple present drafts, present participle drafting, simple past and past participle drafted)

drafts (present singular third-person)
drafting (participle present)
drafted (participle past)
drafted (past)
draught (alternative)

auswählen

to select someone for a particular role or purpose — see also to select someone for a particular role or purpose

He was drafted during the Vietnam War.

To select (someone or something) for a particular role or purpose.

(transitive, US) To conscript (a person); to force (a person) to serve in some capacity, especially in the military.

After his last year of college football, he was drafted by the Miami Dolphins.

(transitive, sports, US) To select a rookie player onto a professional sports team.


reply

From Middle English replyen, replien, borrowed from Old French replier (“to reply”), from the Latin replicō, replicāre (“I fold back”) (in Late or Medieval Latin "to reply, repeat"), from re + plicō (“I fold”); the noun derives from the verb by nominalisation. Doublet of replicate and replica.

der

refer someone to the reply given in Arkell v Pressdram

(US, law) A document written by a party specifically replying to a responsive declaration and in some cases an answer.


haze

en-verb

haze (third-person singular simple present hazes, present participle hazing, simple past and past participle hazed)

hazes (present singular third-person)
hazing (participle present)
hazed (participle past)
hazed (past)
hase (alternative)

Possibly from hawze (“terrify, frighten, confound”), from Middle French haser (“irritate, annoy”)

(US, informal) To perform an unpleasant initiation ritual upon a usually non-consenting individual, especially freshmen to a closed community such as a college fraternity or military unit.


final

→ Japanese: ファイナル (fainaru)

→ Korean: 파이널 (paineol)

→ Swahili: fainali

From Middle English final, fynal, fynall, from Old French final, from Latin fīnālis (“of or relating to the end or to boundaries”), from fīnis (“end”); see fine. Replaced native English endly (“final”).

der

It was tough cramming for those midterms and finals, staying up 72 hours straight hepped up on caffeine and pizza.

2005 April 13, Robert MacMillan, “Steal This Song”, in The Washington Post, retrieved 2008-10-03:

(US, Canada) A final examination; a test or examination given at the end of a term or class; the test that concludes a class.


semester

semesters (plural)
semestre (alternative)

From German Semester, from New Latin sēmestris (“lasting six months”), from sex (“six”) + mēnsis (“month”).

I will graduate at the end of the spring semester.

Half of a school year (US) or academic year such as autumn or spring semester.


semi

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

The prefix semi- (from Latin) used as a noun.

I was hungry an' freezin' an' done caught a chill / When the lights of a big semi topped the hill

1967, Tommy Faile (lyrics and music), “Phantom 309”, performed by Red Sovine:

All night we couldn′t hear each other speak because of the sound of semis changing gear to get over the hill.

2011, Eamonn Duff, Schapelle Corby: The Untold Story Behind Her Ill-Fated Drug Run, Australia: Allen & Unwin, unnumbered page:

(Australia, Canada, New Zealand, US) A semi-trailer; a tractor-trailer; an eighteen-wheeler; an artic.


traveller

travellers (plural)
traveler (alternative)

From Middle English traveler, travelour, travailere, travailour (“worker", also "traveller”), equivalent to travel + -er. Compare Anglo-Norman travailur, travailour, Old French travailleor, travelleeur, travelier.

Nowhere else in the world had I seen such gigantic measures of liquor poured, such widespread enthusiasm for Bloodies and Mimosas on weekend mornings, or such firm insistence on giving sixteen-ounce Styrofoam cups loaded with iced liquor to guests leaving a party, so they might have a "traveler" for the drive home.
At a bar in Yazoo City, the bartender asked me if I wanted to "go tall" with my bourbon on the rocks. I didn't know what he meant, but it sounded encouraging. "Sure," I said, "Let's go tall." He filled up a pint glass with ice. Then he filled it to the brim with bourbon. When I got up to leave with about half the drink gone, he poured the rest of it into a Styrofoam cup, assuming I would want a traveler.

2015, Richard Grant, Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta:

(US, Mississippi Delta) A styrofoam cup filled with liquor and usually ice, to be taken away from a place.


traveler

travelers (plural)
traveller (alternative)

The traveler on this road stands a fair chance of missing his connecting links in the great railway chain which interthreads the continent east and west […]

1886, Willard Glazier, chapter 11, in Peculiarities of American Cities, Philadelphia: Hubbard Brothers, page 183:

Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations.

1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

It’s quick and easy protein for a knight errant or other woods traveler, with a nutty/corny/buckwheaty flavor to it.

2012 November 12, Fred Demara, “Eating Cattails: An Essential (and Tasty) Foraging Skill”, in Mother Earth News, Topeka, Kan., archived from the original on 2016-09-21:

CBP continues to find ways to improve the entry process through the use of mobile technology to ensure it is safe and efficient. To that end, CBP has deployed a process which allows travelers to use a mobile app to submit information to CBP prior to arrival in domestic locations and prior to departure at preclearance locations. This process, called Mobile Passport Control (MPC) allows travelers to self-segment upon arrival into the United States or departing a preclearance location.

2023 October 27, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, “Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of Existing Collection; U.S. Customs Declaration (CBP Form 6059B)”, in Federal Register, Document Number 2023-23783, pages 73867-73868:


sedan

The sense of "windowed chair" was first used by Sir Sanders Duncombe in 1634, possibly from a southern Italian dialect of Italian sede (“seat”), from Latin sedes. The "motorcar" sense was first recorded in 1912 in North America.

1986 May, Jack Keebler, U.S. Family Sedans - traditional technology takes on state of the art, Popular Science, page 24,
What we are observing in this sedan square-off is the cumulative effect of modern design technology on the family sedan.

In addition there was a companion four-door sedan, mounted on the C- 38 Series 121.5-inch platform and equipped with the 1 14-horsepower L-head six.

1996, Dennis Adler, Fifties Flashback: The American Car, published 2004, page 22:

The 1929 Model A Tudor sedan on these pages will receive a mild top chop of 3 inches, combined with the installation of a rear delivery door and a filled roof.

2005, Dennis W. Parks, American Hot Rod: How to Build a Hot Rod with Boyd Coddington, page 115:

(US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand) An automobile designed in a configuration with separate compartments for engine space, driver/passenger space and luggage space.


saloon

→ Dutch: saloon

→ Finnish: saluuna

→ French: saloon

→ Russian: салун (salun)

→ Bengali: সেলুন (śelun)

→ Hindi: सैलून (sailūn)

From Occitan salon, French salon, either augmentative of salle (“room”), or borrowed from Italian salone (“hall”), augmentative form of sala, salla (“room”); in both cases borrowed from a Germanic source such as Old High German sal (“house, hall”), from Proto-Germanic *salą, from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“dwelling”). Doublet of salon.

(US) A tavern, especially in an American Old West setting.


station wagon

From train station; station wagons were originally designed for transporting people and luggage between stations and country estates.

1952 November, Should You Buy A Station Wagon?, Kiplinger′s Personal Finance, page 45,
Trade-in values for station wagons have shown a marked improvement since the introduction of the all-steel body. In fact, a station wagon buyer need not worry about his investment′s depreciating any more than he would have to if he bought a four-door sedan.

The Negro was lying in a ditch on the left side of the road, face down, headed west, and the body more or less parallel to the road and about a car length behind the station wagon and a car length in front of Price′s car.

1983, Willie Morris, The Courting of Marcus Dupree, published 1992, page 164:

The prosperity of the postwar years, the baby boom, and the birth of suburbia sent the demand for station wagons soaring. As a result, by 1952 almost every manufacturer offered a station wagon model.

2005, Jim Hinckley, The Big Book of Car Culture: The Armchair Guide to Automotive Americana, page 184:

They rushed him to nearby Coledale Hospital in the back of a station wagon where doctors were standing by.

2007, Wendy Lewis, See Australia and Die: Tales of Misadventure Down Under, unnumbered page:

Two Johns (John Hoban and John Groutsch) came to Essendon airport in their Holden station wagon to take me back to Tocumwal for an interview.

2011, Balaji Rao, From India to Australia, unnumbered page:

(US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, automotive) A body style for cars in which the roof is extended rearward to produce an enclosed area in the position and serving the function of the boot (trunk) of a sedan / saloon.


fender

(US) panel of a car which encloses the wheel area, especially the front wheels.

(US) a shield, usually of plastic or metal, on a bicycle that protects the rider from mud or water


automobile

→ Alabama: mobìlika

→ Hawaiian: ʻokomopila

→ Unami: hatëmopil

From French automobile, from Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós, “self”) + French mobile (“moving”), from Latin mōbilis (“movable”), equivalent to auto- (“self”) + mobile.

Surprisingly, this analysis revealed that acute exposure to solvent vapors at concentrations below those associated with long-term effects appears to increase the risk of a fatal automobile accident.

2013 July-August, Philip J. Bushnell, “Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance”, in American Scientist:

(US, Canada, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand) A type of motor vehicle designed to move on the ground under its own stored power and intended to carry a driver, a small number of additional passengers, and a very limited amount of other load. A car or motorcar.


gar

Gars are long, slender, predatory fishes of quiet waters east of the Rockies.

