guzzle

en-verb

guzzle (third-person singular simple present guzzles, present participle guzzling, simple past and past participle guzzled)

guzzles (present singular third-person)
guzzling (participle present)
guzzled (participle past)
guzzled (past)

Attested since 1576. Possibly imitative of the sound of drinking greedily, or from Old French gouziller, gosillier (“to pass through the throat”), from gosier (“throat”), and akin to Italian gozzo (“throat; a bird's crop”).

This car just guzzles petrol.

2004, Mike Rigby, quoted in The Freefoam Roofline Report, http://michaelrigbyassociates.com/pages/research/quarterly/readreport35166.htm
China continues full steam ahead and the Americans continue to guzzle fuel, while supply becomes restricted.

(by extension) To consume anything quickly, greedily, or to excess, as if with insatiable thirst; often said of gas-powered vehicles.

тъпча се

(by extension) to consume anything greedily

опустоши́ть

about запа́сы еды́


chockablock

en-adj

chockablock (comparative more chockablock, superlative most chockablock)

more chockablock (comparative)
most chockablock (superlative)

/ˈt͡ʃɒkəˌblɒk/

Dance music is chockablock with anonymous artists, but few have concealed themselves with quite the dedication of the Knife.

2009 March 27, Alexis Petridis, “Electronic review: Fever Ray, Fever Ray”, in The Guardian

Haberman’s book is chockablock with scoops, comprehensively leaked to the press before publication, but what singles it out from the competition is its perceptiveness about Trump’s character and the way his private vices became public menaces.

2022 October 9, Peter Conrad, “Confidence Man: The Making of Trump and the Breaking of America review […] ”, in The Observer

(by extension) Jammed tightly together, jam-packed; very crowded; completely filled or stuffed.


Armageddon

/ˌɑː(ɹ).məˈɡɛ.dn̩/

/ˌɑɹ.məˈɡɛ.dn̩/

From Ancient Greek Ἁρμαγεδών (Harmagedṓn), used in Revelation 16:16, referring to Mount Megiddo, the place of the last battle at the Last Judgment; from Hebrew הר מגידו / הַר מְגִדּוֹ (har megiddo).

he-l

הַר מְגִדּוֹ

הר מגידו / הַר מְגִדּוֹ (har megiddo)

Some say the end is near
Some say we'll see Armageddon soon
I certainly hope we will
I sure could use a vacation from this ...

(by extension) Any end of the world, especially by way of a cataclysmic battle or something analogous to one.


metamorphose

en-verb

metamorphose (third-person singular simple present metamorphoses, present participle metamorphosing, simple past and past participle metamorphosed)

metamorphoses (present singular third-person)
metamorphosing (participle present)
metamorphosed (participle past)
metamorphosed (past)

/ˌmɛtəˈmɔːˌfəʊz/

/ˌmɛɾəˈmɔɹˌfoʊz/

/ˌmɛɾəˈmɔɹˌfoʊs/

From French métamorphoser, from Old French metamorphose, from Latin metamorphōsis; see metamorphosis.

In fact, perhaps this is the pure and perfect incest: the brother realising that the sister’s virginity must be destroyed in order to have existed at all, taking that virginity in the person of the brother-in-law, the man whom he would be if he could become, metamorphose into, the lover, the husband; by whom he would be despoiled, choose for despoiler, if the could become, metamorphose into the sister, the mistress, the bride.

1936, William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom!

Environmental problems are not objectively existing physical phenomena amenable to reliable analysis and diagnosis. They are social constructions whose meaning and significance metamorphose and wax and wane according to changeable human interest.

1995, Ian Robottom, Hart Paul, “Behaviorist EE Research: Environmentalism as Individualism”, in The Journal of Environmental Education, volume 26, number 2, →DOI, page 8

In fresh snow air can pass with little obstruction from the atmosphere through the snowpack to the ground: given life by differences in the temperature gradient, the snowpack breathes. But time changes that. The snow may metamorphose into what is called equitemperature, or ET, snow.

1995 January 30, Cullen Murphy, “In Praise of Snow”, in The Atlantic

(by extension, intransitive) To undergo some transformation.


witch-hunt

(by extension) An attempt to find and punish or harass a group of people perceived as a threat, usually on ideological or political grounds.

Even fewer people could believe that the UNCW administration would actually undertake a witch hunt against me, even going so far as to invoke their right to read my personal e-mails because they were on the university's system.

2008, Mike Adams, Feminists Say the Darndest Things: A Politically Incorrect Professor Confronts "Womyn" on Campus, Penguin

I defended myself vigorously on that complaint as well; also mentioning that Julie Ann Wilks had always disliked me and had been conducting “a witch hunt” against me. As soon as I said the words “witch hunt” Katy interrupted and wouldn't let me continue […]

2012, Hugh Maguire, My First 40 Jobs: A Memoir, iUniverse, page 308

The media is really on a witch-hunt against me. False reporting, and plenty of it - but we will prevail!

2016 May 15, Donald Trump, tweet quoted in 2019, Lindy West, The Witches Are Coming, Hachette Books

(by extension) A public or political campaign or investigation which smears a person or group.


gybe

gybe (third-person singular simple present gybes, present participle gybing, simple past and past participle gybed)

gybes (present singular third-person)
gybing (participle present)
gybed (participle past)
gybed (past)

Probably from Dutch gijben (obsolete), gijpen; cognate with Danish gibbe, German gieben, giepen, Swedish gipa, gippa.
The noun is derived from the verb; compare Dutch gijb (obsolete), gijp (“act of gybing; a boom”).

jiipata

of a fore-and-aft sail or its boom: to shift from one side of a sailing vessel to the other

(by extension, obsolete) Often as gybe at: to balk, hesitate, or vacillate when faced with a course of action, plan, or proposal.


gybe

(by extension) A sudden change in approach or direction; vacillation.


refrain

From French refrain, from the Old French verb refraindre (“to break off, repeat”), from Latin re- (“back, again”) + frangō (“break”); compare Occitan refranhs (“a refrain”), refranher (“to repeat”). See refract and the verb refrain.

(by extension) A much repeated comment, complaint, or saying.


cross-link

(12)For the identification of cross-links between terrorism investigations and judicial proceedings against suspects of terrorist offences, reliable identification data is crucial. Due to the uncertainties regarding alphanumerical data especially for third country nationals, it should be possible to exchange biometric data. Due to the sensitive nature of biometric data and the impact processing of biometric data has on the respect for private and family life and the protection of personal data, as enshrined in Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, a strict necessity test should be applied by the competent authorities and Eurojust in each case.
(13)As information about existing cross-links to other judicial proceedings is most useful at an early stage of the investigation, it is necessary that the competent authorities provide information to Eurojust as soon as judicial authorities are involved. If the competent national authorities are already aware of cross-links, they should inform Eurojust accordingly.

2021 December 11, Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EU) 2018/1727 of the European Parliament and the Council and Council Decision 2005/671/JHA, as regards the digital information exchange in terrorism cases, COM(2021) 757 final, 2021/0393(COD), recitals 9–14


cross-link

cross-link (third-person singular simple present cross-links, present participle cross-linking, simple past and past participle cross-linked)

cross-links (present singular third-person)
cross-linking (participle present)
cross-linked (participle past)
cross-linked (past)

muodostaa verkkosidos

to form a link between adjacent chains of a polymer

Article 20 of the "General Data Protection Regulation” concerns immunity from automated profiling except under specified circumstances. It is conceivable that this may affect future applications of e.g. ANPRS systems (which already permit the automated and undetected identification of vehicles) combined with CCTV and face recognition software, especially if cross-linked to other individual data. (Presumably, no issues arise when the transport data are anonymised instead of cross-linked and cross-linked on a locational rather than an individual basis.) However, such cross-linking could conceivably be necessary in order to model and understand the behaviour of drivers and the extent to which it can be explained by other attributes, even if ‘measures’ such as personalised traffic management are not implemented.

2014, European Commission, Directorate-General for the Information Society and Media, Putting the IC into ‘Policy’ - Strategic analysis for optimising the role of ICT in EU policy delivery – Final report, Publications Office, →DOI, page 66

Over 220 news items on Chafea’s website were cross-linked with social media promotion, webinars on funding opportunities, communication guidance for beneficiaries and an upgrade of the database’s download features. In addition, cross-linking with DG SANTE’s website and the Health-EU Newsletter improved the communication of Commission measures to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

2022 August 7, REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Implementation of the third Programme of Union Action in the field of health in 2020, COM(2022) 328 final

(loosely) To connect the references of a pool of data to each other.


topography

en-noun

topography (countable and uncountable, plural topographies)

/təˈpɒɡɹəfi/

/təˈpɑɡɹəfi/

First attested in 1432. From Middle English topographye, from Latin topographia, from Ancient Greek τοπογραφία (topographía), from τόπος (tópos, “place”) + γράφω (gráphō, “I write”).

With good humor if predictably, the emotional topography of the faire facilitates a kind of liberation from both the closet and the cruelty of high school cliquedom.

2014, Rachel Lee Rubin, Well Met: Renaissance Faires and the American Counterculture, page 283

(by extension) A figurative landscape; a structure of interrelated ideas, etc.


damp squib

The anonymous oracle, the author of this pamphlet, is an example of entertaining dullness. He has manufactured a very damp squib; he is a serious man in motley; and practical ideas occasionally drop in among his fantastic vaticinations.

1858 May 29, The Launceston Examiner, Tasmania, page 6, column 2

It sounds very token, another damp squib which will probably end up benefiting more bureaucrats than artists or scientists.

1999 June 30, Fiachra Gibbons, quoting John Calder, “Arts and science ‘damp squib’”, in The Guardian

Arsène Wenger confessed: "The result was not an accurate indication of the match." Certainly, at half-time it seemed unlikely that Arsenal would catch fire so spectacularly because the first half was a damp squib of a display from Wenger's team, as Newcastle initially showed no ill-effects from their Old Trafford ordeal.

2012 December 29, Paul Doyle, “Arsenal's Theo Walcott hits hat-trick in thrilling victory over Newcastle”, in The Guardian

A third collection of David Foster Wallace's essays contains genius and damp squibs[.]

2012 December 30, Mark O'Connell, “Both Flesh and Not by David Foster Wallace – review”, in The Observer, →ISSN

That whole campaign was a damp squib, they cranked it up as a real possibility that Scotland might win, and when we actually got there it didn't happen like that, and everybody came home quite early with their tails between their legs.

2013, Alistair Moffat, Susan Mansfield, Alexander Smith, The Great Tapestry of Scotland: The Making of a Masterpiece

Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit coordinator, took the criticism one step further, dubbing the U.K. proposal a “damp squib” that reduces Europeans to “the status of ‘third-country nationals’ in the U.K., with fewer rights than British citizens are offered throughout the EU.”

2017 July 17, Yasmeen Serhan, quoting Guy Verhofstadt, “One Issue That Could Break the Brexit Talks”, in The Atlantic

How did Kamala Harris go from being a rising star to a damp squib? [title]

2024 April 16, Arwa Mahdawi, “‘How did Kamala Harris go from being a rising star to a damp squib?”, in The Guardian

(idiomatic, by extension) Anything that does not work properly, or fails to come up to expectations; a dud.


DPS

DPS (countable and uncountable, plural DPSs)

(video games) Initialism of damage per second (a standard way to calculate the damage dealt to other players or creatures in online role-playing games.)

