new moon

From Middle English newe moone, newe mone, equivalent to new + moon.

donkermaan

phase of moon when in conjunction with sun

Coordinate term: full moon

The phase of the moon when it is in conjunction with the sun and is therefore obscured.

Coordinate term: full moon

The moon when it is in conjunction with the sun.

Coordinate term: old moon

The phase of the moon when it is waxing.

Coordinate term: old moon


hokum

en-noun

hokum (usually uncountable, plural hokums)

Uncertain; first attested as US theater slang, possibly a blend of hocus-pocus + bunkum.

[D]uring the 'twenties, jazz developed from an infrequent ‘hokum’ music in a few vaudeville acts to a household commodity.

1956, Marshall W[inslow] Stearns, “The Jazz Age Begins”, in The Story of Jazz, paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, published 1970, →ISBN, page 153:

As a result a hybrid music, ‘hokum’, became popular. It owed much to ‘Georgia Tom’ Dorsey, Tampa Red and Big Bill Broonzy, and the first recordings in the idiom appeared around 1929. Many recordings by The Famous Hokum Boys, the Hokum Trio, The Hokum Boys and similar groups were recorded by 1930. Jokey, often bawdy, frequently satirical, they employed rural techniques in an urban setting, gently lampooning country ways through a city sophistication.

1985, Paul Oliver, “Black Music: ‘Sales Tax on It’: Race Records in the New Deal Years”, in Stephen W. Baskerville, Ralph Willett, editors, Nothing Else to Fear: New Perspectives on America in the Thirties, Manchester: Manchester University Press, →ISBN, page 210:

ES: That thing that you call double bow, I've heard many different names for it. / JG: Rockin' the bow. / ES: I've heard it called a straight shuffle. I've heard it called hocum. Have you ever heard it called hocum? / JG: Yeah, we call the jazz hocum. You see, anything away from the melody.

1990, The Devil’s Box, Madison, Ala.: Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers’ Association, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 27:

Pianist [Thomas A.] Dorsey and guitarist Tampa Red popularized the double-entendre, up-tempo novelty blues style known as hokum blues that was a forerunner of the up-tempo rhythm and blues, whose similarly adult lyrics often had to be bowdlerized when covered by white singers for the white teen market in the 1950s.

2008, “R&B”, in Charles Reagan Wilson, general editor, Bill C. Malone, editors, Music, Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, →ISBN, page 108:

Blues and hokum intertwined at least through the mid-1930s, when the hokum bands faded out. [...] Hokum was also absorbed into the jazz tradition.

2013, Larry Birnbaum, “The Jumpin’ Jive”, in Before Elvis: The Prehistory of Rock ’n’ Roll, Lanham, Md.: The Scarecrow Press, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 133:

(uncountable, music) A genre of blues song or music, often characterized by sexual innuendos or satire.


blaze orange

blaze orange:


rem

Abbreviation of Roentgen equivalent in man.

abbreviation of

A dose of absorbed radiation equivalent to one roentgen of X-rays or gamma rays.


stretto

en-noun

stretto (countable and uncountable, plural strettos or stretti)

Borrowed from Italian stretto. Doublet of strait and strict.

(music) The presence of two close or overlapping statements of the subject of a fugue, especially towards the end.

(music) An acceleration in the tempo of an opera that produces an ending climax.


stretto

(music) With gradually increasing speed.


stretto

So that over and above the public components – holidays, tourist attractions – there are private meanderings, linked to the climate as if this spell were a stretto passage in the year’s fugue: haphazard weather, aimless loves, unpredicted commitments…

(music) Having gradually increasing speed.


fusion

fusion (countable and uncountable, plural fusions)

fission

antonym(s) of “nuclear reaction in which nuclei combine”

First appears c. 1555, in a translation by Richard Eden. From Middle French fusion, from Latin fūsiōnem (the accusative of fūsiō), from fusus, past participle of fundō (“I pour, I melt”) (see also found). Doublet of foison.

The act of merging separate elements, or the result thereof.

(physics) A nuclear reaction in which nuclei combine to form more massive nuclei with the concomitant release of energy.

اِنْدِمَاج

(music) A style of music that blends disparate genres; especially different types of jazz and reggae.


gobble

From Middle English gobben (“to drink or swallow greedily”), of uncertain origin + -le (frequentative suffix). Middle English gobben is perhaps an alteration of Middle English globben (“to gulp down”), related to English gulpen (“to gulp”). However, compare also French gober.

der

Nowadays, he was lucky if his mam's auld drinking cronies gave him a gobble.

(Scotland, slang, vulgar) Fellatio; a blowjob.


meu

(historical) The second minister of the Kingdom of Dahomey.


ozone layer

A region of the stratosphere, between 15 and 30 kilometres in altitude, containing a relatively high concentration of ozone, which absorbs most solar ultraviolet radiation.


acousmatic

From Latin acousmaticus, from Ancient Greek ἀκουσματικός (akousmatikós), from ἀκούω (akoúō, “I hear”).

uder

ἀκουσματικός

(music) Referring to pre-recorded music that is presented in concert using loudspeakers, e.g. some types of computer music.

acousmate

referring to pre-recorded music that is presented in concert using loudspeakers


pastel

en-noun

pastel (countable and uncountable, plural pastels)

Borrowed from French pastel, from Italian pastello (“pastel”), from Medieval Latin pastellum (“dough, paste”), from Latin pasta (“dough, paste”), ultimately from Ancient Greek πάστη (pástē, “dough, paste”). Doublet of pastegh, pastiglia, pastila, pastilla, and pastille.

doublet

Wool was dyed in the pastel vat.


doubletrack

en-verb

doubletrack (third-person singular simple present doubletracks, present participle doubletracking, simple past and past participle doubletracked)

doubletracks (present singular third-person)
doubletracking (participle present)
doubletracked (participle past)
doubletracked (past)

(music) To mix together two or more audio tracks while doing studio recording.


sopranista

An adult male singer who sings music written in soprano range without the use of falsetto.


full moon

From Middle English ful mone, from Old English full mōna, equivalent to full + moon.

The phase of the moon when it is in opposition to the sun and its full disc is therefore visible.

The moon when it is in opposition to the sun.


consecutive

en-noun

consecutive (countable and uncountable, plural consecutives)

From French consécutif, from Medieval Latin cōnsecūtīvus, from Latin cōnsecūtus (“followed up”), from Latin cōnsequor (“to travel”).

The theory suggests, but does not state explicitly, that the prohibition of consecutives is the stricter the nearer the interval in question lies to the fundamental component of a blend.

1919, Henry J. Watt, The Foundations of Music, page 88:

In the case of discords, the fixed progression of the dissonant interval serves, to a large extent, as a guide to the progression of the remaining intervals of the harmony; in the case of concords this guidance is lacking, and it must be remembered that, in every progression of two parts, by similar motion, to a perfect concord (Fifth or Octave), there are bound to be hidden, if not apparent, consecutives.

2003, Franck Thomas Arnold, The Art of Accompaniment from a Thorough-bass, →ISBN, page 484:

Before adding the inner parts, check that there are no consecutives between S and B – don't forget that these can occur between the last printed notes of the phrase and your added parts, as well as within your own working. Here the risk of consecutives has been minimised by using mainly contrary motion in the bass.

2004, Hugh Benham, A Student's Guide to Harmony and Counterpoint, →ISBN, page 86:

(music, countable) A sequence of notes or chords that results from repeated shifts in pitch of the same interval.


tampion

(music) A plug for the upper end of an organ pipe.


semitone

(music) A musical interval equal to an augmented unison or a minor second, depending on the context and tuning system used

(music) Any of the pitches of the chromatic scale


quintet

From French quintette, from Italian quintetto, diminutive of quinto (“fifth”), itself from Latin quintus, related to quīnque (“five”).

(music) A composition (a type of chamber music) in five parts (typically each a singer or instrumentalist, sometimes several musicians)

(music) A group of five musicians, fit to play such a piece of music together


flatten

en-verb

flatten (third-person singular simple present flattens, present participle flattening, simple past and past participle flattened)

flattens (present singular third-person)
flattening (participle present)
flattened (participle past)
flattened (past)


kecapi suling

Name of the instruments used, kecapi + suling.

Sundanese instrumental and improvisational form of music.


melismatic

en-adj

melismatic (comparative more melismatic, superlative most melismatic)

more melismatic (comparative)
most melismatic (superlative)

From melismata + -ic, also contrued as melisma + -tic.

Because slower metrical types are more melismatic and ornamented than primary-meter, their melodic-passages in both xipi and erhuang are more melismatic and complex than those of primary-meter.

1991, Elizabeth Wichmann, Listening to Theatre: The Aural Dimension of Beijing Opera, University of Hawaii Press, page 92:

1998, Barbara Newman, Introduction, Barbara Newman (translator), Hildegard von Bingen, Symphonia: A Critical Edition of the Symphonia armonie celestium revelationum, Cornell University Press, 2nd Edition, page 28,
In general, the more melismatic a piece, the more solemn, elaborate, and difficult it is, and the more the text is dominated by the music.

The melismatic content of this chant lies at the extreme of what is typical for responsories, usually considered among the most melismatic chant types.

2006, James Grier, The Musical World of a Medieval Monk: Adémar de Chabannes in Eleventh-century Aquitaine, Cambridge University Press, page 358:

(music) Of, relating to, or being a melisma; the style of singing several notes to one syllable of text.


organ tablature

A shorthand system for notating organ music, used mostly by the north German Baroque organ school, and distinguished from musical notation by the use of letter names, octave lines and other symbols instead of notes and accidentals and by the lack of staff lines.


rudiment

From Old French, from Latin rudimentum (“a first attempt, a beginning”), plural rudimenta (“the elements”), from rudis (“rude”); see rude.

der

Show me your rudiments.

2014, Damien Chazelle, Whiplash, spoken by Terence Fletcher (J. K. Simmons):

(music) In percussion, one of a selection of basic drum patterns learned as an exercise.


yelp

From Middle English ȝelp, yelp, from Old English ġielp (“boasting, arrogance, pride”), from Proto-West Germanic *gelp, from Proto-Germanic *gelpą (“boasting”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel- (“to shout”).

inh

A type of emergency vehicle siren sounding quicker and more intense than the wail.


shredder

A machine that tears up objects into smaller pieces, especially a paper shredder, garbage shredder or gardening or farming shredder.

(slang) Someone who snowboards; a snowboarder.

(music) One who shreds, or plays (especially the guitar) very fast.


notturno

/nɒˈtʊə(ɹ)nəʊ/

Borrowed from Italian notturno (“nocturnal, nightly”), from Latin nocturnus, from noctū (“by night”), from nox (“night”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts. Doublet of nocturne.


oil refinery

An industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into useful petroleum products


ultrasonic

en-adj

ultrasonic (comparative more ultrasonic, superlative most ultrasonic)

more ultrasonic (comparative)
most ultrasonic (superlative)

The wheel shop also has equipment for ultrasonic testing of axles for flaws; and systematic checking of locomotive axles and crank pins is carried out as they pass through the shops.

1961 March, C. P. Boocock, “The organisation of Eastleigh Locomotive Works”, in Trains Illustrated, pages 159–160:

(acoustics) Beyond (higher in frequency than) the range of sound perceptible to the human ear; with a frequency of 20 kilohertz or higher.

