probably

probably (comparative more probably, superlative most probably)

more probably (comparative)
most probably (superlative)

From Middle English probably, probabily, equivalent to probable + -ly.

“[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes[…]. And then, when you see [the senders], you probably find that they are the most melancholy old folk with malignant diseases. […]”

1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close[…]above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them. Many insects probably use this strategy, which is a close analogy to crypsis in the visible world—camouflage and other methods for blending into one’s visual background.

2013 May–June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7:


extremely

en-adv

extremely (comparative more extremely, superlative most extremely)

more extremely (comparative)
most extremely (superlative)

The National Center for Health Statistics' latest data indicate that quintuplets are extremely rare, with 66 reported sets of five or more babies in 2013.

2015 April 14, “America's First All-Girl Quintuplets Born in Texas Hospital”, in Time:

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class I § 31. Greatness


upright

upright (comparative more upright, superlative most upright)

more upright (comparative)
most upright (superlative)

From Middle English upright, uppryght, upriht, from Old English upriht (“upright; erect”), from Proto-Germanic *upprehtaz, equivalent to up- + right. Cognate with Saterland Frisian apgjucht (“upright”), West Frisian oprjocht (“upright”), Dutch oprecht (“upright”), German Low German uprecht (“upright”), German aufrecht (“upright”), Swedish upprätt (“upright”), Icelandic uppréttur (“upright”).

Human locomotion had been presumed unique because we walk upright with two legs. When investigators led by Nadia Dominici analyzed the electrical activities produced by walking toddlers, preschoolers, and adults as well as newborns that were held upright and prodded to walk along a surface, however, they saw that we essentially follow the same chain of motor commands as several other animals, including rats, cats, monkeys, and guinea fowl.

2011 November 17, Hans Villarica, “A Rat's First Steps: How Humans and Other Animals Learn to Walk”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 2022-03-09:

Those up for the ride stand upright on a small platform which shoots a powerful jet of water downwards, sending the attached board – which has in the past carried the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio – up into the air.

2014 July 15, Will Coldwell, “Ever wanted to walk on water? Five new aquatic sports for thrill seekers”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 2022-06-29:

For instance, parents were strongly encouraged to delay the introduction of complementary foods to six months when infants were able to sit upright and feed themselves safely.

2016 September 16, “Choking risk for baby-led weaning no different than spoon-feeding”, in CBC News, archived from the original on 2022-11-19:


amok

amok (comparative more amok, superlative most amok)

more amok (comparative)
most amok (superlative)

→ Cebuano: amok

→ Czech: amok

→ Danish: amok (or directly from Dutch amok)

→ Finnish: amok

→ German: Amok

→ Hebrew: אמוק (ámok)

→ Polish: amok

→ Norwegian: amok

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: амок

Latin script: amok

→ Swedish: amok

From Portuguese amouco, from Malay amuk (“to go on a killing spree”). The term first appeared in English around the 16th century, associated with the people of Malaysia and Java, first described in the 1516 text The Book of Duarte Barbosa, which was translated to English by Henry E. J. Stanley.

Out of control, especially when armed and dangerous.

It is true, I […] might have run “amok” against society; but I preferred that society should run “amok” against me, it being the desperate party.

1854 August 9, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “The Village”, in Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 186:

In a frenzy of violence, or on a killing spree; berserk.

amok

in a frenzy of violence, or on a killing spree; berserk


highly

highly (comparative highlier or more highly, superlative highliest or most highly)

highlier (comparative)
more highly (comparative)
highliest (superlative)
most highly (superlative)

From Middle English hiȝly, heȝly, heyȝliche, from Old English hēalīce (“highly”), equivalent to high + -ly. Cognate with Dutch hoogelijk (“highly”), German höchlich (“highly”), Danish højlig (“highly”), Swedish högligen (“highly”).

He spoke highly of you.

He is in a highly visible job.

There are those who value a seat sufficiently highly that they prefer to make their daily journeys by the Western Region Vine Street line.

1952 March, R. K. Kirkland, “The Railways of Uxbridge”, in Railway Magazine, page 150:

Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better.

2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:


readily

readily (comparative readilier or more readily, superlative readiliest or most readily)

readilier (comparative)
more readily (comparative)
readiliest (superlative)
most readily (superlative)

From Middle English redily, rediliche, equivalent to ready + -ly.

The suspect readily answered all questions the police officers asked him.

Without unwillingness or hesitation; showing readiness.

readily available; readily achievable

Light does not pass through water nearly as readily as it passes through air, and in order to function efficiently, an animal that lives in the water must rely on other senses in addition to light.

1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 28:

Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.

2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:


in loco parentis

/ɪn ˌləʊkəʊ pəˈɹɛntɪs/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-in loco parentis.wav

Borrowed from Latin in locō parentis (“in place of a parent”).

bor

All persons in loco parentis have a responsibility to care for the child.

(law) Assuming the place or position of a parent.


sometimes

From Middle English sumtymes, somtymes, som tymes, equivalent to sometime + -s (adverbial suffix). Compare West Frisian somstiden (“sometimes”), Dutch somtijds, somwijlen (“sometimes”).

sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you

Sometimes I sit and think, but mostly I just sit.

It is good that we sometimes be contradicted, and ill though of, and that we always bear it well, even when we deserve to be well spoken of : perfect peace and security cannot be had in this world.

a. 1667, Jeremy Taylor, “Agenda; or, Things to Be Done”, in The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D., volume III, London: Frederick Westley and A. H. Davis, published 1836, page 730:

We made an odd party before the arrival of the Ten, particularly when the Celebrity dropped in for lunch or dinner. He could not be induced to remain permanently at Mohair because Miss Trevor was at Asquith, but he appropriated a Hempstead cart from the Mohair stables and made the trip sometimes twice in a day.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.

2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:

On some occasions, over some periods, or in certain circumstances, but not always.

What art thou that vſurp’ſt this time of night, / Together with that Faire and Warlike forme / In which the Maieſty of buried Denmarke / Did ſometimes march : By Heauen I charge thee ſpeake.

c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 152, column 2, lines 46–49:

For yee were sometimes darkenesse, but now are yee light in the Lord: walke as children of light […]

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ephesians 5:8:

They detract, ſcoffe and raile ſaith one, & barke at mee on every ſide, but I, like that Albanian dog ſometimes given to Alexander for a preſent, vindico me ab illis ſolo contemptu, I ly ſtill and ſleep, vindicate my ſelfe by contempt alone.

1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Remedies against diſcontents”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 2, section 3, member 7, page 351:

(obsolete) On a certain occasion in the past; once.


etymologically

en-adv

etymologically (comparative more etymologically, superlative most etymologically)

more etymologically (comparative)
most etymologically (superlative)


dynamically

dynamically (comparative more dynamically, superlative most dynamically)

more dynamically (comparative)
most dynamically (superlative)

Of a dynamic nature; variable or constantly changing nature.


frequently

frequently (comparative more frequently, superlative most frequently)

more frequently (comparative)
most frequently (superlative)

This question arises frequently.

As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels. The reason plaque forms isn’t entirely known, but it seems to be related to high levels of cholesterol inducing an inflammatory response, which can also attract and trap more cellular debris over time.

2013 July-August, Stephen P. Lownie, David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke”, in American Scientist:

(mathematics, of a sequence) For infinitely many terms of the sequence.


typically

typically (comparative more typically, superlative most typically)

more typically (comparative)
most typically (superlative)

An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic[…]real kidneys[…]. But they are nothing like as efficient, and can cause bleeding, clotting and infection—not to mention inconvenience for patients, who typically need to be hooked up to one three times a week for hours at a time.

2013 June 1, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 5 (Technology Quarterly):

And Netherlands, backed by a typically noisy and colourful travelling support, started the second period in blistering fashion and could have had four goals within 10 minutes.

2012 June 9, Owen Phillips, “Euro 2012: Netherlands 0-1 Denmark”, in BBC Sport:


primarily

The idea of fitting a crane to an engine for shunting duties, primarily in works yards, appears to have originated with the North London Railway engine in 1872.

1951 October, H. C. Casserley, “Crane Engines”, in Railway Magazine, page 660:

But now a study has shown that most cancers are primarily caused by bad luck rather than poor lifestyle choices or defective DNA.

2015 January 1, Sarah Knapton, “Most cancers are caused by bad luck not genes or lifestyle, say scientists”, in The Telegraph:

Zika virus disease is caused by a virus transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes, which bite during the day.

2018 July 20, “Zika virus”, in World Health Organization:

Some Gold Cups are won primarily with class, others with stamina.

2019 March 15, Keith Melrose, “Our leading tipsters give their fancy for the Cheltenham Gold Cup”, in The Racing Post:

(focus) Of a primary or central nature, first and foremost


largely

largely (comparative largelier or more largely, superlative largeliest or most largely)

largelier (comparative)
more largely (comparative)
largeliest (superlative)
most largely (superlative)

She smiled at Aristide, who smiled at her, and Jean, seeing them happy, smiled largely at them both.

1924, William John Locke, The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol:

They were largely successful in their efforts.

Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get; what you get is classical alpha-taxonomy which is, very largely and for sound reasons, in disrepute today.

1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii:

Yet in “Through a Latte, Darkly”, a new study of how Starbucks has largely avoided paying tax in Britain, Edward Kleinbard […] shows that current tax rules make it easy for all sorts of firms to generate what he calls “stateless income”: […]. In Starbucks’s case, the firm has in effect turned the process of making an expensive cup of coffee into intellectual property.

2013 June 22, “T time”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 68:

Usually there was a jug of one or other decoction standing on the hob, from which he drank largely.
"Grand!" he said, smacking his lips after wormwood. "Grand!" And he exhorted the children to try.