1967, George K. Reid, edited by Herbert S. Zim and George S. Fichter, Pond Life, New York: Golden Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 128:

(especially US, Canada) Any of several North American fish of the family Lepisosteidae that have long, narrow jaws.

luuhauki

a North or Central American fish of the family Lepisosteidae


cannon

en-noun

cannon (countable and uncountable, plural cannons or (mainly UK) cannon)

cannons (plural)
cannon (UK mainly plural)

Attested from around 1400 as Middle English canon, canoun, from Old French canon, from Italian cannone, from Latin canna, from Ancient Greek κάννα (kánna, “reed”), from Akkadian 𒄀 (qanû, “reed”), from Sumerian 𒄀𒈾 (gi.na). Doublet of canyon. This spelling was not fixed until about 1800.

I also learned never to conspicuoulsy^([sic]) watch a cannon while he was working. Pickpockets dislike being watched, even by those who may be "right," because they become uneasy and clumsy and feel conspicuous.

1977, Robert S. Weppner, Street ethnography, page 70:

A good pickpocket is known to his fellows as a pistol. Rufus Dayne is a cannon. One of the best pickpockets in the country, he makes close to a million dollars a year and has no criminal record at all.

2009, James Thomson, Bedlam City: Savage Worlds Edition, page 377:


speaker

From Middle English speker, spekere, an alteration (with change of suffix) of Old English speca, spreca (“speaker”), from Proto-Germanic *sprekô (“speaker”), equivalent to speak + -er. Compare Saterland Frisian Spreeker (“speaker”), West Frisian sprekker (“speaker”), Dutch spreker (“speaker”), German Low German Spreker (“speaker”), German Sprecher (“speaker”).

puhuja

linguistics: producer of a given utterance

en:book of passages to aid in speechwriting

(US) A book containing passages of text for use in speeches.


beet

→ Chickasaw: (from the plural) biits

→ Hawaiian: piki

→ Maori: pīti

From Middle English bete, from Old English bēte, from Latin bēta, possibly of Celtic origin.

(US, Canada) A beetroot, a swollen root of such a plant.


hop

From Middle English hoppen, from Old English hoppian (“to hop, spring, leap, dance”), from Proto-West Germanic *huppōn, from Proto-Germanic *huppōną (“to hop”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewb- (“to bend, bow”).
Cognate with Dutch hoppen (“to hop”), German hopfen, hoppen (“to hop”), Swedish hoppa (“to hop, leap, jump”), Icelandic hoppa (“to hop, skip”).

der

(sports, US) A bounce, especially from the ground, of a thrown or batted ball.

1896, Benjamin Brierley, James Dronsfield, "Ab-o'th'-Yate" Sketches and Other Short Stories
One singing-room we had closed, and so damaged a "twopenny hop" that it could not have survived another season had our own prosperity continued unchecked.

(UK, US, slang, dated) A dance; a gathering for the purpose of dancing.


hop

From Middle English hoppe, from Middle Dutch hoppe, from Old Dutch *hoppo, from Proto-Germanic *huppô, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keup (“tuft, hair of the head”), referring to the plant's appearance. Cognate with German Hopfen and French houblon.

‘You've been shot full of hop and kept under it until you're as crazy as two waltzing mice.’

1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin, published 2010, page 177:

(US, slang) Opium, or some other narcotic drug.


tom

From generic use of the proper name Tom.


tubular

en-adj

tubular (comparative more tubular, superlative most tubular)

more tubular (comparative)
most tubular (superlative)

From Latin tubulus + -ar. By surface analysis, tubule + -ar. The sense meaning "cool" or "awesome" is believed to be a figurative extension originating in surfing lingo, from the way that an excellent wave encloses a surfer within tubular walls of water.

It was such a tubular party, Journal! But a few minutes later, I walked up to the Hermosa Beach Pier and left the girls with my things, thinking the totally bitchin' party would continue. But when I got back, they were all gone.

2007, Brian Laesch, The Verge of Psychosis: An Aspiring Actor's Journal:


tube

From Middle French tube, from Latin tubus (“tube, pipe”), related to tuba (“long trumpet; war-trumpet”), of obscure ultimate origin, but possibly connected to tībia (“shinbone, reed-pipe”), see there.

you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube

you can't put the toothpaste back into the tube

Right now, there is a whole, an entire generation that never knew anything that didn't come out of this tube. This tube is the gospel, the ultimate revelation; this tube can make or break presidents, popes, prime ministers; this tube is the most awesome goddamn propaganda force in the whole godless world, […]

1976, Paddy Chayefsky, Network, spoken by Howard Beale (Peter Finch):

I sit around and watch the tube, but nothing's on. I change the channels for an hour or two.

1994, Billie Joe Armstrong (lyrics and music), “Longview”, in Dookie, performed by Green Day:

cathode ray tube
cathode ray tube#English

(Canada, US, colloquial) A television. Compare cathode ray tube and picture tube.


gander

From Middle English gandre, from Old English gandra, ganra (“gander”), from Proto-West Germanic *ganʀō, from Proto-Germanic *ganzô (“gander”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰh₂éns (“goose”). The meaning "a look" is derived from the image of craning one's neck like a goose.
Cognates
Cognate with Dutch gander (“gander”), Low German Gander, Ganner (“gander”), dialectal German Gandert (“gander”), German Ganter (“gander”), Norwegian gasse (“gander”), Icelandic gassi (“gander”). Compare also Lithuanian gañdras (“stork”). Related to goose, gannet.

what's good for the goose is good for the gander

what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander


telephone

en-noun

telephone (countable and uncountable, plural telephones)

First used by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 to refer to the modern instrument, but previous devices had been given this name, which was borrowed from French téléphone. Ultimately from Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle, “afar”) + φωνή (phōnḗ, “voice, sound”).

ателефон

a device used for two-way talking with other people

talk to Ralph on the big white telephone

And since the spring of 1995, no game of telephone has ended without some Simpsons-loving smart-ass dropping “purple monkey dishwasher” into the chain.

2013 October 27, Erik Adams, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “The PTA Disbands””, in The Onion AV Club:

(Canada, US, uncountable) The game of Chinese whispers.

In other words, Jones' career and life may have been derailed because a game of telephone went bad.

2017 October 3, David Dobbs, “The Touch of Madness”, in Pacific Standard:

(Canada, US, uncountable, figuratively) Chinese whispers; a situation in which an initial message has been distorted and misunderstood by being passed from person to person.


scale

scale (countable and uncountable, plural scales)

→ Japanese: スケール (sukēru)

From Middle English scale, from Old French escale, from Frankish and/or Old High German skala, from Proto-Germanic *skalō. Cognate with Old English sċealu (“shell, husk”), whence the modern doublet shale. Further cognate with Dutch schaal, German Schale, French écale.

(uncountable, US) An infestation of scale insects on a plant; commonly thought of as, or mistaken for, a disease.


IP

IP (countable and uncountable, plural IPs)

en:Iraqi police or an Iraqi police officer

(US, military, initialism, slang) An Iraqi police officer, or the Iraqi police as a whole.

(US, military, initialism, slang) Initialism of Irish pennant.


buck

From Middle English bukke, bucke, buc, from Old English buc, bucc, bucca (“he-goat, stag”), from Proto-West Germanic *bukk, *bukkō, from Proto-Germanic *bukkaz, *bukkô (“buck”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuǵ- (“ram”). Doublet of puck (billy goat).
Currency-related senses hail from American English, a clipping of buckskin as a unit of trade among Indians and Europeans in frontier days (attested from 1748).
The idea of rigidly standing implements is instilled by Dutch bok (“sawhorse”) as in zaagbok (“sawbuck”).
The sense of an object indicating someone’s turn then occurred in American English, possibly originating from the game poker, where a knife (typically with a hilt made from a stag horn) was used as a place-marker to signify whose turn it was to deal. The place-marker was commonly referred to as a buck, which reinforced the term “pass the buck” used in poker, and eventually a silver dollar was used in place of a knife, which also led to a dollar being referred to as a buck.

She got so she’d rather have a buck nigger than me!

Her curly red hair loose from its combs hangin' down her back and her freckled skin bare, and a big ole nigger buck was doin' things to her! He'd always known that Hootch Carter raped and killed Becky Nell, never had reason to doubt it.

2009, Carol C. Morgan, Wind in the Cotton Fields, page 460:

(US, dated, derogatory) A black or Native American man.

(US, military slang, WWI–WWII) Lowest rank; a private.

Can I borrow five bucks?

Won't yer give Jake ten bucks ter buy hisself some close, so he look nice 'mong de gemmens?

1873, John Morris, Wanderings of a Vagabond:

(US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, informal) A dollar (one hundred cents).

A unit of a particular currency
A dollar (one hundred cents).

Corporations will do anything to make a buck.

It's all about bucks, kid. The rest is conversation.

1987, Oliver Stone, Wall Street (motion picture), spoken by Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas):

(by extension, Australia, South Africa, US, informal) Money.

The police caught me driving a buck forty [140 miles per hour] on the freeway.

That skinny guy? C’mon, he can’t weigh more than a buck and a quarter [125 pounds].

pass the buck

the buck stops here

An implement the body of which is likened to a male sheep’s body due maintaining a stiff-legged position as if by stubbornness.

(dated) An object of various types, placed on a table to indicate turn or status; such as a brass object, placed in rotation on a US Navy wardroom dining table to indicate which officer is to be served first, or an item passed around a poker table indicating the dealer or placed in the pot to remind the winner of some privilege or obligation when his or her turn to deal next comes.