ультрагукавы́

beyond (higher in frequency than) the range of sound perceptible to the human ear


filling station

en-noun

filling station (plural filling stations)

Here and there, under the porches of ruined filling stations, in the gaping doorways of office buildings, lie heaps of human bones.

1948 August, Aldous Huxley, Ape and Essence, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC:

A facility which sells fuel and lubricants for motor vehicles.


alt

From Latin altus (“high”). Doublet of old and alto.

Sop[hy] Moderato! moderato! Madam. Your Ladyship's absolutely in alt. / L[ady] Scr[ape] In alt! Madam? / Sop[hy] Yes, in alt- Give me leave to tell your Ladyship, that you have raised your voice a full octave higher since you came into the room.

The duet was in alt; one stormed, the other half crying, half scolding, made up in volubility what her aunt possessed in authority, and it was not 'till Lady Meredith had twice raised her mild voice, either party could be silenced.

1794, Mrs. Bennett (Agnes Maria), Ellen, Countess of Castle Howel: A Novel, volume 1:

And he began, — "Poor insect! born to flutter and to die;" — falling into the second, directly Helen took the first, till he got down to such unreasonable bass that he suddenly gave a shriek in alt that made Olga stop her ears.

1857, Anne Manning, Helen and Olga: a Russian tale, page 194:

(music) Of a voice or instrument, high pitch; especially, the octave above the top line of the treble stave.


snort

From Middle English snorten, from earlier fnorten, from Old English *fnorettan, related to Middle English snoren, fnoren, from Old English fnora. See snore and sneeze for more on the change from fn- to sn-.

"I absolutely refuse to leave, however, until we have made at least a superficial examination of this country, and are able to take back with us something in the nature of a chart." Professor Summerlee gave a snort of impatience.

1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

The sound made by exhaling or inhaling roughly through the nose.

сумтене

sound made by exhaling roughly through the nose


DJ

Coordinate term: VJ

Last night a DJ saved my life / Last night a DJ saved my life from a broken heart

1982, Michael Cleveland (lyrics and music), “Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life”, performed by Indeep:

Burn down the disco / Hang the blessed DJ / Because the music that they constantly play / It says nothing to me about my life

1986, Morrissey & Johnny Marr (lyrics and music), “Panic”, in The World Won’t Listen, performed by The Smiths:

Three MC's and one DJ / We be getting down with no delay

1999, “Three MC’s and One DJ”, in Hello Nasty, performed by Beastie Boys:


opera house

A theatre, or similar building, primarily used for staging opera.


operetta

(music) A lighter version of opera with a frivolous story and spoken dialogue. [from 18th c.]


Prometheus

From Ancient Greek Προμηθεύς (Promētheús), from πρό (pró, “before”) + μανθάνω (manthánō, “to think”).


thrash

thrash (countable and uncountable, plural thrashes)

From Middle English thrasshen, a dialectal variant of thresshen, threshen (whence the modern English thresh), from Old English þrescan, from Proto-Germanic *þreskaną, whence also Old High German dreskan, Old Norse þreskja.

(music, uncountable) Ellipsis of thrash metal.


flourish

From Middle English floryschen, from Old French florir (via the arrhizotonic stem floriss-), from Late Latin flōrīre, from Latin flōrēre, from Latin flōrem (“flower”, noun). Corresponds to flower + -ish.

The trumpets blew a flourish as they entered the church.

[I]f he is a soldier in command, successes will be amplified, and the results of his campaigns announced with a flourish of trumpets.

1872, Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Percival Frost, The Annals of Tacitus with a Commentary by the Rev. Percival Frost, M.A, London: Whittaker & Co.; George Bell, Life of Tacitus:

(music) A ceremonious passage such as a fanfare.


rhythmic

en-adj

rhythmic (comparative more rhythmic, superlative most rhythmic)

more rhythmic (comparative)
most rhythmic (superlative)

From the Ancient Greek ῥυθμικός (rhuthmikós), from ῥυθμός (rhuthmós, “measured flow or movement, symmetry, rhythm”) + -ικός (-ikós, suffix forming adjectives).

suffix

Written in verse, especially rhyming verse.

ruitheamail

written in verse, especially rhyming verse


orchestration

en-noun

orchestration (countable and uncountable, plural orchestrations)

(uncountable, music) The arrangement of music for performance by an orchestra.

(countable, music) A composition that has been orchestrated.


munch

munch (countable and uncountable, plural munches)

From Middle English monchen, a variant of mocchen, mucchen ("to munch (food); chew audibly"; > Modern English dialectal mouch), probably imitative in origin (compare crunch).

gloss

"to munch (food); chew audibly"; > Modern English dialectal <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">mouch</i>

You thought I was feelin' you? (Nah) That nigga a munch.

2022 August 10, “Munch (Feelin' U)”, performed by Ice Spice:

Catch lil' Ddot outside, a Blizzy gettin' dead
And his mother a munch, she gon' gimme neck

2022 October 31, Yus Gz (lyrics and music), “MunchK (Munch Remix)”:

Hump real nice, I'm all in her goodies
I don't eat the cake, I play with the pussy
Waking up late so I take her to brunch
She said, “Eat the ass,“ she think I'm a munch

2022 December 5, Raud & Bril (lyrics and music), “No Munchies”:

How many kids this nigga Nick Cannon plan on fucking having
It's like he tryna get a hundred more girls pregnant
And overturning Roe vs. Wade ain't helping
You moving like a munch we know what you about
Drake unfollowed Ice Spice after he flew her out

2023 January 1, Uncle Murda (lyrics and music), “Rap Up 2022” (track 9), in Rap Up:

This year niggas know that I'm up
Make you feel it inside of your gut
Put my finger inside of her what
I'm a ooter so don't try to front
That boy dirty, that nigga a munch
That boy dirty, he live in the Bronx

2023 February 10, Fiction Fake (lyrics and music), “Gut / Butterflies”:

Got a piercing and sum tats, I had to tell u do your make up
You the type of white girl to have ur parents tell you wake up
You a snow bunny, you a hoe with snow money, you can go and be a munch while I fuck on old honeys

2023 March 26, Phillino (lyrics and music), “Bad Bunny”:

(New York drill music, slang, derogatory) Someone who easily agrees to give oral sex.


organist

From Middle French organiste, from Medieval Latin organista. By surface analysis, organ + -ist.


orchestrate

en-verb

orchestrate (third-person singular simple present orchestrates, present participle orchestrating, simple past and past participle orchestrated)

orchestrates (present singular third-person)
orchestrating (participle present)
orchestrated (participle past)
orchestrated (past)

To arrange or score music for performance by an orchestra.

оркестрирам

to arrange or score music for performance by an orchestra


FOB

(music) Initialism of Fall Out Boy, an American pop-punk band formed in Chicago.


oratorio

Borrowed from Italian oratorio (“oratorical”), from Latin ōrātōrius. Doublet of oratory.

(music) A musical composition, often based on a religious theme; similar to opera but with no costume, scenery or acting.

араторыя

a musical composition on a religious theme


outboard

(music) Being or relating to an external effects unit such as compressor or equalizer.


outboard

(music) A studio having outboard gear (compressor, equalizer, etc.).


partial

From Middle English partiall, parcial, from Old French parcial (“biased or particular”), from Late Latin partiālis (“of or pertaining to a part”), from Latin pars (“part”).

der

(music) Any of the sine waves which make up a complex tone; often an overtone or harmonic of the fundamental.


gaslight

en-noun

gaslight (countable and uncountable, plural gaslights)

From gas (“flammable gaseous hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon mixture used as a fuel”) + light.

compound

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

He was renovated and refreshed, his soul was strengthened, and his countenance waxed cheerful, and he began to feel like himself again, under the brown canopy of metropolitan smoke, and among the cabs and gaslights.

[1871], J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, “Captain Lake Looks in at Nightfall”, in Wylder’s Hand: […] (Select Library of Fiction; 178), new edition, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, page 118:

Open the windows once in awhile and give the air a chance to circulate in and out. In the evening, do not forget that the lamps and gaslights are using up a goodly supply of oxygen also—so freshen things up a little, once in awhile.

1904, Yogi Ramacharaka [pseudonym; William Walker Atkinson], “Fresh Air”, in Hatha Yoga: Or The Yogi Philosophy of Physical Well-being […], Chicago, Ill.: Yogi Publication Society […], →OCLC, page 222:

A lamp which operates by burning piped illuminating gas (or town gas).


out of tune

The violins go out of tune in damp weather.

By the end of the song, I was completely out of tune with the guitar.

It is the lark that sings so out of tune,
Straining harsh discords and unpleasing sharps.

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


ultraviolet

en-adj

ultraviolet (comparative more ultraviolet, superlative most ultraviolet)

more ultraviolet (comparative)
most ultraviolet (superlative)

electromagnetic radiation
electromagnetic radiation

Of electromagnetic radiation beyond (higher in frequency than) light visible to the human eye; radiation with wavelengths from 380 to 10 nanometres.


éminence grise

en-noun

éminence grise (plural éminences grises or éminence grises)

éminences grises (plural)
éminence grises (plural)

/ˌɛmɪnɒns ˈɡɹiːz/

Borrowed from French éminence grise (literally “grey eminence”), originally applied to François Leclerc du Tremblay (1577–1638), also known as Père Joseph, a French Capuchin friar who was the confidant and agent of Cardinal Richelieu (1585–1642), the chief minister of France under Louis XIII (1601–1643). The term refers to du Tremblay’s influence over the Cardinal (who bore the honorific of Eminence), and the colour of his habit (grey, rather than the red of a cardinal).

bor

But Harry Hopkins was no mere manipulator of people and ideas, no eminence grise masterminding the actions of figureheads.

1987 July 12, John A[rthur] Garraty, “Harry’s Luck [book review of Harry Hopkins: Ally of the Poor and Defender of Democracy by George McJimsey]”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-12-19, page 28:

[Ichirō] Ozawa is the Secretary-General of [Yukio] Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan (DJP) and the éminence grise of the electoral campaign that catapulted the new Prime Minister to power.

2009 September 16, Coco Masters, “Japan’s New Prime Minister—and New Shadow Shogun”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Warner Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2017-10-21:

(idiomatic) A secret or unofficial decision-maker.

Cardinal Richelieu
François Leclerc du Tremblay
Louis XIII

灰衣主教

secret or unofficial decision-maker — see also power behind the throne

се́рый кардина́л m (séryj kardinál, literally “grey cardinal”)


kilowatt-hour

(electricity) A unit of energy equal to that done by one kilowatt acting for one hour.


yiff

en-noun

yiff (usually uncountable, plural yiffs)

Yiff was part of a range of onomatopoeic words from a pseudo-language called Foxish used by the furry role-playing community, ostensibly created by a user named LittleFox or Foxen around 1990. Other terms used by this community included yip, yerf, yaff, yarf, growf, and growlf. Yiff originally meant yes or an exuberant hello. According to LittleFox, the sexual connotations of yiff were influenced by yipp (derived from yip), which originally held these sexual connotations. By 1992, yiff had been assigned a meaning of a sexual proposition, and in modern use within the furry subculture, yiff exclusively refers either to sex between anthropomorphic animals, or pornographic depictions thereof.