1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “chapter 2”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:

It ill beseemes a knight of gentle sort, / Such as ye haue him boasted, to beguile / A simple mayd, and worke so haynous tort, / In shame of knighthood, as I largely can report.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:


easily

easily (comparative easilier or more easily, superlative easiliest or most easily)

easilier (comparative)
more easily (comparative)
easiliest (superlative)
most easily (superlative)

From Middle English esiliche, equivalent to easy + -ly.

Eftsoones she causd him vp to be conuayd, / And of his armes despoyled easily […]

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

Why this already very fast train should be speeded up still further, when none of the other more easily timed S.R. West of England trains has a single minute pared from its schedule, is unexplained - unless this is a playful dig at the Western Region, most of whose expresses, by reason of additional stops, will be decelerated from the same date.

1961 October, “The winter timetables of British Railways: Southern Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 593:

Comfortably, without discomfort or anxiety.

Individuals without a family network are easily controlled.

Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations. It is easily earned repetition to state that Josephine St. Auban's was a presence not to be concealed.

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

One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.” He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis[…]interrupted the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter III, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

This is easily the best meal I have eaten.

(colloquial, not comparable) Absolutely, without question.

I get distracted very easily.

not easily offended

More quickly or likely than is usual or expected.


post

German: posten

Borrowed from Middle French poste, from Italian posta (“stopping-place for coaches”), feminine of posto (“placed, situated”).

der

His highness comes post from Marseilles,

c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v]:

In this posture were affairs at the inn when a gentleman arrived there post.

1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:

We therefore determined to change Horses at the next Town and to travel Post the remainder of the Journey.

1790, Jane Austen, “Love and Freindship”, in Juvenilia:

He prided himself on looking neat even when he was riding post.

1886 November 23, Rudyard Kipling, “The Arrest of Lieutenant Golightly”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, 2nd edition, Calcutta: Thacker, Spink and Co.; London: W. Thacker & Co., published 1888, →OCLC, pages 134–135:

With the post, on post-horses; by a relay of horses (changing at every staging-post); hence, express, with speed, quickly.

по пощата

with the post, on post horses; express, with speed


directly

en-adv

directly (comparative more directly, superlative most directly)

more directly (comparative)
most directly (superlative)

He drove directly to the office, and didn't stop off at the petrol station.

On arriving at the doors, and entering a long, capacious passage, our eyes became quite dazzled by the gleams of colored light which shone upon them, both directly and reflectedly.

1855, William Wells Brown, Sketches of Places and People Abroad, page 255:

It is more difficult to directly compare train operations and maintenance, given how fragmented the non-infrastructure segments of the industry are today.

2023 March 8, Gareth Dennis, “The Reshaping of things to come...”, in RAIL, number 978, page 46:

In a direct manner; in a straight line or course.

I'm sick of asking you to fire him; I'll just do it directly.

In a straightforward way; without anything intervening; not by secondary but by direct means.

I'm going to tell Natalie directly that I love her.

To put it more directly: he's not 'made redundant' but sacked.

"Mujtahidd" has attracted almost 300,000 followers since the end of last year, when he began posting scandalous claims about the Saudi elite. In one tweet, Mujtahidd directly challenged Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Fahd about his political history: "Did you resign or were you forced to resign from your post as head of the diwan [office] of the council of ministers?"

2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in the Guardian:

Plainly, without circumlocution or ambiguity; absolutely; in express terms.

ուղիղ

plainly, without circumlocution or ambiguity

It's directly across the street.

The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone,[…]. Scribes, illuminators, and scholars held such stones directly over manuscript pages as an aid in seeing what was being written, drawn, or read.

2013 September-October, Henry Petroski, “The Evolution of Eyeglasses”, in American Scientist:

Exactly; just; at the shortest possible distance.

He told me directly that he'd cheated on me, and how sorry he was for it.

We'll go to the store directly, but first I need to finish sweeping.

(chiefly dated or dialect, including Midlands, Cornwall, Southern US) Soon; next; in due time; as soon as it becomes convenient.


docilely

docilely (comparative more docilely, superlative most docilely)

more docilely (comparative)
most docilely (superlative)

My uncle returns to his mess of papers, dismissing us; and I go docilely back to my sewing.

2002, Sarah Waters, chapter 7, in Fingersmith, London: Virago, →ISBN, part 2, page 194:


poorly

poorly (comparative poorlier or more poorly, superlative poorliest or most poorly)

poorlier (comparative)
more poorly (comparative)
poorliest (superlative)
most poorly (superlative)

From Middle English poorly, pouerly, poreliche, poureliche, pouerliche, equivalent to poor + -ly.

to live poorly

In a poor manner or condition; without plenty, or sufficiency, or suitable provision for comfort.

to do poorly in business

With little or no success; indifferently; with little profit or advantage.

Nor is their courage or their wealth so low, / That from his wars they poorly would retire.

1667, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, 1666. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, (please specify the stanza number):

He plays tennis poorly.

I think poorly of them.

She looked poorly on that suggestion.


traditionally

traditionally (comparative more traditionally, superlative most traditionally)

more traditionally (comparative)
most traditionally (superlative)

/tɹəˈdɪʃəˌnəli/

[tɹəˈdɪˌʃn̩li]

[tɹɪˈdɪˌʃn̩li]

/tɹəˈdɪʃˌnəli/

The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about[…]and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention. Partly, this is a result of how online advertising has traditionally worked: advertisers pay for clicks, and a click is a click, however it's obtained.

2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 48:


previously

I must, however, previously remark, that the power of generalizing ideas, to any great extent, is not very common amongst men or women.

1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1792, →OCLC:

(now archaic, with present-tense constructions) First; beforehand, in advance.

The discovery of a previously unknown species had taken place nearly two years previously.

In the lawsuit, Giuffre claimed she was forced to have sex with a “large amount of people,” some of whom had not previously been named including New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson […].

2019 August 10, Julie Brown, Veronica Penney, Daniel Chang, Sarah Blaskey, “Jeffrey Epstein is gone, but allegations against powerful associates linger”, in Tampa Bay Times:

(with past-tense constructions) At an earlier time; already.

(television) Recapitulating the preceding episodes of a series.

az előző részek tartalmából

recapitulating the preceding episodes of a series


above-board

/əˈbʌvˌbɔɹd/

From above + board (“table”). First attested in 1610. Said by Johnson to have been borrowed from gamblers, who, when they change their cards, put their hands under the table.


ashore

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

I shall no more to sea, to sea, / Here shall I die ashore—[…]

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

(nautical) On the land as opposed to onboard.

The canoe sailed ashore.

Swum ashore, man, like a duck. I can swim like a duck, I'll be sworn.


amidships

amidships (not generally comparable, comparative more amidships, superlative most amidships)

more amidships (comparative)
most amidships (superlative)

[The U-boat captain] waited until the crosshairs lay directly amidships.

Two more torpedoes were fired; one ran erratic; the second hit amidships.

The saloon, instead of being at the stern, according to the old method of construction, is placed more amidships.

The main cabin, most amidships, was 8 feet 3 inches broad …

(nautical) In the middle of a ship, either longitudinally or laterally.

(nautical) Usually in the line of the keel, but sometimes halfway between bow and stern; often contracted to “midships.” (FM 55-501).

In stating that the Woosters never give up, I was in error. These words caught me amidships and took all the fighting spirit out of me, leaving me a spent force.

1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XX, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

(figuratively) On the flank, at a vulnerable place.


onboard

From on board, equivalent to on- + board.

On or in a vehicle or vessel; aboard; on board.


astern

astern (comparative more astern, superlative most astern)

more astern (comparative)
most astern (superlative)

From a- (“towards”) + stern (“rear part of a vessel”).

prefix

After we had row'd, or rather driven about a League and a Half, as we reckon'd it, a raging Wave, Mountain-like, came rowling a-stern of us, and plainly bad us expect the Coup-de-Grace.

1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 50:

In the direction of the stern; backward (motion); to the rear.

(obsolete or rare) At or toward the rear of a vessel.


helpfully

en-adv

helpfully (comparative more helpfully, superlative most helpfully)

more helpfully (comparative)
most helpfully (superlative)

The chap opposite seems to be trying to pull a fast one, and having seen the guard is trying to buy a ticket online... but doesn't succeed. The guard helpfully sells him one, but not quite at the price of one purchased in advance. In fairness he doesn't kick off, nor does the guard treat him like some common criminal. It's a fair cop - or should that be a fare cop?

2024 April 17, “Rural railways: do they deliver?”, in RAIL, number 1007, page 57:


bc

Alternative letter-case form of BC (Before Christ)


initially

Initially, I found city life incredibly difficult, but now I'm used to it.

In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.

2013 June 7, Ed Pilkington, “‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 6:

Unsurprisingly, the Group was highly critical of the BTC's organisation and finances, and this prompted Marples to bring forward the Transport Act 1962, which created BR as a standalone entity with its own Board, headed by a full-time chairman. Beeching accepted this latter position, and initially became the BTC chairman in June 1961.

2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 43:


blindfold

From Middle English blyndefolde, blyndfuld, blynfold, blindfeld, blindfelt, yblynfeld, variants of y-blyndfalled, blyndfelled, etc. ("stricken blind, blindfolded"), past participle of Middle English blindfellen (“to strike blind”), from blind (“to blind”) and fellen (“to fell”), equivalent to blind + felled. Later influenced by the unrelated verb fold.

der

They put all the bits of cake into a bonnet. Every one, blind-fold, draws out a portion.

1779, James Robertson, edited by John Sinclair, Statistical Account of Scotland, volume 11, page 620:

The commuters from the suburbs come unencumbered with luggage, children and prams, and can almost be relied upon to find their way blindfold to their trains.