(by extension in the US, in certain metaphors or phrases) Blame; responsibility; scapegoating; finger-pointing.

musta pekka

metaphorically: blame, responsibility, scapegoating, finger-pointing


buck

en-verb

buck (third-person singular simple present bucks, present participle bucking, simple past and past participle bucked)

bucks (present singular third-person)
bucking (participle present)
bucked (participle past)
bucked (past)

From dialectal buck ("to give in, yield"; also bug (“to bend”)), from Middle Low German bucken (“to bend”) or Middle Dutch bucken, bocken (“to bend”), intensive forms of Old Saxon būgan and Old Dutch *būgan (“to bend, bow”), both from Proto-West Germanic *beugan, from Proto-Germanic *būganą (“to bend”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰūgʰ- (“to bend”). Influenced in some senses by buck “male goat” (see above). Sense “to meet, to encounter” is a semantic loan from Jamaican Creole buck.
Compare bow and elbow.

gl

"to give in, yield"; also <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">bug</i> (“to bend”)

(US, military slang) To strive or aspire e.g. to a promotion.


poke

From Middle English poken, perhaps from Middle Dutch poken or Middle Low German poken, both from Proto-West Germanic *pukōn or similar, which is itself of uncertain origin, but may be from an imitative Proto-Germanic root *puk-. Doublet of poach.

onomatopoeic

imitative

better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick

better than a poke in the eye with a rusty nail

better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick

better than a poke in the eye with a shitty stick

The slowness of this stupid poke tortures me to death.

1865, Adolphe Belot ·, The Cup and the Lip. A Comedy in Five Acts., page 38:

To the uninitiated he looked like a slow old poke; but his string would lengthen out in a most mysterious way , and it was the height of our ambition to set as much and as clean a proof as old John.

1905, Typographical Journal - Volume 27, page 186:

I never saw such an old poke. You come up here and expect me to do some things for you, and then you stand around as though you were made of bone!

2015, Theodore Dreiser, Twelve Men: Top American Novels:

The three laugh at him for a slow old poke and go on to their pleasure.

2019, Paolo Cherchi Usai, The Griffith Project, Volume 9: Films Produced in 1916-18:

Old Fred is the slowest old poke, isn't he? Suppose I try, Paul.

I see you shaking your head at me, mother, and reminding me of 'That mercy I to others show, that mercy show to me;' but I don't believe I go on so; if I have nothing to say I keep still, and you'd better be a stupid poke, which I often feel myself, than waste the time with such trash.

1871, Mary Webster McClain, Daisy Ward's Work, page 112:

She was only sixteen, and he was perfectly splendid, and she has plenty of money, and every one talked about it; and when she went anywhere, people looked, you know, and she liked it; but her papa is an old poke, so he's sent them all away. It's too bad, for she was the jolliest thing I ever knew .

1912, Louisa May Alcott, An Old-fashioned Girl, page 20:

I think you are all reasonably well aware that the common picture of the surveying and mapping profession is proabably best exemplified at the present time by the old poke who is out with a rickety old transit, wearing old ragged clothes.

1956, “Professional Status of Surveyors and Mappers”, in Surveying and Mapping, volume 16, page 184:

"Oh, you old poke, you! You think nobody can be grown up but yourself. I really believe they all think I'm a great deal older than I am, and I just hope you won't go and tell them I am not. "Now, will you?"

1968, Joseph Kirkland, The Captain of Company K, page 237:

“That's what you're going to rob?” she asked Cole. “Yep.” He viewed the scene with a hand shading his eyes, then grinned at Billy. “Only a driver and one old poke riding shotgun. You'd think they'd have learned better by now."

(US, slang) A stupid or uninteresting person.

I find from their testimony , which was not contradicted , that the placing of such a poke upon such a colt in such a pasture is not considered dangerous, and that farmers are accustomed so to poke their own horses, but that they are not accustomed to put pokes on or 'hamper' horses owned by other persons without the authorization of the owner.

1883, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Vermont, page 70:

This yoke or poke will prevent any horse from scaling a fence, if well made.

1883, Horace R. Allen, The American Farm and Home Cyclopedia, page 285:

(US) A device to prevent an animal from leaping or breaking through fences, consisting of a yoke with a pole inserted, pointed forward.


root

en-verb

root (third-person singular simple present roots, present participle rooting, simple past and past participle rooted)

roots (present singular third-person)
rooting (participle present)
rooted (participle past)
rooted (past)

Possibly an alteration of rout (“to make a loud noise”), influenced by hoot.

I'm rooting for you, don't let me down!

Let me root, root, root for the home team,

1908, Jack Norworth, Take Me Out to the Ball Game:

(intransitive, with "for" or "on", US) To cheer (on); to show support (for) and hope for the success of. (See root for.)


first-degree murder

en-noun

first-degree murder (countable and uncountable, plural first-degree murders)

(law, chiefly US, Canada) The criminal offence of murder in a form considered by law to be the most serious; the precise distinction may vary by jurisdiction but typically involves premeditation, or the choice of victim or other circumstances being regarded as especially blameworthy.

moord

premeditated or especially serious murder

előre megfontolt szándékkal elkövetett emberölés

(law, chiefly US, Canada) An act that constitutes the crime of first-degree murder.


vacation

vacation (countable and uncountable, plural vacations)

From Middle English vacation, vacacion, vacacioun, from Anglo-Norman vacacioun, from Old French vacacion, vacation, from Latin vacātiō. Equivalent to vacate + -ion.

(Canada, US) A holiday; a stretch of leisure time away from work or duty and devoted to rest or pleasure.

holiday

(US, law) The act of making legally void.


colored

en-adj

colored (comparative more colored, superlative most colored)

more colored (comparative)
most colored (superlative)
Colored (alternative)
coloured (alternative)
Coloured (alternative)

farvet

South Africa: of neither black nor white skin color

rainbow-colored

rainbow-coloured, rainbow colored, rainbow coloured

rose-colored glasses

rose-colored lenses, rose-coloured spectacles

[…] a beautiful silk standard donated to the Third Battalion by the colored ladies of the city of New York, was formally presented to the battalion.

1898, William H. Chenery, The Fourteenth Regiment Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (colored) in the War to Preserve the Union, 1861-1865, page 38:

He made a smart remark about colored people and I got mad. I got mad because I like colored people. In fact, a colored lady raised me. Some of my best friends are colored people.

1967, “Cowboys & Colored People”performed by Flip Wilson:

To find a job is like a haystack needle / Because where he lives they don't use colored people

1973, Stevie Wonder (lyrics and music), “Living for the City”, in Innervisions:

(US, now dated and usually offensive) Of skin color other than white; in particular, black.

цветнокож

US: of skin color other than the white, particularly black


colored

coloreds (plural)
Colored (alternative)
coloured (alternative)
Coloured (alternative)

When a white fellow gets in the ring with an eight ball the eight ball's got no chance. You see, 'cause they call boxing the sweet science. And that's where your colored just runs into trouble. That's just that science part. / Yeah, but Joe Louis is a big 'un.

2005, “Creed, OK”, in Carnivàle, episode 17:

(US, dated and offensive, American spelling) A colored (nonwhite) person.


carriage

en-noun

carriage (countable and uncountable, plural carriages)

From Middle English cariage, from Old Northern French cariage, from carier (“to carry”).


neighbor

en-verb

neighbor (third-person singular simple present neighbors, present participle neighboring, simple past and past participle neighbored)

neighbors (present singular third-person)
neighboring (participle present)
neighbored (participle past)
neighbored (past)


crack

en-noun

crack (countable and uncountable, plural cracks)

From Middle English crakken, craken, from Old English cracian (“to resound, crack”), from Proto-West Germanic *krakōn, from Proto-Germanic *krakōną (“to crack, crackle, shriek”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂- (“to resound, cry hoarsely”).
Cognate with Scots crak (“to crack”), West Frisian kreakje (“to crack”), Dutch kraken (“to crunch, creak, squeak”), Low German kraken (“to crack”), German krachen (“to crash, crack, creak”), Lithuanian gìrgžděti (“to creak, squeak”), Old Armenian կարկաչ (karkačʻ), Sanskrit गर्जति (gárjati, “to roar, hum”).
Compare typologically English crevice derived from Latin crepō, Bulgarian пукнатина (puknatina) akin to пу́кам (púkam), Russian тре́щина (tréščina) akin to треск (tresk), щель (ščelʹ) akin to щёлкать (ščólkatʹ).

cog

Coordinate term: slick

(hydrodynamics, US, dated) An expanding circle of white water surrounding the site of a large explosion at shallow depth, marking the progress of the shock wave through the air above the water.


eyeglasses

en-noun

eyeglasses pl (plural only, attributive eyeglass)

eyeglass (attributive)
eye-glasses (alternative)

Digging deeper, the invention of eyeglasses is an elaboration of the more fundamental development of optics technology. The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone,[…].

2013 September-October, Henry Petroski, “The Evolution of Eyeglasses”, in American Scientist, United States: Sigma Xi, →ISSN, →OCLC:


credit

credit (countable and uncountable, plural credits)

Borrowed from Middle French crédit (“belief, trust”), from Latin crēditum (“a loan, credit”), neuter of crēditus, past participle of crēdere (“to believe”). The verb is from the noun. Doublet of shraddha, creed.

What do you mean my credit is no good?