"FurryMuck yiffs are like real-life yiffs - there is a time and place for everything." — http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.fan.furry/msg/4e094a46fba477cd

(slang, informal) Sex, especially between furries (fictional anthropomorphic animal characters, and/or members of the community surrounding their celebration).

Do you draw yiff?

(slang, informal) Pornography of or involving furries.


yiff

en-verb

yiff (third-person singular simple present yiffs, present participle yiffing, simple past and past participle yiffed)

yiffs (present singular third-person)
yiffing (participle present)
yiffed (participle past)
yiffed (past)

"He's a furry fan and he's okay,
He MUCKs all night and he yiffs all day."
— http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.fan.furry/msg/b65f4574e4ccb21a

"Well, according to his sig, he waits until it moves before he yiffs it." — http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.lifestyle.furry/msg/d5aa241a99efc929

Monsters snicker at me, succubi refuse to be seen with me, my dog tries to yiff my leg, shopkeepers say ‘No shirt, no shoes, no service’.

1997 October 17, StarChaser, “What to genocide”, in rec.games.roguelike.nethack (Usenet), message-ID <3448af39.75668367@169.132.11.13>:

And even if foxes are allowed to yiff more than once, I’d still have to wait for the vixen to come into heat.

1997 September 22, Locandez, “Hypothetical Question #3: acting natural”, in alt.lifestyle.furry (Usenet), message-ID <na.dab87347cd.a40040lyndale@argonet.co.uk>:

Well, i’ve witnessed male foxes queueing up to yiff one of my local vixens… repeatedly!

1997 September 23, MegaDog the Nettweiler, “Hypothetical Question #3: acting natural”, in alt.lifestyle.furry (Usenet), message-ID <1d3DsMAQZ$J0Ew2R@canismajor.demon.co.uk>:

I mean, the urge to yiff is a pretty weird thing to admit to. Not something you can just drop into conversation. But look at them, hundreds of them, all gathered together in a Vegas hotel, exchanging information and experiences, the knowledge of their rare urges ever growing.

We can tell them how we never stop yiffing and we met at a Starbucks while wearing our suits.

2017, Joe Strike, Furry Nation: The True Story of America's Most Misunderstood Subculture, →ISBN:

(transitive, intransitive, slang, informal) To have sex, to mate (said of animals, especially foxes, or people dressed up as animals).

(transitive and intransitive, slang, informal) To propose cybersex to someone.


skip

From Middle English skippen, skyppen, of North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skupjaną, perhaps related to *skeubaną (“to drive, push”), iterative *skuppōną (“to push/move repeatedly, skip”), from Proto-Indo-European *skewbʰ- (“to push, throw, shake”).
Related to Icelandic skopa (“to take a run”), Old Swedish skuppa (“to skip”), modern dialectal Swedish skopa, skimpa (“to skip, leap”), and English shove. See also dialectal English skimp (“to mock”) (Etymology 1), considered by some to be related.

der

(music) A passage from one sound to another by more than a degree at once.


burning

en-adj

burning (comparative more burning, superlative most burning)

more burning (comparative)
most burning (superlative)

The driver remained at his post, while telling fireman Jim Nightall to get down on the track and run back to uncouple the burning wagon from the rest.

2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948:


kettledrum

percussion instrument
percussion instrument

(music) A large percussion instrument with a drumhead that is stretched over a hemispherical metal bowl.


charivari

en-noun

charivari (countable and uncountable, plural charivaris)

/ʃɑːɹɪˈvɑːɹi/

(by extension) Any loud, cacophonous noise or hubbub.


ember

From Middle English embryne (“running around, circuit”), from Old English ymbryne (“course; circuit”). Spelling changed through folk etymology. By surface analysis, umb- + run.

inh

ember fasts

ember days

ember weeks

(religion) Making a circuit of the year or the seasons; recurring in each quarter of the year, as certain religious days set apart for fasting and prayer.


timpani

en-noun

timpani (usually uncountable, plural timpanis)

Borrowed from Italian timpani, plural of timpano (“drum”), from Latin tympanum (“drum”), from Ancient Greek τύμπανον (túmpanon), from τύπτω (túptō, “I strike, I hit”).

Since the timpani is a legato instrument, a note must be allowed to sound and ring to achieve the full effect of the drum.

2010, Steven L. Schweizer, Timpani Tone and the Interpretation of Baroque and Classical Music, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 38:

(music) The set of precision kettledrums in an orchestra.


etude

From around the year 1837, borrowed from French étude (“study”) from Latin studium. Doublet of studio and study.

The etudes with metronome markings should be played in tempo, all others should be considered rubato.

2007, Michele Weir, Jazz Piano Handbook, Alfred Music Publishing, →ISBN, page 110:

(music) A short piece of music, designed to give a performer practice in a particular area or skill.


thermodynamics

From thermo- + dynamics. First attested in the 1850s.

(physics) The science of the conversions between heat and other forms of energy.


muffle

From Middle English muflen (“to muffle”), aphetic alteration of Anglo-Norman amoufler, from Old French enmoufler (“to wrap up, muffle”), from moufle (“mitten”), from Medieval Latin muffula (“a muff”), of Germanic origin (—first recorded in the Capitulary of Aachen in 817 C.E.), from Frankish *muffël (“a muff, wrap, envelope”) from *mauwa (“sleeve, wrap”) (from Proto-Germanic *mawwō (“sleeve”)) + *vël (“skin, hide”) (from Proto-Germanic *fellą (“skin, film, fleece”). Alternate etymology traces the Medieval Latin word to Frankish *molfell (“soft garment made of hide”) from *mol (“softened, forworn”) (akin to Old High German molawēn (“to soften”), Middle High German molwic (“soft”), English mulch) + *fell (“hide, skin”).


muffle

en-verb

muffle (third-person singular simple present muffles, present participle muffling, simple past and past participle muffled)

muffles (present singular third-person)
muffling (participle present)
muffled (participle past)
muffled (past)

to muffle the strings of a drum, or that part of an oar which rests in the rowlock

(transitive) To wrap up or cover (a source of noise) in order to deaden the sound.

увивам се

To wrap up for warmth, protection or security

The singer's voice was muffled by the thick walls, yet Tyrion knew the verse.

1999, George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam, published 2011, page 397:

(transitive) To mute or deaden (a sound etc.).


grr

grrrr

and so on, depending on length or ferocity


stopped pipe

(music) A pipe organ tube with a uniform diameter, one closed end and one open end.


composer

One who composes; an author.
Especially, one who composes music.


obbligato

en-noun

obbligato (plural obbligatos or obbligati)

/ɒblɪˈɡɑːtəʊ/

The noise of the traffic outside the building on the boulevard made an unmusical obbligato to my thinking.

1953, Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye, Penguin, published 2010, page 281:

(music) An obbligato section; a prominent countermelody, often written to be played or sung above the principal theme (in a higher pitch range).


setlist

(music) A list of the songs to be played by a particular band or musical act for a particular show or tour.


overture

coda

antonym(s) of “opening of a piece of music”

/ˈəʊvətʃ(ʊ)ə/

/ˈoʊvəɹt͡ʃəɹ/

From Middle English overture, from Anglo-Norman, Middle French overture, from Old French overture. Doublet of aperture.

The overture was almost at a close; and silence being now more effective than any thing that he could urge in favour of the play, Courtenaye went behind the scenes:...

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “A First Night”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 66:

(music) A musical introduction to a piece of music, or a play.


slap-back

en-adj

slap-back (comparative more slap-back, superlative most slap-back)

more slap-back (comparative)
most slap-back (superlative)

(music) when bass strings are slapped rather plucked individually.


brawl

From French branle (“type of dance; an act of shaking, a shake”), from branler (“to shake”), from Old French brandeler (“to shake, wave; to agitate”); see further at etymology 2.
Alternatively, the word could be derived from brawl (“(obsolete) to move to and fro, quiver, shake”): see etymology 2.

der

Boy. Maiſter, will you win your loue with a french braule? / Brag[gart]. How meaneſt thou? brawling in French. / Boy. No my complet Maiſter, but to Iigge off a tune at the tongues ende, canarie to it with your feete, humour it with turning vp your eylids, ſigh a note and ſing a note ſomtime through the throate, if you ſwallowed loue with ſinging loue [...]

c. 1595–1596 (date written), W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare], A Pleasant Conceited Comedie Called, Loues Labors Lost. […] (First Quarto), London: […] W[illiam] W[hite] for Cut[h]bert Burby, published 1598, →OCLC; republished as Shakspere’s Loves Labours Lost (Shakspere-Quarto Facsimiles; no. 5), London: W[illiam] Griggs, […], [1880], →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

(dance, music, historical) Alternative form of branle (“dance of French origin dating from the 16th century, performed by couples in a circle or a line; the music for this dance”)


gasp

From Middle English gaspen, gayspen (“to gape, outbreathe”), related to and likely derived from Old Norse geispa (“to yawn”) or its descendant Danish gispe, which may be related to gapa (“to gape”).

Gasp! What will happen next?


impromptu

The second impromptu is a dance-like Allegretto in A flat major, with a trio in D flat major employing arpeggiated textures.

1997, Christopher H. Gibbs, The Cambridge Companion to Schubert, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 168:

(music) A short musical composition for an informal occasion often with the character of improvisation and usually to be played solo.


romance

en-noun

romance (countable and uncountable, plural romances)

→ Japanese: ロマンス

→ Korean: 로맨스 (romaenseu)

From Middle English romauns, roumance, borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Old French romanz, romans (the vernacular language of France, as opposed to Latin), from Medieval Latin rōmānicē, Vulgar Latin rōmānicē (“in the Roman language”, adverb), from Latin rōmānicus (“roman”, adj) from rōmānus (“a Roman”). Doublet of Romansch.

der

(music) A romanza, or sentimental ballad.


ri

From the McCune-Reischauer romanization of Korean 리 (ri), from Mandarin Chinese 里 (lǐ).

(music) The solfeggio syllable used to indicate the sharp of the second note of a major scale, enharmonic to me.


mento

en-noun

mento (countable and uncountable, plural mentos)

Musician who never meet before the journey entertain we with mento song.

2020, Paul Mendez, Rainbow Milk, Dialogue Books (2021), page 19:

a folk music genre of Jamaica, featuring acoustic instruments and voices.


mezzo piano

Italian mezzo (“half”) + piano (“soft, quiet”)


yodel

en-verb

yodel (third-person singular simple present yodels, present participle (UK) yodelling or (US) yodeling, simple past and past participle (UK) yodelled or (US) yodeled)

yodels (present singular third-person)
yodelling (UK participle present)
yodeling (US participle present)
yodelled (UK participle past)
yodelled (UK past)
yodeled (US participle past)
yodeled (US past)

(transitive and intransitive) To sing (a song) in such a way that the voice fluctuates rapidly between the normal chest voice and falsetto.

jódlovat

to sing in such a way that the voice fluctuates rapidly between the normal chest voice and falsetto


cornetto

Borrowed from Italian cornetto, a diminutive of corno (“horn”), from Latin cornū.