(by extension, video games) A player or unit whose primary role is to deal the maximum amount of damage possible (as opposed to holding the attention of the enemy, healing, or other tasks).


areola

areola (plural areolas or areolae or areolæ)

areolas (plural)
areolae (plural)
areolæ (plural)

/ˌæ.ɹiˈəʊ.lə/

Borrowed from Latin āreola (“small vacant space, garden”), diminutive of ārea. Doublet of areole.

bor

(by extension, anatomy) Any small circular area that is different from its immediate environment, such as the colored ring around the pupil of the eye (iris) or an inflamed region surrounding a pimple.


home theater

(by extension) A dedicated room for such a system.


kanban

en-noun

kanban (countable and uncountable, plural kanbans or kanban)

From Japanese 看板 (かんばん, kanban), from 看 (kan, “visible”) + 板 (“board or card”), developed and first used in the Toyota Production System.

kanban board

The first thing that often differentiates a daily standup in a kanban team from other standup meetings is that a kanban team tends to focus on the work on the board rather than on the individual people in the team.

2014, Joakim Sunden, Marcus Hammarberg, Kanban in Action, Manning

(by extension) A system to manage, visualise, and improve work across teams, often as part of an agile methodology.


tiller

From Middle English teler, from Anglo-Norman telier (“beam used in weaving”), from Medieval Latin telarium, from Latin tēla (“web”).

der

(aviation, by extension) A steering wheel, usually mounted on the lower portion of the captain's control column, which is used to steer the aircraft's nosewheel or tailwheel to provide steering during taxi.


single point of failure

en-noun

single point of failure (plural single points of failure)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-single point of failure.wav

The intact twine in Dylan's beef Wellington was a single point of failure.

(by extension) A minor mistake that creates a chain reaction.


kaizen

kaizen (countable and uncountable, plural kaizens)

From Japanese 改善 (kaizen かいぜん), from Middle Chinese 改善 (kój-dʒjén) (compare Mandarin gǎishàn 改善), from Old Chinese 改善 (*qˁəʔ-ɡenʔ "to correct errors"), from 改 ("to change") + 善 ("good").
Introduced to English in 1959 by Boyé Lafayette De Mente in his book Japanese Etiquette and Ethics in Business.

This is a big mistake, because Japanese railways were largely built using British equipment and technology. But what they have done since is ruthlessly improve and refine it, using Kaizen principles.

2023 June 28, Sir Michael Holden, “Comment: 'There will be more Nunehams': We need some serious Kaizen... and we need it now”, in RAIL, number 986, page 3

(by extension) Continuous improvement generally.


home cinema

(rare, by extension) A dedicated room for such a system.


COBRA

(UK politics, by extension) Acronym of Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms.


COBRA

(UK politics, by extension) A cabinet committee meeting that would use a COBR room

(UK politics, by extension) A cabinet committee that would meet using a COBR room


storehouse

This old book is a genuine storehouse of useful cooking tips.

(figurative, by extension) A single location or resource where a large quantity of something can be found.


upswing

Newspapers reported an upswing in the company's sales last month.

Terrorist bombing in the 1970s wrecked this area, […]. Now, more than 30 years on, Translink has been able to capitalise on the upswing in rail use to reconfigure the station as the North West Multimodal Transport Hub.

2021 December 15, Robin Leleux, “Awards honour the best restoration projects: The Greater Anglia Award for the Best Entry for 2021: Derry”, in RAIL, number 946, page 54

(by extension) An upward trend or an increase in activity.


high-octane

en-adj

high-octane (comparative higher-octane, superlative highest-octane)

higher-octane (comparative)
highest-octane (superlative)

So what if the Greeks never had BMX bikes? This year's Olympic Games, which kick off August 8 in China, add high-octane competitions—BMX racing and open-water swimming—and include sports like table tennis taken to Olympian levels.

2008 January–February, Matt Bean, “Your cultural calendar: 7 things to look forward to this year”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 1, →ISSN, page 135

Will the exponential growth in TV rights income at home and abroad that has fuelled the endless inflation of the Premier League’s high-octane balloon ever level off?

2016 October 24, Owen Gibson, “Is the unthinkable happening – are people finally switching the football off?”, in The Guardian, London

(by extension) High powered, energetic, forceful or dynamic.


uproarious

uproarious (comparative more uproarious, superlative most uproarious)

more uproarious (comparative)
most uproarious (superlative)

/ʌpˈɹɔː.ɹɪ.əs/

/ˌʌpˈɹɔ.ɹi.əs/

From uproar + -ious (a variant of -ous (“suffix forming adjectives from nouns, to denote possession or presence of a quality in any degree, commonly in abundance”)).

Yet as with Booksmart, the summer's earlier riff on that Apatovian classic, there are times when Good Boys feels a little too nice to actually be uproarious. In more ways than one, it's the training wheels for a better comedy—a slightly edgier and funnier one.

2019 August 14, A. A. Dowd, “Good Boys Puts a Tween Spin on the R-rated Teen Comedy, to Mostly Funny Effect”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2021-03-04

(by extension) Extremely funny; hilarious.


daddy longlegs

en-noun

daddy longlegs (plural daddy longlegs or daddy longlegses)

daddy longlegs (plural)
daddy longlegses (plural)

/ˈdædɪ ˈlɒŋ(ɡ)lɛɡz/

Another spider neighbor that is commonly found in homes is the daddy longlegs. The daddy longlegs is often called a cellar spider.

2010, Lou Bensinger, Tiny Invaders in Your Home, page 10

daddy long-legs spider
daddy long-legs spider

(loosely) The daddy long-legs spider, any spider of the family Pholcidae.


dervish

From Ottoman Turkish درویش (derviş), from Persian درویش (darvêš, “poor; Sufi mystic”), from Middle Persian dlgwš (driyōš, “poor, needy”).

der

The Hejaz war, meanwhile, would be one of dervishes against regular troops.

1926, T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, New York: Anchor, published 1991, page 104

(Islam) An itinerant Sufi mystic practicing voluntary poverty in devotion to God, and often engaging in ecstatic rituals.

(by extension) Any irregular guerrilla fighter resembling the Sudanese Mahdi in equipment, uniform, tactics, etc.


passacaglia

en-noun

passacaglia (countable and uncountable, plural passacaglias)

Borrowed from Italian passacaglia, from Spanish pasacalle, from pasar (“to pass”) + calle (“street”).

(music, by extension) Any piece of classical music with similar characteristics.


systematic

en-adj

systematic (comparative more systematic, superlative most systematic)

more systematic (comparative)
most systematic (superlative)

Borrowed from Late Latin systēmaticus, from Koine Greek συστηματικός (sustēmatikós), from σύστημᾰ (sústēma, “a composite; system”) + -ῐκός (-ikós, adjective suffix). Cognate with French systématique and Italian sistematico. By surface analysis, system + -atic.

der

συστηματικός

suffix

(by extension) Methodical, regular and orderly.


uptown

en-adj

uptown (comparative more uptown, superlative most uptown)

more uptown (comparative)
most uptown (superlative)

uptown problems

She's been living in her uptown world / I bet she's never had a backstreet guy

1983, Billy Joel (lyrics and music), “Uptown Girl”

(chiefly Canada, US, by extension) Of or relating to an affluent area or population.


hostler

From Middle English hostiler, from Middle French hostiler, from Old French hostelier, from Medieval Latin hostilārius, hospitālārius, from hospitāle "inn", from hospitālis "hospitable", from hospes "host, guest". Both hostler and its alternative form ostler originally meant simply "innkeeper", and acquired a specific association with horses in the second half of the 14th century. Doublet of hosteler and hotelier.

(by extension, US) A railway worker employed to care for a locomotive or other large engine; especially, a yard jockey.

parowozowy

person employed to care for a locomotive


hue and cry

en-noun

hue and cry (usually uncountable, plural hue and cries or hues and cries)

hue and cries (plural)
hues and cries (plural)

From Middle English heu and cri, from the Anglo-Norman legal phrase hu e cri.

And because I haven't written off easily, a great hue and cry has gone up that there is something wrong with our whole system of administering justice.

1955, Caryl Chessman, Trial by Ordeal, quoted in 1956 September, Walter P. Armstrong, Jr, book review, American Bar Association Journal, page 854

(by extension) A loud and persistent public clamour, especially one associated with protest or the making of some demand.


ACC

(New Zealand, by extension) Initialism of the accident compensation scheme, administered by the Accident Compensation Corporation.


staple

staple (countable and uncountable, plural staples)

From Middle English staple, from Anglo-Norman estaple, Old French estaple (“market, (trading) post”), from Late Latin stapula, from Frankish *stapul, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *stapulaz (“post”), from Proto-Indo-European *stebʰ- (“post, stem”). Compare staff. Doublet of étape and etymology 2.


heavyweight

(uncountable, by extension) A similar division and contestant in other sports.


GI

en-noun

GI (countable and uncountable, plural GIs)

(by extension) One who is demanding and strict, in the manner of a stereotypical member of the military.


inseminate

en-verb

inseminate (third-person singular simple present inseminates, present participle inseminating, simple past and past participle inseminated)

inseminates (present singular third-person)
inseminating (participle present)
inseminated (participle past)
inseminated (past)

From Latin inseminatus, past participle of inseminare (“to sow”). See seminate.

(by extension) To impregnate (to cause to become pregnant).


uphill

en-adv

uphill (comparative more uphill, superlative most uphill)

more uphill (comparative)
most uphill (superlative)


uphill

en-adj

uphill (comparative further uphill, superlative furthest uphill)

further uphill (comparative)
furthest uphill (superlative)

For a large part of this game, England once again looked like a team suffering from the rigours of a long season and faced an uphill task when Hofmann put Germany in front.

2022 June 7, Phil McNulty, “Germany 1-1- England”, in BBC Sport


Neptunian

From Latin Neptūnius (“of or pertaining to the Roman god Neptune”), from Neptūnus (“the Roman god Neptune”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nebʰ- (“to become damp, cloudy”)) + -ius (suffix forming adjectives from nouns); analysable as Neptune + -ian. The English word is cognate with French neptunien (“pertaining to the Roman god Neptune, pertaining to the sea, pertaining to Neptunism, Neptunian; proponent of Neptunism, Neptunist”), German Neptunier (“proponent of Neptunism, Neptunist”).

cog

Tyrian garbs, / Neptunian Albion's high teſtaceous food [i.e., oysters], / And flavour'd Chian wines with incenſe fum'd / To ſlake Patrician thirſt: for theſe, their rights / In the vile ſtreets they proſtitute to ſale; / Their ancient rights, their dignities, their laws, / Their native glorious freedom.

1740, John Dyer, “The Ruins of Rome. A Poem.”, in Poems. … Viz. I. Grongar Hill. II. The Ruins of Rome. III. The Fleece, in Four Books, London: Printed by John Hughs, for Messrs. R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley, […], published 1759, →OCLC, pages 42–43

Where the inſulting ſtreams of Chaos roar, / Where boiſt'rous waves the rugged ſhores ſurround, / And ſtorms and whirlwinds in the air abound, / There meet two rivals of Neptunian race, / Hoſtilities begin with fierce grimace: [...]