(uncountable, US) A person's credit rating or creditworthiness, as represented by their history of borrowing and repayment (or non payment).


cup

→ Farefare: kɔpɩ

→ Hebrew: קאפ (kap)

→ Japanese: カップ (kappu)

desc

→ Kashubian: kopsa (Canada, United States)

→ Korean: 컵 (keop)

→ Maori: kapu

Inherited from Middle English cuppe, coppe, from the merger of Old English cuppe (“cup”) and Old English copp (“cup, vessel”).
Old English cuppe is a borrowing from Late Latin cuppa, itself of obscure origin, but probably from earlier Latin cūpa (“tub, cask”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewp- (“a hollow”). Old English copp, however, is from Proto-West Germanic *kopp (“round object, bowl, vessel, knoll, summit, crown of the head”), from Proto-Germanic *kuppaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend, curve, arch”) (whence also obsolete English cop (“top, summit, crown of the head”), German Kopf (“top, head”)).
The Middle English word was further reinforced by Anglo-Norman cupe and Old French cope, coupe, from Latin cuppa. Compare also Saterland Frisian Kop (“cup”), West Frisian kop (“cup”), Dutch kop (“cup”), German Low German Koppke, Köppke (“cup”), Danish kop (“cup”), Swedish kopp (“cup”). Doublet of coupe, hive, and keeve.

unk

obscure

cog

that and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee

that and a nickel will buy you a cup of coffee

that and twenty-five cents will get you a cup of coffee

there's many a slip between the cup and the lip

there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip

(US) A US unit of liquid measure equal to 8 fluid ounces (¹⁄₁₆ of a US gallon; 236.5882365 mL) or 240 mL.

Players of contact sports are advised to wear a cup.

Boys, I thought I told you to let the store tell you what cup size you needed.

2000 March 27, Bill Amend, FoxTrot (comic):

(US, Canada) A rigid concave protective covering for the male genitalia.


Tar Heel

Tar Heels (plural)
Tar heel (alternative)
Tarheel (alternative)
tarheel (alternative)

North Carolina was associated with tar (of which it was a major producer) from the 1700s onwards, and residents were (at first derisively) called "Tarboilers" since at least the 1840s; "Tar Heel" is first attested in 1863 in comments by Confederate soldiers which suggest it was already in common use at that time. One popular theory suggests it refers to North Carolinians having tar on their heels to make them "stick", referring either to their reluctance to join the Confederacy, or to their holding ground during battles when other states' troops retreated.

I'm a Tar Heel born
I'm a Tar Heel bred
And when I die
I'm a Tar Heel dead.

North Carolinian
North Carolinian#English

Michael Jordan is one of many Tar Heel basketball standouts.

(US slang) A person associated with or supportive of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.


comfortable

comfortables (plural)
comfterble / comftorble (alternative)

From Middle English comfortable, from Old French confortable, from conforter. By surface analysis, comfort + -able.

(US) A stuffed or quilted coverlet for a bed; a comforter.


varnish

en-noun

varnish (countable and uncountable, plural varnishes)

varnishes (plural)
vernish (alternative)

→ Japanese: ワニス (wanisu)

/ˈvɑː(ɹ)nɪʃ/

From Middle English vernisch, vernish, from Old French vernis, from Medieval Latin vernix, veronix, from Byzantine Greek Βερενίκη (Bereníkē, “Berenice”), a town in Cyrenaica, now called Benghazi.

der

Every transcontinental but two settled on the simple articulated for freight service, and all of them coupled their varnish to the 4-8-4.

1959, David P. Morgan, editor, Steam's Finest Hour, Kalmbach Publishing Co.:

(rail transport, US, informal, dated) a passenger train, probably derived from the varnished passenger cars used at one time.


figure

en-verb

figure (third-person singular simple present figures, present participle figuring, simple past and past participle figured)

figures (present singular third-person)
figuring (participle present)
figured (participle past)
figured (past)

From Middle English figure, borrowed from Old French figure, from Latin figūra (“form, shape, form of a word, a figure of speech, Late Latin a sketch, drawing”), from fingō (“to form, shape, mold, fashion”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- (“to mold, shape, form, knead”). Cognate with Ancient Greek τεῖχος (teîkhos), Sanskrit देग्धि (degdhi), Old English dāg (“dough”). More at dough. Doublet of figura.

der

(chiefly US) To calculate, to solve a mathematical problem.

изчислявам

to calculate, to solve a mathematical problem

I can’t figure if he’s telling the truth or lying.

It figures that somebody like him would be upset about the situation.

(chiefly US, intransitive) To be reasonable or predictable.


flashlight

→ Cebuano: plaslayt

find one's ass with both hands and a flashlight

At school he used to do Dr. Jekyll turning into Mr. Hyde, shining a flashlight into his face.

1997, Saul Bellow, The Actual, New York: Viking, page 32:

(Canada, US, Philippines) A battery-powered hand-held light source.


pee

en-noun

pee (countable and uncountable, plural pees)

The initial letter of piss. Compare eff.

With conventional fuel cells as their model, researchers learned to use similar chemical reactions to make a fuel from microbes in pee.[…]They got to use new, clean toilets lit by the power of their own pee.[…]Microorganisms that feed on nutrients in urine can be used in a microbial fuel cell that generates electricity – or "pee power," as the Sesame girls called it.

2024 February 17 (last accessed), Jenny Morber, “Scientists turn pee into power in Uganda”, in Upworthy Science:

He was dying for a pee.

(chiefly Canada, US, Australia) An act of urination.


pea

From having the appearance of a pea (see English etymology 1), the edible seed of Pisum sativum, the pea plant.

(US, Indiana, gambling) Any of the small numbered balls used in a pea shake game.


sauce

sauce (countable and uncountable, plural sauces)

→ Japanese: ソース

→ Scottish Gaelic: sabhs

PIE word
 *séh₂ls
From Middle English sauce, from Old French sause, from Vulgar Latin *salsa, noun use of the feminine of Latin salsus (“salted”), past participle of saliō (“I salt”), from sal. Doublet of salsa.
For the meaning development compare Ancient Greek ἥδυσμα (hḗdusma) ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swéh₂dus (whence also English sweet).

source (non-rhotic, horse–hoarse merger)

I wanted cabbage or potaters, or most any sort o' garden sarse [...]

1833, John Neal, The Down-Easters: &c. &c. &c., volume 1, Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 91:

[...] and all would be well only for a remark of a little boy who, when asked if he will have some more of the sauce, says he "don't want no strawberries pickled in kerosene."

1882, George W. Peck, “Unscrewing the Top of a Fruit Jar”, in Peck's Sunshine:

Roots, herbs, vine fruits, and salad flowers […] they dish up various ways, and find them very delicious sauce to their meats, both roasted and boiled, fresh and salt.

1705, Robert Beverley, The History of Virginia:

The first night of our expedition, we boiled our meat; and I asked the landlady for a little sauce, she told me to go to the garden and take as much cabbage as I pleased, and that, boiled with the meat, was all we could eat.

1830, Joseph Plumb Martin, “Ch. VIII”, in A Narrative of Some of the Adventures, Dangers and Sufferings of a Revolutionary Soldier:

(obsolete, UK, US, dialect) Any garden vegetables eaten with meat.


gig

The etymology of the noun is unknown, but compare Old French gigue (“a fiddle”). The verb is derived from the noun.

I received gigs for having buttons of my uniform undone.

(US, military) A demerit received for some infraction of a military deportment or dress code.


gig

en-verb

gig (third-person singular simple present gigs, present participle gigging, simple past and past participle gigged)

gigs (present singular third-person)
gigging (participle present)
gigged (participle past)
gigged (past)

His sergeant gigged him for an unmade bunk.

(US, military) To impose a demerit (on someone) for an infraction of a military deportment or dress code.


destroy

destroy (third-person singular simple present destroys, present participle destroying, simple past and past participle destroyed)

destroys (present singular third-person)
destroying (participle present)
destroyed (participle past)
destroyed (past)

From Middle English destroyen, from Old French destruire, Vulgar Latin *destrugō, from Classical Latin dēstruō, from dē- (“un-, de-”) + struō (“I build”).

JAMES CARTER: The man's destroying a classic!

2001, Jeff Nathanson, Rush Hour 2, New Line Cinema:

(transitive, US, slang) To sing a song extremely poorly.


scum

en-noun

scum (countable and uncountable, plural scums)

From Middle English scum, scome, skum, skome, scumme, from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch schūme (“foam”), from Old Dutch *scūm, from Frankish *skūm, from Proto-Germanic *skūmaz (“froth, foam”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- (“to cover, conceal”).
Cognate with Dutch schuim (“foam”), West Frisian skuum, German Schaum (“foam”), Danish and Swedish skum (“foam”). Compare also French écume (“scum”), Italian schiuma (“foam”), Saterland Frisian Skuum, Sicilian scuma (“foam”), Walloon schome (“scum, foam”), Lithuanian šamas (“catfish”) and skanus (“tasty”) from the same Germanic source. Related to skim.

der

Horse, who was always talking about facts, said, “Man, that can't be scum, ’cause scum is white.”