1962 April, J. N. Faulkner, “Summer Saturday at Waterloo”, in Modern Railways, page 258:

With the eyes covered so as to obscure vision.


officially

en-adv

officially (comparative more officially, superlative most officially)

more officially (comparative)
most officially (superlative)

[T]here was nothing to drink except orange crush - officially.

1958, Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in the Blanket (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 292:

In an official manner; according to official rules or regulations.

That’s it! I’m officially outraged.


slightly

slightly (comparative more slightly, superlative most slightly)

more slightly (comparative)
most slightly (superlative)

He was slightly built, but tall.

He weighed slightly less than his wife who was a foot shorter.


cordially

cordially (comparative more cordially, superlative most cordially)

more cordially (comparative)
most cordially (superlative)

/ˈkɔɹd͡ʒəli/

From cordial + -ly. Compare Middle English cordyally (“by heart”).

I may ask you, then, cordially to thank Sir George Goldie for all that he has done for the Society.

1893, Royal Geographical Society, The Geographical Journal, London:

Ever most cordially yours,

1898, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, Tourguéneff and his French Circle My dear Monsieur Durand,—I am sending you[....]

In the thick of the railway controversies of his day, Francis naturally had his prejudices. It seems that he cordially disliked the aristocracy in general.

1951 December, Michael Robbins, “John Francis's "History of the English Railway"”, in Railway Magazine, page 800:

A rail tour on Sunday, March 12, in which non-members are cordially invited to participate, will leave St. Pancras at approximately 2 p.m. [...].

1961 February, “Society column: Branch Line Society”, in Trains Illustrated, page vii:

In a cordial, warm, friendly or heartfelt manner.


naturally

naturally (comparative more naturally, superlative most naturally)

more naturally (comparative)
most naturally (superlative)

From Middle English naturally, naturaly, naturely, naturaliche, natureliche, equivalent to natural + -ly.

Although he was unused to the situation, he tried to act naturally.

Ying Ying, a panda at a Hong Kong theme park, has given birth to twins that were conceived naturally, a cause for celebration for conservationists rooting for the survival of this vulnerable and low-libido species.

2024 August 16, Tiffany May, “At 19, a Hong Kong Panda Is Finally a Mother”, in The New York Times:

Boys are naturally aggressive.

I shall naturally protest at that decision.

Would you like a glass of champagne, sir? - Naturally!


ultimo

First attested in 1582; from Latin ultimō (elliptically for ultimō diē or ultimō mēnse), masculine ablative singular form of ultimus (“last”); cognate with Dutch ultimo, the German ultimo, the Swedish ultimo, etc.

I receivd your favour of the 18th Ultimo in due time & beg pardon for not having answerd it before.

1771 November 20, Alexander Hamilton, “From Alexander Hamilton to Fraser, Grant and Baillie, 20 November 1771”, in edited by Harold C. Syrett, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, volumes 1, 1768–1778, New York: Columbia University Press, published 1962, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 15:


overly

Parents can be overly protective of their children.

[…] considering the circumstances of my situation, I saw it would not do for me to look out for an overly young woman, nor yet would it do for one of my ways to take an elderly maiden, ladies of that sort being liable to possess strong-set particularities.

1821, John Galt, chapter 37, in Annals of the Parish, Philadelphia: M. Carey & Sons, page 214:

It’s nothing short of wonderful how she’s improved these three years, but especially in looks. She’s a real pretty girl got to be, though I can’t say I’m overly partial to that pale, big-eyed style myself.

1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery, chapter 30, in Anne of Green Gables:

Your race is overly sentimental; it distorts your judgment.

1958, Robert Heinlein, chapter 11, in Have Space Suit—Will Travel, New York: Del Rey, page 238:

This means, at times, long and perhaps overly discursive discussions of other taxa.

1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page viii:

(sometimes proscribed) To an excessive degree.

1566, Thomas Blundeville, The Fower Chiefyst Offices Belongyng to Horsemanshippe, London, “The true Arte of Paring, and shooyng all maner of Houes together […] ,” Chapter 5,
[…] let him not touche the quarters nor the heeles at al, vnlesse it be to make the seat of the shoe playne, & let that be done so superficially or ouerly as maye be, so shall the houes remayne alwayes strong.

These kinds of reproofes, not vnfitly may be compared to hotte or hastie healing salues, which drawe a faire skinne ouer a fowle wound; which because it is not soundly cured from the bottome, but ouerly healed vp, doth afterward apostemate or fistulate, and becommeth more dangerous and desperate then euer before.

1604, William Perkins, chapter 6, in A Commentarie or Exposition, vpon the Fiue First Chapters of the Epistle to the Galatians, Cambridge, page 482:

1678, George Mackenzie, The Laws and Customes of Scotland, in Matters Criminal, Edinburgh, Part 1, “Some Crimes punished amongst the Romans, which are not directly in use with us,” p. 347,
[…] I resolved here to touch overly even those crimes which are little considered among us, not only that we might thereby know the genius of that wise Nation; but that we may consider how far it were fit to renew amongst us these excellent Laws.

[…] you shall finde this, that all remissenesse, when a man doth a thing remissely, and ouerly, and perfunctorily, it argues alway a diuided intention, it is an argument that the whole minde is not set on it, but that the intention is distracted, and bestowed on other things:

1629, John Preston, The New Covenant, or the Saints Portion, London: Nicolas Bourne, Sermon 9, p. 51:

If you expect the Poor should work cheaper, and not perform their Work slighter and more overly, as we call it, and superficially, you expect what is not in the Nature of the Thing.

1728, Daniel Defoe, A Plan of the English Commerce, London: Charles Rivington, page 60:

(obsolete) Carelessly, without due attention.

The third [vice] is Arrogancie, and the fourth Pride, two vices neer a kinne, Cosen germans […] when men shall arrogate much unto themselves; looking overly and superciliously upon others.

1650, John Brinsley the younger, An Antidote against the Poysonous Weeds of Heretical Blasphemies, London: Ralph Smith, page 3:

(obsolete) With a sense of superiority, haughtily.


mondo

From the title of the 1962 Italian cult documentary film Mondo cane, Italian for "A Dog's World", from mondo (“world”) and cane (“dog”). The film featured bizarre scenes, leading to English use of mondo as an adverb meaning "very, extremely" in mock-Italian phrases like mondo bizarro. Doublet of monde.

"This rain is mondo depressing," Sam sighed as she stared out the sliding glass doors that led to the Hewitts' deck.

1992, Cherie Bennett, Sunset Paradise, Berkley, published 1992, →ISBN, page 1:

This recipe, from someone who really knows her tiramisu, is mondo rich, utterly divine, and simple.

2001, Margie Lapanja, Food Men Love: All-Time Favorite Recipes from Caesar Salad and Grilled Rib-Eye to Cinnamon Buns and Apple Pie, Conari Press, published 2001, →ISBN, page 196:

“Hey, this place is mondo cool. Bowie hangs out there. It's so packed you can hardly get in. And they play industrial out of one set of speakers and the Sex Pistols out of the other. I mean in the same room! Like, at a thousand decibels."

2002, Jeffrey Deaver, Mistress of Justice, Bantam Books, published 2002, →ISBN, page 93:


shore

shore (comparative more shore, superlative most shore)

more shore (comparative)
most shore (superlative)

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling


wherein

From Middle English wherin; equivalent to where- + in.

Wherein have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?

1901, Bible (American Standard Version), 1 Kings 18:9


ceteris paribus

/ˈsɛtəɹɪs ˈpæɹɪbəs/

From Latin cēterīs, the ablative plural of cēterus (“the other, the rest”), + pāribus, the ablative case plural of pār (“equal”).

And therefore 'tis not to be doubted, but could we make a Microscope to have one only refraction, it would, cæteris paribus, far excel any other that had a greater number.

On closer inspection it appeared that steel annealed at 100° is, cæteris paribus, more easily soluble than glass hard steel; steel annealed at 200° more easily soluble than steel annealed at 100°, and steel annealed at 360° more easily soluble than steel annealed at 200°.

1887, C. Barus, V[incenc] Strouhal, “The Effect of Sudden Cooling Exhibited by Glass and by Steel, Considered both Physically and Chemically”, in Report of Work Done in the Division of Chemistry and Physics Mainly During the Fiscal Year 1885–'86 (Bulletins of the United States Geological Survey; no. 42; 50th Congress, 2d session, House of Representatives Miscellaneous Documents; no. 137), volume VII, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, published 1889, →OCLC, page 123:

All things being equal
all things being equal

All things being equal; with all other things or factors remaining the same; other things held constant; all else unchanged.


athwart

athwart (comparative more athwart, superlative most athwart)

more athwart (comparative)
most athwart (superlative)

From Late Middle English athwert, athirt, from a- (prefix meaning ‘in the direction of, toward’) + thwert (“crosswise; (cooking) across the grain”, adverb). Thwert is derived from thwert (“crosswise, transverse; counter, opposing; contrary, obstinate, stubborn”, adjective), borrowed from Old Norse þvert (“across, athwart”), originally the neuter form of þverr (“across, transverse”), from Proto-Germanic *þwerhaz (“cross; adverse”) (altered or influenced by Proto-Germanic *þweraną (“to stir; to swirl; to turn”)), from Proto-Germanic *þerh-, probably from Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- (“to spin; to turn”). The English word is analysable as a- (prefix meaning ‘in the direction of, toward’) + thwart (“placed or situated across something else”).
cognates
* Scots athort (“athwart”)

prefix

Above, the stars appeared to move slowly athwart.

We placed one log on the ground, and another athwart, forming a crude cross.

In the fore part of his garment vvhich couered his breaſt he vvore pretie taſſels inſteed of buttons, like to thoſe that our Engliſh Souldiers doe vveare about their bandeleers, in vvhich they put their gunnepovvder. Theſe taſſels came dovvne athvvart ouer his breaſt; truely I did invvardly reioyce to ſee his pourtraiture.