1774 November, G. D., “The Tar’s Engagement”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym; Edward Cave], editor, The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, volume XLIV, London: Printed […], for D[avid] Henry, and sold by F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC, page 534, column 1

Since lately the Neptunian admiral (Sextus Pompeius) when driven from the sea, fled with his burnt ships, having menaced those chains to Rome, which as a friend he had taken off from perfidious slaves.

1830, Horace, “Ode IX. To Mæcenas.”, in William Smart, transl., Horace Literally Translated for the Use of Students, London: Printed for Whittaker, Treacher & Co., […], →OCLC, page 105

(by extension, rare) Of or pertaining to water or the sea.

neptunian dyke

A special character of these mounds [the Kess-Kess carbonate mud mounds] is the numerous Neptunian dikes. These are fracture systems, which have been filled with other sediments and minerals. It is suspected that these dikes represent spring conduits (seeps) during the formation of the mounds, and that the seeping fluids were of a hydrothermal nature [...].

2008, Martin Hovland, “Ancient and Modern Analogues”, in Deep-water Coral Reefs: Unique Biodiversity Hot-spots (Springer–Praxis Books in Life Sciences Incorporating Aquatic and Marine Sciences), Dordrecht, Berlin: Springer; Chichester, West Sussex: Praxis Publishing, section 7.3.2 (Kess-Kess Formations, Morocco), page 170

(by extension, geology) Formed by the action of water.

In the Neptunian ſyſtem it is ſuppoſed that the poſitions of the ſtrata have been determined, partly by the figure of the baſe or ground on which they have been depoſited, and partly by their depoſition having been a ſpecies of cryſtallization.

1802, [John Murray], “Part III. Of the Arguments in Support of the Huttonian and Neptunian Theories, from the Positions of the Strata of the Globe.”, in A Comparative View of the Huttonian and Neptunian Systems of Geology: In Answer to the Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth, by Professor [John] Playfair, Edinburgh: Printed for Ross and Blackwood, […]; London: T. N. Longman, and G. Rees, →OCLC, page 106

In several important cases, it is difficult to determine to what degree the metamorphosis has extended, since it remains uncertain whether the form and structural relations of the mountain-mass are to be considered as remains of the neptunian sedimentary formation, or as a product of the metamorphosis itself; for the original form of the neptunian, as well as of the volcanic sedimentary rocks have often become so changed by erosion, and so much alike in both classes of rocks, that this distinctive character is wholly lost; [...]

1848 April, B[ernhard] Studer, “On Mineral Metamorphism”, in Robert Jameson, editor, The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, Exhibiting a View of the Progressive Discoveries and Improvements in the Sciences and the Arts, volume XLIV, number LXXXVIII, Edinburgh: Adam & Charles Black; London: Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, →OCLC, page 372

(by extension, geology, historical) Of, pertaining to, or supporting Neptunism (“a discredited theory that rocks were formed from the crystallisation of minerals in the early Earth's oceans”).

neptunien

of, pertaining to, or supporting Neptunism


DOT

en-noun

DOT (countable and uncountable, plural DOTs)

(by extension, video games) A weapon or ability that deals damage over time as opposed to or in addition to direct damage.


pander

Boccaccio
Greek mythology
Pandarus
Troilus and Cressida
Troilus and Criseyde

From Middle English pandare, from Chaucer’s character Pandare (in Troilus and Criseyde; see also Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida), from Italian Pandaro (found in Boccaccio), from Latin Pandarus (found in Greek mythology), from Ancient Greek Πάνδαρος (Pándaros).

Two small Hindu boys were waiting for me outside—small for their years (about fourteen) but infinitely worldly-wise. Hindu boys are, first, panders, and second, remarkably skillful and pertinacious beggars.

1944 May, Gilbert E. Fuller Jr, “Chanute and Points West”, in The Atlantic

(by extension) One who ministers to the evil designs and passions of another.


fashion plate

I'm no fashion plate, and don't dress to impress.

(by extension) A person who dresses in especially stylish fashions.


paper trail

Beginning in the late 20th century, researchers were able to analyze the mtDNA and Y chromosomes of multiple races around the world, revealing a DNA paper trail that led back to eastern Africa around 200,000 years ago.

2012, Paul Parsons, Science in 100 Key Breakthroughs

Even if you delete posts or your digital paper trail, the data stills exists and can be retrieved later in life.

2016, Katherine Yaun, Etiquette at School, page 37

(by extension) Physical evidence of something that occurred in the past.


varicella

varicella (usually uncountable, plural varicellas or varicellae)

From New Latin varicella, diminutive of variola (“pox”).

(loosely) Any of various other eruptive diseases, such as swinepox, hives, and varioloid.


marzipan layer

by analogy with the layer of marzipan below the icing on a Christmas cake

(by extension) all those just below the highest echelon in any sphere


Old Bailey

Originally "The Bailey", a street running outside the western wall of medieval London; from the word bailey, a Middle English term for the outermost wall or court of a fortification. The courthouse built nearby in the 16th century, alongside old Newgate Prison, took its name from the street.

(by extension) The English legal system.


Whitehall

en-proper noun

Whitehall (countable and uncountable, plural Whitehalls)

From Middle English whit (“white”) + halgh (“corner, nook; hall”).

It notes: "The Welsh Government's view is that genuine 'levelling up' cannot simply mean a sprinkling of new, ad hoc rail projects decided in Whitehall, it has to be part of a strategic approach to promoting growth in all parts of the UK."

2020 December 2, Philip Haigh, “When will Wales's wish for rail improvements come true?”, in Rail, page 32

(UK politics, by extension, metonymically) The British government or civil service


task-force

(by extension) a similar group of individuals assigned a task


mulligan

en-noun

mulligan (countable and uncountable, plural mulligans)

Attested since the 1930s in the sense “chance to re-take a golf stroke”; probably from the name Mulligan, after a golfer who replayed a stroke. See Wikipedia for more information.

uusi käsi

card games: opportunity to draw a new initial hand

Don't do poorly in your first interview; you won't get a mulligan.

It was a low moment when he lost to a smooth-talking Southern smart-ass like Bill Clinton—good thing he got a mulligan, sort of, when Georgie ran.

2006, Shelley Lewis, Naked Republicans, Villard, page 172

While I too believe in investing in alternative energy resources, you don't get a mulligan when a nuclear weapon or a dirty bomb goes off.

2007, Steve Alten, The Shell Game, page 279

I wasn't sure, but I had a hunch all I needed was a mulligan. If I could only reconnect with her somehow and begin all over again.

2008, Ross Dale, Embedded, Sourcebooks, page 202

OK, we don’t give politicians who lost an election the opportunity for a mulligan, even when they falsely claim that the election was stolen.

2023 January 17, Paul Krugman, “Will It Be Morning in Joe Biden’s America?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN


alpha female

(by extension) A self-assured, independent, self-driven, influential, or strong woman; an alphette.


spritz

From Yiddish שפּריץ (shprits, noun) and שפּריצן (shpritsn, verb).

(by extension) A small amount of something; a dash or jot.


footnote

a mere footnote in history

If we are another footnote to Plato, Plato was himself already a footnote to still earlier footnotes, in an endless chain of footnotes to footnotes

2012, Martin McQuillan, Political Archive of Paul de Man, page 72

In that context Scotland's fate is a modest element, a symptom of wider fragmentation of the current global order, a footnote to the fall of empire and the Berlin Wall, important to us and punchdrunk neighbours like France and Italy, a mere curiosity to emerging titans like Brazil.

2014 September 8, Michael White, “Roll up, roll up! The Amazing Salmond will show a Scotland you won't believe”, in The Guardian

(by extension) An event of lesser importance than some larger event to which it is related.


tapestry

tapestry (countable and uncountable, plural tapestries)

From Middle English tapiestre, from Old French tapisserie (“tapestry”), from Ancient Greek τάπης (tápēs), from an Iranian source.

European adventurers found themselves within a watery world, a tapestry of streams, channels, wetlands, lakes and lush riparian meadows enriched by floodwaters from the Mississippi River.

2013 January-February, Nancy Langston, “The Fraught History of a Watery World”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 1, archived from the original on 2013-01-22, page 59

(by extension) Anything with variegated or complex details.

kudos

anything with variegated or complex details


smoking

smoking (countable and uncountable, plural smokings)

From Middle English smokyng, smokynge, equivalent to smoke + -ing.

(by extension) The burning and inhalation of other substances, e.g. marijuana.


literacy

literacy (countable and uncountable, plural literacies)

computer literacy

media literacy

Prof Alan McKee, who led the project, argues that young adults should be taught “porn literacy” to help them “read porn well” and look for healthy and ethical depictions of sex.

2023 June 9, Tory Shepherd, “Can pornography be healthy? If it follows six rules, perhaps”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

(by extension) The ability to understand and evaluate something.


scarlet letter

The scarlet letters that current discourse has slapped upon people deemed “problematic,” deemed “unreachable” for feminism, have created consternation […]

2018, Dianna E. Anderson, Problematic: How Toxic Callout Culture Is Destroying Feminism

(figurative, by extension) A highly visible stigma.


curate

en-verb

curate (third-person singular simple present curates, present participle curating, simple past and past participle curated)

curates (present singular third-person)
curating (participle present)
curated (participle past)
curated (past)

What I love about DVRs is that they really allow you to curate your experience of television.

2007 May 16, “TV Networks Woo Advertisers with Fall Line-Up”, in NPR_TalkNation

During the past five years I had the good fortune to be editor of Poetry Northwest. The magazine's mission includes curating a dialogue between poetry, the other arts, and civic life.

2010 May, David Biespiel, “This Land Is Our Land”, in Poetry, volume 196, number 2, pages 151–158

To grasp how this all works, think of the concepts of editing and curating, adopted from publishing and art but now used constantly in the fashion world to imply judgment, taste and discernment.

2010 November 28, Laura Compton, “Shopping sites redefine fashion”, in San Francisco Chronicle, Style, page G1

From there, click the Notifications tab and scroll down to Groups. This will bring up a page that allows you to curate what sort of Group-related activity results in e-mail alerts.

2011 February, Seth Porges, “Digital Clinic”, in Popular Mechanics, volume 188, number 2, page 105

Sometimes, you just want to shop for the pure joy of looking at cool things. And the app for Fab, a curated shopping site, is just the place to do that.

2012 June 10, “TechBits: Fab lets you shop, if not sort”, in Washington Post

The line between reporter and reader will blur as a growing number of people create, curate, and circulate content.

2014, Astra Taylor, chapter 3, in The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age, Henry Holt and Company

Contemporary curating has become an absurdity. Outfits are curated. Salads are curated. Twitter feeds are curated. Bennington College in Vermont invites prospective students to curate their applications.

2015 April 18, David Balzer, “‘Reading lists, outfits, even salads are curated – it’s absurd’”, in The Guardian

Unlike some top American actors, who carefully curate heroic roles, the British actor relishes swimming in moral murkiness, “the gray areas where you can’t easily put a definition.”

2022 October 22, Maureen Dowd, “Ralph Fiennes, Master of Monsters”, in The New York Times

(by extension, transitive) To apply selectivity and taste to, as a collection of fashion items or web pages.


rock paper scissors

(by extension) Any situation where strategies are not transitive, meaning each strategy is strong against some strategies and weak against others in a loop such that there is no universally best option.


illiteracy

en-noun

illiteracy (countable and uncountable, plural illiteracies)

/ɪˈlɪtəɹəsi/

/ɪˈlɪt͡ʃɹəsi/

(uncountable, by extension) Unlearnedness; the state of being ignorant or unlettered.


flex

en-verb

flex (third-person singular simple present flexes, present participle flexing, simple past and past participle flexed)

flexes (present singular third-person)
flexing (participle present)
flexed (participle past)
flexed (past)

From Latin flexus, past participle of flecto (“to bend”).