1965, Claude Brown, Manchild in the Promised Land, New York: New American Library, →OCLC, page 80:


jam

en-noun

jam (countable and uncountable, plural jams)

→ Armenian: ջեմ (ǰem)

→ Azerbaijani: cem

→ Belarusian: джэм (džem)

→ Bengali: জ্যাম (jêm)

→ Bulgarian: джем (džem)

→ Cantonese: 占 (zim1, zem1)

→ Czech: džem

→ Dutch: jam

→ Estonian: džemm

→ Finnish: jamit

→ French: jam

→ Georgian: ჯემი (ǯemi)

→ Hindi: जाम (jām)

→ Japanese: ジャム (jamu)

→ Kazakh: джем (djem)

→ Korean: 잼 (jaem)

→ Kyrgyz: джем (djem)

→ Macedonian: џем (džem)

→ Malay: jem

→ Polish: dżem

→ Romanian: gem

→ Russian: джем (džem)

→ Saanich: ĆÁM

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Latin script: džȅm

Cyrillic script: џе̏м

→ Sinhalese: ජෑම් (jǣm)

→ Slovak: džem

→ Swahili: jemu

→ Swedish: jam

→ Tajik: джем (džem)

→ Thai: แยม (yɛɛm)

→ Ukrainian: джем (džem)

→ Urdu: جام (jām)

→ Welsh: jam

First attested in the early 18th c. as a verb meaning “to press, be pressed, be wedged in”. Compare dialectal jammock (“to press, squeeze, crush into a soft mass, chew food"; also "a soft, pulpy substance”). Perhaps from Middle English chammen, champen ("to bite upon something, gnash the teeth"; whence modern champ, chomp), of uncertain origin; probably originally onomatopoeic.
The "performance" sense is first attested with regards to jazz in 1929, and its origin, though uncertain, is likely metaphorical, "something sweet made by the combination of many things", with influence from jamboree.

onomatopoeic

onomatopoeic

(less common in the US and Canada) A sweet mixture of fruit boiled with sugar and allowed to congeal. Often spread on bread or toast or used in jam tarts.


sleeve

From Middle English sleve, slefe, from Old English slīef and slīefe (“sleeve”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Sleeuwe (“sleeve”), West Frisian slúf, Dutch sloof (“apron”), Low German sluve, dialectal German Schlaube.
The Canadian sense of “measure smaller than a pint” is due to a former conflict between federal law and provincial law in British Columbia. According to federal law, a pint must be 20 imperial ounces (~568 ml), but according to provincial law at the time, the maximum individual serving size was 500 ml, so an individual portion could not be called a “pint” in British Columbia, and required a different term. The provincial law has been changed, allowing servings of up to 24 oz (~682 ml), but the term remains in use. The term sleeve itself for a cylindrical glass of beer is also found in the UK and Australia (as sleever), and may be due to stacked glasses resembling a sleeve.

A three-alarm fire tore through a family home on Newark's East Side early Saturday morning, completely gutting the two-story residence and tragically claiming a half-sleeve of Oreo cookies that was trapped inside a cupboard.

2012, Half A Sleeve Of Oreos Lost In House Fire", The Onion, May 5, 2012

(US) A long, cylindrical plastic bag of cookies or crackers, or a similar package of disposable drinking cups.


pie-eyed

en-adj

pie-eyed (comparative more pie-eyed, superlative most pie-eyed)

more pie-eyed (comparative)
most pie-eyed (superlative)

From pie (“type of pastry consisting of an outer crust and a filling”) + eyed, a hyperbole suggesting that a person’s eyes are open so wide that they are as large as pies.

[H]ere I've been roosting all day long, with nothing to do but gaze at this bunch of would-be scribes grinding out jazz copy, and now, at half-past four, that pie-eyed zebra of a Sunday editor has to hand me an assignment about as concrete as a hunk of Hudson River mist; and I've got a date with Vita for supper at six.

1921 February, R. A. Chath, “The Phantom Call”, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Radio News, volume 8, number 2, New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, →OCLC, page 537:

Of all the blockheads in the world, I have the finest collection working for me. Terence Tadpole is a dolt, Sidney Squirrel is a sentimental idiot, Freddie Fox is a pie-eyed fool, Felix Frog is a perfect imbecile.

1923 September 15, “Pat”, “Railway Supply Man’s Bedtime Story: Broadcasted from Station RYREV, Chicago. No. 23.”, in Willard A. Smith et al., editors, Railway Review, volume 73, Chicago, Ill.: Railway Review, →OCLC, page 404, column 1:

When the pie-eyed teens in the school hall, where I, decades before, had grasped the tendril with which I would swing out of Essex, like a tubby Tarzan, look to me full of X Factor ambition and Xbox distraction and tell me that they "want to be famous too," I wince, but I want to tell them they've been swindled. That they are being horribly misled by the dominant cultural narratives.

2014, Russell Brand, “Serenity Now”, in Revolution, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, →ISBN, pages 16–17:

(informal, originally US) With one's eyes wide open and staring in an expressionless manner; wide-eyed.

睜大眼睛的 /睁大眼睛的

with one's eyes wide open and staring in an expressionless manner


jelly

en-noun

jelly (countable and uncountable, plural jellies)

→ Chickasaw: cheliꞌ, jellꞌ

→ Welsh: jeli, sieli

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *gel-
Latin gelū
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
Proto-Italic *-āō
Latin -ō
Latin gelō
Proto-Italic *-ātos
Latin -ātus
Latin -āta
Early Medieval Latin gelātabor.
Old French geleebor.
Middle English gele
English jelly
From Middle English gele, borrowed from Old French gelee, borrowed from Early Medieval Latin gelāta, from Latin gelō + -āta. Doublet of gelee.

etymon

Perfect jelly is of appetizing flavor; beautifully colored and translucent; tender enough to cut easily with a spoon, yet firm enough to hold its shape when turned from the glass.

1945, Fannie Merritt Farmer and Wilma Lord Perkins (revisor), The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, Eighth edition

Jelly has great clarity. Two cooking processes are involved. First, the juice alone is extracted from the fruit. Only that portion thin and clear enough to drip through a cloth is cooked with sugar until sufficiently firm to hold its shape. It is never stiff and never gummy.

1975, Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker, The Joy of Cooking, 5th revision

(chiefly Canada, US) A clear or translucent fruit preserve, made from fruit juice and set using either naturally occurring, or added, pectin.

I shake my jelly at every chance / When I whip with my hips you slip into a trance

2001, Destiny's Child, “Bootylicious” (song)

At that Sister Samantha seemed to shake her jelly so that she sank back into her chair.

2001, George Dell, Dance Unto the Lord, page 94:

(US, slang) A large backside, especially a woman's.


on sale

(US, Australia) Available for purchase at reduced prices.

on offer

available for purchase at reduced prices


whenever

From Middle English whan evere, whanne ever, whanne evere, whener, when ever; equivalent to when + ever.

Whenever I was a child, I lived in Arkansas.

(Ireland, regional US, nonstandard) When.


location

→ German: Location

/ləʊˈkeɪʃən/

Borrowed from Latin locatio, locationis (“a placing”), from locare (“to place, put, set, let”), from locus (“a place”). Equivalent to locate + -ion.

(law, US) The marking out of the boundaries, or identifying the place or site of, a piece of land, according to the description given in an entry, plan, map, etc


cricket

From Middle English creket, crykett, crykette, from Old French criket (with diminutive -et) from criquer (“to make a cracking sound; creak”), from Middle Dutch kricken (“to creak; crack”), from Proto-West Germanic *krakōn, from Proto-Germanic *krakōną, related to Middle English creken, criken (“to creak”), all ultimately of imitative origin.
Compare Dutch kriek (“cricket”), Middle Dutch krikel, criekel, crekel (“cricket”) (with diminituve -el), Middle Low German krikel, krekel (“cricket”), German Kreckel (“cricket”). More at creak.

onomatopoeic

imitative

An insect in the order Orthoptera, especially family Gryllidae, that makes a chirping sound by rubbing its wing casings against combs on its hind legs.

(US, slang, humorous, in the plural) In the form crickets: absolute silence; no communication.


trap

en-noun

trap (countable and uncountable, plural traps)

From Middle English trappe, from Old English træppe, treppe (“trap, snare”) (also in betræppan (“to trap”)) from Proto-West Germanic *trappjā (“trap, snare”), from Proto-West Germanic *trappjan (“to step”), from Proto-Germanic *trapjaną (“to tread, stamp”), from Proto-Indo-European *drebʰ- (“to step, trip, trample”).
Cognate with Dutch trap (“trap, snare”), German Low German Trapp (“trap”). Akin also to West Frisian traap (“stepping, treading, stairway”), German Treppe (“step, stair”), Old English træppan (“to step, tread”). Connection to "step" is "that upon which one steps". French trappe and Spanish trampa are ultimately borrowings from Germanic.

فَخّ

trick or arrangement designed to catch someone in a more general sense

koppi

device used to hold and suddenly release an object

сифо́н

bend, sag, or other device in a waste-pipe to prevent the escape of noxious gases

vēuháutsīe

a type of trap to catch birds using bait with adjustable loop

Maybe T.I was also making connection between fur trapping and living in the trap, or the hood.

2018, Kyle T. Mays, Hip Hop Beats, Indigenous Rhymes: Modernity and Hip Hop in North America, page 93:

Stay in the trap like my name was McCaulk. Dumb-ahh nigger, I think he meant Culkin.

2021 November 19, “Pink 3 Remix”performed by PCAJAY:

Bitch ass nigga get rocked. I walk in da trap with a Glock and a K in my sock. U fag ass nigga get popped. U a gay lil dumb ahh nigga came from TikTok. I'mma talk my shi won't stop. Bitch u all on my dick for a drop, nigga get off my cock.

2022 September 25, “Dork”performed by Aeterluv:

(US, slang, African-American Vernacular, also attributive) A vehicle, residential building, or sidewalk corner where drugs are manufactured, packaged, or sold.

(US, slang, African-American Vernacular, also attributive) An area, especially of a city, with a low level of opportunity and a high level of poverty and crime; a ghetto; a hood.