1611, Thomas Coryate [i.e., Thomas Coryat], “My Obseruations of Padua”, in Coryats Crudities Hastily Gobled Vp in Five Moneths Trauells […], London: […] W[illiam] S[tansby for the author], →OCLC, pages 133–134, lines 9–16:

Thus the Aſſe having a peculiar mark of a croſſe made by a black liſt down his back, and another athwart, or at right angles down his ſhoulders; common opinion aſcribes this figure unto a peculiar ſignation; ſince that beaſt had the honour to bear our Saviour on his back.

1650, Thomas Browne, “Of the Same [i.e., the Blacknesse of Negroes]”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 6th book, page 282:

[…] Frenzy, fierce-ey'd child of moping pain, / Darts her hot lightning flaſh athvvart the brain.

1796, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “Lines on a Friend who Died of a Frenzy Fever Induced by Calumnious Reports”, in Poems on Various Subjects, London: […] G[eorge] G[eorge] and J[ohn] Robinsons, and J[oseph] Cottle, […], →OCLC, page 33:

They come, they crowd upon me all at once— / Moved from the cloud of unforgotten things, / That sometimes on the horizon of the mind / Lies unfolded, often sweeps athwart in storm— […]

1827–1879 (date written), Alfred Tennyson, “Part I”, in The Lover’s Tale, London: C[harles] Kegan Paul & Co., […], published 1879, →OCLC, page 10:

But he had left the green wood, and the thousand inspirations of the wild flowers, and the shadows that flit athwart the drooping boughs, for scenes whose inspirations were thought, toil, and suffering.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “A London Life”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 159:

Just as the first ray of the rising sun shot like a golden arrow athwart this storied desolation we gained the further gateway of the outer wall, […]

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “Walking the Plank”, in She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC, page 268:

He shuffled athwart, keeping one eye ahead vigilantly.

1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 204, column 2:

From side to side, often in an oblique manner; across or over.

dwars over

from side to side, often in an oblique manner — see also across

a fleet standing athwart our course

One of the world’s largest containerships wedged athwart the Suez Canal has offered the shipping industry a timely reminder that super-sized ships can create super-sized problems

2021 March 26, Richard Meade, Bigger ships create bigger problems:

One of the world’s largest container ships was wedged athwart the Suez Canal on March 23rd, blown off course by high winds.

2021 May 25, “A giant container ship accidentally blocks the Suez Canal”, in The Economist, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC:

The Ever Given is standing athwart one of the most important shipping lanes in the world, yelling “Oops!” She is ruining everything, and at least for the moment, she cannot be (un)stopped.

2021 March 25, Amanda Mull, “The Big, Stuck Boat Is Glorious: The Ever Given is very big and very stuck.”, in The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC:

[W]ith his ſpear / Advanced athvvart puſh'd back the Trojan van, / And all ſtood faſt.

1791, Homer, “[The Iliad.] Book III.”, in W[illiam] Cowper, transl., The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, Translated into Blank Verse, […], volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 69, lines 90–92:

Across the path of something, so as to impede progress.

tiellä

across the path of something, so as to impede progress

[A]ll athvvart there came / A poſt from VVales, loden vvith heauy nevves, […]

c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

The Baby beates the Nurſe, and quite athvvart / Goes all decorum.

c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], page 63, column 2:

(figuratively) Against the anticipated or appropriate course of something; improperly, perversely, wrongly.


easier

Easier said than done!


notably

en-adv

notably (comparative more notably, superlative most notably)

more notably (comparative)
most notably (superlative)

From Middle English notably, notabili, notablelyche, equivalent to notable + -ly.

(focus) As a pointed example; in a notable manner.


askew

askew (comparative more askew, superlative most askew)

more askew (comparative)
most askew (superlative)

From Old Norse á ská (“askew, askance”), equivalent to a- + skew. Compare Icelandic á ská (“diagonally”), Danish skrå (“slanting, oblique”), German Schräge (“slope, slant”).

He wore his hat askew


immediately

From Middle English immediatly, equivalent to immediate + -ly.

I hope we can begin immediately.

His unruly hair was slicked down with water, and as Jessamy introduced him to Miss Brindle his face assumed a cherubic innocence which would immediately have aroused the suspicions of anyone who knew him.

1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 96:

Spain failed to move through the gears despite exerting control for lengthy spells and a measure of perspective must be applied immediately to the outcome.

2011 November 12, “International friendly: England 1-0 Spain”, in BBC Sport:

In an immediate manner; instantly or without delay.

A tri-tone chime whistle, operated from the cab by a flexible cable passing down the right hand handrail, is mounted on the top of the smokebox immediately behind the chimney.

1951 June, “British Railways Standard Class "5" 4-6-0 Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 399:


helter-skelter

helter-skelter (comparative more helter-skelter, superlative most helter-skelter)

more helter-skelter (comparative)
most helter-skelter (superlative)

In form a reduplication (similar to hurry-scurry and harum-scarum, both with initial /h-/ and /sk-/); perhaps based on Middle English skelten ("to hasten; to raise an alarm"), or maybe related to Old High German skeltan (“scold”) from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- (“make noise, yell”), employed as a fossil word.

der

But the butterflies were dead. A whiff of rotten eggs had vanquished the pale clouded yellows which came pelting across the orchard and up Dods Hill and away on to the moor, now lost behind a furze bush, then off again helter-skelter in a broiling sun.

1922 October 26, Virginia Woolf, chapter II, in Jacob’s Room, Richmond, London: […] Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press, 1960, →OCLC, page 21:

Pellets, once released from the funnel, would bounce helter-skelter, left or right, against the pins […] to ultimately gather in the lower compartments in a pile which resembles a normal curve.

1998, Deborah J. Bennett, Randomness, Harvard University Press, page 104:


PDQ

(colloquial) Initialism of pretty damned/darn quick: very quickly, as quickly as possible.


closely

en-adv

closely (comparative closelier or more closely, superlative closeliest or most closely)

closelier (comparative)
more closely (comparative)
closeliest (superlative)
most closely (superlative)

Finnish and Estonian are closely related languages.

The borderline between East and West Berlin was very closely guarded.

The chairs are too closely spaced; could you move them apart?

“King Homer” follows the story of King Kong closely, with Mr. Burns taking the freakishly over-sized King Homer from his native Africa, where he lives proud as a simian god, to the United States, where he is an initially impressive but ultimately rather limited Broadway attraction.

2012 April 29, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III” (season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

That nought she did but wayle, and often steepe / Her dainty couch with tears which closely she did weepe.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 28:


subsequently

It will be recollected that the ill-fated Halloway...distinctly stated the voice of the individual who had approached his post...to have been that of a female, and that the language in which they subsequently conversed was that of the Ottawa Indians.

1832, John Richardson, chapter 7, in Wacousta, volume II:

“There the cause of death was soon ascertained ; the victim of this daring outrage had been stabbed to death from ear to ear with a long, sharp instrument, in shape like an antique stiletto, which […] was subsequently found under the cushions of the hansom.[…]”

1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tremarn Case”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:

Following, afterwards in either time or place.

Accordingly, therefore (implying a logical connection or deduction), consequently.


strongly

strongly (comparative stronglier or more strongly, superlative strongliest or most strongly)

stronglier (comparative)
more strongly (comparative)
strongliest (superlative)
most strongly (superlative)

From Middle English strongliche, strangliche, from Old English stranglīċe (“strongly”), equivalent to strong + -ly.

In the third race, Renowned Blaze finished strongly to win, paying sixteen dollars.

His reply was strongly suggestive of a forthcoming challenge to the governor.

The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:


hit wicket

(cricket) Describing a method of dismissal of a batsman (out) in which the batsman hits his own wicket either with the bat or his body, usually while attempting to play the ball.


stretto

Borrowed from Italian stretto. Doublet of strait and strict.

(music) With gradually increasing speed.


facetiously

facetiously (comparative more facetiously, superlative most facetiously)

more facetiously (comparative)
most facetiously (superlative)

In a facetious or flippant manner; in a manner that treats serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor

(dated) In a pleasantly humorous or playful fashion.


hit the ball twice

... purely defensive second stroke, picked up the ball, and, pretending to aim at the wicket, purposely flung it wide, thereby beguiling the batsman into starting for a run, for which he was given out "hit the ball twice."

1904, The Windsor magazine, volume 20, page 406:

The striker, on appeal, shall be out hit the ball twice if, after the ball is struck [...]

1992, Tony Pocock, Official Rules of Sports & Games, 1992-93, page 392:

Law 34 (Hit the ball twice)
1. Out Hit the ball twice
(a) The striker is out Hit the ball twice if, while the ball is in play, it strikes any part of his person or is struck by his bat and, before the ball has been touched by a fielder, he wilfully strikes it again with his bat or person, other than a hand not holding the bat, except for the sole purpose of guarding his wicket.

2003, Marylebone Cricket Club, The official laws of cricket: Law 34 (Hit the ball twice) [online version], archived from the original on 2009-02-20:

In accordance with this rule against hitting the ball a second time.


fully

fully (comparative more fully, superlative most fully)

more fully (comparative)
most fully (superlative)

From Middle English fully, fulliche, volliche, from Old English fullīċe (“fully”), equivalent to full + -ly. Compare German völlig (“fully”), Swedish fullt (“fully”).

He is fully capable of meeting his responsibilities.

As soon as Julia returned with a constable, Timothy, who was on the point of exhaustion, prepared to give over to him gratefully. The newcomer turned out to be a powerful youngster, fully trained and eager to help, and he stripped off his tunic at once.

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

The lobule margins, furthermore, are arched away from the lobe, with the consequence that (when fully inflated) the abaxial leaf surface forms the interior lining of the lobule.