I've got billions and billions of rhymes to flex / 'Cause I've got more rhymes than Carl Sagan's got turtlenecks

2004, “Hey Fuck You”, in To the 5 Boroughs, performed by Beastie Boys

They say it's lonely at the top, but this the best shit ever / Hey, don't you see me out here shinin'? Bitch I'm barely flexin'

2017, “Kill Jill”, in Boomiverse, performed by Big Boi ft. Killer Mike and Jeezy

(intransitive, slang, by extension) To flaunt one's superiority.


Methuselah

From Hebrew מְתוּשֶׁלַח (M'tušelaḥ), also spelled מְתוּשָׁלַח (M'tušalaḥ).

(by extension) Any person or thing that has lived to a very old age.


checkout

en-noun

checkout (countable and uncountable, plural checkouts)

(Internet, by extension) The process of confirming and paying for an online purchase.


royalty

royalty (countable and uncountable, plural royalties)

→ Danish: royalty

→ Italian: royalty

→ Norwegian Bokmål: royalty

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: royalty

→ Swedish: royalty

From Middle English royaltee, roialtee, royalte, from Old French roialté, roiauté, realté (compare earlier Old French realted (“realm, kingdom”)), from Vulgar Latin *rēgālitās, from Latin rēgālis, equivalent to royal + -ty.

intellectual property
intellectual property

(by extension) Payment made to a writer, composer, inventor etc for the sale or use of intellectual property, invention etc.

ռոյալթի

payment made to owner of intellectual property


tipping point

First use of the term appears c. 1959 in the New York Times.

(mathematics, catastrophe theory, figuratively, by extension) The point at which a slow, reversible change becomes irreversible, often with dramatic consequences.

引爆點

the point at which a slow, reversible change becomes irreversible


crevasse

From French crevasse. Doublet of crevice.

I moved my left hand to the small of her back, just above her belt-line and stroked the peach fuzz in her crevasse with my fingers.

2010, Scott R. Riley, A Lost Hero Found, page 111


web page

Be sure to check out my web page on the Internet when you get home.

(loosely) A website, by extension from the home page of the site.


check out

en-verb

check out (third-person singular simple present checks out, present participle checking out, simple past and past participle checked out)

checks out (present singular third-person)
checking out (participle present)
checked out (participle past)
checked out (past)

Steve: (referring to his girlfriend attempting suicide in front of both of them) Look, I was just an observer.
Bishop: You haven't answered my question.
Steve: Well, what do you think?
Bishop: We'll never know, will we?
Steve: Well, say I just sat there—or we just sat there—and watched her check out. Think that would have been crazy?

1972, The Mechanic (1972 film), Charles Bronson (as Mr. Bishop), Jan-Michael Vincent (as Steve)

With a bottle full of sleeping pills and a long list of sins
She'd already planned on checking out before she checked in

2012, Gwen Sebastian, Met Him In a Motel Room

(intransitive, euphemistic, by extension) To die.


bitumen

en-noun

bitumen (countable and uncountable, plural bitumina or bitumens)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mélange a trois-bitumen.wav

From Middle English bithumen, bitumen, from Latin bitūmen. Doublet of bitume.

(by extension) Any one of the natural hydrocarbons, including the hard, solid, brittle varieties called asphalt, the semisolid maltha and mineral tars, the oily petrolea, and even the light, volatile naphthas.


phonology

phonology (countable and uncountable, plural phonologies)

From phono- (prefix denoting sound) + -logy (suffix denoting a branch of learning, or a study of a particular subject).

confix

Sign language linguists have produced many volumes of description of the phonology and morphology of signs and the syntax of sign languages.

1995, David F. Armstrong, William C[larence] Stokoe, Sherman E. Wilcox, “The Universe of Gesture”, in Gesture and the Nature of Language, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, published 1996, page 21

The term ‘phonology’ may seem odd in the context of sign linguistics, since the word has as its root phon – the Greek word for ‘sound’. […] However, sign linguists now prefer the term phonology to emphasise that the same level of structure exists in sign language and spoken language, despite the differences in modality. The study of sign phonology began with the work of William Stokoe, the American founder of sign linguistics.

1999, Rachel Sutton-Spence, Bencie Woll, “The Structure of Gestures and Signs”, in The Linguistics of British Sign Language: An Introduction, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, published 2003, page 154

[A]s with spoken languages, sign language phonologies are built from a repertoire of distinctive features that are assembled following principled combinatorial constraints. […] ASL [American Sign Language] linguistic properties / a. A phonology based on hand shape, orientation of the hands, the location and movement of the hands within the signing space, and contact of the hands with each other and the body.

2014, Gerald P. Berent, “Sign Language–Spoken Language Bilingualism and the Derivation of Bimodally Mixed Sentences”, in Tej K. Bhatia, William C. Ritchie, editors, The Handbook of Bilingualism and Multilingualism (Blackwell Handbooks in Linguistics), 2nd edition, Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, part II (Neurological and Psychological Aspects of Bilingualism and Multilingualism), page 352

(by extension, uncountable) The study of the way components of signs function in a sign language, and which components are distinctive units within the language; (countable) the way components of signs function within a given sign language.

fonologia

study of the way components of signs function in a sign language; way components of signs function within a given sign language


quarters

2017, Jennifer S. Holland, For These Monkeys, It’s a Fight for Survival., National Geographic (March 2017)http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/03/macaques-monkeys-indonesia-endangered-pet-trade/
The local pet trade thrives on captured or orphaned baby macaques—often malnourished and kept in tight quarters.

(by extension) The place where someone or something lives


collective

From Middle French collectif, from Latin collēctīvus, from collēctus, past participle of colligō (“I collect”), from com- (“together”) + legō (“I gather”). Compare French collectif. Doublet of colectivo.

There are, however, a number of contemporary artists and art collectives that have defined their practice precisely around the facilitation of dialogue among diverse communities.

2005, Zoya Kocur, Simon Leung, Theory in contemporary art since 1985, page 76

Critical Art Ensemble is one of many art collectives operating on the principle that information is power and that it is most effectively made available through a combination of science and aesthetics.

2006 March 5, Holland Cotter, “The Collective Conscious”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

Today’s collectives create together, tour together, exhibit together, live together, survive together, eat together, sleep together, march together, fight together and party together, too.

2021 October 13, Adam Bradley, “The Creative Collectives Finding Strength in Numbers”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

(by extension) A group dedicated to a particular cause or interest.


dumb blonde

(by extension, rare) A man of similar type.


dong

Unknown. Perhaps from The Dong with a Luminous Nose, an 1894 poem by Edward Lear about a mythical creature. Attested since the 1930s.

(slang, by extension) A dildo, specifically a synthetic anatomical replica of the penis.


change-up

This RFQ is a real change-up.


acid test

Green's Dictionary of Slang
Merry Pranksters
Penske Media Corporation
Rolling Stone

From acid + test; sense 1 (“test involving the reaction of an acid with another chemical”) and sense 2 (“rigorous test or appraisal of the quality or worth of something”) refer to the use of nitric acid to test if a metal is gold; true gold is not affected by the acid.
Sense 3 (“party based around the use and advocacy of the psychedelic drug LSD”) is a pun referencing the slang term acid (“LSD”). The original “acid test” parties were thrown by the Merry Pranksters group between 1965 and 1966 and advertised by the slogan “Can you pass the acid test?”

The Pranksters had just held an Acid Test at the Fillmore Auditorium, a big ballroom in the middle of one of San Francisco's big Negro slums, the Fillmore district. It was a wild night. Hundreds of heads and bohos from all over the Bay area turned out, zonked to the eyeballs.

1968, Tom Wolfe, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Bantam, published 1997, page 225

(by extension, historical) In the 1960s, a party based around the use and advocacy of the psychedelic drug LSD (known in slang as acid).


hui

Shelley's document hadn't mentioned the billionaire at all, and although Mira had said at the hui that Lemoine used the airstrip frequently, she'd seemed to suggest that the farm was his destination, not his point of departure, whicvh would imply that he was living somewhere else.

2023, Eleanor Catton, Birnam Wood, page 154

(New Zealand, by extension) A meeting to discuss plans held by an organization, especially one that considers itself progressive.


curveball

Life has thrown him a few curveballs.

The season’s first episode, “Bart Gets an F,” got the highest ratings in its history, but “Treehouse of Horror” was the real curveball: a genre-busting effort that proudly punched above the show’s expectations.

2015 March 10, David Sims, “Without Sam Simon, 'The Simpsons' Wouldn't Be What It Is Today”, in The Atlantic

There are two curveball nominations, one perhaps a popularity bid and the other a credibility bid. The popular one is Bieber’s Purpose.

2016 December 6, Spencer Kornhaber, “The Culture Wars in the Grammy Album Nominations”, in The Atlantic

But from time to time, June throws up a curveball, in the shape of unusual and hard to predict meteorological events.

2017 June 13, Stephen Moss, “June likes to throw a curveball now and again”, in The Guardian

And I think that’s an example of where faced with a seemingly intractable political reality, technology produces a solution that is a total curveball and not that imaginable a few decades ago.

2021 June 11, Ezra Klein, “Sam Altman on the A.I. Revolution, Trillionaires and the Future of Political Power” (32:37 from the start), in The Ezra Klein Show (podcast), spoken by Sam Altman

(by extension, chiefly US) An unexpected turn of events initiated by an opponent or chance; an exception or outlier.


white noise

white noise Ten seconds of white noise (canonical)

The rest was white noise; I was sick of listening to who I was supposed to be.

2017, C. R. Robertson, Elements of Fae, page 137

(by extension) Speech that goes ignored or uncomprehended.


panoply

Borrowed from Ancient Greek πανοπλία (panoplía, “suit of armour”).

bor

(by extension, historical) A collection or display of weaponry.

(by extension) Something that covers and protects.

Indeed, for much of the Arab world, the Turkish term Seferberlik, which originally referred to conscription, has come to represent the panoply of civilian suffering in the Great War.

2016 November, Eugene Rogan, “The First World War and its Legacy in the Middle East”, in Amal Ghazal, Jens Hanssen, editors, The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Middle-Eastern and North African History, →DOI

(by extension) A broad or full range or complete set.


haystack

From Middle English haystak, haystake, hey stak, equivalent to hay + stack.

But the point of confining the Kansas City gun experiment to the worst parts of the worst neighborhoods was to make the haystack just a little smaller, and to make the inevitable trade-off between fighting crime and harassing innocent people just a little more manageable.

2019, Malcolm Gladwell, Talking to Strangers, page 339

(more generally) Any place or collection of items through which one searches for something that is rare and hard to find.


marketplace

Endorsing the liberal anti-interventionist credo that the marketplace should act as the "site of verification," the advocates of white lead opposed government intervention for the sake of open economic competition, which they claimed revealed its true value and thus should be the sole determinant: "When the railways were built, the stage coaches disppeared; they died a timely death. If zinc white is truly superior to white lead, it will kill us in the marketplace, but the government should not intervene." These were the words of Expert-Bezançon, in his February 1903 deposition to the parliamentary committee examining the bill for banning lead-based pigments in paint.