(music) A trumpet-like wind instrument used in European music of the medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods.


brownish

en-adj

brownish (comparative more brownish, superlative most brownish)

more brownish (comparative)
most brownish (superlative)

The Giraffe and the Zebra and the Eland and the Koodoo and the Hartebeest lived there; and they were 'sclusively sandy-yellow-brownish all over […]

1902, Rudyard Kipling, “How the Leopard Got His Spots”, in Just So Stories:

Two pumps stood side by side in our kitchen. One was for well water and one was a cistern pump—water from the former was hard and clear, from the cistern it was brownish and soft.

1942, Emily Carr, “Waterworks”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC:

Watt wore, on his feet, a boot, brown in colour, and a shoe, happily of a brownish colour also.

1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, published 1959, →OCLC:

Of a colour which resembles brown; somewhat brown.

brunenc

of a colour which resembles brown; somewhat brown


fantasia

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

Borrowed from Italian fantasia (“imagination, fancy, fantasy; musical composition with improvisational characteristics”), from Latin phantasia (“fancy, fantasy; imagination”), borrowed from Ancient Greek φᾰντᾰσῐ́ᾱ (phantasíā, “appearance, look; display, presentation; pageantry, pomp; impression, perception; image”), from φᾰ́ντᾰσῐς (phántasis) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-íā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). Φᾰ́ντᾰσῐς (Phántasis) is derived from φᾰντᾰ́ζω (phantázō, “to make visible, show; to become visible, appear; to imagine”), from φαίνω (phaínō, “to appear; to reveal; to shine”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to shine”). The English word is a doublet of fancy, fantasy, phantasia, and phantasy.

doublet

The Fantasia, by Mr. [Pio] Cianchettini, is upon [Gioachino] Rossini's air "Tu che accendi," so often made the theme of piano forte lessons. [...] Mr. Cianchettini's imagination is very vivid and full, and we know of nothing more florid or requiring lighter and more delicate touching than this Fantasia.

1821, “… Fantasia, for the Piano Forte, on Di Tanti Palpiti, by Pio Cianchettini. London. Mitchell. [review]”, in The Quarterly Musical Magazine and Review, volume III, number X, London: […] Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, […], →OCLC, page 252:

Miss [Eleanor Margaret] Geary is a brilliant pianiste, who make light of the modern difficulties set down for the instrument: her performance of [Theodor] Döhler's Anna Bolena fantasia was achieved without apparent effort, and won considerable applause; [...] Miss E[lizabeth] Geary is a vocalist, possessing a sweet and flexible voice, [...] this young lady also played a fantasia on the concertina very adroitly.

1841, Eleanor Margaret Geary, “[Addenda.] Reviews Consequent upon a Grand Morning Concert Given by Miss Geary and Miss Elizabeth Geary, at Willis’s Great Concert Room, King Street, St. James’s, June 21st, 1841, …”, in Musical Education; with Practical Observations on the Art of Piano-forte Playing, London: D’Almaine and Co., […], →OCLC, page 44:

The little Italian party, before alluded to, had collected around the piano. The white and plump fingers of the gay and black-eyed daughter of the Roman marchioness were tripping lightly up and down the octaves of the instrument, and her little tastefully arranged head was merrily dancing from side to side, keeping time to the half-improvised phantasia, which trickled like a wayward stream from her hands.

1853 July, Thomas Buchanan Read, “Pilgrims of the Great St. Bernard”, in George R[ex] Graham, editor, Graham’s Magazine, volume XLIII, number 1, Philadelphia, Pa.: [Watson & Co. […]?], →OCLC, chapter VIII, page 105:

She [Josepha Barbara Auernhammer] published subsequently many works of her own, (in all 63,) which, as well as her play, especially the extempore phantasias, were distinguished by much delicate feeling and a vivid imagination.

1857, Hugh James Rose, “AURENHAMMER,^([sic – meaning AUERNHAMMER]) (Josepha)”, in A New General Biographical Dictionary, […], volume II, London: T. Fellowes, […], →OCLC, pages 368–369:

Among English composers working during the first half of the seventeenth century, John Coprario distinguished himself as a first-rate craftsman and as the innovator of the three-movement fantasia-suite. [...] These pieces should be viewed in the context of his total output of eight two-part fantasias; ten three-part fantasias; seven four-part fantasias; [...]

1982, Richard Charteris, “Preface”, in John Coprario, edited by Richard Charteris, Twelve Fantasias for Two Bass Viols and Organ, and Eleven Pieces for Three Lyra Viols (Recent Researches in the Music of the Baroque Era; XLI), Madison, Wis.: A-R Editions, →ISBN, →ISSN Invalid ISSN, page vii, column 1:

Representative as they are of [Georg Philipp] Telemann's introduction to Germany of the lighter and less contrpuntal galant style from France, these fantasias are also obvious precursors of the Classical sonata form.

1987, “Publisher’s Note”, in Georg Philipp Telemann, edited by Max Seiffert, The 36 Fantasias for Keyboard, New York, N.Y.: Dover Publications, →ISBN:

In 1783 C[arl] P[hilipp] E[manuel] Bach's fourth collection of keyboard music for Kenner und Liebhaber was published by Brietkopf in Leipzig. [...] For the first time in the Kenner und Liebhaber series, this volume contained two free fantasias in addition to sonatas and rondos, a novelty that not only caught the attention of the critics, but seems to have been considered by Bach as a particular selling point for the volume: [...]

2001, Annette Richards, “C. P. E. Bach and the Landscapes of Genius”, in The Free Fantasia and the Musical Picturesque (New Perspectives in Music History and Criticism), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 34:

(music, also figurative) A form of instrumental composition with a free structure and improvisational characteristics; specifically, one combining a number of well-known musical pieces.


plena

en-noun

plena (countable and uncountable, plural plenas)

(music, uncountable) A style of Puerto Rican music having a highly syncopated rhythm and often satirical lyrics


uvula

uvula (plural uvulae or uvulas or (obsolete) uvulæ)

uvulae (plural)
uvulas (plural)
uvulæ (obsolete plural)

Borrowed from Late Latin ūvula, diminutive of ūva (“grape”).

(music) an object so suspended inside a bell that it may hit the bell and cause it to ring; a clapper


susurrus

Borrowed from Latin susurrus (“a humming, whispering”); reduplication of imitative Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to buzz, hum”).

der

[Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was] pelted with buckets of water by firemen, and, finally, currycombed and rubbed down by two grooms, keeping a sharp susurrus between them, so as to soothe his wounded feelings; […]

1847 February, Thomas De Quincey, “Notes on Walter Savage Landor”, in Leaders in Literature with a Notice of Traditional Errors Affecting Them (De Quincey’s Works; IX), London: James Hogg & Sons, →OCLC, pages 312–313:

The soft susurrus and sighs of the branches.

1847 November 1, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline, a Tale of Acadie, Boston, Mass.: William D. Ticknor & Company, →OCLC, (please specify either |part=I or II):

They heard the Green Fork before they saw it, an endless susurrus, like the growl of some great beast.

2000, George R. R. Martin, A Storm of Swords, →ISBN, page 555:

I sipped at a drink and smoked cigarettes in a silence so profound that I could hear the susurrus of the blindfold's soft fabric rustle and slip between my fingers.

2004, Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram: A Novel, →ISBN, page 613:

I walked steadily toward the pennant pole amid a sea of susurrus murmurings.

2007, Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind, →ISBN, page 301:

Bod could feel the Sleer listening to Jack's words, could feel a low susurrus of excitement building in the chamber.

2008, Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book, →ISBN, page 262:

(literary) A whispering or rustling sound; a murmur.


spotlight

Some people enjoy the spotlight.

(figurative) The center of attention; the highlight or most important part.

أَضْوَاء

the center of attention; the highlight or most important part


ascend

en-verb

ascend (third-person singular simple present ascends, present participle ascending, simple past and past participle ascended)

ascends (present singular third-person)
ascending (participle present)
ascended (participle past)
ascended (past)

From Middle English ascenden, borrowed from Old French ascendre, from Latin ascendō (“to go up, climb up to”), from ad (“to”) + scandō (“to climb”); see scan. Unrelated to accede other than common ad prefix.

(transitive, music) To become higher in pitch.


watery

en-adj

watery (comparative waterier, superlative wateriest)

waterier (comparative)
wateriest (superlative)

From Middle English watery, wattry, from Old English wæteriġ (“watery”), from Proto-West Germanic *watarīg. Equivalent to water + -y.

(of light) Thin and pale therefore suggestive of water.


restore

en-verb

restore (third-person singular simple present restores, present participle restoring, simple past and past participle restored)

restores (present singular third-person)
restoring (participle present)
restored (participle past)
restored (past)

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

From Middle English restoren, from Old French restorer, from Latin rēstaurāre, equivalent to re- + store.

اِسْتَعَادَ

to bring back to a previous condition or state

(transitive, music) To bring (a note) back to its original signification.


musical saw

(music) A musical instrument consisting of a thin sheet of metal, or sometimes a saw, usually played with a bow.


disjunctive

en-adj

disjunctive (comparative more disjunctive, superlative most disjunctive)

more disjunctive (comparative)
most disjunctive (superlative)

From Middle English disjunctief, disjunctyf, from Middle French disjunctif and Latin disjunctīvus (“placed in opposition”).

der

[…] that the phrase should be articulated in one breath; failing this, Quantz recommends that breath should be taken wherever possible on tied notes, between disjunctive notes of continuous semiquavers or at other equivalent moments.

2005, Simon P. Keefe, The Cambridge Companion to the Concerto, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 206:

(music) Relating to disjunct tetrachords.


black light

en-noun

black light (countable and uncountable, plural black lights)

From black + light, since ultraviolet light is invisible to the human eye.

(countable) A light bulb that emits ultraviolet light, usually used to create the illusion that anything white is glowing.

(uncountable, slang) Ultraviolet radiation or light.


ultraviolet light

ultraviolet light (countable and uncountable, plural ultraviolet lights)

(countable) A light bulb that emits ultraviolet light; a black light.


freestyle

freestyle (countable and uncountable, plural freestyles)

freestyle

sports event where competitors can choose their own method of participation

In the world of hip hop, many freestyle artists have been known to speak, “Check one, check two!” into the microphone. The phrasing serves two purposes: (1) to put the freestyle artist on rhythm with the beat and (2) […]

2014, Michael W. Waters, Freestyle: Reflections on Faith, Family, Justice, and Pop Culture, Fresh Air Books, →ISBN:

(music) A form of rapping in which the emcee makes up lyrics while performing.

A not always visibly but nevertheless significantly Latin music, freestyle originated alongside hip-hop in the Bronx and achieved a quicker yet more fleeting commercial success. The style’s similarities to contemporaneous R&B and hi-NRG endeared it to pop radio programmers, […]

2012 March 2, Nick Minichino, “A Quick Primer On Freestyle: 1980s Dancepop's Most Underheralded Genre”, in The Village Voice:

Already a veteran DJ-producer on New York’s freestyle scene, 23-year-old Frankie Bones was flown to England for an Energy rave.

2012, Simon Reynolds, Energy Flash, Soft Skull Press, page 281:

electronic dance music
electronic dance music

(music) Ellipsis of Latin freestyle, a form of electronic dance music.


crwth

From earlier crowd, from Middle English crowde, reinforced by and cognate to Welsh crwth; ultimately from Proto-Celtic *kruttos (“round thing”).

We find in one period crwths, with the strings twanged with the right hand, and stopped above with the left, being held as we hold a violoncello to-day, but being small, on the lap.