(music, uncountable) A genre of hip-hop music, with half-time drums and heavy sub-bass.

trap phone

trap car


up

down

antonym(s) of “away from the centre of the Earth”

down

antonym(s) of “towards the principal terminus”

From Middle English up, from Old English upp, from Proto-Germanic *upp, see more there.

A Cosmopolitan is typically served up.

(US, bartending) Without additional ice.


up

down

antonym(s) of “traveling towards a major terminus”

Would you like that drink up or on ice?

(US, bartending) Chilled and served without ice.


March Madness

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-March Madness.wav

From the month of March, during which most of the tournament matches take place. The "madness" part is probably an allusion to the phrase mad as a March hare.

(basketball, US) The NCAA Division I basketball championship tournaments.


hoops

Let's shoot some hoops!


roundball

From round + ball, to contrast with the elliptical ball in American football. Attested from the 1980s.

(US, slang, originally African-American) The sport of basketball.


Final Four

(basketball, US, informal) The four regional champions of the NCAA Division I tournament, one of whom will become the national champion.

(basketball, US, informal) The final two rounds of the NCAA Division I tournament.

These two teams have an amazing number of Final Fours between them.

(basketball, US, informal) An appearance in the Final Four.


tomcat

en-verb

tomcat (third-person singular simple present tomcats, present participle tomcatting, simple past and past participle tomcatted)

tomcats (present singular third-person)
tomcatting (participle present)
tomcatted (participle past)
tomcatted (past)
tom cat (alternative)
tom-cat (alternative)
Tom cat (alternative)

From Tom + cat, popularised by The Life and Adventures of a Cat (1760), by an anonymous author, in which the male cat was called Tom.

He would not go roaming the streets tom-catting like Mr Schick.

1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 539:

(originally US, informal, of a man) To prowl for sexual gratification.


zit

Uncertain origin, first attested as 1960s North American English slang. Compare English chit (“pimple, wart”), German Zitze (“teat, nipple”).

I can't help thinking how little good all that working out did him. I think the only thing he ever got out of it was more zits.

1968, J. Lawrence Hagen, “Pinball 1959”, in Generation, volumes 20-21, page 182:

Brad: Sara, did you take my Clearasil again? Sara: I ran out of brown (paint). Brad: Great. How am I supposed to cover up my zits?

1987 Adventures in Babysitting, 00:06:35


pinko

From pink + -o, a variation of red (“Communist”, noun), as pink is a lighter, more diluted form.

At Princeton a lone townsman cried "Down with Mussolini!" in the midst of a reception, was jostled by students, escorted off the campus. At Harvard the pinko National Students League protested to President Conant, but allowed the visitors to tour Cambridge in peace.

1934 October 22, “Gentlemen & Guttersnipes”, in Time Magazine, number 17, page 45:

“I agree with the decision one hundred per cent,” he said. “And if I find any pinkos that I don't know about on my lot I'll get rid of them if I can. They don't even have to be Communists. I'll try to clean out any leftists.”

1947 November 30, Thomas F. Brady, quoting Bryan Foy, “Hollywood Divided”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

He'd be on her ass in a microsecond, revoke her letters testamentary, they'd call her names, proclaim her through all Orange County as a redistributionist and pinko, slip the old man from Warpe, Wistfull, Kubitschek and McMingus in as administrator de bonis non and so much baby for code, constellations, shadow-legatees.

1966 March, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 6, in The Crying of Lot 49, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, published November 1976, →ISBN, page 136:

Until society collectively starts using terminology like this effectively, all you'll end up with is a bunch of Commie Pinkos Stinking^([sic]) up parks around the country "Occupying" without a clear goal or message.

2011 October 24, Archangel Michael, “The 147 Corporations Controlling Most of the Global Economy”, in Slashdot:

Kelly reassures his readers that the people who run this emerging economy are not left-wing in any traditional sense. They are “more likely to be libertarians than commie pinkos,” he explains.

2014, Astra Taylor, quoting Kevin Kelly, chapter 4, in The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age, Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN:

Almost 10 years ago I made a documentary called Inside Child Poverty. Some people (largely members of John Key’s government) got very angry with me. I was a left wing pinko journo making this stuff up in an election year.

2020 December 14, Bryan Bruce, “10 years since the Child Poverty documentary, what’s changed?”, in The Daily Blog:

(informal, often derogatory, chiefly US) A socialist, particularly one who is not completely communist.


prox

on the election day at Newport , the ticket containing the names of the general officers has been called “ the prox” of general officers

1841, Report of the select committee [on] the memorial of the democratic members of the Legislature of Rhode Island:

(US, Rhode Island) The ticket or list of candidates at elections, presented to the people for their votes.


acquire

acquire (third-person singular simple present acquires, present participle acquiring, simple past and past participle acquired)

acquires (present singular third-person)
acquiring (participle present)
acquired (participle past)
acquired (past)
acquire (infinitive)

From Middle English acqueren, from Old French aquerre, from Latin acquirō; ad- + quaerō (“to seek for”). See quest.

(Canada, US, military) To begin tracking a mobile target with a particular detector or sight, generally with the implication that an attack on the target thereby becomes possible.


fairy

en-noun

fairy (countable and uncountable, plural fairies)

fairies (plural)
faery (alternative)
faëry (alternative)
faerie (alternative)
faërie (alternative)
færie (alternative)
fairie (alternative)

From Middle English faierie, fairie, from Old French faerie, from fae + -erie, from Latin fāta (“goddess of fate”). Equivalent to fey + -ry. Attested in English from about 1330, in King Alisaunder, first in the sense of "enchantment, illusion, dream" ("that thou herdest is fairye") and shortly thereafter "realm of the fays, fairy-land" and "the inhabitants of fairyland, collectively". The re-interpretation of the term as a countable noun denoting individual inhabitants of fairy-land can be traced to the 1390s, but became common only in the 16th century, perhaps due to reinterpreting phrases like faerie knight.

The cripple returned the smile and stuck out his hand. Miss Lonelyhearts clasped it, and they stood this way, smiling and holding hands, until Mrs. Doyle reëntered the room.
"What a sweet pair of fairies you guys are," she said.
The cripple pulled his hand away and made as though to strike his wife.

1933, Nathanael West, 'Miss Lonelyhearts' : [Miss Lonelyhearts is male.]:

We saw a horrible sight in the bar: a white hipster fairy had come in wearing a Hawaiian shirt and was asking the big drummer if he could sit in.

1957, Jack Kerouac, chapter 4, in On the Road, Viking Press, →OCLC, part 3:

Wimpy names—e.g., Cecil, Clarence, and Wendell—also seem to carry homosexual overtones, because we all know that fairies are meek and wimpy, just as we know that all wimps are ‘fags’ in one sense or the other.

1989, Marshall Kirk, Hunter Madsen, After the Ball: How America Will Conquer Its Fear and Hatred of Gays in the '90s, Doubleday Books, page 20:

(Northern England, US, derogatory, colloquial) A male homosexual, especially one who is effeminate.

педера́ст

(derogatory slang) effeminate male homosexual


cotton candy

cotton candy (usually uncountable, plural cotton candies)

cotton candies (plural)
cotton-candy (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-cotton candy.wav

From cotton + candy; from being a candy appearing like a mass of cotton balls or cotton batting.

(US, Canada) Melted sugar spun into thin threads and collected into a mass, usually on a stick.


per orum

From per, borrowing from classical Latin per (“through”), and orum as incorrectly formed accusative of ōs (“mouth”).

(US, medicine) Alternative form of per orem per os; via the mouth; orally


adder

From Middle English nadder, addere, rebracketing of “a naddere” as “an addere”, from Old English nǣdre (“snake”), from Proto-West Germanic *nadrā, from Proto-Germanic *nadrǭ, from pre-Germanic *néh₁treh₂, variant of Proto-Indo-European *n̥h₁trih₂, from *(s)neh₁- (“to spin, twist”).
See also West Frisian njirre, Dutch adder, German Natter, Otter; also Welsh neidr, Latin natrīx (“watersnake”), Dutch naaien.

Lampropeltis triangulum
Lampropeltis triangulum#Translingual

A name loosely applied to various snakes more or less resembling the viper.

(US, Canada) Any of several small nonvenomous snakes resembling adders

Heterodon spp. (hog-nosed snakes), a genus of harmless colubrid snakes found in North America


spot

→ Catalan: espot

From Middle English spot, spotte, partially from Middle Dutch spotte (“spot, speck”), and partially merging with Middle English splot, from Old English splott (“spot, plot of land”), from Proto-West Germanic *splott, from Proto-Germanic *spluttaz (“segment”), from Proto-Indo-European *splt-no- (“an off-split, segment”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- (“to split”). Cognate with North Frisian spot (“speck, piece of ground”), Low German spot (“speck”), Old Norse spotti (“small piece”). See also splot, splotch.

cog

Here's the twenty bucks I owe you, a ten spot and two five spots.

(slang, US) A bill of five-dollar or ten-dollar denomination in dollars.

Did you see the spot on the news about the shoelace factory?

(US, advertising) A brief advertisement or program segment on television.


spot

en-verb

spot (third-person singular simple present spots, present participle spotting, simple past and past participle spotted)

spots (present singular third-person)
spotting (participle present)
spotted (participle past)
spotted (past)

I’ll spot you ten dollars for lunch.

“It’s close to payday, but you’re welcome to what I have. Maybe Wickliffe can spot me a few.”