1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page 7:

This work therefore presents Humanism as a foundation for living in a way that is meaningful and fulfilling, and that enables us to become more fully human.

2011, William R. Murry, Becoming More Fully Human, →ISBN:

It is a three-fold cycle by which we are oriented to the learning process: fostering greater awareness that affords greater intentionality to participate more fully, which then fosters greater awareness, and so on in an intensifying cycle of indwelling that which we seek to know so that the union of knower and known is incarnated in and through us.

2014, Sondra Higgins Matthaei, Nancy R. Howell, Proleptic Pedagogy: Theological Education Anticipating the Future, →ISBN:

In a full manner; without lack or defect; completely, entirely.

it was fully four hours before we arrived home.

At this time in 2008, even as the global economy veered toward collapse, optimism about Washington ran surprisingly high. In polling by the Pew Research Center in November 2008, fully half the respondents thought the two parties would cooperate more in the coming year, versus only 36 percent who thought the climate would grow more adversarial.

2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “In Obama’s Second Term, Familiar Challenges”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-02-02:

It is fully as shocking as it is meant to be. You step into a pitch black chamber, treading on what feels like a perilous cattle grid, which seems to trigger the crackling circle of white light that starts into life above you.

2018 December 9, Laura Cumming, “Haroon Mirza: reality is somehow what we expect it to be – review”, in The Observer, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-07-05:

to eat fully

(rare) So as to be full (not hungry); to satiation.

I fully woke up at like 12 p.m. yesterday.

When Ms. Dunham was given a diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder, a therapist asked her to picture a soothing location. "I fully just imagined Eloise's home at the Plaza," she said.

2015 March 22, Michael Schulman, “Lena Dunham and the ’Man Who Drew Eloise’”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-26:

We initially see the full look, but when the camera cuts to another angle of Serena checking her phone and holding a bag, it's clear Blake is fully wearing sweatpants under her dress.

2023 January 30, Mehera Bonner, “A 'Gossip Girl' Editing Error Involving Blake Lively Went Viral on TikTok (Again)”, in Cosmopolitan, New York, N.Y.: Hearst Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-03-24:

That is very strange—that is fully my mom.

2023 November 17, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, episode 1878, spoken by Scarlett Johansson:

(colloquial) Used as a general intensifier; actually, really, literally.


bona

bona (comparative more bona, superlative most bona)

more bona (comparative)
most bona (superlative)

Borrowed from Sabir bona (“good”), from Italian buono (“good”), from Latin bonus (“good”), from Old Latin duenos (“good”), from Proto-Italic *dwenos (“good”). Doublet of bonus.

Order lau your luppers on the strillers bona.

1967, Kenneth Horne, Bona Guest House (Round the Horne), season 3, spoken by Julian (Hugh Paddick):


publicly

publicly (comparative more publicly, superlative most publicly)

more publicly (comparative)
most publicly (superlative)

criticize someone publicly

publicly announce something

In public, openly, in an open and public manner.

عَلَانِيَةً

in an open and public manner — see also in public

publicly available


intermittently

The Hariri-Aoun agreement has shown that Hezbollah can bring the national political system to a halt. This happened in the past several years, and it worsened conditions in sectors such as foreign debt, electricity output, rubbish collection, water delivery, and other essential services, to the discomfort of the majority of Lebanese who have spoken out intermittently against the oligarchy of sectarian leaders who rule the country.

2016 October 22, Rami G Khouri, “Lebanese oligarchy preserves its interests once again”, in Aljazeera:


to and fro

Jersey Dutch: tû en vrô

A light tossing to and fro and still rapidly advancing showed that one of the newcomers carried a lantern.

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 4, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

Article V.—In consideration of the numerous difficulties arising from the authority exercised by local officials over the legal traffic at such places on the boundary as I-chou, Hui-ning, and Ch’ing-yuan, it has now been decided that the people on the frontier shall be free to go to and fro and trade as they please at Ts’e-men and I-chou on the two sides of the Ya-lu River, and at Hun-ch’un and Hui-ning on the two sides of the T’u-men River.

1882, G. W. Keeton, “Regulations for Maritime and Overland Trade between Chinese and Korean Subjects, 1882”, in The Development of Extraterritoriality in China, volume II, Longmans, Green & Co., published 1928, →OCLC, page 341:

But presently the fumes of the wine rising to his head, he became helplessly drunk and his side-muscles and limbs relaxed and he swayed to and fro on my back. When I saw that he had lost his senses for drunkenness, I put my head to his legs and, loosing them from my neck, stooped down well-nigh to the ground and threw him at full length, […]

1885–1888, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume (please specify the volume), [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC:

He bends his knees more than the white man, and oscillates more to and fro, or from side to side.

1886, John Burroughs, Winter Sunshine, page 13:

Even charges hopping on a larger array of localized sites than the two sites in (ii) execute normally many more to-and-fro oscillating motions than ...

1979, National Academy of Sciences (U.S.), IEEE Electrical Insulation Society, tAnnual report - Conference on Electrical Insulation and Dielectric Phenomena, page 396:

Back and forth; with a reciprocating motion.


essentially

essentially (comparative more essentially, superlative most essentially)

more essentially (comparative)
most essentially (superlative)

A doorknob of whatever roundish shape is effectively a continuum of levers, with the axis of the latching mechanism—known as the spindle—being the fulcrum about which the turning takes place. Applying a force tangential to the knob is essentially equivalent to applying one perpendicular to a radial line defining the lever.

2012 March 5, Henry Petroski, “Opening Doors”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, pages 112–3:


heavily

heavily (comparative more heavily, superlative most heavily)

more heavily (comparative)
most heavily (superlative)

From Middle English hevely, hevyliche, from Old English hefiġlīċe (“heavily; grievously”), equivalent to heavy + -ly.

inh

heavily burdened

She fell heavily into bed.

He clomped heavily up the stairs in his boots.

The great clod trod heavily on my toes!

The departure was not unduly prolonged.[…]Within the door Mrs. Spoker hastily imparted to Mrs. Love a few final sentiments on the subject of Divine Intention in the disposition of buckets;[…]; a deep, guttural instigation to the horse; and the wheels of the waggonette crunched heavily away into obscurity.

1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

He relied heavily on the data collected by the others.

He drank heavily.

heavily in debt; heavily tattooed

heavily pregnant

An indulgent playmate, Grannie would lay aside the long scratchy-looking letter she was writing (heavily crossed ‘to save notepaper’) and enter into the delightful pastime of ‘a chicken from Mr Whiteley's’.

1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part I, London: Collins, →ISBN:

To a considerable degree, to a great extent.

heavily armed soldiers; heavily armoured tanks; heavily reinforced walls

Nanny Broome was looking up at the outer wall. Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime.

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 14, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

heavily built young men; his heavily muscled arms

he breathed heavily


two-up

Some of us rode two-up as we travelled in convoy to the beach.

(manner, of travel on a motorcycle) With two people aboard.


head over heels

Attested from the 14ᵗʰ century onwards, originally as heels over head, which better rendered the notion of things being upside down (head over heels is the standard state of being).

She tripped and rolled head over heels down the hill.

I was knocked head over heels about 20' from where I was before.

2011, Wes Harvey, A Most Unusual Life, page 83:

Hearing the noise in the dark, the children ran head over heels back home.

It told its readers that people all over the country were "rushing head over heels toward the El Dorado on the Pacific— that wonderful California, which sets the public mind almost on the highway to insanity."

1968, Vardis Fisher, Opal Laurel Holmes, Opal Laurel Fisher, Gold Rushes and Mining Camps of the Early American West, page 46:

I am head over heels in trouble.

1904, Henry Huttleston Rogers, “Letter from Rogers to Clemens (Mark Twain) dated 8 February 1904”, in Mark Twain's Correspondence with Henry Huttleston Rogers, 1893–1909, University of California Press, published 1969, page 555:

Some of them lose and wind up head over heels in debt. Some of them win and wind up head over heels in debt.

1967, Russell B. Long, Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 90th Congress - First Session, United States Congress, page 16122:

There over, hereunder / You got me head over heels / There's nothing left to fear / If you really feel the way I feel

2001 August 30, Shakira (lyrics and music), “Whenever, Wherever”, in Laundry Service:

I mean, do I just fall head over heels for the last girl I've kissed?

For research we went to Africa, and found ourselves head over heels into ritual (chapter 4).

2005, Ronald Frankenberg, Edith L. B. Turner, Heart of Lightness: The Life Story of an Anthropologist, page 2:

She told me that her mom and Joey's dad aren't just in love, they are head-over-heels in love.

2013, Laurie Friedman, Heart to Heart with Mallory, page 59:

(usually with in love) Hopelessly; madly; to distraction; deeply; utterly.

halsoverkop

hopelessly, madly (as in head over heels in love)

по́ у́ши (pó úši, literally “up to the ears”)


personally

en-adv

personally (comparative more personally, superlative most personally)

more personally (comparative)
most personally (superlative)

From Middle English personally, personely, personallich, personaliche, equivalent to personal + -ly.

Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

'There's a boy here who wants to speak to Miss Clara personally,' he announced.

1956 [1880], Johanna Spyri, Heidi, translation of original by Eileen Hall, page 84:

I'm really annoyed with her, personally.

Personally I felt shy and uncomfortable at this obsequious adoration, and I read the same feeling in the faces of Roxton and Summerlee, but Challenger expanded like a flower in the sun.

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

I like you personally, but as a colleague you have yet to do well.


seldom

seldom (comparative more seldom or seldomer, superlative most seldom or seldomest)

more seldom (comparative)
seldomer (comparative)
most seldom (superlative)
seldomest (superlative)

From late Middle English seldom, alteration of earlier selden, from Old English seldan (“seldom”), from Proto-Germanic *seldanē. Cognate with Saterland Frisian säilden (“seldom”), West Frisian selden, komselden (“rare, seldom”), Dutch zelden, German selten, Danish sjælden, Norwegian sjelden, Swedish sällan, Faroese sjáldan, Icelandic sjaldan. More at seld and selly.