1895, John Frederick Rowbotham, The Troubadours and Courts of Love:

(historical) An archaic stringed instrument associated particularly with Wales, though once played widely in Europe, and characterized by a vaulted back and enough space for the player to stop each of the six strings on the fingerboard. Played variously by plucking or bowing.


tuck

From Middle English tuken, touken (“to torment, to stretch (cloth)”), from Old English tūcian (“to torment, vex”) and Middle Dutch tucken (“to tuck”), both from Proto-Germanic *teuh-, *teug- (“to draw, pull”) (compare also *tukkōną), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull”). Akin to Old High German zucchen (“to snatch, tug”), zuchôn (“to jerk”), German Low German tuken (“to tug, pluck, grab and pull towards”), Old English tēon (“to draw, pull, train”). Doublet of touch.

cog

(music, piano, when playing scales on piano keys) The act of keeping the thumb in position while moving the rest of the hand over it to continue playing keys that are outside the thumb.

piano; when playing scales on piano keys; piano; when playing scales on piano keys


verdant

en-adj

verdant (comparative more verdant, superlative most verdant)

more verdant (comparative)
most verdant (superlative)

From Middle French verdoyant, from Old French verb verdier, verdoier, from vert (“green”), from Vulgar Latin *virdis, from Latin viridis.


sempre

(music, as a qualifier) always, still; maintaining the same style


chain reaction

The Manhattan Project produced the first recorded controlled chain reaction.

(nuclear physics) A nuclear reaction in which particles produced by the fission of one atom trigger fissions of other atoms.


pointing

en-noun

pointing (countable and uncountable, plural pointings)

Verfugen

filling of gaps in brickwork or masonry with mortar

Psalm pointings sometimes differ between psalters.

(countable, music, Anglicanism) In Anglican chant, the placement of marks in the text to indicate the syllables on which the chant should progress to the next note.


sousaphone

Named after American composer and conductor John Philip Sousa + -phone.

named-after

One version of the large tuba, popular in marching bands, is called a sousaphone in honor of bandsman John Philip Sousa.

1990, Thomas D. Rossing, The Science of Sound, page 230:

A valved brass instrument with the same length as a tuba, but shaped differently so that the bell is above the head, that the valves are situated directly in front of the musical instruments and a few inches above the waist, and that most of the weight rests on one shoulder.


engraving

en-noun

engraving (countable and uncountable, plural engravings)

(music) The art of drawing music notation at high quality, particularly on a computer.


backup

→ Danish: backup

→ Italian: backup

→ Japanese: バックアップ (bakkuappu)

→ Korean: 백업 (baegeop)

→ Portuguese: backup, becape

→ Swedish: backup

Debbie Ahn, on piano, provided some mesmerizing back-up and many fiery, on-target solos.

1984 April 21, Pam Gordon, “'There's Always Cost': Ferron's Boston Concert”, in Gay Community News, page 17:


backup

Supporting, reinforcing; (music) of or related to accompaniment


scram

en-verb

scram (third-person singular simple present scrams, present participle scraming or scramming, simple past and past participle scramed or scrammed)

scrams (present singular third-person)
scraming (participle present)
scramming (participle present)
scramed (participle past)
scramed (past)
scrammed (participle past)
scrammed (past)
nuclear physics

Uncertain; the verb is possibly derived from etymology 1. It has been suggested that the word is an acronym for phrases like “safety control rod actuator mechanism”, “safety cut rope axe man”, “safety control rod axe man”, and “safety control rods activation mechanism”, but these are most likely backronyms.
The noun is probably derived from the verb.

The NCR [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] further demands the plant conform to all the safety requirements put into effect during construction. This means constant re-design. There must also be several ways to scram (emergency shut down) the reactor. Some of these are automatic and some are manual.

1976 December, Randy Warsaw, “Fermi II – A Plant Tour”, in Ray Barry, editor, The Michigan Technic, volume XCV, number 3, [Ann Arbor, Mich.]: College of Engineering, University of Michigan, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 15:

Startup of reactor recirculating pump resulted in flux spike scraming plant.

1978, “Appendix II—Answers to Written Questions Posed to Nuclear Regulatory Commission before the Hearings”, in Nuclear Regulatory Commission Authorization Requests: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Energy and Power of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives, Ninety-fifth Congress, Second Session, on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Requests for an Increased Authorization for Fiscal Year 1978 and for a Fiscal Year 1979 Authorization of $330,000,000: […] (Serial No. 95-161), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 794:

The slightest problem in a reactor will cause the control rods to plunge automatically in the uranium core at high speeds (this is called scramming the reactor) and stop the chain reaction.

1983, Michio Kaku, Jennifer Trainer, editors, Nuclear Power, Both Sides: The Best Arguments for and against the Most Controversial Technology, New York, N.Y.: W[illiam] W[arder] Norton, →ISBN, page 22:

Both active and manual methods scram by tripping power to a dedicated pump that unbalances the flows to the^([sic]) passively scram the reactor.

2000, Ralph R. Fullwood, “Analyzing Nuclear Reactor Safety Systems”, in Probabilistic Safety Assessment in the Chemical and Nuclear Industries, Boston, Mass.: Butterworth-Heinemann, →ISBN, section 6.1.4.3 (ABB PIUS), page 218:

The reactor was then "scramed", but the control rods did not slide back into the reactor.

2007 June 22, Samuel Upton Newtan, “Nuclear Reactor Disasters: Part I: Stationary Reactors (Non-breeders)”, in Nuclear War I and Other Major Nuclear Disasters of the 20th Century, Bloomington, Ind., Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 113:

Raising group eight rods and brining a nuclear reactor fully to life for the first time in nearly ten years—everyone was so ready they were all ready to pee in their pants. Andrews did not know he could do it without SCRAMing the reactor—in other words, pushing it into an automatic shutdown that might be too little too late.

2012 December 12, D. Michael Battey, chapter 35, in Tenacity Gene, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 174:

(transitive) To shut down (a nuclear reactor or, by extension, some other thing) for safety reasons, usually because of an emergency.


whinny

From Middle English whynyen, whinien, akin to Middle English whinen (“to whine”).

Coordinate term: (sometimes synonymous) nicker

And moving out they found the stately horse, / Who now no more a vassal to the thief, / But free to stretch his limbs in lawful fight, / Neigh'd with all gladness as they came, and stoop'd / With a low whinny toward the pair: […]

1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Enid”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, pages 85–86:


whinny

whinny (third-person singular simple present whinnies, present participle whinnying, simple past and past participle whinnied)

whinnies (present singular third-person)
whinnying (participle present)
whinnied (participle past)
whinnied (past)

Cattle lowed here and there, and horses whinnied to be fed.

1904 May, Winston Churchill, The Crossing, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, book I (The Borderland), page 240:

A pony whinnied a short distance from the hut.

1914 October – 1916 July, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter XIII, in The Mucker, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., published 31 October 1921, →OCLC:

[John Gray] whinnies like a donnish Houyhnhnm[.]

2014 January 28, Will Self, “John Gray: Forget everything you know”, in Independent, retrieved 2021-03-03:

(transitive, intransitive, of a horse) To make a gentle neigh.


whirr

whirr (third-person singular simple present whirrs, present participle whirring, simple past and past participle whirred)

whirrs (present singular third-person)
whirring (participle present)
whirred (participle past)
whirred (past)

From Middle English whirren, probably from Old Norse: compare Danish hvirre, virre, Norwegian kvirre, Old Norse hvirfla (“to whirl, spread”).

To move or vibrate (something) with a buzzing sound.

бръмча

In a city where media companies and hospitals have armed guards, this accessibility is unusual. Inside, drivers sit and chat in between shifts, the overhead fan whirring and causing the dim electric light to flicker over their faces.

2017 April 6, Samira Shackle, “On the frontline with Karachi’s ambulance drivers”, in the Guardian:

(intransitive) To make a sibilant buzzing or droning sound.

buzz

(transitive) To cause (something) to make such a sound.

(intransitive) (of a panther) To make a vibrating sound in its throat when contented, much like the domestic cat’s purr.


whirr

At that moment a flight of birds passed close overhead, and at the whirr of their wings a panic fear seized her.

1978, Lawrence Durrell, “Lord Galen’s Farewell”, in Livia: Or Buried Alive […] (The Avignon Quintet; 2), London, Boston, Mass.: Faber and Faber, →ISBN, page 239:

Then the exploding whirr of wings in the wind — a mixed covey of bobwhites and scalies.

2007, Jeffrey Engel, Sherol Engel, & James A. Swan, Chasing The Hunter's Dream: 1,001 of the World's Best Duck Marshes, Deer Runs, Elk Meadows, Pheasant Fields, Bear Woods, Safaris, and Extraordinary Hunts, HarperCollins, published 2007, →ISBN, page 212:

A sibilant buzz or vibration; the sound of something in rapid motion.

The vibrating sound made by a panther in its throat when contented.


attacca

They played the remaining sections attacca.

(music) Without any break between the current movement and the next movement of the work.


lesson

From Middle English lessoun, from Old French leçon, from Latin lēctiō, lēctiōnem (“a reading”), from legō (“I read, I gather”). Doublet of lection.

(music) An exercise; a composition serving an educational purpose; a study.


infrared

en-noun

infrared (countable and uncountable, plural infrareds)

Collisions of these 'transparent' molecules with the molecules that do have absorption bands in the infrared can have a considerable influence on the intensities of the observed absorption bands.

1962, John Nelson Howard, Transmission of the Atmosphere in the Infrared: A Review, page 3:

(uncountable) The electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength longer than visible light, but shorter than microwave radiation, having a wavelength between 700 nm and 1 mm.

infrarooi

radiation of a wavelength between 700 nm and 1 mm

інфрачырво́нае выпраме́ньванне n (infračyrvónaje vypramjénʹvannje, literally “infrared radiation”)

инфракра́сное излуче́ние n (infrakrásnoje izlučénije, literally “infrared radiation”)

інфрачерво́не випромі́нювання n (infračervóne vypromínjuvannja, literally “infrared radiation”)


whiz

en-verb

whiz (third-person singular simple present whizzes, present participle whizzing, simple past and past participle whizzed)

whizzes (present singular third-person)
whizzing (participle present)
whizzed (participle past)
whizzed (past)

To make a whirring or hissing sound, similar to that of an object speeding through the air.

To rush or move swiftly with such a sound.


whiz

en-noun

whiz (countable and uncountable, plural whizzes)


allargando

en-adv

allargando (comparative more allargando, superlative most allargando)

more allargando (comparative)
most allargando (superlative)

Borrowed from Italian allargando, present participle of allargare (“to broaden”).

(music) Decreasing in tempo; getting slower.


counter

From Old French contre, Anglo-Norman cuntre, both from Latin contra.

[ˈkʰaʊ̯.ɾ̃ɚ]

(music) Alternative form of contra Formerly used to designate any under part which served for contrast to a principal part, but now used as equivalent to countertenor.


wildfire

en-noun

wildfire (countable and uncountable, plural wildfires)

From Old English wilde fȳr. Equivalent to wild + fire.

A rapidly spreading fire, especially one occurring in a wildland area.

(historical) Greek fire, Byzantine fire.