2018, Tayari Jones, An American Marriage, Oneworld Publications, page 185:

(US, slang, ditransitive) To loan a small amount of money to someone.


admire

admire (third-person singular simple present admires, present participle admiring, simple past and past participle admired)

admires (present singular third-person)
admiring (participle present)
admired (participle past)
admired (past)

From Middle English admyren, borrowed from Middle French admirer, from Latin admīror, from ad + mīror (“wonder at”).

I'm not sayin' she's touched the Devil, now, but I'd admire to know what books she reads and why she hides them — she'll not answer me, y' see.

And I'd admire seeing this creek become a sort of stopping place for geese of one sort and another.

“I hope you do. I'd admire seeing a lot of you.” They made camp down at the creek. Will spread her blanket not too far from his. “Well, aren't you a lady's man.” “Why do you say that?”

2002, Jack Jones, Iron Spur, →ISBN, page 37:

(US, dialectal, rare) To be enthusiastic about (doing something); to want or like (to do something). (Sometimes followed by to.)


ambulance

→ Baharna Arabic: عمبلوص (ʕambalūṣ)

→ Hindi: एम्बुलेंस (embulẽs)

→ Malay: ambulans

→ Swahili: ambulensi

African-American Vernacular, also Southern American English

Borrowed from French ambulance, which replaced hôpital ambulant (“moving hospital”) via the suffix -ance, from Latin ambulō (“to walk; to go about”).

EtymOnLine

Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “ambulance”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

(US, obsolete) Synonym of covered wagon.


fuss

en-verb

fuss (third-person singular simple present fusses, present participle fussing, simple past and past participle fussed)

fusses (present singular third-person)
fussing (participle present)
fussed (participle past)
fussed (past)

Of unknown origin. Perhaps from Danish fjas (“nonsense”), from Middle Low German (compare German faseln (“to maunder, talk nonsense”)).

unk

unknown

cog

(intransitive, US, especially of babies) To cry or be ill-humoured.


thrush

From Middle English thrusche, þrusch, þresche, from a combination of Old English þrysċe (from Proto-Germanic *þruskijǭ, a diminutive of Proto-Germanic *þruskō) and Old English þræsċe (from Proto-Germanic *þrauskǭ and/or *þrastuz); all from Proto-Indo-European *trosdos (“thrush”).
Cognate with German Drossel, Old Norse þrǫstr, Latin turdus, Lithuanian strazdas (“thrush”), Middle Irish truid, Welsh drudwy (“starling”), Old Church Slavonic дрозгъ (drozgŭ), Russian дрозд (drozd).


pepper

en-noun

pepper (countable and uncountable, plural peppers)

Tok Pisin: pepa

→ Hawaiian: pepa

→ Marshallese: pepa

From Middle English peper, piper, from Old English piper, from Proto-West Germanic *pipar, from Latin piper, from an Indo-Aryan source; compare Sanskrit पिप्पलि (pippali, “long pepper”). The name was given to the capsicum fruit because of its unusual spicy taste, not unlike the Old World spice. Cognate with Scots pepar, Saterland Frisian Pieper, West Frisian piper, Dutch peper, German Low German Peper, German Pfeffer, Danish peber, Swedish peppar, Icelandic pipar. Doublet of falafel and peepul.

cog

(UK, US, Ireland and Canada) A fruit of the capsicum plant: red, green, yellow or white, hollow and containing seeds, and in very spicy and mild varieties.


grunt

From Middle English grunten, from Old English grunnettan (“to grunt”), from Proto-West Germanic *grunnattjan, from Proto-Germanic *grunnatjaną (“to grunt”), frequentative of Proto-Germanic *grunnōną (“to grunt”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrun- (“to shout”).
Cognate with German grunzen (“to grunt”), Danish grynte (“to grunt”). The noun senses are all instances of zero derivation from the verb.

der

Coordinate term: pogue

The poges stare at the grunts as though the grunts were Hell's Angels at the ballet.

1979, Gustav Hasford, The Short-Timers, New York: Bantam Books, published 1980, →ISBN, page 39:

The events described are those encountered by only 160 men, though the adversity recounted is representative of that experienced by all grunts in Vietnam.

1984, Charles Robert Anderson, The Grunts, Berkley Books, →ISBN, page xii:

He can't make that kind of decision. He's just a grunt!

1986, James Cameron, Aliens, spoken by Burke (Paul Reiser):

(US, military slang) An infantry soldier.

(Canada, US) A dessert of steamed berries and dough, usually blueberries; blueberry grunt.


layoff

(chiefly US) A dismissal of employees from their jobs because of tightened budgetary constraints or work shortage (not due to poor performance or misconduct).


overall

/ˌəʊvəɹˈɔːl/

From Middle English overall, overal, from Old English ofer eall, ofer ealle (“over all”), equivalent to over + all. Compare Saterland Frisian oural, uural (“everywhere”), West Frisian oeral (“everywhere”), Dutch overal (“everywhere”), German Low German overall, överall (“everywhere; all over”), German überall (“all over; everywhere”), Danish overalt (“everywhere”), Swedish överallt (“everywhere; overall”).

cog

(in the plural, US) A garment, worn for manual labor, with an integral covering extending to the chest, supported by straps.


overalls

/ˈoʊvəɹɔːlz/

That concertina was a wonder in its way. The handles that was on it first was wore out long ago, and he'd made new ones of braided rope yarn. And the bellows was patched in more places than a cranberry picker's overalls.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

(US, Canada, Australia) Loose-fitting pants with supporting cross-straps and a panel of material in the chest (called a bib), often associated with farm work.


cotton wool

en-noun

cotton wool (usually uncountable, plural cotton wools)

Coordinate term: wool

(US) Raw fibers of cotton before being processed.


agate

agate (countable and uncountable, plural agates)

From Middle French agathe, from Latin achatēs, from Ancient Greek ἀχάτης (akhátēs, “agate”).

(uncountable, US printing, dated) The size of type between pearl and nonpareil, standardized as 5+¹⁄₂-point.


agent

From Latin agēns, present active participle of agere (“to drive, lead, conduct, manage, perform, do”).

Steve Haines (Robert Bogue): Agent Sanchez! Apprehend these suspects!

2013, Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto V, scene: Standoff between Michael de Santa and Steve Haines, level/area: The Wrap Up:

(usually US, capitalized) A respectful term of address for an agent, especially a non-police law enforcement agent.


aggressive

en-adj

aggressive (comparative more aggressive, superlative most aggressive)

more aggressive (comparative)
most aggressive (superlative)

From aggress + -ive. Compare with French agressif.

rīrā

Spreading rapidly of a disease or tumour

For quotations using this term, see Citations:aggressive.

(US, LGBTQ, Black lesbian slang) Female but having a male or masculine gender presentation: butch.


aggressive

[...]; usually the femme is the ho [at the costume party], and the butch/aggressive is the pimp. [...] An aggressive is a masculine-identified woman like the category of butch; aggressive is the contemporary term among younger masculine-identified women.

2012 February 1, Siobhan Brooks, Unequal Desires: Race and Erotic Capital in the Stripping Industry, State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page 110:

(US, LGBTQ, Black lesbian slang) A (Black) woman who presents as masculine; a butch.


register

registers (plural)
registre (alternative)

/ˈɹɛd͡ʒ.ɪ.stə/

/ˈɹɛd͡ʒ.ɪ.stɚ/

/ˈɹɛd͡ʒ.ə.stɚ/

From Medieval Latin registrum, from Late Latin regesta (“list, items recorded”), from Latin regerō (“to record, to carry back”), from re- + gerō (“to carry, bear”). Compare Latin registoria (“a treasurer”). Some senses influenced by association with unrelated Latin regō (“to rule”).


chip

→ Catalan: xip

→ Greek: τσιπ (tsip)

→ Italian: chip

→ Korean: 칩 (chip)

desc

→ Hebrew: צִ׳יפְּס, צִ׳יפּ

→ Hebrew: צִ׳יפְּס, צִ׳יפּ (chips, chip)

→ Hungarian: csip, csipsz

→ Turkish: cips, çip

→ Yiddish: טשיפּל (tshipl)

→ Welsh: tsip

Noun from Middle English chip, chippe, from Old English ċipp (“chip; small piece of wood, shaving”), from Old English *ċippian (“to cut; hew”) – attested in Old English forċippian (“to cut off”) –, from Proto-West Germanic *kippōn (“to cut; carve; hack; chop”), from Proto-Germanic *kippōną (“to chip, chop”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵeyb- (“to split; divide; germinate; sprout”). Related to Dutch kip, keep (“notch; nick; score”), Dutch kippen (“to hatch”), German Low German kippen (“to cut; clip; trim; shorten”), German kipfen (“to chop off the tip; snip”), Old Swedish kippa (“to chop”). Compare also chop.
The formally similar Old English ċipp, ċypp, ċyp (“a beam; log; stock; post”), from Proto-Germanic *kippaz (“log; beam”) (whence Old Saxon kip (“post”), Old High German kipfa, chipfa (“axle, stave”), Old Norse keppr (“cudgel, club”)) is a different, unrelated word either borrowed from Latin cippus (“stake; pale; post”) or borrowed from the same source language as the Latin.
Verb from Middle English chippen, from Old English *ċippian (“to cut; hew”) – attested in Old English forċippian (“to cut off”) – see above.

cog

They made their own potato chips from scratch... He ate a tortilla chip with guac... served with a side of apple chips...