2021, Judith Rainhorn, The Colour of Controversy..., p. 10

(by extension) The world of commerce and trade.


blue moon

en-noun

blue moon (countable and uncountable, plural blue moons)

(countable, idiomatic, by extension) A long time.


touchstone

"Expectation of life" is an elastic term: the touchstone here is rather the aggregate amount of work that the locomotive does during its working life.

1950 January, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 12

Although there has not been very much direct treatment of the Holocaust in analytic moral philosophy, the Nazis appear again and again as examples or touchstones in the construction of moral theories.

2002 January, Eve Garrard, “Forgiveness and the Holocaust”, in Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, page 147

In the print firestorm that followed the publication of the royal couple's letters, the generalissima was one polemical touchstone. The Annotations to The Kings Cabinet Opened itself depicted the queen as an enemy to king and country: […]

2012, Ann Baynes Coiro, Thomas Fulton, Rethinking Historicism from Shakespeare to Milton, page 243

(figurative, by extension) A standard of comparison or evaluation.


shard

From Middle English shard, scherd, scheard, schord, from Old English sċeard (“a broken piece; shard”), from Proto-West Germanic *skard, from Proto-Germanic *skardą (“notch; nick”), from *skardaz (“damaged; nicked; scarred”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut”). Akin to Scots schaird (“shard”), French écharde (“splinter”), Dutch schaarde (“tear; notch; fragment”), German Scharte (“notch”), Old Norse skarð (“notch, hack”) ( > Danish skår).
The database sense is perhaps derived from the online gaming sense or from SHARD (System for Highly Available Replicated Data), name of a 1980s database product.

cog

2014, Paul Salopek, Blessed. Cursed. Claimed., National Geographic (December 2014)https://web.archive.org/web/20150212214621/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/12/pilgrim-roads/salopek-text
Inside its exhibit hall, behind panes of glass, in a white-lit lab, a team of restorers works on an ancient Byzantine floor: 44 square yards of stone shards rescued from Lot’s Cave Monastery.

(by extension) A piece of material, especially rock and similar materials, reminding of a broken piece of glass or pottery.


gravamen

en-noun

gravamen (plural gravamens or gravamina)

/ɡɹəˈveɪmɛn/

/ɡɹəˈveɪmən/

/ɡɹəˈveɪmɪnə/

Learned borrowing from Late Latin gravāmen (“physical inconvenience”) and Medieval Latin gravāmen (“grievance”), from Latin gravāre + -men (suffix forming neuter nouns of the third declension). Gravāre is the present active infinitive of gravō (“to burden, weigh down; to oppress”), from gravis (“heavy; grave, serious; hard, troublesome”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷreh₂- (“heavy”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs).
The plural form gravamina is derived from Late Latin gravāmina.

lbor

That neither Dr. Leask, nor myself, acted on such a principle, is the whole gravamen of our opponent's furious assaults upon us.

1869 September 1, “The Glory of Christ in the Creation and Reconciliation of All Things. With Special Reference to the Doctrine of Eternal Evil. A Course of Sermons Preached at Eaton Chapel, Eaton Square, London. By Samuel Minton, […]. Second Edition. London: Longman, Green & Co. [book review]”, in William Leask, editor, The Rainbow: A Magazine of Christian Literature, with Special Reference to the Revealed Future of the Church and the World, volume VI, number 69, London: W. Kent & Co., […], →OCLC, page 432, column 1

Prescription drug suppliers are more likely to add even unverified reports that stand as aberrations in pharmacoepidemiologic studies when they associate a use of the product with an appreciable gravamen of injury.

1989, Sidney H. Willig, “Impact of Drug Products Liability on Needs for Pharmacoepidemiologic Studies and Expertise”, in Stanley A. Edlavitch, editor, Pharmacoepidemiology, volume I, Chelsea, Mich.: Lewis Publishers, section 2 (Drug Epidemiology and the Law), pages 62–63

The grit of your argument—gravamen; I haven't used that in a long time since I practiced—the gravamen of your argument is that availability is the test, the key. […] Tell me where is the gravamen of your argument?

1990 April 26, Lawrence J[ack] Smith, Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1989: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred First Congress, Second Session on H.R. 993: Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1989 […] (Serial No. 93), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 25

The gravamen of this essay is that these signifiers (the jargon of SF [science fiction]) function not merely as a set of isolated signs but as descriptions of a stock set of prototype worlds which they logically and conventionally imply, and which permit writers to specify mainly what (if anything) is unique about their world vision rather than what is shared with the rest of SF.

2002 July 31, Eric S[teven] Raymond, “SF Words and Prototype Worlds”, in SF Words, archived from the original on 2021-05-07

(by extension) The essence or most important aspect of a piece of writing, a point of argument, etc.; the gist.


recrudescence

en-noun

recrudescence (countable and uncountable, plural recrudescences)

From Late Latin recrudescentia, from Latin recrūdēscēns, present participle of recrūdēscere (“to recrudesce”), from recrūdēscō (“to become raw again”); from re- (“again”) + crūdēscō (“to grow harsh or violent; to become worse”) (from crūdus (“bleeding, bloody, raw”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *krewh₂- (“blood outside the body”)) + -ēscō (suffix forming verbs indicating a becoming of something)). The word is cognate with French recrudescence, Italian recrudescenza, Spanish recrudescencia, recrudecimiento.

der

Very probably however, ſuppoſing Mr. Dwight's Account to be Fact, not more than one Conſtitution in one Million is liable to ſuch repeated and diſtant Recrudeſcences of this Diſeaſe.

1754, J[ames] Kirkpatrick, “Section II. Of the Variolous Fuel, or Internal Inherent Cause of the Small Pox.”, in The Analysis of Inoculation: Comprizing the History, Theory, and Practice of It: With an Occasional Consideration of the Most Remarkable Appearances in the Small Pox, London: Printed for J. Millan, […]; J[ames] Buckland, […]; and R[alph] Griffiths, […], →OCLC, page 34

In other cases the wound opens of itself, and discharges a peculiar matter. Something similar is known to take place in traumatic tetanus; and although in this affection, as well as in hydrophobia, we cannot explain why the phenomenon of recrudescence does not occur in many fatal examples, yet we ought not therefore to deny that in those cases in which it does appear, the connexion between the recrudescence and the disease is most remarkable.

1833, J. L. Bardsley, “HYDROPHOBIA”, in edited by John Forbes, Alexander Tweedie, and John Conolly, The Cyclopædia of Practical Medicine; […], volumes II (EME–ISC), London: Sherwood, Gilbert, and Piper; Baldwin and Cradock, […]; Whittaker, Treacher, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 484, column 1

It becomes very difficult under many circumstances to distinguish between an epidemic solely due to recrudescence of the cholera principle retained from previous outbreak, and an epidemic the result of fresh introduction.

1877, Charles Alexander Gordon, “Recurring Epidemics; Recrudescence”, in Notes on the Hygiene of Cholera for Ready Reference, London: Bailliere, Tindall, & Cox; Madras: Gantz Brothers, […]; Bombay; Calcutta: Thacker & Co., →OCLC, paragraph 5, page 10

(medicine, by extension) The acute recurrence of a disease, or its symptoms, after a period of improvement.


tidemark

(by extension) any mark showing the limit of some past activity


cavalcade

From French cavalcade, from Old French cavalcade, from Old Italian cavalcata, from cavalcare (“to ride on horseback”), from Medieval Latin caballicō, from Vulgar Latin caballus (“horse”). Doublet of chevauchee.

As soon as I visited this website, a cavalcade of dialog boxes started to appear on my screen; that's when I realized my computer was infected with a virus.

(by extension) An often dramatic series or chain of events or things.


panopticon

en-noun

panopticon (plural panopticons or panoptica)

From Ancient Greek πᾶν (pân, “all”) + ὀπτικός (optikós, “visible”). Coined by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham in 1787.

coin

Perhaps the construction of such a genetic panopticon is wise. But I doubt that the proud men who wrote the charter of our liberties would have been so eager to open their mouths for royal inspection.

2013, Maryland v. King (U.S. Supreme Court No. 12–207), Justice Scalia dissenting

The point is that while new terms of engagement (new regimens of power are installed to oversee the process of programization or new panoptica are devised) are being established, existing and/or new social projects continue to operate within the social space framed by the dominant discourse, which not only delays the progress of the intervention, but unsettles it.

2000, Crain Soudien, Carol Corneilse, “South African Higher Education in Transition: Global Discourses and National Priorities”, in Nelly P. Stromquist, Karen Monkman, editors, Globalization and Education: Integration and Contestation across Cultures, Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, part 3 (National Case Studies of Globalization Impacts), page 310

All this sounds like an unholy mess if one wants to produce a consistent, long-term database of biodiversity relevant information the world over. At the very least, it suggests that global panoptica are not the way to go in biodiversity data!

2005, Geoffrey C. Bowker, “The Mnemonic Deep: The Importance of an Unruly Past”, in Memory Practices in the Sciences (Inside Technology), Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, page 196

Panoptica are “all-seeing” systems such as penitentiary houses. They were famously theorized by Foucault as architectures of control, exemplary for forms of surveillance that discipline people and create particular kinds of subjects.

2020, Huub Dijstelbloem, Annalisa Pelizza, “The state is the secret: for a relational approach to the study of border and mobility control in Europe”, in Marieke de Goede, Esmé Bosma, Polly Pallister-Wilkins, editors, Secrecy and Methods in Security Research: A Guide to Qualitative Fieldwork, Abingdon, Oxon, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →DOI, part 1 (Secrecy complexities), section I (Secrecy, silence and obfuscation)

(figurative, by extension) A place in which people are subject to constant surveillance at totalitarian command.


diaspora

en-noun

diaspora (plural diasporas or diasporae or diasporai)

diasporas (plural)
diasporae (plural)
diasporai (plural)

→ Japanese: ディアスポラ (diasupora)

→ Korean: 디아스포라 (diaseupora)

From Ancient Greek διασπορᾱ́ (diasporā́, “dispersion”), from διασπείρω (diaspeírō, “to scatter”), from δια- (dia-, prefix indicating motion across or in all directions) + σπείρω (speírō, “to sow”).

bor

The African diaspora caused a melding of cultures, both African cultures and Western ones, in many places.

We're going to use her to train young people in the skills of maintaining these machines, and encourage the Indian diaspora in this country to get involved in our hobby of steam railways.

2023 July 12, Paul Clifton, “Network News: Saved: Trust protects Adrian Shooter's legacy”, in RAIL, number 987, page 29


wind up

en-verb

wind up (third-person singular simple present winds up, present participle winding up, simple past and past participle wound up)

winds up (present singular third-person)
winding up (participle present)
wound up (participle past)
wound up (past)

snitches get stitches and wind up in ditches

The movie wound me up emotionally.

(transitive, figuratively, by extension) To tighten (someone or something) by winding or twisting.

Try not to wind up the kids too much right before bedtime.

(transitive, figuratively, by extension) To excite.

Of all their regrets, it was their inability to score an away goal that might wind up Klopp the most. Sadio Mané wasted a glorious chance in the first half and, late on, Mohamed Salah turned his shot against a post after a goal-line clearance had spun his way.