So, it appears a revolution has happened and a very unexpected one. Of course it was only a matter of time before it happened. With WiFi connectivity spreading faster than wildfire and a laptop or tablet in one’s bag, what’s the point of a mobile nowadays?

2015 January 18, Monty Munford, “What’s the point of carrying a mobile phone nowadays?”, in The Daily Telegraph:

“It was my own personal watch and I wanted to change the face,” she said in an interview during a recent business trip to New York. “I started wearing it, and it was wildfire — everybody wanted one.”

2022 December 9, Rachel Felder, “These Timex Dials Were Designed With a Jeweler’s Eye”, in The New York Times:

(figuratively) Something that acts or spreads quickly and uncontrollably.

kulovalkea

something that acts quickly and uncontrollably


rattle

en-verb

rattle (third-person singular simple present rattles, present participle rattling, simple past and past participle rattled)

rattles (present singular third-person)
rattling (participle present)
rattled (participle past)
rattled (past)

From Middle English ratelen, of uncertain origin; perhaps borrowed from Middle Dutch ratelen or of native origin related to Old English hratele, hrætele (“a plant known for its rustling or rattling sound”), ultimately imitative. The noun (c. 1500) is from the verb.

unc

uncertain

This came to the Bishop's Ear, who presently sent for the Curate, Rattled him to some Tune, with Menaces to the Highest Degree

1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC:

(transitive, obsolete) To scold; to rail at.


rattle

en-noun

rattle (countable and uncountable, plural rattles)

unc

uncertain

ratel

zoology: organ that produces a rattling sound

The rattles of Isis and the cymbals of Brasilea nearly enough resemble each other.

1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World […], London: […] William Stansby for Walter Burre, […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=1 to 5):

(music) A musical instrument that makes a rattling sound.

I wish they would fix the rattle under my dashboard.

The rattle of a drum.

1902, Arthur M. Winfield, The Rover Boys in the Mountains, Chapter 4:

(onomatopoeia) A rapid succession of percussive sounds, as made by loose objects shaking or vibrating against one another.

All this adoe about the golden age is but an empty rattle and frivolous conceipt.

1627, G[eorge] H[akewill], An Apologie of the Power and Prouidence of God in the Gouernment of the World. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Iohn Lichfield and William Turner, […], →OCLC:

Rattling sound.
(now rare) Noisy, rapid talk; babble.

Rattling sound.
Noisy, rapid talk; babble.


rattle

From Arabic رَطْل (raṭl), variant of classical رِطْل (riṭl), ultimately from Ancient Greek λίτρα (lítra). Doublet of liter.

(historical units of measure) Alternative form of rottol: a former Middle Eastern and North African unit of dry weight usually equal to 1–5 lb (0.5–2.5 kg).


whimper

en-verb

whimper (third-person singular simple present whimpers, present participle whimpering, simple past and past participle whimpered)

whimpers (present singular third-person)
whimpering (participle present)
whimpered (participle past)
whimpered (past)

From dialectal whimp (“to whine”) + -er (frequentative suffix). Compare German wimmern (“to whimper, whine”).

af

The lonely puppy began to whimper as soon as we left the room.

At the sight of Mr. Utterson, the housemaid broke into hysterical whimpering; and the cook, crying out "Bless God! it's Mr. Utterson," ran forward as if to take him in her arms.

1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC:

To cry or sob softly and intermittently.


tenuto

(music) A tempo mark directing that a note or passage is to be held for the full time


tenuto

en-adv

tenuto (comparative more tenuto, superlative most tenuto)

more tenuto (comparative)
most tenuto (superlative)


tenuto

(music, of a passage) Having this tempo mark.


tremolo

en-noun

tremolo (countable and uncountable, plural tremolos)

Borrowed from Italian tremolo, first-person present indicative of tremolare (“to shake, to tremble”). Origin: 1715-25.

It commenced with a slow crescendo, so irresistibly lugubrious that two of our dogs at once raised their heads and swelled their voices into a responsive tremolo, which may have been heard and appreciated by their distant relatives.

1880, Felix Leopold Oswald, Summerland Sketches, page 57:

(music) A rapid repetition of the same note, or an alternation between two or more notes. It can also be intended to mean a rapid and repetitive variation in pitch for the duration of a note. It is notated by a strong diagonal bar across the note stem, or a detached bar for a set of notes (or stemless notes).

(music) A variation in the volume of a note or a chord, evoking a tremor or quiver.

(music) The device in an organ that produces a tremolo effect.


G-funk

Abbreviation of gangsta funk; also in imitation of P-Funk (“Parliament-Funkadelic”).

Man, I love sitting back and listening to some jived out G-funk!

The Chronic, and the other G-funk albums that followed, scandalized the civic engagement and racial ideals of gangsta's parent culture in several salient ways.

2004, Eithne Quinn, Nuthin' but a "G" Thang: The Culture and Commerce of Gangsta Rap, Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 144:

(music) A kind of slow, melodic hip-hop music associated with California.


aubade

Princess Christina of the Netherlands
Rosalía de Castro

PIE word
 *albʰós
Borrowed from French aubade, from Old French albade, from Old Spanish albada (“musical or poetic composition to be performed in the morning”), from alba (“dawn”), from Vulgar Latin *alba (“dawn; sunrise”), from Latin albus (“bright, clear; white”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *albʰós (“white”).

beuregan

And there he lingered till the crowing cock, / The Alectryon of the farmyard and the flock, / Sang his aubade with lusty voice and clear, / To tell the sleeping world that dawn was near.

1873 August, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “[I. Tales of a Wayside Inn.] The Student’s Tale. Emma and Eginhard.”, in Aftermath, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co., →OCLC, page 27:

Alladad Khan woke to the far crying of kampong cocks in the dark. That noise had been the farmyard aubade in the Punjab in his dream.

1956, Anthony Burgess, chapter 11, in Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), London: William Heinemann, published 1968, →ISBN, page 155:

(music, poetry) A poem or song evoking or greeting the dawn or early morning.

(music, specifically) A morning love song, or a song of lovers parting in the morning.

aubade

morning love song; song of lovers parting in the morning

(music) A concert held at dawn or in the morning, especially outdoors.


phthalo green

From phthalo and green, from phthalocyanine.

phthalo green:

A synthetic pigment (full name phthalocyanine) of a bright, high intensity, used in oil- and acrylic-based artists' paints, and in other applications.


concertina

Coordinate term: accordion

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:

(music) A musical instrument, like the various accordions, that is a member of the free-reed family of musical instruments, typically having buttons on both ends.


twitter

en-verb

twitter (third-person singular simple present twitters, present participle twittering, simple past and past participle twittered)

twitters (present singular third-person)
twittering (participle present)
twittered (participle past)
twittered (past)

From Middle English twitren, twiteren, from Old English *twiterian, from Proto-West Germanic *twitwiʀōn, from Proto-Germanic *twitwizōną (“to chirp; twitter”). Cognate with Low German twitteren (“to twitter”), German zwitzern, zwitschern (“to twitter”). Compare also Dutch kwetteren (“to twitter”), Danish kvidre (“to twitter”), Swedish kvittra (“to twitter”), dialectal Swedish tittra (“to twitter”).

inh

In addition to listing specific earmarks he finds the most reprehensible, McCain said he has been twittering the “top ten” most egregious

2009 March 2, Michelle Levi, “McCain Criticizes Obama On The Senate Floor”, in CBS News, retrieved 2009-03-02:


nocturne

Borrowed from French nocturne (literally “nocturnal”), from Latin nocturnus. Doublet of notturno.

He [James Abbott McNeill Whistler] was then asked for his definition of a Nocturne: “I have perhaps, meant rather to indicate an artistic interest alone in the work, divesting the picture from any outside sort of interest which might have been otherwise attached to it. It is an arrangement of line, form, and colour first, and I make use of any incident of it which shall bring about a symmetrical result. Among my works are some night pieces; and I have chosen the word Nocturne because it generalises and simplifies the whole set of them.”

1908, E[lizabeth] R[obins] Pennell with J[oseph] Pennell, The Life of James McNeill Whistler, London: W[illiam] Heinemann; Philadelphia, Pa.: J. B. Lippincott Company, →OCLC:

When John Ruskin, a sort of pope among the art critics of the time, was faced with [James Abbott McNeill] Whistler’s canvases at the opening exhibition of The Grosvenor Gallery in 1877, he was so outraged that he attacked Whistler in a review, charging him with wilful imposture for “flinging a pot of paint in the public's face.” It seems that Ruskin's main target was Whistler’s Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket (1875).

1996, Peter Wagner, “Oscar Wilde’s ‘Impression du matin’ – an Intermedial Reading”, in Icons – Texts – Iconotexts: Essays on Ekphrasis and Intermediality [European Cultures; 6], Berlin, New York, N.Y.: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 287:

A work of art relating or dedicated to the night.

“My tastes,” he said, still smiling, “incline me to the garishly sunlit side of this planet.” And, to tease her and arouse her to combat: “I prefer a farandole to a nocturne; I’d rather have a painting than an etching; Mr. Whistler bores me with his monochromatic mud; I don’t like dull colours, dull sounds, dull intellects;[…].”

1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

For all its grace, charm, and apparent simplicity, [Frédéric] Chopin’s Nocturne in E♭ major, Op. 9, No. 2, poses fundamental problems on close inspection. The fact that so many analyses of the piece – including those of Heinrich Schenker and Felix Salzer – fail to explain certain idiosyncratic aspects, in particular an unusual distribution of structural weight, gives some indication of the Nocturne’s complexities at a profound level.

1999, John Rink, “‘Structural Momentum’ and Closure in Chopin's Nocturne Op. 9, No. 2”, in Carl Schachter, Hedi Siegel, editors, Schenker Studies 2, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 109:

The vocal nocturne, in other words, turns out to be no easier a genre to define than the piano nocturne. But its ambiguities are nevertheless helpful in making sense of those of the piano nocturne.

2004, Halina Goldberg, editor, The Age of Chopin: Interdisciplinary Inquiries, Bloomington, Indianapolis, In.: Indiana University Press, →ISBN, page 222:

(music) A dreamlike or pensive composition, usually for the piano.


blazing

Blazing scarlet is the best; rifle-green the next best.

1859, Punch, Or, The London Charivari, Volumes 36-37, Published for the Proprietors, at the Office, 13, page 236:

Of tremendous intensity, heat (thermal energy) or fervor; white-hot.

The divorced couple had a blazing row.

Ahab seemed a pyramid, and I, like a blazing fool, kept kicking at it.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 31, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 142:


bravura

/bɹəˈvjʊəɹə/

From Italian bravura (“skill”), from bravo (“good, skilful”).

(music) A highly technical or difficult piece, usually written for effect.


resolution

en-noun

resolution (countable and uncountable, plural resolutions)

/ˌɹɛzəˈluːʃ(ə)n/

Recorded since 1412, as Middle English resolucioun (“dissolution”), either from Anglo-Norman resolucion or directly from Latin resolūtiō (“a loosening, solution”), from resolvō (“I loosen”), itself from the intensive prefix re- + solvō (“I loosen”).

der

(music) Progression from dissonance to consonance; a chord to which such progression is made.