They seldom come here now.

I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

People who talk about an imminent possibility of war seldom pose this question: What would North Korea’s leadership get from unleashing a war that they are likely to lose in weeks, if not days?

2013 April 9, Andrei Lankov, “Stay Cool. Call North Korea’s Bluff.”, in New York Times:

Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend.

2013 June 1, “End of the peer show”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 71:


off and on

With so much worry, I only slept off and on last night.

(nautical) On different tacks, now toward, and now away from, the land.


on top

Stand on top and look down.

A cake with cream on top.

At the end of the season, Manchester United came out on top.

For the second match in a row, Arsenal went into the break completely on top and untroubled.

2011 February 12, Ian Hughes, “Arsenal 2 - 0 Wolverhampton”, in BBC Sport:


en masse

Borrowed from French en masse (literally “in a mass”).

[L]et the clergy, en Maſſe, preach him down, admoniſh their ſeveral congregations to be attentive to the duty they owe to the beſt of kings and to their country, and to ſeek to deprecate, by the holineſs of their lives, the wrath of the Almighty.

1805 August 21, “The Levy en Masse. [From the Lewes Journal.]”, in The Spirit of the Public Journals for 1805. […], volume IX, London: Printed for James Ridgway, […], published 1806, →OCLC, page 241:

In the case of the very large caps called detonators, which are used in firing dynamite and gun cotton, is there not some risk of explosion en masse?—Yes, if you get large quantities of percussion powder together, there would be greater danger; […]

1874 May 22, William T. Eley (witness), “Report from the Select Committee on Explosive Substances; […]”, in Reports from Committees: Six Volumes. […], volume IX, [London]: Ordered, by the House of Commons, to be printed, […], →OCLC, paragraph 1756, page 126, column 2:

He [Goh Siew Tin] had traded largely with Java, and on the day of his funeral all the Chinese shops trading in Java produce were closed, while the pupils of the Toh Lam (Hokien) Mandarin School (of which Mr. Goh Siew Tin was President) en masse attended the funeral.

1923, Song Ong Siang, “The Fifth Decade (1859–69)”, in One Hundred Years’ History of the Chinese in Singapore: […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 144:

During inclement weather it is necessary for this group to meet in one gymnasium. Therefore it was decided to consider the whole group as one class. Two instructors are assigned to each class. Part of the work is given en masse, and for the remainder the class is divided between the two instructors.

1943 May, Lloyd R. Burley, “An Emergency Program in Physical Education”, in Mary Wibel, editor, The Journal of Health and Physical Education, volume 14, number 5, Washington, D.C.: American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 259 and 292:

Low flow trips shall be individually adjustable. The low flow limits of all channels shall be adjustable en masse. The en masse adjustment shall be capable of modifying all individual trips by a common percentage of each trip setting.

1967 July 26, “Appeal of Avien, Inc. under Purchase Order No. 5921-11085 [Docket AECBCA No. 14-65]”, in Atomic Energy Commission Reports: Opinions and Decisions of the Atomic Energy Commission with Selected Orders, volume 4, [Washington, D.C.]: United States Government Printing Office, published 1973, page 1015:

Again the home players celebrated en masse.

2013 September 24, Louise Taylor, “Fog lifts at Sunderland after Capital One Cup win over Peterborough”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2016-01-21:

In a single body or group; as one, together.


punningly

punningly (comparative more punningly, superlative most punningly)

more punningly (comparative)
most punningly (superlative)

Even though some names or words polysemically carry sexual meanings, this does not automatically mean that every usage of them in literary texts, even those of a pornographic nature, has a sexual meaning, either explicitly or punningly.

2011, Patrick Spedding, James Lambert, “Fanny Hill, Lord Fanny, and the Myth of Metonymy”, in Studies in Philology, volume 108, number 1, page 113:

The film is an anthology of three whimsical short stories set in France in the mid-20th Century. The conceit is that they were all published in an English-language magazine which is edited in the punningly-named fictional French city of Ennui-sur-Blasé, but which is attached to an American newspaper based in Kansas.

2021 July 12, Nicholas Barber, “The French Dispatch: Four stars for Wes Anderson's latest”, in BBC:

In a punning manner; so as to form a pun.


no way Jose

/nəʊ ˈweɪ həʊˌseɪ/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-no way Jose.wav

Uncertain. Probably invented for the rhyme. First attested in 1978.


artistic

artistic (comparative more artistic, superlative most artistic)

more artistic (comparative)
most artistic (superlative)

Borrowed from French artistique, from artiste + -ique. By surface analysis, artist + -ic.

'You've got to do it artistic. Here, like this.'

1963, Geoffrey Tolhurst, Flat 4 Kings Cross, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, published 1966, page 100:

(nonstandard) Artistically, in an artistic style.


off-piste

We are skiing off-piste this morning.

Some ski instructors are allowed to take groups off-piste too, so long as they don't travel across glaciers, but the tour hosts and reps who commonly show skiers around pisted runs within large resorts are definitely not allowed to go off-piste […]

2014, Alun Richardson, Rucksack Guide - Ski Mountaineering and Snowshoeing, page 126:


once and for all

They replaced the entire door, in hopes of correcting the sticking and squeaking once and for all.

(idiomatic) Conclusively, finally, permanently.


lively

lively (comparative more lively, superlative most lively)

more lively (comparative)
most lively (superlative)

From Middle English lyvely, lifly, from Old English līflīċe, equivalent to life + -ly.

Him to a dainty flowre she did transmew, / Which in that cloth was wrought, as if it liuely grew.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

the Painter Protogenes […] having perfected the image of a wearie and panting dog, […] but being unable, as he desired, lively to represent the drivel or slaver of his mouth, vexed against his owne worke, took his spunge, and moist as it was with divers colours, threw it at the picture […].


one by one

The passengers escaped through the hatch one by one.

The walls are built up stone by stone / The fields divided one by one

1985, R.E.M. (lyrics and music), “Driver 8”, in Fables of the Reconstruction:


hopefully

hopefully (comparative more hopefully, superlative most hopefully)

more hopefully (comparative)
most hopefully (superlative)

From hopeful + -ly. The use as a sentence adverb first gained currency in the United States and has been explained as a possible calque of German hoffentlich.

it is better to travel hopefully than to arrive

‘In fifteen minutes I will be at the carpark, sitting hopefully inside a puce Reliant Scimitar.’

1993, Alasdair Gray, “You”, in Ten Tales Tall and True:

Hopefully, my father will arrive in time for the show.

She was buried with her mom and hopefully they are together now.

(not comparable) It is hoped that; I hope; we hope.


scot-free

From Middle English scotfre, from Old English scotfrēo (“scot-free; exempt from royal tax or imposts”), equivalent to scot (“payment; contribution; fine”) + -free.

suffix

to get off scot-free

[T]he Papiſts, profeſſed Enemies of our Church and Religion, eſcaping in the mean vvhile Scot-free, ſeldome or never medled vvithal in any of their Sermons.

a. 1664 (date written), Robert Sanderson, “The Preface to the Reader”, in XXXIV Sermons. […], 5th edition, London: […] [A. Clark] for A. Seil, and are to be sold by G. Sawbridge, […], published 1671, →OCLC:

Correct me if I am missuggesting; you stated that there were 28,000 actual serious crimes committed in 1965 —I believe it was that year — and only 1,000 convictions , which means that the chances are, roughly, 28 to 1 of getting off scot free — that one can commit an act of violence, a serious crime, and have a good chance of getting off.

1967, United States. Congress. House. Committee on the District of Columbia, Anticrime Legislation, page 38:

Opioids have killed 600,000 Americans. The Sacklers just got off scot-free [title]

2021 September 5, Chris McGreal, “Opioids have killed 600,000 Americans. The Sacklers just got off scot-free”, in The Guardian:

He added: “It’s been a long journey, and it’s really, really nice to able^([sic]) to turn and look at my clients, and say ‘he can’t get off scot-free for this. He can’t. You had a defendant who went into that courtroom and said, ‘I think I should have to pay them a dollar.’ And this jury said no.”

2022 August 4, Elizabeth Williamson, quoting Mark Bankston, “Jurors Award Sandy Hook Parents $4 Million in Damages”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(colloquial) Without consequences or penalties, free without payment.


occasionally

en-adv

occasionally (comparative more occasionally, superlative most occasionally)

more occasionally (comparative)
most occasionally (superlative)

God ſetteth no houres for the morning or evening ſacrifice because they may occaſionally be changed.

1639, Henry Ainsworth, Annotations Upon the Five Books of Moses, the Book of the Psalmes and the Song of Songs, page 177:

Some perhaps worship only on alternate Sundays; others still more occasionally.

1855, Horace Mann, “On the Statistical Position of Religious Bodies in England and Wales”, in Journal of the Statistical Society of London, volume 18, number 2, page 152:

The journal, more occasionally, has turned to what might be called "fashionable" themes.

1978, Stephen R. Graubard, “Twenty Years of 'Daedalus'”, in Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, volume 32, number 3, page 18:

Flames could still be seen from town flaring up occasionally on a hill dotted with emergency vehicles.

2007 August 17, Matt Gouras/AP, “Wildfires Rage in Montana”, in Time:

On occasion: at relatively infrequent intervals, from time to time, sometimes.

Mr Tourville occasionally told his age; just turned of thirty-one.

1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter CLXI”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; […], →OCLC:

[N]othing gave him so much joy in conversation, as an opportunity of giving the company to understand, how well he was with persons of distinguished rank and character: he would often (for example) observe, as it were occasionally, that the duke of G— was one of the best natured men in the world […].