2019 May 1, Daniel Taylor, “Lionel Messi magic puts Barcelona in command of semi-final with Liverpool”, in The Guardian

(transitive, figuratively, by extension) To upset; to anger or distress.


grill

en-noun

grill (plural grills or (jewelry) grillz)

1655, from French gril, from Middle French gril, from Old French greïl, graïl (“gridiron”), from graïlle (“grate, grating”), from Latin crātīcula (“gridiron”), diminutive of crātis (“hurdle, wickerwork”), q.v. Related to griddle, hurdle.

(colloquial, by extension) The front teeth regarded collectively.


cirrhosis

From Ancient Greek κιρρός (kirrhós, “tawny”) and -osis.

(by extension) Interstitial inflammation of kidneys, lungs, and other organs.


double up

en-verb

double up (third-person singular simple present doubles up, present participle doubling up, simple past and past participle doubled up)

doubles up (present singular third-person)
doubling up (participle present)
doubled up (participle past)
doubled up (past)

(poker, by extension, intransitive) To double one's amount of chips by winning an all-in pot.


exedra

From Ancient Greek ἐξ (ex, “out of”) + ἕδρα (hédra, “seat”).

(by extension) A curved bench with a high back.


first base

en-noun

first base (countable and uncountable, plural first bases)

(singular only, by extension) Completion of the first phase of an activity.


PAP

positive airway pressure
positive airway pressure#English

(medicine) Acronym of positive airway pressure. (PAP ventilation)

(by extension) A positive airway pressure machine, a PAP device

NPPV

non-invasive positive pressure ventilation


fiver

From five + -er (measurement suffix) or + -er (“supporter”).

I bought the chocolates; they were only a fiver.

(slang, by extension) The value in money that this represents.


minefield

Political minefield awaits Prayut government including threat from an old foe

2022 June 1, Ken Lohatepanont, “Political minefield awaits Prayut government”, in Thai Enquirer, Bangkok: Thai News Corp, retrieved 2022-06-01


black and white

black and white (plural black and whites)

The police car sense reflects a traditional livery scheme for such cars.

Them punk motherfuckers in black and white ain't the only motherfuckers I gots to fight.

1992, “A Nigga Witta Gun”, in The Chronic, performed by Dr. Dre, Death Row Records

(US, slang, by extension) The police, a police officer or the clothing they wear.


saddle

→ Japanese: サドル (sadoru)

From Middle English sadel, from Old English sadol, from Proto-West Germanic *sadul, from Proto-Germanic *sadulaz (“saddle”). Further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *sod-dʰlo-, from *sed- (“to sit”) + *-dʰlom (a variant of *-trom (suffix forming nouns denoting instruments or tools)), though the Oxford English Dictionary says this “presents formal difficulties”.
cognates
* Danish sadel
* Dutch zadel
* German Sattel
* Icelandic söðull
* Low German Sadel
* Russian седло́ (sedló)
* Saterland Frisian Soadel
* Scots sadil
* Swedish sadel
* West Frisian seal

saal

seat for a rider placed on the back of a horse or other animal

satula

something resembling a saddle in appearance or shape

satula

depression located along the axial trend of an anticline

A seat for a rider, typically made of leather and raised in the front and rear, placed on the back of a horse or other animal, and secured by a strap around the animal's body.

Chiefly preceded by the: horse-riding as an activity or occupation.

saddle:

Synonym of saddle brown (“a medium brown colour, like that of saddle leather”)


wheelhouse

From wheel + house. Sense 3 (“(baseball) a pitch location which is favourable to the hitter”) references the fact that a vessel is controlled from its wheelhouse (sense 1.2), and sense 4 (“a person’s area of authority or expertise”) is a figurative use of sense 3.

The pitch was right in his wheelhouse, and he hit a grand slam.

The ball was up in my wheelhouse, and I got round on it, got the meat of that Ritchie Ashburn bottle bat solidly on the ball. I'll never in my life hit a ball any better.

1997, Bryan L. Jones, “Baseball”, in Mark Twain Made Me Do It & Other Plains Adventures, Lincoln, Neb., London: University of Nebraska Press, page 74

The next pitch was close to my wheelhouse so I just let 'er rip. I got ahold of it and shot it to left field on the line.

2007, Alan Schwarz, “Ken Griffey Jr.: On Going Deep with His Father”, in Once upon a Game: Baseball’s Greatest Memories, Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company, page 60, column 1

Here is the ball, in my wheelhouse. I slide my hips out of the way, put myself in place to hit the coldie of a lifetime.
Applied to tennis.

2009, Andre Agassi, Open: An Autobiography (A Borzoi Book), New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, page 215

(Canada, US, baseball, by extension from sense 1.2) A pitch location which is favourable to the hitter.


ankylosed

en-adj

ankylosed (comparative more ankylosed, superlative most ankylosed)

more ankylosed (comparative)
most ankylosed (superlative)

The pipy arms, ending in bony claws were outthrust as if ankylosed in the posture of an eternal dreadful groping.

August 1935, Clark Ashton Smith, Weird Tales, "The Treader of the Dust"

it was a strange spot, this forest of dark petrifacts, this grove of ankylosed trees.

1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 133

(figuratively, by extension) Stiff, cramped, rigid.


A-side

(by extension) The track on the A-side of a tape or record.


Tetris

From Russian Те́трис (Tétris), coined by the creator of the game, Alexey Pajitnov, from the Russian numerical prefix тетра- (tetra-, “tetra-”) (as all of the game's pieces contain four segments) and те́ннис (ténnis, “tennis”), his favourite sport.

For some it's staying low on the play field, steadily advancing through the levels, for others its trying to clear the board entirely or scoring an unprecedented number of tetrises.

See figure 3 for an example of a logical decision tree that indicates whether there is a possibility to score a tetris.

1995, Kurt Driessens, “Relational Reinforcement Learning”, in Recent Trends in Data Type Specification, page 276

Maximizing the number of tetrises (the number of times that four rows are cleared in a Tetris game) is NP-complete.

2003, Tandy Warnow, Binhai Zhu, Computing and combinatorics: 9th annual international conference

Score two Tetrises in two drops playing Marathon.

2007, Barbara Smith, Chad Yancey, Video Game Achievements and Unlockables

(video games, by extension) The act of clearing four lines at once (the maximum possible) in Tetris.


slump

Probably of North Germanic origin: compare Danish slumpe (“to stumble upon by chance”), Norwegian slumpe (“happen by chance”), Swedish slumpa (“to sell off”). Compare also German schlumpen (“to trail; draggle; be sloppy”), dialectal Dutch slompen (“to walk clumsily”).

cog

TOM. We haven't had sex with each other in five months.
MICHAEL. We're in a slump, I know that."

2004, Jonathan Tolins, The Last Sunday in June

A heavy or helpless collapse; a slouching or drooping posture; a period of poor activity or performance, especially an extended period.

(slang by extension) A period when a person goes without the expected amount of sex or dating.


Karen

From Danish Karen, a vernacular form of Catherine that arose in medieval Denmark. The sense "middle-aged woman" comes from the popularity of the name among baby boomers and Gen-Xers. The derogatory usage was popularized via African-American Vernacular English.

This Karen threatened to get me fired if I didn't give her a free meal.

2021 Adam Korson as Phil Orley in "Ft. Ghost Child", episode five of SurrealEstate
The organization wasn't meeting my needs, so I became a total Karen and asked to see the manager. He wasn't available so I took my business elsewhere.

(by extension, derogatory) Any person, especially female, exhibiting an exaggerated sense of entitlement.


front door

(by extension) The entire main entrance to a building or house.


prism

→ Japanese: プリズム (purizumu)

→ Korean: 프리즘 (peurijeum)

→ Thai: ปริซึม (bprí-sʉ̂m)

[ˈpʰɹ̠̊ɪzm̩]

Learned borrowing from Late Latin prisma (“(geometry) prism”), from Ancient Greek πρίσμᾰ (prísma, “anything sawn; sawdust; (Koine, geometry) prism”), from πρῐ́ζω (prízō) (a variant of πρῑ́ω (prī́ō, “to saw”), further etymology unknown) + -μᾰ (-ma, suffix forming neuter nouns denoting the effect or result of an action, etc.).

prizëm

transparent block used to reflect or refract light

(by extension, surveying) A retroreflector (“device which reflects light back to its source with minimal scattering”) which is usually attached to a surveying pole as a target for a total station which emits a light beam at the device and calculates how long it takes to be reflected back in order to measure distance.


gender bender

(by extension) An event where people are encouraged to dress in the clothes of another sex, even if they would normally not.


zip code

United States Postal Service
ZIP Code
Zone Improvement Plan

From ZIP Code, a trademark of the United States Postal Service, from ZIP (“Zone Improvement Plan”), introduced 1963.

For example, the foreign zip code H24 JZL is most certainly not a number.

1990, Alan Simpson, Paul Lichtman, The First Book of Lotus 1-2-3, H.W. Sams & Company

Carrying the package to the stairs inside, I noticed it was addressed to Mom and me with a European zip code and stamp.

2011, Jaime Reed, Burning Emerald, Kensington Publishing Corp., page 46

Wallace and Brewer are almost certain to finish 1-2 in some order – no one else is even in the same zip code.

(sports, by extension) A grouping of athletes or teams with similar skill level.


Inquisition

(by extension) A harsh or rigorous interrogation that violates one’s rights.


heathen

en-adj

heathen (comparative heathener or more heathen, superlative heathenest or most heathen)

heathener (comparative)
more heathen (comparative)
heathenest (superlative)
most heathen (superlative)

From Middle English hethen, from Old English hǣþen, from Proto-West Germanic *haiþin, from Proto-Germanic *haiþinaz (“heathen, pagan”, adj), equivalent to heath (“heathland”) + -en. Cognate with West Frisian heiden, Dutch heiden, Middle High German heiden, German Heiden, German Heide, Swedish heden, Danish hedensk (from heden+sk), Icelandic heiðinn. See also Proto-Germanic *haiduz, Old Norse heiðr (honour, bright, moor), Icelandic heiður (honour).

inh

(by extension) Uncultured; uncivilized; savage; barbarian.


heathen

(by extension) An uncultured or uncivilized person, philistine.


taser

Jack Cover
Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle

Acronym of the science fiction story Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle. Coined in the early 1970s by the inventor Jack Cover originally as TSER, to which he later added the letter A to ease pronunciation. Genericization of the trademark Taser.

cattle prod

an electric shock device used to herd cattle

electric fence

a fixed installation electric shock barrier used to control livestock

mace

a self-defense chemical spray used to fend off attackers, similar use to personal tasers

(by extension) Any electroshock stun gun.


magistrate

/ˈmæd͡ʒɪstɹət/

(historical, by extension) A comparable official in medieval or modern institutions.


oblation

/əʊˈbleɪʃən/

/ɑːˈbleɪʃən/

From Middle English oblacioun, from Old French oblacion, from Latin oblātiō (“offering”), from offerō (“I offer, present”).

(by extension) A deed or gift offered charitably.


sleight of hand

en-noun

sleight of hand (countable and uncountable, plural sleights of hand)

Mental Floss
Pocket (service)
sleight of hand

From Middle English slegthe of hande, sleght of hond, equivalent to sleight + of + hand.
Compare Old French léger de main (cf. the contemporary French léger de main and the contemporary English legerdemain).