解決

music: progression from dissonance to consonance


petroleum jelly

en-noun

petroleum jelly (plural petroleum jellies)

A pale yellow semisolid mixture of hydrocarbons obtained from petroleum; used in lubricants and ointments.


interlude

Latin inter- (“between”) + ludo (“to play”)

(music) A short piece put between the parts of a longer composition.


euphonious

en-adj

euphonious (comparative more euphonious, superlative most euphonious)

more euphonious (comparative)
most euphonious (superlative)

From euphonical + -ous (suffix forming adjectives denoting possession or presence of a quality, commonly in abundance). Euphonical is derived from euphonic + -al (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘of or pertaining to’); with euphonic from euphony + -ic (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘of or pertaining to’), and euphony borrowed from French euphonie, from Ancient Greek εὐφωνία (euphōnía), from εὐ- (eu-, prefix meaning ‘good, well’) + φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound; (human) voice; discourse, speech”) (from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to say, speak”)) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-íā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns).

der

Before I ſet forward on my travels, I choſe to change my name from Collier to Coglioni or Collioni, as more euphonious; […]

1775, Joel Collier [pseudonym; George Veal], Musical Travels in England. […], 3rd edition, London: […] G. Kearsly, […], →OCLC, page 5:

We think it difficult to copy more successfully a model so curiously polished as the Botanic Garden; to assemble ideas more luxuriously elegant; to annex epithets more unexpectedly apposite: or to harmonize couplets more imitative and euphonious.

1797 December, “Art. XIV. The Vales of Wever, a Loco-descriptive Poem, Inscribed to the Rev. John Granville, of Calwich, Staffordshire. By J. Gisborne, Esq. 4to. pp. 88. 5s. Boards. Stockdale. 1797. [book review]”, in The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, Enlarged, volume XXIV, London: […] R[alph] Griffiths; and sold by T[homas] Becket, […], →OCLC, pages 434–435:

I know our theatrical managers, major and minor, are very particular in selecting euphonious titles for their melodramas, especially if on a domestic subject, such as "Bennet, the Butcher," "Davidge, the Dustman," "Harley, the Harper," "Vining, the Vintner." Why those very titles alone, by their tickling effect on the ear, would fill the pit and galleries of the Surrey, Victoria, or Adelphi theatres, for twelve consecutive months, if the pieces bearing those euphonious names were immediately produced.

1837 March, “The Autobiography of an Actress of Our Own Times. With Sketches of Her Contemporaries.”, in The Metropolitan Magazine, volume XVIII, number LXXI, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, page 298:

After casting about for some time for a name which should be worthy of her, he decided in favour of Sophronia Sphynx, as being euphonious and genteel, and furthermore indicative of mystery.

1840 April – 1841 November, Charles Dickens, “Chapter the Last”, in The Old Curiosity Shop. A Tale. […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1841, →OCLC, page 220:

Many persons, hoping to appear polite, deprive their words of the letter "r," which gives a forcible and euphonious ending to many English words and syllables. This is a peculiarity of the cockney dialect, spoken by the lowest classes in the city of London, but on being transported across the Atlantic it is adopted by many who would be thought refined.

1857 February, W. H. Barnes, “Charms and Harms of Conversation”, in D[avis] W[asgatt] Clark, editor, The Ladies’ Repository: A Monthly Periodical, Devoted to Literature and Religion, volume XVII, Cincinnati, Oh.: L. Swormstedt and A. Poe; […], →OCLC, page 66, column 1:

I have, on a former occasion, suggested the expediency of searching out the original Indian names of places, and wherever they are striking and euphonious, and those by which they have been superseded are glaringly objectionable, to restore them. They would have the merit of originality, and of belonging to the country; and they would remain as reliques of the native lords of the soil, when every other vestige had disappeared.

a. 1860 (date written), Washington Irving, “National Nomenclature”, in Wolfert’s Roost, and Miscellanies (Lovell’s Library; volume 6, number 321), New York, N.Y.: John W. Lovell, Company, […], published 21 December 1883, →OCLC, page 71:

"My name is Catmur." / "A bad name, a name I don't like at all." / "Why?" / "Oh, because it has a bad sound. It isn't a bit euphonious, and is no excuse in the world for your kicking up such a row, you know. That row was not euphonious either, you know. There's nothing euphonious about you. What do you want? Why don't you go away?"

1892, Richard Dowling, “The Deserted House”, in Catmur’s Caves or The Quality of Mercy, London, Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, →OCLC, page 223:

In every case the geographic name should be euphonious, and not too long, and where it has a meaning the idea conveyed should be pleasant and appropriate. To be most euphonious a name should consist of a regular succession of vowel and consonant or liquid sounds without redundancy or awkward combinations of either; the elemental sounds themselves should be euphonious, and in words of more than two syllables the accent, as a rule, should fall on the last syllable or the penult. […] Botanic and biologic terms from the Latin and Greek are almost always euphonious and may appropriately be used when not too long.

1893 January, James Mooney, W[illia]m H. Babcock, W[illiam] Hallett Phillips, W[illiam] H[enry] Holmes, Lester F[rank] Ward, “Geographic Nomenclature of the District of Columbia. A Report.”, in The American Anthropologist, volume VI, number 1, Washington, D.C.: Anthropological Society of Washington; Judd & Detweiler, […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 44:

In this opera [Tristan und Isolde (composed 1857–1859)] [Richard] Wagner has not only created a special euphonious and polyphonic atmosphere, but through the peculiar meaning of certain expressive sounds has produced effects never heard before, which through a magic emotion all over the work.

1905 February 1, “Letter from Paris. Wagner at Both Opera Houses.”, in The Monthly Musical Record, volume XXXV, number 410, London: Augener Limited, […], →OCLC, page 33, column 1:

By strictly adhering to the correct grammatical form and, perhaps, gradually extending its use, we could all help to render our language more euphonious and so more attractive to foreigners.

1910, W[alter] W[illiam] Strickland, “World Empire without War. Addressed to the Merchant Princes and Chambers of Commerce of the British Empire.”, in The Smuggler’s Dog and Other Essays in Literature and Science, London: Geo[rge] Standring, […], →OCLC, page 78:

[Aelius] Dionysios speaks with regards to melody in terms of using the most euphonious and smooth letters, blending the rough-sounding letters and syllables with their smooth-sounding counterparts, short with long syllables, etc.

2000, Chrys C. Caragounis, “Dionysios Halikarnasseus, the Art of Composition and the Apostle Paul”, in Stanley E. Porter, Matthew Brook O’Donnell, Wendy J. Porter, editors, Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism, volume 1, Sheffield, South Yorkshire: Sheffield Phoenix Press, published 2004, →ISBN, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 49:

Often when he approaches this question you can watch him—with a sudden flourish of meaningless, euphonious adjectives—trace a broken silhouette around the answer, as when he talks about "the natural evolution of spontaneous vegetable life exerted in wisdom thro' ages" […]

2011, John Jeremiah Sullivan, “La·hwi·ne·ski: Career of an Eccentric Naturalist”, in Pulphead: Essays, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, page 202:

Intuitively, there could be a piece of characterless prose which nevertheless happens to be euphonious, i.e., the words it contains make a pleasing musical sound. Imagine, for example, an incompetent Freshman English paper in which the ideas are unclearly expressed, the sentence structure confused and the choice of words unimaginative. […] Yet, quite by chance, the ill-chosen words are euphonious: l's, m's and n's predominate, there are only a few plosives or fricatives, and the vowel sounds fit together in a melodious way. To say that this work is in a "euphonious style," however, is at best misleading, since intuitively it is not in a style at all.

2020, Jenefer Robinson, “Style and Personality in the Literary Work”, in Steven M. Cahn, Stephanie Ross, Sandra Shapshay, editors, Aesthetics: A Comprehensive Anthology, 2nd edition, Hoboken, N.J., Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley, →ISBN, page 624, column 1:

Of sounds, especially speech: demonstrating or possessing euphony; agreeable to the ear; pleasant-sounding.


ridotto

en-noun

ridotto (plural ridottos or ridottoes or ridotti)

ridottos (plural)
ridottoes (plural)
ridotti (plural)

Borrowed from Italian ridotto (“foyer”). Doublet of redoubt.

(music) An arrangement or abridgment of a piece from the full score.


dead air

(idiomatic, broadcasting) An unintended interruption in a broadcast during which nothing is transmitted: a silent period on radio or a silent period with no picture on television.

(idiomatic, by extension) A quiet or awkward moment in a conversation where neither speaker is talking.


wham

We heard a wham as the hammer struck the wall.


crown fire

crown fire (countable and uncountable, plural crown fires)


sticker

From stick (“to pierce, to be fastened, to adhere”) + -er (“agent”).

affix

(music) A small wooden rod in an organ which connects (in part) a key and a pallet, so as to communicate motion by pushing.


tawny

en-adj

tawny (comparative tawnier, superlative tawniest)

tawnier (comparative)
tawniest (superlative)

The adjective is derived from Middle English tauni, tawne (“having a brownish-orange colour”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman taune, tawné, and Old French tané, tanné, tanney (“of a tan colour”), an adjective use of the past participle of taner (“to turn hide into leather, tan”), from tan (“pulped oak bark used to tan leather, tanbark”), ultimately from Proto-Celtic *tannos (“green oak”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)dʰnwos, *(s)dʰonu (“fir”).
The -aw- spelling (also -au- in Middle English) seems to have been due to the pronunciation of Old French tané.
The verb is derived from the adjective.
cognates
* Breton tann
* Medieval Latin tannāre (“to dye a tawny color; to tan”)
* Old Irish caerthann (“rowan”)

nb...

taunde, taunei, tauneʒ, tauny, tawny, (chiefly Northern England, Scotland) tanei, tani, tanne, tannee, tanny, tannye, tany, thanne

cog

And if any of your nation attempte once to ſtoppe me in my iorney now towards Calais, […] I in my defence ſhall colour and make red your tawny ground with the effuſion of chriſtian bloud: […]

1577, Raphaell Holinshed, “King Henrie the Fifth”, in The Laste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume II, London: […] for Iohn Hunne, →OCLC, page 1077, column 2:

The VVooſell cock, ſo blacke of hevve, / VVith Orange tavvny bill, / The Throſtle, vvith his note ſo true, / The VVren, vvith little quill.

c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame. […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, […], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

Come, vve muſt haue you turne Fiddler againe, ſlaue, 'get a Baſe Violin at your backe, and march in a Tavvnie Coate, vvith one ſleeue, to Gooſe-faire, and then you'll knovve vs; […]

1601, Ben Jonson, Poetaster or The Arraignment: […], London: […] [R. Bradock] for M[atthew] L[ownes] […], published 1602, →OCLC, Act III, scene iv:

To the Queen he gave […] a ſmall Box full of large Needles; then he gave her ſome courſe brovvn Thread, and ſhovv'd her hovv to thred the Needle and ſovv any Thing together vvith the Thread; all vvhich ſhe admired exceedingly, and call'd her Tavvny Maids of Honour about her, that they might learn alſo.

1725, [Daniel Defoe], “Part I”, in A New Voyage Round the World, by a Course Never Sailed before. […], London: […] A[rthur] Bettesworth, […]; and W. Mears, […], →OCLC, page 155:

[T]he vvatch-dogs and aſſembled ſvvains / Have driv'n a tavvny lion from the ſtalls, […]

1791, Homer, “[The Iliad.] Book XI.”, in W[illiam] Cowper, transl., The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, Translated into Blank Verse, […], volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 289, lines 661–662:

[T]he head waiter inquired with respectful solicitude whether that port, being a light and tawny wine, was suited to his taste, or whether he would wish to try a fruity port with greater body.