1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:

I had met Lord Ossory in the forenoon, who had come to town occasionally.

1790, James Boswell, in Danziger & Brady (eds.), Boswell: The Great Biographer (Journals 1789–1795), Yale 1989, p. 103

(obsolete) On an occasion, accidentally, by chance.

Were nothing els diſcourſively inſerted (as ſome little elſe occaſionally preſented it ſelfe), what paper more currently fit for the bareſt mechanicall uſes, [...]

1588, G[abriel] H[arvey], “The Fourth Letter. To the Same Favourable or Indifferent Reader.”, in J[ohn] P[ayne] C[ollier], editor, Fovre Letters, and Certaine Sonnets, […] (Miscellaneous Tracts Temp. Eliz. & Jac. I), [London: s.n., published 1870], →OCLC, page 56:

I think it is plain, that Origen, whatever Character he may have occaſionally given of this Book, did not judge it any part of the Canon...

1619, John Richardson, John Toland, The Canon of the New Testament Vindicated, page 30:

(obsolete) On the occasion of something else happening; incidentally, by the way.


considering

considering (comparative more considering, superlative most considering)

more considering (comparative)
most considering (superlative)

/kənˈsɪdəɹɪŋ/

Your wound doesn't look that bad, considering.

(informal) Given the circumstances; all in all; all things considered.


on loan

She worked on loan from another agency.


one day

One day I shall upgrade my software, but not just yet.

(set phrase) At some unspecified time in the future.

One day I was playing with a girl from my class.

One day I was out in the barn and he drifted in. I was currying the horse and he set down on the wheelbarrow and begun to ask questions.

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

You can stay one day or two.

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see one, day.


ordinarily

/ɔːdɪˈnæɹɪli/

/ɔɹdɪˈnɛɹɪli/

It is ordinarily seene how good intentions, being managed without moderation, thrust men into most vicious effects.

1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 19, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

(obsolete) In accordance with normal custom or routine; as a matter of established occurrence.

I'm ordinarily supportive of free speech, but this dispay is obnoxious.

1980 December 27, John Zeh, quoting Ron Rucker, “Cincy Activists Protest Store's Violent Sex Wares”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 23, page 3:

Ordinarily I go to the match on a Saturday.

The man was ordinarily dressed.


roly-poly

/ˌɹəʊlɪˈpəʊli/

The noun is apparently derived from roll (“to turn over and over”) + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having the quality of’), reduplicated with a change of the initial consonant. Compare rolly (“having the ability to roll, rolling”, adjective), which is attested since the 19th century.
Sense 1.7 (“mischievous or worthless person”) is possibly influenced by poll (“head; (archaic) scalp; (by extension) person”).
The adjective and adverb are attested later than the noun, and so are probably derived from it.

suffix

Tom Kitten bit and spat, and mewed and wriggled; and the rolling-pin went roly-poly, roly; roly, poly, roly.

1908 October, Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or The Roly-Poly Pudding, London: Frederick Warne, →OCLC; republished as The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or The Roly-Poly Pudding (eBook #15575), U.S.A.: Project Gutenberg, 6 April 2005:

At your pleaſure thats rare; then rovvlie, povvlie, our vviues ſhall lye at your commaund: […]

1601–1602 (date written), attributed to Thomas Dekker and/or Thomas Middleton, Blurt Master-Constable. Or The Spaniards Night-walke. […], London: […] [Edward Allde] for Henry Rockytt, […], published 1602, →OCLC, signature B2, verso:

(obsolete) Without hesitating; directly; hence, in a thoughtless manner; indiscriminately.


indefatigably

en-adv

indefatigably (comparative more indefatigably, superlative most indefatigably)

more indefatigably (comparative)
most indefatigably (superlative)

From indefatigable + -ly, but indefatigable itself was attested later. In use since the 16th century.

Silence, silence,’ the trumpet mouths indefatigably repeated at intervals down every corridor.

1932, Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, London: Chatto & Windus:

In an extremely persistent and untiring manner; in an indefatigable manner

neúnavně

in an extremely persistent and untiring manner


purposely

purposely (comparative more purposely, superlative most purposely)

more purposely (comparative)
most purposely (superlative)

From Middle English purposly; equivalent to purpose + -ly.

(Use of purposefully as a synonym for purposely is proscribed)

[T]hey would ſay [...] that I had quarrell'd / My brother purpoſely, thereby to finde / An apt pretext, to baniſh them my houſe.

1598, Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Euery Man in His Humour. A Comœdie. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 21:


lately

lately (comparative latelier or more lately, superlative lateliest or most lately)

latelier (comparative)
more lately (comparative)
lateliest (superlative)
most lately (superlative)

From Middle English lately, latly, equivalent to late + -ly. Compare Old English lætīċe (“slowly, tardily”).

I'd lately returned from Japan.

It's only lately that I've been well enough to get out of bed.

Ant. […]I am content : ſo he will let me haue / The other halfe in vſe, to render it / Vpon his death, vnto the Gentleman / That lately ſtole his daughter. / Two things prouided more,[…]

c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 181:

Don't try to come lately and change your answer now after you've heard everyone else's response.

(slang) In a late manner; after-the-fact.

David George Philip Cholmondeley, The Marquess of CHOLMONDELEY, K.C.V.O., lately Lord Great Chamberlain, Royal Household.

2023, “Honours list on the demise of HM Queen Elizabeth II”, in London Gazette, number 64008, page D2:

The ¼th of the manor of Dunterdon is held of the king by knight's service as of his honour of Okehampton, now in the king's hands by reason of the atteinture of Henry lately Marquis of Exeter for high treason, and is worth 55s 6d yearly.

1545, Inquisition post mortem of John Arundell of Lanherne knight's lands in Devon:


greatly

greatly (comparative greatlier or greater or more greatly, superlative greatliest or greatest or most greatly)

greatlier (comparative)
greater (comparative)
more greatly (comparative)
greatliest (superlative)
greatest (superlative)
most greatly (superlative)

From Middle English gretly, gretely, gretliche, greteliche, equivalent to great + -ly.

Expenses greatly exceeded revenues this year.

He was more greatly beloved than anyone in living memory.

There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs,[…], and all these articles[…] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

Terry's goal looked to have put Chelsea in control on the stroke of half-time but Arsenal's response presented a compelling case for Wenger's insistence that reports of his side's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

2011 October 29, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal”, in BBC Sport:

Instead of retracing my route, I have elected to walk across Blackpool to the town's remaining large station, although even this has been greatly reduced in size.

2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 56:

But all this our fisher, who was neither a poet, nor a dependent, did not know, so he concluded, that all who were truly great, were truly greatly minded, and noble in soul, as they were exalted by birth, and rich in splendour.

1823, Catherine George Ward, The Cottage on the Cliff: A Sea-side Story, page 251:


open-handed

open-handed (comparative more open-handed, superlative most open-handed)

more open-handed (comparative)
most open-handed (superlative)

Winding their way to the land of snow and ice they saw approaching a band of warriors covered with emblems of peace,and, leaving their stony weapons in care of the younger braves, they walked open-handed to meet the strangers.

1884, Owahyah, Birch Bark Legends of Niagara, →ISBN:

Open-handed, he walked steadily down the slope, stepping over the crumpled bodies on the blood-damp grass.

2014, Ian Ross, War at the Edge of the World, →ISBN:

She had brought her hand across to lie open-handed on his chest.

2001, Vincent O'Sullivan, Let the River Stand, →ISBN:

The money here was given open-handed, and Parliament was not to be informed what was to be done with it.

1876, Thomas Curson Hansard, Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, page 28:


thwart

Middle English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary

The adjective is derived from Early Middle English thwert, thwerte, thuart, thurt, thurte, thwart, thwarte, twart, twarte, twhart, twhert, twort, þuert, þwerrt, þwert, þwerte, ðwert (“crosswise, transverse; counter, opposing; contrary, obstinate”), borrowed from Old Norse þvert (“across, athwart”), originally the neuter form of þverr (“across, transverse”), from Proto-Germanic *þwerhaz (“cross; adverse”) (altered or influenced by Proto-Germanic *þweraną (“to stir; to swirl; to turn”)), from Proto-Germanic *þerh-, probably from Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- (“to spin; to turn”).
The English adjective is cognate with Danish tvær (“sullen, sulky”), Gothic 𐌸𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍃 (þwairs, “angry”), Middle Dutch dwers, dwars (modern Dutch dwars (“crosswise, transverse; slantwise, askew; stubbornly disobedient”)), Norwegian tvert, tvært, Old Frisian þweres, dwers (Saterland Frisian twars, West Frisian dwers, dwerz (“across, to the other side of; beyond”)), Middle Low German dwers, dwars (Low German dwars (“contrary; cross-grained”)), Old English þweorh (“transverse; perverse; angry, cross”), Old High German twer (Middle High German twer, quer, modern German quer (“crosswise; cross”)), Swedish tvär (“across, transverse; of a curve: sharp; immediate, sudden; grumpy, stubborn”). It is related to queer; also Proto-West Germanic *þwerh,
The adverb is derived from Middle English thwert, ywerte (“crosswise; across the grain”); the Middle English Dictionary suggests the adverb was derived from the adjective, while the Oxford English Dictionary notes that the adverb is attested earlier than the adjective.
The verb is derived from Middle English thwerten, thwert, thwarten, þwerten (“to lie across; to oppose, to thwart”), and further from the adverb and perhaps also the adjective.
Noun sense 1 (“a seat across a boat on which a rower may sit”) may be derived from the adverb or adjective, from the position of the seat across the length of the boat, while noun sense 3 (“(rare) an act of thwarting”) is derived from the verb. Compare Middle English thwert (“in in thwert: crosswise”), from the adjective.

cog

With adverſe blaſt up-turns them from the South
 Notus and Afer black with thundrous Clouds
 From Serraliona; thwart of theſe as fierce
 Forth ruſh the Levant and the Ponent VVindes
 Eurus and Zephir with their lateral noiſe,
 Sirocco, and Libecchio.