(by extension, idiomatic) Any form of skillful deception.


short circuit

en-verb

short circuit (third-person singular simple present short circuits, present participle short circuiting, simple past and past participle short circuited)

short circuits (present singular third-person)
short circuiting (participle present)
short circuited (participle past)
short circuited (past)

[H]is temporarily successful attempt to smear Redfield is an effort to short-circuit the narrative into premature and mistaken resolution.

1998, Catherine Nickerson, The Web of Iniquity

You do not need to follow your entire sales cycle if the customer wants to short-circuit it for you.

2002, Jim Kasper, Short Cycle Selling: Beating Your Competitors in the Sales Race

My mother, determined to short-circuit my outcry, would match my objections by pointing out an inherent reward for doing such work.

2003, Gina Hens-Piazza, Nameless, Blameless, and Without Shame: Two Cannibal Mothers Before a King

(transitive, by extension) To force termination of an ongoing process before its natural conclusion, by bypassing one or more intermediary steps.

At times, the Knicks’ offense looked short-circuited. Anthony, despite his cold hand, kept shooting. / “They all feel good, to be honest with you,” Anthony said. “It wasn’t long, it wasn’t short, they were bouncing off the rim, they were chippers, the same shot I hit all the time so I can’t stop taking my shots.”

2016 November 28, Mike Vorkunov, “Despite Flash of Rose’s Prime, Knicks Are Dazed by Westbrook and Thunder”, in The New York Times

(transitive, by extension) To impede or disrupt.


commie

Blend of communist + -ie (diminutive suffix).

blend

(derogatory, slang, by extension) Synonym of anticapitalist


tweedle

en-verb

tweedle (third-person singular simple present tweedles, present participle tweedling, simple past and past participle tweedled)

tweedles (present singular third-person)
tweedling (participle present)
tweedled (participle past)
tweedled (past)

said to be imitative, probably influenced by wheedle. Compare teedle, toodle, twiddle

onom

imitative

But I tweedled him into letting you try, and here you are, a real member of the company.

1897, M. Gerturde Fulton, “When Vincent Played the Title Rôle”, in The Vassar Miscellany, volume 27, page 141

(transitive, obsolete, by extension) To influence as if by fiddling; to coax; to allure.


violated

en-adj

violated (comparative more violated, superlative most violated)

more violated (comparative)
most violated (superlative)

(by extension) Abused, harmed or sexually victimized.


untangle

en-verb

untangle (third-person singular simple present untangles, present participle untangling, simple past and past participle untangled)

untangles (present singular third-person)
untangling (participle present)
untangled (participle past)
untangled (past)

/ʌnˈtæŋ.ɡəl/

It took a while, but he finally untangled the problem.

(transitive, by extension, figurative) To remove confusion or mystery from.


Gordian knot

/ˈɡɔːdɪən ˈnɒt/

/ˈɡoʊɹdɪən ˈnɑt/

From the name of a legendary knot tied to a pole near the temple of Zeus in Gordium. It was prophesied that whoever loosed the knot would become ruler of all Asia. Alexander the Great solved the puzzle by slicing through the knot and took it as a sign of Zeus' favor. He then proceeded to conquer much of the known world.

The knot which you thought a Gordian one, will untie itself before you.

1785 August 19, Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Peter Carr

The right hon. gentleman, who was doubtless aware of the popularity of the old English saying, "what is sauce for the goose should be sauce for the gander," shrewdly judged that he could not go far wrong if he cut the Gordian knot in which the publican's disagreement was bound, by declaring his conviction that what was good for the Crown and Cushion, in the Strand, was likewise good for the Three Jolly Tinkers, in Brick Lane; and that, to put an end to the vexed question, the shortest way would be to tar them all with the same brush.

1881, James Greenwood, chapter 10, in Low-Life Deeps

(by extension) Any intricate and complex problem having a simple solution.


cenacle

From Middle English cenacle, from Old French cenacle (modern French cénacle), from Latin cēnāculum (“dining room”).

I remember an anecdote of a well-known French theorist, who was debating a point eagerly in his cenacle. It was objected against him that he had never experienced love.

1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque

(by extension) A small circle or gathering of specialists (writers etc).


sentient

en-adj

sentient (comparative more sentient, superlative most sentient)

more sentient (comparative)
most sentient (superlative)

From Latin sentiēns (“feeling, perceiving”), present active participle of sentiō.

Not even a microbe? I don't want to blow up something that could evolve into a sentient species in a couple of billion years.

2002, André Bormanis, “Silent Enemy”, in Star Trek: Enterprise, season 1, episode 12, spoken by Jonathan Archer

Lemoine has been placed on “paid administrative leave” after publishing a transcript of conversations with LaMDA which he claims support his belief that the chatbot is sentient and comparable to a seven- or eight-year-old child. […] While Lemoine no doubt genuinely believes his claims, LaMDA is likely to be as sentient as a traffic light.

2022 June 14, Toby Walsh, “Labelling Google’s LaMDA chatbot as sentient is fanciful. But it’s very human to be taken in by machines”, in The Guardian

After more than 25 years as an artificial intelligence researcher[…]Dr. Goertzel knew he had finally reached the end goal: Desdemona, a machine he had built, was sentient. But a few minutes later, he realized this was nonsense.

2022 August 5, Cade Metz, “A.I. Is Not Sentient. Why Do People Say It Is?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

(loosely, chiefly science fiction) Possessing human-like awareness and intelligence.

բանական

science fiction: possessing human-like awareness, knowledge and intelligence


sentient

The merpeople and the sentients who lived on the beach often hitched rides on these creatures, steering them by pressure on exposed nerve centers.

1965, Philip José Farmer, The Maker of Universes

(loosely, chiefly science fiction) An intelligent, self-aware being.


bonnet

→ Scottish Gaelic: bonaid

From Middle English bonet, from Middle French bonet (Modern French bonnet), from Old French bonet (“material from which hats are made”), from Frankish *bunni (“that which is bound”), from Proto-Germanic *bundiją (“bundle”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to tie”).
Compare also Late Latin abbonis, obbonis (“ribbon of a headdress”), also of Germanic origin, from Frankish *obbunni, from *ob- (“above, over”) + *bunni.
Cognate with Old High German gibunt (“band, ribbon”), Middle Dutch bont (“bundle, truss”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌹 (gabundi, “bond”). More at over, bundle.

der

Make sure that the power buffer's lamb's-wool bonnet is clean. Change or rinse the bonnet frequently to avoid scratching the finish. Use the bonnet as a mitten to buff in the crevices and other areas that the power buffer can't reach.

2008, The Editors of Popular Mechanics, Popular Mechanics Complete Car Care Manual, page 297

(by extension) The polishing head of a power buffer, often made of wool.


holler

American variant of holla, hallo or hollo.

If you need anything, just give me a holler.

(by extension, colloquial) Any communication to get somebody's attention.

gebrul

by extension, any communication to get somebody's attention


destroyer

/dəˈstɹɔɪ.ɚ/

From destroy + -er. Designating a warship, it is ellipsis of torpedo-boat destroyer, the longer term appearing at the end of the 19th century and the shorter form early in the 20th.

(military) A larger warship with guided missile armament, usually intended for air defence or anti-ship roles. Often, but not always, larger than a frigate and smaller than a cruiser.

(science fiction, by extension) A starship of comparable role.


haven

From Middle English haven, havene, from Old English hæfen (“haven; harbour; port”), from Proto-West Germanic *habanu, from Proto-Germanic *habnō, *habanō (compare Dutch haven, German Hafen, Norwegian/Danish havn, Swedish hamn), from Proto-Germanic *habą (“sea”) (compare Old English hæf, Middle Low German haf, Old Norse haf (“sea”), German Haff (“bay or lagoon behind a spit”), perhaps, in the sense of "heaving sea", etymologically identical with Old Norse haf (“heaving, lifting, uplift, elevation”), derived from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to lift, heave”)), or from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂pnós (compare Old Irish cúan (“harbor, recess, haven”)). Doublet of abra.

cog

Since its conception, the European Union has been a haven for those seeking refuge from war, persecution and poverty in other parts of the world.

2011 December 21, Helen Pidd, “Europeans migrate south as continent drifts deeper into crisis”, in the Guardian


relay

From Middle French relai (“reserve pack of hounds”), from relaier (“to exchange tired animals for fresh”); literally, "to leave behind", from Old French relaier (“to leave behind”), from re- + laier (“to leave”), of uncertain origin.

смяна

a new set of anything that can be used to relieve the existing set when worn out

váltó

competition between teams where members of a team take turns completing parts of a course or performing a certain action — see also relay race


slippery

en-adj

slippery (comparative slipperier or more slippery, superlative slipperiest or most slippery)

slipperier (comparative)
more slippery (comparative)
slipperiest (superlative)
most slippery (superlative)

From Middle English slipperie, an extended form ( + -y) of Middle English slipper, sliper (“slippery”), from Old English slipor (“slippery”), from Proto-Germanic *slipraz (“smooth, slippery”), equivalent to slip + -er. Compare also Middle English slibbri, slubbri (“slippery”) borrowed from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German slibberich (“slippery”). Cognate with German schlüpfrig (“slippery”), Danish slibrig (“slippery”), Swedish slipprig (“slippery”).

cog

a slippery person

a slippery promise

(figuratively, by extension) Evasive; difficult to pin down.


Trojan horse

(by extension) A subversive person or device placed within the ranks of the enemy.


the Ashes

From a satirical obituary published in an English newspaper after its loss to Australia in 1882, announcing the death of English cricket and that "the body would be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia".

(rugby league, sports, by extension) A nominal trophy contested by England and Australia in other sports, especially rugby league.


public relations

Since the early twentieth century. The term gained popularity as a euphemism for propaganda after that originally neutral term acquired a negative connotation during the political upheavals of the early twentieth century.

to get bad public relations ― to have things happen that deteriorate the public image

(by extension, metonymically) The favorability of the public image of a person or organization.


morbid

en-adj

morbid (comparative more morbid, superlative most morbid)

more morbid (comparative)
most morbid (superlative)

From Latin morbidus (“diseased”), from morbus (“sickness”), itself from the root of morī (“to die”) or directly from Proto-Indo-European *mer- (“to rub, pound, wear away”).

der

(by extension) Taking an interest in, or fixating on, unhealthy or unwholesome subjects such as death, decay, disease.

morbidní

interested or fixated on death and decay

мрачен

unhealthy or unwholesome, especially psychologically

нездоровий

психологічно


Uranian

en-adj

Uranian (comparative more Uranian, superlative most Uranian)

more Uranian (comparative)
most Uranian (superlative)

Aphrodite Urania
Karl Heinrich Ulrichs
Plato

From Latin Ūrania (“muse of astronomy in Greek mythology”) + -an (suffix forming agent nouns). Ūrania is derived from Ancient Greek Οὐρᾰνῐ́ᾱ (Ouraníā, “muse of astronomy”), from οὐράνιος (ouránios, “of or relating to the sky, celestial, heavenly”) (from οὐρανός (ouranós, “the sky; heaven, home of the gods; the universe”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁wers- (“rain”)) + -ιος (-ios, suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘pertaining to’).
The alternative form Ouranian is derived from Ancient Greek οὐράνιος (ouránios).
Adjective sense 2 (“homosexual”) and the noun sense (“a homosexual”) refer to Plato’s work Symposium (c. 385–370 B.C.E.), where the goddess Aphrodite, in her heavenly aspect Aphrodite Urania (see adjective sense 3) is described as inspiring a noble form of affection between older and younger men. Compare German Urning (“a homosexual, Uranian”), Urnigtum (“homosexuality”), also referring to Aphrodite Urania, coined by the German writer Karl Heinrich Ulrichs (1825–1895) in 1864. By the 1900s, the use of the word in this sense had largely been supplanted by homosexual (see further at that entry). The term is no longer mainstream and is almost never used in modern contexts, though it has enjoyed a slight revival as a term for "gay man" as an analogue to lesbian.

der

/jʊˈɹeɪnɪən/

Mr. [William] Crabtree, whom Horrox [i.e., Jeremiah Horrocks] had, by letter, invited to this Uranian banquet, and who, in mathematical knowledge, was inferior to few, very readily complied with his friend's requeſt, and intended to obſerve the tranſit [of Venus] in the ſame manner with Horrox; but the ſky was very unfavourable to him, [...]