1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, “Will be Seen in the Long Run, if Not in the Short One, to Concern Mr. Pinch and Others, Nearly. […]”, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC, pages 150–151:

[P]erhaps they metamorphose themselves into a tawny squirrel that scampers away and mocks you from the topmost bough.

1859, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “In the Wood”, in Adam Bede […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book first, page 240:

There were the tawny rocks, like lions couchant, defying the ocean, whose waves incessantly dashed against and scoured them with vast quantities of gravel.

1865, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “The Shipwreck”, in [Sophia Thoreau and William Ellery Channing], editors, Cape Cod, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 14:

He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon; / And out o' the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon, / When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor, / A red-coat troop came marching— / Marching—marching— / King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.

1906 August, Alfred Noyes, “The Highwayman”, in Poems, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC, part 2, stanza I, pages 48–49:

They fell a-twittering among themselves once more, and this time their intoxicating babble was of violet seas, tawny sands, and lizard-haunted walls.

1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, “Wayfarers All”, in The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 196:

I never thought I'd meet a girl like you / With auburn hair and tawny eyes

1982 March, Frank Maudsley, Paul Reynolds, Ali Score, Mike Score (lyrics and music), “I Ran (So Far Away)”, in A Flock of Seagulls, performed by A Flock of Seagulls:

Dio Cassius, writing more than one hundred years after the event, described Boudicca as 'very tall, in appearance most terrifying … the glance of her eye most fierce, her voice harsh … a great mass of the tawniest hair fell to her hips'.

2001, John Cannon, Anne Hargreaves, “Romano-British Rulers”, in The Kings & Queens of Britain, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 13:

ANTILLEAN NIGHTHAWK Chordeiles gundlachii […] Somewhat tawnier and smaller than Common Nighthawk, but readily distinguished from it only by call.

2019, Roger Tory Peterson, Michael DiGiorgio, Paul Lehman, Peter Pyle, Larry Rosche, “Owls and Nightjars”, in Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America (Peterson Field Guides), 2nd edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 230:

Of a light brown to brownish orange colour.

آدَم

of a light brown to brownish orange colour


tawny

en-verb

tawny (third-person singular simple present tawnies, present participle tawnying, simple past and past participle tawnied)

tawnies (present singular third-person)
tawnying (participle present)
tawnied (participle past)
tawnied (past)

So many friends, their friendſhips daily breake, / That fevve are faithfull, if that fevve be any: / The Sunne ſo ſoone, the painted face vvill tavvny.

1602, Nicholas Breton, The Mothers Blessing, London: […] T[homas] C[reede] for Iohn Smethick, […], →OCLC, signature [D4], recto:

He [Vulcan] ſmels all ſmoake, and vvith his naſty ſvveate / Tavvnies my skinne, out on him vgly knaue, / Mars is my loue, and he my ſvveets ſhall haue.

1613, Thomas Heywood, The Brazen Age, […], London: […] Nicholas Okes, […], →OCLC, Act II, signature I2, verso:

Alas 'tis faded, ſoyl'd vvith the ſmoke of Luſt; / So ſvvarthy as if that glorious face of thine / VVere tavvnyed underneath the torrid Line: […]

1632, Fra[ncis] Quarles, “On Gods Image”, in Divine Fancies: Digested into Epigrammes, Meditations, and Observations, London: […] Iohn Marriot, […], →OCLC, book III, page 148:

The General stares into the sandstorm churned up by all that movement. Like a curtain draped across the world, tawnying the October sky.

2017, Nathan Englander, “2014, Limbo”, in Dinner at the Centre of the Earth, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →ISBN:

(transitive) To cause (someone or something) to have a light brown to brownish orange colour; to tan, to tawn.

The countenance alone bespoke the years and the cares of John M‘Whirter. The deep wrinkled brow—the cheek plaited, and tawnied in the sun and the frosts of the north— […]

1825, chapter XI, in The Abduction; or, The Adventures of Major Sarney: A Story of the Times of Charles the Second. […], volume II, London: […] [William Clowes] for Charles Knight, […], →OCLC, page 249:

In his drowse it all turned gleaming and mixing in him, his whole life, like the river gleaming taut between the trees. And everything that had ever happened to him tawnied over by the voluptuous light of the last fall, and his mouth watered for it all.

1990, Meridel Le Sueur, “Gone Home”, in Elaine Hedges, editor, Ripening: Selected Work, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: The Feminist Press at the City University of New York, →ISBN, page 215:

[C]olheita is actually a tawny Port from a single vintage. In other words, it has aged (and softened and tawnied) in wood for many years.

2019, Ed McCarthy, Mary Ewing-Mulligan, “Wine Roads Less Traveled: Fortified and Dessert Wines”, in Wine for Dummies (For Dummies), 7th edition, Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, part 5 (Wine’s Exotic Face), page 318:

(intransitive) To become a light brown to brownish orange colour; to tan, to tawn.


tawny

en-noun

tawny (countable and uncountable, plural tawnies or tawnys)

From Middle English tauni, tawne (“brownish-orange colour; cloth of this colour; sweet beverage of this colour”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman tawné, and Old French tané, tanné, tanney (“tan colour; cloth of this colour”), from tané (verb): see further at etymology 1.
Sense 2.1 (“Eurasian bullfinch”) is due to the brown colour of the female.

kellanruskea

something of a light brown or brownish orange colour

tawny:

Neere to Canuſia, the ſheepe be deepe yellovv or tavvnie; and about Tarentum, they are of a brovvne and duſkiſh colour.

1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book VIII.] Divers Kinds of Wooll and Clothes.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 1st tome, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 227:

Despise not my discolour'd look: / This tawny from the sun I took.

1641, George Sandys, “A Paraphrase upon the Song of Solomon. Canto I.”, in The Poetical Works of George Sandys. […], volume II, London: John Russell Smith, […], published 1872, →OCLC, page 340:

From the follovving Dye are Compoſed the beſt Tavvnies, Grey and Crimſon Goat Colours. […] The Silk muſt be put in vvhen the Suds are cold, for the colder the Suds, the blevver the Violet Colour, vvhich muſt alvvays be blevver than the Tavvnies.

1705, “Part I. Of Silk Dying.”, in [anonymous], transl., The Whole Art of Dying. […], London: […] William Pearson, and sold by J[ohn] Nutt, […], →OCLC, page 14:

And thus by varying the Colours you ſhall produce all ſorts of mixtures: So black and vvhite variouſly mixed make a vaſt Company of deep and light Greys, Bleus and Yellovvs, many Greens; Red and Yellovv Orange Tavvnies, […] the more the Red the deeper the Orange Tavvnies, and ſo forth; and thus muſt they in your VVork be ſhaded and heightened vvith Colours of their ovvn Affinity: […]

1720, Tho[mas] Page, Junior, “The Materials of Painting, Describing the Chief Colours to be Used; […]”, in The Art of Painting in Its Rudiment, Progress, and Perfection: […], Norwich, Norfolk: […] , […], →OCLC, pages 48–49:

'Gad, if Miss S. will have me, I'm her man. I ain't particular about a shade or so of tawny.

1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “In which Mr. Osborne Takes Down the Family Bible”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 200:

A light brown to brownish orange colour.

[T]he Herehaught [herald] muſt have a ſinguler reſpect to the face of him that ſhould haue the Armes, vvhere he ſhal vvel perceiue in vvhat ſeaſõ of the yere, his ovvn complexion vvill ſerue him to do beſt ſeruice in: […] If in Somer, either a Hound or Salamandra, or ſome part of them, of the colour Bruske, vvhich is betvveene Geules and tavvney.

1597, Gerard Leigh [i.e., Gerard Legh], The Accedence of Armorie, London: […] Henrie Ballard […], →OCLC, folio 116, verso:

Tavvny (ſaith Leigh [i.e., Gerard Legh]) is a Colour of vvorſhip, and of ſome Heralds it is called Bruske, and is moſt commonly borne of French Gentlemen, but very fevv doe beare it in England. In Blazon it is knovvne by the name of Tenne. It is (ſaith he) the ſureſt colour that is (of ſo bright a hevv being compounded) for it is made of tvvo bright Colours, vvhich are Red and Yellovv: […]

1632, John Guillim, “Sect[ion] I. Chap[ter] III.”, in A Display of Heraldrie: […], 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Badger for Ralph Mab, →OCLC, page 21:

Tenne, vvhich is the tavvny or Orange colour, is marked by diagonal lines dravvn from the Siniſter to the Dexter ſide of the Shield, traverſed by perpendicular lines from the Chief; […]

1765, Mark Anthony Porny [pseudonym; Antoine Pyron du Martre], “Of the Essential and Integral Parts of Arms. Article II. Of the Tinctures.”, in The Elements of Heraldry, […], London: […] J[ohn] Newbery, […], →OCLC, section I (Of Colours), page 17:

Some heraldic writers extend the number of tinctures to seven, by the addition of sanguine or murrey, dark blood or mulberry-colour, and tenné, tawny, or orange-colour; while others who admit them into the catalogue declare them, at the same time, to be stainant, or disgraceful; but, as I have stated in my notice of Abatements (p. 171), it is very improbable any one would bear arms so degraded; and the strongest proof that no such opinion with respect to these two colours existed in the days of chivalry is, that the livery colours of the house of York were murrey and blue, and that tawny was apparently much affected by the retainers of the nobility and Church dignitaries.

1859 April, J[ames] R[obinson] Planché, “Appendix”, in The Pursuivant of Arms; or, Heraldry Founded upon Facts. […], new edition, London: Robert Hardwicke, […], →OCLC, page 209:

(specifically, heraldry) Synonym of tenné (“a rarely-used tincture of orange or bright brown”)


rasp

From Middle English raspen, from Old French rasper, from Frankish *hraspōn, from Proto-Germanic *hraspōną, related to Proto-Germanic *hrespaną (“to tear”). Compare Old High German raspōn (“to gather, rake”), Old English ġehrespan (“to tear”).
The noun is from Middle French raspe.

cog

the rasp of her perpetual cough

The sound made by this tool when used, or any similar sound.


shaft

From Middle English schaft, from Old English sċeaft, from Proto-West Germanic *skaft, from Proto-Germanic *skaftaz. Cognate with Dutch schacht, German German Schaft, Swedish skaft.

Isn't that shaft of light from that opening in the cave beautiful?

They were a fine company of old women, and a Dutch painter would have loved to find them there together, where the sun made bright patches on the floor and sent long, quivering shafts of gold through the dusky shade up among the rafters.


playback singer

en-noun

playback singer (plural playback singers)

(singing, cinematography) A singer whose songs are pre-recorded for use in films, especially Bollywood musicals, where actors lip-sync them.

নেপথ্য গায়ক

singer whose songs are lip-synced by an actor


play by ear

en-verb

play by ear (third-person singular simple present plays by ear, present participle playing by ear, simple past and past participle played by ear)

plays by ear (present singular third-person)
playing by ear (participle present)
played by ear (participle past)
played by ear (past)

(transitive and intransitive, of music) To play guided by one's musical ear, rather than from a written score.