1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 701–706:

(obsolete) Across the direction of travel or length of; athwart, crosswise, obliquely, transversely.

косо

across the direction of travel or length of — see also athwart


darkly

en-adv

darkly (comparative darklier or more darkly, superlative darkliest or most darkly)

darklier (comparative)
more darkly (comparative)
darkliest (superlative)
most darkly (superlative)

From Middle English derkly, derkely, derkliche, derkeliche; equivalent to dark + -ly. Compare Old English deorclīċe, a parallel formation.

mistere

mysteriously; forebodingly, ominously — see also mysteriously, ominously

I could make out his image darkly.

For now we ſee through a glaſſe darkley: but then face to face: now I know in part, but then ſhall I know euen as alſo I am knowen.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Corinthians 1:12:

With his hands behind his back he walked through the echoing rooms. In the reddish mist his shadow flitted darkly across the mirrors on the walls.

1930, Ivan Lukash, chapter VIII, in Natalie Duddington, transl., The Flames of Moscow: Translated from the Russian, London: Peter Davies, →OCLC, page 92:

With insufficient light for easy discernment or comprehension

And still when loudliest howls the storm, / And darkliest lowers his native sky, / The king's fierce soul is in that form, / The warrior's spirit threatens nigh!

1846, R[obert] S[tephen] Hawker, “The Wreck”, in Echoes from Old Cornwall, London: Joseph Masters, […], →OCLC, stanza X, page 76:

Darkly painted machinery takes a great deal of light out of a shop; the rays seem to be absorbed into the somber pigments.

1906 October 4, “Light Colors for Machine Tools”, in Charles Kirchhoff, Geo[rge] W. Cope, A. I. Findley, editors, The Iron Age, volume LXXVIII, New York, N.Y.: David Williams Company […], →OCLC, page 877, column 1:

Cerro Colorado is composed of granitic rocks covered with a dark-colored desert varnish. The Sierra Cucapa are a lighter reddish-brown and lie in the background on the far side of Laguna Salada. They are also covered with a patina of desert varnish but not as darkly as the surface of Cerro Colorado. […] A minor weathering feature of the desert is a thin, shiny, reddish-brown to blackish coating called desert varnish that occurs on some desert rocks.

1998, John Minch, “Geology Roadlog”, in Lowell Lindsay, William G. Hample, editors, Geology and Geothermal Resources of the Imperial and Mexicali Valleys (San Diego Association of Geologists – Annual Field Trip Guides), San Diego, Calif.: San Diego Association of Geologists, →ISBN, pages 30–31:

He saw how the candlesticks shone darkly in the vicinity of the diamond flames in Shevele's ears and on her silk dress collar.

2016, Yehiel Yeshaia Trunk, chapter 21, in Anna Clarke, transl., edited by Piotr J. Wróbel and Robert M. Shapiro, Poyln: My Life within Jewish Life in Poland, Sketches and Images, Toronto, Ont., Buffalo, N.Y.: University of Toronto Press, →ISBN, page 149:

Set defenses permitted a coach to plan an attack with scant worry as to where he would find the offensive men. So our Tom Reilly schemed darkly and came up with the attack which pried apart the Brown Bowlers. His scheme was to double team every man in the defensive line by employing one back as an eighth lineman and spreading the enemy further by posting a wingback outside the strong end of an unbalanced line which had five men on this side of center.

1964, Stanley Woodward, Paper Tiger: An Old Sportswriter's Reminiscences of People, Newspapers, War and Work, chapter 3, page 33 of the 2007 University of Nebraska Press paperback edition

(figuratively) In a manner which is not readily visible or noticeable; inconspicuously

His secret wooing of the Norman lady who was so proud and stately was very dear to him, and the romance of it pleased him even more than the mere material joys he hoped some day to gain from it. Proud as she was, womanlike she at least deigned to listen to him, and his crafty brain schemed darkly to take opportunity as it came, and make her his own by treachery.

1907, Cyril Ranger Gull as Guy Thorne, The Serf, chapter 5

(figuratively) In a manner which retards or prevents discernment; clandestinely

Secondly, The Covenant was then revealed more darkly and obſcurely, but now the diſpenſation of it, is more cleare and evident: the light is now marvellous, it is as the Sunne ſhining at noone-day. […] Though it was revealed before, yet it was but darkly, but now it is revealed more clearly ſince the coming of our Saviour Chriſt; […]

1651, Peter Bulkeley [i.e., Peter Bulkley], “The Second Difference, that the One was More Dark, the Other Gives Clearer Light”, in The Gospel-covenant; or, The Covenant of Grace Opened. […], 2nd enlarged and corrected edition, London: Printed by Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC, page 168:

Strange friend, past, present, and to be, / Loved deeplier, darklier understood; / Behold I dream a dream of good / And mingle all the world with thee.

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto CXXVII, page 199:

(figuratively) In a manner which is difficult to understand, or which retards or prevents understanding; incomprehensibly

Here, as Genevieve sat musing, in apparent slumber, on her situation of peril, and her hope of liberty, her sentinels, who had hitherto walked at a surly distance from her, now chanced to pass nearer; and she heard one of them say, “She sleeps, thou need'st not whisper; -I tell thee it must be done to-night.” “What must be done?” said his companion, “for hitherto thou hast spoken thy purpose darkly.”—“The queen must be removed this night,” said the other. “Here have been missives from the bishop, who, amid the thunders of the siege, found leisure to receive and answer the letters of King Philip, touching the matter of the queen's thraldom, and to send the order thou wottest of, and which must be suddenly obeyed.”

1824, Charles Robert Maturin, The Albigenses, chapter 16

(figuratively) In a manner which tends to produce uncertainty or confusion; bewilderingly

But the God I had cried to answer me / When my destiny darkliest frowned, / And He showed me a reef of rocks in the sea, / Whereunto I clung, and there I found / On a coral jag the goblet of gold, / Which else to the lowermost crypt had rolled.

1845, Friedrich Schiller, “The Diver. A Ballad.”, in James Clarence Mangan, transl., Anthologia Germanica. German Anthology: A Series of Translations from the Most Popular of the German Poets. … In Two Volumes, volume I, Dublin: William Curry, Jun. and Company; London: Longmans, Brown and Co., →OCLC, page 39:

Certain portions of the conversation of the talkative old clerk, which had wearied me at the time, now recurred to my memory with a new significance; and a suspicion crossed my mind darkly, which had not occurred to me while I was in the vestry.

1859 November 26 – 1860 August 25, [William] Wilkie Collins, “Hartright’s Narrative”, in The Woman in White. […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, […], published 1860, →OCLC, part II, section IX, page 212, column 1:

Pierrot the photographer is utterly mute; always lurking darkly in the background and probing unwanted with his camera, he is the "foreboding presence" in this film [La Nuit américaine (Day for Night, 1973) by François Truffaut], as the television actor was in Domicile conjugal.

1976, James Monaco, “Truffaut: Intimate Politics: L’Enfant sauvage, Les Deux Anglaises et le Continent, Une Belle Fille comme moi, La Nuit américaine”, in The New Wave: Truffaut, Godard, Chabrol, Rohmer, Rivette, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 92:

(figuratively) In a manner which produces an inward conviction of future misfortune; ominously

a darkly comic dystopian drama

There was a laughing Devil in his sneer, / That raised emotions both of rage and fear; / And where his frown of hatred darkly fell, / Hope withering fled—and Mercy sighed farewell!

1814, Lord Byron, “Canto I”, in The Corsair, a Tale, London: […] Thomas Davison, […], for John Murray, […], →OCLC, stanza IX, page 12, lines 225–228:

By visible evidence, this Saturday morning is a comparatively placid one. Earlier in the week a young man had died after being stabbed in a flat, and from the overpass at Archway Road, darkly referred to as “suicide bridge,” another man had jumped to his death.

2018 February, Robert Draper, “They are Watching You—and Everything Else on the Planet: Technology and Our Increasing Demand for Security have Put Us All under Surveillance. Is Privacy Becoming just a Memory?”, in National Geographic, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2018-06-14:

(figuratively) In a morbid manner; morbidly, sinisterly

sȕmōrno

in a morbid manner — see also morbidly, sinisterly


out of pocket

After three races he was £10 out of pocket.

A local doctor had bought one canvas and but for that lucky chance he would have been out of pocket.

1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 17:

(idiomatic) Lacking funds, or suffering a financial loss; broke.

Like a coward, he called his agent's work number and left a voicemail that he'd be out of pocket for several days but would try to check his messages here and there.

2006, Lauren Dane, Sudden Desire, page 20:

Sir, Senders is still in Yosemite camping with his family. He'll be out of pocket until tomorrow night.

2011, Boyd Morrison, chapter 4, in The Catalyst:

I'm going to be out of pocket for a while. Doing some...training.

2012, Vicki Hinze, Acts of Honor, page 196:

(idiomatic, of a person) Not available; unable to be reached.

(idiomatic) Wild or inappropriate; unexpected.


outwardly

From Middle English outwardly, outwardli, utwardliche, equivalent to outward + -ly.

The terrorist was outwardly a bank clerk.

If only she would wake and close her mouth, mentally prayed the outwardly unflinching girl. Later the doctor came, and sheltered by his presence the sick woman's husband stood in the doorway.

1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 208:

Externally or on the outside, or on the surface.


lots

I feel lots better about it now that we've talked.

I care lots about the humane treatment of animals.