1761, “Astrophilus” [pseudonym], “An Account of Mr. Horrox’s Observations of the Transit of Venus over the Sun, in the Year 1639”, in Edmund Burke, editor, The Annual Register, or A View of the History, Politicks, and Literature, volume XV, London: Printed for R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley, […], published 1762, →OCLC, page 194, column 2

When, as previously mentioned, I first learned of and thought about the favorable circumstance of this conjunction, I immediately wrote to my most esteemed associate in astronomy, W[illiam] Crabtree, a man who has few superiors in the mathematical sciences. I did not doubt that a few very attentive as observers, could be invited to such a Uranian banquet. And that hope was not disappointed.

2012, Jeremiah Horrocks, “What Others Observed or could have Observed of This Conjunction”, in Wilbur Applebaum, transl., Venus Seen on the Sun: The First Observation of a Transit of Venus … Translated with Introduction and Notes (History of Science and Medicine Library; 29), Leiden, Boston, Mass.: Brill Publishers, →ISSN

(not comparable, by extension, historical, rare) Of or pertaining to astronomy; astronomical.


roadkill

en-noun

roadkill (usually uncountable, plural roadkills)


habergeon

From Middle English hauberjoun, from Old French hauberjon, haubergeon, from Early Medieval Latin (h)alsbergum.

The defensive armour, or coat of mail of a knight, or man at arms, (also called a hauberk or habergeon,) was[…]

The Egyptians wore a kind of tippet, or square piece with a hole in it for the head to pass through, covering the shoulders and breast; this is the hauberk or habergeon. It was of scale armour; and below it, to protect the rest[…]

1878, Susan Bogert Warner, The kingdom of Judah, by the author of 'The wide, wide world'., page 138

The knee-length mail shirt was called a hauberk or habergeon. But these shirts of mail didn't protect the legs. So, during the twelfth century, many soldiers began wearing mail pieces attached by leather on the front of their legs.

2005, James Stuart Bell, Carrie Pyykkonen, Linda Washington, Inside "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe": Myths, Mysteries, and Magic from the Chronicles of Narnia, Macmillan, page 63

(loosely) A hauberk, any coat of mail, less commonly even a coat of scale armour.


trophy

→ Japanese: トロフィー (torofī)

→ Korean: 트로피 (teuropi)

→ Malayalam: ട്രോഫി (ṭrōphi)

From Middle French trophée, from Latin trophaeum (“a sign of victory, a monument”), tropaeum, from Ancient Greek τρόπαιον (trópaion, “monument of an enemy's defeat”), from neuter of τροπαῖος (tropaîos, “of defeat”), from τροπή (tropḗ, “a rout, a turning of an enemy”).

трафе́й

object taken by a hunter or conqueror of their success

(criminology, by extension) An object taken by a serial killer or rapist as a memento of the crime.


metabolize

en-verb

metabolize (third-person singular simple present metabolizes, present participle metabolizing, simple past and past participle metabolized)

metabolizes (present singular third-person)
metabolizing (participle present)
metabolized (participle past)
metabolized (past)

From Ancient Greek μετᾰβολή (metabolḗ, “change, mutation”) + -ize.

der

We believe this to be the true way to teach zoölogy, for we doubt the value to a man of a mass of indefinite ill-digested text-book information. Occasionally an omnivore can take in every thin, and digest and so metabolize it as to organize it into healthy mental tissue. They are, however, the few.

1887 March 18, L. H., “Zoölogy in the college course”, in Science, volume IX, number 215, page 264

(by extension, transitive) To absorb and process as if by metabolism.


Edgar

From Old English Ēadgār, the name of early English kings, from Old English ēad (“rich”) + gār (“spear”). Compare Icelandic Auðgeir.

(slang, sometimes derogatory) A hairstyle often sported by Latino teenage boys that combines a bowl cut with a high fade.

(by extension) One who wears that hairstyle


war story

Embedded/Real-Time Systems: Send us your war stories and insights on programming in embedded systems […]

2004, C/C++ Users Journal, volume 22, page 61

(by extension) A description of a serious or difficult experience or ordeal.


sheet anchor

1691, Ezekiel Hopkins, An Exposition of the Ten Commandments, with Other Sermons, London: Nathanael Ranew, “The Ninth Commandment,” p. 62,
And doubtless when other Arguments have been baffled by a Temptation, this hath been a Sheet Anchor to the Soul, and hath often held it in the greatest Storms, when the Wind and Waves have beat most furiously against it.

[…] If you are afeard of goblins, brother, put your trust in the Lord, and he’ll prove a sheet-anchor to you.

1762, Tobias Smollett, chapter 18, in The Life and Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves, volume 2, London: J. Coote, page 124

[…] you can imagine how like being struck by lightning it was to find myself in a country where written contracts were worthless!—that main security, that sheet-anchor, that absolute necessity, of business.

1872, Mark Twain, chapter 14, in Roughing It, Hartford, CT: American Publishing Company, page 115

[…] I had the joyful vision of myself far from home, from the familiar faces, from all my sheet-anchors, sitting on a milestone in the dark […]

1955, Samuel Beckett, translated by Patrick Bowles and Samuel Beckett, Molloy, New York: Grove Press, Part 2, pp. 171-172

1971, Nelson Mandela, letter to the wife of fellow-prisoner Mac Maharaj dated 1 February, 1971, in Sahm Venter (ed.), The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela, New York: Liveright, 2018,
It is the prettiest portrait of her that I’ve seen. Its message is clear & unambiguous: Darling I’m the centre of the universe; sheet anchor of all your dreams!

(by extension) A source of help in times of danger; last resort.


cash cow

An allusion to the dairy cow, who once acquired (and having given birth) may be milked on an ongoing basis.

Hollinger International, the owner of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph, claimed in the 175-page filing that its former chief executive had treated the company as his "cash cow".

2004 May 11, Dan Milmo, “Press tycoon Lord Black used company as ‘cash cow’, says $1.25bn lawsuit”, in The Guardian, retrieved 2008-10-30

Meanwhile, "Mr Spears is keen on protecting his cash cow, um, wife. Brit's bodyguards have been teaching Kev how to shoot a handgun," the New York Post says.

2004 October 5, “Britney's new digs”, in The Age (Australia), retrieved 2008-10-30

Many of the League Championship Series’ 10 teams are backed by billionaires who also own traditional U.S. sports teams. But the sport has not yet become a cash cow. To get in on League of Legends, teams had to pay Riot $10 million to $13 million.

2021 January 30, Kellen Browning, “They’re Flocking to America to Make a Fortune Playing Video Games”, in The New York Times

(by extension) Someone or something which is a dependable source of appreciable amounts of money.

melkkoe

someone or something which is a dependable source of appreciable amounts of money


parsley

en-noun

parsley (usually uncountable, plural parsleys)

From Middle English persely, from Old French peresil, from Latin petroselīnum, from Ancient Greek πετροσέλῑνον (petrosélīnon, “parsley”), from πέτρος (pétros, “rock, stone”) + σέλῑνον (sélīnon, “celery”). Displaced Old English petersiliġe, which goes back to the same root.

der

πετροσέλῑνον

(by extension, loosely) Any herb resembling parsley, such as cilantro (Chinese parsley) or chervil (French parsley).


philippic

From Latin philippicus, from Ancient Greek φιλιππικός (philippikós), from Φίλιππος (Phílippos, “lover of horses”), from φίλος (phílos, “loving”) + ἵππος (híppos, “horse”).

As a young man, Lytton Strachey admired Hastings and wrote a long thesis on him, while dismissing Burke as ‘an ignorant enthusiast’. What strikes me on rereading those great philippics is, on the contrary, their exactness and perceptiveness.

2017 September 7, Ferdinand Mount, “Umbrageousness”, in London Review of Books

(by extension) Any tirade or declamation full of bitter condemnation.

изобличителна реч

any tirade or declamation full of bitter condemnation


trainspotter

(by extension) An obsessive follower of any minority interest or hobby.


catarrh

en-noun

catarrh (countable and uncountable, plural catarrhs)

From Middle English catarre, from Medieval Latin catarrus, from Late Latin catarrhus, from Ancient Greek κατάρροος (katárrhoos), which is derived from καταρρέω (katarrhéō, “I flow down”), which is composed of κατά (katá, “down”) and ῥέω (rhéō, “I flow”).

en:inflammation of any mucosa
en:cold or coldlike disease entity

(medicine) Inflammation of a mucous membrane.

(broadly, metonymically) Rhinitis or rhinosinusitis; cold or coldlike illness; common cold.


motley

From Middle English motle, from Anglo-Norman motteley (“parti-colored”), from Old English mot (“speck”). Doublet of mote. The English word can be analysed as mottle + -y.


subliminal

en-adj

subliminal (comparative more subliminal, superlative most subliminal)

more subliminal (comparative)
most subliminal (superlative)

PIE word
 *upó
The adjective is derived from sub- (prefix meaning ‘beneath, under’) + liminal (“of or pertaining to an entrance or threshold”) (from Latin līminālis, from līmen (“doorstep, threshold; doorway, entrance; beginning, commencement”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃l- (“to bend, bow; elbow”)) + *-mn̥ (suffix forming action nouns or result nouns from verbs)) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns)). The English word is borrowed from German subliminal, or a calque of German unterschwellig (“subliminal”, literally “beneath the threshold”).
The noun is derived from the adjective.

calque

(by extension) Of an advertisement, a message, etc.: conveyed in a manner that a person is unaware of being influenced by it.

subliminal

of an advertisement, a message, etc.: conveyed in a manner that a person is unaware of being influenced by it


subliminal

(by extension) An advertisement, a message, etc., which is conveyed in a manner that a person is unaware of being influenced by it.


line of fire

It is a difficult balancing act because Maguire might not wish to be taken out of the line of fire and such are United's current struggles that Solskjaer may feel he needs his leader going in to battle for him.

2020 October 14, Phil McNulty, “England 0-1 Denmark: 'Harry Maguire looked devoid of confidence in Nations League loss'”, in BBC Sport

(figurative, by extension) position vulnerable to attack


toque

From Middle French toque (“toque”), from Arabic طَاقِيَّة (ṭāqiyya).

2007—October, Nicole Berrie, "Green Eggs and Sam", in Elle, page 360,
Sam Mason first grabbed the spotlight as the pastry chef ... for being the most rock 'n' roll toque in town.