(US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, especially in the plural) A thin, crisp, fried slice of potato, a crisp; occasionally a similar fried slice of another vegetable or dried fruit.

skyfie

thin, crisp, fried piece of potato or vegetable


already

→ Gulf Arabic: أوردي (orridi)

From Middle English alredy (“fully; already”), equivalent to al- (“all, completely”) + ready. Cognate with West Frisian alreeds (“already”), Dutch alreeds (“already”), Afrikaans alreeds (“already”), Middle Low German alreide, alreids ("already"; whence modern German Low German alreeds (“already”)), Danish allerede (“already”), Swedish allaredan (“already”), Norwegian Nynorsk allereie (“already”). More at all, ready.
The use as an intensifier in American English is a semantic loan from German schon and Yiddish שוין (shoyn).
In Singapore English, the use of already as a marker of action completion and change of state (i.e., perfective and inchoative aspects respectively) is analogous to Hokkien 了 (liáu), Teochew 了 (liao²) and Mandarin 了 (le). Compare Malay (su)dah and Cantonese 咗 (zo²), 喇 (laa³).

gl

"already"; whence modern German Low German <i class="Latn mention" lang="nds-de">alreeds</i> (“already”)

I wish they'd finish already, so we can get going.

Enough already!

Be quiet already!

Enough already with the lack of glamour!

1988 June 24, Liz Smith, Toledo Blade, Toledo, Ohio, page P-5:

(US) An intensifier used to emphasize impatience or express exasperation.


alternate

From Latin alternō (“take turns”), from alternus (“one after another, by turns”), from alter (“other”) + -rnus. See altern, alter.

Hyperlinked text is displayed in alternate color in a Web browser.

He lives in an alternate universe and an alternate reality.


alternate

Corridors beyond this point have collapsed. I'm looking for an alternate. Careful.

2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, spoken by Cortana (Jen Taylor), Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360, level/area: Cortana:

(US) A substitute; an alternative; one designated to take the place of another, if necessary, in performing some duty.

ersättare

replacing as a member of a committee, board

(US) A replacement of equal or greater value or function.


alternately

[ɔːlˈtɜɹnətlɪ]

Downstairs, he was informed. That is, down the escalators, where there is both a women’s room (often with a line) and a men’s room (almost never with a line). Or alternately, he could ask the station master to buzz him into the “family” bathroom. He opted to go downstairs.

2008 July 18, Jennifer 8. Lee, “A ‘Women Only’ Restroom Renovation Tips the Balance at Grand Central”, in The New York Times:

Westerners have never quite understood the reverence in Japan for fugu, alternately known in English as puffer fish, globefish or blowfish, of the family Tetraodontidae.

2020 December 4, Ligaya Mishan, “The Appealing and Potentially Lethal Delicacy That Is Fugu”, in The New York Times Style Magazine:

(chiefly Canada, US, sometimes proscribed) Alternatively.


public

en-noun

public (countable and uncountable, plural publics)

publics (plural)
publick (alternative)
publicke (alternative)
publike (alternative)
publique (alternative)

The adjective and noun are derived from Late Middle English publik, publike (“(adjective) generally observable, public; relating to the general public or public affairs; (noun) a generally observable place or situation”), from Anglo-Norman public, publik, publique, Middle French public, publique, and Old French public (“(adjective) generally observable, public; relating to the general public; official; (noun) community or its members collectively; nation, state; audience, spectators collectively”) (modern French public, publique (obsolete)); and from their etymon Latin pūblicus (“of or belonging to the community, people, or state; general, public”), an alteration of poplicus (influenced by pūbēs (“adult men; male population”)), from poplus (“community; the people, public; nation, state”) (later populus; from Proto-Italic *poplos (“army”); further origin uncertain, possibly from Etruscan or from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”)) + -icus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). Doublet of people.
The Middle English word displaced native Old English ceorlfolc and folclic.
The verb is derived from the adjective.

yleisö

particular demographic or group of people, or segment of the population, sharing some common characteristic; (sociology) group of people sharing some common interest, but not necessarily having any interactions with each other

(US, university slang) At Harvard University: a penalty imposed on a student involving a grade reduction which is communicated to the student's parents or guardian.


stuffing

en-noun

stuffing (countable and uncountable, plural stuffings)

(US, finance, law) A tax loophole whereby a corporation acquires property that will result in a loss of revenue, purely in order to reduce its tax liability.


amendment

amendment (countable and uncountable, plural amendments)

From French amendement, from Late Latin amendamentum, equivalent to amend + -ment.

The First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.

The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery.

(especially US) An addition to and/or alteration to the Constitution.


rip

en-verb

rip (third-person singular simple present rips, present participle ripping, simple past and past participle ripped)

rips (present singular third-person)
ripping (participle present)
ripped (participle past)
ripped (past)

From Middle English rippen, from earlier ryppen (“to pluck”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rupjaną, *ruppōną (compare West Frisian rippe, ripje, roppe, ropje (“to rip”), Dutch dialectal rippen, Low German ruppen, German Low German röpen, German rupfen), intensive of *raupijaną (compare Old English rīpan, rīepan (“to plunder”), West Frisian rippe (“to rip, tear”), German raufen (“to rip”)), causative of Proto-Indo-European *roub- ~ *reub- (compare Albanian rrabe ‘maquis’, possibly Latin rubus (“bramble”)), variant of *Hrewp- (“to break”). More at reave, rob.

(transitive, sometimes US, slang) To mock or criticize (someone or something). (often used with on and into)


sketchy

en-adj

sketchy (comparative sketchier, superlative sketchiest)

sketchier (comparative)
sketchiest (superlative)

The sketchy repair job did not look like it would hold.

(Canada, US, slang) Of questionable or doubtful quality.

Because he is so sketchy, I always think that he is up to something.

The downside of working with sketchy dudes on building sites and in greasy spoons was that they were sketchy, but they also knew shady things.

2019, Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys, Fleet, page 201:

(Canada, US, slang, of a person) Suspected of taking part in illicit or dishonorable dealings.

съмнителен

Jack is so sketchy. I think he's stalking me.

(Canada, US, slang, of a person) Disturbing or unnerving, often in such a way that others may suspect them of intending physical or sexual harm or harassment.


rubber

en-noun

rubber (usually uncountable, plural rubbers)

desc

→ Kashubian: roberk (Canada, United State)

→ Sikaiana: lapa

From rub + -er.
The sense of the substance comes from its ability to function as an eraser, displacing earlier caoutchouc. The senses not having to do with rubbing or erasing are secondarily derived from the name of the substance.

And the rubbers you hide / In your top left pocket

1979, “At Home He's A Tourist”, in Entertainment!, performed by Gang of Four:

My daddy said "Treat young girls like your mother" / My momma said "Trust no hoe, use a rubber"

2019, “Ricky”, performed by Denzel Curry:

(countable, Canada, US, slang) A condom.

Johnny, don't forget your rubbers today.

He set aside his aunt’s counsel in regard to a better regimen, as well as her more specific hints, made in view of the near approach of rough weather, that he provide himself with rubbers and an umbrella, even if he would not hear of a rain-coat.

1919, Henry B[lake] Fuller, “Cope Goes A-Sailing”, in Bertram Cope’s Year: A Novel, Chicago, Ill.: Ralph Fletcher Seymour, The Alderbrink Press, →OCLC, page 154:

(Canada, US, in the plural) Water-resistant shoe covers, galoshes, overshoes.


rubber

(sports, Canada, US) A rubber match; a game or match played to break a tie.


outside

en-adj

outside (comparative more outside, superlative most outside)

more outside (comparative)
most outside (superlative)
owtside (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Nattes à chat-outside.wav

արտաքին

pertaining to the outer surface or boundary

the outside lane of the highway

(chiefly US) Positioned towards the shoulder of a road: towards the left-hand side if one drives on the left, or right-hand side if one drives on the right.


yard

yards (plural)
yaird (alternative)
yeard (alternative)
yerd (alternative)
yod (alternative)

From Middle English yerd, yard, ȝerd, ȝeard, from Old English ġeard (“yard, garden, fence, enclosure”), from Proto-West Germanic *gard, from Proto-Germanic *gardaz (“enclosure, yard”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰórdʰos, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰerdʰ- (“to enclose”).
See also Dutch gaard, obsolete German Gart, German Garten, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål gård, Norwegian Nynorsk gard, Lithuanian gardas (“pen, enclosure”), Russian го́род (górod, “town”), Serbo-Croatian and Slovene grad ("town"), Albanian gardh (“fence”), Romanian gard, Avestan 𐬔𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬛𐬵𐬀 (gərədha, “dev's cave”), Sanskrit गृह (gṛha)), Medieval Latin gardinus, jardinus. Doublet of garden, garth, and gord.

der

(US, Canada, Australia) The property surrounding one's house, typically dominated by one's lawn.


yard

en-noun

yard (plural yards or (UK colloquial) yard)

yards (plural)
yard (UK colloquial plural)
yaird (alternative)
yeard (alternative)
yerd (alternative)
yod (alternative)

rod (unit)
yard
yard (disambiguation)
yard (sailing)
yardland

From Middle English ȝerde, yerd, ȝerd, from Old English ġierd (“branch; rod, staff; measuring stick; yardland”), from Proto-West Germanic *gaʀd, from Proto-Germanic *gazdaz. Cognate with Dutch gard (“twig”), German Gerte and probably related to Latin hasta (“spear”).

ráhno

nautical: tapered timber from which square sails hang